14
Phyllis was having a hard time trying to sleep. George's phone call kept playing and re-playing in her mind. What could it be that required him to remain off-Earth when she needed his inner strength here, now more than ever?
For that matter, she didn't understand why she was so upset about the tremors. She had never been like this before, always facing adversity head on with hardly a whimper. This Nervous Nellie stuff was completely new to her. Why, she had stood up to... what? What had she stood up to? It was happening again, damn it! A fragment of memory starts to play in her head and then - BANG! ZOOM! It's completely gone! Why can't I get a grasp on these vague recollections? she thought. Why can't I retain them?
She began to think back as far as she could - nearly twenty years ago - back to when she awoke from what the doctors said was a coma that had lasted for at least four days, and possibly longer.
"Well hello, Princess!" whispered a very mild mannered and very good looking man.
Four days earlier, this same fellow was navigating a moon shuttle and as he took a look out through the port, a flash of light seemed to reach up from the Earth and caught his attention. "Captain Ellsworth, I just picked up something, not sure what… exactly…"
"Well, Mr. Kent, around here we kind of like to deal with 'exactly.' Do you have anything of a more substantial nature to report?" Using a combination of the ship's navigational tools and his own telescopic vision, one of the few super-powers passed down from his great ancestor, George managed to pinpoint the location of a small craft a few miles off the Florida coast.
"It appears to be… a raft, I think - uh - I mean it is definitely a raft floating just north of the Bermuda Triangle… and it is in very bad shape."
"How did you pick that up from out here? One little raft drifting around in the Atlantic? I heard the scuttlebutt about your lineage, but I thought…"
"…That I had no powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men?" George grinned. "Pretty much true, but Great Granddad did leave me some mighty amazing eyeballs. Can't see through anything, but if it's far away or itty-bitty, I can… Wait! There's a body out there on the raft! It's a woman…" An incredibly beautiful woman, too! he thought. "I think she's alive, but she's not moving around too much! Captain, I believe we should report this to the authorities!"
"That would be the U.S. Coast Guard, Ensign. I agree. Get on the horn and get the ball rolling."
"Sir?"
"Your find, your call, mister. I just wish I could see their faces when you tell them you saw this raft from out here!"
After George's call, the Coast Guard launched a rescue copter within the hour to the coordinates he gave them. The raft had drifted a bit by that time but it was found in short order. They found an unconscious survivor strapped down so as not to fall into the sea and clutching a small hand mirror. They rushed her to a Miami hospital where she was listed in serious but stable condition.
George couldn't get the beautiful survivor out of his head. Once his flight touched down, he made arrangements to travel directly to Miami to see close up the young lady he had found. The doctors weren't too keen about letting him in, but one young intern recognized him from a Yellow Sun commercial and convinced his older colleagues that considering his ancestry, George's story was very likely the truth, and they relented. The room was quiet when he entered as the medical staff had already begun to thin out.
She's even more beautiful up close than when I saw her from above, thought George. The wires and tubes attached to the lass seemed inconsequential - almost invisible - to him as he studied each nuance of her features and fell madly in love with each one. The docs say she's suffering from a coma. I wonder how long she's been out? He stayed at her bedside until a thin man with a goatee and white lab coat joined them.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Plastino. I understand you're the fellow responsible for bringing in our young guest, here. Mister… Kent, isn't it?"
"That's right, doctor. I was just wondering about her prognosis. The staff told me she was in a coma…"
"Yes, the news is both good and bad, I'm afraid. There's not a thing wrong with her other than that, and of course, dehydration is something you expect with someone stranded out at sea. It's amazing that she is alive at all, much less in such good shape physically. As for how long Phyllis stays in the coma..."
"Excuse me, doctor? Phyllis...?"
"Oh, yes. I kind of gave her that name. She reminds me of my eldest daughter, so much so that I accidentally called her by the same name today. Suits her, I think. But as I was saying, we have no way of knowing, really, how long she remains comatose. She could be this way for a long time. Weeks, months, perhaps… Or she could wake up the moment I stop talking."
Both men looked at her silently, as if hoping Plastino had just spoken the magic words would bring her around, but no such enchantment was in the works this moment. Instead, George took up a vigil by her bedside and remained there until, four days later, Phyllis' eyelids fluttered a bit, opened, and she wearily perused the form of the man with whom she was fated to start a family.
"Well hello, Princess!"
"Uh... Hello... I guess..." Phyllis looked all around the private room as if she had never been in one before. The surroundings were unfamiliar and that was very unsettling, but the pleasant fellow at the side of her bed made her feel warm and protected despite all that. That smile of his was certainly a winner, and the "princess" comment gave her a sense of belonging, too.
"In case you're wondering, you're in a hospital," George confided as warmly as he could.
"Yes, I figured that one out," she retorted with a smile of her own. "What I can't figure out is what hospital? What... city? What country, for that matter. And who are you? Are we acquainted in some way?"
"Boy, for a girl from a sinking life raft, you ask a lot of questions! We're in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. And no, our only rendezvous was here after you came in, but I was the guy who found you. George is the name. George Kent. And what about you, Princess? What's your name and how did you end up on a leaky life raft in the ocean?"
"It's very simple, my name is... I'm... I was out there because... uh... This is going to sound very funny, George, but I... I just can't seem... to remember who I am. You say I was on a raft? In the ocean? How did you find me? Do you work on a ship?"
"Sort of," George smiled that smile again. "But that's not important right now. I think instead we should call Dr. Plastino. I think he'll want to talk to you." George simultaneously pushed the nurse's call button and picked up the phone. He had promised to dial up the doctor as soon as his patient came to. "Dr. Plastino, Phyllis is awake, and I think you should see her immediately... Well I'm no doctor, doctor, but I believe I know the condition called amnesia when I see it... Yes, I agree. It would be a good idea to let you do the diagnosis... Yes, that is why I called you... Great then, we'll see you shortly?"
"Phyllis...?" said the puzzled patient.
"That's what they've been calling you, here," said George as the nurse entered the room in response to his call. "Don't worry about it. It's a long story."
"Well, it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere," she said as she repositioned herself with the nurse's help into a more comfortable configuration. "You might as well tell me all about it, but keep calling me Princess. I like it!"
In the days that followed, Dr. Plastino administered to his newly revived charge with tests, therapy, and examinations. All the while, Phyllis and George became closer and closer. After two weeks The doctor surrendered.
"George, Phyllis, I'm a pretty good physician and I know my specialty well enough to be in some pretty elite company. But I am at a standstill on this case and I do not think I will be any closer to solving it any time soon. I haven't even been able to determine, Phyllis, if your present condition is due to blunt force trauma or a psychological repression of some sort."
George was quick to ask the next question. "What kind of recourse do we have, Doctor?"
"Oh, so it's 'we' now, hmmm?" Plastino offered with undisguised amusement. "There aren't too many options, actually. You can continue treatment here, but to be honest, there isn't much more we can do that we haven't already tried.
"Option two is that you can just accept the hand you've been dealt. Phyllis, you have been given a rare opportunity. No matter what your past was, you can start all over again with this new identity. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to just move on. You can become whatever this new person you are now can become."
"And option three?" asked the Princess.
"Option three, and this is my recommendation, is to get a new doctor. Like I said. I'm very good, but I know someone who is better. He's recognized as the top man in the field to be exact, and I've already been in contact with him. He's anxious to look into your case and he's ready to start you immediately. His name is Kurt Schaffenberger, and I have his number right here."
George took the hand scrawled note from Plastino. "This is not a Miami number, doctor."
"No, it's not. Schaffenberger is located in Texas. Fort Worth, I believe. It's been a medical mecca for years. They have a health - science center that is making breakthroughs in every field there every day. But Schaffenberger is the key, not where he practices. If anyone can bring back your memories, young lady, this is the man to do it!"
There was not a lot of discussion. The two of them quickly resolved to see the new doctor. George managed to get Yellow Sun Space Lines to transport her to Texas, and he was at her side every inch of the way. He used every ounce of pull he had with the company as their spokesman and took some accrued leave in order to stay with Phyllis through her transition with Dr. Schaffenberger.
George loved Phyllis. He fell for her at first sight and immediately resolved to do whatever it took to remain with her for the rest of his life.
Phyllis loved George, too. Although she was an amnesia victim - she could not remember a thing before opening her eyes and seeing George - she somehow knew that she had never felt anything this strong for a man before.
The reporters loved the story, running banner headlines like "Superman Descendant Saves Woman" and "Marooned Woman Found By Super-Friend." In the first weeks of her recovery, there wasn't a day that went by that the press did not run a story about Phyllis' rehabilitation or her relationship with George.
Yellow Sun loved the publicity and saw to it that George could have all the time he wanted with the beautiful refugee... as long as their name kept popping up in the news. As far as they were concerned, George was more than earning his pay as a publicist.
Schaffenberger turned out to be an excellent find. A large man with a full salt and pepper beard, he made it clear that there would be no miracle cure just over the horizon but that he would continue to do his best to unravel the mystery of Phyllis' past. He worked as hard as he claimed he would, too, but he never put Phyllis through any more anguish than necessary.
As time went on and Phyllis continued her therapy, George felt the need to resume his career and still remain close to Phyllis, so he made arrangements to move to Fort Worth permanently. Finding the right place was almost too easy. The realtors were practically begging for George to move into one of their listings, and he found a wonderful spot on the west side of town - just the right blend between old and new.
Phyllis loved it! She could still remember that evening when he brought her to "his place" and as she was taking the tour of the house, he asked her if she would like to make it "our place." Phyllis turned around to see George kneeling on the hardwood floor with an engagement ring in his hand.
"Princess, from the moment I first saw you, something - call it premonition - call it destiny - call it delusion - I don't know - but whatever it was told me that I wouldn't be able to live one minute more without you by my side. These last few weeks have only reinforced that belief. You would honor me in the highest by becoming my wife, and I will love, protect, and cherish you forever if only you will have me."
Tears flowed as emotions she could not remember ever having before swept though her heart and soul. Her brain told her that George was the only man she had taken the time to know in this strange new life, that she should meet and go out with others, and see if her feelings for George were only the result of gratitude for being rescued by him. But her heart had a much louder voice and it said very clearly that her feelings for this man were definitely the real thing. Although her past life, for now, was still a dark mystery to her, she somehow sensed that she had never before felt the need for a man to watch over and protect her, but for some reason, George was different, and there was no need to hesitate. Through the stinging wash of happy teardrops she surveyed her "Superman" for a moment that felt like forever, and realized that growing old with anyone but George L. Kent would be a big mistake - and growing old without him would be a bigger one.
"George," she said in a quietly quivering voice, "You've given so much more to me than a new life. You've given me joy and love and laughter... Yes. I will marry you."
George, frozen in his kneeling pose, appeared a little stunned, even though he had received the answer he had been hoping for. For a full fourteen seconds, he tried to pass some sort of communication through his lips, but all that he could do was to continue to gaze at Phyllis with a goofy grin on his face. Finally, some words issued forth. "Great...!.. I... uh... I'm just so glad you said yes because if you had said no... well, it would sure have made the rest of the date really awkward!"
At that, they fell together in a happy embrace, laughing and crying uncontrollably as if nothing in the world mattered but their love for each other, and in this moment - for the two of them, anyway - it probably did not.
The recollections of those happy first weeks together with George brought Phyllis the peace and contentment she needed to push aside the events of the day. Turning over in her bed, she finally settled into a quiet, serene slumber.
Then came the rumble from within the Earth.