Prescribed for Love (28 page)

“Good point.” But then Keith paused, “Do you know how this works?”

“Nay.”

“Me neither,”
admitted Keith.
“Please send Catriona home, she needs medical attention.” Nothing happened. “Here you try.”

Alasdair
took the book and also tried asking, but nothing happened. “Maybe she needs to ask?” he suggested. Walking closer to the bed, he gently shook Catriona. “Catriona. Catriona, ye need to wake up.” She fluttered her eyelashes, so he tried shaking her a little harder, “Catriona, wake up.”

“Huh, what?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

“Catriona, ye need to wish yerself back home. Ye have been hurt.”

She looked dazed, but then comprehension seemed to alight in her eyes, “Give me the book.”
Holding the book with her
hand she said, “Please, I need to go back to 2012.”

***

Cat heard voices around her, but they sounded funny. Opening her eyes, she was almost blinded by the bright light and white walls. “Oh good. You’re awake.” It took a minute for Cat to process the
words;
it had been so long since she had heard English.

“What happened?” Cat even had trouble forming the words; she had been speaking Gaelic for so long now.

“We were hoping you could tell us. One of the more absurd theories going around is a medieval reenactment murder cult,” said the woman. “But, I don’t believe that. I’m sure it was just an accident. I’ll go tell the doctor you’re awake so he can go over everything with you.”

Cat could not believe
this; she was finally back in her own time. This is what she had wanted for so long—but now that she was here—she just felt empty inside.

Although, she did not think she was actually home. By the woman’s accent, Cat thought she was most likely still in Scotland.
Remembering the nurse implied they would be asking her questions, Cat began to develop a feasible story
.

A knock on the door was followed by entrance of a middle-aged man. “Hello, I’m Dr. MacLean.”

“Of course you are,” muttered Cat.

“Sorry?”

“
Of course you are, I saw your name on my chart
,” she corrected.

“
Oh, well it is very nice to finally meet you Ms…?”
prompted the physician.

“MacLean, actually.” She did not want to give her real name in case
it
flagged the
police;
she had been missing for almost a year.
Plus,
she may not have married a MacLean, but she could have.

“How funny
!” said the
physician
. “Were you here visiting the land of your ancestral roots?”

This sounded like a plausible enough story for Cat. “Yes. I was doing the silly tourist thing. I even went all out and got some authentic clothing, I wanted to get the full experience.”
There, that should explain the weird dress!

“
But I think an arrow through the chest is a little more authentic than you bargained for, aye?”
asked Dr. MacLean.

“You can say that again,” she replied.

“Do you know how it happened?” he asked.

“It was just a freak accident as far as I can tell. One minute I was walking, taking in the scenery, the next I woke up to see the nurse I was just speaking to. Probably just one of those wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time things.”
Sure Cat, keep babbling like an idiot.

“Hmm.”

Before he could get too suspicious she asked, “So how bad is it?”

“You are actually quite lucky,” said the doctor. “You were hit on the right side, high on the chest, so nothing critical was
damaged
. But, there was a lot of bleeding. We had to place a drain in your chest, and you will need to have it for another six to eight weeks.”

“That long? But what about the baby?”

“The baby is fine. However, as far as we can tell, you will be due soon after your chest tube is scheduled to come out, so your stay with us will
likely
be even longer.”

“Ugh,” Cat let out a groan of frustration and wiped her face with her hands.

“Is there anyone we should call? The father maybe?”

“No, I’m afraid he’s out of the picture,” said Cat as a tear rolled down her cheek.
More like out of the century.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll let yo
u have some privacy.” As the doctor
walked out, Cat finally let her mind
fully examine
her situation. While
this was certainly
not ideal, it could be worse.
She was alive, her baby was alive—now hopefully she could figure out a way to get back to when Alasdair was alive.

Cat
wondered if the fates were playing some kind of cruel
,
ironic joke on her.
She had been
trying for months
to get back to her own time, but now
that she was here, she needed to find a way to get back
. She did not know if it was possible, but she damn well was going to try! She needed to get back to the two men she loved most in the world. It had only taken a near-death ex
perience for Cat to realize how much she actually did love Alasdair
.
Well Cat, you never did like to do things the easy way!

***

“Do ye think she lives?” Alasdair finally had gained enough courage to ask Keith the question.

“I like to think so. Medicine is much more advanced. You’d be amazed at the things we are able to accomplish in the future.”

“And the b
airn
?”

“I can’t know for sure, but if Cat lived, it is likely the baby did as well,” replied Keith. The two men had formed a close bond over the past couple of weeks. They were the only two who really knew what had happened to Catriona. To everyone else, they had blamed her disappearance on the Camerons.

“Will ye try to go home now the Castle is back under our control and the Camerons are off MacLean land?”

“No,” replied Keith. “I will wait a little longer. I have a feeling Cat will come back here if at all possible. I don’t want to risk going back to the future only to be left behind again.”

***

“
Jesus tap-dancing
Christ, this amount of pain is just not natural!” screamed
Cat.

“No, I assure you, this amount of pain is perfectly natural. You are the one that refused all of our offers
of
an epidural,” said the only nurse who was still willing to stay long enough to t
alk with Catriona. Cat liked the nurse when she was not being so obnoxious—
she had sass.

Cat had wanted to prove she could have a child naturally. After all, if she was able to get back to the past, she needed to prove she could do this if she was going to have any more kids, but she could hardly explain that to the nurse. “Are you sure there’s only one in there?”

“I’m sure. Here comes another contraction. Now stop talking and start pushing.”

Catriona had threatened to quit at least ten times, but each time the nurse just laughed at her. Luckily, things progressed smoothly and the d
octor was finally called in
for the final push. As Catriona welcomed Alexander MacLean into the world, her only regret was that the boy’s father could
not be with her to share in the joy.

A week later, Cat left the hospital after some inventive lying. She still had no idea what she had said to finally convince the hospital she had a home to which she and Alexander could return.

But, it was not as if Cat did not have a plan.
Finding the first ATM she could, Catriona dug her wallet out of the secret pocket in her purse. She was lucky the hospital had not found her ID. She took each one of her debit cards and withdrew the maximum amount of cash.
She was fortunate rent was so expensive around Boston. The three-month’s worth she had saved should be able to sustain her for a while here.

Catriona inserted the first card—s
he knew she would likely only have one shot with each before they were shut down as a precaution against fraud. She was surprised at how much she was able to withdraw. She had even purposefully withdrawn more than
some of her
account
s
had in them.
Ha ha
, take that banks! You’ll never get the overdraft fees back from me.
Ethics be damned!

Catriona then went from store to store, stocking up on all the supplies she would need. She even bought the biggest backpack she could
find
without looking suspicious. She retired her red purse for the completely unfashionable (but very practical) bag. She loaded all of her supplies in the bag and then found a
cheap bed and breakfast
for the evening.

Laying Alexander down, she began to map out her plan. She was going to find Elspeth’s hut, and see if the book was there. Cat seemed to get the impression the book always
returned
there eventually. She would not go right away, Alexander was too small. But once he got a bit stronger, she would see if she could find the hut.

***

“Ye look concerned,” said Alasdair to Keith.

“I am. I was sure Cat would have been back by now.”

“Do ye think she decided to stay in the future?” asked Alasdair.

“I wish I could say yes, but I can’t.” replied Keith sadly.

“I see,” said Alasdair. He had taken some
ease
knowing Catriona was well in the future, but now it seemed he could not even hold onto that
small comfort
. “What will ye do?”

“I’m not sure, but I thought I should at least see if the book is back at Elspeth’s hut—see if I at least have the option to go back.”

“I will go with ye,” offered Alasdair.

***

T
his was it, the moment of truth—over the next bend was Elspeth’s hut. Cut broke out into a loud guffaw and she drove the rental car into view of the building. Before her was a sign that read ‘Elizabeth’s Books.’
Let’s just hope they have the one book I really need.
She exited the vehicle and then grabbed Alexander from his car seat.

“Hello,” greeted the woman at the front counter. “Can I help you with anything?
Baby books maybe?
”

“Yes
,
but I’m not interested in baby books
. Do you have any old texts that would contain
information on medicinal uses of herbs
?”

“Ach, I ken. I would not want to ingest all these modern chemicals either if I had such a small one. The books you are looking for are just over there—in the back row
,” pointed the woman.

“Thanks!” said Cat as she followed the directions. Her heart began to race as she peered through the shelves.
There it is!
Cat could not believe it; it should not have been this easy
.
She was worried
something would go wrong
—th
e way everything was falling into place had her nervous.
She hur
ried to the counter to cash out, but
had a hard time not just ripping the
book out of the clerk’s hand as
the girl
boxed the item. With another q
uickly muttered another ‘thanks
’
Cat raced to the solitude of her car.

Getting back into her rental
, she hugged Alexander closely to her,
ensuring she also had a good grip on her backpack
. She double
checked to make sure she was wearing sneakers and jeans
; she had no desire to go back into the past without practical clothing. Hold
ing the book in her free hand she closed her eyes and said, “P
lease send me back to Alasdair—I love him so much.
I need my family to be whole again.”

Opening her eyes, Catriona almost cried when she saw she was still in the car.
I must not have done it right!
She
reached for
the book again—but it was gone. All the blood drained from C
atriona’s face as realization ca
me over her. She recognized the box the book had been put in. Finding the receipt, she looked at the date, May 11, 2012. “Oh my god
—I was the stupid ass that wished myself back into the past
!”

***

Alasdair was not surprised to see
the witch
waiting to greet the two men as they arrived. “I
wondered when ye would be back,
”
she greeted.