New York City, New York, 2025

November 27th, 4:30 PM

When I woke up, I was on the floor just outside of the machine, but I was too dazed to question how I got out. I was surrounded by practically every scientist that was in the room before I left. Some were worried for my health, and others were asking me if it had worked. The overlapping voices and blinding ceiling lights made my headache even worse.

"Stephen, you look pale."

"Did it work?"

"Which era did you land in, Stephen?"

"You should see a doctor."

I was beginning to get irritated when I saw a blurry version of Lucas and Mai, pushing the others away so I could get some space. I felt just as bad as I heard I looked, and I hadn't even remembered my injured leg. Once I did, I felt a sudden pain in my ankle that made me wince when I tried to move it. Through sharp breaths, I told Lucas and Mai to get me to the doctor.

"Can you help me get up?" I asked, lifting my arms so my friends could pull me up.

Lucas took my hands and lifted me up. Mai wrapped her left arm around my waist and held on to my right arm, which was resting around her shoulders.

Once we were out of the building and heading towards his car, Mai broke the silence.

"So how did it go, Stephen?"

"I arrived in eighteenth century Vienna and got in the middle of the road. I forgot they had carriages. One of them crashed into me and sent me into a garden."

Lucas winced and shook his head.

"Your ankle is already bandaged. Someone saw you?"

"Yes, but there's nothing to worry about. I know you told me not to interact with anyone until I got proper clothes and stuff but you weren't really expecting me to go shopping with a messed up leg, right?"

We had arrived to the car, so they helped me in.

Once everyone got seated, Lucas said, "Fine. Tell me they don't know you're a time traveler, though."

I smiled sheepishly. "Well, here's the thing-"

"Stephen, no one can know you're a time traveler! We discussed this, and you yourself were extremely cautious about it before. What happened?"

"I know, I know, I don't know what got into me. She was just so kind to me and sitting there in silence while she healed me was just awkward. I didn't know what to say."

"So you told her you're a time traveler of all things."

"I'll go back as soon as I feel better. I'll be extra careful."

Lucas sighed and started the car.

The ride to the nearest hospital was silent, except for the radio playing at low volume on the oldies music station. When I heard that the song playing was "Yesterday" by The Beatles, I couldn't help but smile. The memory of Daphne and her mansion was now hazy, as if it had all been a dream. And yet there I was, already thinking about my next visit.

The hospital went just about as well as I thought it would. It turned out I had a sprained ankle, which meant I wouldn't be able to visit Daphne or any other eras for at least a week. And I had to walk with crutches. Just great. We all went to my apartment afterwards, though. I had invited them over to talk about how the experiment went, and after they left, I would dedicate my sitting down time to extra research on time travel.

Once we were seated on my couch, I began telling Lucas and Mai all about eighteenth century Vienna.

"Of course, I didn't get to explore much," I explained, "but what I did see was very nice. The architecture was just breathtaking, and the streets were crowded with merchants and buyers and people like that. That's just what I saw on my way to Daphne's mansion."

"Mansion?" Mai marveled.

"You heard me. It had the tallest windows and the furniture and decorations were so elaborate. And there I was thinking I had a nice apartment."

"So tell me about Daphne. Am I sensing a possible romance? You are the type to catch feelings quickly enough to reveal that you're a time traveler."

"Oh, I don't know. She was really pretty, and the little time we had together was nice. I wouldn't call it a romance though."

"You're seeing her again though, right?"

"What? No." I figured it was no use lying.

I sighed, "Yeah, I am."

"Just be careful," Lucas warned, "If I were you, I would have a serious talk about the fact that she knows."

"I will, trust me."

Lucas gave me a few pats on the back and stood up. "I should get going, Stephen. I have some research of my own to do. Some astrophysics studies."

"And I have that chemistry lab waiting for me," Mai added.

We said our goodbyes, and I was once again alone in my apartment. I sighed and poured myself some orange juice from my fridge, which I drank while pondering how I could lessen the dizziness after time traveling. Both times I had woken up in a daze. The rest of my evening was spent pondering, researching on my laptop, and writing an excessive amount of notes in my journal. My perfect evening.