Chapter 9: Lost

 

June 30, 1991 - Sunday

 

              Rob was outside, indexing some throw away bones, talking to himself.

              "Leaves me here alone. With Dr. I-Know-Everything. What was he thinking? He wasn't, that's the point. He's gone woman crazy. Another one bites the dust."

              "Who are you talking to, Mr. Tandy?"

              Rob quickly turned around, startled in knowing that someone was near him. It was Dr. Porter.

              "No one. Myself. Hey, since you're here, what would you index this as?" Rob asked, holding up a tiny fragment of a bone.

              "Send it to the university. It might be able to be identified there."

              "I thank you, Dr. Porter, sir."

              Porter looked at him and laughed. He thought Rob was a wise ass, but he still liked the kid. And besides, the kid was good friends with Grant, so he was going to be around no matter what.

              "I'm going to get some lunch. I'll be back soon. Do you think you can run the place while I'm gone?" Porter asked politely.

              "I don't know. I'm kind of scared."

              Porter shook his head and walked off toward his car. Rob continued to talk to his back.

              "So, how's the wife?" He teased.

              Porter turned around, answering quickly.

              "She's sucking the life out of me," he said.

              "You're a very bitter man. You know that right?" Rob asked jokingly.

              Porter laughed and turned around, walking toward his car again. Rob was about to tease him some more, but then his attention was diverted. There was a pickup truck heading his way.

              "Dr. Grant!" He yelled so that Porter could hear, "Look at that! The dig site has been saved! Saved, I tell you!"

              Porter ignored him and got into his car. He was laughing slightly as he put the car in drive. He moved past Alan's truck and slowed down for a minute.

              Rob could see the two scientists talking for a second, and then he watched Porter nod and drive off. Alan's truck continued all the way to where Rob was standing. Alan stopped the truck and turned it off.

              "Welcome back. Alan and his mysterious date. Oooooo . . . who could it be?"

              Alan smiled and got out of the truck. The passenger's door opened and Ellie got out, too. She waved at Rob.

              "Ellie Sattler? Is it you? Oh, my," Rob said, shaking his head, "Could it be, Dr. Grant . . . that you took "The Rob's" advice?" Rob made quotations marks with his hands as he said "The Rob".

              "Rob, I've got stuff to do, so if you'll excuse me," Alan said, moving past his friend.

              "What stuff do you have to do?"

              "I'm going on location scouting again today."

              "On Sunday?"

              "Yes, Rob."

              Rob glanced over at Ellie, who was listening to them. He came closer to Alan, so that only he could hear.

              "My friend, my friend. Why aren't you spending this day of relaxation with a beautiful woman," Rob whispered, gesturing toward Ellie.

              Alan just stared at him, sort of wondering the same thing himself. Maybe she would be interested in going with him? He looked at her.

              "Do you want to join me?"

              She wanted to go, but she had promised Allison that she would help her move into the apartment.

              "I can't. I've got other plans today. I would love to, but I'll have to go the next time," she said, disappointed.

              Alan nodded and then looked at Rob.

              "See, the lady has other plans anyway," he whispered, and then he looked at Ellie, "That's okay. I'll see you tonight then?"

              Ellie smiled.

              "Sure."

              Alan smiled back, almost walking up to kiss her. But as he thought about Rob's arsenal of questions that were about to come his way already, he decided not to. He really wanted to, but he just nodded and then began to walk toward his trailer. Rob quickly said good bye to Ellie, by awkwardly waving at her, causing her to laugh. Then, he followed Alan right into his trailer.

              "So, how did things go?" He asked.

              Alan was through the front door at about that time. He turned to look at his nosey friend.

              "I'm not telling you anything, Rob."

              "So . . . what you're saying is . . . you're not going to kiss and tell?" Rob teased.

              Alan looked away from him and began to get the various scouting necessities together. Like binoculars, a seismic reader, water, and some other little things.

              "Oh, come on, man! Tell me something!" Rob complained.

              Alan grabbed his coat from one of the chairs and began to leave the trailer. Rob was still right behind him.

              "Okay, one thing," Alan said, turning to face Rob, "Ellie is a great person. And attractive. And intelligent. And . . . "

              "Yeah?" Rob asked, waiting for more.

              "That was three things already. Now I've really got to go."

              Rob laughed and began to shake his head.

              "I can see that I'll have to get you good and drunk before you'll spill the beans."

              Alan smiled and walked toward his truck, throwing some things in the flatbed. He looked inside, to make sure his two-way radio was on the seat, and then he looked back at Rob.

              "Have you ever thought about taking downers?"

              Rob looked as if his feelings were hurt, but he got over it fast.

              "This isn't about me, mister," he said, gesturing toward himself, "It's about you," he said, pointing at Alan.

              "I'm going now."

              "Fine. Maybe I'll ask the little lady," Rob challenged, in a newly confident form.

              Alan laughed, as he opened the truck door and got behind the wheel.

              "Rob, you can ask her all of the questions you can think of," he said, closing the door, "But when she rips you one in the face, don't act surprised."

              "Okay, okay. I'll give up . . . for now," Rob said, and then he added more seriously, "I'm just glad you're happy, Alan."

              "I am, Rob. I am," he said, starting up his truck.

              Rob nodded and waved, as Alan's truck left the dig site.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              After passing the same rock structures for the third time, Alan began to admit the possibility of being lost. Just slightly lost, though. He wasn't too worried, since he had a radio with him in case of trouble. He stopped the truck and got out to take a good look around the area he was in. There were some very high cliffs in the area and it made for some breathtaking views. He stood very still, just staring out at the sky and all the wonders of the area. Upon a closer look at the sky, it seemed as though the bright blueness was fading away somewhat, possibly hinting at a storm far away. He got back in his truck, deciding that he needed to head back.

              As he continued down the dirt road, the weather began to take a turn for the worse. He leaned forward and looked through the windshield, at the rows of dark clouds forming above. Then it started. The rain hit good and hard . . . and quick. Rain pelted the truck, making it very difficult to see very far ahead. He slowed the truck down, as the driving conditions lessened.

              About twenty minutes had passed, when Alan realized that he was more than slightly lost now. He stopped the truck and took out the map that he had brought along. He studied it for a few minutes, got his bearings back, and then began to drive slowly and carefully again. The only problem was that he had mistaken his position on the map. He continued to drive out and away from where he wanted to go.

              Several miles, and about three map-checks later, the rain began to slow down some. He stopped the truck again, in an attempt to figure out where he had gone wrong. It was going to be dark in just a few hours, and soon dusk would begin to invade the daylight hours. Alan felt completely lost and was getting a little worried about the approaching darkness. As his attention was focused on the map, the truck began to slowly slide in the mud. The dirt path he was parked on was sliding away because of the heavy rain.

              Before he could do anything, his truck slid off the dirt path, went out of control and slid down an embankment at a very high rate of speed. He felt his life flash before his eyes, as he was easily tossed around the cabin of the truck. The truck hit a large rock, causing it to roll over. It continued down the hill, gaining even more speed, as it toppled end over end. Then it very abruptly stopped. He was in the passenger seat when the truck had stopped so suddenly and he ended up hitting his head against the windshield. He settled back into the seat and felt the sensation of warm blood trickling down the side of his face, and then something really bad and unexpected happened. The truck began to sway to the right, pivoting everything in that direction, including the apprehensive passenger.

              Alan looked through the passenger side window and immediately wished that he hadn't looked at all. The truck had been stopped by a tree. A tree on the side of a very steep cliff. A cliff in which the truck had only slid about half way down so far. The truck continued to sway until gravity finally latched onto it, causing it to plummet once again. Alan braced himself and tried to hold on the best that he could, but there really wasn't a stable thing to grab onto. He made a last ditch effort to reach for the steering wheel, for something to hold onto, but the momentum of the falling truck pulled his outstretched arm away from the driver's side of the vehicle. The truck drastically bounced up and down several times, throwing its only passenger around wildly. Shards of glass from the windshield and side windows covered him, as the continuous spiral downward threatened to never stop. Suddenly, the inside of the truck seemed to float away, as Alan felt himself flying through the air. The last thing he remembered seeing was the ground rushing up to meet his face.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              "I wish it would stop raining already!" Allison complained.

              "It did come on rather suddenly, didn't it?" Ellie observed.

              They were inside of the apartment, in the process of moving Allison in. They were only able to get about a quarter of the boxes into the apartment, before the rain came rushing in.

              "Well, I wish it would go away just as sudden," Allison said.

              Ellie laughed.

              "A little rain never hurt anyone. Let's just organize what we have here so far. When it stops, we'll go and get more."

              "Good idea," Allison said.

              As they organized things, Allison kept looking at Ellie. There was something that Allison wanted to ask her friend, but she didn't feel she had the right to pry into her personal life. When she could think of nothing but her burning question, she finally gave up on not being nosey.

              "So . . . you said you were staying at the dig site. Where?" Allison asked, as she handed a box to Ellie.

              Ellie cleared her throat, but didn't offer an answer right away.

              "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

              "No, it's not that. It's just a very awkward thing, that's all."

              "Awkward?"

              Ellie decided to confess . . . a little.

              "I've been staying in one of the trailers."

              "Yeah?"

              "Near Dr. Grant."

              Allison was somewhat thrown off by that. She knew that Ellie and Alan had some sort of a chemistry going on. She had witnessed that on several occasions. But she really didn't expect them to be staying in the same area.

              "Really?"

              Ellie's feelings were at a crossroads. Part of her was happy that some of this was out in the open with her good friend. Yet, another part of her was worried about how this would make Alan look.

              "Yes. We've become . . . good friends . . . in the last couple of weeks. He's a wonderful teacher and I've learned a lot from him."

              "I bet you have," Allison said, harassing her.

              Ellie didn't answer again, but Allison could tell, by the broad smile on her friend's face, that she was enjoying her "learning" experience. Finally, Ellie commented.

              "Let's just get you moved in, okay? I'll explain everything later," Ellie said. She happened to glance out a window, "And look. The rain has mostly stopped. Let's get more boxes in here."

              Allison laughed again, as she moved past Ellie and began to go downstairs for more boxes. Ellie followed her. They got to the van that Allison had rented to transfer her belongings.

              "Let's bring in the bigger furniture things right now, just in case it starts to rain again," Allison suggested.

              Ellie nodded and grabbed hold of one end of a small table. They carefully carried it up the staircase.

              "Ellie, I won't bother you about Alan anymore. I know you'll tell me when you're ready," Allison said, as they made it back inside the apartment.

              "Thanks for understanding," Ellie said.

              "What are friends for?" Allison said.

              Ellie nodded. They stopped talking about Alan and spent the rest of the afternoon, moving Allison's things.

              A couple of hours later, Ellie went up the staircase for what seemed like the 100^th time. In her arms was Allison's last box. She walked into the apartment.

              "Here you go," she said, gently setting it down next to the couch.

              Allison was in the bedroom, arranging come clothes. There was an extra bedroom that Ellie had been using for storing larger things, like a bike she had purchased and some camping supplies. That's the bedroom that Allison was taking over.

              "So, are you hungry? I'll buy, since you've been nice enough to help me," Allison asked.

              Ellie checked her watch. It was 7:13pm. She was hungry, but she wanted to get back to the dig site. Alan should have been back by now and she wanted nothing more than to meet up with him.

              "I think I'm going to head out. I've got some things to get together before I get to the dig site tomorrow."

              "That's okay. The offer stands though, whenever you want to collect on it," Allison offered.

              Ellie smiled and excused herself from the apartment. She quickly got into her car and began the drive back to the dig site. The time of day was just beautiful. The sun was gleaming down on the countryside, casting very nice shadows on the scenery.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Alan struggled to open his eyes, as he attempted to adjust to the bright sunlight beaming down upon him. He blinked a few times and tried to get his bearings back. All he could see were trees, all around him, except for one direct beam of sunlight streaming through them. He remembered sliding off the embankment and he remembered coming to an abrupt stop, and then free falling. Trying to guess how long he was unconscious was tough. The last he remembered, it had been raining. But, now it was sunny and his clothes were just damp, not soaked through. As he tried to come to terms with what had happened, he realized he was on his back, sprawled out on the uneven ground. He lifted up his head very slowly and looked around. Then he started to sit up, and that's when a rush of pain flowed through his body. He wrapped a hand around his right side and winced, as he continued to sit up. As he started to adjust to what had happened, it was evident that most of the pain was coming from his leg, so that was the obvious starting point to investigate. He finished sitting up, and took a closer look at his right leg. It wasn't resting in a normal position. In fact, he was quite astounded to see that it was turned awkwardly at the knee. He tried to bend a little bit closer, but the pain jabbed at him again, so he leaned back. He just sat there for about ten minutes, doing nothing but breathing very rhythmically, hoping that he would be able to stop the short gasps of breath he was experiencing now. When he felt like he might be able to sit up again, he did so, and was able to pull up a very small amount of his pant leg. He was horrified by what he saw. In fact, he thought he might be hallucinating. There, just above the ankle, in the now exposed part of his bare leg, was a very large white bone, punching through the skin and sticking out about a half-inch or so. He began to feel sick to his stomach, as he continued to stare at the visible break. He couldn't seem to take his eyes from it, as if it were some dream that he couldn't get his mind to release from. The only thing convincing him that it was really happening, was that he was feeling sicker and sicker, in addition to his increasing dizziness.

              He put his hands on the ground behind him and took a quick glance around. The truck was quite a distance away from him, turned on its side and leaning up against a rather large tree. After thinking more clearly, he knew there had been a portable radio in the truck, and so he attempted to slowly scoot his body toward the truck. It didn't work as he expected. The pain was much too intense to keep dragging his leg across the uneven ground. He stopped and tried to think of another solution, as the pain caused tears in his eyes.

              His big solution was to lie back down and not move. That seemed to be working well for him, but he knew he needed to get help. He sat up again, wincing as he did so. He tried to stop thinking about the pain, which wasn't easy. He gritted his teeth, took a very deep breath, and began to move toward the overturned truck. It was during this time that he realized the extent of his other injuries. His left wrist was swollen and hurting, there was blood streaming down his face from a painful laceration above his left eye, and it felt as though he might have some cracked ribs. But it was obvious which injury would slow him down the most . . . the leg.

              After about fifteen minutes, he managed to reach the truck. There was a gap between the ground and the passenger door, where the tree had stopped the truck from going totally over onto its side. He wiped sweat from his eyes and reached for the handle of the door. He heard the desired "click" of the door, and then it swung open. Gravity made it come down faster than he anticipated, just barely missing his head. He flinched and then sighed with relief, very happy not to have sustained yet another senseless injury. He grabbed the door for support and pulled himself up . . . and screamed in pain. Then came the swearing. The farther he pulled himself into the turned over truck, the more he swore, as the pain became worse and worse.

              He situated himself the best he could and began the desperate search for the portable radio. To his dismay, he found no such thing. It must have been thrown from the truck, just as he had. A few more swear words later, Alan ended up back on the ground where he had started, with nothing more to show for it. He stayed right there, leaning against the truck, trying to figure out what to do next.

              Still slumping over next to the disabled truck, he suddenly had a coherent thought in amongst the cobwebs.

              "A second radio," he whispered to himself.

              He sat still, trying to remember where he had put the back-up radio. The best he remembered, it was in the storage toolbox in the flatbed. He reached up and grabbed the opened truck door and pulled himself up again. After more swearing, he managed to balance on his left leg, while glancing in the direction of the truck bed. He couldn't see into the back yet, but hopes were high that the storage toolbox would still be there. He closed the truck door, and using the overturned truck as leverage, he painfully hopped toward the rear of the truck. He glanced inside and soon after . . . more swearing, as the toolbox was no longer there either. He scanned the area for signs of the toolbox, but it was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't think of anything else to do. The sweat was pouring from his face and just those few hops had exhausted him. He thought about sitting back down, but he shook that thought from his mind. Since he was already standing, he thought it better to stay that way.

              He took a closer look at his immediate surroundings. In particular, the tree that his truck was leaning against. It was a tall tree, probably close to forty feet high, and it had many branches coming from it. Many strong branches, sprouted out surprisingly close to where he was located. He decided to try for one of those branches. If he could make some sort of crutch to help himself get around better, that would be much better than what he was doing so far. Hopping was not going to work for very long.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Ellie had gone to eat alone, since Alan wasn't at the dig site when she had returned. It was a late dinner, so when she returned to the dig site, she was certain that he would be there. He wasn't though, which puzzled her somewhat. He was rarely gone this long after dark and she was starting to wonder about his whereabouts.

              She turned the car off and went inside his trailer. Maybe he had returned and had left a note or something. Maybe he was with Rob and she had just missed him. Maybe, maybe, maybe. She was beginning to get worried, as she hurried inside and searched for a note. There was nothing. After quickly looking through the trailer, she ran back outside, looking for some people to question. There was always a little party going on somewhere on the grounds. She just needed to find it. Parties were never close to Alan's trailer, because they all knew how he didn't like noise when he was working or sleeping in there.

              She walked quite a long way before she finally began to hear laughter and talking. She hurried in that direction until she finally saw a few people. She approached the nearest person, who she didn't even recognize.

              "Have you seen Rob or Alan?" She asked him.

              He looked at her, but didn't seem to understand a word that she said. He was a little too drunk to understand the English language. She moved onto the next person. She was about to question that person, when she noticed that Allison was sitting on a chair a little farther away. She reached her.

              "Have you seen Alan or Rob?"

              "Rob was here, but he left about a half an hour ago. He said he was going home."

              "What about Alan?"

              "Haven't seen him. Why?" Allison asked.

              "I, uh, was supposed to meet up with him tonight . . . about something," Ellie said. She didn't really want to get into all of the details in front of all these people, about how she and Alan had developed a relationship right under everyone's noses. "He never showed up."

              "Maybe he's sleeping."

              "No, he wasn't in his trailer," Ellie said somewhat desperately.

              Allison noticed the seriousness in her voice.

              "Ellie, what's wrong? Is he missing or something?"

              "I think he is. Yes," Ellie said, trying to hold back the fear in her voice.

              "Well, let's go call Rob. Maybe he's over there," Allison suggested.

              Ellie nodded and the women quickly made it back to Alan's trailer. As they went inside, Allison noticed that Ellie had a key. She smiled, still not totally accepting the situation Ellie had confessed to earlier that evening, in the apartment.

              Ellie called Rob and after six long and antagonizing rings, he finally answered.

              "Hello?"

              "Rob. It's Ellie. Is Alan there with you, by any chance?"

              "No. Haven't seen him since this morning."

              "Neither have I."

              "It's nearly midnight. He's never gone this long," Rob thought aloud.

              Ellie could hear the worry in Rob's voice, too. That made her feel better, knowing that she hadn't just been overreacting.

              "And he told me he would be back by 8 or so," she added.

              "There isn't a note from him anywhere?" Rob asked.

              "No. Nothing. I'm getting worried. Should we call someone?"

              "I don't know. He could just show up any minute, I guess."

              "Yeah, but what if he doesn't?" Ellie asked.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Under the blanket of night, a lone man could be seen limping quite slowly, trudging through the uneven terrain. Alan had successfully made a crutch of sorts out of the tree branches and had been able to make it to a mountain path. He was somewhat mobile, but he really wasn't making a whole lot of progress. His leg was almost totally numb now, with just small intense shots of pain every couple of minutes. He didn't dare put very much weight on it, as he limped along. What was bothering him the most were his ribs. They were badly bruised, with some of them possibly broken. He had broken a few ribs as a teenager, never forgetting how it had felt. And it felt that way now. Every time he put weight on the crutch, great pain would shoot up and down both sides of his body. There was also that added annoyance of having to breathe, which seemed to hurt him, too. The other problem he was having was the lack of warmth in his body. The damp clothes he was still wearing were making him shiver now that the sun had disappeared.

              He stopped and reached for a rock that was sticking out of the mountain, making a ledge of sorts. He turned to see how far he had gotten. He couldn't see the truck anymore, but that was probably because it was dark. If he stopped here to rest and then woke up in the morning and saw that damned truck in the distance, that would really mess with his will to survive. He decided to keep going.

 

Chapter 10: Search And Rescue

 

July 2, 1991 - Tuesday

 

              Ellie pulled up to her old apartment building and slowly got out of the car. She was exhausted from worrying and she knew she needed sleep. But the thoughts of Alan out there . . . alone . . . hurt . . . possibly dead, kept running through her mind. There was a ground and aerial search that had started the day before, but so far nothing of importance had been found. After arguing with just about everyone she came into contact with, Rob had finally talked her into getting some sleep. She didn't want to stay in Alan's trailer, and Allison had offered the apartment to her, so she accepted the hospitality.

              She got to the door, fumbled with her key for a second, and then finally managed to open it. She immediately went to the refrigerator and found a beer near the back. She opened it and drank most of it right there, standing next to the fridge. All day she had felt like breaking down, but she stayed strong, so that people wouldn't realize her feelings for Alan. It had been two days since anyone had seen or heard from him, and she wasn't taking it well. She was by herself now, though, so she could cry to her heart's content. She finished the beer and set it on the counter and went to take a shower. It was a long and hot shower, as she attempted to clear her mind and relax some. It didn't work. All she could see was Alan's face in her mind. She kept seeing certain images of him. Like when they were at the creek. She kept picturing him almost falling, spinning around on one of the slippery rocks. She smiled to herself, as she remembered all of the closeness that they had shared in the last few weeks. She longed to see him right now. To kiss him and have him tell her everything was okay.

              She hadn't realized how much she cared for him. She knew that she enjoyed his company very much, but now she was feeling as though she would have a hard time going on without him. Could she really be in love? That's what it seemed like, but she didn't say it out loud. She only dared think these thoughts in her mind and nowhere else.

              Wandering into the bedroom, she collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to turn it down. She grabbed a hold of the nearest pillow, gripped it tightly and began to slowly fall apart. At first, she lightly sobbed into the pillow, but the sobs turned into tears, and that quickly turned to full fledged crying. Then anger began to set in and she hit the defenseless pillow several times while swearing to herself. She cried herself to sleep, hoping and praying that he would somehow be found.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Alan lay on his back, staring at the stars in the Montana sky. His leg was throbbing continuously, but at the moment it wasn't bothering him. He was in a small trance-like state, almost on the verge of passing out. He focused on one star in particular, as it was the brightest. The image would blur occasionally as he stared at it. He began to feel as if he wouldn't be found in time. He toyed with the idea of dying and his thoughts immediately drifted to Kathryn. All he could do was to envision her face as she took her final breath. He had been holding her hand in the hospital room and she had turned her head toward him. He remembered thinking that she had smiled, although the doctors insisted that she couldn't have done that. With all the drugs in her system, it was next to impossible that she even had a clue as to what was going on. But Alan knew better. The woman that he had loved had smiled at him and he had been certain of it.

              He continued to lie in the dirt, looking up at the stars. He forced himself to smile. To smile at Kathryn, as his mind began to allow him to see her face in the night sky.

              "I'm coming home," he hoarsely whispered into the darkness.

              He closed his eyes, giving up his fight. With the vocalization of those three words, came a blinding bright light. He had to squint in order to maintain his vision of the night sky. He felt himself being pulled into another place. The night sky faded away and in its place, daylight slowly and methodically seeped in. Against all reality, Alan found himself standing. Standing next to a cliff. It didn't take Alan long to figure out where he was, as the dig site was like a second home to him. Confused by what was happening, he looked around trying to find answers to the dozens of questions floating in his mind.

              The sky was bright and the day was moderately warm and sunny, indicating that it was springtime. Springtime in the Badlands of Montana was absolutely the best time of the year. As he fought with his mind, trying to focus on what was happening, he heard a familiar voice.

              "Hello, Alan."

              He immediately turned around. There, plainly standing in the sunlight, was . . .

              "Kathryn," he breathed, almost like a prayer.

              She was dressed in the clothes from the picture in his trailer.

              "What have you got yourself into this time?" She asked.

              Her voice slightly echoed, but Alan didn't find it to be strange in the least. In fact, he ignored it, just as he ignored the question.

              "Where am I? How did you get here?" He asked.

              "You're close to heaven . . . the eternal resting place . . . whatever you want to call it."

              "Am I dead?" He asked.

              Kathryn smiled.

              "No, you're not dead. But you are in between life and death."

              "I've missed you so much, Kathryn," he said, tears coming to his eyes.

              "I've missed you, too," she said.

              She came closer to him. When she was only a small distance from him, Alan reached out and embraced her. She returned the embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck very tightly. He couldn't believe that he was touching her. He had longed to embrace her again and now it was happening. A thousand emotions whipped around his mind as he held onto his one true love. He could stay this way forever. He was ready to go. He was ready to stay with Kathryn for eternity.

              Kathryn seemed to read his thoughts.

              "You cannot stay here, Alan."

              Alan let her go, backing away slightly. She wiped some of his tears away from his face and smiled.

              "I want to stay with you. I love you," he almost begged.

              "I love you, too. But it's not your time, Alan."

              "Yes, it is."

              Kathryn turned slightly and Alan was suddenly hit with images of his life with her. Their first meeting, their first kiss, their wedding, their honeymoon, their endless days together. The images flooded all five senses, as he was transported back to relive all of their important moments. His tears of sorrow turned to tears of happiness and that's when Kathryn reached for his hand.

              "Alan, these are all of the memories that I keep with me. These memories keep me going. I can hold onto these special times in our lives and be content for years to come."

              Alan pulled her toward him again.

              "I want to stay here with you, Kat."

              Kathryn gently touched his face.

              "What about Ellie?" She asked, slowly caressing his cheek.

              He hadn't thought of Ellie. In fact, seeing Kathryn made it so he could think of nothing else but Kathryn.

              "Ellie?"

              "Yes, Alan. She loves you."

              "How do you know Ellie?"

              "I know quite a bit about a lot of things, Alan. Who do you think pushed her in your direction?"

              "But . . ."

              "You're quite articulate today, aren't you?" Kathryn remarked, laughing.

              He was at a loss for words, as he focused on his former wife's facial features as she laughed. Kathryn filled in the void with dialogue of her own.

              "You cannot be with me yet. You have way too many adventures to live through still. Ellie will need you. And you will need her, too."

              Images of Ellie flashed into Alan's mind. He really did feel something for her. It was right then, when he realized that he must have loved her. There wasn't much of a difference between his feelings for the two women. Looking back at Kathryn, he began to feel guilty for even having thoughts such as those.

              "I feel like I'm betraying everything we had together. I don't want you to be alone."

              "I'm not alone, Alan. And Ellie is willing to share your heart with me. I can feel that. She is a smart one, as I'm sure you've noticed.

              "Yes, she is," Alan whispered, thinking about Ellie's beautiful smile.

              "Go to her, Alan. Find her and don't let her go."

              The scene around them was fading now, stars coming back into focus and the blues and indigoes of the night returning.

              "Kathryn, please . . . wait."

              "It's time, Alan. Know that you will always be loved. You have a strong will to live, remember that."

              "I will love you forever, Kat," Alan said, watching her gradually fade from his sight.

              She disappeared and was replaced with the night sky once again, combined with the chilly night air. He lay there, motionless, thinking of Kathryn's voice. Only a few minutes went by, before something new entered his mind. He opened his eyes and took some deep breaths.

              "Ellie," he whispered. Then he began to repeat something Rob had instilled into his mind, "Let her go and start over . . . let her go and start over . . . "

 

July 4, 1991 - Thursday

 

              After stopping several times on the side of the road to compose herself, Ellie finally pulled into the dig site. Almost immediately, Rob was at her car window. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep.

              "Any word?" She asked, although she could have guessed the answer since he didn't look at all happy either.

              "Nothing. They can't even figure out where he might have gone."

              Ellie felt herself getting angry.

              "Why can't they figure that out? Aren't they professionals?" She half yelled.

              "I'm going to go for a ride today, to see if I can find anything."

              "Rob, that's not a good idea. I've thought about doing that myself, but I was talked out of it by some of the rescue people."

              "What's so bad about it?"

              Rob had no idea of what to do about the disappearance of his friend. At times, he would feel anger for not being able to offer much help to the rescuers. And then, sometimes, he would feel guilty about not trying to find out where Alan was going, in the first place.

              "Well, for one, we have no idea where he went. And secondly, the same thing could happen to you."

              For some reason, Ellie was surprised at Rob's reaction. He was always so cheerful, joking all of the time. It was something to see him so serious.

              "I just don't want to wait it out. It's agonizing," he sighed.

              "I know. I know it is. But, for now, that's the best thing to do. To just wait by the phones," Ellie said.

              Rob looked at her and she could see that his eyes were somewhat watered.

              "He's got to be okay, Ellie."

              She reached out and grabbed him. They embraced, as Ellie began to cry some, too.

              "He's going to be fine. We've got to keep believing that," she said, repeating out loud what she had been saying to herself for days.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Allison tried to stop Ellie from verbally attacking the man a few yards in front of them, but it was no use. Allison had heard the rescuers talking about calling off the search and she had just told Ellie, who did not take the news well. Ellie marched up to the closest rescue worker. The man was in the middle of a conversation with someone, when she interrupted.

              "What do you mean you're stopping the search?" Ellie yelled in anger.

              "Yes, we are. Look. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but you are not experienced enough in these situations, to object to my decision."

              "Well, let me put it this way," Ellie snarled, as she got closer to the clearly stupid man, "If you call of this search, I'm going out there . . . alone. Then you'll have to search for me, as well."

              "Dr. Sattler, please don't talk like that. You have to realize that the chances of the victim being alive and well, after four days, is all but impossible."

              "I don't care what you think. There is still a slight chance, and that slight chance is what I plan on holding onto, you asshole!" Ellie yelled.

              "Ellie!" Allison said, trying to calm her friend down.

              The man just shook his head and began to walk away. Ellie began to follow him, and that's when Allison grabbed her by the arm.

              "Please, just leave that man alone. He's been searching for eight hours straight and he's exhausted. He's not thinking straight . . . and neither are you, for some reason."

              Ellie looked at her friend. She knew she had decided not to tell anyone about Alan and herself, but she needed Allison to understand.

              "I love him, Allison."

              "Who? Alan?" Allison asked, completely puzzled by Ellie's statement.

              "Yes," Ellie whispered.

              She didn't want anyone else around them to hear what she was saying. Allison took the queue and began to whisper, too.

              "When the hell did this happen?"

              Ellie looked around uneasily.

              "About two weeks ago."

              "Two weeks? You go from student/teacher to love in two weeks?" Allison whispered rather strongly.

              "It was more than that. I'll explain later. Right now, I have to find him, Allison. I have to find him now."

              "Okay. Okay. I'll help you. We'll get another rescue guy in here to look for him," Allison said.

              Ellie began to breath easier.

              "Thank you."

              "It won't be easy, though. It's a holiday, you know."

              Ellie stood still for a second. She couldn't handle it. She jogged toward Allison. As she approached Allison and another pilot, she saw the man shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

              "What's going on?" She asked, hoping and praying that they hadn't found Alan dead.

              Allison grabbed her wrist.

              "Ellie, he's still missing. They're calling off the search for an hour. Just an hour, okay?"

              Ellie was about to protest, when another rescue worker standing by the radio in an ambulance, began shouting something to the workers near him. He looked happy. Ellie quickly ran toward him, leaving Allison and the pilot standing there. In a matter of seconds she was close enough to hear what the man was saying, but she couldn't believe it.

              "He's been found?" She asked, with tears forming in her eyes.

              The man was looking at someone else when she came up to him. He looked at her and nodded enthusiastically.

              "Yes. A woman just dialed 911. Apparently, he's in her field."

              "Where?" She asked urgently.

              The man turned around and began to write the address on a piece of paper.

              "Hurry up! Hurry up!" Ellie screamed.

              The man gave her the paper.

              "It's a pretty remote place. There's an ambulance on the way already."

              "Good," she said, as she ran, full speed, toward her car.

              Allison stood by and watched as her friend jumped into her car and sped away from the area. Dust was everywhere from her accelerating so fast.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Ellie's Taurus actually beat the ambulance to the woman's house. She stopped with a screech and then ran from the car. In her haste, she had forgotten to put the car in park, so she quickly got back inside the rolling vehicle and stopped it. Then she ran toward the front door of the house. The house was of moderate size and it was also the only house in the immediate area. She reached the front door of the giant enclosed porch and peered inside. There were no signs of movement. She leaned back and double checked the address on the mailbox affixed to the porch. It was the correct address, so she started pounding on the screen door. As she was knocking repeatedly, she heard a woman's voice, coming from the side of the house. She stopped knocking, following the voice. She spotted an elderly woman staring at her. She had a blanket draped over one of her arms.

              "Are you with the police, dear?" The woman asked, confused as she glanced at the unmarked car in the gravel driveway.

              "Uh, no . . . no, I'm not. I'm just a friend of Dr. Grant's."

              "Oh, I see. Well, he's back here. I was afraid to move him," the woman said, as she turned to walk toward the field.

              Ellie quickly followed, scanning the area for him. The elderly woman was having a difficult time navigating on the uneven ground. Ellie assisted her by grabbing under her arm, as they continued to walk.

              "He's in pretty dire shape, my dear. He kept trying to stand, but I insisted that he stay put."

              "He is awake?" Ellie asked.

              "He goes in and out of consciousness. I was just bringing the young man a blanket. He was shivering."

              Ellie was only half listening, as she desperately tried to spot Alan. The grass in the field was very tall, making it hard to see very far in the distance.

              "I'm really sorry, but I'm very eager to see if he's all right. Could you point me in the general direction, please?"

              The woman smiled. She handed Ellie the blanket and pointed. Ellie smiled back.

              "Thank you very much," she said as she ran in the direction the woman had gestured.

              Alan was resting the best that he could in the middle of the field. He had been slightly groggy, dozing off constantly, but from the moment he heard Ellie's concerned voice, he quickly pepped up.

              "Ellie?" He asked, leaning forward just enough to make himself wince.

              Ellie heard his voice, knowing that she was very close. She was smiling as she came upon him, but when she saw Alan and the condition that he was in, her smile faded into concern. She swiftly made her way to him, leaning down beside him.

              "Oh, my God. Are you okay?"

              Before he could answer, Ellie was already gently embracing him.

              "I've been better," Alan managed to say, wincing and hugging her back.

              Ellie laughed at him and began to take a closer inventory of his injuries. He was covered in dirt, basically from head to toe. Looking past the dirt, she saw that he had about a one-inch gash over his left eye, a very large scrap across his left arm that actually tore the fibers from his shirt sleeve, and some blood coming down his neck. His right leg was the absolute worst injury by far, though. The kind woman had propped up his leg on a milk crate and had placed a pillow under his broken leg, elevating it properly. As Ellie looked closer, she could see that it was obviously broken. It was an open, or compound fracture, as she could see that the bone had broken through the skin. His lower pant leg was ripped and folded away from the break. Ellie began to feel lightheaded, as her happiness began to dwindle away right before her eyes.

              "What happened?" She gasped, as she gently covered him with the blanket.

              Alan was about to answer, when they could hear the sirens coming closer. The elderly woman had made her way to them by now, too.

              "His truck turned over and he walked a few miles to find help. I found him laying in my field. It's a good thing that I go out there periodically to check on things. He was unconscious when I found him, but when I talked to him he had opened his eyes."

              Alan smiled at the woman and then looked at Ellie, who was still hovering over him.

              "Ellie, this is Margaret. She is the nice woman who was nice enough to help me with this nice little milk crate, and then call for help."

              Ellie was slightly amused by his extensive use of the word "nice". He was very much out of it. She got up from Alan's side and shook the woman's hand, and then hugged her, too.

              "Thank you so much for taking care of him, Margaret. I know we both appreciate that."

              "It was no trouble. I just hope the young lad will be able to walk again."

              Alan looked up at the two women. Cobwebs were clouding his mind, but he had heard the negative tone in the elderly woman's voice.

              "What?" He managed to whisper.

              Ellie looking down at him. She quickly leaned next to him again, grasping his hand.

              "Nothing, Alan. Just relax, okay? Help is coming."

              He nodded and smiled at Ellie. It was the beginning of dusk and the sunset made everything look beautiful and colorful. He thought she looked like an angel, glistening in the sunset, lingering over him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Alan opened his eyes and could do nothing but stare at the strong light on the ceiling above his head. He blinked a few times, trying to chase the cobwebs away, but to no avail. There was a spot somewhere on his face that itched, so he brought his hand up to his face. He was very drug-induced and slowly came to realize this, as his hand couldn't find its desired target. It felt as though he was a drunk person trying to touch his nose. After a few more failed attempts, he began to stir in the bed. It was then that he noticed he was in a hospital room. The events of the last few days kept crawling back into his mind, causing him to wince slightly. There was an I.V. inserted into his left wrist and a slew of other various wires and rubber tubes connected, protruding from the sheet that was draped over his body. He tried to sit up, but that didn't work in his favor in the least.

              "Ouch," he winced and whispered to no one in particular, as he slowly rested his head back on the uncomfortable pillow.

              It only took that one barely audible word to awaken Ellie, who was sleeping in a chair next to his bed. She opened her eyes and quickly jumped out of the chair.

              "What is it? Something wrong?" She asked in a slight panic.

              He smiled at her. He just felt like smiling at her. And that's all he did for the time being.

              "You're in the hospital, Alan. You broke your leg, sprained your wrist, bruised some ribs, and managed to give yourself a mild concussion."

              "Is that all?" He whispered, "I thought I was really bad off."

              This statement made Ellie smile, which is what he intended. He was starting to become a little more alert now, and with alertness came pain. He adjusted his right leg and winced again.

              "Are you having a lot of pain? If you are, I can call a nurse."

              He nodded, while gritting his teeth. He couldn't believe the intenseness of the pain. It placed him right back into the middle of nowhere and trying to walk out of there. Ellie hurried and pushed the call button and then went out into the hallway, yelling for a nurse. It only took a few minutes for someone to respond to her constant calling. A nurse walked in, adjusted one of the bags, and then smiled at Alan.

              "Okay. You should feel better in just a few minutes."

              He nodded again, not really believing her, since it was still hurting. Ellie pulled the chair closer to the bed, sat down, and took his hand in hers. It was the hand with the I.V., causing him to wince a little more.

              "Just try and relax, okay? Everything is going to be all right. You just need to rest and relax."

              "Okay," he said.

              "Good, good," she commented, as she leaned down and kissed his hand.

              She gently let go of him and then leaned back in the chair, looking at him.

              "You scared me to death, Alan Grant," she said.

              "Sorry," he said, with another one of his faint smiles.

              She moved forward in the chair, leaned in, and kissed him on the cheek. She stayed in that position for a few seconds, brushing a few strands of his messed up brown hair. As she leaned back into the chair, Alan could see how noticeably tired and worn out she looked.

              "Why don't you get out of here. Try and get some sleep."

              "I'm okay."

              "You look tired, Ellie."

              "I'm holding up just fine."

              Alan tried a different approach.

              "Look. I'm just going to lie here and sleep. There's nothing exciting and interesting about that. Really. It would make me feel better if I knew you were getting some rest."

              "Okay, okay," she said, finally giving in, "But I'm not leaving the hospital. I'll just go find somewhere more comfortable to sleep."

              "Like where?"

              "I don't know."

              "Just go home. I'm okay. I'll call you if I decide to run a marathon or something."

              Ellie laughed at his attempt at humor. What really caught her attention was his reassurance that he was okay. That was one of the things that she longed to hear when she couldn't find him. And now she was here alone with him, and he was reassuring her. She knew he was right, that she should go home. But she wasn't ready to leave his side yet.

              "I will in a minute. I just want to stay a little bit longer."

Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home

 

July 6, 1991 - Saturday

 

              Ellie looked at the house that was in front of her. It was Alan's house. A house she knew nothing about until two days ago. She helped him make his way to the one step that led up to the porch. He had crutches and was given a few lessons in how to use them at the hospital, but he wasn't very good at it yet.

              The porch was quite large, having room for four chairs and a small table. It was cemented in and connected to the rest of the house. She walked to the front door and used the key Alan had given her. She opened the door, pushed it open, and turned around to face him.

              "Okay, let's get you inside, shall we?"

              Alan smiled, although she could see that he wasn't looking forward to climbing the additional two concrete steps leading up to the front door. He was staring at them with a look of dread on his face.

              "Don't worry, I'll help you. It'll be just fine. Come on, give me your hand," she said, as she reached out to him.

              He took her hand and the two of them managed to get him up the stairs and into the house. After they were inside, Ellie took in her new surroundings.

              "So this is the home of Dr. Alan Grant. It's more homey than I thought it would be."

              Alan looked at her in a weird way.

              "What do you mean?" He asked, as he readjusted the crutches and began to hobble to the nearest couch.

              He wasn't having an easy time with those crutches. He had never had a reason to use them before, and he couldn't believe the pain in his arms and good leg already.

              "Let's just say that I didn't even know you had a house until yesterday. I thought you just lived in that trailer at the dig site."

              Alan reached the couch. When she saw him attempting to sit down, Ellie hurried over to him to help.

              "Well, I do mostly stay at the dig site. I don't stay here very much."

              "Why's that? It's a beautiful house, Alan."

              "It brings back memories of Kathryn, mostly," he said.

              Ellie wasn't prepared for the answer and the way he just blurted it out like that. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She looked closer around the room and realized that Kathryn must have been the one to decorate everything so beautifully.

              "Oh, Alan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean---"

              "It's okay. Really. I have no idea why I told you that."

              "I don't mind. I just wasn't quite prepared for it, that's all."

              Alan looked up at her. She had moved backwards some, awkwardly looking around the room. He smiled and patted the section of couc