Remember Me (56 page)

What she saw caused her heart to nearly stop. Carter was lying on his side, his head turned in case he needed to still vomit.

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It wasn’t seeing Carter that had made her heart leap into her throat; it was seeing the other body lying next to him. Her mind told her who it was, even though she didn’t want to believe it. The man wasn’t moving. From where she stood she could see that he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. He was face down in the grass. It could only be one person…Andrew.

Amy was sharp, and she instantly realized that it wasn’t the Andrew she had just left. This had to be Andrew on the day he first came through the wormhole.

Amy and Andrew had spent many hours discussing what

might happen when they went through the wormhole. The

topic of whether or not Andrew would run into himself came up frequently. The possibility of it had made sense to Andrew, but she had a hard time getting her head around the idea, yet here he was. A new feeling began to claim Amy. It was the budding notion of happiness. This Andrew was the age he should be, in comparison to her. This time he and she wouldn’t have to survive alone. She staggered towards Andrew and Carter.

“Carter,” Amy called out, “Andrew…he’s here.”

“Can’t keep my eyes open. Give me…Andrew…What?”

Amy didn’t know whether to rush to Andrew or Carter

first. Her heart fought dual emotions inside of her. The guilt of leaving him behind, and then finding him here was almost too much for her mind to register. Andrew was closer. She went to him. She fell on her knees at his side. He still hadn’t moved. She reached out and smoothed the hair back away from his eyes.

She began to cry. His eyes were open and sightless. “Noooo, Noooo, Nooo,” she wailed through her tears. “It’s not fair!”

“Amy, what is it?” Carter called out. “What’s wrong?”

Carter rolled over on his other side to face Amy.

“Andrew is dead!” Amy flung her arms around the lifeless body of Andrew. She kissed his cheek, his forehead. She closed his eyes and kissed the one she could reach with her lips.

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Carter crawled over to her. He looked ready to throw-up

again, but that same look of determination he shared with his father was present in his eyes. He took Amy in his arms, rock-ing her back and forth as she continued to sob. “It’s going to be okay,” he repeated over and over to her. When the tears finally stopped, they sat in silence. Each of them pondering the implications of what had happened and what it meant.

Amy finally asked, “Do you think he would be alive if

Andrew had come through the wormhole with us?”

“I don’t know, but I have the sense that the trip through the wormhole is one way only.”

“Maybe Andrew had been right when he said that the

wormhole was more of a fluke, not part of God’s plans.”

“Could be. He had twenty-five years to think about it. I don’t think God wants us to mess with time. When we went through the wormhole, it reset time again. If that’s the case, then the people we left behind ceased to exist, Peter…Dad included. Maybe there was no way for God to account for Dad when he went through the first time, and we came through this time. I just don’t know.”

“This is a one way trip for us too. If we don’t get it right, then we don’t get another chance.”

“It looks that way to me. I think we should carry him

into the old house. I’ll walk into town and buy an old car.

Tomorrow, we can decide what to do.”

“I think I already know. Andrew and I talked about what

could happen if he didn’t survive the wormhole the second time around.”

“That sounds like Dad. He always was good at making

plans. He never wanted anyone to have to worry.”

Amy smiled as she thought about the Andrew she knew.

“He was always looking out for you! He was always trying to be a knight in shining armor.” Her own comment nearly S 434 S

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caused her to start crying again. Her heart was doubly empty this time. The seeds of loneliness had been planted twenty-five years in the future, but they had started to sprout as she sat on the ground with Carter and the body of man who had loved her with his whole spirit.

“I really never knew this Andrew, but if he is anything like Dad, then he was special.”

Amy wiped the tears from her cheek. “Andrew mentioned

a little cemetery not far from here. He rode by it once on his bike. He said that if he died coming through the wormhole or soon after we got here, that he should be buried there. His comment was, “It’s a peaceful place and a good spot for a long rest.”“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll buy the car, and we can set it up.”

Together Carter and Amy lugged Andrew’s body into the

old house. Amy never left his side. She sat with him all night long. Sleep only came to her sporadically. She talked to him on and off during the night. It was a practice that she continued long after he was buried.

“Peter Warren” didn’t have anyone at his funeral—there

wasn’t any service held. A small town mortician had taken care of the arrangements…for an extra fee. Every year on his birthday, Olivia Jane Harris came to visit his grave. She would stay for several hours. She told him all about what she’d been up to, what Carter was doing, and what the Andrew and Amy of this time were involved in. She always felt his presence when she was here. It buoyed her spirits.

Today was different. It was two-thousand and ten. The

wormhole had closed forever. “Andrew…It’s done. I met with young Andrew yesterday. Funny, he’s not so young anymore.

He took it really well. I know he’ll be sharing everything with Amy. I really feel bad for them. There’s going to be lots of S 435 S

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tears. I think they’ll be better for it. I know we talked about what I should do once this day came, but I’m still unsure. I miss you, more everyday! I don’t know how you did it for all those years. Solving the world’s problems is much easier than fighting the sadness of not having you here with me. I’ll see you in my dreams, and someday we’ll be together again. I love you!”Amy rose from the ground and folded the plastic table cloth. Carter had his head bowed and she knew he was saying his own prayers. He said that if the Andrew of this time ever published the book his adopted father had started, that his production company would buy it and turn it in to a movie.

He couldn’t think of any better way to give tribute to the man who gave him his life…

The End

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