Saving Grace

Chapter 44

Familiar beeps echoed around him, comforting yet at the same time alarming. Warmth seeped through him as he became aware of a weight holding him down. He flexed his fingers, tried to lift his arms. He groaned as he struggled to open his eyes.

"Good morning, Joe."

"Yeah." The weight lifted off his hand as fingers wrapped around his. He fought to open his eyes. Stark white walls surrounded him. He blinked several times. "Where am I?"

"Joe, honey, you're in the hospital. You fell in the river."

"What day is it?"

"It's December 28th."

"What year?"

"Joe?"

"What year?"

"Two thousand fifteen."

He shook his head. "No. It can't be."

"Joe, you've been lost for almost two months."

Joe swallowed against the cotton in his mouth. He turned his head, hoping to see Grace. Instead, his mother sat next to him, holding his hand. He shook his head, his eyes widening with shock. "Grace." He struggled beneath the weight as he tried to get up.

"Joe, you have to lie still."

"No."

She pressed the button on his bed, then almost laid on top of him, trying to hold him down. Several nurses ran into the room.

"He's in shock."

Joe fought their grasping hands. Something stabbed his shoulder followed by a numbing pain that filtered through him, sending him toward a deep nothingness.

"Who is Grace?"

He tried to answer as he fell back onto the bed. "Grace."

Red and orange lights glowed in the darkness. Joe watched them in silence for several minutes. Soft snoring in the corner caught his attention. He shifted under the weights, moving them so he could sit up. He arched his back, trying to relieve the cramps between his shoulder blades. Tubing pulled at him as he tried to stand up.

"Hold up there, Joe. Let me help you."

Joe's head swung around as he searched for the owner of the voice in the darkness. "Dad?"

"Yeah. I couldn't believe it was you when you came out of the trees."

Joe stumbled as he took a step.

"Here. Hold the IV pole. I've got your other side."

"Thanks."

"Where are we going?"

"To the bathroom."

Alarms started sounding as Joe closed the door behind him. He vaguely heard his dad talking to the nurses.

The bathroom door opened, spilling light into the darkened room.

"Dad, can we go home?" Joe almost begged. His heart ached for Grace. He needed to know how they were, where they were. When they were.

The nurse ushered him back to bed, like a wayward child. "You've got to rest. You're dehydrated and hypothermic. Until we get your temperature up, you're not going anywhere."

"I'm fine," Joe protested.

"Joe, they can't release you til tomorrow anyway. Just stay warm and we'll get you out of here as soon as we can."

Joe sighed, knowing he couldn't search adequately until daylight.

The door closed behind the nurses. "Joe, where were you? Where've you been?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Dad..."

"Joe, we've got all night."

"I went back in time."

"What, like in a time machine?" Daniel scoffed.

"See? I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Ok. Let's try again. How? What happened?"

Joe sighed. He told the story until daylight began to make an appearance through the window.

"That's almost too fantastical to believe."

"I know. I didn't believe it at first either." He shifted on the hospital bed. "I need to go back. I can't leave them out there like that."

"Sounds like you had them in pretty good shape."

Joe looked down at his hands. "Not really." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I left her with a ring."

Silence roared through the room, enveloping them in its uncomfortable grasp.

"A - a ring? Where'd you get a ring?"

"I made it."

His father's jaw worked for several minutes until the door opened, admitting his mother.

"Joe. You're awake. How do you feel?"

"I just wanna go home."

She bent over the bed and held him in her arms. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."