Time to Fall

Chapter Four: Show Me The Key

Tom woke up the next day, his mind having raced the entire night. It hadn't slept, even when he had. He was exhausted. Connie, however, seemed to be sleeping soundly. Which was good. The poor kid deserved it. He sighed. The first thing on his mind was that stupid hourglass. Damn, had he ever been a dumbass about it... I mean, really. That was their ticket home, to Jane.

He pulled his hand away from Connie carefully. He hadn't even realized he'd kept it there all night. She grabbed it back, pulling it closer, and Tom sighed. Everyone else was still asleep around them, and he really shouldn't upset her. But he needed to go and get that hourglass quickly, or they were stuck. So he very quickly tried to take it back again, and Connie blinked awake.

"Stay." She demanded groggily.

"Connie, I can't." Tom whispered.

"W'not?" Connie slurred. They'd upped her dosage on pain meds in the night because she hadn't been comfortable.

"The hourglass is still out there, Con." Tom sighed. Connie's eyes widened. "I wasn't even thinking about it when you crashed, Connie... I'm so sorry..."

"'Sokay." Connie tried to soothe. "Woulda done that too."

"I gotta go get it." Tom told her. "I'm gonna ask the nurses where they think it might be."

"'Mkay. Don' take too long." Connie mumbled, falling asleep.

"I won't." Tom promised, carefully making his way over to the door and out of the room.

He sighed. God, what was he doing? Was Connie right? Was this a terrible idea he'd forced her into? Connie seemed to be the smarter one between them, and the more time he spent with her the more he realized that. She'd have never let a detail like the hourglass go. What if... because of this change, what if she never did her art again? What if she'd done permanent damage in that crash? He'd have stolen something beautiful from the world.

What if it changed the way Tim turned out for the worse? What if now he was going through a rebellious phase, or what if him and his mom did something that hurt him since? God, there were so many possibilities. What had made him think that messing with the past was a good idea? Other than Jane... his Jane. She'd always had a way of being the fixation of all his efforts, and the centre of his attention. There wasn't a word she said that he didn't take as gospel truth. Maybe he shouldn't... maybe being a car had changed her. Because goddamnit, this was getting worse and worse every second. He sighed, approaching the desk.

"Can I help you?" One of the nurses asked, snapping him out of his head.

"Yeah... hi. I'm Tom Houston. I'm the brother of the girl in the motorcycle crash. She had something important on her that she wants me to try and get. Do you know where I might find the things they found around the crash?"

"Well... sir, I have to prepare you for the reality that it may have burned. There was a fire." The nurse bit her lip. Shit. She was right. "Was the item on her person?"

"I think it might have been in her hand..." Tom thought aloud, clearly distressed.

"Well then... you've actually got a decent chance of it being around, sir, because she may have let go of it on impact, and it could have been thrown far enough away." The nurse tried to soothe him. "I would check with the HFPD."

"Right. Thanks." Tom nodded, walking on.

He was lucky. HFPD wasn't far away from the police station at all. It was easily within walking distance. Tom walked out of the hospital and down the street, barely alert enough to notice and avoid the traffic around him. He almost got hit by cars more than once. God, if he didn't get this.... They'd have to spend years here. He'd have to relive life all over again- if they could. He didn't know how long they could stay in the past. In fact, he knew nothing. Was he ever dumb...