"I would've thought that it WAS a dream except for the pain and the trouble breathing," she went on. "Finally a cop car showed up. The cop waded through all the people and looked at the cab driver for a minute. Then he shined his flashlight on the cab, probably just to see it, and his light caught my face. The next thing I know he was splashing into the water and coming after me. He asked me how I was but I couldn't even talk by then, I was concentrating everything just on getting in the next breath. So he dragged me to the shore.
"He tried to pull me up the embankment but that hurt so bad that I DID manage a scream. So he decided to leave me down there. He stayed with me until the firemen put me on a backboard and pulled me up. A paramedic cut off all my clothes and stuck an IV in my arm. I was hurting so bad and was so scared that I wasn't even embarrassed to be lying naked in front of all those people. They gave me some oxygen and that helped a little, but not much.
"While they'd been working on me I heard a helicopter land and felt a bunch of dust and shit blow over me. A few minutes later a nurse in a jumpsuit came over and looked at me for a few minutes. She told me she was going to make it easier to breathe and then she jabbed a needle right into my chest."
"A chest decompression," I said. "I've done a couple of those."
"Whatever it was, it hurt like hell," Tracy told me. "But there was this pop in my chest and I heard a bunch of air come hissing out and all of a sudden I could breathe again. It made the pain from the needle worthwhile. So anyway, the next thing I know a bunch of firemen picked me up and put me into the helicopter. A few minutes after that we took off.
"What I told the cop was the first thing I remember was actually the point that things got kind of fuzzy on me. Everything is jumbled after that. I knew I was hurt bad but I didn't feel like I was going to die anymore. The clarity went away. I barely remember landing and being taken out of the helicopter. I remember all kinds of doctors and nurses poking and probing me, jabbing needles into me, and I definitely remember someone sticking their goddam finger up my ass. What the hell do they do that for?"
I smiled a little, sensing the old Tracy returning a little. "If you have an orifice," I told her, "they're gonna stick something in it. They leave no hole un-probed."
"Assholes," she mumbled. "So when they got done with the poking and probing and all that, they gave me something in my IV. Everything got really hazy after that. I have a vague memory of a doctor cutting into my chest and sticking a tube in there. I remember it hurt but that's the only clear thing until I woke up the next day and you and Mom and Dad were there."
We sat in silence for a minute, her words hanging in the air. She took another sip out of her water and then handed it back to me to set down on the table.
"So do you hate me?" Tracy asked finally. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did."
"Hate you?" I asked. "Why would I hate you?"
"Because of the way I treated you, the way I was thinking about you. I was being a bitch Bill. A total, unthinking, unfeeling bitch."
"I could never hate you Tracy," I said gently. "And I'm sure that what you were feeling was a natural tendency considering what you were going through."
"A natural tendency?" she asked.
"Well, I don't believe that there have never been any extensive psychological studies on the effects of having a family member return from the future to let you know that you have a death sentence from fate hanging over you. The target group is probably rather small. But I can understand the need to blame someone, something for what was happening. It's human nature and fate is not an easy target to discharge your frustration upon. I came back and told you something that profoundly affected your life. It's only natural that you wanted to punish the messenger for the bad news. I understand, I really do."
"You're not just saying that?" She asked, another tear trailing down her face.
"Of course not," I said, standing and giving her another hug. "I'm glad you're still alive, ecstatic about it. Remember, my number one goal since the day of my return has been to keep you alive. That was all that ever really counted." I shook my head angrily. "I didn't realize how close it had been until you told me your story just now. Christ Tracy, I should have warned you. I'd seen some signs that fate was still at work and I didn't even equate that with you."
"Signs?" She said softly. "What kind of signs?"
I told her about Mike and how he had come to me, telling me he was thinking about the Air Force.
"That's it?" Tracy said. "That's the sign you were talking about?"
"Yes," I nodded. "Don't you see, I should've at least called you and…"
"Bill," she interrupted. "You couldn't have prevented this. If you would've called me up with that story about Mike and the Air Force I would've laughed at you. I would've asked you if you were going to start reading the entrails of chickens next. Then I would've tried to get you to steal someone's invention or tell me about the Super Bowl. It wouldn't have made any difference. I still would've gone to Tahoe and I still would've gotten into the cab that night. You're not to blame for any of this. You've saved my life three times now because of what you know, what you've told me. If I hadn't of thought of you, of all you've gone through while I was upside down in that cab, I would've just drowned. It was thinking of you that got me moving, that got me out of that cab. I owe you my life and I promise I'll never forget that this time. I promise."
There were tears in my own eyes now as I listened to her. I was unable to say anything for a moment. Finally I looked at her.
"San Francisco and Miami," I told her.
She looked confused. "What? What are you talking about?"
"The Super Bowl," I said. "It's going to be the Forty-niners and the Dolphins. The forty-niners are going to win."
She looked surprised, "You DO know?"
"I didn't know about the World Series," I told her. "And I wouldn't know about any other Super Bowl. But I have a memory attached with this one. My first trip through I was at the community college working on my history degree during it. I remember specifically that it was my first year of college. Some friends that I was hanging out with had a Super Bowl party and there was a girl that I knew was going to be there. I was trying to get into her pants and had received some hopeful signs that the party just might be the clincher.
"Back then I was just getting over my shyness and learning that girls weren't the mysteries that I'd always thought they were. Everyone else at the party liked the Niners but Terry, that was her name, liked the Dolphins.
I didn't really give a shit about football one way or the other so I braved the contempt of my peers and allied myself with her on the subject of the Dolphins." I smiled. "It worked. After the Dolphins lost the game we went to her place and consoled each other."
Tracy laughed. "You know," she said, "it just figures that the reason you would remember something like that would be because of sex."
I shrugged, laughing with her. "Unlike most guys, I know where the real priorities lie."
"And so do I," Tracy told me, turning series. "So thanks for telling me and if there's a pool at college, I suppose I'll get in it. After all, who could resist? But I think I'm going to have a new outlook on things from now on. I won't call you up and bug you anymore about your knowledge, okay?"
"Okay," I said. "But remember, nobody's a saint. If I happen to remember anything non-dangerous, I'll be sure to clue you in. And when you get some free money, I happen to know of some good stocks to invest in."
It was three more days before Tracy was able to travel. We stayed in Reno, visiting her every day as much as we could. I'd called Mindy at the hospital in Spokane to let her know what was happening and that I would not be in to work probably all week. She commiserated and told me she would say a prayer for my sister. I thanked her. Mom had a similar conversation with her employer. Dad, being a teacher, was off work for the summer and had no such concerns. I also updated Nina on how things were going and she was pleased to hear that Tracy was going to be all right. She told me she loved me. I asked her is she'd heard anything about Maggie and Mike. She hadn't.