Second Chances (28 page)

"Well, two days in a row. How wonderful."

Julie turned and saw Doris coming up behind them.

"Good morning, Doris."

"I suppose you heard about Jason? Nothing to worry about. The doctor said his chest was perfectly clear. Sarah thinks it is the change in the weather. I think it might be dust and told housekeeping to give special attention to Jason's room.

"Thank you so much."

"I hope these visits aren't going to get you in trouble with your work."

Julie shook her head. "No. I have a fair amount of freedom. Besides, Jason is my priority.
 

"I wish all our residents had someone in their life as devoted as you. Of course Jason is so young. Most of our residents don't have...." She stopped and put her hand over her mouth. She looked around to see if anyone else was near enough to have heard her, but the rest of the room was now empty. "My goodness. Please don't tell anyone I said a thing. Last thing my resident's families will want to hear is that I am some kind of gossip."

Julie laughed. "They won't hear a thing from me."

"Well I better let you and Jason get back to lunch. I just wanted to make sure you knew that he was okay."

"Thank you, Doris."

She watched the woman retreat back to the front desk and out of sight.

"Okay. I am going to get a wheelchair. I will tell them I want to take you for a stroll, like yesterday. Hopefully no one will be outside and we can get you into the car and out of here before they even realize what is happening."

As she began to get up, Jason reached out and grabbed the spoon from the bowl and tossed some soup onto his shirt. Julie was amazed at the speed of his movements. He looked down at the spreading stain and tilted his head ever so slightly upward

"Oh dear," she said loudly. Both Doris and Sarah came at almost a run.

Julie waved her hands to indicate nothing serious had happened.

"I'm so clumsy. I spilled some soup on his shirt."

Doris put a hand to her chest, visibly relieved and Sarah just smiled and shook her head.

"That's not a problem. We can get him changed and be back down here in no time," Sarah said. She went around the corner and returned with a wheelchair.

"Please," Julie said. "Allow me. I made the mess. The least I can do is get Jason cleaned up." She reached out for the wheelchair. Sarah looked to Doris, who smiled and nodded.

"Sure, why not. You know the way?"

Julie nodded. She helped him up and into the chair. She could tell Jason was struggling to not do too much. She wheeled him to the elevator and a minute later they were on the second floor and she was wheeling him into his room. She closed the door behind them and then turned to Jason. She started to open her mouth, but stopped when he pushed against the armrests and stood up. He reached out and placed his trembling hand over her mouth. She was not sure if she was more surprised by the speed with which he had moved or the action itself. She looked at him with wide questioning eyes.

He lowered his hand, tapped a finger to his ear and then swirled it around.
 

She nodded. He seemed to think the room might be wired for sound and she would not have been the least bit shocked if it was. Heck, she wondered if there
 
were cameras hidden in the room.

"Now let's see. I need to find you a new shirt," she said out loud and hoped she sounded natural. She actually did go to his closet and pull out a shirt and a windbreaker. Jason moved to his nightstand and opened the top drawer.
 

She watched his movements, they weren't nearly as smooth as she had thought they were. She was just so used to him barely moving at all. He pulled out a small notebook the size of a paperback book, a small collection of photographs and a cigar box. He traded them to Julie for the shirt in her hands. She slipped the items into her purse. She was near tears watching him perform such a simple act as putting on his own shirt. Only days ago she'd believed that would have been near impossible.

She stood in front of him and straightened his collar slightly. He reached out and ran his hand over her cheek and then leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled back, tears were flooding from her eyes. He smiled and gently wiped at them. He whispered, "I love you."

She waved a hand in front of her face, trying to tell him no more. If he did anything more then she was going to completely lose it. He nodded, understanding her. He took the jacket from her and began working himself into it before once again sitting down in the wheelchair. She saw he was out of breath from the exertion.

She wiped her face again and checked how she looked in the mirror. Good enough she decided.

"Okay," she said as she pushed the wheelchair forward. "Let's roll."

He held the door for her and Paige reluctantly entered the library. She felt the butterflies doing kamikaze runs in her stomach.
 

"So what exactly do we think we can find here?"

Nathan turned to look at her.

"Answers."

"Yeah, well obviously that is what we want to find. But how? Do you think there is a big book of Paige Kendall secrets filed away on one of the shelves? Or maybe a book about the secret of the missing tree?" She knew she was talking a little too loud, a little too fast, but couldn't help it.

He moved next to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
 

"Maybe. We won't know until we look, will we?"

She laughed at first, but frowned we she saw he was serious.

"Come on there isn't going to be any..."

"No, no. Of course not. Not that blatant anyway, but there are likely some books here about the history of this place, right? We can at least find out if there was ever a tree there or..."

"Yearbooks," she blurted.

Nathan nodded.

"They have to have copies of the yearbooks. I can at least show you that I was actually a student here."

Nathan held back his comment and only nodded again. She took his hand and together they approached the front desk. An attractive brunette coed was sitting at the desk, an open book in front of her. She closed it as they approach and he saw it was a book on biochemistry.

"Can I help you?" she asked, directing her attention at Nathan, a big smile on her face. Paige felt a small twinge of jealousy.

"We are wondering if you might have copies of past yearbooks."

"Yeah, we must. I am not sure exactly where though. Give me one minute." She again flashed Nathan a smile. She straightened her sweater as she stood up and Paige thought she pulled it a little tight trying to accentuate her features. The young woman walked to a door behind the desk and opened it.

"Hey Terry, we keep old yearbooks, right?"

"Of course," said a male voice from in the room.

"Where are they?"

"Ummm," the voice said and then fell silent.

Paige squeezed Nathan's hand. He leaned close to her and said, "Relax, it's going to be okay."

"Third floor. The very far west wall. Special reference, special collection or school reference. Something like that, they can't be taken out. It's the same section that has all the books about Ochre Court, Vinland, Wakehurst and some of the other buildings as well as books on the Sisters of Mercy. "

"What the heck is Vinland?"

"That was the original name of McAuley Hall, I think."

"Really? Why'd they change it?"

Nathan tugged on Paige's arm, pulling her toward the stairs. "Thanks," he called back toward the young lady who was still standing half in the back room talking to Terry.

"Sisters of Mercy?" he asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Yeah they founded the school. Many of the teachers here are still nuns," Paige said.

"Really?" There was a slip of a smile on his lips.

Paige stopped, looked at his smile and laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Tell me you weren't thinking of asking if I had a Catholic school girl outfit."

Nathan's face went beet red and Paige laughed again.

"No," he protested.
 

She shot him a look of disbelief.

"I was actually wondering why my Paige never mentioned it."

She continued to look at him, saying nothing.

"Okay, I was also wondering if you had one, but I wasn't actually going to ask."

She laughed a third time and then resumed climbing the stairs, pulling Nathan behind her. The truth was, the thought had never crossed his mind until she had said it, but it seemed to distract her and he loved the sound of her laughter.

They got to the third floor and Paige looked left and then right.

"Which way is west?"

"You got me," he said with a shrug.

Paige picked a direction at random and they began to circle around the outer shelves. It only took them a few minutes to find the section. Paige pulled out the yearbook from the past year and they took it over to one of the numerous tables. She looked at the cover and frowned.

"Does it not look right?"

Paige shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. I never picked up my copy so they mailed it to me and before I got around to opening it there was the fire." She touched the cover and Nathan could see her fingers shaking slightly.

They sat there for a minute, Nathan refusing to rush her. She gritted her teeth and flipped open the cover. She fanned through the pages at random. Her frown deepened as she looked from picture to picture. Pictures of student gatherings, sporting events, random shots of campus life. Her eyes flew from picture to picture searching desperately. Nathan put an arm around her and she leaned into him.

"I...I don't see a single familiar face." Her words were barely a whisper. "How can that be?"
 

Nathan remained silent.
 

Paige began to flip through the pages of the graduating class. Nathan waited, certain of what was to come.

"I'm...I'm not in here," she said as she closed the book. "How can I not be in here? What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure."

Paige pushed back from the table and went back to the shelf of yearbooks. She pulled out several volumes and returned with them, dropping them loudly on the desk.

"Paige, your wife. She told you she graduated two or three years ago?"

Nathan nodded. The butterflies in his stomach were now matching Paige's. He watched as she leaned over the table and searched the appropriate yearbook. Even before she said it, he knew.

"She's not in here. What does that mean? Why aren't either of us in there?"

Several of the students around the room were looking in their direction. Nathan knew she was on the verge of hysteria and tried his best to calm her. He pulled her down into the chair and then took her face in his hands and forced her to look away from the books.

"Paige, I don't know what it means. But we will figure this out. I promise." He spoke slow and softly and she seemed to relax a little.

"But what does it mean?"

"I don't know. How about we forget about you and my Paige for the moment and see if we can find a picture of the tree."

"Forget about me and look for a tree? Seriously?" she asked as she stood up.

"That isn't what I meant, at least not how I meant it to sound. I mean you remember that tree and it certainly looks real in the picture. Let's see if we can at least establish that it was in fact real. Does that make sense?"

For a minute Nathan worried that she would have a breakdown or flip out, but in the end she nodded and sat down again. She opened her purse and removed the picture and put it between them. She handed him one of the yearbooks and took another for herself and together they began to look for the tree.

They didn't find anything in the four most recent yearbooks, so Nathan returned those to the shelf and grabbed the next couple. When he returned to the table he saw a short older woman standing next to Paige's chair, she reached out and picked up the picture.

"Oh my," she said in a raspy voice.

"Excuse me," Nathan said as he joined Paige.

"Oh forgive me, I didn't mean to..." She stopped and looked from the picture to Paige and back. "The resemblance is remarkable. You and your mother could almost be twins."

"Excuse me? My mother?"

"Oh is she not your mother? Your aunt perhaps? You just look so much alike. If it weren't for the tree I would actually think this was a picture of you."

"I am sorry Ms.?" Nathan said.

"Oh forgive me. I've lost my manners. I'm Sister Brenda." She laughed when she saw the look on Nathan's face. "We don't all wear the habit anymore."

"Do you know who that is?" Paige asked.

"I'm sorry I don't. I've taught so many over the years. I hate to admit it, but I can't remember all of them. If I taught her, please don't tell her I can't remember her," she said with a grin.

"Do you remember the tree?" Paige asked.

"Of course I do. I am not completely senile, yet." She laughed at her own words. "I may not remember all my students, but that tree was around for ages."

Nathan cleared his throat and then asked, "What happened to it?"

"Oh it was a terrible storm. It was struck by lightning. Split the tree right down the middle. It took them days to remove the thing. I wish they'd replaced it. The front just looks naked without it. Don't you think?"

"When?"

Sister Brenda looked at Paige. "When what?"

"When did it get hit by lightning?"

The nun fell quiet and tapped a finger against her chin while she thought. "I am not sure exactly. Maybe fifteen or sixteen years ago."

Paige's eyes went wide, but she said nothing.

"Thank you, Sister," Nathan said.

"Not at all." She patted Paige on the shoulder, took one more look at the photograph and then began walking away. Nathan could hear her lamenting the failure to replace the old tree as she moved on.

"Fifteen or sixteen years ago? How is that possible?"

Nathan saw she was trembling again. He dropped the books on the table and took her hands in his.

"We are going to figure this out, Paige."