From: cheryl492@aol.com
To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com
Subject: Twist in Time - Part 8
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 93 18:19:32 EDT
Message-Id: <9306031819.tn11528@aol.com>

Twist in Time 
Cheryl A. Bellucci

Part 8

     "Al, did you guys figure anything out?"  Sam whispered as he
reached the hologram.

     "We're not too sure, but there's a 84 percent chance that -"

     Al was interrupted by a shouted "Hey" from the park.  They both
turned to see two teenagers half carrying another man from the pond
area.  Sam rushed down to see what was wrong.

     "He says he was fishing and didn't pay any attention to the storm
until it was too late," one of the teenagers explained.

     "Got hit by some flying garbage," the man said.

     Sam took a quick look.  The man appeared to have some broken ribs,
and he was bruised pretty badly.  Nothing life threatening, but he did
need medical attention.  "Okay, can you bring him up to these steps?"
he asked, indicating the steps of the house he just rescued the cat
from.  The teenagers nodded.  "Alright, careful."  The youths gently
led the man to the steps and helped him sit down.  "We're going to take
you to the hospital, okay?"  The man nodded.  Sam stood up, then asked
the small crowd gathering around, "Does anyone here have a car that
works?"

     A lady spoke up and pointed to a house two doors down.  "I think
mine will work, but the side window is broken."

     Sam and one of the teenagers help the man up and led him to the
car.  The woman had gone back into the house and brought out a set of
keys, which Sam used to start the car while the teenagers brushed the
glass off the back seat and helped the man in.  The owner of the car
got in beside Sam.

     "You okay back there?"  Sam asked, looking into the rear view
mirror.  The man groaned in response.

     Sam put the car in gear and backed out of the driveway.  He
remembered that Al had told him the hospital was two blocks from the
park.  'Al!' he suddenly thought, 'he was going to tell me what I was
supposed to do!'  He glanced around outside, but Al was nowhere to be
found.  He looked back at the passenger in the back seat, obviously in
pain.  'Oh well, this guy needs supplies that I don't have here, Al
will just have to catch up with me at the hospital.'

     But once at the hospital, Sam didn't have time to look for Al.
The Emergency Room staff had their hands full, the hospital was running
on generator power, and injured people were coming in from everywhere.
What ambulances that could get through brought in the more seriously
hurt.  Sam pitched in where ever he could, talking to and treating the
ones with cuts and bruises.  The already-too-busy staff readily
accepted Sam's help for the minor injuries, but declined his help when
he offered to look after some of the more serious cases.  A quick
glance at his reflection in one of the windows reminded him why.  They
saw him as Wayne, not a doctor, but just a kid.

     Four hours later, injuries were still coming in, but so were new
doctors and nurses, some from the hospital, but others volunteering
from other areas.

     "Wayne, why don't you go home?" a nurse who had introduced herself
earlier as Becky asked Sam.  "You've done a lot already, and we've got
medical people coming in from other areas."

     "But there's still - "

     "You look tired.  Go home."

     Sam wanted to tell her that she looked tired, too, but he knew
that she didn't see him as a doctor.  "Okay, I probably need to go
check on my mom."

     Becky kissed him on the forehead.  "Thank you so much, you've been
a real help."

     Sam smiled.  "No problem."  He turned and walked out of the
hospital.  It was nighttime, and unusually dark.  Because the
electricity was out there were no street or house lights, so the
hospital looked strangely bright.  Al was standing in the parking lot.

     "You did it, kid."

     "What did I do, Al?  They wouldn't let me see any of the serious
patients.  I didn't do anything to save anybody's life."

     "Well, the fatality count from the tornado went down by one.
Maybe by helping out in the Emergency Room, you gave the real doctors
time to work on someone who needed it."

     "Al, I _am_ a real doctor."

     "They don't know that, they thought you were just a kid." The
handlink beeped, and Al read the display.  "This is interesting."

     "What's that?"  Sam moved over to where he could see the output.

     "Now Wayne doesn't go to Chicago right away.  Once he becomes a
doctor, he works on a medical team for the Red Cross that specializes
in disaster work."  Al looked up.  "You see, Sam, sometimes it isn't
one big event, just a lot of little ones that add up."

     Sam smiled.  He was tired but he felt good.  "Maybe Mrs. Garber
has some more chocolate cake at the apartment."  But Sam never got a
chance to find out, because just as he said that last sentence, blue
haze enveloped him, and he leaped.