(A double drabble—200 words—inspired by the episode "Fade Out, Fade In.")
To Hell and Back
"It was just dreadful," Charles said into the phone as he poured himself a cognac with his free hand, then swirled the liquid in his glass. "The doctors were closer to clowns than surgeons. You can't imagine the riff-raff I was forced to associate with… a transvestite medic, a country-bumpkin company clerk. The conditions were horrific. Living in a tent, with other people. And the food… well, it was simply inedible. There was a constant odor around the whole camp…" He trailed off, wrinkling his nose at the sense memory. He could go on with the litany of atrocities, but why bother? It was only agitating him.
On the other end of the line, his mother empathized. "Oh Charles, it does sound perfectly awful."
"Simply one of the worst experiences of my life, Mother. But happily, it's all over now. I'm back at Tokyo General, back to civilization. In my own hotel room, with my own bathroom. There are clean sheets on the king-sized bed." He took a sip of the cognac as he looked around his luxurious room. "Thank God. Two days in that hellhole was quite enough. Can you imagine if I'd had to stay?"