Chapter 3
Sam spent the night in the hospital. Her mind went over the pre-test for her engine and what went wrong. A familiar nurse came to visit her the next morning.
Nurse Dixie McCall walked into Sam's room as she returned for her shift. She wondered how Sam was doing and if the women really was Roy's granddaughter from the future. She gave a warm smile as she walked into the room. "Morning!" She came closer to the bedside. "How are feeling this morning, Sam?"
Sam looked up from her breakfast. She replied. "I'm physically fine. Not sure mentally though. I think I'm a wreck." She looked directly at Dixie and stated. "Some lady in stripes just came in here and wanted to know if I wanted cigarettes. What the hell?"
"That's the candy stripe girl." Dixie told her. "She can get you cigarettes, candy, newspapers. Anything to make you more comfortable."
"I'm pretty sure they don't have that in my time." she remarked dumbfounded.
"What year is your time, Sam?" Dixie wondered.
"It was the year 2025." she sighed. "I have no idea how to undo this." She looked at Dixie. "You actually believe me?"
"I believe Roy and John." she corrected. "If they didn't vouch for you, I would never believe it. You can't get back, can you?"
"I don't know how. I had purchased the old fire station on auction to use it for my engine. I had the prototype in the bay. Grandpa and Uncle Johnny are retired. Grandpa told me about the old fire station going up for auction and helped me get it. He and Uncle Johnny were helping me with it. The engine was not supposed to go into warp. It was a pre-test."
"What kind of engine were you building?" Dixie wondered.
"You know that old show, Star Trek?" she asked.
She recalled the show. "I see it on t.v. once in a while."
"In order to have a space ship that can travel through space you need an engine that can warp space around the ship and push it like a wave. The engine is a gravitational wave engine. If it worked, we would have actual space ships and do that for real." she told her.
"That's quite an engine." Dixie told her.
"Right!" she agreed. "That engine is sitting in Station 51 in the year 2025. When it activated, Grandpa and Uncle Johnny were standing right next to it. They were hit with a massive frequency wave that I am theorizing had taken a imprint of their minds and then that frequency wave went with the gravitational wave back to 1975 when I was pushed through and it imprinted on their younger selves that were in the station working. That's the only explanation I have for it."
Dixie pondered the situation. It sounded crazy and yet there was something plausible to the claim. She asked. "If you can't get back, what will you do?"
"I have no idea." she confessed. "I guess I need to get a job and find a place to live. I didn't bring anything with me. It was an accident." She then realized that she had nothing but the clothes she wore. No home, no job, nothing. "I don't want to intrude in on grandpa." She squinted, "If it's 1975 then my dad is like ten years old." Her head laid backwards as she looked up at the ceiling. "He's not going be much help."
Dixie stated. "I have an extra room. You can stay with me. Maybe we can get you a job here at Rampart."
She looked at Dixie. "Thank you. I'm not a medical doctor. I'm a doctor in physics and engineering."
"I don't think your degree is any good here, Doctor DeSoto." Dixie concluded. "You haven't been born yet."
Her face went long. "Ah' damn. I won't be born until 2001."
"That's twenty-six years from now." she reminded her.
"I know." she let out a heavy sigh.
In through the door entered Roy followed by Johnny as the pair stopped by to see how Sam did over the night.
Roy was happy to see her up and eating breakfast. "Sammy!" he called entering the room. He went right to her bedside as Sam looked upon the two men. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the head as if she was a child.
"Grandpa." she greeted.
Johnny also gave her a hug and kiss on the head following Roy. "Morning Sammy!" He then stated. "I was up all night thinking about you."
"Morning Uncle Johnny. I was up all night thinking about this whole mess too." she told him.
Roy looked at Dixie. "How did she do last night?"
"She did fine." Dixie replied. "We were just talking. I have an extra room. She can stay with me for now."
Roy grinned and looked at John. "Sam can stay with Dixie."
"She can stay with me!" he shot back. "I got room and I'm her uncle."
"She only calls you uncle." he rebutted.
Sam spoke up. "I can stay with Nurse McCall. Beside's weren't you a swinging bachelor back in your day? Which would be now. Wouldn't having your verbally adopted great niece living with you, cramp your playboy style, Uncle Johnny?" she nearly laughed.
Roy looked at Johnny rather amused. "You wouldn't be having girls over." he reminded him.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine."
Sam looked at Roy. "My dad is about ten years old, isn't he?"
"He's just a kid." Roy nodded. "You are our age now."
"Physically." Johnny added. "Mentally, I'm an old man. And, I know what is going to happen. I even remember a number of calls we had."
Sam asked. "Do you remember anything useful?"
"I know some new techniques that are coming down the pipe." he told her.
"How about the lotto numbers?" she smirked. "I need funding if I am going to build another engine to get back."
His mouth dropped. "Build another engine! I don't think that is such a good idea. That first one nearly killed us. For that matter, me and Roy could be laying dead on the bay floor."
Roy soured. "We could be dead."
She shook her head. "The engine frequency waves are not fatal. It's not like a nuclear blast. It will not harm you. You were just so close to it, it imprinted your minds and carried the information like a radio wave on the gravitational wave that I got caught in when I tried to cut the power. The engine could still be going and you two could still be there. I doubt that it killed you. There is a chance you are unconscious. If you wake up, you will need to cut the power to the engine."
"How do we do that?" Roy asked.
"Throw the breaker box. You won't get close enough to the engine itself." she stated.
Roy cemented the information to his memory. "If I survived, I will do that."
"Me too." Johnny stated.
"I need a job." Sam concluded. "Know anyplace that is hiring engineers?"
A slight grin crept across Johnny's face. "Hey! Come work for the fire department."
Roy's eyes lit up. "She could do that." He then recalled. "They started accepting women firefighters back in the seventies."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Started? You mean, women were not allowed to be firefighters?"
"Not many were back then, honey." Roy told her. "Hey, Johnny and I ca sponsor you. I can tell everyone you are my sister and we can get you in training."
Sam asked. "Your sister?"
Roy told her. "You can't go around calling me grandpa. We are the same age now. You got the DeSoto nose. I can pass you off as my sister."
She rubbed her nose in thought. "I got the DeSoto nose?"
Dixie had to agree. "You and Roy can pass as siblings."
"I look like Grandpa Roy." she figured.
"You sure do." Johnny nodded.
She wondered. "I've called him grandpa my whole life. Now, I have to call him….Roy."
Roy stated. "This is not easy for me either. I watched you grow up. I held you the day you were born. In my eyes you are still my little granddaughter."
Johnny added. "Same for me. To me, you are still that cute little girl who played with cars and hated dolls." He then smiled brightly in memory. "Remember when you were little and loved fire trucks and wanted to grow up and be a firefighter?"
"I was seven." she recalled.
"Now is your chance." he cheered.
She looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Okay! I need access to the fire station. The engine can rip through time and space fabric. It's sitting in the fire station in 2025 and since I came through physically to 1975, that means there could still be some anomalies. The best way for me to gain access to the station house is if I am working there. My way in is through Grandpa and Uncle Johnny." She looked at the pair. "I guess I will have to become a firefighter."
Roy assured. "Me and Johnny will get you in." He looked to Dixie. "You need any money for Sam? She will need to buy clothes. She has nothing here." He reached for his wallet much like a parent supporting a child.
Johnny reached for his wallet as well. "She will need I.D. and cash." He gathered some cash as well.
Dixie stood amazed as the two paramedics handed her a few twenty dollar bills. She took the money, "I will make sure she gets some clothes and if you have a family bible, Roy. You can use that to get her a birth certificate and I.D. cards."
"I have an old family bible." he nodded.
"Just pencil in her birth. Back date it." she instructed.
"I will." he agreed. He looked at Sam hating to leave her. "Johnny and I have to get back to work. Dixie will take good care of you, Sammy. You need anything. You just call me."
"I will. I'll be fine, Grandpa." she assured him.
Roy leaned over and kissed her head once more. "Love you, honey." he dotted over his granddaughter. He then stepped back.
Johnny stepped in and gave her a warm hug. "I'm here if you need me." he assured her. He stepped back as well.
She assured the men. "I'm fine. I will be fine." She then watched as the pair made their way out the door.
Dixie stated. "I have to get to the E.R. for my shift. You should get released today, around lunch time. I will take the afternoon off and get you settled."
"Thank you, Nurse McCall." she replied grateful for her help.
"You can call me Dixie." she gave a warm smile and assuring grasp of the hand.
"Sam." she replied mutually.
"See you at lunch." Dixie stated and then left to go to work as well.