Time Travelers Never Die Part 20

A few minutes later, Dave arrived. He heard the gurney, and a woman's voice. "You'll be fine, Mr. Dryden. Just need to rest a bit. Dr. Hollis will be in to see you shortly."

There was no response.

"Okay, Mack," she said. "On three."

The voice did the count, and he heard somebody grunt as they lifted Dave into bed. Then a male voice: "I'll be right back." Footsteps came toward the washroom. Shel backed up so he'd be behind the door if it opened, and set the converter forward thirty minutes. The k.n.o.b turned, and he pressed the b.u.t.ton. The door swung in as the washroom faded from view.

THE hospital room outside was quiet. Shel opened the door. hospital room outside was quiet. Shel opened the door.

Both patients were breathing quietly. But the guy with the veins was lying staring at the ceiling, and he spotted Shel as soon as he came out of the washroom. "You again."

Shel tried to shush him. "It's okay," he said.

"What are you doing in here?" The guy was trying to sit up straight, but he looked close to a stroke.

Dave's eyes opened, then opened wider. "Shel. How'd you get in?" "You're not supposed to be here," said the patient. Then he yelled for the guard.

The door pushed open and the cop strode into the room. "Where the h.e.l.l'd you you come from, mister?" come from, mister?"

Shel lobbed the second converter to Dave, who was trying to disconnect himself from the monitoring device. "Just hit the b.u.t.ton," he said. "You're ready to go."

He turned back toward the officer and smiled disarmingly. "Who are you?" the guard demanded. "How'd you get in here?"

The aura began to build around Dave. The cop's eyes swung past Shel and fastened on what was happening in the bed. The guy with the veins stared. "Mother of G.o.d."

Shel hit the b.u.t.ton, wondering what the police report would look like.

WHEN they got to the town house, Dave asked whether Shel had seen any sign of his father. they got to the town house, Dave asked whether Shel had seen any sign of his father.

"I was a little busy," he said. "But no, I didn't see him anywhere." He got some ice for Dave to put on his eye. "Did you want to go back and try again?"

Dave needed a.s.sistance getting to the sofa. "I can see you're a bit miffed with me," he said.

"You dumb son of a b.i.t.c.h." Now that they were safe, the anger erupted. "You could have gotten us both killed."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry."

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I mean, it didn't even make any sense. You knew how that was going to end back there."

"I knew."

"And you did it anyhow."

"I guess."

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h. You remember the agreement we had? We watch watch. We do not get involved."

David tried to stretch out. And winced.

"What's wrong with your side?"

"Cracked rib."

"Great."

"They wrapped it in the hospital."

"Anything else I should know about?"

He closed his eyes. Opened them again. "Look, Shel. I couldn't just walk away from those people."

"I noticed."

David tried again to adjust his position. The sofa was too small for him. "Maybe you do do need a hospital." need a hospital."

"I've already done that. They told me not to move around any more than I have to. Said I'd be okay in a couple of weeks."

"All right. I guess we were lucky. You should probably get it checked anyhow."

"I don't think you need to worry."

"What were they monitoring?"

"My heart, I guess. I had a coronary."

"That must have shaken them up. At the police station."

"I don't think they believed me."

"How'd you fool the doctors?"

"Just told them I could feel a weight in my chest. Told them I'd had problems before. I don't think it occurred to them somebody would lie about something like that." He sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"School Monday." Two days away.

"Uh-oh."

"I can't very well go like this."

"Not exactly. You'll have to take some time off."

He grumbled something Shel couldn't make out. "A day or two wouldn't be a problem. But two weeks weeks? What's my story? That I got hurt on b.l.o.o.d.y Sunday?"

"You might tell them you fell down the stairs. Or maybe you were in a car accident." Shel took a deep breath. "None of this would have-"

"-I know, Shel. Let it go."

"Okay."

"And let's not do any more of this living history, all right?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like that." He was thinking about Monday. "You know, you don't need to take time off from school if you don't want to."

"I can't go in like this."

"How about if I take you home? You stay there until you're okay. Keep away from the school. Take two or three weeks. Whatever you need."

Dave laughed. "Yeah. Right."

"You'd better keep your converter."

"That sounds good. Yeah. I'll be careful with it."

Shel nodded. "I know you will." He cleared his throat. "Your family has a cabin in the Poconos, right?"

"Yes."

"Would anybody be there right now?"

"At this time of year? No. Not a chance."

"You could recuperate there."

"But who's going to cover my cla.s.ses?"

"You will, partner. Just leave it to me."

PART TWO.

FOOTPRINTS ON THE SANDS.

CHAPTER 15.

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales. . . .

-ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON, LOCKSLEY HALL LOCKSLEY HALL

IT was a two-hour drive to the cabin. The last eight miles took him up a single-lane dirt road with a series of hairpin turns. Dave's father, in his most unflinching style, had picked the highest place in the area for the family cabin. The woods were thick, and the cabin had a magnificent view of Starlight Lake. But the stars were hidden by thick clouds when he arrived. Even the lights along the lakefront were little more than distant smudges. was a two-hour drive to the cabin. The last eight miles took him up a single-lane dirt road with a series of hairpin turns. Dave's father, in his most unflinching style, had picked the highest place in the area for the family cabin. The woods were thick, and the cabin had a magnificent view of Starlight Lake. But the stars were hidden by thick clouds when he arrived. Even the lights along the lakefront were little more than distant smudges.

There were supposed to be bears in the area, but he'd never seen one. All the same, his folks had kept him close when they'd come here during his childhood summers. They'd expected he would love the place, but the problem had been a lack of other kids. The only people close by were the Bakers and the Hertzogs, both of whom were retired couples.

He was near the top of the road when he saw headlights around the curve. He edged cautiously forward, found a s.p.a.ce off to one side, and pulled over to make room for the other vehicle. It blinked its lights as it pa.s.sed.

The cabin was a triple-decker, with living room, kitchen, and veranda at midlevel. His folks still came here every summer, and he usually spent a week or so with them.

He slipped into the driveway, the security lights came on, and he got out. The place had always been too remote for him. But at the moment it was ideal.

He'd brought a few books. And he'd stopped and picked up some groceries and painkillers. He needed two difficult trips up the outside staircase to get everything indoors. It was mid-December, and the cabin was cold. He turned on the lights, and adjusted the thermostat.

He plugged in the refrigerator and put everything away. Then he made a sandwich and topped it off with a rum and c.o.ke. Unsure how the painkillers would interact with the drink, he left them aside, eased himself into an armchair, and put on the TV. One of the cable news shows.

They were still getting fallout from the failure of the Syrian-Iraqi peace effort, but he didn't care much about politics at the moment. He just wanted voices in the room. Shel had made him promise he'd call when he arrived. So he did, using the landline since he'd left the cell phone, along with his driver's license, with the Selma police.

Shel asked what he planned to do while he was there.

"I'm just going to hang around here and sleep and read."

"Good. No hiking, huh?"

"I think I'll pa.s.s on that."

"Okay. I've got an interesting piece of news for you."

"What's that?"

"Your sub is here. He came in early this evening, about two hours after you'd left."

"Okay. That's good to hear."

"Yeah. It's weird. But I thought you'd want to know. As long as everything's okay. I'm going to head for bed. Been a long couple days. I'll talk to you later, Dave."

AFTER he'd gotten past childhood, life at the cabin had been pleasant. It held good memories for him. He'd brought women here from time to time. But it was a long trip, so there had been only a few. Those he'd really liked. One in particular. Erin Stackpole. An odd name for so beautiful a woman. And Katie had been there once. he'd gotten past childhood, life at the cabin had been pleasant. It held good memories for him. He'd brought women here from time to time. But it was a long trip, so there had been only a few. Those he'd really liked. One in particular. Erin Stackpole. An odd name for so beautiful a woman. And Katie had been there once.