An Impetuous Tale [Elvis]

Epilogue - Did It All Really Happen?

Well, it's the end. Thank you all so much for reading and being patient with me as I got these chapters out! You all are awesome!! I'll be posting another Elvis fanfic soon.

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Again, my eyes blinked open, and I saw the same ceiling. My head spun more so than it did after I woke up from surgery. Wow, that anesthesia really did a number on me.

"Oh my gosh, Rebecca, you're awake!"

That voice was instantly familiar, and I was wondering if I was still passed out and dreaming since I heard it. I looked over and saw... "Mom?"

Completely flabbergasted, I stared at her as she held my hand in both of hers, and I felt the warmth and softness. Her brown eyes were filling with tears, and her graying brown hair was pulled back into an elegant bun like she usually had it. She was basically the older version of me, with the same prominent middle-eastern features. "Yes, it's me. Boy, you've been through quite a lot in the past day."

I was still confused. "How are you here? I mean... this is LA... isn't it?"

And it was 1965!

"The doctor said you might not remember everything right after waking up." She pressed a button near my bed, one that patients used to alert a doctor or nurse they needed help. She probably wanted to alert the doctor that I was awake. "This is Memphis, sweetheart. Well, the story is, you arrived in Memphis yesterday morning, and you checked in, ready to start your article you were assigned to do. You headed out soon after, and as you were walking on the sidewalk to Graceland, you tripped, fell and hit your head on the brick wall right outside of the Graceland property. A good Samaritan noticed and tried to wake you up, but to no avail. So, he took you to the hospital. That was twelve hours ago. I was notified since you have my number on speed-dial, and I immediately took a plane here. I arrived five hours ago."

My head whirled with all this information. I tried to make sense of it. "Wait... I was walking to Graceland and I tripped and hit my head?"

"Yes, honey. You gave yourself a nasty gash."

She pointed to my forehead, and I touched it, but ended up touching bandages. I moved my foot around. There was no cast on it at all! And there were no screaming girls outside the room. "What's going on here, Mom? I was in the hospital, but I came in because of a broken foot. I broke it on a movie set, and... where's Elvis?"

Her eyes widened, and she stared at me with a worried expression. "Oh dear..."

"What?" I demanded. "Mom, really, what's going on? And how are you here? How...?" I stopped, realizing it. I looked around at the room. It looked like a room from the 2020s, not 1960s. "Oh no... I'm back."

"Back from what, Rebecca?" Mom asked, and someone knocked and came into the room. Mom got up and started talking with the man dressed in a white doctor's coat, but it wasn't Dr. Bent or Dr. Sampson. Mom was telling him that I woke up a few minutes ago, and that I was talking about things that she thought could be a dream or a hallucination.

I hardly paid attention to the conversation. I stared at the wall across the room. Tears seared my eyes as my chest started tying into knots. Wails of anguish erupted out of me, and Mom quickly came over to me as I cried and she held me, rocking me back and forth.

Her scent of roses was real. Her presence was real. My injured head seemed to be real.

I came home. No more 1965. No more Elvis.

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Mr. Strauss was notified of what happened to me, and I received a call on my cell phone, that I actually had this time, from him telling me that I could go home and not worry about the story. I told him I would finish it. I had to finish what I started.