Quantum Leap Oh Boy

Dbz77

Project QL Intern
Sep 22, 2022
34
5
8
Long Beach
Choking

All he wanted was a quiet snack break, after working ten hours this day, on top of three previous days of working sixteen hours on set.

But in his hunger, some food did not go the right away.

He tried coughing it out, but to no avail. He can feel being deprived of life-0sustaining oxygen.

He tries harder and harder to cough, but it does not dislodge the food.

He tries to cry for help, but his airway is blocked.

He can only hope that in the next few minutes, someone shows up to save him.

And someone does show up...sort of.

He can see a flickering image of a man wearing a bright silver jacket even as he slips from consciousness.

The man in the silver jacket looks down at the fallen stagehand.

“Don't worry,” says the man named Al. “I'll get help!” he presses buttons on this multi-colored boxlike device, and disappears.

Seconds later, a man who calls himself Sam Beckett rushes into the dark sound stage. He is followed by several people.

“There he is, Sam!” yells Al, screaming desperately. “He'll die in fifteen seconds!”

Sam grabs the fallen man and wraps his arms around the chest. He squeezes and thrusts up.

He tries again.

And he does so again. Something flies out of the stage hand's mouth.

Sam, Al, and the others all glance at each other and looks at the unconscious man.

Sam can hear breathing.

“Get a medic!” yells Sam. “an ambulance. Someone!”

He looks at the stage hand, whose eyes open.

“Bruce?” the stage hand asks, still trying to make up for not breathing the past three minutes or so.

All punches buttons on the colored device. “You did it,” says the observer. “He goes on to have a family and live a normal life.”

Others rush in to help the stage hand who nearly choked to death- would have choked to death, without intervention from a quantum physicist from the future.

Sam notices a mirror on the wall.

The leaper glances at the stage hand, still lying on the floor of the sound stage, and then looks at the mirror, taking one last look at Bruce Lee before he is surrounded by a blue aura and leaps.

The blue coalesces around Sam again. Even as it fades, he knows he is lying down on something soft. And he feels warmth.

He notices he is lying next to a woman, appearing to be in her mid-twenties, with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

An d there is not a stitch of clothing on her. Her breasts are certainly pleasing to look at. He notices that he too is naked.

“I hope you enjoyed your lesson,” says the woman. “I give the best lessons”

“Uh, sure,” replies the quantum physicist. He checks his hands- there is no wedding ring.

“You have a lot of stamina for someone your age.”

Is she with a much older man?

“I guess so.”

I'm getting close to half a century myself.

“We can cuddle, or we can go in the living room and play the Coleco.”

“I'll use the bathroom first.”

“sure, I mean, you had three glasses of wine. Just be careful. You lost a lot of fluid already.”

Sam smiles. He had leapt into far more stressful situations than being post-coital with a comely young woman. The leaper takes another glance at the woman's nude form. He walks into what appears to be a bathroom and becomes startled when he sees a boy.

“Oh, I didn't know you were using..”

Sam looks further and moves his hand.

The boy moves his hand.

The leaper blinks.

The boy blinks.

Sam looks towards the mirror in the bathroom. He clearly sees a boy who could not be older than fourteen.

“Oh boy,” he says.
 
April 28, 1984

I've had close encounters with women in my six years of leaping. About two years ago, I even leaped into a man having sex with his fiance. But this....

Dr. Sam Beckett still stares at the boy in the mirror. He notices the woman- still naked- approaching from behind him.

“What's wrong, Joey?” asks the woman.

“Uh, I got to go home.”

“You said your mom was working late at the casino...wait, it's about 8:30 now. I forget. It's not like someone your age can just hang out in casinos.”

“Of course.”

The woman throws Sam some clothes. “Better put these on.”

The leaper notices Levi's jeans and a wool sweater as well as undergarments. He quickly dons them.

“Okay,” he says. “I...I'll be going home now.” He starts towards the door.

Oh no. I don't know where I.. this Joey lives.

“It's uh, late,” says Sam. “I think I need a ride home. I mean, since it's night time and all.” Another idea arises in the quantum physicist's mind. “and, do you have a copy of today's newspaper?”

“Newspaper? Oh, of course for your civics class.”

“I need to study.”

“I got the weekly Tribune here,” she says, handing Sam some newsprint. The leaper reads the newspaper.

Tahoe Daily Tribune Week of April 20, 1984

“Thanks,” says Sam.

“I'd better give you a ride home. And you'd better put this on.” The woman hands Sam a jacket.

Sam puts it on. It feels light and comfortable. He leaves through the front door . He can feel chilly air. He looks and notices he emerged from a small cabin. He notices very tall trees rising from the ground, practically surrounding the neighborhood.

“That's your bike there, right?”

Sam looks and the woman is standing next to a bike rack, where one bicycle is attached. The leaper pulls a key out off the pocket of the Levi's jeans and uses it on the bike lock. The lock is unlatched.

“You still want a ride home?”

“Yes, yes, I do.”

“Well, I suppose I can do this. You gave me a good time.”

“I'll bring the Jeep out.”

Seconds later, a red 982 Jeep CJ drives out onto the street. He sees a bike rack attached to the grill, so Sam secures the Schwinn bicycle to the rack. He then hops into the front seat and fastens his seat belt.

The woman starts the gasoline engine, puts the Jeep in gear, and pulls out. Soon it reaches a main road, with plenty of cars with their headlights on.

The leaper can see tall buildings in the distance. It becomes apparent, as the Jeep slows down due to the traffic, that these buildings are hotel towers. He notices the High Sierra and Harvey's on his right, and Caesar's Tahoe and Harrah's on his left.

The Jeep stops at a red light right where Harrah's and Harvey's are, and continues on, and the hotels and casinos abruptly stop. Past the light, there are a row of motels and gas station and convenience stores.

“I wish I could take you to the Stateline casinos here,” says the woman.

About five minutes later, the woman makes a left turn onto a side street, and then makes a right turn. She soon parks the Jeep.

“I'll walk you to your apartment,” she says. “I'll have to keep my distance of course.”

Sam unfastens his bolt, unlocks the bike from the Jeep's bike rack, and heads to an apartment. He unlocks the gate with his host's key, and he and the woman walk in. Sam notices a bike rack and locks his bike.

The woman stands near the door. The quantum physicist retrieves Joey's keys from then pocket, inserts the key into the keyhole, and turns it.

The door unlocks and Sam pulls the door.

“I wish I could kiss you, Joey,” says the woman. “I wish I could take you to the clubs here, or even down in Reno.”

“Good night,” says Sam, entering the apartment and shutting it.

He turns on the lights. The apartment looks like a typical apartment, with a small living room and a dining room to the left and a mini-hallway in the back. A coffee table in the middle of the dining room, and there are some magazines. The leaper picks up one of the magazines, a bridal magazine.

Looking at the label, Sam notices that it was mailed to a Brenda Schultz in South Lake Tahoe, California. Going to the back of the apartment, he opens the doors and finds one bedroom and a bathroom.

If that's his mom's bedroom, where does Joey sleep?

The leaper finds the answer when he sees a room divider partitioning a corner. Going around, he unfolds part of the divider and sees a small, narrow bed.

Sam yawns. He figures he is still exhausted from spending hours doing stunts as Bruce Lee. He soon falls asleep on the small bed.

Ooooooooooo

Sam stirs awake. He walks over to a clock hanging on the wall in the apartment's kitchen. The time is around 8:30.

I've been asleep for over ten hours!

“Mom!” calls out the leaper.

He hears no response. He opens the door into the apartment's bedroom, and finds that the room is still empty.

I guess I have to fix breakfast myself. I wonder how often Joey did this.

Sam pours himself some Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Minute maid Orange juice. He soon bites into the cereal, feeling the texture of the corn flakes and tasting the sweetness of the sugar coating.

“Just a cold breakfast, Sam?” he hears.

The quantum physicist looks and sees Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci, the project observer from the future, whom Sam is able to see and hear via brainwave transmissions from about seventeen years in the future. He sees him wear a bright silver jacket.

“Al,” he says.

“I'd better fill you in,” says the observer. “You're Joey Schultz, a 13-year-old junior high student living in South Lake Tahoe, California, with his mom.”

“Brenda,” says the leaper. “Brenda Schultz.”

“Today's date is Sunday, April 29, 1984- more or less seventeen years in my past.”

Sam notices Al's subdued tone of voice.

“Is there anything wrong? What happens to Joey? I don't think his future looks to bright based upon what I've seen since I leaped in last night.”

“It's Gooshie. He's dead.”
 
Sam Beckett can hardly believe it.

Gooshie is dead.

He sits down on the couch, leans back, and sobs.

Al Calavicci can only watch. Tears flow down his cheeks.

"How?" asks the leaper. "When?"

"He died a few hours after you leaped out of Bruce Lee," answers the observer. "He was battling melanoma- cancer- for the past three years."

"My God," says Sam. "The last time I spoke to him was a few months ago- my time. He had to pitch in for you. His family flew in to see him. They're hoping for the funeral to be next week at his family home in Nebraska."

The telephone rings. After it rings three times, Sam walks to the kitchen and takes the handset.

"Uh, hi, its Sa...Joey," says the grieving leaper.

"Oh hi, Joey," says a woman's voice. "It's your mom,."

"Hi, Mom," Sam replies softly.

"Listen, I spent the night with a man after I got off work. He lives in a cabin in Homewood."

"Homewood?"

"It's off the 89 on the west side of the lake, north of Emerald Bay. He's invitin' me to spend the rest of the day with him. I know you can take care of yourself, Joey."

"I guess I have to to."

"Love you."

Sam turns towards Al. "His mom's hooked up with a man and leaving Joey here alone," the leaper says softly. He walks to the couch and continues sobbing in grief.

"Gooshie..Gooshie still alive in this time," he says.

"What would you say to him?" asks the observer. "He'll hear the voice of a 13-year-old boy. And his death...it's one of those things leaping can't prevent."
The telephone rings again, and Sam answers it. "Hello. Joey here"

"It's me, Jimmy," says a voice on the other side, a voice that sounds Joey's age. "Listen, my dad and I are going to brunch at Caesar's. You wanna come?"
"Thanks, but..." The leaper mulls it over. "Yes, I definitely want to come."

"Listen, you better get dressed. We should be at your place by 9:15."

"Sam?" asks Al.

"This boy Jimmy asked me...Joey, for brunch," replies the quantum physicist. "I..I need to find out more about Joey's life. He or someone close to him needs my help."

"I'll be by your side," the observer says softly, still speaking through the grief over losing Gooshie.

A few minutes later, Sam waits outside. He can clearly see the tall pine and fir trees that dominate this neighborhood. In the distance are mountains, still capped in snow.

A blue 1979 Oldsmobile pulls over to the side of the street and its horn is honked.

"Joey," calls out a boy sitting in the front seat.

"Coming," says Sam. Al pushes a few buttons on this brightly-colored box called a handlink, and he immediately appears in the back seat of the car.

"He there," says a man who is Jimmy's father. "Seat belt fastened?"

"Uh, yeah," replies the leaper, pulling on the seat belt.

The driver soon drives the Oldsmobile on Lake Tahoe Boulevard, the rubber tires rolling against the asphalt. Sam and Al notice plenty of motels lining the road, and of course, the towering pines and firs that rise high above the buildings.

Very soon, the hotel towers of Harrah's and Harvey's are visible. The4 car soon crosses Stateline Avenue and into Nevada.

They pass Harrah's and Harvey's and both leaper and observer see the tall tower of Caesar's Tahoe on the right. Jimmy's dad turns right and drives along a driveway leading to the parking lot in the back.

Sam follows Jimmy and his father, through some glass doors, into the casino. He notices slot machines and tables with various games like blackjack and three-card poker and roulette. The clanking sound of coins spilling onto stainless steel coin trays fill the floor.

They soon reach this cafe, where many casino patrons and hotel guests are waiting to get seated.

"Pete," says Jimmy's father. "Party for three."

"Right this way," says this woman whose blond hair is tied in a ponytail. She leads the three of them into the main room where there are many wooden tables, most of them occupied by brunch diners. They are finally seated.

"How are things going, Joey?" asks Jimmy's father.

"A lot of stress," replies Sam. "So much going on."

"Yeah, you're almost two thirds the way done with junior high. Another year and you're in high school."

Sam briefly recalls his time starting high school in Elk Ridge, Indiana back in 1967, before these memories are drowned out by his grief for Gooshie.

Soon, a waitress- a young woman with black hair and olive-0cxiomplected skin- arrives to take their order.

"Good morning," she says with this thick accent. "What do you want?"

"A mimosa," says Sam.

"Oh, you are such a kidder," replies the waitress with a laugh, and Jimmy and his father join in the laughter.

"You got to wait eight years to get a mimosa here," says Jimmy's father.

"I could use a mimosa myself," says Al.

I forgot I look like a 13-year-old boy to everyone in this time.

Sam smiles is a brief flash of happening before grief dominates. "Medium steak and fried eggs, with ice water and tomato juice please."

"All right."

Jimmy and his father also take their orders. Sam decides to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"I am old enough for coffee, right?" asks the leaper.

"Sure," replies Jimmy.

Soon, brunch arrives at their table, and Sam starts cutting into the whites of the fried eggs.

"Looks delicious," says the observer. "Beth and I actually stayed in Caesar's just two months from this time. And back in '88, a year before we started Quantum Leap, I took Beth and the girls to this vacation condo near the beach." Al is soon once again consumed with grief.

He is still trying to process the fact that Gooshie is dead and never coming back. "Gooshie," says Al.

The three of them eat quietly for a minute.

"How are things?" asks Sam.

"Still working,:" replies Jimmy's father. "Still playing golf Saturday mornings, still going to the casinos. There are times when I still miss Jimmy's mom."

"I'm sorry."

"You and your mom were there at the funeral," says Jimmy, holding a slice of bacon. He can still remember that day, the priest saying those departing words, with the Carson Range visible in the distance.

"Hard to imagine what it's like," says the leaper. "I mean, to lose a good friend is sad enough..."

His thoughts drift towards his father who died in 1974. it was only two years ago in his time that he finally had a proper chance to say goodbye, albeit while looking like someone else.

I miss him.

Brunch continues, with very little conversation going on.

"So tell me about yourselves," says Sam, hoping to break the silence and learn something that could help Joey or his friends.

"Well," says Jimmy's father, "my grandparents immigrated from Italy to America in 1913. I was only a year old when my dad was killed in Pearl Harbor. I was lucky to survive a charlie bullet in 'Nam, because being shipped home after taking that bullet gave me a chance to meet Sally- Jimmy's mom. We moved to the Tahoe area when Jimmy was seven."

The man recalls his first meeting with her, his wedding day, the day his son Jimmy was born.

And then arise memories of her death and her funeral.

"Looks like we're done," says Jimmy.

"Ah, yes," says his father. He faces the leaper. "I'll drop you off at home, and then I'll just take Jimmy home."

They leave the table, and Jimmy's father pays at the counter. They soon walks through the casino towards the parking lot. Sam notices a blackjack table with an empty spot, and walks towards there.

"Joey, where are you going?" asks Jimmy.

"Sorry, I forgot I'm just a kid."

Maybe I could leap out of Joey, and as myself, into this time. I've done it before.

"Hey there!" says a woman, standing.

Noticing the light brown hair and freckles on her face, Sam immediately recognizes her as the woman whom he was laying next to when he first leaped into Joey.

"Hi, Miss Brown," says Jimmy.

"Ah, yes, I remember you," says Jimmy's father. "Math teacher."

"No, science teacher, Mr. La Palma," says Brown. "I'd chat with you two and Joey here more, but kids can't hang out in casinos. See you boys in class."

"You too, Miss Brown," replies Jimmy.

"Looks like Jimmy has a crush on her," says Al.

Joey has a lot more than a crush.

Twenty minutes later, in California, Mr. La Palma drops Sam off at the apartment.

"Thank you, sir," says the leaper.

"see you tomorrow," says Jimmy.

Sam walks into Joey's apartment. Joey's mom is still not in.

He lies down on Joey's bed, grieving over Gooshie.

Al wordlessly opens the door to the control room, and leaves the imaging chamber.

Ooooooo

The office is clean and neat, with a telephone and an Apple Macintosh Performa. A leather chair is behind the desk. Two framed photographs are also on the varnished wooden desk.

Al just looks at the empty chair.

We'll have to clean the desk out, and we need to train a replacement alternate observer. Oh, Gooshie.

Gooshie had been with them from the beginning, when he and Sam were testing the prototype components for the accelerator. He was the one who first notified Al, way back in 1995, that Sam was leaping.

And now Gooshie will not sit in that leather chair again.

It does not seem fair to Al.

It does not seem right.

It's not fair to Tina or the kids.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Sam is on the beach, looking out towards Lake Tahoe, still processing the news that Gooshie is dead. All he can do right now is looks towards the lake.
All he wants to do now is grieve.

"Sam, you okay?" asks Al.

"No," answers the leaper. "I know I will be."

"I 'm glad you're here. I guess looking out at Lake Tahoe will ease the pain somewhat." The observer looks towards the lake, seeing the blue waters and the various watercraft ridden by locals and tourists. He walks around, Before looking at his feet and noticing it looks like he is walking on the surface of the lake.

There is silence as the sun slowly sets.

The leaper takes a deep breath. "I need to know what I've got to fix," he says. "I mean, I can tell Joey's life isn't all that great; I haven't met his mom yet and it's obvious his dad's not in the picture. He or his friends need me."

"Let me check,' says Al, pushing buttons on the handlink. "Ziggy found the answer real easily. It was actually big news in the Tahoe area in '84."

"What big news?"

"On Friday, May 4, 1984, Jimmy La Palma gets into an argument with Joey Schultz at school. There was a fight, and Jimmy stabbed Joey to death."