Yesterday (Part Two - Chapters 33 & 34) (Patreon)

CHAPTER 33

Adrian spent the entire morning getting tested while lying on his gurney from one ward to another in the clinic. Blood work, X-rays, CT scans... you name it. He went through it in the best mood he could and just let himself go, hoping it would be over soon, groggy with painkillers or whatever he was given. He was still unable to move much but a little more aware of his surroundings.

He made himself a little mental calendar in which he went through what he knew was real on the one hand, and what he suspected was not on the other. The first thing that surprised him was the temporal coherence that all the facts had, except for the jumps, of course.

“And even the jumps had some coherence between themselves”, he thought. He needed to recover some of his old notebooks, perhaps even recover the diary he remembered consulting on his leap to 1985. Perhaps it was still stored in his parents' house.

Once again he felt like a nutcase with those memories flitting around in his head, but he just didn't give it any more thought. After all, it was an experience, his experience, and that made him feel somehow special. It had been worth it.

Then he noticed with half an eye that he was back alone in the room and got suddenly hungry. He managed, with great effort, to half sit up. With relief, he discovered that a tray of food had been left on a small service table beside him so he opened it. He began eating avidly with his hands. He was surprised at how delicious the textures were, everything tasted exquisite to him and with each bite he regained his strength, even his eyesight became clearer. It was his first time in a hospital as an adult and he was surprised that the food was so good.

“You watch too much bad television”, he reproached himself.

He was finishing his dessert in delight when he heard a brief friction on the couch to the right of his bed.

As he turned to look with the little spoon still in his mouth, he saw Roman Giner there, very much alive.

Adrian choked, and Roman looked at him with a humorous gesture.

—Howdy! —, he said with a mischievous smile.

Adrian was astonished. He slowly put the spoon down on the tray and turned a little more to face him.

—Are you... really...? — he mumbled in surprise.

—See for yourself, — said Román waving his hands around, —I’m here, aren't I?

—But I was...

—Details, my dear, details — said Román, dismissing it with a hand.

Adrian stared at him and was very tempted to touch him to make sure he was real, but he resisted. Although he felt his heart would burst from the shock, he decided to play along as best he could.

—What are you doing here? How did you get in?

—What does it look like to you? —Roman replied, —Someone has to help you make sense of it all, right?

—Did you come with Antonio? — Adrian probed.

—Antonio doesn't exist, at least not the Antonio you think.

Adrián tried to evaluate Román's expression, but he found it very difficult. He continued to express the same overwhelming self-confidence, but his tone was infinitely more friendly, as if they had known each other all their lives.

—And how do I know that you are who you say you are?

—Well, I'm not who you think I am either.

CHAPTER 34

They arrived in Madrid airport in the mid-afternoon. After tailing Professor Hebert for a while Oscar decided to let him go and continue his research on his own. Laura felt somewhat ill with all the hustle and bustle; she excused herself and went back home to rest.

She got into a cab at the station. The events of the last few days had worn her out. They hardly exchanged a word during the trip. Laura preferred it that way. She couldn't think of anything else, not until she had made sense of it all.

When she arrived at the family home, she found a note from Eva on the coffee table in the lobby:

“I'm at the hospital, call me back when you get here”.

She dialed her sister's number. Eva was driving and it seemed she had finally learned to use her hands-free. She was in a good mood.

—How was England, little Sis?

—Very nice, actually—, Laura replied.

—Next time you and I will go shopping by ourselves in London, it’ll be great—, said Eva enthusiastically.

—Well, we’ll see about that, how is Adrian doing?

—I'm going to see him now, they told me he's almost awake. They've been running tests on him all day. Tell Dad I'll spend the night with him. But please get some rest, you sound exhausted.

—I'm so tired—, she excused herself.

—It' s just your lack of habit, little Sis, let's see if you can get out of home a bit more from now on.

—Okay—, Laura conceded reluctantly, a little bewildered by Eva's good mood. —Now I'm going to lay down for a while.

—No worries, talk tomorrow — Eva settled down decidedly —. Kisses.

Laura hung up and stood in the middle of the big hall. She wondered how many more secrets that house would keep, and why it was her turn to find out about them all at once.

She struggled up the stairs and fell into her bed, exhausted. All she needed was to sleep.

* * *

Oscar, meanwhile, headed to his offices in a rage. He had decided to make a few calls and find out once and for all what was really going on. He couldn't keep on beating around the bush.

At the time he adopted the children, he promised them to leave their past behind and not ask questions, but many years had passed, and he wasn't going to let it all go to hell out of ignorance.

He needed facts. To know what the Professor was so afraid of and why they wouldn't let him communicate with Aminarti.

He would start by calling an old friend, Alberto Canales, the retired judge who initially got him into that mess.