Icejacked

Diane and Jonathan had tried hard to get fluids into Leddicus, but it hadn’t worked as effectively as necessary. Their efforts had helped to stabilise the dehydration, but not improve it. Twenty-four hours after his first visit, the doctor put his foot down and called an ambulance. Leddicus was transported to the local hospital. For the last four days, he had lain staring at the ceiling with drips sticking out of his arms and nurses regularly testing and monitoring.

We visited him every day, but there was no change. One evening as we were leaving, I stopped by the nurses’ station and asked to speak to the sister. I didn’t get much out of her, not being a relative, but I did ask about the antidepressants. I was reassured to hear that Leddicus was no longer being prescribed them.

Each evening, I stared listlessly at my e-mails. They were piling up, and the pressure was on. If I were to finish my doctorate and graduate, I had to get my head in gear. The only way to do that was to get away, get back to , get back into study mode, and ensure I completed what was required. I couldn’t face not meeting the deadlines and having to add on another year. Leddicus was not going anywhere. I had to put myself first now. There was no other choice.

On the fourth day, I said to Julie, “I have to get home. There’s urgent stuff I need to attend to. I’m sorry to leave Leddicus, but I have no alternative.”

She folded her arms and leaned against the bar. We had stopped for a quick drink after leaving the hospital.

“Gerhardt, it’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll look after him.” Her words were encouraging, but her body language said something entirely different.

“Do you want to grab something to eat?” I asked, but didn’t really have my heart in the offer.

“Can’t. Got an early start. I need to get going.” She drained her glass and slipped on her jacket. “What time is your flight?”

“Early tomorrow.” I followed her out of the pub, and we climbed into her car. We drove in silence to Dave and Josie’s. “I’ll keep in touch,” I said as I got out the car.

Julie just nodded, gave me a half-smile, and drove away. I had too much to sort out to be ready for the morning to worry about her disapproval. She wasn’t the one facing the prospect of extending her studies for another year. I pulled my case out from under the bed, started packing, and instantly forgot all about her.

Bathed in hazy sunshine, Zurich loomed into view. As the aircraft continued its descent, I felt a wave of relief to be home. It would be good to be back at the university and get into a normal routine. I couldn’t wait to get stuck into my remaining assignments.

I hailed a taxi, and it took me a few streets away to where my faithful Audi was waiting. It fired up immediately. What a great car. So reliable that it starts up on the first turn after months of lying dormant.

I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed in St. Gallen and making arrangements for my graduation awards, which would go ahead once I produced the essential work. I turned onto the A51 and headed toward my parents’ home. My mother was cooking me dinner to welcome me home.

I kept in touch with Julie every couple days, but the news was always the same. No change, no change, no change. One evening as I was sitting in my favourite restaurant a few blocks from my apartment, I had a thought. I flipped open my mobile and called Julie.

“Latin!” I said immediately.

“Hi, Gerhardt. And how are you?” she asked.

I ignored her sarcasm. “Latin! That might reach him. When I first met Leddicus at the hospital in , he was in a similar state, nowhere near as bad. He was eating, drinking, and moving around, but he looked totally out of it.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“When we went to , he became very withdrawn and uncommunicative, and he had a very distant look in his eye. Perhaps those were warnings of something bigger that might kick off in the wrong situation. His trip home finished him off.”

“What has Latin got to do with it?” Julie asked. I could hear the frustration in her voice.

“The way I first got him to start communicating with me in was Latin. I know some from my studies. When I spoke to him in Latin, he looked at me and smiled. Perhaps you could draw him out in the same way.”

We finished the call, and I poured myself another glass of wine. Julie was such a bloodhound. She would never give up once she was on the scent, and I knew that, even now, she was on the internet searching for Latin phrases. The waiter placed a large plate of mashed potatoes and sausages before me. I picked up my knife and fork with relish.

Three weeks later, I was sitting in the university canteen drinking coffee and catching up on my reading when my mobile rang.

“It’s working! It’s working!” Julie was bursting with excitement.

“Tell me more.”

“I’ve been learning a few Latin words and phrases, as you suggested. Each evening when I visit Leddicus, I’d try them out on him. I was losing hope, as it seemed to have no impact at all. This evening, I went through the same routine, and he focused on me. I could see the change in his eyes. Then he said, ‘Hello, Julie’ in English. I almost fell over backward. I managed to get him to sit up, and he slowly started to talk to me. He’s very weak, but he’s definitely back in the land of the living. I’ve told the medical staff, and they’re starting him on some proper food and making arrangement to remove the drips. They’ve made an appointment for a psychologist to visit him later today.”

“That’s fantastic news. Well done. I knew you could do it. Was he making any sense when he spoke to you?”

“Yes, very slow but perfectly lucid. He asked about you, and he would like to talk to you. He has his mobile if you want to call him.”

After I finished at the university for the day, I pulled out my mobile to make the call. It occurred to me how little I had thought of him through the intense days at university and the long evenings pounding out work on my laptop. I realised now that I actually missed him, and I was looking forward to hearing his voice.

“Gerhardt. Good to hear your voice.” His voice sounded rather feeble, but it was unmistakably the old Leddicus.

“You, too, Leddicus. You gave us all quite a scare.”

“I guess I did, but it was an even bigger scare for me, that is, until I blacked out.”

“What can you remember?”

“Feeling very shocked when I saw the state of the coliseum, but at first, I just pushed it aside. I was so excited to be there and show you my trick on the stage, but then, when I went outside and saw how decayed everything was, I woke up from my dream, and everything slipped away from me.”

“You woke up from a dream. I’m not quite following you.”

“Ever since I met you in , I felt I was in a dream, and I believed, if I went back to Caesarea Philippi, it would wake me up. When I saw the decay and ruins, it hit me that I was awake. What I saw could only mean that I truly am two thousand years old. I don’t remember anything after that.”

“I think I understand, although as I’ve said before, I’m no psychologist. You believed all the tours, lectures, time you spent with Julie working on the book, and meetings with Joe. You thought that was all part of the same dream.”

“I guess so. It sounds crazy to say it aloud. But I think that is perhaps how I coped with everything. The last few weeks are a blur until I heard Julie saying hello to me in Latin. At first, it was as if she were far away. I could hardly make out the words. A bit like when someone speaks to you and you are deeply asleep. She kept speaking in the far distance, and she gradually seemed to be moving closer to me.”

“Then what happened?”

“I don’t really know. I guess I just woke up yesterday when she came in and said hello in Latin. I heard her clearly and could see her, and I finally managed to speak. You should have seen the look on her face. It was as if she had seen a ghost.”

We both laughed at that, but I could hear his voice was cracked and weary.

“Have your people come up with anything yet? Are they any nearer discovering why this happened to me? How I ended up in that block of ice?”

I rubbed at the stubble on my chin as I wondered what to tell Leddicus. Then I decided that the truth was the only option.

“It’s not encouraging. I’ve been ploughing through it since I got back. They’ve produced huge tomes of documentation. You have kept quite a number of physicists, biologists, palaeontologists, and other boffins very busy. They have carried out extensive research, but every avenue they have gone down has drawn a blank.” Leddicus didn’t respond. “You still there?”

He sighed. “Yes, go on.”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to send him back into shock.

“Gerhardt, I know what you’re thinking, but I’ll be alright. I can handle it. Go on.”

“Okay, my friend, this is where it’s at. They’ve gone through your genetics with a fine-tooth comb and have done every test in the book on your blood, skin samples, and DNA, also on the articles you had with you when you were discovered, but they’re still no nearer to a solution. The problem is you’re a first, a one-off. If they had a few more ancient guys to compare you with …” I tailed off, suddenly worried about what my news was doing to him.

“Oh, dear, since I woke up in this hospital bed, I have been hoping they had found an answer. It’s very disappointing to hear they still don’t have a clue.”

“There is some good news though.”

“Let me hear it. I could use some good news.”

“They all believe, to a man, that you are not a fake.”

Leddicus laughed at this. “Nice to know I’m not a nutcase at least.” He paused. I could hear his laboured breathing. “I’m sorry, Gerhardt. I’m rather tired. Will you call again soon?”

“You can bank on it,” I said.

Relief washed over me as I finished the call. He sounded like he was returning to his old self, but stronger emotionally now that he had accepted his situation. After a couple weeks of proper food and physio, he should be back to normal physically. I pushed my hands through my hair and suddenly felt invigorated. My mind started working overtime as I formed a plan to celebrate.

“Hey, Julie, I want you all to come over for my award ceremony. Do you think you can sort it?” I dropped this into one of our catch-up conversations.

“When is it? And who do you mean by all?”

“It’s about five weeks away. I’d like you and Leddicus to come, of course, and Joe and Jenny.”

“Jenny?”

Julie had no idea that Jenny and I had been texting and calling since we had met at one of Julie’s Saturday meeting. I still didn’t know why I had never said anything.

“You remember, Jenny Latimer from your church group.”

Julie gave a little sarcastic giggle. “Aha, that Jenny. You’re a dark horse. Sure, I’ll include her in the group. Anyone else?”

“I can’t think of anyone, but you can invite whoever you like. The more, the merrier. I’ve had a look at few of the hotels. A good place to stay would be the Continental on Stampfenbachstraße. It’s central, not too pricey, and I’m sure you could cut a deal for a group booking. Do you think Joe would pay for everyone out of the central Leddicus account? A tour reunion?”

“Leave it with me. I’ll have a chat with him.” She laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’ll call you in a couple days.”

By the time they came to , it would be a couple of months since I had seen any of them. I was already looking forward to it. During the last few days, I felt like a cloud had lifted. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Jenny.