The pungent stench rising off Simon was what finally woke me from my silence.
"Doctor, what the hell is going on? Whatever it is, it's getting worse," I said. I looked at his face for a response.
The Doctor was silently studying Simon, with his knees bent to the floor and his face up close to Simon's skin. Finally, he said softly "Simon."
The man stirred. With a voice that barely sounded like him he croaked ,"Yes, Doctor." Before the Doctor could reply, he continued "Am I dying?"
The Doctor took a deep breath. "Not if I can help it. I need to ask you a few questions. First, can you breathe easily? "
Simon replied "If I can talk, then obviously I can breathe. Don't ask me a stupid question. I thought you were a doctor." Apparently even being near-death didn't stop him from being obnoxious.
"The fact that you can breathe and talk means that whatever is affecting you hasn't gotten to your internals yet. That's very good. Now, can you remember anything unusual happening between the time you went to get first aid, and now? Even seemingly unimportant details might be relevant right now," said the Doctor.
Simon was silent for a moment. Then he whispered "D'you know it's hard to find medicine around here? I searched around. Couldn't find a thing. Finally, I saw some Vikodis plants. They're really good for helping relieve pain. So I cut some, and drank the liquid. Felt better at first. Then the pain got worse. And worse." Simon coughed, and some of the burnt skin seemed to crack from the movement. "May I rest now?"
"Yes," said the Doctor. Simon closed his eyes, his chest moving up and down. The Doctor straightened up and walked away from the rest of the group.
"Is he okay?" I asked. It was a stupid question, but I couldn't think of anything better.
"I need to you to do something for me," the Doctor said. "Ask around about this place. See if you can find out any information. Someone may have some sort of clue to what's going on."
"It would be great if someone had a clue. There's a whole bunch of weird stuff happening, and I have a feeling it's connected," I said. I realized too late I had unconsciously clasped my hand together the way my Doctor would've. Looking at the Doctor before me, I noticed he was holding his hands behind him the same way.
The Doctor scratched his head and replied "Exactly, that's what I was going to say...I've never met you, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were copying me."
Indignant, I glared at him and said "Copying! If anything...by the way, you've sent me on an errand, but what are you going to do?"
The Doctor looked in Simon's direction and said " First I'm going to take a closer look at Simon's skin. I need to take a tissue sample and analyze it." His face took on a look of disappointment. "If only my TARDIS was nearby. I'll have to make due with tools from around here. The 1980s: Wonderful for dance clubs, but not the best for medical...Macgyvering, I think the local Earth term is? Also, Amy, have you ever heard of Vicodis plants?"
"No," I said, ready for the impending explanation.
"Neither have I" said the Doctor. Then he walked off to tend to Simon.
I shook my head. I had often wondered whether the Spaceman's desire to get himself in trouble headfirst without thinking twice, or once, or at any point, was just his version of a mid-life crisis—complete with a fast ride and a young leggy woman . But it appeared he had always been this way. Rory would have laughed.
Was Rory okay? I hoped so. At least he wasn't involved with all this craziness.
Walking down the steps, I looked around downstairs. I counted 3 people—Sanjay, Kathleen, and an old woman whose name I didn't know yet. Checking for anyone else around, I looked up and saw a little girl with a note book looking at me.
"Hey, kiddo!" I said. "What's your name?"
"Who are you talking to?" Sanjay asked. Eyebrows raised, he stuffed his hands into his pocket which I knew was a nervous tic of his.
"The girl up there," I said. Of course she was gone, and now I looked like a crazy person. "I know I saw someone up there."
"So much of this situation is completely screwed up-we probably are gonna start seeing things," said Sanjay. He looked upstairs, and continued "You know that Doctor fellow?"
"In a way," I said in a tone that made it clear I wasn't going to elaborate.
Sanjay shrugged. "Well, he seems kinda odd. As long as you trust him, though...I guess it's okay," he continued, still fidgeting with his pockets.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry; we'll get out of here safely." (A part of me realized I had no way of guaranteeing that.)
Hearing steps behind me, I turned to see the old woman behind me. "Hello, " I said " I'm Amy Pond. You would be?"
Tucking long black hair out of her face, the old woman extended her hand. "Hello, my name is Cassie Jackson," she said as she smiled and shook my hand. She then patted down her yellow dress, and whispered "I saw that little girl too. She seems to be a shy little thing. And that tall woman in the black dress," she continued while discreetly looking at Kathleen, "appears to be hiding something. I was looking throughout the store for a while before it locked us in, and I don't even remember seeing that woman come in. I tried to spark up a conversation, but she wouldn't even chat."
"Thanks," I said. "I'll see what's up."
I walked beside Kathleen. She was smoking a cigarette, and staring at a music store with vinyl recordings in the window. I got the impression she was thinking about something serious.
"So, er, how are you dealing with all this?" I asked.
Without taking her eyes off the display, she said "You speak differently from everyone else."
"Last time I checked, I was speaking English," I said.
"It's not the words. But the way you say things, the way you use phrases, it's different from everyone else around here" she said. Then she turned to look at me, putting out the cigarette on the glass. I felt like her green eyes were piercing into me. "If you're here to question me, there's nothing for me to give you. I'm as clueless as you are," she said, with an edge of defensiveness.
I put my hands up. "I'm not here to uncover anything about you. I just want to see if you're okay, and see if you know anything about what's going on," I replied.
She stared at me for a few seconds. Then her face formed into a wide grin, and she said "Relax. And thank you for helping me when that doctor—Simon, I think it was- was bothering me."
"We're all on pins and needles here. But that's no excuse to be a jerk to you. Seriously, though, is everything okay? You seem a little preoccupied. Are you worried about people back home ?" I asked.
Kathleen grimaced at the mention of family. "Haven't worried about family in a long time. It's...complicated. You got any family?"
"Yep. My husband Rory, and my 2 little darlings Brian and Vincent," I said. "They're probably worried sick by now."
Kathleen looked almost apologetically at me. "It's nice to be missed."
An uncomfortable pause hung in the air. Then Kathleen said quietly "Make sure that blonde doctor doesn't touch Simon's burnt skin."
"Why?" I said. Before Kathleen could answer, Sanjay came up behind me, panting and clearly disturbed.
"What's up?" I asked the man, who was pale-white despite his brown complexion.
"I wanted to see whether something was up with the generators, because maybe that's why the lights were off." He took my arm, gesturing for me to follow him to the hall besides the steps as he continued "So I went to the doors to that room, and had just remembered I didn't have a key, when I noticed they were already unlocked. Peeking inside, I thought I saw the weird hobo, so I swung the doors open and I saw, well, light." We were at the doors.
"So the room to the electrical bow has light," Cassie, who had followed us, said. I turned my head, and noted that Kathleen hadn't budged.
"Yes—no. I don't think you understand. " said Sanjay. He swung open the doors to the room.
Instead of a dusty old room full of electrical equipment, there was light. I could barely see the ground due to the bright light nearly blinding me. I would have thought it was a sunny day, except that it felt far too cold to be the sun. I could hear wind rustling from farther away. Covering my eyes, I looked down and saw that the ground was filled with dirt and leaves. I took a step forward, and then yelped as something worm-like slithered over my foot. Except I had never seen worms that big before.
"This doesn't look like New York," said Cassie.
.