Authors: Aubrie Dionne
Diagnostics
Flynn's arms ached as he paddled the canoe to an alcove between the rocky outcroppings of the shore. He waded in the shallow water and climbed the rocks, pulling himself over the leafy edge. Panting, he rolled onto his back and gazed up at the stars.
I almost died. Tom tried to kill me. I can't believe he's gone.
"Need some help, lad?" Blarney stood above him, offering his hand.
Flynn's heart jump-started. He still had a long way to go and the horror of the night wasn't over. "How's Tabitha?"
"She's in the ambulance richt now, speedin' ta the infirmary. The lass is with her."
The tightness in his chest let up and he could finally take a deep breath. "Good."
Blarney crouched beside him. "Whit of Nessie?"
Flynn coughed with the memory. "She killed Tom." The words sat heavily on his tongue. As much as he hadn't liked the guy and as much as Tom had brought his demise upon himself, no one should have to die that way.
Blarney gazed out at the glassy water. "Ye daena say."
Flynn nodded. "Dragged him right under."
"All these years, I fretted ower her sauft side." He hit Flynn's shoulder. "Leuks like she can fend for herself, eh?"
Flynn shook his head adamantly. "Tabitha saved that monster's life. If she wasn't standing in the way, the harpoon would have gone straight through Nessie's neck. I'm sure of it."
"She's a brave young lass, and she needs ye richt now." Blarney pulled him up. "Let's git ye to yer caur."
Leaning on Blarney, Flynn climbed the hill to the road. The events of the night swam in his head, replaying over and over again. "Tom tried to kill me."
"Me tauld ye nae to trust that daftie."
"Nessie saved my life." Flynn thought back to the way she'd eyed him as he'd stood helplessly floating in that canoe. "She took Tom's life instead."
Blarney nodded. "She knows."
Flynn wasn't sure if Nessie was aware of his intentions, or if Tom's splashing had drawn her to target him instead. Surely she could have come back for Flynn as he'd paddled to shore, but she hadn't. Maybe she'd had enough blood?
They emerged from the forest and Flynn took a good look at the curve of the road. He'd driven this way so many times; he knew exactly where he'd parked. His car was a half-mile down the hill.
"This way." Flynn started down the hill.
"Guid luck, lad." The heaviness in Blarney's voice sounded like he said good-bye.
Flynn whirled around. "You're not coming with me?"
Blarney shook his head. "Me place is here with Nessie. Ye gae on, leuk efter the li'l lassie and make shuir ye tell the guid doctor hou ye feel."
The good doctor? He was going to the hospital for Tabitha, not for
his
injuries. Flynn scratched his head as he searched the distant mountains.
Oh, he meant Gail.
"Thanks, Blarney. So, I'll be seeing you around then?"
A light wind whispered in the trees as Flynn searched the edge of the woods for the old man. Blarney was gone.
****
Gail sat in the waiting room at Raigmore Hospital, twining a thread around her finger until she blocked the flow of blood and her fingertip numbed. Tabitha had gone into surgery to remove the harpoon almost an hour before. Any minute now, the doctor would come through that door with good news or bad.
Please, please, please be all right.
The poor girl was already in a weakened state. On top of the chemo treatments, the tumors, and the experimental drugs, to suffer all that blood loss⦠Gail couldn't imagine. Thinking about the harpoon wound made her stomach twist.
The double doors parted and Gail shot up from her seat.
Flynn came through. Mud covered his clothes and he smelled like dank lake water, but he was all in one piece.
Gail ran into his arms. She'd never been so happy to see anyone in her life. She buried her head in his shoulder as he held her close. "I was so worried about you."
"I'm fine." His voice was tense and Gail pulled back to gaze into his eyes. She wiped a splotch of mud from his cheek. "What happened out there?"
Flynn's eyes were unsteady. She'd never seen him this anxious. "Tom tried to use me as bait, and Nessie dragged him under. He's gone."
"You mean dead?"
Flynn nodded and Gail's stomach sank with the finality of the moment. Dead. Tom was dead. A strange, sticky guilt came over her. She'd never liked the man and now he was gone. She wasn't mournful in the least and she didn't know how to feel about that.
"What about Blarney?"
"He returned to the woods." Flynn scanned the tables of old magazines. "Have you heard any news yet on Tabitha?"
She pursed her lips. "No. Still waiting. The hospital called your parents. They were six hours away, raising money for cancer research, but they should be here soon."
"Thanks. Let's hope the news comes soon."
Gail took his arm. "We've got to get you some clean, dry clothes."
"Naw. I'm fine. I want to be here when the doctor comes in." He collapsed onto a sofa and rubbed his forehead. "What a night."
"You're telling me." Gail sat beside him, and he draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. If not for Tabitha's situation, they would have been celebrating the sighting of Nessie. Even now, Gail wondered how much Tom's cameras had captured.
If he'd remembered to turn them on.
Gail knew better than to speak badly of the dead.
She slumped against Flynn, listening to the sound of his breathing. Together they'd get through this, no matter what happened. She'd be there for him when the news broke, whether it was good or bad.
Her eyes grew foggy and she drifted off to sleep.
****
Yellow-breasted finches chirped above her head as Gail followed a path through the forest. Buds decorated the branches in small green pods. Snow melted at her feet, trickling into a nearby stream that gurgled with life. Insects hummed around her.
Spring. Her favorite season.
She took a deep breath, smelling the heady scent of early blooming lilacs.
Where am I going?
Gail checked her back. No backpack. No water bottle. She wasn't even wearing her hiking boots. The soles of her tennis shoes were already soaked through. How could she have taken off in such a condition? She knew better.
Disoriented, she decided to follow the path. Surely she'd remember once she reached the end.
The path twisted around an old oak tree, leading to a small basin filled with icy, sparkling water. On the opposite side crouched a man in a green rain poncho. Her hopes rose sky high.
"Dad?"
The man turned toward her and his kind face broke into a smile. He hadn't aged a day since she'd last seen him. "What a great day for a hike, huh, sport?"
"Where are we?"
"White Mountain National Forest, of course. Where else would we hike on a day like this?"
Discrepancy stirred in her gut, making her entire body tingle with the feeling of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something was off about this whole day. Was it the fact she'd forgotten her backpack and hiking boots? A distant memory of a black lake haunted her, and she pushed the thought away.
"Have you found any tracks?"
"Better yet, I found this." He pulled something from the pocket of his jeans. Between his fingertips he held a scale. "You found one just like it, remember?"
Reality rushed in with an unwanted flood of memories, twisting her stomach. Loch Ness, the harpoon, Tabitha, Flynn, the phone call from her mother.
This wasn't real. Gail scanned the mossy banks. Water trickled into the stony basin. This wasn't a memory. They'd never been here before. So it had to be a dream. Would the world dissolve now since she'd figured it out?
No.
Gail had to hold the dream together. As imaginary as it was, this might be her only chance to say the words she'd stored up inside her all these years. "I'm sorry I didn't go with you that day in the Alps. Maybe I could haveâ"
He waved her words away before she finished. "Nah. Don't worry about that, sport. I'm proud of you for following your heart, for making the biggest discovery in over a century. I knew you had it in you."
Gail nodded, hearing the words that could have healed her so many years ago.
Her father's face grew solemn, his eyes melancholy. "Even if no one believes you, the important point is
you
know Nessie is real. That's all that matters in the end."
Was this her dad talking? Had he truly believed that, he wouldn't have gone out that wintry day. Proof meant everything to him. "We have proof this time, Dad."
He stood, wiping his hands on his pants. Gail's heart fell as the scale tumbled into the water, glimmering in the morning sunlight filtering through the trees above.
Her father turned away, and his words rode the wind back to her. "You don't need proof to believe."
****
"Gail, hon. Time to wake up."
Gail stirred against Flynn's warm body. Was he calling her
hon?
She must still be dreaming. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to recapture the image of the spring forest and her father. There was so much more she wanted to say, even if he was only a dream.
"The doctor's right outside."
Gail's eyes fluttered open to the fluorescent lighting of the waiting room. "What?"
A man wearing a white coat pushed through the double doors. He spotted them on the sofa and walked in their direction.
Gail tightened her grip on Flynn's arm. This was it.
The older doctor squinted wearily. "Gail Phillips and Flynn Mahoney, I presume?"
They shot up from the sofa and nodded in sync.
"The operation was successful. The harpoon failed to penetrate any major organs. There was some hemorrhaging, but we managed to keep the blood loss under control."
Hemorrhaging?
Gail shifted on her feet, wishing the doctor wouldn't try to skate around the facts.
Flynn took in a deep breath. "So Tabitha's going to be okay, right?"
The doctor nodded, scratching the graying wisp of hair on his head. "She's unconscious right now, but her condition is stable. She'll be fine." His gaze shifted from Gail and back to Flynn and a smile brightened on his face. "In fact, she'll be more than fine."
"What do you mean?" Flynn took Gail's hand.
She squeezed his palm.
The doctor continued in a calm, practiced manner. "She came in with a small bump on her head, so we did a few scans, and I talked to her primary care physician and reviewed her charts. It seems she is the only patient that has shown results with the experimental drug treatment therapy."
Flynn shook his head as if he didn't hear the doctor correctly. "What are you saying?"
"The tumors have shrunk to pea-sized masses, and some have disappeared altogether."
Gail dropped Flynn's hands and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
"You mean the cancer is gone?" Flynn's voice shook with disbelief.
The doctor shook his head. "Not completely. My estimation, if the growth doesn't increase again, is she'll be able to live a normal, full life."
Flynn spread his hands as though the doctor had performed a miracle. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." He embraced the man, hugging him so tightly the doctor's face turned red.
Gail felt as though she was in some sort of Hollywood Christmas special. Tabitha's miraculous recovery was too good to be true. Stuff like this just didn't happen. She eyed the doctor skeptically, squashing her rising hopes. "You're certain?"
The doctor gestured toward the door. "I have the results of the scans in my office. You're welcome to take a look for yourselves."
"That's not necessary." Flynn finally let go of his hold on the doctor and clapped him on the back. "What I'd like to see is Tabitha."
"You may see her when she wakes up." Doctor Yarmouth moved to the door. "I'll be in my office if you have any other questions."
"Thanks again, Doc." Flynn saluted him as he left, then turned to Gail. "Can you believe it?"
"No, but I'm trying." Gail laughed as Flynn picked her up and twirled her around.
He put her down and kissed her passionately. Gail closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his in response. Never had a moment felt so perfect. They'd successfully found the Loch Ness monster and learned of Tabitha's recovery all in one night. Was it a coincidence?
Some say she wakes to grant leif to ane lost soul. While others say she wakes to take it away.
Gail pulled back. "Wait a second."
Flynn studied her with concern. "What's wrong?"
"You don't think Tabitha's tumors shrinking had anything to do with the fact she touched Nessie, do you?"
Flynn took both her hands in his. "She didn't take the pills, Gail. They're all stuffed in her pillowcase back up in her hospital room."
"So you believe�" She couldn't even finish the question.
Flynn nodded emphatically. "I absolutely do."
Hidden Agenda
Flynn drove along the tire tracks he'd made the previous night in the patch of mossy ground on the winding road hugging Loch Ness. He'd driven past this spot a thousand times, yet now it had enormous significance, causing goose bumps across his shoulders.
So much had happened since he'd last parked there, leaving Tom to sleep off his hangover in the car. Tom was dead, Tabitha was healing, and they'd witnessed Nessie in the flesh. There was only one task left: check the cameras to see what proof such a frenzied night had left them.
Thank goodness Gail had volunteered watch over Tabitha so Flynn could collect Tom's cameras. She'd agreed to stay another week, giving them more time to establish a relationship.