Chapter 8
T ears escaped Lisa’s eyes as she hugged Emily. Her whole body shuddered from anticipation, nervousness, and relief. Emily patted her back, murmuring, “Shhh…it’s OK, Lisa. It’s OK. I’m here, and it’s all going to be all right.” Lisa’s crying softened. Looking for tissues, she let go of her friend’s embrace. Emily grabbed the box first. “You never have tissues when you need them. What the hell would you do without me, huh? You never had any money in school, you never have a good babysitter for the kids…or the dog, and now you can’t find tissues that are right under your nose.” Gratefully, Lisa blew her nose, trying to figure out where to start.
“We have to talk. I have a lot to say, but I need you to…” Lisa paused to measure her words. “I need you to believe me no matter how crazy my story is. We’ve known each other for a long time. You’re the only person I can trust with this, but it’s going to sound crazy, so suspend judgment until I’m done and then…well then, we’ll see what you think. Agreed?”
Emily raised her right eyebrow like she always did when she was skeptical. “Start talking. I promise to listen and to leave my judging for the end.”
Lisa took a deep breath and smoothed out her hospital gown. “I had that car accident, remember?”
“Of course I remember. Right after we had dinner. I knew about that, then I didn’t hear from you again.”
“Yes. That night. Well, they’ve discovered that I have something wrong with my pineal gland.”
“Your what?”
“Pineal gland. It’s a little gland in the brain. It’s about the only thing I remember from that biology class we took together. I’m not sure what it does normally, but it controls memories, and somehow, it’s also called the ‘third eye.’ Mystics and gurus have been doing all kinds of wacky stuff with their third eye for centuries. It gives you power to see things, to have visions. Because I had the car accident and hit my head, they did a CT scan, and they found that mine’s enlarged.”
“So, what does that mean? Are you having visions? Do you need surgery?”
“No, I don’t think so, no surgery. But that’s not my point. There’s something else, something bigger, going on.”
“Visions?”
“Not exactly. More than that.” Lisa paused. She took a deep breath. Here goe s nothing.
“I’ve been traveling back and forth in time.”
Emily said nothing. Her face was blank. Lisa wasn’t sure if that was intentional or if she hadn’t heard correctly.
Lisa continued. “Did you hear me? I said I’ve been time traveling.”
“I heard you. I’m waiting to hear the punch line of the joke.”
Lisa sat back down next to Emily and took her hand. “I’m not joking. For a few days now, I’ve been back and forth between the present and the past. Actually, our past. I’ve been going back to college. I’ve seen you and me there and all our friends. We’re all young, like sophomores. And I met Adam there.”
Emily leaned away from Lisa. “Honey, how hard did you hit your head? I know you met Adam in college. I was there, remember? On the Columbia steps. You took off with him, and I was really mad at you because you had abandoned me.”
Almost afraid to hear the answer, Lisa pressed for detail. “What else happened?”
“You met him, you started dating, he graduated, the next year we graduated, then you got married. You bought a house. You waited years to have babies. You had a miscarriage. Then you had two kids, one after the other. Then you got a dog. And now we’re here.” Emily rushed all the words out as if she were trying to say them before she lost her nerve. Emily stopped. She noticed the bouquet on the windowsill and headed to it.
“Flowers?” Emily yanked the card from the bouquet and read it out loud. “‘My darling wife. I hope you feel better. I love you more than ever. Adam.’ Hmm. Sweet.” Emily spoke in a flat tone. She looked back at Lisa, her jaw just the slightest bit clenched.
“He is sweet. But listen, we don’t have time to talk about the flowers. Let’s focus. My story’s more complicated.” Lisa wasn’t even sure how to explain it logically. She tried again. “This reality we’re in now, this time we’re in, is not real.”
Emily leaned away from her, her eyes scrunched together, that right eyebrow up again. “What are you saying?
“Em, in my real life, I never met Adam in college. I met him at a bar with friends at a happy hour, after I was already married to Marcus. When I met Adam, we fell in love and started having an affair. Well, at least I was in love. I kept wishing that I could go back in time to meet Adam in college since our time at the school coincided, but we never met. I was waiting for him at the train station one night. Do you remember? I called you, and you told me I was being silly waiting for a married man. Then we met for dinner at Scaramella’s? Do you remember that, Emily?”
Emily rolled the words out slowly. “Yes, I vaguely remember we had dinner. I seem to remember you were upset, but I don’t know why.”
Lisa stared at Emily focusing on her eyes. It seemed Emily was believing her, but Lisa wasn’t sure. “You must think I’m stark raving mad. But I’m not, Em. I can remember all three lives. The real one with a real past—the past that I traveled to—and now this one we’re in. This one is a new future.” Frustrated that she couldn’t express herself clearly, Lisa pushed herself off the bed and paced across the small room, gesturing wildly. “All this, all this, Emily, none of this is real. I’ve been here for a couple of days, and I can tell you I’ve been back and forth to 1982. The last time I was in this very room, I was married to Marcus, and Adam was my lover. That’s the life when you and I had dinner. He was married to a woman named Stephanie, and they had two daughters. I wished and wished I could go back and prevent them from meeting, and my wish came true. I went back. I stopped them. Then when I got back here, I’m the one married to Adam, and Stephanie isn’t.”
Emily cocked her head to the side. She remained quiet for a minute, then shook her head. “Stephanie, huh? Let’s pretend for a moment that I believe this insanity of yours. How do you know Stephanie? If you’re the one married to Adam, how do you know Stephanie?”
“Because she’s my nurse.”
“Your nurse? Here? Now?” Emily seemed incredulous. Lisa tried to explain.
“The same Stephanie that used to be married to Adam in the real life, the same Stephanie that I met in college and stopped from dating Adam, she’s my nurse in this hospital. She’s my nurse in the real life, and she’s my nurse now. I can’t get away from her.” Lisa, exhausted, plopped herself on the bed, picked up a pillow and covered her face with it. She screamed quietly into the pillow.
Emily stood up and walked the few steps to the window. She stared at the skyline for a little while, saying nothing. She turned around just as Lisa put the pillow down.
“Lisa, I believe you.”
Excited, Lisa jumped up from the chair and clapped her hands. “You do? That’s fantastic! I’m so glad! I need your help in figuring out what I’ve missed.” Emily’s face didn’t reflect back Lisa’s enthusiasm. Lisa could tell something was off. “Wait. Why do you believe me?”
Emily reached for her friend’s hands and took them in hers. “I believe you because I’ve heard you tell me many times that you think Adam is having an affair with someone named Stephanie. And you’ve told me you think this Stephanie is a nurse.”
“You must be mistaken Emily. Stephanie is a common name. It’s just a coincidence.”
“You’re right. Maybe it’s a coincidence.” Emily headed to the window.
The sky was starting to darken. Clouds were turning pink, and the buildings in New York City had that glow from the lights of the approaching sunset. The golden hour. Lisa felt a punch to her gut when Emily told her that she suspected Adam was having an affair. That wasn’t possible. This was the perfect life. This was the life that she had dreamed of.
Emily stared at the view. “Lisa, as you’re talking, I remember us in a diner: you, me, and a girl. You argued with her. You told her something.”
Emily came back towards Lisa who was leaning against the back of the chair, still as a statue, waiting for her friend’s reaction. “It’s kind of hazy. Like I’m looking at an old sepia photograph with the edges all blurred out.”
Relieved and scared, Lisa reached for her friend again. “Yes, you were there. I can’t believe that you can see that. You remember. How is this possible?”
Just as Emily was about to answer the improbable question, they heard a knock on the door, and then it opened. Standing there, in his dark blue suit and white shirt, tie hanging loose around the collar, was Adam. “Honey, I’m home!” His smile lit up the room. Lisa beamed at the same time that she was terrified. She needed more time with Emily. She still didn’t know the facts of her new life.
Adam reached her in three strides. “Babe, I’ve missed you so much. It feels like a lifetime since I last saw you.”