Page 12

ARI

“So?” Caleb says when I shut the door behind me. “Did you see a scar?”

I’m speechless. I’m not sure what I wanted from that encounter with Trey, but I didn’t expect to come out of it feeling so confused and empty. I suppose I wanted answers, but all I’ve got is more questions.

I slump into my chair at the kitchen table. My quinoa is still waiting for me to eat it. I don’t feel like eating though. “No, I didn’t see a scar.”

“So he was lying then.”

The evidence—or lack thereof—sure points that way. However, I’m not convinced that’s the whole story.

“Hopefully, that’s the last we’ll ever see of him,” Caleb says. “I’ll help you file that restraining order on Monday.”

“Okay,” I say impassively. I can’t think straight. My mind is reeling.

Caleb told me that after I woke up from fainting, I freaked out and didn’t know who he was.

Apparently, I kept yelling at him to get out of our apartment.

When he refused, apparently, I ran into the kitchen and threatened him with a knife.

Why would I do that? More importantly, why don’t I remember doing that?

According to Caleb, Trey showed up shortly after, pounding on our door, and when I heard Trey’s voice, I ran straight to him.

“You remembered him,” Caleb told me. “You said something about how he got stabbed and you were putting pressure on his wound. Then you got these painful pinches in your head. He brought you to our bed, then you asked him to cuddle with you. I’m not gonna lie, babe.

It was pretty fucking strange to see you talk to that man like you knew him. ”

Why don’t I remember any of that? The last thing I remember is seeing that spider; then I woke up in my bed with Trey in it.

I stand with my bowl in hand. From a lower cabinet, I pick out a Tupperware container and spoon my lunch into it.

“You didn’t eat much,” Caleb says.

“I’ll try eating more later.” I snap the lid onto the container, then place it into the fridge, knowing I probably won’t eat it later. As I close the door, the room spins around me and a wave of nausea hits me in the gut. A pair of strong arms catches me as I stumble backward.

“Muffin?”

“I’m okay,” I lie. “Just got dizzy all of a sudden.”

“You want to sit down?”

“Sure.” The nausea whips around my stomach as Caleb leads me to the couch. We’re only halfway into the living room when I feel like— “I’m gonna throw up.”

In a flash, Caleb lets go of me and rushes into the kitchen. A trash bin appears in front of me just as I start hurling. My chest heaves as I cough up the little that’s in my stomach.

Caleb holds back my long hair as I puke some more. Once the vomit has subsided, he helps me over to the couch. “Do you feel any better?” he asks.

“No,” I say as I lay my head back. “My arms feel numb, and I feel like I might throw up again.”

“That’s it. I’m taking you to the ER.”

The nausea has simmered down a bit now that we’re at the ER. The numbness in my arms is lighter too. The twisting knot in my chest hasn’t disappeared though.

A small medical bed sits in the middle of my sterile room. A white paper sheet is draped over the top of the bed, and the air smells of lemony disinfectant.

“Take a seat, Miss Rance,” says the nurse, who points two fingers toward the bed.

I do as I’m told while Javina plops into a chair. Since there’s only one chair, Caleb leans his back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

On our way to the hospital, I called Javina to ask if she could meet us here. Depending on how long this takes, Caleb will have to leave for work, and he didn’t want me at the ER alone.

The nurse checks my temperature, then takes my blood pressure. After he tells me that everything looks normal, he says, “We only have one doctor in tonight. She’s currently with another patient but should be around to speak with you shortly.”

“No worries,” I say. “I can wait.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna go check in the next patient. Just holler at any of the nurses out here if you need anything.”

The second the nurse slides the glass door shut behind him, Javina perks up. “Okay, tell me what happened!”

Together, Caleb and I tell her a shortened version of what happened with Trey. Caleb even tells her about all the stuff that happened while I was under some kind of memory spell. “The way he stared at her while she slept creeped me the fuck out.”

“I have a theory,” Javina says. “I think Trey was banished here from an alternate universe and doesn’t know it.

With his presence in our world, I think Ari’s memories are merging with the memories of the Ari from his universe.

Maybe that’s how she suddenly remembered him but she actually doesn’t, because technically, those things didn’t happen to her; they happened to Alterella. ”

Caleb arches his brow. “Alterella?”

“I know, I know. I’m a clever woman,” Javina says with a flip of her black curls. “Anyway, what if traveling through alternate universe portals heals all wounds? Maybe that’s how he doesn’t have a scar from being stabbed.”

The room goes silent as Caleb glances between me and Javina a few times. Then he hooks a thumb her way. “Is it just me, or is Javina making some sense?”

“What?” I blanch. “She’s making no sense at all. There’s no such thing as alternate universes.”

Caleb shrugs a shoulder. “I didn’t think so either—until you screamed at me to get out of our apartment, then laid in our bed with another man who you claimed was your boyfriend.”

I can’t believe Caleb is actually considering Javina’s theory. Usually, he’s so pragmatic.

“Shit, Trey can be my boyfriend if he wants,” Javina says, fanning herself with a hand. “I’d willingly throw myself into a volcano if it means that hunk of delicious meat would belong to me.”

I roll my eyes at her.

“I’ll do some research on alternate universes tonight while I’ve got downtime on my shift,” Caleb says. “Which reminds me, I’ve gotta get going. I still have to run home and get my uniform on before I head to work. Will you be okay with Javina?”

“Of course, love.” We give each other a quick kiss.

Barely a minute after Caleb leaves, an Asian woman in scrubs strolls into my room with a friendly smile. “Hello, I’m Doctor Park. Could you confirm your full name and birthdate for me?” After I do, she washes her hands at the sink, then turns to me. “All right. Tell me why you’re in today.”

“I’m not really sure what’s wrong with me. One second, I was putting food away. The next, I got really dizzy and?—”

“Doctor Park!” a guy shouts from outside my room. “Emergency! Ambulance patient! Arriving now!”

“Please excuse me.” The doctor rushes out of my room. She doesn’t even bother sliding the door shut behind her.

Javina, as curious as ever, pops out of her chair and shuffles toward the sliding glass.

“Status?” the doctor says from a distance.

“Twenty-something white male,” a man says. “Motorcycle accident. Witnesses say he rode straight into an oncoming truck at full speed. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet. Broken arm. Unstable vitals. He’s breathing, but he’s coming in and out of consciousness.”

“Which room do we have open for him?”

Their voices trail off as they head down the hall.

Javina slides the door shut, then heads back to her chair. “Sounds like a doozy. I hope the poor guy is okay.”

Twenty-something white male on a motorcycle? It can’t be. It’d be too much of a coincidence. Then again, it wouldn’t be the hardest thing for me to believe lately.

“You okay, babes? You’re lookin’ kinda pale.”

My lungs feel tight as I force myself to breathe. “Javie... um, Trey is a twenty-something white male who left my apartment earlier on a motorcycle.”

She gasps. “You don’t think... I mean, there’s tons of people in this city. He can’t be the only guy who fits that description, right?”

The air goes still around us. We must come to the same conclusion at the same time, because just as I’m about to hop down from my bed, Javina jolts off her chair. Without a word, she goes to do the exact thing I was about to do: slide the glass door back open.

“Out of the way!” a woman shouts from down the hall.

Chaos erupts outside my room. Javina and I peek our heads out the door as a bunch of EMTs rush into the hospital with a man on a stretcher. They wheel him down the hall so fast, I don’t catch a glimpse of him. I know it’s Trey though. My gut is telling me so.

For the next hour, Javina talks my ear off about alternate universes. She even scours the Internet for articles about how other universes could work, and she reads them to me. The more she tells me about the possible trillions of galaxies and beings out there, the more I believe her.

“He could be from the future,” Javina says. “Maybe in the future, they have things that can wipe memories and that’s what his government did with you as his punishment for breaking the future’s laws about falling in love with people from the past.”

“I think I prefer your alternate-universe theory,” I say. “It’s a little more believable.”

Eventually, Doctor Park returns, slightly out of breath. “I apologize for the wait. Whenever we get someone in by ambulance, those patients always come first.”

“What’s the guy’s name?” Javina asks, because she has no boundaries.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor says, “I can’t share that. Patient privacy.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, because, like Javina, I’m too curious for my own good.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that either. Let’s talk about you instead. Tell me why you’re in today.”

Since my weird symptoms from earlier are no longer present and all my vitals are normal, the doctor determines that I simply need some water and rest.

“If the dizziness comes back, please don’t hesitate to return,” she tells me.

“Thank you,” I say as I hop off the bed.

“You’re good to go.” The doctor sucks in a long breath through her teeth. “Now I’m off to see my next patient. I hope they’re as nice as you two were about the wait.”