Timeless

Chapter 46

A/N: What if.....I appeared suddenly...without explanation....to ruin everyone's day?

August 1946

Going into her second year of teaching, Kathryn was fully confident in her plans for the upcoming school year. Things at work were going great; she was well-liked amongst the faculty and she simply adored the children she got to teach. And honestly? Everything else in her life seemed to have stabilized in a way that it hadn't been in a long time.

Her brother and Josie had moved in next door—and that was a riot in and of itself. Every Sunday, they swapped hosting family dinners and usually went out as a group once or twice a month on double dates. It was a happy time for both Egan siblings—who usually were never happy at the same time.

Work had been great for Gale in the last few months and life was smooth sailing. In fact, things had been great between them. After figuring out that they couldn't control every aspect of their life, they decided that they wouldn't be trying for kids anytime soon—if it all. If it happened, then it happened. But until then, they weren't going to worry about the things that they didn't know.

Kathryn should have known that things wouldn't last for them. Should have known that the minute that they relaxed, let their guard down, found bliss and forgot about the struggles of everything else that had happened—something would happen.

But she didn't.

Didn't expect what was about to take place.

She had gotten home early from the grocery store and was putting the eggs in the fridge. The soreness that she felt in her muscles hadn't dissipated from when she had woken that morning and for a moment, it was all Kathryn could do to just stretch out her arms above her head and inhale deeply.

It had to be that she was just tired out .

They'd been busy in the past week—having visited New York for Kathryn to speak at a Medical Symposium for women looking to apply as doctors. She had felt worn out then, stressed out about the concept of speaking to a bunch of young women who wanted nothing more than to be just like Doctor Death . The speech had gone better than she had thought it would and was a success—though Gale had reassured her that she would do just fine.

Glancing at the clock, Kathryn figured she had just enough time to whip up some potatoes and throw some chicken in the Crock-Pot before Gale got home. She was quick to pull the chicken from the fridge, placing it in the Crock-Pot with some chicken broth and onions. Then Kathryn got to work washing and peeling potatoes. There was an uneasy and queasy feeling in her stomach as she stared at the peeler, a frown tugging on her features.

These cramps that she was dealing with were overwhelming at times. As if she were being plowed over by some sort of truck and shoved to the ground—or if needles were jabbing against her lower body. It was a painful tug at each movement, reminding her that she was, in fact, just human and a woman.

After peeling the potatoes, Kathryn began mashing them up in the Mixmaster. She was careful about her measurements of butter and milk—adding in a pinch of salt to ensure that they tasted just fine. The sound of the Mixmaster going felt like nails scratching across a chalkboard to the already growing headache that she was fighting.

She glanced over at the fridge, finding all of the pictures from her students—and for a moment, she wondered what it would be like to have little handprints on paper on the fridge. There was a heavy feeling in her chest and she bit down on her lip, refusing to let the dam overflow today.