Gillian thought for a moment. The symptoms sounded familiar. Then she knew. "Are you trying to say he needs to have his appendix taken out? What are we waiting for? He'll need an operation."
Zachary put his hands on her shoulders. She immediately stopped her rambling and looked at him. "There's no need for the doctor,” he told her. “There's nothing they can do. If I'm right, Tyler will die."
"Are you crazy? Appendicitis is treatable. All you have to do is remove the infected appendix."
Zachary frowned. "Impossible. A doctor would have to cut him open.”
"But . . ." Then it dawned on her what he was trying to say to her. Obviously, in 1870, no one had tempted to remove an infected appendix. “Oh, God no! This can't be happening. There has to be someone who can help.”
Gillian heard Molly barking again.
“I'm telling you, there isn't. I take it… what did you call it… appendicitis is treatable in your time?”
Molly's barking became louder, more insistent.
"Yes, in almost all cases there are no complications after they remove the infected appendix."
Zachary rubbed his face with his hands. "What is wrong with that blasted dog? Her infernal barking is driving me mad."
"Molly!" Gillian eyes grew wide. "Molly," she repeated. "Come on. You have to bring Tyler outside."
"Outside? Why?"
"It's Molly. She's calling us. I know it. She always comes when she wants me to go somewhere. She knows! She knows, Zachary. I don’t know how or why, but I'd bet my life, she'll lead us to someone who will be able to help Tyler."
They didn't waste any more time. Gillian ran to her room and grabbed her purse. She met Zachary in the hall. He had Tyler in his arms.
Dora stood there, too, wringing her hands. “What should I tell Lotti when she comes calling? Surely she will worry.”
"Tell Lotti that Gillian knows someone. I’m not sure when we'll be back, but we’ll do all we can to return. Do you understand?"
Dora’s brow furrowed in confusion, but she nodded.
Gillian went down the stairs ahead of Zachary and Tyler to open the door. Molly stood on the porch. She barked then took off running. Gillian ran after her, Zachary close behind. Molly led them to the back of the house where Tyler loved to play. Only where the yard should have been there was something else. Gillian stopped dead in her tracks and Zachary bumped into her.
"Hell and damnation!" Zachary exclaimed in astonishment, blood siphoning from his face. The backyard had vanished and a hazy portal stood in its place. His gaze riveted to Gillian. “Everything you’ve told me is true, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She placed a sympathetic hand on his, knowing he felt overwhelmed.
Molly jumped through the vortex and stood on the other side, waiting. She let out a bark again, as if to tell them to hurry.
Gillian looked back at Zachary. "Come on. You’re about to see my world." She walked through the fog-like substance.
Zachary licked his lips and he looked like he was fighting the urge to bolt and run.
“Zachary,” Gillian called to him. Their eyes met and held. “Trust me. Everything will be all right.”
The tension drained from his face and he took the steps that separated them. He looked back as the door through time evaporated into nothing.
Tyler moaned.
"Follow me." Gillian waved her hand. "Molly led us to the right place. I know someone here, who can help Tyler.”
"I’ve never seen a building such as this.” Zachary squinted as his gaze traveled skyward. “It is so tall and so many windows. It makes me dizzy to look all the way up. What is this place?”
"This is Hoag hospital," she answered. Gillian wondered what they should do with Molly. She had a hunch the hospital wouldn’t allow a dog inside. Then she realized that Molly wasn’t with them anymore. She had already disappeared. “Come on.” Gillian tugged on Zachary’s arm.
Zachary followed in a daze. There was so much to take in at once. He couldn’t have imagined this place in his wildest dreams. When they reached the entrance to the hospital, his eyes widened in amazement as the doors opened without the aid of a doorman. It was like magic.
Gillian didn’t hesitate to enter, so he didn’t either. He glanced over his shoulder as the doors closed again. When he turned around, his eyes met a room full of people. They stared at him as if they knew he didn’t belong. How right they were.
Gillian conversed with a plump dark-skin woman who didn’t seem to have a pleasant bone in her body.
"We have an emergency," Gillian told her. "If you'll just page for—"
Tyler groaned. The woman glanced over Gillian’s shoulder, her gaze landing on Tyler’s deathly pale face.
The woman’s expression changed from annoyance to concern as she picked up some type of object and started talking into it. This was all too much for Zachary to comprehend right now. His concerns for Tyler were enough, but add time traveling; doors opening with no help; and devices he couldn’t readily identify … his head felt like it was spinning. He needed to sit down. He fell into an empty chair and took a deep breath.
Gillian paced back and forth, but when a tall, sandy-haired man came bursting through the doors, she stopped in her tracks.
Zachary didn’t know who ran to the other first, but Gillian and the sandy-haired man embraced. Zachary narrowed his eyes as jealousy hit him full force, but he quickly squelched it. Gillian thought this man could save Tyler.
"Where have you been Gillian?" Jerry blurted out. "It's been two days since anyone’s heard from you. You have Samantha thinking you’ve been kidnapped. Geeze, I thought you’d been kidnapped." His gaze travelled down the length of her and he frowned. “What’s with the long skirt and blouse with the high collar? Have you been raiding somebody's attic?"
Gillian didn’t answer his question. "Only two days.” She shook her head. “Amazing. Listen, I'll explain everything later, but right now there's an emergency. It's my . . . " She stopped in mid-sentence not wanting to spring her marriage on him. It would only ensure questions she couldn’t readily explain and they didn’t have time. "It's my friend's nephew." She took Jerry's hand and led him over to Zachary and Tyler.
Jerry gave Zachary a once over before his attention lingered on Tyler. He looked deathly pale and limp. "What happened?"
"We think it's his appendix," Gillian answered.
"Pain in the right lower abdomen?" Jerry asked as he started taking Tyler's pulse.
"Yes."
"Vomiting?" Jerry questioned.
"Yes," Gillian answered.
Jerry felt Tyler's midsection and applied pressure on the right side, making Tyler groan. "We have to get him to surgery, now!" Jerry scooped the child into his arms and yelled for the receptionist to call for the surgery room to be ready. Before going through the doors, he stopped and looked back to Gillian and Zachary. "I'll take it from here. Stay where you are and I'll send someone down to have you fill out the paper work. Gillian, please give Samantha a call, so she can stop worrying about you." Then he was gone.
Zachary ran his fingers through his hair and stared at the door. He looked like he debated about running after Jerry. Gillian didn’t blame him. He just let a stranger take his nephew away.
She took the seat next to him and took his hand. He laced his fingers through hers. "That was Jerry, wasn’t it?" he finally asked, even though Gillian had a hunch he already knew the answer.
"Yes. Jerry is a brilliant doctor. He'll do all he can to save Tyler."
"You'd trust him with your life?” He looked at her, fear stark and vivid in the blue of his eyes.
"Absolutely," she answered, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.
Zachary took a deep breath and nodded.
***
The nurses prepped Tyler for surgery, while Jerry washed up for the procedure. Goose flesh rippled up his spine and nervous sweat dampened his brow. He had done countless surgeries of this nature and there was no reason to feel this
one would be complicated, and yet fear gripped him.
“Are you all right, Dr. Avery?”
At the sound of the nurse’s voice, his gaze riveted to her. He blinked and his thoughts cleared. He had to operate. Time was running out. “I’m fine. Let’s move.”
***
Zachary filled out the papers required to admit Tyler into the hospital, along with the consent to operate. He marveled over the pen, and was reluctant to give it back to the receptionist.
Gillian left a message on Samantha's voicemail to let her know where she was and that she was all right.
Hours had gone by and still there was no word about Tyler.
Zachary wandered over to the contraption on the counter making strange gurgling noises. He watched it as the dark liquid dripped into a glass container. The smell of coffee hit his nostrils. “Hell and damnation.” He leaned closer. Then he looked at Gillian. "It’s making coffee all by itself."
An elderly woman overheard him and looked up from her knitting. She lowered her glasses and raised an eyebrow.
Gillian chuckled and hurried over to him. "I know," she whispered. "I never thought of it as being anything special, but living in the nineteenth century has made me appreciate the inventions of my time.” Just then, the Mr. Coffee had finished brewing. "Do you want a cup?" Gillian pulled the pot out and was about to pour the freshly brewed coffee into a Styrofoam cup, but Zachary laid a hand on hers, stilling her actions. She looked at him and noticed his gaze rested behind her. She turned to see Jerry had entered the room. She put the coffeepot down.
Jerry spotted them and approached, his face unreadable. Gillian clasped Zachary’s hand as they waited for him to tell them the news.
“The operation went well, and he’s doing fine. He's in the recovery room now.” He looked at Gillian then to Zachary. "Can I ask you something?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "The kid says his name is Tyler Avery."
Gillian gasped and looked to Zachary for confirmation. "Tyler's last name is Avery?"
"Well . . . yes." He wasn’t quite sure why this made such a difference to everyone.
“Avery,” Gillian whispered more to herself than to anyone else. “I had assumed his last name was Creighton. I should have known it wasn’t. Your sister was married and of course she would have had a different last name.”
Jerry chuckled, drawing their attention. “Isn’t it strange that Tyler would have the same last name as I do.” He scratched his head. “Let me see if I can remember the family tree. I believe I had a great-great, there possibly could be another great there, named Tyler Avery."
Zachary raised his eyebrows as he looked at Gillian again. "That would mean. . ." She nodded as she gave his hand a quick squeeze.
Gillian had thought she’d been sent back in time to save him. Perhaps she was supposed to save Tyler. Zachary’s gaze shifted to Jerry… Dr. Jerry Avery. Surely this meant he was a relative. He claimed he had a great-great grandfather with the name. If Tyler hadn’t survived, then would Jerry have ceased to exist?
Gillian stared at Jerry with a glint of wonder in her eyes. “That’s why Tyler had looked so familiar to me. The expressions, the smile, I was seeing a version of what Jerry must have looked like as a child.”
With Gillian’s strange statement, it looked like Jerry wanted to question them further, but Samantha arrived in a bustle of excitement. She bounded over to them. "Where have you been?" She still sounded panicked even though she’d spoken briefly to Gillian on the phone an hour ago. "You just up and left me at the Queen Mary. I thought the employees there were holding you hostage. I even went to the police station to fill out a missing person’s report.”
“You didn’t.” Gillian looked horrified.
“They said I had to wait. You hadn’t been missing long enough.” Samantha finally took a breath and her eyes rested on Zachary. Her gaze swept over his attire and then she looked at Gillian with a frown. “What’s with the Little House on the Prairie getups?” Before Gillian could answer, Samantha grabbed Gillian's left hand. "What's this? Are you married?" Her brown eyes widened as she fingered the gold band that was securely wrapped around her ring finger. Her attention flew to Zachary again. This time she assessed him from head to toe.
Jerry frowned, his eyes narrowing.
Gillian’s face flushed red. She pulled her hand away. Zachary knew this hadn’t been the way she wanted to tell her friends.
Zachary took pity and spoke up. "Yes, we’re married.” He lifted his hands, palm up with a shrug. “I know this all seems sudden, and I hope in time we will be able to explain everything to you.” He gave them a second to absorb the shocking information. “Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Zachary Creighton." He extended his hand.
Samantha recovered first and took Zachary’s hand in a firm grip. She even managed a tiny smile. "Sorry, we seem stunned over this, but . . ." Her gaze wavered to Gillian as she let go of Zachary’s hand.
Jerry cleared his throat. "I suppose congratulations are in order." He nearly choked on the words. It was obvious that he couldn't believe Gillian had married so quickly after they had called off their own wedding.
"Thank you." Zachary shook Jerry's hand, knowing how difficult the gesture had been for him.
Jerry let his hand drop. "If you’re ready, I'll take you to see, Tyler.”
"Who's Tyler?" Samantha asked. “Did I miss something?”
Tyler looked so small in the hospital bed with the IV hooked to him and the monitors stationed behind him beeping. Zachary looked over to Gillian for confirmation that this was a normal procedure even though Jerry had explained it all to them. She leaned close and whispered, "All this is necessary. Just remember everything in here is to help him to get better.” Zachary nodded and went over to his nephew, taking the boy’s small hand in his.
Tyler turned his head slowly and opened his eyes. "Uncle Zachary?"
"It's me. How are you feeling?"
"Tired." His voice was a hoarse whisper.
"You get some rest then. We'll be here waiting for you, when you wake up."
Tyler nodded his head before he closed his eyes again.
Jerry checked the tubes and the monitor before he looked at Zachary. "There's another thing I needed to ask you. On the forms you filled out for Tyler, you said he was born in 1864." Jerry chuckled. "That would make Tyler quite an old man." Jerry glanced at Gillian then to Zachary. “What are you two hiding? I know it’s more than your hasty marriage and strange attire. What’s going on?”
Gillian cleared her throat. "We . . . "She looked at Zachary first and he nodded his silent agreement before she looked back to Jerry and Samantha. "We will explain everything to you, but you’ll have to promise us that you will keep an open mind."
“Sure.” Samantha shrugged. “This I have to hear.”
"I had actually finished my shift before I operated on Tyler," Jerry informed them. "Tyler will probably sleep for a few hours. We can go downstairs to the cafeteria. I'll leave instructions with the nurse to page me the minute Tyler is awake.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
After they bought their drinks, they sat down at a table in the back. Gillian picked the spot on purpose. She didn’t want anyone overhearing the strange tale she was about to unfold.
Zachary and Gillian sat on one side of the booth, Samantha, and Jerry on the other. Zachary searched for Gillian's hand under the table, clasping it tightly.
"I'm not sure where to start." Gillian smiled hesitantly. "It's going to sound like we're completely crazy, but what I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth." She took a hasty sip of her coffee, which was a mistake. It was too hot and she burned her tongue. She placed the cup down and looked into the eyes of her best friends. "I've been with Zachary for weeks now."
Samantha snorted. "You've been gone barely two days."
"I know, you said as much. I can't explain why time is different, but—"
"What are you talking about? Time?" Jerry asked.
"Li
sten." Zachary leaned forward, lowering his voice. "She's trying to tell you, if you'd give her a chance."
“Fine.” Jerry lifted his hand, gesturing to Gillian to continue.
"Samantha, remember the dog we spotted on our way to the Queen Mary?”
"Yes, I remember. What about it?"
"Somehow this dog is special in a way you couldn’t even imagine. She is responsible for me being sent back in time."
"What?" Samantha and Jerry said simultaneously with almost the same pitch of disbelief ringing in their voices.
Gillian continued, ignoring the fact that they stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "Let me start at the beginning."
"Why don't you do that?" Samantha folded her hands on the table.
"After I left you, Samantha, the dog appeared at our stateroom. I tried to run away, but something happened. Anyway, the next thing I knew, I wasn’t on the Queen Mary anymore. I was in Zachary's room aboard the Ida Belle."
"The Ida Belle?" Samantha questioned. "How could you be aboard the Queen Mary one minute then on some other ship the next?"
"Honestly, I don’t know. Remember the receptionists on the Queen Mary told us our room was decorated with artifacts from the Ida Belle. Maybe there’s a connection somehow."
Samantha’s eyebrows knitted together. “I was in the room, too. I didn’t get swept back in time.”
"Samantha, I don’t have all the answers. I’m still trying to make sense of it. All I can do is tell you what I know.”
Samantha nodded. “Go on then. You woke up aboard the Ida Belle.”
“Yes. Well of course, Zachary wasn’t expecting company, and at this point I had no idea I’d traveled back in time. So, when Zachary jumped out of bed like a wild animal—"
"Pardon me." Zachary stopped her. "Wild animal? I believe you better rephrase that."
"Okay." She smiled before she continued. "Zachary jumped out of bed, believing his life was in danger. I would have run out of the room, but I didn't have the key to get out. So, I reacted—"
"She attacked me.” Zachary took over. “Never was I so surprised that a little slip of a woman could throw me over her shoulder. But somehow, she managed to do just that."
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