Page 16 of Destiny Reclaimed
She eyed the man's injury. Her brows knit. "Is this a stab wound?"
The soldier hesitated briefly before replying, "Yes...it's a long story."
She opened her mouth to speak but then pinched her lips together. Then, she dabbed some copper-colored liquid onto a large piece of gauze and pressed it to the guy's wound. He winced and jerked slightly in one motion, then stilled and let her clean and stitch the cut.
Her focus shifted briefly to him. "Have a seat. You're next."
Jack took a seat on a cot, then glanced around the room. Without notice, his Protector had disappeared along with the other female. Did that mean their work here was finished? Were Arthur and Evan no longer a threat to history? If so, at what point would he travel back to the future—to his reality—1967? So many unanswered questions. The second he returned home, he'd talk to his father some more about this and the rules of engagement.
When the nurse finished stitching up the other soldier, she turned her attention to him. She leaned close to inspect the damage. She smelled of alcohol. Until this moment, he'd only noticed the oily ship scent.
"That's an unusual tear. It's hanging on by a thread. I'll try stitching it but...well, we'll just try attaching it."
He braced for pain as she lowered her fingertips to his ear. By the time she reached the lobe, he felt nothing and she hadn't even numbed it. That probably wasn’t a good sign. Was the tissue dead? Would he eventually lose the lobe? Just another battle scar to add to the list, but one well worth it if it preserved his family's military history.
The guy in the next bed rose and walked out of the room without so much as a glance back. Did he not see the resemblance they shared? It was uncanny to him, yet it didn't appear so to the other man. They say everyone has a twin, maybe this was just coincidental.
"Karen!" a voice yelled from the surgical area.
The nurse caught his gaze at him. "Sit tight. I'll be back when I can."
He nodded in response. His earlobe could certainly wait. Especially if she was being summoned to help with his father.
Moments later, Gabriela returned. The bounce in her step and the glint in her ocean-blue eyes let him know she was happy about something. What could possibly be pleasing on such a dismal day?
"Any word on your dad or Evan?" she asked.
He shook his head.
Her gaze zoned in on his ear. "And your injury?"
"The nurse said she'd be back in a bit to stitch it.”
She nodded and stepped closer to him. "It's not the worst. I would imagine they'd let you travel with it."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, I should be more specific since this is your first travel."
How did she know that?
"Since you didn't look shocked when we first met up, I'm going to assume you've been somewhat prepared about your role as a Preserver, right?"
"My father told me a little about my role and some rules, especially the secrecy part, and just a smidge about Protectors and Modifiers."
"So, you know, he didn't recognize you because we're in his alternate reality—1944, where you'd be, what, five or six years old."
"That'd be about right."
"It's an interesting thing this time travel. Most of the world will never know what it takes to keep things on track."
Jack no longer carried any doubt in regard to what his dad had told him about being time travel Preservers. Even as preposterous as it sounded at first, he knew in his heart it was true. And, here he was amid D-Day proving alternate realities existed. Now that he was in it, he had so many unanswered questions and didn't know where to start.
"The helmsman and the other woman soldier. Who are they? I swear I saw them before, in Vietnam when I was in the hospital. At the time I thought I’d dreamt them up but now I see I didn’t. Back then, I learned they go by Blake and Ariel. But who are they to me...us?"
Gabriela didn't answer him right away. She seemed to be contemplating how she would answer him. Her eyes went opaque.
"Gabriela."
