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Chapter 2
St. Sebastian's
Jack slowly opens his eyes and awakens inside his L.A. apartment. He's lying in bed after what feels like a full night's recovery from yesterday's difficult surgery and late night stadium running. It's late in the morning and the sun is beaming through the blinds. The telephone rings next to the bed; he stretches his arm across the comforter to answer.
"Hello?"
"Good morning Dr. Shepherd."
Jack recognizes his secretary's voice. She's gone out of her way recently to make sure he makes it to his morning appointments.
"What time is it?"
"Time for you to get up."
Jack glances at his watch on the lamp stand and quickly finds a t-shirt to throw on.
"Whoa. Thanks for the wakeup call. I'll see you soon," Jack says as he searches his closet for a shirt and tie.
"Are you alright Dr. Shepherd?" she asks, sensing nervousness in his voice.
"Yeah, I slept well, but had this really strange dream, I think."
"Your morning appointments are packed these next several weeks. Many of them are your father's former patients," she says, quickly inserting the last remark.
"Yeah. I operated on one yesterday. I think the patient will pull through," he replies, hoping to change the subject away from his father.
"May I ask?"
Jack cringes, sensing the question coming.
"How is your Father?" she asks cautiously. Everyone close to Jack knows about the circumstances leading to Jack's Dad leaving the hospital; she's hoping Jack is ready to talk about it.
Jack pauses, speechless at first. "Well," he nervously chuckles.
"I'm sorry; I hope I'm not intruding. It's just that, all of us here are really concerned for him," she replies. Jack is moved by the sincerity in her voice.
"I'm concerned about him too." Jack struggles opening up about his father running away. "The truth is; my Mother and I have no idea where he is."
"I'm sorry," she sniffles, holding back emotions. "I hope he comes home soon."
"Me too." He squints his eyes to clear the tears forming. "I'll see you soon."
Jack carries his briefcase and walks through the main entrance of St. Sebastian's Hospital. The double glass doors automatically slide open; the rush of cold air condition a nice refresher after the walk across the parking lot. He fits his lab coat on and enters the hallway leading toward neurosurgery.
A nurse holding a clipboard approaches Jack from the nurse's station. "Excuse me Dr. Shepherd; your appointment's here."
"Already?" Jack checks his watch. "Well he's a little early," Jack remarks, mostly annoyed because of his wasted effort rushing out of bed.
"She, actually," the nurse corrects him.
"How long has she been waiting?" Jack asks.
"Two hours, at least. Her sister checked her back in early this morning."
"Back in?" Jack replies, confused. "She's already a patient?"
"Apparently she's been all over this hospital many times," the nurse replies, only adding to Jack's confusion. "Walk with me; she's waiting in room 108."
"Has her condition been diagnosed?" Jack asks, feeling unprepared as he approaches the door to her room.
"Let's just say, she's a very unique case," the nurse replies as they enter the doorway. The room is quiet; a heart monitor faintly sounds in the background. A woman lies in a comatosed state with her eyes closed halfway.
"Theresa Spencer," the nurse remarks as she hands Jack a thick folder of medical records. "She's been looked at by Neurology, then Psychiatry, and now she's back in our hands."
Jack opens her stack of medical files and recognizes his father's handwriting. He steps close to her side. "She was a patient of my father's," he remarks, as he uses his fingers to pull the hair away from her eyes.
"Do you know her?" asks the nurse, after several seconds of Jack staring.
Jack slowly nods. He speaks in a whisper directly to Theresa, as if she's able to hear him. "Where have I seen you before?"
There's no response. Theresa's eyelids twitch erratically as if she were in a deep sleep.
Jack fumbles through her paperwork again, shaking his head as he looks over medical graphs and charts. He digs to the bottom of the stack to start from the beginning and again sees his father's handwriting.
He mumbles softly as he reads aloud the typed written paper. "What is this?" He removes the bottom page and shows it to the nurse. "1977; she's been a patient of my father for almost 30 years."
Jack looks back again at Theresa; her facial expression unchanged since they entered the room. He's eager for answers, but knows he'll have to wait.
"What happened in 1977?"