Hospital Ruminations

Kaylee was wandering in a fog. Everything was blurry and unformed, whenever she tried to focus on anything it collapsed into gas. Where was she? When was she? Thinking was hard enough for her at the best of times, but right now her mind was as cloudy as her surroundings. She tried to run, but it was as though she were in a dream; she was slow, and the ground felt as though it were quicksand. What was going on?

In the real world:

Kaylee was lying in a hospital bed, her feet sticking over the end. There was an ECG machine attached to monitor her vitals, an EEG machine to monitor brain activity, and an IV drip on a stand to provide medication. Externally, she appeared fine, a measure of the unparalleled skill of The Doctor. She had come in with; a fractured skull, shattered ribs, contusions to the abdomen, to name but a few. If this was a century ago, she would have been looking at a long and difficult recovery, as it was, she was already almost totally recovered. The wires and tubes that had been in place on the first few days were gone, the room more spacious from the lack of machinery, and if nothing were known about her state (and the array of Get Well Soon paraphernalia, including a “Get Bearter Soon” Bear, were ignored) one might assume she was merely sleeping. In a way, she was.

“Why hasn’t she woken up yet, Doctor?”

Christopher had spent most of his time in the hospital bouncing between tearing his hair out trying to cut his word-count down to 2000 plus the visitor list bonus, trying to get as many names on said list as possible, and worrying about Kaylee. He had been reading to her, hoping that if she were conscious through this, that he could at least make it a bit brighter for her.

The Doctor sighed, putting a hand on Christopher’s shoulder.
“Truthfully, lad? I don’t know. All her injuries are healed, her vitals are fine, and she is in peak physical shape. By any metric she should be up and about by now.”
“Then why isn’t she?!”
“Some kind of interference in her neo-frontal cortex, perhaps. Perhaps an interaction between her physiology and – well, never mind. Nothing else can be done right now. Come on now, it won’t do to sit here and obsess.”

The Doctor didn’t give Christopher a chance to argue; taking his wheelchair and scooting him out of Kaylee’s room, and into the recreation room. There, he parked the wheelchair bound student in front of a table and rummaged through the various board games.
“Ah, here we are! There’s always one of these in these sorts of rooms, it’s almost a human ritual.”

The Doctor popped up. There was a chessboard in one hand, a bag of pieces in the other.
The Doctor knew Christopher was a chess player and predicted that a good complex game would take his mind off of his friend’s health.

“Focus on the game, lad. Keep your mind off things.”
Christopher felt awkward. The last person he had played Chess with was Kaylee, it felt almost like a betrayal to play with someone else.
He must have looked quite forlorn, as The Doctor leaned over, and flicked him on the forehead.
“Ow!” he said on reflex.
“Doctor’s orders. I’ve got time for a game, and I hear you are quite proficient at it. It also serves as a useful measurement of your own cognitive faculties. Now, you go first.”

Chris, playing White, went made his first move.
“E4”
“Knight to F6”
“E5”
“Knight to D5”
“D4”
“D6”
“Knight to F3”
“Pawn takes E5”
“Knight takes E5”
“Knight to D7”
“Knight takes D7”
“Bishop takes D7”
“C4”
“Knight to F6”
“Bishop to E2”
“C5”
“D5”
“E6”
“Knight to C3”
“Pawn takes D5” The Doctor claimed another piece
“Knight takes D5” Chris took the square back
“Knight takes D5” for one turn
“Queen takes D5” Chris bought his Queen into play.
“Bishop to C6”
“Queen to E5, Check.”
“Queen to E7”
Queen to G3”
“Long Castle” The Doctor bought his Queenside Rook into play, as he moved his King to C8.
“Bishop to E3”
“Queen to E6”
“Short Castle” Chris castled his own King to G1.
“Bishop to D6” The Doctor was attacking his Queen again, he had to move it.
“Queen to H4”
“H5”
“Rook to E1” Chris brought the Rook next to his King out onto the E file.
“F6”
“Rook to D1” Chris brought his other Rook next to his E-file one, trying to secure the center files.”
“G5” The Doctor kept his assault on Chris’ Queen going. If he didn’t want to lose his Queen, he had to respond.
“Queen to H3” This way, he could mitigate The Doctor’s advances, while attacking HIS Queen for once!
“Queen takes H3” The Doctor took his Queen, but this way he could return the favor!
“Pawn takes H3” It wasn’t quite a fair trade, though. He now had two pawns on the same file, while The Doctor controlled most of the center.
“B6” Snapping back to the other side of the board, The Doctor moved his pawn.
“B3” Christopher mirrored him.
“King to C7”. What was The Doctor doing with his King?
“Bishop to F1” Chris decided to protect his King a bit more.
“Bishop to F3” The Doctor moved his Bishop right into the heart of Chris’ board, pinning his King in place.
“Rook to D2”
“Bishop to E5”
“Bishop to G2”
“Rook takes D2” The Doctor took Chris’ Rook, but he had his Bishop return it
“Bishop takes D2”
“G4” Another pawn move.
“Bishop takes F3” Chris took The Doctor’s Bishop!
“Pawn takes F3” aaaand The Doctor took his.
“Rook to E3” there was a hanging pawn
“Rook to D8” but The Doctor targeted his remaining Bishop. He had to move back.
“Bishop to E1”
“Rook to D1” Christopher had to stop and think in response to that move. He had to take a chance.
“King to F1”
“Rook to A1” The Doctor backed off but had a Rook in a nightmare position for Chris!
“H4” Moving a Pawn was all Chris could think of doing.
“Rook takes A2” Chris couldn’t stop that move; it was an easy piece of material.
“Rook takes F3” but he could mirror it and take an easy pawn himself.
“A5”
“Bishop to C3” Christopher brought his Bishop forward.
“Bishop takes C3”
“Rook takes C3” Christopher retook the square
“Rook to A3”
“Rook to E3”
“B5” The Doctor brought another Pawn forward. It was quite clear what he was doing; trying to force Christopher to move the Pawn that prevented The Doctor from taking his Rook.
“King to E2”
“Pawn takes C4” Christopher had to respond to that. He had his King defending his Rook, but he couldn’t let The Doctor keep pushing.
“Pawn takes C4” he mirrored the move
“Rook takes E3, Check.”
“Pawn takes E3” The King hadn’t dissuaded The Doctor, so Christopher took his Rook with the Pawn instead.
It was the endgame now; neither had any pieces other than their Kings and four Pawns.
“King to D6” Unbeknownst to Christopher, it was mate in 19.
“King to D2”
“King to E5” The Doctor was going through the motions now; he knew it was mate in 17.
“King to D3” Christopher was starting to realize his predicament.
“F5”
“King to D2”
“King to E4”
“King to C3”
“King takes E3” Christopher knew he had lost now; lategame pawns were too important to lose, especially like this.
“H3”
“F4” Mate in 11 now, by The Doctor’s count.
“King to B3”
“F3”
“King to C2”
“F2” There was no way for Christopher to stop The Doctor from getting a Queen.
“King to B2”
“King to D3” But to Chris’ surprise, The Doctor gave chase with his King!
“King to B3”
“F1, Pawn to Queen” There it was, the game was over now. Chris had no way of matching a Queen, especially with two Pawns stuck on the H file.
“King to B2”
“A4” The trap was closing, and there was nothing Christopher could do about it.
“King to A2”
“King to A3” There was only one legal move Christopher could take, and it wouldn’t help him at all. Mate in 1.
“Queen to A1, Checkmate.”

Christopher slumped back in his wheelchair. He had lost. More than lost, been completely dismantled. His mind reeled with the moves, the plays that The Doctor had made, trying to work out just how he had been beaten. It hadn’t even been close. The Doctor had made each of his moves less than a second after Christopher made his, pre-moving his pieces in his mind.
“There you go, lad, something else to think about.” The Doctor stood up with a smile. His voice shook Christopher out of his ruminations.
“I – You – You couldn’t have gone easy on me?” Christopher stumbled over his words.
“Hmm? My dear boy, I was going easy on you. Don’t feel ashamed, I’ve been playing Chess since before it was invented. Now, I’ve got to do some rounds, and you’ve got a lot to think about, so – REBECCA!” He yelled out of the room. Moments later, the gravid form of Ms. Weber entered.
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Please see to young Christopher here. I have other matters to attend to.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
With that, The Doctor departed. He exited the building, went down an alley, and opened a blue door.
Inside, he looked over some of the scans and results that detailed Kaylee’s health.
“Fascinating. Her scans would indicate that she’s … No. that’s not possible, or at least so bafflingly unlikely that it does not warrant further thought.”
He put the documents into his pocket, impossibly fitting them into the smaller space.
“Now, I believe I’ve earned a quick holiday. A quick trip to Abydos, followed by a jaunt riding a supernova, finished off with meeting the Brigadier for a chat. Yes, that’ll do nicely.”
Outside, there was a bizarre noise – best described as a “Vwoorp” – and a gust of wind blew down the alley.

Back in Kaylee’s mind:
Specters were forming from the fog. She recognized them, but only vaguely. Each time she thought she could place them, they collapsed into mist. She could hear them, though, speaking as though through from the other end of a tunnel.
The first shade was the most muffled.
“Don’t wor..kept my sister out…really sorry that this happen…try to come and visit again soon.”
The next was clearer, but the surrounding fog deepened as it spoke.
“I shan’t stay long, you need to rest, and my quirk is hardly suited for this plac…sure that the professionals here will take care of you…well soon, ok?”
This place? Here? Where’s here? Who are they?”
What seemed to be a pair were next, but one was so faded that Kaylee wasn’t sure if it was two, or just one bizarrely shaped one.
“Come on, Hoge…Class President’s need to show support to injured classma…”
“I know that, Ini, but it’s hard. Hard to see her like…”
“Don’t worry, she’s in the best care poss… ight Gigan?”
A strange chirping noise was the last noise from them.

Kaylee grabbed her head. What was going on? Nothing made sense!

“Think, just think! There has to be a reason for this!”

But try as she did, her thoughts were too clouded. She could barely keep track of herself, let alone anything else.
Another shade appeared, forming out of the swirling fog.

“Hey, Kay. I know what it’s like being here better than anyone in class. But I was already up and awake by now, heh! Sorry, that wa…octor and the other staff will make sure you’re well taken care of. Just get some rest.”

"What do they mean by here? Where is here?!”

Kaylee forced herself to look around; there was nothing here, just an expanse of grey fog in all directions, even up and down. She was wading through the fog, but even the floor seemed to have a tenuous grasp on solidity.

Kaylee felt something on her neck. She grabbed at it, but there was nothing she could reach. What was this? As she was beginning to panic, another specter appeared behind her, its words largely ignored by the ethereal weight now on Kaylee’s neck.

“…made this for you…dea on the heating in here, but at least you can look go…see ya soon.”
The specter dissipated, but the weight on her neck remained. After what seemed to be a moment, its weight settled, not being as heavy now the shock had passed.
Just as Kaylee started to get used to the new sensation, another of the specters manifested. This one was bigger than the others. Not as tall as Kaylee, but still significant. It was glowing somewhat, as much as a grey entity could, at least.

“Yo…’ll get up and kicking in no time, I bet. We’ve still got to have a UK v USA bout, don’t we? Ha ha, heh. I hope you get better soo..”

The rest of its words were inaudible, as it collapsed back into the mist.

Kaylee wandered for what could have been a minute or a day, she couldn’t tell the time here. There was nothing to use as a measure for time’s passing here.

Two more shapes formed in front of her. For some reason, these were…lighter? They seemed to be white, not the same monotonous grey that everything else seemed to be.
“May the light of Heaven shine upon you. You were very brave, fighting for a noble cause….God’s mercy.”
“…know that you aren’t of the faith, forgive us any trespass, but there is a passage that we hope can light this period for you.”
The two started speaking in unison.
“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”
With that, the two collapsed, as had all the others.

At this point, Kaylee was getting cross. She was stuck, trapped in a fog of nowhere, barely able to think, much less consider where she was. Frustration was turning into anger, anger that was fueling her power, power that in turn was boiling up inside her.

“GRAAAAGRH!”

She let out a roar, the force pushing away the fog, revealing the world around her. It all looked dead; dead grass, dead trees, a green dragon, dead looking sky-
“Wait, what?”
There was a green dragon, looking at a cartoony pocketwatch. As she moved toward it, it dashed away.
“Hey, wait!”
But no matter how fast she gave chase, it always seemed to be farther ahead. It ran around a tree, before darting into a large rabbit hole at the base.
Kaylee couldn’t let it escape; it was the only other thing in this place! She looked down the hole, but as she did, it suddenly expanded, causing her to fall in!
“What the –!”

Down Kaylee fell, into the rabbit-hole of her mind. Where was she going? Where would she end up?