Once Found: The Pocket Watch Chronicles (5 page)

Jim poked his head in the room. “Dr. Harper, Dr. Quinn’s father, Dr. James Quinn, is on the phone for you.”

“Elizabeth, may I speak to your father about your condition?”

Elizabeth frowned and looked at Gabe. “They have to ask if they can speak to my
father
? Is my father here?”

Christie shook her head. “He isn’t here, he’s on the phone. Maybe you would like to talk to him.”

“But you said he isn’t here.” This was all so confusing. Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Gabe, what am I supposed to do?”

“Sweetheart, do you remember what a phone is?”

“No.”

“It is a way of talking to someone who is far away. Your father is worried about you and wants to know you are okay. But just like you had to give your permission for Martin to talk to me, you have to give Christie permission to speak to your parents. Do you understand?”

Why would this be necessary? They were her parents, weren’t they? In her time, if she had a father, she would have belonged to him. He would be the one to tell her what she could and couldn’t do. She shook her head. “No, I don’t understand. What should I do?”

“You have to make the decision, Elizabeth. You are an independent adult and free to make your own choices. But your parents will be very worried about you. If you don’t want Dr. Harper to speak to them, you should.”

Oh dear God, no
. “I don’t want to. I don’t know what a phone is. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know them. Dr. Harper, you can speak to them.”

“Alright, I will. Martin, you should be on the call too.”

He nodded and left with her.

Jennifer smiled. “I’m going to bring you something for pain, then I’ll take the Foley out.”

When Jennifer left, Elsie lowered herself onto the pillows and closed her eyes for a moment. For some reason, she wanted to cry. That wasn’t like her. She had cried out all of her tears long ago. She took a deep breath to try to regain some control. She needed to focus on the present and keep things together until she and Elizabeth could trade places again.

“Something for pain would be good. I have never felt like this. It hurts to simply breathe.”

Gabe caressed her cheek. “You were in a bad accident. On top of having broken ribs and a broken arm, you have lots of scrapes and bruises. The pain medicine will help.”

“What was the other thing she said?”

“She’s going to take out your Foley.”

“What is that?”

“It is the tube going into your bladder.”

“Oh.” That had terrified her when she first became aware of it. “I don’t like it here.”

He smiled. “But this is the best place to be until you are better.”

She hadn’t just meant this hospital. She wanted to go home to her own time as soon as possible. For an instant, she considered saying the word.
No, you can’t do that. Elizabeth needs time
.

Jennifer returned. “Since you are awake and alert, Dr. Harper wrote for oral oxycodone. She’s also ordered a regular diet, so I brought you some graham crackers and apple juice. Sometimes oxycodone can make you queasy, but eating a little with it helps. Normally, before someone gives you medication, they are supposed to ask you your full name and birthdate.”

“But you know who I am. Apparently better than I do.”

Gabe chuckled and Jennifer smiled. “Yes, I do know who you are, but I still have to ask. It’s an extra step to make sure the right person is getting the right medicine. I know you don’t know your birthdate, but can you tell me your full name?”

“Elizabeth Quinn.” That answer felt so odd.

“Okay, Elizabeth. Your birthdate is January 31
st
, 1978. See if you can remember that for the next time someone asks.”

“I’ll try.”

Gabe helped her sit up and Jennifer handed her a small clear cup with a perfectly round white disk in it that was engraved with some symbols.

“What is this?”

“It’s the oxycodone, the pain medicine.”

Elsie frowned at it. “What do I do with it?”

“You swallow it.”

“I don’t think I can do that.”

Gabe smiled. “It’s easy. Take a drink of water first. Then put the tablet on the back of your tongue and take another drink. Just let it go down with the water as you swallow.”

Elsie tried a couple times but the tablet, as Gabe had called it, stayed stubbornly in her mouth.

“Try one more time. Sometimes, it helps if you tip your head back as you swallow,” said Jennifer. “If you can’t swallow it this way, we can try putting it in applesauce.”

Elsie tried again, and it finally worked.

Jennifer smiled at her. “Very good. It should start working soon. Dr. Soldani, if you’ll excuse us for a moment, I’m going to cap her IV and take the Foley out.”

Gabe started to leave. “Gabe, I…I don’t want you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving, sweetheart. I am just going to step out of the room to give you privacy. I’ll come back as soon as Jennifer is done.”

“It will only take a minute. I promise,” said Jennifer. She proceeded to put on a pair of gloves that looked as if they were made of skin. The expression on Elsie’s face must have prompted Jennifer to explain. “These are latex gloves. They protect my hands and keep germs off of them. Here, take a look at one.”

Jennifer handed her the flimsy glove. Elsie turned it over in her hand, looking at it. She would have tried to put it on, but with the left arm splinted, she didn’t think she could manage. “What are germs?”

“They are organisms that are so tiny we can’t see them, but they make us sick.”

Elsie wasn’t sure she understood that, but she didn’t ask more.

Jennifer explained everything she was doing as she did it, making Elsie much less nervous. When Jennifer was done, she made sure Elsie was comfortable, rolled a table into position over her bed and put a packet containing two brown squares and a small clear vessel filled with an amber liquid on the table. “If you need anything, push this button and someone will come to help you. I’ll send Gabe back in.”

“Thank you,” said Elsie. She was examining the packet when Gabe returned. “Are these the
graham crackers
she mentioned?”

“Yes.”

“How do I open the packet?”

Gabe took it from her. “You just tear the cellophane like this.” He handed her the open package.

“But it’s ruined then.”

“It isn’t intended to be used again. It’s disposable.” Perhaps realizing that she didn’t know how to open the container of liquid either, he peeled back the lid and put it on the table.

She cautiously took a bite of one of the crackers. She smiled. “It’s sweet. I like it.”

Gabe chuckled. “I’ll have to bring you some Italian tea cookies. You used to love them.”

She took a sip of the liquid. “Mmm. I like that, too. It’s like cider.”

“Apple juice is cider that has been filtered and pasteurized.”

Elsie smiled and nodded.

Gabe chuckled. “You don’t know what that means.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Elizabeth, don’t be afraid to say so or ask.” He went on to explain it to her. She liked listening to his voice. She found it soothing, like music.

“Can I ask you something else?”

“I said you can ask anything.”

“Dr. Levi said something that confused me.”

“What was it?”

“When he said I had to give my permission so he could talk in front of you, he said you had perhaps been a very good friend
a few years ago
. I’m certain I…I love you. Now. What did he mean?”

Gabe took her hand, smiling sadly. “The truth is, I love you too. I have for years. We went to medical school together, and were friends for most of that time. We started dating in our fourth year.”

“What does that mean?”

“We spent a lot of time together. We did things together like going out to dinner or to a movie. Eventually, we slept together.”

“Slept together?”

He chuckled. “Made love? Had sex?”

That’s what she thought slept together meant. “And we weren’t married?”

His brow drew together. “No, we weren’t.”

Perhaps Elsie should have been more shocked by that, but for some reason she wasn’t. That must be Elizabeth’s memories pushing through again.

“But I wanted to marry you. I was working up the courage to ask. We had matched at different hospitals, but I had been trying to change. There was an opening in pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati where you had matched, which hadn’t been filled in the scramble. I was trying desperately to get it.”

“I don’t understand anything you just said.”

He laughed. “I’m sure you don’t. The short version is that you go to medical school for four years, and in your last year, you apply for a residency. A residency is more years of training in a specialty. You wanted to be an obstetrician—that is a doctor who delivers babies. I wanted to be a pediatrician. The whole selection process is complicated, but it’s called
matching
. We could have tried to match as a couple, but we hadn’t been dating long when the process started and we didn’t discuss it.”

“So we matched at different hospitals?”

“Yes. I was matched here at NYUHC and you were going to Cincinnati.”

“And they are a great distance apart?”

“Yes, they are.”

“And you weren’t able to change?”

“I stopped trying.”

Those words caused a lump to rise in her throat and her heart to ache. “Why?” she asked tentatively.

“Something happened. I said some things I shouldn’t have, and we went our separate ways.”

“No.” That truly distressed her. She was certain Elizabeth loved him deeply. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Please, tell me.”

“Okay, but first, you need to understand who I am. My name is Gabriel Eduardo Soldani, and I grew up in a big, working-class, Italian family in New Jersey. You probably don’t know exactly what that means.” He chuckled. “Most people don’t until they’ve experienced it, but family is very important. It is a defining feature of my life. I’m Natalie and Sal’s son. I’m Joey, Nick, Tony, Luke and Angela’s brother. I have aunts and uncles and cousins too numerous to list. At some point or another, they can all annoy the life out of a person, but I love them. They are my world.”

Elsie understood that. Clan was extremely important. “I didn’t like your family?” Elsie couldn’t believe it even as she said it.

“No, nothing like that. You liked them and they liked you. But for some reason, you kept your family…a secret.”

“What do you mean? How could I do that? Why would I?”

Gabe sighed. “Elizabeth, you are the only child of an extremely wealthy and important family. Your mother is Charlotte Matheson Quinn. She is a partner with her father in a law firm that grossed over two billion dollars last year.”

“What does that mean?”

“They make a huge amount of money. On top of that, your father is a very well recognized surgeon, as was his father. But every time I asked you about your family, you avoided the discussion. I had no idea who you were until the day we graduated—essentially our last day in medical school. And even then, it wasn’t you who told me. I found out from the whispers when your family was recognized.”

“So nobody knew?”

“Nobody. Not even the dean of the university. When I finally saw you later that day, I was angry and hurt that you had kept this huge secret from me. I thought you must have been ashamed of me, afraid I would embarrass you.”

“Why would you think that? Did I say that?”

“No. You said you feared they would embarrass you.”

“Did they?”

“Embarrass you? Not really. They were cold and formal—nothing like my family—but they were polite.”

“If I liked your family, maybe I was embarrassed because mine wasn’t like yours.”

Gabe just stared at her. “I—I guess I never thought of it that way.”

“Did I give you any other reason?”

Gabe nodded. “You said as long as people didn’t know who you were, you could just be ordinary, but as soon as they found out, everything changed. At the time, I just couldn’t understand why you would keep your family a secret. Like I said, my family is so much a part of who I am that I felt like you were hiding yourself from me. You said your family was not your identity, but I couldn’t believe that. I said goodbye to you and left.”

Elsie’s heart broke. She was so certain they loved each other. Well, she was certain she felt Elizabeth’s intense love for him. A tear slipped down her cheek—the first one she’d cried in years. “I’m sorry, Gabe. This sense that I know you and love you is the only thing that feels real to me in this place. I thought…I thought…”

“Oh, sweetheart, I do love you. I told you that. It’s just that it took me a while to actually realize how much I loved you and how little that argument had meant. But it had happened at a crossroads in our lives, and we had already gone our separate ways. It was too late—or I thought it was. Maybe…maybe this is our second chance. Maybe we can figure this out.”