Chapter Seven
She found Jack outside the hospital leaning against the wall.
"You knew!" she screamed at him when he turned to look at her. "You know what it is that makes Harrison rewind instead of me. You knew if I fell asleep I wouldn't go back far enough to save her!"
"Clever girl, Tru," Jack said with a smile.
"Well what is it?" Tru yelled. "Tell me what it is."
Jack grinned. "Isn't it turning out to be a nice night?" he asked in a conversational tone.
"I'm warning you," Tru threatened. "What is it that makes the calling pass to Harrison?"
"I'm afraid I don't know all the technicalities," Jack said. "It's a little complicated. So many little factors and things have to be just right."
"Cut the crap," Tru demanded. "Just make him rewind again instead of me."
"Sorry Tru, no can do."
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you to do this," Tru insisted as she advanced on Jack ready to pummel him into the ground if necessary.
"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," Jack replied. "It really is turning out to be a nice night. You should learn to appreciate nights like this, Tru. Life can be so short."
Tru glared at Jack before realising that in his gloating tone he was telling her exactly what she needed to know. "The storm," she whispered.
"Score two for Tru," Jack grinned. "Pity this round is already over."
"It's too late," Tru said looking up at the almost clear sky. The storm had passed and if Jack was telling the truth, the only chance they had for Harrison to rewind again had gone with it. She wondered if he was lying but in her heart she knew he was telling the truth. There had been a storm the first time Harrison had rewound too; it was too much of a coincidence. It was too late.
"No one can cheat fate forever Tru. Cassie was always on borrowed time."
Tru turned away from her nemesis, her heart heavy and her moves sluggish. She looked at the doors she had to go through in order to face her brother.
She didn't know if she could bear to destroy his last shred of hope.
She wanted to turn and run away from the building as fast as her legs could carry her.
She wanted to forget this day had ever happened.
She recalled the last time she had found her brother with Cassie's dead body. She had rewound and saved her and he had forgotten the grief of losing her. The memory had been lost to him when the day had rewound and only she remembered.
But not this time, this time he would remember too. This time there was nothing she could do to erase the day and start over.
She should have known not to trust anything Jack had said.
She should have known he would have an ulterior motive for everything he said and did.
She wanted to vent her fury on Jack but there would be time enough for that later.
Instead she cursed herself for listening to him in the cafeteria as she walked back through the hospital corridors towards the room where Harrison waited for her to destroy his hopes.
She didn't know what she was going to say to him. All she could hear running through her mind were Jack's parting words…no one can cheat fate forever.
Tru went blindly through the motions of listening to the doctor again. She waited until he had gone from the room before turning to Harrison.
"I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered.
"She could ask for help," Harrison replied.
"She already did," Tru said as she moved closer. "She asked me for help but it made no difference."
"We can try again," Harrison said, relief written all over his face at the news that Cassie had asked for help after the machines had been switched off. It didn't matter who she asked as long as she lived.
"I'm sorry," Tru said as the tears streamed down her face. "I didn't know she would ask me. I thought she would ask you. I didn't know. If I'd known I wouldn't have…."
"Wouldn't have what?" Harrison asked, a look of dread appearing on his face.
"I fell asleep in the cafeteria," Tru sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"You didn't rewind the whole day?"
"I rewound to when I last woke up. When the nurse woke me to bring me to you in here."
Harrison leaned back in his chair, shaking his head over and over. Tru watched as her brother's tears began to fall. She rarely saw him cry and the guilt at knowing she had caused this made her feel sick to the stomach.
She had been weak, she had let herself be manipulated by Jack and now they were all paying for it.
"You're looking very pleased with yourself," Richard said as he walked up to Jack who still stood outside the hospital.
"Just got one back," Jack grinned. "Or almost."
"Almost isn't good enough," scoffed Richard.
"Oh this is good enough," Jack replied.
Richard listened as Jack filled him in.
"Better late than never," Richard commented when Jack had finished updating him.
"Admit it," Jack said. "I not only managed to repair the damage of the second day, I managed to win one back for us too."
"It took you three tries to get that one and she's not dead yet," Richard pointed out.
"Oh, I don't know," Jack said with a glance at his watch. "I think they might have pulled the plug by now."
"And if she asks for help again?"
"Then Tru 'll rewind a couple of hours and be too late again. Even she will give up eventually."
"My daughter will never give up."
"You think she'll carry on watching Harrison live through the suffering of watching his girlfriend die, over and over again, forever? Knowing that she will never be able to go back far enough to alter things?"
Richard stood in silence. Nodding once he turned on his heel to go inside.
Jack grinned. Even if Richard wouldn't admit it, they both knew that this round was won.
Tru sat in the waiting area while Harrison sat with Cassie. The doctor had been and gone and she knew from the previous day that Cassie had died forty-five minutes ago. She wondered how long it would be before Harrison gave up his vigil and accepted the fact that Cassie was gone.
She knew from her own experience, that time didn't seem to exist when you were waiting for a loved one to ask for help.
She had phoned Davis to tell him what was happening and not to expect her at work for at least a few days. He had offered his condolences and apologised that there was so little he could say or do to help. What else could he say? Nothing would help. She had also phoned her father to tell him what was had happened. She looked up now as he approached her.
"How is he?" Richard said as he sat down beside her.
"Not good," Tru whispered with a shake of her head. "He's still in with her."
"I'll go talk to him," Richard said as he patted Tru's arm. "You wait here." Tru nodded, gave him directions, and watched her father as he turned down the corridor in search of his son.
Harrison sat by Cassie's bedside long after the doctor had left. Tru had stayed outside at his request. He had hoped that perhaps without Tru being with him Cassie would ask him for help. He had listened without really hearing as she had explained to him about the storm being connected to his rewinds. He remembered the storm on the other occasion he had rewound and although he hadn't made the connection at the time he now realised that it did make sense. Unfortunately the storm had passed over hours before and Cassie's silence was the only confirmation he needed that his rewind day was well and truly over.
He knew that Tru was waiting for him outside but he could not bring himself to leave the room.
Instead he talked quietly to Cassie, telling her of all the things he had hoped they would do and remembering the good times they had had together. He told her about the surprise he was planning for her birthday next month and promised that he would find a job if she would only give him a chance to fix things.
He didn't hear his father come into the room and only noticed his presence when he sat down in the seat beside him.
Neither said anything for a long time.
"It will get easier," Richard said. "When your mother was killed I didn't think I'd ever get over it."
Harrison frowned and looked at his father. He didn't need to say anything to convey his feelings about his father's comment. They both knew that Richard Davies had been seeing another woman before Elise had died. He had later married that same woman and cast his three eldest children aside in the process. It was only recently he had decided to try and make up for the past mistakes.
"This is different," Harrison finally said. "This is all my fault."
"Did you do this to her?" Richard asked. "Of course you didn't. That means this isn't your fault any more than it's mine or Tru's or anyone's, except the man that did this to her."
"I could have stopped it," Harrison sobbed.
"There's nothing you could have done," Richard consolingly, putting his arm around his son. "Let's get you home."
Harrison shook his father's arm off, refusing to move from his seat.
"Okay," Richard said, standing up and walking to door. "I'll be outside with Tru when you're ready. Take your time son."
Harrison nodded in silence and Richard left the room.
It was another hour before Harrison emerged from the room to find Tru sitting patiently in the waiting area.
"Dad's waiting outside," Tru said as her brother sat down beside her.
"Oh God, Tru," Harrison sobbed. "What have I done?"
Tru opened her mouth to tell him that everything would be all right but closed it again without speaking. From the look on her brother's face nothing was going to be all right for a long time. There was nothing she could say that would make a difference right now, nothing that could make up for her error in trusting Jack. The guilt she felt doubled each time she looked at her heartbroken brother.
"It's not your fault," she finally said. "Are you ready to go home?"
Harrison's face paled and Tru swore at herself for her tactlessness. "You can stay at my place," she amended. "For as long as you need."
"Thanks Sis," Harrison whispered giving her a tight hug. She squeezed him back hard enough that she could feel his chest shaking with silent sobs.
Together they stood up and steadying each other they left the room. Tru tried to ignore the sympathetic glances cast in their direction from the other visitors and staff in the room. Just make it out the room she told herself, one foot in front of the other and then we'll be outside and on our way home. The day would soon be over if they could just make it outside and away from the hospital.
The day would be over but she knew inside that things would not look better in the morning. Once again her so-called gift had let her down, once again the gift had become a curse. Only this time it was her brother who was going to be suffering through the long days to come. She resolved that she would be there for him as he had been there for her after Luc's death. She couldn't make it right but she would be there for him to help him get through this.
The End
