The Many Lives of Elizabeth Turner

By elveloy

When Dr Elizabeth Turner opened the door to her laboratory that morning, she had no premonition that she was changing the course of history. There was a brief moment when everything looked normal, everything spotless and tidy as she had left it, before the room exploded in light so bright it burned her eyes, the boom following a split second later threatened to burst her eardrums.

Instinctively, she leapt backwards and out of the room, slamming the door shut, trembling in shock. What the—?

She blinked, trying to clear her eyes, and opened them to find...

She was lying on the floor, her right cheek pressed against the cold tiles, as the flames swirled around the room. How—? She had to get up, get out of there, but she couldn't seem to move. The pain was excruciating, enough to overwhelm the fear. It felt like every bone in her body had been broken, smashed by the force of the explosion. She scarcely had time to register that her lab coat was on fire before the room began to shrink, as merciful blackness overtook her.

Outside in the corridor, Elizabeth bent over, hands on her knees, gulping for air. What the hell had just happened? Was she hallucinating? Imagining things? She looked down at her lab coat, pulling the back around to check, but there were no flames, not even a scorch mark.

She could feel the heat radiating from the laboratory and hear the roaring within, so that part at least was real. Unsteadily, she felt her way along the wall to the alarm and pulled the lever down as hard as she could.

Hours later, after the fire department had extinguished the fire and cordoned off the building, Elizabeth sat in her kitchen, sipping her second glass of wine. Try as she might, she couldn't quite dismiss that horrific vision. It wasn't as if she had ever had a very active imagination. Logical and literal, that had been her as long as she could remember, which was why chemistry had been such a perfect fit.

She stared with some surprise at the empty glass. Her hand hovered over the bottle for a moment then she filled the glass a third time. She wasn't a big drinker, either, but it seemed like today might be time to make an exception. The calendar on the fridge, a Christmas present from her great-aunt, informed her she was supposed to be at her sister's house on the other side of town for dinner, but she wasn't going to make it. She supposed she should really give Josie a ring and let her know. She would. Soon.

~~~~

Elizabeth stepped out of the cab and walked up to the front door, still buzzing from the events of the day. How often did someone escape death by the skin of their teeth? She still couldn't get over how incredibly lucky she had been... if she had arrived even a minute earlier, she would have been inside the laboratory when it exploded instead of outside with her hand on the door. She felt shaky just thinking about it.

Well at least for once she'd have something exciting to share with her family, instead of sitting quietly at the table listening to everyone else.

She had just raised her hand to knock when she heard a crashing sound inside the house, followed by an angry cry. "That damn cat! How did it get inside?"

The door opened and a black tomcat shot out from between Josie's legs and disappeared over the fence. Josie's face was flushed.

"Oh hullo, Lizzie. Damn cat! One of my favourite vases, the blue one with yellow flowers on it. Come in, come in."

Elizabeth gritted her teeth. She couldn't remember how many times she had asked Josie to stop using her nickname. Lizzie had been fine when they were children, but not for a professional adult woman with the title of Doctor.

"Well, if you'd just let it alone instead of chasing it with the broom, it would have gone out without any fuss." Bob's voice came from the kitchen. "Anyway, I think I can fix the vase. The pieces are large. A bit of glue and it will be as good as new. Oh, hullo Elizabeth, sorry about all the drama. I hear you had a bit of drama yourself today!" Bob stood up and smiled at her, his hands full of broken china.

Feeling a bit deflated—her thunder stolen—Elizabeth put the bottle of wine she had brought on the table and took her customary seat. "Oh, it was nothing really. The fire brigade had it under control pretty quick—"

"And I suppose you're covered by insurance?" Josie interrupted, while she peered into the oven. "Five more minutes should do it."

"Yes, the laboratory can be replaced. The real loss is my work, the project I've been working on—"

"But surely you've kept notes?" Josie's brows were raised in surprise.

"Well yes, of course, but..." Elizabeth thought of the hours she had spent on her experiments, hours and hours of meticulous attention to detail. Just the thought of starting again made her heart sink.

"Enough of the doom and gloom," Josie announced with a bright smile. "I think the lasagna's ready. Bob? Can you open the wine?"

~~~~

Elizabeth stepped out of the cab and walked up to the front door, still buzzing from the events of the day. How often did someone escape death by the skin of their teeth? She still couldn't get over how incredibly lucky she had been... if she had arrived even a minute earlier, she would have been inside the laboratory when it exploded instead of outside with her hand on the door. She felt shaky just thinking about it.

Well, at least for once she'd have something exciting to share with her family, instead of sitting quietly at the table listening to everyone else.

She had just raised her hand to knock when she caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. A large black cat was sitting on the fence, regarding her steadily from topaz eyes. It leapt down and scooted up to the door, waiting to be let in.

"Shoo! Off with you," Elizabeth scolded gently. "You don't live here, you know." The cat twitched its tail and disappeared over the fence into the neighbour's garden.

A black cat. Was that supposed to be lucky or unlucky? She smiled. Who cared? She was alive when she could have been dead. Lucky didn't come close.

She knocked confidently. Rat tata tat tat.

Josie opened the door, her perfect eyebrows raised. "Lizzie, you're here! I wasn't sure if you'd come, after..." Her voice trailed away.

"Of course, I'm here!" Elizabeth couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. "I said I'd come over, didn't I? And by the way, how many times do I have to ask you not to call me Lizzie? You can call me Lisa."

~~~~

Elizabeth woke to find she was still sitting at the table, her neck stiff from the awkward angle and a small pool of drool beside her face. Ugh! She sat up gingerly. What time was it? She peered blearily at the Fitbit on her wrist. Was that really1.00 AM? Bedtime.

She got slowly to her feet and picked up the bottle to put it back in the fridge, but it was empty. Her mother's scolding voice rose up from her childhood. You've done it this time, Betty-Ann. You know you're going to regret this in the morning.

She gulped down a large glass of water and took a pre-emptive tablet, then tottered off to bed.

Elizabeth/Betty-Ann woke again a few hours later, safe in her own bed, relieved to find her head was merely a dull ache and not the blinding pain she had feared. After a long shower and a second cup of coffee, she felt ready to greet the new day. How crazy had yesterday been! That vision of burning to death almost worried her more than the explosion. Still, it must have been the shock, just her imagination leaping to what could have happened if she hadn't escaped in time. Thank heavens she had managed to sleep through the night without any more dreams, or at least none that she could remember.

Today was going to be a busy one, sorting out the insurance claims, finding a temporary alternative to the laboratory, giving her staff the bad news... Not to mention, ringing Josie to apologise! To her relief, the nightmare images began to fade as her mind concentrated on the practical tasks before her. She wouldn't have time for idle fantasies today.

But no more wine tonight, that was for sure.

Elizabeth woke in the morning to a splitting headache. If only she'd drunk some water before collapsing on the bed, and even better, taken some paracetamol. She rubbed her aching brow. She could almost picture reaching for the medicine cabinet, but evidently, she hadn't followed through.

And as if the headache wasn't bad enough, her head was spinning with a jumble of crazy thoughts. Strange black cats and pieces of broken blue china struggled with terrifying images of her laboratory in flames. Was she going crazy? Was this the onset of schizophrenia or some other mental illness? It must be shock. Shock setting in after her narrow escape.

She staggered out of bed to the bathroom and swallowed some pills, before getting in the shower and letting the hot water stream over her head. There was so much to do today but she didn't think she could face it. She needed a day in bed. Surely no-one would begrudge her that? After yesterday? She wrapped a towel around her wet hair and went back to bed.

If she took it easy today, she'd be back to her normal self in no time.