“No, she went to Kansas State College. We would see each other on the major holidays and spend our time together during the summer, but that apparently wasn’t enough for her. Her birthday is on September 28th and when I called her on that day to see if she had received her present from me, she informed me that she had refused the package, and that we were through. She then told me goodbye and hung up. That was it. That was the last that I heard from her.”
“Miles, I’m sorry,” Alex said as the elevator stopped.
As the door was opening, Miles said, “I’m pretty much over the grief of the break up, but thanks anyway.” Miles then motioned for Alex to leave the elevator first. Alex grinned and stepped out of the elevator.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.0.0.0.0 at 5:30 P.M., at a local mental institution in Boston the psychiatrist Barney Gray opened the door to Alex’s padded room. Alex was sitting on the floor wearing a straight jacket. He looked up at Dr. Gray as he walked in.
Dr. Gray observed Alex’s behavior for a brief moment before saying, “You seem to be calmer today than this past weekend.”
“Dr. Gray, I’m not crazy.”
“I never made that claim, but something is causing you to have the illusion that you were born a female. Until you accept the fact that you weren’t born a female, I’m afraid you will be here for a while. Since you are calm, can I trust you not to go hysterical if I arrange it for you to have that straight jacket taken off, and have you reassigned to a more comfortable room.”
“I’m done going hysterical, Dr. Gray.”
“Good. There is actually a room ready for you right now. Nurse Wyman will be in, in a few minutes to take off that jacket. I’ll go and let her know, and I will see you in the morning for our session.”
“Thank you, Dr. Gray.”
Dr. Gray nodded and stepped out of the room.
Alex waited for a few minutes before Nurse Wyman stepped in and removed the straight jacket. The two then left the padded room and while they walked down the hall Alex looked around at his surroundings.
A young armed security guard was having a casual conversation with a nurse and wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around him. Nurse Wyman was focused on the paperwork she had and was not watching Alex. Alex saw that he had the opportunity to take the security guard’s gun and took it.
The guard felt the gun being pulled from his holster and quickly turned to face Alex. As Alex turned the gun towards his abdomen, the security guard grabbed quickly for the gun; however, before the security guard was able to grab the gun, Alex shot himself twice in the abdomen.
As Alex was falling to the floor, Nurse Wyman shouted out, “Get an ambulance! Quick!” Every staff member around Alex scrambled to Alex’s aid.
In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.1.0.0.0 at 6:00 P.M., in Chris’ hospital room, Alex, Trudy and Miles were standing between the bed and the windowsill. Chad and his parents were sitting in chairs on the other side of the bed. Alex’s purse was next to Trudy’s purse on the windowsill. Everyone was having a casual conversation when Alex’s cell phone rang.
Alex got her phone from her purse and looked at who was calling. Before Alex answered she looked at the others before saying, “This is my brother Doug. I’m going to take it in the hallway.” Alex walked towards the door and just before exiting the room she answered, “Hey, Doug, what’s going on?”
“Where are you right now?”
“I’m at the hospital with Trudy and Miles. We’re visiting Miles’ friend Chris.”
“Well, Ben is getting ready to go back to Atlanta. He wanted to say ‘bye’ to you before he leaves.”
“Hey, I need to talk to everyone together, so don’t let him go right now.”
“What do you have to talk to everyone about?”
“Chad is going to arrange it for us to go to Mexico City. All we need is to tell him a definite date and it’s set.”
“Who’s Chad?”
“Chad is the brother to Chris; the person we’re visiting in the hospital.”
“And why is he helping us to get to Mexico?”
“Actually he is rewarding my good deed towards Chris.”
“What did you do for Chris?”
“Chris will be dead within a week if he doesn’t get a kidney before then. I took it upon myself to call mom and get her involved in trying to locate a kidney. Chad overheard me talking to mom, and now as a reward for me getting another doctor involved, Chad is loaning us a plane and a pilot.”
“And Chad has the means to do this?”
“Chad’s dad is the president to a company with planes, and Chad has access to those planes.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Ben to postpone going back to Atlanta. When and where do you want to meet with everyone?”
“How about getting together in an hour from now?”
“Have you eaten since lunch?”
“Actually, I just realized I haven’t even eaten lunch.”
“Okay, well, meet us at the Chinese restaurant in an hour.”
“Chinese sounds good actually. I’ll be there; bye.” Alex hung up the phone. She then walked back into the room and up to Trudy.
Miles was standing on the other side of Trudy and when Alex stepped up he asked, “Is everything all right?”
Alex saw that Chris was sleeping as she was saying, “Everything’s fine.” Alex turned to look at Miles. “I’m going to meet Doug and the others at a Chinese restaurant in an hour. You and Trudy are welcome to join us.”
“I’m hungry, so sure. I’ll join you,” Miles said.
“Alex, do you mind if I join you?” Chad asked.
“I don’t mind at all. Raymond; Linda, you two are also welcome to join us.”
“Thanks for inviting us, but with how critical Chris is right now, I don’t want to leave him,” Linda said.
“I’ll also be staying here,” Raymond said.
“I understand,” Alex said.
Trudy looked at her watch and said, “Hey, I’m going to get going. Alex; Miles… and Chad, I’ll meet everyone at the restaurant in an hour.”
“Bye,” everyone said.
Trudy just waved as she was leaving.
Alex looked at Miles and said, “I’m going to the lady’s room.”
Before Alex had a chance to leave, Miles said, “Hurry back.” Alex grinned before turning and walking out.
Chapter Twelve
6:55 P.M., Alex, Miles and Chad walked into the Chinese restaurant that had a buffet. Alex and Miles saw Doug and the others sitting at a table for six and walked up to them. Chad just followed the two.
When Alex saw that Doug was giving Chad an uncomfortable stare she said, “This is Chad.” Alex pointed everyone out. “Chad, meet my brother Doug and my friends Brandy, Cindy, Kenny and Ben.”
“Hi, Chad,” everyone said.
Doug pointed to two empty tables that were next to each other that could both seat six and said, “We aren’t going to fit at the same table so we should move to those tables over there.”
As everyone was moving, Alex said, “Trudy is planning on joining us.”
Brandy saw Trudy walking in. “She’s here now.”
Everyone looked at Trudy as they were moving. When Alex gestured towards the tables that they were moving to for Trudy to see, Trudy nodded.
When everyone stepped up to the tables, Chad suggested, “Alex, you and your friends should sit together to discuss my offer.”
As Alex was hanging her purse on the back of her seat, she said, “All right; thanks.”
Alex, Doug, Brandy, Cindy, Kenny and Ben sat at the same table. Miles and Chad sat at the other table. As Trudy stepped up, she sat at the table with Miles.
The waitress stepped up and asked, “Is everyone in your group here and ready to order?”
“Yes, we’re all here, and I want the buffet,” Doug said. “I’ll take a cola to drink.”
The others also ordered the buffet and their drinks.
When the waitress walked awa
y for the drinks, everyone got up and went to the buffet.
Everyone was gone from the table for a few minutes before returning to his or her seat. After everyone had sat back down with his or her food, Alex asked, “Doug, have you spoken with everyone about when to go to Mexico City?”
“I have, and we all think it would be best to wait until Saturday,” Doug said.
“Why should we wait that long?” Alex asked.
Doug spoke loud enough for only his group to hear, “Alex, even you told me that we should minimize ruining the lives of our alternates. So we can’t up and take off during the week when we’re supposed to be attending classes.”
“I don’t like the idea of living out another week like this,” Alex said.
“Alex, Doug is right; we should wait,” Brandy said.
“I also agree with Doug,” Kenny said.
“Cindy; Ben, what about you two?” Alex asked.
“There’s a chance that Randy is coming here, so I also agree with Doug,” Ben said.
“Ditto,” Cindy said.
“Fine, that will give us five days to prepare anyway,” Alex said. “I just hope I don’t totally lose myself in the meantime.”
“What are you talking about?” Kenny asked.
Alex shook her head before saying, “It’s not important. Forget I said anything.” Kenny gave Alex a confused look as Alex gestured towards the next table. “I’ll tell Chad when we’ll need the plane.” Alex then got up and stepped over to the next table.
As Alex was telling Chad of what she and her friends had decided, Ben asked his group, “Hey, everyone, even if Randy is in Mexico, how are we going to locate him? I mean, in order to ask the locals if they have seen Randy, we are going to need a picture of him, and none of us has a picture.”
Doug thought for a moment before taking his phone off of his belt and saying, “I have an idea for that.” He then scrolled through his phone for his parents’ number. Once he found it he dialed the phone. The phone rang twice when Beverly picked up from the study room on the first floor. “Hi, mom, is Michelle home?”
“Yes, hold on.” Beverly laid down the phone and walked to the stairs. She then yelled up, “Michelle, Doug is on the phone and wants to talk to you.”
“Okay, Mom,” Michelle yelled back. Michelle picked up the phone in her room. “Hey, Doug. What’s going on?”
Doug knew Beverly was listening in and made small talk.
Alex saw Doug on the phone and as she was sitting back down she asked, “Who’s Doug talking to?”
“Michelle; whoever Michelle is,” Brandy said.
“She’s our younger sister in this reality,” Alex said.
When Doug was certain that Beverly had hung up, he said, “Hey, Michelle, I’m actually calling to ask you for a favor, but I don’t want Mom or Dad to know anything about it.” Alex was focused on Doug as he continued to say, “There’s a woman who lives on Victoria Place. Her name is Phyllis Miller. I want you to go to her house and ask Phyllis for a picture of her son, Randy.”
“And Phyllis will give me a picture of Randy?” Michelle asked.
“Well, you may have to use a little persuasion on her, but I really need that picture.”
“Does she know you?”
“Alex and I met her when we were in St. Louis last Thursday, so you can tell her that I sent you.”
“What should I tell her if she asks why I want his picture?”
“Tell her that I may have met someone who had run into Randy recently, but the person I met needs to see what Randy looks like before he can verify it.”
“Before I say ‘yes’ to this, why are you asking me to do it?”
“That’s too complicated of a story to get into over the phone. So can you please do me this one favor?”
“If I do this, you are going to owe me big.”
“You got it. If you get the picture, scan it and email it to me. And if you can’t get it, call me and let me know.”
“Okay, but you’ll need to give me the address. Before you do, let me get a pencil and a piece of paper.” Michelle put down the phone and went to get the items. When she returned she picked up the phone and asked, “Okay, what is it?” Michelle wrote down the address Doug gave her. “Okay, I got it. I’ll borrow Dad’s car and do it now.”
“Hey, don’t tell Dad or Mom what you’re doing.”
“I won’t; bye.”
“Bye.”
After Michelle hung up the phone, she grabbed her purse and went downstairs to the living room. Avery was in the living room watching TV.
When Michelle stepped up to Avery she asked, “Dad, can I get the keys to your car?”
“Where are you going?” Avery asked.
Michelle thought quickly and said, “There’s this movie that came out last week that I want to see. I tried to rent it Friday, but all the copies were out. Now I want to go back to the video rental and try again.” Avery pulled out his keys from his pocket and handed them to Michelle. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Well, just drive carefully, and make sure you obey the traffic stops.”
“Dad, I’ve been driving since my sixteenth birthday and I think I’m a good driver. So when are you going to stop telling me to drive carefully?”
“Never, Sweetheart. I will still be telling you that when you’ll be telling your teenagers that.”
“That was what I was afraid of,” Michelle said. Avery just grinned as Michelle walked towards the front door.
Beverly was in the kitchen and when she heard the front door closing, she stepped into the living room and asked, “Was that Michelle leaving?”
“Yeah, she went to the video rentals for a movie,” Avery said.
“If I knew she was going out, I would have had her stop and pick up some milk.”
“She might have her cell phone with her.”
“I’ll call her.”
Before Beverly had a chance to walk away Avery asked, “So how much longer are you going to be studying that medical procedure?”
“At the rate I’m going, it will be another three hours. I told Mrs. Keller that I’m unfamiliar with the type of operation that she needs. I even tried for ten minutes to convince her to go with a surgeon more familiar with the procedure, but she refused to even consider another surgeon operating on her.” Beverly then gestured towards the kitchen. “Well, I’d better call Michelle.” When Avery nodded Beverly walked away.
Michelle was a short ways down the street when her cell phone rang. She immediately pulled over when she could and parked the car before getting her phone from her purse. The phone had stopped ringing before she was able to answer, and when she saw who had called she called back. When Beverly answered Michelle asked, “Mom, did you call?”
“I did. Why didn’t you pick up when I called?”
“I don’t want to be one of the drivers who talks on the phone as she drives, so I found a place to park before I picked up the phone.”
“Okay, well, I’m just calling to tell you to pick up some milk while you’re out.”
“Okay, Mom. Do you need anything else?”
“No, that should do it.”
“Okay. Bye, Mom.” After Michelle put her phone away, she made sure that there were no approaching cars before driving off.
Ten minutes later, Michelle parked the car in front of Phyllis’ house. When she got out she left her purse in the car and stuck the keys in her front pocket. She then stepped up to Phyllis’ front door and rang the doorbell.
Phyllis opened the door and when she saw Michelle standing there, she asked, “Yes? May I help you?”
“Yes, are you Mrs. Phyllis Miller?”
“That’s me. What can I do for you?”
“Mrs. Miller, my name is Michelle Larson. I was told that you met my brother Doug and my sister Alex last Thursday.”
“Oh, yes, I remember. They came here looking for my son Randy, but Randy took off three years ago and I haven’t seen him since.”
Michelle g
ave Phyllis a perplex look before asking, “Doug and Alex came here looking for Randy?”
“They did. Is there a problem?”
Michelle shook her head and said, “No; at least I don’t think so. Anyway, Doug asked me to come here and ask if he could have a picture of Randy.”
“Why does he need a picture of Randy?”
“Doug says that he had met someone recently who might have seen Randy. Doug wants to show that person Randy’s picture to verify if it was Randy.”
“God knows that I would like to see my son again after three years, but putting that fact to the side for a moment, I would like to know why your brother and sister are looking for my son.”
“I was never told why, Mrs. Miller.”
“Where are your brother and sister?”
“They both go to Harvard University. When they were in town last Thursday, they actually came back to St. Louis without telling anyone that they were coming. I never saw my parents so upset with them as they were that day.”
“I’m not sure about this, but I’ll get you a picture of him. Please come in.” Michelle quickly gave Phyllis a wary look. Phyllis saw the look and said, “Honey, you came to me. I didn’t come to you from off the street.”
“Okay,” Michelle said with a polite grin before following Phyllis into the house.
Michelle stepped into the middle of the living room, and looked around the room before Phyllis told her, “Just have a seat and I’ll be right back with that picture.”
Michelle looked at Phyllis before saying, “You have a lovely house, Mrs. Miller.”
Michelle was in motion to sit down on the couch when Phyllis responded, “Thank you, dear.” Phyllis then walked down the hall and entered a bedroom.
Michelle was sitting down for a short time when a cat named Tiger came into view. Michelle watched Tiger as Tiger walked up to her and sniffed her for a second. When Tiger rubbed up against Michelle’s leg, Michelle petted him for a brief moment. After Michelle stopped petting Tiger, Tiger jumped into Michelle’s lap.
Michelle resumed petting Tiger before saying, “I see that you like to be petted.”
Phyllis was gone for a few minutes and when she returned she saw Tiger purring on Michelle’s lap as Michelle petted him. Phyllis grinned at the sight before saying, “Well, I’ll be. Other than me, dear, you’re the only person Tiger will go to.”
A Crossed Reality Page 17