side to get in.
After Alex put on her seat belt, she pulled out the diary from her purse and flipped to the first page. As Doug was starting the car, Alex read aloud, “Personal diary belonging to Alexandra Nicole Larson; fourteenth volume. The first date of entry is July 9, 2010.”
As Doug was backing out of the parking spot, he said, “The date of our twenty-first birthday.” Doug stopped, put the car into drive and drove away. Alex set the diary to the side and opened her purse. “What are you looking for?”
Alex pulled out a cell phone before saying, “I saw this phone when I was looking for car keys. I’m going to call mom and subtly inquire about the other thirteen volumes along with seeing what I can do about getting my hands on them.”
“I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”
As Alex scrolled through the numbers that were stored on the phone, she asked, “Why not?”
“If you call mom and start asking bizarre questions, you’re going to get her thinking that something is wrong.”
“I know how to handle it,” Alex said while seeing a phone entry that was titled ‘mom’.
After Doug saw Alex pressing the button he asked in disbelief, “You’re calling her, aren’t you?”
Before Alex was able to respond, her mom, Beverly, answered the phone. Alex just nodded as she was saying, “Mom, it’s me. Alex.”
“Sweetie, if this is not an emergency, can I call you back. I’m about ready to go into surgery.”
Alex uttered in a concern tone, “Oh my god, Mom! What’s wrong?! Why are you going into surgery?!”
Beverly said with a confused tone in her voice, “Since I’m a surgeon, going into surgery is my job.”
Alex said in a delightful tone, “You’re a surgeon.”
Beverly asked with a concerned tone in her voice, “Alex, sweetie, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, mom. I’ll just call you later… or you can call me when you’re not busy. Bye.”
When the call ended, Beverly curiously looked at her phone before shaking it off and putting it away.
After Alex had ended the call, Doug sarcastically said, “Real subtle.”
“Okay, I’ll admit it. That could have been more subtle, but mom is a doctor in this reality.”
“Well, in our reality, mom was in her second year of medical school when she got pregnant with us. After giving birth to us, she never went back and finished.”
“I know that, but I’m really curious to know why she was able to finish medical school in this reality and not ours.”
As Alex scrolled through the numbers again, Doug asked in a worried tone, “Who are you planning to call now?”
“Dad’s phone number is stored in the phone too, and I’m going to try him.”
As Alex made the call, Doug said, “You are going to get a net thrown over us if you aren’t careful.”
As the phone was ringing, Alex said, “Relax; I’m just trying to get some answers to a few questions. Besides, we may not get back to our reality right away, so we will need all the information we can get.”
“Just don’t get us sent to the funny farm.”
“I won’t. Oh, uh, your name is also listed on my phone, so you also have a cell phone.”
“I’ll look for it when I get back to the dorm.”
The phone rang a few times before the receptionist, Tiffany Lydell, answered the phone with, “Dr. Avery Larson’s office. How can I help you?”
Alex asked in a confused tone, “Who am I talking to?”
Tiffany asked in an inquisitive tone, “Alex, is that you?”
Alex cringed before responding in a cautious tone, “It’s me. Who am I talking to?”
Tiffany said in a confused tone, “It’s me, Tiffany. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It just didn’t sound like you. Can I talk to my dad?”
“He’s with a patient. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Have you ever heard of a man name Nicholas Christopher O’Brien?”
“I can’t say that I have. Who is he?”
“Never mind, Tiffany; I’ll talk to you later.”
As Tiffany was hanging up the phone, Avery and Mr. Taylor were leaving the examination room.
When Avery and Mr. Taylor stepped up to the receptionist’s desk, Avery said, “Schedule Mr. Taylor to come back for a follow up visit in two weeks.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Tiffany said.
Avery patted Mr. Taylor on the back and said, “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
“Thanks again, Dr. Larson,” Mr. Taylor said.
Avery just nodded and as he was about to step away, Tiffany said, “Oh, Dr. Larson, Alexandra called a short time ago.”
“What did she want?”
“She really didn’t say, but she was inquiring about a man named Nicholas Christopher O’Brien.” Avery stared at Tiffany as if she was a ghost. “Doctor, are you okay?”
Avery broke the stare he was giving Tiffany before saying, “Yeah-yeah, I’m fine. Did Alex say why she was asking about Nicholas O’Brien?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
Avery pondered over a thought for a moment with a worried expression across his face before he told Tiffany, “Let Mrs. Jones know that I’ll be a few minutes.”
Tiffany stood up and said, “Yes, Doctor.”
Avery turned and walked into his office. After sitting down at his desk, he picked up the phone and dialed it.
At the hospital, Beverly was just about ready to scrub in when her cell phone rang. After looking at the number, she answered, “Hey, Honey, this isn’t a good time to talk. I’m about ready to scrub in for surgery.”
“Did you tell Alex about Nicholas O’Brien?”
Beverly said in a confused tone, “Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to her, but she just called here and asked Tiffany about him. Beverly, before we got married we agreed not to say anything about Nicholas.”
“And I didn’t. Honey, I don’t know how Alex heard the name, and I will deal with
