Jude

No matter how much and how loud I called Percy's name, he didn't come back. He was nowhere. I was in a state where I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. Everything went by so fast, my vision blurred. Is this an ambulance? I wondered as I lay on a stretcher, attached to all kinds of tubes. Why did I need this oxygen, anyway? I yanked the tube off, flinging it at the man beside me. A woman sat on the other side of me. If I was in an ambulance, then they must have been paramedics.

"You're okay," Judah, the woman said. "Everything will be okay."

"I need to go back," I muttered, but I doubted anyone heard me. "Send me back!"

As I lay flat on my back, I didn't notice the woman standing behind me. "Don't let him fall asleep," she said. "Give him another shot of epinephrine."

"But we just did twenty minutes ago," the man said.

"Give him another one. He's very sick. We can't risk him passing out and disappearing on us. He may not make it back."

As soon as they jabbed me, my heart raced, and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin, yet I couldn't move. I couldn't sit up or do much of anything else except call out Percy's name. Upon reaching our destination, only the darkness revealed the time, nothing more. I had no idea where we were.

The paramedics rushed me into a building, down an empty hallway, and into a room. The stark white walls blinded me. I hadn't yet realized we were in a shower room. Two men and one woman entered, all dressed in gowns, face shields, and gloves, reminiscent of the 2020-2021 COVID era. Maybe I'd gone back to 2020.

"Is this 2020?" I asked them.

"No. It's March 10th, 2024," one man said, standing beside me.

"Hi, Judah. My name's Tanya and I'll be your nurse. This is Dr. Rossi and Evan, one of the aides."

"Call me Mike," the doctor said. "Just relax. We're here to help you. First, we're just going to clean you up."

Evan and Mike undressed me before transferring me into a shower chair. My limbs were like jelly. Without warning, Evan sprayed with hot water, soaking me. Once I was sopping weight, Tanya lathered my hair with shampoo while Evan scrubbed every inch of my body with soap. Despite the humiliation of someone washing parts of my body I only ever let Percy wash, it felt damn good to rid myself of those bugs and anything else I might have been carrying.

"See this rash..." the doctor said to Tanya and Evan, acting like an instructor, using me as a learning opportunity. "This is indicative of typhus, a very contagious disease caused by lice. He'll need an antibiotic."

"You're gonna be okay, Judah," Tanya said, helping me into a johnnie. People needed to stop telling me that. It was nothing but lies. "We're here to help you. We'll let you sleep soon... real sleep."

Real sleep. I'd forgotten what that felt like.

Yet, the fate of Percy remained a mystery. Was he here, too?

Lightheaded and dizzy, I struggled to sit up, my head still pounding, my body shivering with chills and a fever. Suddenly, the projectile vomit returned. With no food in my stomach, I threw up bile. I'd never been so sick in my entire life. I hoped they could help me.

On another stretcher, I lay on my stomach in a brightly lit room. I was with it enough to know we were in an operating room.

"Hello, Judah," a woman said. I recognized her voice from the ambulance. Her voice seemed to come from all directions. "I'm Dr. Carmen Rodriguez. We met a few years ago. Don't worry. We're all here to help you. It's time to end this nightmare. Now you'll just feel a pinch."

"What about Percy?" I asked as she injected the nape of my neck with something. It was more than a little pinch or prick. "What the fuck's that?"

"Lidocaine... a numbing agent. Usually I'd put you to sleep, but I don't want you to disappear on us. You're quite ill."

"What's wrong with me?"

"I believe you have typhus. Now just relax."

Relax... I hated that word.

The familiar nurse from earlier stood beside me, rubbing my back, attempting to reassure me as the doctor poked and prodded in the nape of my neck, the area where my hairline met my neck. "I got it," she said to her team. "After we sow him up, let's start him on some doxycycline and saline. We'll give him Tylenol for his fever and lorazepam to relax him so he can finally get some real sleep."

Real sleep...

For the moment, I forgot about Percy, looking forward to much needed sleep. I put everything else aside... Percy, the ghetto, time travel, everything, just for a true, deep, sleep.

***

The sterile disinfectant smells and beeps reminded me I was in a hospital. I discovered a pole with an IV hooked up to me. Gasping, I bolted upright, remembering that I'd lost Percy. I needed to get to him. I winced, waking up with the worst hangover of my life, except for the fact I hadn't had anything to drink. I ran my fingers through my hair, down to the stitches at the back of my neck. Pain emanated from my shoulder blade, the area where Percy extracted the tracking device. A bandage covered the area. My vision was back to normal, and I felt more like myself.

And I realized I had to get the hell out of there. I pulled the IV out, fooling myself into thinking I could escape. As I swung my legs over the side of the bed, a swarm of people charged toward me. "I need to find Percy," I said as my nurse coaxed me back into bed.

"It's alright. I got him," the nurse said, encouraging the others to back off. "I'm Tanya, your nurse. We met a few days ago... and a few years ago."

"Hey, I remember you. You did this to me," I said as she reattached the IV. "Get the fuck away from me."

"We're here to help you, Judah. Things are different now. Dr. Rodriguez will be in to speak to you. You've been delirious for days. It's a good thing you called her when you did. We've been trying to get to you before the others did."

"Is Percy here?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

Wait... I was delirious for days? And who are the others?

It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't traveled in days. When I slept, I actually slept.

As Tanya left the room, I stared blankly at the IV pole. I didn't hear the footsteps approach me. "Hello, Judah," a female voice said. I turned my head to find Dr. Rodriguez standing there, her strawberry blond hair bringing back memories.

"Get away from me," I said. "You did this to me. You did this to me and Percy! Fuck you!"

"I'm truly sorry for everything you and Percy have gone through. I'm no longer partnered with the Burkes. It was wrong what they did, and I'm ashamed to admit I was part of it. After a young woman killed herself, the Burkes and I parted ways, and I took half their team with me. You're safe here."

"Everyone keeps saying I'm safe. How do I know that?"

"I promise I won't let everyone harm you again. You're in an undisclosed floating hospital. No one here will hurt you or experiment on you. I want to help you find Percy and bring him back. I'm impressed—and glad—you and Percy tracked me down. The others haven't been so lucky."

Holding a laptop, she sat on the edge of my bed, appearing genuine and sincere.

"Percy's clever," she continued. "He's the only one who discovered the tracking device, but it would have been impossible to find the other chip. It's a minuscule device that recorded your travels." She removed a tiny object from the pocket of her lab coat and held it in front of my face. "This was yours. We inserted it on the base of your skull."

"What the fuck?"

"We experimented with people with all blood types and discovered time travel was only possible in people with type AB blood, together with a synthetic chemical, clycoxin, a chemical Dr. John Burke and I created. Combined with the protein in AB blood, and this unique chemical, you gained the ability to time travel. We never intended for it to happen in people's sleep. The truth is, we didn't know what to expect. We were experimenting with people's lives without thinking of the repercussions. It's not safe and it's unethical. It hasn't worked out like the Burkes had hoped. So far, no one has changed history. We've cleaned your blood, Judah, eliminating the chemical from your body."

"Well, put the chemical back in. I need to go back. Don't you get it? Percy didn't come back with me. I need to go get him. He's stuck in a fucking Jewish ghetto with his grandfather and great aunts. It's fucked up. It makes no sense. Percy's not Jewish. Alonzo's not even a Jewish name."

"I know more about Percy than you do. His grandfather was a mischling, half-Jewish. His father, Percy's great grandfather, was Jewish while his mother—or his great grandmother—was not Jewish. She was Aryan, so the family was protected for a long time until the mother died."

"How do you know all of this?"

"It was our researchers' job to find out everything about you and Percy. He is quite gifted, and I can't wait to get rid of that gift. He's a very unusual case, all the more reason the Burkes want him. His case is fascinating. Travel worked differently for him than for you. I can't explain why he's still there or why he was sent to—" She abruptly stopped.

"Where is he now?"

Dr. Rodriguez hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers, her eyes wandering away from mine.

"Where is he?" I persisted, my heart racing.

"On your way back to 2024, the SS raided the building before Percy fell asleep."

"Raided? What does that mean?" I asked, even though I knew what it meant, something I didn't want to believe. I gripped her arm, pleading with her. "Tell me where he is. If I'm going to get him, you have to tell me."

"He's in Auschwitz," she stated.

I was afraid she'd say something as stupid as that. As if I'd lost my mind, I abruptly burst into laughter. "That's impossible," I said in between laughs. "His grandfather never died, otherwise Percy would never have been born and I wouldn't be here right now."

"His grandfather never went to Auschwitz. He wasn't in the basement during the raid. I saw it all, Judah. Percy left with the girls. He's healthy and strong, so the Germans put him to work. The girls weren't so lucky I'm afraid."

Dr. Rodriguez opened her laptop and pressed a few keys. It was like I was watching a Holocaust documentary in color. Percy, with his head shaved and wearing a dirty, ragged black and white uniform, gathered rocks and loaded them onto a wagon. He was just one of many prisoners, most who were far more emaciated than him.

"I need to bring him back," I said, the laughter long gone. "Put the chemical back in me. I have to do this."

"You don't have Percy's gift. You've had little success in choosing where you end up. It's risky."

"It's a risk we need to take. Couldn't you hypnotize me or something before I fall asleep? We gotta try something. Somehow I brought myself to Percy all those times, didn't I? I'll do it again. Do you still have the chemical?"

"Yes, and I plan on destroying it all. My mission is to help those we hurt."

Now wasn't the time for further discussion about her so-called rescue mission. "Just do it."

While recovering, Dr. Rodriguez—or Carmen as I started to call her—gathered the ingredients to restore my 'super powers.'

To appease me, Carmen found a hypnotist, a good 'friend of hers,' she said. It's like she had all kinds of specialists at her fingertips. I also wondered where she got the money to fund her 'rescue organization.' I didn't know what else to call and her team.

I watched the bag of blood with the magic chemical drip into my vein. It was equivalent to watching paint dry. "Can't this go any faster?" I said.

Carmen didn't acknowledge my question. Instead, she introduced me to the hypnotist. "This is Peter Costanzo, a hypnotist I've worked with for many years." Peter reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock, a short stout man, slightly balding.

"Carmen's filled you in, right?" I said.

"Yes, she has," he replied. "I've done this many times."

Carmen failed to inform me, making me doubt my sanity for suggesting a hypnotist. This will be all over soon, I told myself. "Make sure you tell me to go to Percy's barracks," I told Peter. "And it's gotta be nighttime. I don't want to land in the crematoria. I don't want anyone to find out how the timeline might be affected if I'm killed. Shit, I'm fucking scared. I never thought I'd beg to time travel again."

"I'm sure Percy would do the same for you," Carmen said.

I realized we had one slight problem: What happened if we didn't fall asleep right away? In different places and times, it'd take me hours or days to fall asleep.

"I have a question, Carmen. What happens if we don't fall asleep right away? It rarely happens that way. If the Germans find me, Percy and I are dead."

"I can give you some sleeping pills to bring with you," she said.

"I can't bring anything with me. My clothes always stay behind. I'm always naked when I land."

Carmen thought for a second. "What if something is inside you? It seems a little extreme, but we have to try."

I was willing to try anything. She placed six pills in a baggie, which she folded over and over until it was small enough. "These are Ambien, very strong sleeping pills. Typically, one pill is sufficient. Take two each when you get there. You should be asleep within twenty minutes."

I'd rather not get into details about where I put it, but I understood why corrections officers performed cavity searches.

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