Chapter 78: Unexpected Revelations

September 12, 2007

They resumed two nights after I disposed of the bottle in the Pacific Ocean. They were unexpected, a little frightening, and quite a bit intriguing. They were the Dreams, and they were back.

This time, they appeared to illustrate my life in the original timeline, as if I had never gone back! They were different in some ways from the dreams that both my beloved and I had experienced many weeks ago. They were not your typical lucid dreams; what was truly strange was that I had no control over what I did or said. It was like I was a passenger in my own body, and at first, was quite disconcerting. At the same time, I appeared to somehow have access to the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and mental processes of the other me. It didn't take me long to realize that these were just scenes that were being played out for me, telling the story of what my life would have been like if I had not jumped into the current timeline. It all started with me waking up in a hospital bed.

"Evie?" I croaked, as I looked into a set of familiar eyes.

"Shh ... don't talk, Pat. You're in the hospital. Your dad faxed over a letter authorizing me to have Medical Power of Attorney for you until he and your mom could get here. Remember, they were down in Georgia visiting your uncle. They caught a flight a couple of hours ago and should be here soon."

"What happened to me?" I mumbled hazily.

Evie put her fingers to my lips in a hushing gesture and I took the hint. The fact that every part of my body hurt like hell (including said lips) seemed to convince me that it was a good idea to listen to my friend.

"Pat, you were hit by lightning."

"Lightning?" I groaned, catching a look from Evie that told me to shut up again.

"Yes. According to the doctors, you're out of danger, but you're lucky to be alive. I guess you're just a stubborn old Irishman who refused to die," she smiled, as I suppressed a laugh of my own. "They think there's a good chance that you'll make a full recovery, but you may have to undergo some extensive physical therapy, as the lightning did a number on your entire nervous system."

"Where's Shannon?" the other me wondered. The "current me" winced at that memory.

"She's in the hospital cafeteria with Inez."

"Inez?!" I exclaimed. That revelation appeared to get quite a rise out of my original timeline counterpart.

"Pat!" spat Evie in her back-down tone. "Pat, Inez saved your life! She performed CPR on you and called 911. She also got in touch with Jasmine, to get a hold of me, and I called Shannon. I got her number from Dave."

I could feel the wheels in my counterpart's brain beginning to spin. That bitch who spat on me and stole our money ... saved my life? What's her game? What does she want? he thought.

Soon, he was jolted from those thoughts by a familiar voice. "Pat, baby!" cried Shannon, as she sashayed up to the bed and put a painful lip lock on me. I had to admit that I still found Shannon physically attractive, even though she certainly paled in comparison to my wife, who was twelve years her senior.

"Umm... " I heard myself grunt in pain.

"Easy, Shannon!" cautioned Evie with a snicker.

"Hurts..." I murmured, unable to get out anything more.

"My poor baby," Shannon cooed, as her big blue eyes looked down into mine.

I caught some movement behind her, and both versions of me were startled to spot Inez. She was hanging out in the background, looking down at the ground. I could not help but draw a contrast to the lovely woman I had married. This Inez easily weighed thirty pounds more than her current timeline counterpart, perhaps more. The funny thing was, there was an aura about her that supported the notion that she was indeed the woman I loved, despite her appearance. My heart ached seeing her this way, as I recalled the horrid life she had lived in this timeline.

I then heard another voice, as a large silver-haired woman in a nurse's uniform approached us. "Okay, I'm going to need to ask all of you to go back to the lounge for a little while," she bellowed. "Mr. O'Malley needs his rest, and the doctor will be here soon to explain his condition."

"No, nurse, let them stay," I stated firmly, despite the pain I felt in the process.

The nurse kind of harrumphed in response, but finally left. I then noticed Inez starting to edge inconspicuously toward the door. I could feel a whirlwind of emotions run through my counterpart's brain. The Inez of this timeline had deceived him and his friends, treated him like something she'd scraped off her shoe, and topped it all off by spitting on him. The scorn he felt for her was well-established and justifiable. However, after learning that she had saved his life, there was a component of gratitude creeping into his feelings. Her demeanor was nothing if not meek, quite at odds with the peevish Inez he'd dealt with over the past few days. She was actually trying to sneak out of the room; my counterpart was puzzled by her actions and his mind was now full of curiosity.

"Please don't go, Inez," I said. The other me voiced it; I wanted to reinforce it.

"Okay," she replied quietly, her eyes still not meeting mine, then...

I awoke after that feeling distinctly troubled, for these dreams were markedly different from those that came before. Why was I seeing these images now, and why were they so vivid? Were they merely informative like the earlier dreams, or was there more to them? Inez and I thought we had done a good job of securing the bottle. Was I, perish the thought, in danger of returning to the original timeline?

As I pondered those weighty issues, I gazed over at my sleeping wife, who was now beginning to stir. Her lovely eyes opened reluctantly, then suddenly grew wide.

"Holy shit," she whispered. The tone in which she uttered that one expletive spoke volumes.

"Not you, too," I uttered in awe. My worries about jumping timelines were instantly shoved into the background.

"Me too," she replied, deducing right away that we'd once again dreamed in tandem. "You tell me yours first."

She listened with rapt attention as I shared my vision. "That's really mind-blowing," she stated as I finished. "I dreamed the exact same scene ... except I was inside the head of Bitter Inez."

"Unreal," I replied in wonder. Then, a thought occurred to me. "Inside her head? That must have been an adventure."

"The first thing I remember about the dream," said my wife with a smile, "was sitting in the hospital cafeteria with that Shannon. Since I could read the thoughts of the other me, I knew who Shannon was. Shannon was going on and on about your expensive car, how big your house was, and the nice things you bought for her. She was boring me to tears." Inez hesitated, regarding me with a twinkle in her eye. "What the hell did you see in her, anyhow?"

I laughed and fumbled around for a reply. Inez giggled and supplied the answer.

"Great sex, huh?"

"I know better than to comment on that," I guffawed, as she began to tickle me. When I finally caught my breath, I told her, "I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation."

"You wouldn't have missed much. It was completely one-sided. Next thing I knew, we went upstairs to your room, where I saw you'd just awakened. I watched that shameless hussy run up to you and plant one on your mouth. I wanted to throttle her, and here's the funny thing. I had access to the thoughts of the other Inez, and you know what?"

"What, angel?"

"You know how I speculated before that she was secretly attracted to you. Now that I've, in a sense, been inside her head, I know that for a fact. She wanted to throttle Shannon, too."

"No way," I laughed a little dismissively. "What was there to like about that me – Shallow Pat – anyhow?"

"You were still you," Inez pointed out. "A flawed version of you, certainly. But you were you, and I was me, and based on what happened in this timeline, the chemistry should still have been there, right?"

"But I hated that version of you. At least I thought I did."

"Remember, sweetie," smiled my wife, "there's a fine line between love and hate, right? Now that we've had this scene played out for us ... isn't it fun to think about the possibility that you and I might have crossed that line in that life as well?"

"Too bizarre for me even to wrap my mind around," I laughed. "Anyway, I think we need to bounce this off of our on-call time travel expert."

"No question about it," said George over the phone, later that same day. "Those dreams were revelations of what happened in the other timeline after you were sent back in time. You can accept it as fact. I've had similar dreams myself."

"So what can we expect going forward?" I wondered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this was just episode one of a story of some kind," asserted George. "You might just find that the entire tale will be laid out for you before too long."

September 14, 2007

Once again, George was correct. Tonight, episode two played itself out in another very detailed visit to dreamland.

The setting was an Italian restaurant; one I couldn't ever recall setting foot in. I was seated in a booth, with a plate of food in front of me. Seated across from me was Bitter Inez. Don't get me wrong; this was obviously no romantic date, although the atmosphere was refreshingly civil. Rather, it was an attempt at fence-mending by two people who'd gotten off to the most inauspicious start imaginable. The other me had apparently been restored to good health. I figured it must have been a month or two after the lightning strike.

I watched as Inez reached into her purse and produced an envelope. "I wanted to give you this, Pat," she said tentatively, displaying a shyness that was completely absent in the Inez I knew and loved.

My counterpart opened the envelope and removed a small amount of cash. "This is your share of the prize money," Inez went on. "I was wrong to do what I did, and I want to set everything straight. I'm planning to give the others their share as well."

"You don't have to do this, Inez," protested the other me, making a move to hand the money back to her. "For me, it's water under the bridge."

"But I want to," she declared, refusing my attempt.

I could read Shallow Pat's mind. He realized how important this was to Inez, and he relented. "Okay, then. Tell you what. I'll use part of this to pay for our dinner. Fair enough?"

"That's okay," intoned Inez expressionlessly.

"Actually, Inez," offered the other me, pressing the issue, "it's me who owes you a debt."

Inez sat there, lost in thought for a moment. Then she proceeded to do something she apparently hadn't done for quite a long time: she opened up, if only just a little.

"It's nice," she said softly, drawing a deep breath, "to feel gratitude from another person. It's been so long. Most people want nothing whatsoever to do with me."

Shallow Pat flashed a tight-lipped smile. "Maybe that's true, maybe not. But there's an old cliché that applies here, I think. Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

At that, I saw the corners of Bitter Inez's mouth draw up into a faint smile, and the barest evidence of a twinkle formed in her sullen eyes. It was the look of Hope. I wanted to somehow shake my counterpart's hand. Maybe there was hope for him yet!

The scene seemed to fast-forward to the point where the waitress presented the check. The other Pat paid the bill. "Thanks, Pat," voiced Inez. "Thanks for hearing me out. It means a lot."

"No problem at all," said Shallow Pat.

"It was worth missing the Yankees game on TV," she said wryly.

"You're a baseball fan?" said the other me, surprised at this development.

"I've been a Yankee fan since I was a little girl."

"I won't hold that against you," laughed my counterpart, before glancing at his watch. "Oh shit!" he said in bemusement. With access to his thoughts, I knew his concern. He was late for a rendezvous with Shannon.

"Let me guess," said Suddenly Not So Bitter Inez. "Shannon."

"Yeah," answered my counterpart somewhat abashedly. "I'm supposed to meet up with her." I could feel him roll his eyes, and could sense his mind turning over the concept that he was indeed getting fed up with Shannon and her singular focus.

Inez, meanwhile, flashed the closest approximation of a smile she'd displayed so far. "Pat, what the hell do you see in her, anyhow?"

As the dream faded out and my consciousness began to emerge, I took in the lovely face of my awakening wife. "Awww," she smiled, obviously commenting on a similar dream of her own. "How cute!"

"Well, I'm not hearing wedding bells or anything like that," I laughed. "But that was a far cry from what I actually lived through right before I got sent back in time."

September 17, 2007

This time, we had to wait three nights for the continuation of the saga.

There they were, Pat and Inez from the other timeline, seated in the very same restaurant – occupying the same booth as before, in fact – discussing baseball in a lighthearted manner. More time had clearly elapsed. They'd obviously bonded through their mutual love of America's pastime. Again, I had access to my counterpart's thoughts and feelings. He'd grown quite fond of this former enemy of his, although I sensed little if any romantic spark. Let's face it, this Inez was sadly not much to look at. At the same time, her demeanor had improved by leaps and bounds, which in and of itself made her decidedly less unattractive.

The other Pat, however, cherished this burgeoning friendship. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was helping someone better themselves. This gave him a sense of purpose – something that version of myself had really never known up till then.

I noticed that Inez, who'd slurped down a large helping of pasta in the previous dream, was now picking away contentedly at a salad. "You know, Pat," she said offhandedly, "I'd never have admitted it at the time, but I have to say that I really enjoyed performing up on stage that night."

"You sure had a funny way of showing it," cracked the other me, grinning and making a daring show of wiping his cheek. To my delight, the other Inez actually laughed at this gentle barb.

"Okay, you got me," she finally said. I sensed an idea forming inside my counterpart's head, but before he could give voice to it, Inez changed the subject.

"How are you dealing with Life After Shannon?" she queried. This was most definitely not a cheap shot. Inez's eyes were full of warmth and concern. It was the exact same expression I viewed in the eyes of my beloved on a daily basis – the same one! This is unquestionably the same woman I married! I thought. She's in there after all! I wonder if the other me can find the key to unlock her inner beauty in this timeline.

I heard the other me fielding Inez's question. "Ending that relationship, or whatever you want to call it, was for the best. With every day that goes by, I'm getting more and more happy that she dumped me. What can I say? Maybe at forty-four, I'm finally growing up."

"Maybe you are," she said with a wry smile, sounding quite sincere. A brief silence followed, during which Inez appeared rather contemplative. The other me returned to a previous topic which had been barely touched upon, in an attempt to draw her out.

"Going back to what we were talking about before," said my counterpart. "Are you saying you enjoyed playing in that talent show as much as the rest of us did? In all seriousness, you coulda fooled me."

The corners of Inez's mouth turned up into a half-smile. "Yes, in spite of the way I acted that night, it was fun. One regret I have is that I never did much with my musical talents. Now, it's probably way too late for me to do anything about it. I enjoyed the experience, a lot, but it was kind of bittersweet for me too. It was a one-time-only thing."

I could feel that half-formed idea moving to the forefront of the other Pat's awareness. "Not necessarily. I just had a crazy thought."

The other Inez just looked on quizzically, inviting my counterpart to continue.

"You know that TV show, what's it called... Star Power." Star Power was one of those ubiquitous reality programs where amateur musicians of all ages and skill levels compete in front of a panel of judges, and are voted on by the viewing audience, with the eventual winner being awarded a recording contract.

"You think I should audition for Star Power?" replied a bemused Inez, clearly not sold on the idea.

"What do you have to lose?"

"Well, I don't really look the part, do I," said Inez a little sadly.

"You can do something about that," the other Pat assured her. "In fact, you're actually doing something about that this very minute." Once again, I felt like applauding my counterpart's words and actions as he motioned toward her salad.

A dreamy look crossed Inez's face. "You really think I can do it?" A few encouraging words had had a dramatic effect.

"I know you can do it. And when you do, I'll be sitting in the audience, supporting you as loudly as anyone."

And thus did tonight's dream scene draw to a close. The following morning, with the earliest rays of sunshine filtering though the curtains, my wife and I discussed another shared dream experience.

"We have to find that Italian restaurant," laughed my better half. "It has to be in New Jersey, right? Maybe it has a web site with photos of the dining room. We need to have our own romantic date there next time we head back east."

"Well, for them it wasn't exactly romantic," I felt compelled to point out.

"Ha!" laughed Inez. "I have news for you. She's in love with you. Head over heels. Remember, I know what she's feeling."

"No shit," I replied. "I didn't really get those vibes from the other Pat."

"Which makes sense," said my wife, still giggling like a little girl. "It worked the same way in this life. I saw the romantic connection before you did, right?"

I reflected on that point for a second, and realized she was one hundred percent right. Then again, she usually was.

September 24, 2007

In real time, the intervals between episodes continued to lengthen. This time, we had to wait a full week for the next installment.

In the context of the ongoing tale of Shallow Pat and Bitter Inez (although those monikers no longer seemed all that fitting), quite a bit of time had passed since the previous scene, on the order of several months. I found myself in what looked to be the lobby of a luxury hotel, which contained a large, noisy crowd of people. I was accompanied by Paul, Jasmine, Dave, and Inez.