Beyond the Reflection’s Edge (43 page)

Kelly laid a bloody hand on his forearm, patting him several times as if searching for something on his sleeve. “Oh, Nathan! I’m so sorry!”

He took her hand and held it against his face, shaking so hard, he smeared her blood across his cheek. “It’s not … not your fault. It’s mine. I should’ve …”

As police sirens wailed in the distance, several men escorted Dr. Gordon past the onlookers, two men in front, three in back, and two on each side. He glared at Nathan but said nothing.

Nathan growled at him. “What did you do with Gordon Red?”

Gordon Blue sneered. “Do you think me a fool? See to that yourself.”

Clara slid her arms under Nathan’s and helped him up, while Daryl hoisted Kelly to her feet. “We need to get both of you to a hospital,” Clara said.

Nathan brushed off his clothes. “I’m fine. Just Kelly. She’s hurt pretty bad.”

Staring into space, Kelly touched the wound on her shoulder.
“I’ll go, but we’d better find Gordon Red. He might need a hospital, too.”

Nathan waved a hand in front of Kelly’s eyes. “Can you see okay? You look kind of dazed.”

She shook her head. “Everything’s foggy, like it’s getting dark.”

“An ambulance just pulled up,” Nathan said. He intertwined his fingers with hers, ignoring the streams of blood. “Let the police find Gordon. You’re going to the hospital, and I’m not leaving your side.”

Pulling down his sweatshirt hood, Nathan leaned his waist against the metal bedrail and pushed a bouquet of long-stemmed pink roses under Kelly’s nose. “Like them?” he asked.

With her bed propped up, Kelly took a long sniff, then folded her hands over her flowery hospital gown. Draping the front of her torso loosely the cotton covered her well enough, but it sagged at her right shoulder, exposing a large, thick bandage. “All I smell is the bacon in your cheeseburger. I’m so hungry I might just eat those flowers.”

Nathan laid the roses on her bed, scrunched the top of the Burger King bag he had left on the serving table, and hid it behind his back. “What cheeseburger?”

Staring into space, her eyes framed by dozens of black scorch marks, she blinked rapidly. “What cheeseburger? The one that’s whispering to the French fries in your bag. It’s saying” — she cupped her hands around her mouth and deepened her voice — “‘Give me to Kelly! I must be eaten by Kelly!’”

“I see. Now you’re hearing voices from fast-food bags.” He waved his hand slowly in front of her eyes. “Can you see any better?”

She nodded. “Quite a bit. I can recognize people, but it’s like everyone’s kind of ghostly.”

Standing on the other side of the bed, Clara took the roses and unwound the green paper that held their stems. Pulling up
the sleeves on her beige trench coat, she threaded the stems into a long-necked vase. “Your dinner will be here soon, a nice post-surgery helping of something clear and digestible.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Baby food, right?”

“No,” Nathan said, grinning. “I saw the can. It’s Alpo.”

“Good. Top-of-the-line dog food beats mashed peas any day, but I’ll be glad to trade you half of mine for half of yours.”

“No. I wouldn’t think of it. I’m too much of a gentleman to deprive you of even one morsel of such a treat.”

“Oh, hush, you two,” Clara said. “You’re about as funny as a lanced boil.”

Daryl popped into the room, a lively bounce in her step. As she lowered her hood, she shook out her thick red locks. “Brrr. It’s cold out there this morning. Must be January on Yellow.”

“Did you get the pictures?” Nathan asked.

“Right here.” She tossed a photo packet onto the bed. “They salvaged some of the film, but the camera’s a goner.”

Nathan picked it up. “Did you already look at them?”

Glancing away, Daryl leaned against the bed. “What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Kelly snatched the packet from Nathan. “Insatiably curious. Nosy. An incurable snoop.”

Daryl turned back and smiled. “Yeah. That’s all true. But I only sneaked one peek, and I couldn’t really figure out what I was looking at.”

After opening the top, Kelly slid the inner envelope onto her chest. “It’s thin,” she said. “Only a few pictures.”

“Just three,” Daryl replied. “The rest of the roll was pretty fried.”

Kelly laid the trio of photos across the sheet and pointed at the first one. “It’s blurry, but I think I see four people, so that’s the first one I took. It should show the woman who asked me to take the shots, the husband and wife, and Jack in the back-ground. Is that right?”

Nathan leaned close. “Yeah, but it looks strange, like there’s some kind of glow around their outlines.”

“Maybe that’s the dimensional holes forming, like the ones Dr. Gordon talked about. I wonder if all six of them came across.”

“You got me.” He brushed his fingertip across Jack. It was a good thing he came. Who could tell what would’ve happened without him?

Kelly pointed at the second photo. “This should be the one I took of the wreckage. You and that author should be in it.”

“We are. We’re standing near a pile of twisted metal and wires, and he has the same aura, but I don’t.” He picked up the last photo, a shot of the funeral scene. In the mirror, his mother stood out clearly, playing her violin. The sheer drapes covering the window behind her had blown outward, exposing the sill. Two hands gripped the painted wood, as though someone was trying to climb in. His eyes glowed red, and his fingers were long and white. Nathan nodded slowly. It had to be Patar.

The sight of his mother brought a new lump to his throat. He had touched her skin, heard her voice, felt her love! So close, yet so far! And Dad! Once again he experienced his father’s great strength as well as his sacrificial love. His father had let go of a rescuing grip in order to save his son’s life.

His hand now trembling, he showed the photo to Kelly. “Can you see that face and those hands on the sill? It looks like the guy I told you about, Patar.”

“We’ll have to get an enlargement so I can see it better.” She flipped the picture back to the bed and sighed. “Too many questions and not enough answers.”

“I wonder when Gordon Red’s coming. Maybe he’ll have some answers.”

“He’s in the waiting room,” Daryl said, motioning toward the door with her thumb. “They wouldn’t let more than three visitors come in, so he’s waiting for one of us to leave.”

Nathan, Kelly, and Clara all stared at Daryl simultaneously.

She raised her hands and cocked her head, smiling as she backed away. “That’s okay. I understand. You don’t have to knock me over the head.” She blew Kelly a kiss. “Thanks for the fun. I’m really just a supporting actress in this flick, but, hey maybe there’s an Oscar nomination in the wings, huh?” She winked dramatically “Get better quick, girl. I’m ready for some more adventures.”

The clacking of shoes echoed through the hallway. Seconds later, Dr. Gordon strode in, his brow furrowed and his lips turned down. He shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at Nathan. “Your actions on Earth Yellow were more far-reaching than I thought.”

Nathan took a step back. “Uh … okay. I’m glad to see you, too.”

Wincing, Gordon waved his hand. “I know, I know. Politeness demands a more genteel entry, and I am thankful we all survived my counterpart’s schemes, but we have pressing issues to discuss.”

“Pressing issues?”

“Of course. Did you think the ramifications of your dimensional perforations were over?”

“Well, no, I uh —”

“As I explained before, our dimensions were always exactly in parallel until we began crossing from one to another. Then, our simple presence in a foreign dimension caused slight changes, triggering an unpredictable domino effect. Maybe a driver slowed down to allow me to cross a street. Maybe he arrived home four seconds later than he would have and avoided a burglar who would have killed him. Later, this same man kills a woman who would have given birth to a research scientist who would have discovered a breakthrough cure for a disease.”

Nathan folded his arms across his chest. “But maybe our effects are positive in the long run. Did you think of that?”

“Naturally. That’s been Dr. Simon’s goal all along, to create positive effects in the dimensions that trail in time. But I wanted to begin with small changes so we could track the chain reactions. Dr. Simon had other plans. He couldn’t imagine how saving over two hundred seventy lives could possibly be a bad idea. And since Earth Yellow was about to hurtle past the day of the airline crash, he didn’t bother to consult me. He worked very hard to get you to the right place at the right time.

“We cannot possibly track the rescued passengers, and as you know, one has even crossed over to our dimension, and we have no idea where he is now. And it seems that others have crossed over as well. There have been a couple of reports flying about concerning long-lost plane crash victims appearing at their former homes. Who can tell how either dimension will be affected?”

Nathan pushed his hands into his sweatshirt pockets. “So maybe Francesca and Solomon won’t meet. Maybe I won’t even be born over there.”

Kelly patted his elbow. “Don’t worry about that. Gunther will make sure they get together.”

“As soon as you are able, I would like to meet with both of you again to work on these matters.” Dr. Gordon edged toward the door. “It seems that your most pressing concern is still finding your parents. Simon Blue helped them escape, but since he no longer had access to the observatory he took them to Nathan Blue’s bedroom so they could use that mirror to transport. Without the missing square, they had to rely on you to get them out. Simon was searching for the piece when he heard a loud pop. He returned to the room, and your parents were gone.”

“Gone?”

Dr. Gordon nodded. “The mirror is intact, so we will get the final piece and see if they can be traced.”

Nathan drooped his head. It was so strange. He wanted to
pump his fists and celebrate that his parents were still alive, but now, in some ways, he felt worse than ever. They were in trouble, and he wouldn’t sleep a wink until he brought them home. Still, since Jack crossed the barrier with Mictar, maybe he could help Mom and Dad. Maybe they could still be rescued.

Dr. Gordon opened the door. “The two Simons are working together, and I’ll join the search very soon. In the meantime” — he spread two fingers at Nathan and Kelly — “you two need to rest and get well. From the reports I’ve heard, you make quite a dynamic duo.”

Kelly pulled Nathan’s hand from his pocket and held it tight. “You better believe we do.”

A hint of a grin cracked Dr. Gordon’s stoic face. “But leave the shotgun at home, little lady. The world’s not ready for the rebirth of Annie Oakley.” He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Clara grabbed her trench coat’s belt and tied it quickly. “I must catch Dr. Gordon. I forgot to consult with him about what to do with the bodies of your Earth Blue parents, then I must locate suitable lodging for us. So, I will leave the two of you alone for a while and return for Nathan, but then he and I will have to leave for the night.” She raised her eyebrows. “Is that a suitable plan?”

“Sure, Clara,” Nathan said. “Thanks for everything.”

Kelly groped for her hand and smiled. “You’re the best.”

Clara’s eyes glistened as she turned for the door. “I am really very impressed with you, young lady. Very much impressed.”

When Clara disappeared into the hall, Kelly felt for Nathan’s hand and clutched it to her chest. She took a deep breath and smiled. “I really like her.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” As her hands enveloped his, her fingers trembled. “Are you cold?” he asked.

Her faraway eyes each shed a tear. “I’m not cold. I’m just scared.”

Nathan leaned closer and softened his voice. “Scared of what?”

“Lots of things.” She slowly tightened her grip on his hand. “What if all of creation collapses? What if I never get my eye-sight back? What if we can’t find your parents? What if —”

He quieted her with a long, soothing, “Shhhh …” When her hands settled and her eyes turned toward him, he continued in a hushed tone. “Those are just ‘what ifs.’ Everything’s going to be all right.”

She blinked at him. A new tremble took shape in her lips. “But if your parents die, it’ll be my fault.”

“Your fault? Why?”

Again, she blinked, but this time the tremor spread from her lips to her cheeks and echoed in her hands until her entire body shook. Her voice broke into a plaintive call. “Because … because you could have rescued them, but you saved me instead.”

“Of course I saved you.” He set a tender hand on her cheek. As if stilled by his touch, her tremors eased and faded away. “Saving your life was more important than getting them back.”

As her eyebrows arched high, her voice pitched up as well. “But why? You’ve been trying to rescue your parents ever since I met you.”

Nathan drew his head back. “You mean … you don’t know?”

“No. That’s why I’m asking.”

He pulled his hands away and set them on the bedrail. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

He lowered his head. “You said not to use that word.”

“What word?” Even as she asked her question, she drew in a halting breath. Her wounded eyes glistened. “You … you mean …”

He nodded.

New tremors raced across her hands as she reached out for his. “Go ahead … and say it.”

As their four hands intertwined in a soft embrace, he whispered, “I saved you, Kelly Clark, because I love you.”

Again her tremors faded. “But why would you love someone like me? I’m just a —”

“A girl who’s searching.” Bending closer, he raised their hands and breathed on her knuckles. “Love is the true breath of God. And I’ll do everything I can to show his love to you so you’ll find what you’re searching for.”

Tears streaming, she looked at her anointed hand. “But I don’t know … what I’m searching for.”

“I think I do, at least a couple of things. We’ll search for them together.” As a vibrant song rang through the halls, Nathan smiled. “Sounds like you have a visitor.”

The door swung open, revealing a tall man with bulging eyes carrying a pizza box high on his palm. Singing something lively in an odd mix of Italian and English, he strode to the bed and laid the box on Kelly’s stomach. “Extra liver and anchovies,” Tony bellowed, “just the way you like it.”