"Please, there must be something you can do!" Chloe begged.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," the doctor said. "We've done all we can, but there's nothing more we can do. If everything were normal, and we could talk to the outside world, then we could get her in a long-term care facility, and maybe, MAYBE, she would wake up one day. But right now, there are other people who need these resources - people who have a much better chance. I won't force you to choose this, Chloe. The choice is yours. But there are people - children - who are dying that we can give better attention to."
Chloe fought the tears threatening to stream down her face. She glanced down at her mother - she was unrecognizable from the burns. She hadn't spoken a word since she woke up weeks before and said Chloe's name. Chloe couldn't stand the thought of losing her - not after all of this. But she knew the doctor was right - other people needed the time and resources her comatose mother was consuming.
"Okay...Okay. Do it," Chloe ceded.
"I can give you a minute…"
Chloe nodded her acceptance. The doctor stepped out of the room. Chloe looked down at her mother's burned face. She was still the most beautiful woman in the world to Chloe.
"I'm sorry mom," Chloe sobbed. "I wish...I wish there was something more I could do. You deserved better than this. I should have been a better daughter. My own...stupidity...selfishness put you here. I guess...I guess it's selfish for me to let you keep suffering, though. I'm sorry, mom. I love you. Say hi to dad for me, okay?"
Chloe wiped away the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks, and leaned forward to place a kiss on her mother's bandaged forehead. The doctor came into the room and gravely nodded to her. He held a syringe in his hand - he stuck it into the IV and injected it. Chloe grit her teeth as she clasped her mother's hand - even then, she was mindful not to grip too tightly.
Joyce's shallow breathing stopped within a few minutes. The doctor gently held her burned wrist as he looked at his watch.
"Time of death: seven fifty-six P.M.," he said. Chloe hadn't even noticed the nurse taking notes behind him until now.
Chloe stood and took a few deep breaths to calm herself.
"We'll send her to the mortuary," the doctor said. "How, um…"
"She should be buried with dad," Chloe said with a sniffle, as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She frowned and wondered if that's what her mother would want. Perhaps she would be happier with David? If she knew what had become of David, she would be happy to lay her mother to rest alongside him. But David hadn't been seen by anyone since the storm.
"Come back tomorrow," the doctor said. "I'll make sure all the necessary arrangements are made."
Chloe stuck her hands in her pockets and left the room, mutely walking through the halls of the hospital. She passed a room on her left - that's where Warren died a few weeks earlier. The door on her right was where Kate went after her suicide attempt. The next room was where Rachel laid when she was stabbed in the arm.
So much pain and suffering happened in this place. Chloe felt numb as she exited the building.
Saturday, October 27th, 2018
Timeline 3
Chloe Surviving
Chloe dragged her feet slowly through the snow. Wind and large snowflakes beat against her. Her coat wasn't very waterproof, and was now very wet. She was freezing.
This was stupid, she thought. It's dark and now there's a blizzard. I should have stayed at camp.
"Maxine is on her way, sweetheart. She'll bring you to the hospital. You've shortened the distance some, so you'll get there sooner."
Chloe glanced over at her father. He walked alongside her, casting a worried gaze at her.
"Hey dad," she said.
"Hey, Chloe. You just hang in there, alright?"
Chloe nodded as she forced her foot forward again. "I'm trying, dad."
Her mother came up to her other side. "Tell me, hun, what's the first thing you want to eat when you get home?"
"Pancakes. Lots and lots of pancakes."
Chloe stumbled and fell to one knee. She took a few deep breaths. The rush of cold air down her throat forced her into a coughing fit. She instinctively covered her mouth with her fist, and when she pulled away, the tangy smell of blood greeted her. She forced herself back up and plodded onward.
"I wish you had a better coat," Rachel remarked sadly as Chloe approached her.
"Me too. This one is warm but it doesn't stay very dry."
"You're going to get hypothermia, Chloe," Rachel lamented.
"I think she already has it. Look, she's stopped shivering."
Chloe turned her head to look at Victoria, then down at herself. She noted that, indeed, she had stopped shivering.
"I'm obviously hallucinating too. I don't think that's a good sign."
"Could be the fever," Rachel told her.
Chloe took another step, but her legs gave out from under her. She collapsed in the snow.
"Come on now, don't give up."
"Don't give up, sweetheart."
"Chloe? Please keep going, I need you," a new voice said. Chloe barely picked her head up to look. It was Max as she had last seen her before she left for Seattle - in the black dress she wore to her father's funeral.
Chloe couldn't help but grin.
"Hey Max," she said. "It's weird seeing you so young again. We sure were trouble makers back then, huh?"
"We sure were."
"I'm sorry, Max. I don't think I can go on."
"You have to, Chloe. For me. Do you remember the letter you wrote to me in the time capsule? Do you remember what you said in it? 'We have battled many foes and never failed to save each other.' I'm going to save you, Chloe. I just need you to hang on a little longer."
"I'm sorry, Max. I don't think you're going to succeed this time."
"Che…"
"Yeah?"
"Che…"
"What?"
Che!
Blue?
You have to keep going. Don't give up. Not yet.
I can't move. I'm sorry. Chloe sighed. I'm starting to feel warm. That's a bad sign, right?
Warmth had begun to spread all over her body. It was...pleasant. Like being nestled in a thick blanket.
YES! Now get up and go! Max needs you!
Tell her I'm sorry. I tried. I really tried. But she will survive.
Che, losing you nearly destroyed her. She can't lose you again.
Tell her everything will be alright. She can get through it.
Che...she tried to kill herself.
Everything seemed to stop around Chloe. The warmth vanished. The howling wind in her ears ceased to exist. For a moment, those words were the only thing in Chloe's existence.
...what?
Were you able to see how she looked the first time the bridge was formed? She looked so tired. So worn. She's been battling with alcoholism and depression for years. Ever since she lost you. She tried to end it once, a few years ago. She told me. If she loses you a second time, I think she'll try to do it again.
Max…
You need to survive. For her. She needs you.
Chloe took a deep breathe. Her thoughts wandered to the girl she saw in the Dark Room - the girl that suddenly emerged from the cloak of a demon, saving Chloe's life. The girl that left a hole in Chloe's heart when she looked at that photograph five years ago.
Okay...okay. I'll keep going. For Max.
For Max. Always.
Chloe pushed herself back up. She felt very weak, but still was able to do it. She got back to her feet and plodded along, forcing the heavy boots on her feet forward.
In another several yards, she went to her knees again. Keep going. For Max, she said to herself. She started to stand.
"Ah, there you are."
Chloe looked up. Maxine approached her with a lantern. From it's dim light, she could barely make out Maxine's twisted grin.
Timeline 2
Mad Max, Noir and Blue Shift
Max sat back in her chair and groaned. "She's taken Che to some small shed. They're going to wait out the storm in there."
Noir sat in her wheelchair across the table from her, Blue at her side. "And she'll keep her safe?" Noir asked.
"I've threatened to jump over and do terrible things to her if she doesn't."
How would you do that, hmm? You don't have a photograph.
Shut it. I will describe in very fine detail down to the scratches on the floor to Chloe, and have her draw a very nice picture so I can come there and bleed you like a pig.
And what if you die with me?
You take away my Chloe, and I've got nothing left to lose.
"But can she look after her?" Blue asked.
Yeah, what the hell am I supposed to do with this half-frozen bag of bones?
Keep her warm. Her body temperature is low, you need to bring it up.
How?
Figure it out. Get her out of her wet clothes. Use your body heat to help her. Skin to skin contact if you have to. You even think of touching her the wrong way, though, and I want you to think instead of how it will feel to walk around without fingers.
The thought of Maxine being so close to Che made Max sick to her stomach. That was Che's best chance for survival, however. Max knew she would make damn good on her threats if it came down to it. Maxine must have sensed it too, for she complied exactly as she was told.
Both Kates entered the conference room. "Okay, after talking to some of the doctors around here, we've determined what you will need to do to help Che," Red Kate said.
"Obviously she'll need an IV. You know how to do that," Crucifix-Kate continued. "Any IV bags you find will likely be past their expiration date. They may not necessarily be bad...but they aren't guaranteed to be safe, either."
Max sighed. "I don't think it will matter much at this point, if it's not. We're better off taking the risk."
The Kates nodded. "The doctors have cautioned against any antibiotics. Assuming this is a bacteria-caused pneumonia- and we don't know that if it is for sure - an antibiotic may do more harm than good, if it's expired. And since it's been five years since they've been able to get any fresh antibiotics...pretty much anything that is still around will be long past it's expiration date. They think we should concentrate on trying to get her energy up so she can hang on until we can evacuate her. They've given us a list of medications you can give her intravenously, and some pills you can give her that she can take after you return here."
Max glanced over the list. It wasn't long - a few things that would work as stimulants, and something that would help settle Che's stomach and keep food down. If there was any food around for her to eat.
"I'll get this committed to memory," Max said.
She's starting to shiver. What should I do?
Whatever you're doing now, keep doing it. It's working. Her body's starting to work properly again.
"Maxine is succeeding in bringing Che's temperature back up," Max informed the others. "Hopefully this storm will clear up soon, so she can get her to the hospital."
Timeline 2
Mad Max, Noir and Blue Shift
Line after line scrolled upward across the computer screen as it executed the program to determine the so called "access" points where Max could make the bridge.
I wish I could make this go faster, Chloe thought with a sigh. She sat back in her chair and stared at a mark on the ceiling for a moment.
"How exactly does it work?"
Chloe glanced over at Max, who sat in her wheelchair beside her.
Warren spoke first. "Basically, our data set has data collected from two points: the lab at school, and some other point. They were able to get, well, let's call them 'signal' strengths around these two points, and figure out what direction they came from. Almost like if they took a compass that pointed in the direction of the access point. From one place they got an azimuth - a direction - and found another direction at another point."
"Yup," Chloe continued, nodding her head. "From these, we're able to determine where the access points are by finding where these lines intersect. Like, triangulation. Or stellar parallax in astronomy."
"Stellar parallax?" Max asked.
"Its a method used to determine the distance to a star. You can observe a star in the sky and compare it to the positions of nearby stars that you see. If you go back six months later to look at it, its position relative to these stars will have changes slightly, as you are now looking at it from a different angle, since the Earth is at a different point in its orbit around the sun. You can use that to determine the distance to that star. Like how we use the distance between these two quantum devices and the changing signal strength to find the location of these access points."
"Gotcha," Max said. "So the first point is your lab at school. Where was the other point they used to get the data from?"
"I don't know," Chloe admitted.
"I do." Everyone turned to look at Agent Andrews as she entered the room.
"It was where I was exposed and linked, down in New Mexico. How is it going here?"
"Fine," Chloe answered. "I wish I could make this go faster, but I can't. We just have to hope that the storm clears up in the other timeline soon so Maxine can get Che to the hospital."
Andrews nodded her understanding. "Alright. Well, I wanted to let you guys know that Roark has signed testimonials to some of the illegal stuff Prescott has been trying to pull. We may be able to bring them down, once and for all. In this timeline, anyway. But, a signed confession is a signed confession, right? No reason we can't send a copy over to the other timeline."
"Is that legal?" Warren asked with a frown.
"Well, there's no law stating that signed witness testimonies must come from the same reality, now is there?" Andrews said with a grin.
For a moment, Chloe wondered about the ethics of such a situation, but decided that she didn't care if it meant the Prescotts were put in their place. She stood from her chair.
"I'm going to go check in with Mad and see how she's doing," she announced. She left the room, pausing by Max in her wheelchair to lightly squeeze her hand and smile down at her. Max smiled and squeezed back.
Chloe found the other Max in her dorm, reading over the list of medicines Kate had obtained.
"Am I interrupting?" Chloe asked.
Mad shook her head. "I'm just memorizing this. I already have it memorized, but I need to make sure I know it. Oh, fuck off," she added the last bit under her breathe. Chloe knew the words were meant for Maxine, not her.
"How is it going over there?" Chloe inquired as she sat in the bed opposite of Max.
"Storm isn't as bad, but enough to keep them in the shed for now. Che's condition seems to have improved. Well, at least she's not in imminent danger of freezing to death right now."
"That's good," Chloe said with a slight nod.
Mad sighed. "I know what you're thinking."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Uh...yeah?"
"You think...you think that if we don't succeed in rescuing Che, that… that I'm going to hurt myself."
Chloe shifted uncomfortably. "I think it's a possibility. You've tried to do it once. But I know it's not that simple, that if 'x' is true, then 'y' will occur. I battled with depression for years, Max. I still do, though I'm in a much better place. I know depression is not that simple."
Mad nodded. "I don't know what will happen if we don't save her. I do know that when I tried to end it before, I immediately knew it was a mistake, and that I wanted to live." Max exhaled and shut her eyes. "As painful as it was, I wanted to live."
Chloe silently contemplated this. She took a moment to search for the right words. "Just remember, Max... whatever happens, you don't have to face it alone, okay? Kate and Warren and Brooke - they care about you. Enough to all go to the same university as you to make sure you were not alone. I care about you. And I'm sure you're parents care too, right? Don't forget that."
Mad sighed. "I know. Brooke, and Warren and Kate...they've been so good to me. Far more than I deserve. And my parents...I know they care about me. I've been terrible at staying in touch with them."
Chloe frowned sadly at that statement. "You should call them when you get back to the other timeline. Do they know that all of this is happening?"
"I don't know," Mad answered. "I haven't told them myself. Maybe Andrews did, after I came here."
"Just...don't take them for granted. They're wonderful people. And I can tell you firsthand how painful it is when your parents are gone."
Mad turned to settle her gaze on Chloe. She nodded in understanding. "You're right. I...I'll call them when I'm back. And when I come back with Che...well, that will be one heck of a conversation. I shouldn't take them for granted. I made that mistake once already."
She reached inside her shirt and pulled something out. A necklace with three bullets.
Chloe's eyes widened. "You kept that?"
Mad smiled sadly. "Yes. And a few of your other personal things, too - your mom let me have them. I even have your old phone, the one we decorated together. Do you remember it?"
Chloe chuckled. "I sure do. Decorating that together is one of my favorite memories."
"Mine too. I kept your other phone, too. The one you had when…"
When I died, Chloe finished in her head.
"I'm surprised you kept that," Chloe said with a frown.
"I used to call it," Mad said. "I would call it every day. I'd listen to your voice when it went to voicemail and leave you a message, or sometimes I would just hang up to call it again. Until one day...one day I guess your mom changed the phone plan, and the voicemail message was gone. I was a wreck after that."
"That must have been awful," Chloe said. She looped an arm around Mad's shoulder and pulled her close.
"We'll do whatever we can to make sure we get Che back, so you can hear her voice whenever you want. I promise, Max."
"I know you'll try. You'd do anything for me, Chloe. I… I don't deserve you."
"Max, yes you do. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you."
Mad chuckled. "We could argue all night about how undeserving we are, I guess. Let's not."
"Agreed."
Chloe rested her head on top of Mad's. Mad sighed contentedly into her neck.