Turn Back Time

Katie

“In more recent news, the story of a young man involved in a terrible accident at the Museum of Natural History in New York City has spread like wildfire over the country. Around midday yesterday, Sunday, Lionel Flynn, a museum worker, was giving a tour to a kindergarten class with his assistant, whose name has yet to be released. In the recently opened French Revolution exhibit, there was an old model of a guillotine that had been brought out. The accident occurred when Flynn, only wishing to demonstrate for the kids, had his head in the locks of the thought-to-be-harmless guillotine model. According to witnesses at the scene, a child ran into Flynn’s assistant and she fell against the model, causing the blade to come crashing down. The museum’s president, Mr. Ronald Orswell, has spoken out on the tragedy: ‘It was all an accident,’ He says. ‘We very recently hired a new maintenance staff. Somewhere along the lines, tasks were ignored, such as the dulling of the blade. After examination, it appears as if mice chewed through the ropes that kept the model rigid. The staff has been fired in its entirety and we are looking to hire a new, more capable crew who will look after our museum and keep it safe. This accident was completely unexpected and tragic. Our hearts go out to family and friends of Lionel Flynn, and we are willing to do anything and everything to get past this accident. The exhibit has been closed in the meantime, but the museum continues running as usual.’”
I choked on my own exhalation and fell back against the pillow. The news anchor’s voice droned on, pounding in my ears.
Then, I heard the door slam, and I jumped, my skin crawling. I scrambled up in bed, my eyes wide. The noise set off a chain of alarms in my body, and it was all I could do not to scream as my vision once again went red. “Don’t worry, Kate, it’s me, Tucker,” My brother’s voice rang out, and I let out all the air in my lungs, my muscles relaxing. I heard him put down bags on the counter and rifle through them. A minute later, he entered the room, looking exhausted. He came and sat beside me, watching me tiredly. “Here,” He sighed, pulling something out of a bag. “I bought you those cookies you really like. The ones Mom used to buy.”
I stared blankly at the package. “I’m not hungry,” I told him. He blew out air so that it made his bangs fly up. I looked down at my hands. “Come on, Kit Kat, you’ve got to get out of bed and eat something. I’ll make you Mac and Cheese. You love that.”
“I said I’m not hungry.”
“Fine.” He stood up, looking around. He noticed the television and groaned, switching it off. “Katie, you’ve gotta stop watching this stuff,” He told me. He was on the verge of yelling, I could tell. “It’s not doing you any good. It’s stupid. I hate seeing you like this. Watch something else, for God’s sakes. Watch a goddamned soap opera or something.”
His tone made me suck in a breath. He saw it and sighed again, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. “I’m sorry, Kate,” He said. “I know. You’re traumatized. Come here.”
He drew me into his arms and held me close. I cried silently into his chest, still cold from outside. He rubbed my hair like Mom did, smoothing it down my back. “Shh,” He whispered over and over. “It’s alright.”
He sat with me for an hour and we watched a goddamned soap opera, eating cookies. “I called Charlie and Noah,” He said at the end, not moving to turn off the television.
I groaned. “Are they coming?”
“Charlie is,” He replied, swallowing. “As soon as he gets back from some meeting out in California. Noah can’t. He’s in Switzerland on business. He sends his love, though.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell Charlie not to come.”
“He’s on his way,” Tucker said. “But don’t worry, Esther and the kids aren’t coming.”
Esther was Charlie’s wife, and their kids, Josh, Tatumn, and Francis, were seven, five, and two. I was glad they weren’t coming, but I still didn’t want Charlie here.
“You’ve got to go back to work, Kit Kat,” Tucker told me slowly. “They’re only going to let you alone for a few days. Then you’ve got to come back. They want you to take over Lionel’s job.”
I turned to look at him. “What?”
“The museum called a few hours ago, while you were sleeping. I spoke to Mr. Orswell. He says you can have Lionel’s job. You get his office, his salary, his benefits, everything. It’s a step up from your position. You can start as soon as you want, but if they don’t hear back by Wednesday, they’re starting interviews for the position.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want his job.”
“Well, what are you going to do, then?”
“Keep my job.”
“You’re his assistant. An assistant isn’t much help without anyone to assist.”
“I said I don’t want his job.”
Tucker lay back against the pillow, his arms crossed. “Come on, Katie. Don’t be unreasonable. You can get over this. I can only be here for so long before I have to go back to work myself. I can find a therapist for you, if you want. That might be good.”
“I don’t want a therapist.”
He sat up suddenly, exasperated. He threw his arms in the air. “Well, stop doing nothing! You’ve got to get out of this apartment! Go back to work! Do something! It’s been almost two days! I can’t stand it anymore.”
I cringed at his words. He stared at me. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” He muttered. “You didn’t love the guy or anything. You hardly knew him at all. You’re only upset because of how awful the accident was. Now it’s time to get better and forget. You can do it. You’re strong, Katie. We all know that.”
A tear fell out of my eye. “No,” I said stubbornly. “I didn’t love him. But we were friends. We went on a date the night before the accident like I told you. He told me his brother died.”
“Mom died, too,” Tucker sneered, upset. “Everybody dies.”
“Not like that,” I faltered, the tears spilling over. “No one dies like that. Lionel did. I can still see all the blood.”
“I know you can! Now pick yourself up and move past it! You’re capable! It’ll be hard, but people are here to help, okay? I’m going to bring you to the museum tomorrow morning, and you can tell Mr. Orswell yourself that you’ll take Lionel’s position. Everything’ll be okay, Katie. I promise.”
“You can’t promise anything.”