Your Future Past
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
Blake came to consciousness slowly, glad to find there was no pain in her neck from sleeping in the car yet another night. Her eyelids felt heavy as more alertness drifted into her mind. She had been dreaming about something. Fog. And colors. And smells. And a mountain lion and a wolf. She sighed to herself and snuggled into the nice pillow. Pillow? She didn't have a pillow in her car. And then full consciousness took over her, and she remembered what had happened earlier. She was in a bed now, what did that mean? She opened her eyes, hoping against hope that she had dreamed the whole thing and that she was in some nice hospital. Yet again, however, her luck fell through and she found herself in a queen sized bed with a handmade quilt lying over her, a young woman in 1870's style dress pouring water into a basin at her side.
"Oh, no" Blake groaned, "Please!"
"Feeling better?" the woman asked. Blake sat up. She could feel her jeans were still on, though her shoes had been removed.
"That depends" she replied. She felt her stomach grumble. When was the last time she ate? Three days ago? More? Who knew how long she had line out in that gorge before that Indian fellow had found her? Well, you couldn't go three days without water, right, so it couldn't have been longer than that. Stupid, stupid. What the hell was she thinking of? And now her negligence had landed her in this mess. Perfect. Great. Wonderful.
"My name is Colleen, I'm Dr. Mike's daughter and I'm a doctor too" the woman said. She looked a bit young, not much older than Blake herself. Maybe she graduated early though, went straight into college. She could be a resident too, shadowing Dr........Mike, had she said? There were certainly a lot of doctors around this place.
"Is there anything you need? Dr. Mike didn't know what was wrong with you, she said it wasn't your head" Blake pushed the blanket back, intent on testing her legs. Her head neglected to tell her that it was still splitting though and she had to abort.
"Yeah. I have an eating disorder" she told Colleen, " Border line diabetes. It springs up now and again"
"Diabetes?" Colleen repeated, sounding confused. Blake sighed and closed her eyes. She ran a hand across her face. A doctor who didn't know about diabetes? Dreaming. Please, just let it all be a dream! But she could feel the weakness in her body, and she had never felt bad in a dream. And that's what it was, if it was a dream; bad.
"Yeah. I have to eat every two hours, pretty much" Blake explained, "Guess I haven't eaten in a few days"
"A few days? Heavens!" Colleen exclaimed, "Well, if it's food you need, we can get you that. Can you walk?"
"Oh, sure" Blake answered and swung her feet her feet touch the floor. It was a nice hard wood floor and felt cool under her feet. She closed her eyes and pushed herself up. She grabbed onto Colleen for balance when a wave of dizziness flooded into her head, but kept her feet below her, where they were supposed to be.
"Well, actually, maybe I can't" she said, feeling the tightness in stomach tighten. It was like her stomach was trying to eat itself.
"Well, we can at least get you downstairs." Colleen said and Blake had to lean on her as they started downstairs. They moved rather slowly and Blake, for about the millionth time, got angry enough for tears to form. She'd thought she had this beat, getting on a regular schedule and eating all the time. How had she let three days slip by without eating?
By the time they got down stairs and to a chair, Blake was exhausted. She could feel her arms and hands shaking and the pain from her stomach was starting to give her a headache.
"Well, look who's up!" Dr. Quinn said, coming in from another room.
"She said she needs some food, Dr. Mike" Colleen told the woman. She didn't call her mother "mom"? Dr. Mike was Dr. Quinn? Oh, well Blake could at least explain that one; she had said her name was Michaela.
"Well, we don't have much around here, but you can go down to Grace's" Quinn, or Mike, smiled.
"I don't think she can walk that far" Colleen said, "She's exhausted and all we did was come downstairs. She says she has an eating disorder called diabetes, and she's supposed to eat every two hours, but hasn't eaten in three days"
"Diabetes? I think I've heard of that. Well, why don't you go down and see if Grace will let you bring a plate up here. Tell her it's for a patient"
"All right. I'll be right back" Colleen said and went out the door.
"Well, Ms. Sully. So, where did you say you were from?"
"Around" Blake wasn't happy about being there, but she couldn't think about much more than getting some food, and getting it quick.
"I see" Quinn sighed, "I'm from Boston. My sisters are there, and so is my middle son, Brian. He works for the Globe" That got Blake's attention. The Boston Globe? Yeah, right! But Quinn seemed absolutely serious. So, yet again, Blake didn't say anything. She just worked on breathing. Quinn seemed uncomfortable, but she didn't try to make much more conversation. Colleen showed up with the food a few minutes later. She set it on the table in front of Blake. The smell made her want to throw up, but she knew it was what she needed. She took the spoon and attacked the soup, getting a spoonful or so down a minute. She finally noticed that Quinn and her daughter were watching.
"Oh, dear, sorry" Quinn said when she realized what they had been doing because Blake looked up at them.
"This...may take a while. If I eat too fast I'll just get sick" she told them. They smiled and nodded but continued to watch her.
"Why do you dress like that?" Colleen finally asked in the silence.
"Colleen!" Quinn exclaimed but she looked like she was interested in the reason too. Blake had finished her soup and bread and was feeling much better. Her body had stopped shaking and she didn't feel sick anymore at least.
"Uh.." She wasn't sure what exactly Colleen had meant.
"Well, Sully said you were dressed like a man because you had been traveling alone, on horseback, but...well, that shirt doesn't really hide..I mean, it's rather...tight, isn't it?"
"Oh, Colleen!" Blake was starting to think this was some kind of freaky settlement, like the Amish or something, only in a messed up sort of way. One of those places where people had reverted to the "old" ways for one reason or another. These people were certainly serious. Although, their complete ignorance of anything advanced, like a car, was weird. Even the Amish knew what cars and phones and TV's were. But Blake didn't feel like asking.
"I.uh..it..shrunk?" she lied, hoping she sounded at least a little convincing.
"Well, it doesn't matter, does it, Colleen?" Quinn said, "You look like you're feeling better"
"I am, thank you" Blake replied, and she wasn't lying about that. Just then, Sully walked in the door, toting a balling toddler.
"Michaela!" he nearly cried, handing the little girl to Quinn, "I don't know what's wrong with her!" Quinn took the girl and looked her over.
"What's the matter, Katie?" she asked, though the girl was obviously not going to answer. Blake had a strange feeling, like she tended to have around kids. She liked kids well enough, but kids tended to absolutely love her.
"This is my youngest daughter, Katie" Quinn informed her patient over her daughter's caterwauling. Blake watched for a minute.
"Uh.Dr. Quinn?"
"Oh, call me Mike, dear" she replied.
"Right. Um...do you mind.I mean, can I..." Michaela looked confused for a moment but then understood.
"If you want" she said and handed her screaming child to the stranger. Blake sat Katie down on her lap and just looked at her. Katie stopped her crying and looked back up at her.
"Hello" Blake said.
"Lo" Katie replied, her eyes still teary. Blake kind of half smiled and set her on the ground. The other three adults in the room were watching, slightly stunned. Katie seemed to think nothing of it, for she went running off into another room.
"Katie!" Sully called and went off after her, giving Blake one last look.
"Well, uh, again, thanks for everything" Blake said, standing up and throwing a look around, "If you'll just show me where my shoes and my bag are, I'll be going"
"Oh, where will you be going?" Michaela asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah.going.uh..." This was crazy! Okay, so these people had no idea where her car was, she had no idea where her car was, there weren't any cars in town, she was assuming anyway, and that left the foot.
"Well, I guess I'll just walk" she told them and they both stared.
"Walk? Where?" Colleen gasped.
"UH, back to.wherever your Indian friend found me" It was as good a place as any. At least from there she could get her bearings, right? She had no idea where she was right now.
"Look" Sully suddenly appeared from the other room, without a Katie Blake noticed, "Even if you wanna go back there, you said yourself you don't know the way. And it's too late to start for the gorge now."
"Yes. Stay here the night, and if you want, Sully can take you to the gorge tomorrow. I'm sure we can find you somewhere to stay" Michaela added. Blake sighed. It was late in the day, and it was true she had no idea where she was, so they were probably right about this gorge being pretty far away. And she didn't suppose it would be wise to wander around by herself at night looking for a big crack in the earth.
"I suppose you're probably right" she admitted sullenly, "Prob though. No mullah." The three of them exchanged confused looks. What had she expected? They didn't know what a car was for heaven's sake! And she supposed she'd have to watch her language for the night too. Didn't she have enough problems? Really, did she deserve this?
"No money" she said.
"Oh. Well," Michaela gave her husband a look, "You can stay with us for the night. The gorge is closer to the house anyway" Colleen looked happy enough about this, though Sully looked like he had his doubts. Blake shrugged.
"Good" Michaela clasped her hands, "Colleen, why don't you and Blake return Grace's plate? So she can see some more of the town?" Blake shrugged again when Colleen looked at her with a big smile.
"Maybe you should change first" Sully suggested, looking at her jeans again. Blake sighed.
"A skirt I suppose?" she asked.
"Uh, do you have one?" Colleen asked. Blake thought about it. What was in her backpack other than the walkman? She knew there was a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt, toothbrush and paste, comb, makeup, wallet though the money was bound to be no good here....did she even own a skirt?
"Well, you can borrow one of mine" Colleen was saying, pushing her up the stairs. She rummaged in a chest at the foot of the bed Blake had previously been occupying and pulled a blue skirt and a white shirt out.
"These should fit" she said and left Blake to put them on. She spotted her bag on the floor under the window. No way was she wearing a skirt with out something underneath. She pulled her shorts on and then buttoned the white shirt up over her own tank top. She tried to look at herself in the mirror that hung on the wall, but couldn't see much. She found her boots under the bed and laced them up. She probably looked ridiculous!
"That color is beautiful on you!" Colleen objected when she came out.
"Yeah, right" Blake rolled her eyes sarcastically. She hadn't worn a skirt since she was like five and she didn't like the prospect of wearing them again. Besides which the shorts under it probably created odd wrinkles and bulges where they shouldn't have been. And the shirt was hot already, though she had left it buttoned up only half the way and rolled the sleeves up.
"Um, did you need some help buttoning it or something?" Colleen asked. Blake raised an eyebrow then rolled her eyes again as she buttoned up the top four buttons, but refused to button the one that would have clenched her windpipe. Colleen smiled cheerfully as they descended the steps and took off into the dusty streets. Colleen pointed out each new building and who owned it. As they walked people passed and waved and said hello and Blake felt like she was in the 1860's version of the Brady Bunch. It was then Blake realized how sarcastic and cynical she had become in her years at high school. She remembered thinking everything was hunky dory, flowers and singing birds, everyone was happy. And then...then Zander got his break and Dad got mad and Mom started drinking and that was it. Life ended.
This story and all ideas, themes and original characters are the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Any unauthorized use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and all characters and settings no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
Blake came to consciousness slowly, glad to find there was no pain in her neck from sleeping in the car yet another night. Her eyelids felt heavy as more alertness drifted into her mind. She had been dreaming about something. Fog. And colors. And smells. And a mountain lion and a wolf. She sighed to herself and snuggled into the nice pillow. Pillow? She didn't have a pillow in her car. And then full consciousness took over her, and she remembered what had happened earlier. She was in a bed now, what did that mean? She opened her eyes, hoping against hope that she had dreamed the whole thing and that she was in some nice hospital. Yet again, however, her luck fell through and she found herself in a queen sized bed with a handmade quilt lying over her, a young woman in 1870's style dress pouring water into a basin at her side.
"Oh, no" Blake groaned, "Please!"
"Feeling better?" the woman asked. Blake sat up. She could feel her jeans were still on, though her shoes had been removed.
"That depends" she replied. She felt her stomach grumble. When was the last time she ate? Three days ago? More? Who knew how long she had line out in that gorge before that Indian fellow had found her? Well, you couldn't go three days without water, right, so it couldn't have been longer than that. Stupid, stupid. What the hell was she thinking of? And now her negligence had landed her in this mess. Perfect. Great. Wonderful.
"My name is Colleen, I'm Dr. Mike's daughter and I'm a doctor too" the woman said. She looked a bit young, not much older than Blake herself. Maybe she graduated early though, went straight into college. She could be a resident too, shadowing Dr........Mike, had she said? There were certainly a lot of doctors around this place.
"Is there anything you need? Dr. Mike didn't know what was wrong with you, she said it wasn't your head" Blake pushed the blanket back, intent on testing her legs. Her head neglected to tell her that it was still splitting though and she had to abort.
"Yeah. I have an eating disorder" she told Colleen, " Border line diabetes. It springs up now and again"
"Diabetes?" Colleen repeated, sounding confused. Blake sighed and closed her eyes. She ran a hand across her face. A doctor who didn't know about diabetes? Dreaming. Please, just let it all be a dream! But she could feel the weakness in her body, and she had never felt bad in a dream. And that's what it was, if it was a dream; bad.
"Yeah. I have to eat every two hours, pretty much" Blake explained, "Guess I haven't eaten in a few days"
"A few days? Heavens!" Colleen exclaimed, "Well, if it's food you need, we can get you that. Can you walk?"
"Oh, sure" Blake answered and swung her feet her feet touch the floor. It was a nice hard wood floor and felt cool under her feet. She closed her eyes and pushed herself up. She grabbed onto Colleen for balance when a wave of dizziness flooded into her head, but kept her feet below her, where they were supposed to be.
"Well, actually, maybe I can't" she said, feeling the tightness in stomach tighten. It was like her stomach was trying to eat itself.
"Well, we can at least get you downstairs." Colleen said and Blake had to lean on her as they started downstairs. They moved rather slowly and Blake, for about the millionth time, got angry enough for tears to form. She'd thought she had this beat, getting on a regular schedule and eating all the time. How had she let three days slip by without eating?
By the time they got down stairs and to a chair, Blake was exhausted. She could feel her arms and hands shaking and the pain from her stomach was starting to give her a headache.
"Well, look who's up!" Dr. Quinn said, coming in from another room.
"She said she needs some food, Dr. Mike" Colleen told the woman. She didn't call her mother "mom"? Dr. Mike was Dr. Quinn? Oh, well Blake could at least explain that one; she had said her name was Michaela.
"Well, we don't have much around here, but you can go down to Grace's" Quinn, or Mike, smiled.
"I don't think she can walk that far" Colleen said, "She's exhausted and all we did was come downstairs. She says she has an eating disorder called diabetes, and she's supposed to eat every two hours, but hasn't eaten in three days"
"Diabetes? I think I've heard of that. Well, why don't you go down and see if Grace will let you bring a plate up here. Tell her it's for a patient"
"All right. I'll be right back" Colleen said and went out the door.
"Well, Ms. Sully. So, where did you say you were from?"
"Around" Blake wasn't happy about being there, but she couldn't think about much more than getting some food, and getting it quick.
"I see" Quinn sighed, "I'm from Boston. My sisters are there, and so is my middle son, Brian. He works for the Globe" That got Blake's attention. The Boston Globe? Yeah, right! But Quinn seemed absolutely serious. So, yet again, Blake didn't say anything. She just worked on breathing. Quinn seemed uncomfortable, but she didn't try to make much more conversation. Colleen showed up with the food a few minutes later. She set it on the table in front of Blake. The smell made her want to throw up, but she knew it was what she needed. She took the spoon and attacked the soup, getting a spoonful or so down a minute. She finally noticed that Quinn and her daughter were watching.
"Oh, dear, sorry" Quinn said when she realized what they had been doing because Blake looked up at them.
"This...may take a while. If I eat too fast I'll just get sick" she told them. They smiled and nodded but continued to watch her.
"Why do you dress like that?" Colleen finally asked in the silence.
"Colleen!" Quinn exclaimed but she looked like she was interested in the reason too. Blake had finished her soup and bread and was feeling much better. Her body had stopped shaking and she didn't feel sick anymore at least.
"Uh.." She wasn't sure what exactly Colleen had meant.
"Well, Sully said you were dressed like a man because you had been traveling alone, on horseback, but...well, that shirt doesn't really hide..I mean, it's rather...tight, isn't it?"
"Oh, Colleen!" Blake was starting to think this was some kind of freaky settlement, like the Amish or something, only in a messed up sort of way. One of those places where people had reverted to the "old" ways for one reason or another. These people were certainly serious. Although, their complete ignorance of anything advanced, like a car, was weird. Even the Amish knew what cars and phones and TV's were. But Blake didn't feel like asking.
"I.uh..it..shrunk?" she lied, hoping she sounded at least a little convincing.
"Well, it doesn't matter, does it, Colleen?" Quinn said, "You look like you're feeling better"
"I am, thank you" Blake replied, and she wasn't lying about that. Just then, Sully walked in the door, toting a balling toddler.
"Michaela!" he nearly cried, handing the little girl to Quinn, "I don't know what's wrong with her!" Quinn took the girl and looked her over.
"What's the matter, Katie?" she asked, though the girl was obviously not going to answer. Blake had a strange feeling, like she tended to have around kids. She liked kids well enough, but kids tended to absolutely love her.
"This is my youngest daughter, Katie" Quinn informed her patient over her daughter's caterwauling. Blake watched for a minute.
"Uh.Dr. Quinn?"
"Oh, call me Mike, dear" she replied.
"Right. Um...do you mind.I mean, can I..." Michaela looked confused for a moment but then understood.
"If you want" she said and handed her screaming child to the stranger. Blake sat Katie down on her lap and just looked at her. Katie stopped her crying and looked back up at her.
"Hello" Blake said.
"Lo" Katie replied, her eyes still teary. Blake kind of half smiled and set her on the ground. The other three adults in the room were watching, slightly stunned. Katie seemed to think nothing of it, for she went running off into another room.
"Katie!" Sully called and went off after her, giving Blake one last look.
"Well, uh, again, thanks for everything" Blake said, standing up and throwing a look around, "If you'll just show me where my shoes and my bag are, I'll be going"
"Oh, where will you be going?" Michaela asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah.going.uh..." This was crazy! Okay, so these people had no idea where her car was, she had no idea where her car was, there weren't any cars in town, she was assuming anyway, and that left the foot.
"Well, I guess I'll just walk" she told them and they both stared.
"Walk? Where?" Colleen gasped.
"UH, back to.wherever your Indian friend found me" It was as good a place as any. At least from there she could get her bearings, right? She had no idea where she was right now.
"Look" Sully suddenly appeared from the other room, without a Katie Blake noticed, "Even if you wanna go back there, you said yourself you don't know the way. And it's too late to start for the gorge now."
"Yes. Stay here the night, and if you want, Sully can take you to the gorge tomorrow. I'm sure we can find you somewhere to stay" Michaela added. Blake sighed. It was late in the day, and it was true she had no idea where she was, so they were probably right about this gorge being pretty far away. And she didn't suppose it would be wise to wander around by herself at night looking for a big crack in the earth.
"I suppose you're probably right" she admitted sullenly, "Prob though. No mullah." The three of them exchanged confused looks. What had she expected? They didn't know what a car was for heaven's sake! And she supposed she'd have to watch her language for the night too. Didn't she have enough problems? Really, did she deserve this?
"No money" she said.
"Oh. Well," Michaela gave her husband a look, "You can stay with us for the night. The gorge is closer to the house anyway" Colleen looked happy enough about this, though Sully looked like he had his doubts. Blake shrugged.
"Good" Michaela clasped her hands, "Colleen, why don't you and Blake return Grace's plate? So she can see some more of the town?" Blake shrugged again when Colleen looked at her with a big smile.
"Maybe you should change first" Sully suggested, looking at her jeans again. Blake sighed.
"A skirt I suppose?" she asked.
"Uh, do you have one?" Colleen asked. Blake thought about it. What was in her backpack other than the walkman? She knew there was a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt, toothbrush and paste, comb, makeup, wallet though the money was bound to be no good here....did she even own a skirt?
"Well, you can borrow one of mine" Colleen was saying, pushing her up the stairs. She rummaged in a chest at the foot of the bed Blake had previously been occupying and pulled a blue skirt and a white shirt out.
"These should fit" she said and left Blake to put them on. She spotted her bag on the floor under the window. No way was she wearing a skirt with out something underneath. She pulled her shorts on and then buttoned the white shirt up over her own tank top. She tried to look at herself in the mirror that hung on the wall, but couldn't see much. She found her boots under the bed and laced them up. She probably looked ridiculous!
"That color is beautiful on you!" Colleen objected when she came out.
"Yeah, right" Blake rolled her eyes sarcastically. She hadn't worn a skirt since she was like five and she didn't like the prospect of wearing them again. Besides which the shorts under it probably created odd wrinkles and bulges where they shouldn't have been. And the shirt was hot already, though she had left it buttoned up only half the way and rolled the sleeves up.
"Um, did you need some help buttoning it or something?" Colleen asked. Blake raised an eyebrow then rolled her eyes again as she buttoned up the top four buttons, but refused to button the one that would have clenched her windpipe. Colleen smiled cheerfully as they descended the steps and took off into the dusty streets. Colleen pointed out each new building and who owned it. As they walked people passed and waved and said hello and Blake felt like she was in the 1860's version of the Brady Bunch. It was then Blake realized how sarcastic and cynical she had become in her years at high school. She remembered thinking everything was hunky dory, flowers and singing birds, everyone was happy. And then...then Zander got his break and Dad got mad and Mom started drinking and that was it. Life ended.