From: lalsoong@sprynet.com (Christine Wirick )
Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative
Subject: Paradox Delusion  23/23
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 19:00:55 GMT
Organization: Sprynet News Service
Message-Id: <3327419f.1389701@news.sprynet.com>
Nntp-Posting-Host: ad70-113.compuserve.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


                            Epilogue


     He leaped, into a hospital corridor, wearing a white jacket and a
name tag that read "Dr. Robert Egan."  He glanced around, hoping his
surroundings would give him a clue as to what year he'd leaped into,
surmising that he was probably somewhere in the late eighties, no
later than early nineties.

     He approached the nurse's station, wondering what he would say.
He could ask for a patient's chart, but he didn't know the name of any
of the patients.

     "Give me our coma patient's chart," he ordered, not knowing what
gave him the compulsion to do so.

     "Which one, Dr. Egan?"

     "Ah, the one who's been in a coma the longest."

     Eyeing him questioningly, the nurse pulled the chart out and
handed it to Beckett.  "Are you feeling all right, doctor?"

     Sam smiled nervously, and nodded.  "I'll be fine."  His grin
faltered as soon as he looked down at the chart.  The patient's name
was Patrick Marland. I still have unfinished business with Patrick, he
thought.  But what? "Excuse me."  Quickly, he headed for Patrick's
room.

     Patrick appeared lifeless with only a heart monitor beeping away
to dispute that impression.  Sam wondered if Patrick's psyche had
returned to his body or if it was still lost somewhere in an alternate
universe.  I'm back, he thought, trying to convince himself that that
had to mean that Patrick was back as well.  He approached the psychic,
and lifted the man's hand.

     Al popped in startling Sam.  "Ziggy says that there's a 98%
chance that Patrick will come out of the coma today and will fully
recover," the hologram said.

     "Al, how long has he been this way?"

     Peering into the handlink, Al slapped it a couple times.  "Five
and a half months."

     "He slipped into a coma as soon as I leaped out, didn't he?" Sam
asked as the memory registered fully again in his swiss-cheesed mind.
"I was with him over there.  I saw him in every lifetime.  It was
horrible, Al."

     "I know, Buddy," the hologram said gloomily.

     "Except for the last one."  The time traveler and the hologram
looked at one another and shared a glimmer of hope.  "In that one
world, Patrick lived a long and rewarding life.  And get this, his
name was Matthew.

     Do you suppose that has some sort of cosmic meaning?" Al asked.

     Sam could only shrug--and wonder himself.

      "Ziggy also says that the Sheffield's house is no longer haunted
and that Lisanne filed for a divorce two days after Charles was
arrested.

     Before Sam could ask if Ben and Karen had found peace, someone at
the door interrupted them.

     "Doctor, is there any change?"

     Sam turned toward the doorway to see Lisanne Sheffield.  He
glanced at Al, who mirrored his puzzlement.  The hologram immediately
sought out Ziggy's opinion.  "She's been visiting Patrick every
Saturday since the accident.  She feels partly responsible, because
Patrick wouldn't be near death if he hadn't been trying to help her."

     "Good afternoon, Mrs. Sheffield," Sam said.

     "Doctor Egan, it's nine-thirty in the morning."

     "Ah--well, you know how us doctors' schedules are.  We sometimes
forget to sleep at night and the morning runs into the afternoon and
the afternoon into the night..."

     "I see," Lisanne said, but she still wore a look of wariness.

     "Anyway, in answer to your question, I believe there's an
excellent chance that our friend might wake up today."

     Lisanne beamed.  "Does his mother know?"

     "I don't think so."

     "I have to go call her."  Lisanne rushed out of the room.

     "Al," Sam began, "why am I back in Patrick's life?"

     Al consulted, Ziggy, not answering Sam's question for several
seconds.  "You're here to simply talk with Patrick when he comes out
of his coma," he finally said.

     "That's all?  If Patrick's going to be all right anyway, then
what's the point of my returning now?"

     "I don't know.  I guess we just wait and see."

     Both men turned toward the patient, staring solemnly.  "What does
Ziggy say about Meg?"

     After a couple of squeals from the handlink, Al replied, "Ziggy
says that she's been visiting Patrick almost every day.  She even
brings a tape player and plays his favorite songs for him."

     "We need to find out how to get a hold of her.  She needs to be
here when Patrick wakes up."

     Consulting again with the artificial intelligence unit, Al said,
"Ah. . .she's staying at the Sheridan hotel two miles down the road.
The hotel number is 555-8392."

     Sam picked up the phone on the nightstand and dialed the number.
When the receptionist answered, Sam asked her to connect him to Meg's
room.  she answered on the third ring.  She was naturally excited to
hear that Patrick was showing signs of coming out of the coma soon and
informed Sam that she would leave for the hospital as soon as she hung
up the phone.

     Realizing he needed to check on Dr. Egan's other patients, Sam
asked the nurse at the station to page him immediately the moment
Patrick began to stir.  Although his thoughts were on seeing Meg again
as he visited each of the patients, he knew that giving her time alone
with Patrick was the right thing to do.

     It was hours later when the nurse summoned Sam from the
cafeteria. Patrick had come out of his coma.  As if on cue, Al
appeared before Sam reached the patient's room.

     Meg was sitting in a chair, leaning over to hold Patrick's hand.
She was looking at him the way she once looked at Sam.  Sam squeezed
his hand into fists and used all of his energy to muster up the
courage to not burst into the room in a fit of jealousy.  He sighed
heavily before stepping into the room.

     "I know it's hard, Buddy," Al said.  "I've been there before."

     The time traveler glanced back at his friend. The admiral had
lost his one true love, Beth, after suffering five agonizing years as
a POW.  No one understood better about love than Al.

     Noticing that Sam had entered the room, Meg turned in his
direction and said, "Dr. Egan," in a pleasant voice.


     "Good to see you again. . .Meg."  Sam hoped that she didn't mind that Dr. Egan called her by her first name. 
"Welcome back to the world, Mr. Marland," Sam approached the patient.
Sam removed the pen light from his jacket pocket and examined
Patrick's eyes, ears, nose and throat.  "Do you remember what
happened?"

     "No," Patrick barely managed.  "Wasn't there."

     Sam glanced at Meg and wondered if he should reveal to her his
true identity.  She smiled back at him questioningly and he decided
that after all they'd been through, she deserved to know.  "There's
something I need to tell the both of you."

     Before he could confess his secret, Raymond Steele, nearly out of
breath, rushed into the room.  "I had to see it with my own eyes!" he
exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.  He walked around to Patrick's
free side and grasped his friend by the forearm.  "Welcome back to the
land of the living.  You really know how to scare a guy."

     "I think I'm back for good," Patrick promised.

     After a moment, Raymond looked up at the doctor.  "Thank you for
everything, Dr. Egan."

     I'm not really Dr. Egan."

     Everyone fixed him with a startled look.  "Sam?" they all uttered
almost simultaneously.

     Patrick still looked a bit weary, as expected, but he raised
himself up to a sitting position, obviously eager to speak with
Beckett.  He grabbed his water, taking a long, slow sip.  Meg placed
her arms around Patrick to help support him.

     "I suspected I would see you again," Patrick said to Sam.

     "I had thought that the time in the courtroom would be the last
time I'd see either of you," Sam said, looking at Meg.  "I'm glad I
was wrong.  "This allows us one last time together as a group, so we
can say a proper goodbye.

     "Is Al here?" Patrick asked.

     "Yes," Sam replied, glancing at the hologram.

     Al removed the cigar from his mouth.  "I'm here all right."

     The psychic smiled thinly.

     "He said--" Sam began.

     "I heard him," Patrick interrupted.  "Can't see him, but I can
hear him."  Patrick paused for another sip of his water. "Thank you.
Thank you to both of you.  I couldn't have helped Ben Simms rid
himself of the anger that was eating away inside of him without your
help."

     "I just feel bad that you had to suffer," Sam replied.

     "Don't be." Patrick grinned.  "If I hadn't allowed myself to
suffer, each of those other worlds I lived in would not have
experienced such significant changes so quickly.  The knowledge I have
gained through my experiences will aid me throughout the rest of my
life.  I plan to put it to good use with my career and hopefully help
a few people in this world."  He gazed up at Meg.  "And if it hadn't
been for you, there wouldn't be any hope for Meg and I.  We were both
too blind sighted to realize how we truly felt for one another."

     "He remembers my every visit," Meg explained, "the music I played
for him, the soothing words I spoke to him.  Thank you, Sam, for
convincing me not to give up on Patrick."

     "You're a good man, Patrick," Beckett said with admiration.  "You
deserve this special woman."

     "You're a good man, too, Sam.  That's why God has you leaping
around.  It takes an extraordinary altruistic soul to do what you do.
I don't think many others qualify.  And someday, you'll return home,
too."

     Sam leaped, feeling a twinge of sadness at finally being
separated from Patrick Marland.

                            The End