an Emergency/Doctor Who crossover story
The old, dingy grey column which had so piqued the curiosity of paramedic John Gage, and had so concerned the Doctor's travelling companion, Ace, materialized in a dark, dusty corner of a storage room in the basement of Rampart General Hospital. The dust was lifted into the air as the time and space machine belonging to the renegade Time Lord known as the Master, shimmered into its solid form. The Master, a lean, dark haired, bearded man dressed entirely in black, emerged smiling, eager to put his new plan into motion. He knew his arch nemesis, the Doctor, was undergoing surgery somewhere in the hospital, and had devised a way to get close enough to him to eventually remove him to the TARDIS. Soon, he would have what he'd been wanting for so long: A new body, specifically the Doctor's body, with it's regenerative powers, in which he could likely live forever. This body he presently lived in, one which he stole from a Trakkan man after his own body ran out of regenerations, was badly abused by the ravages of time, and his various failed battles with the Doctor, and would not survive much longer. He only survived now out of sheer will. The Doctor had a few regenerations left, and the Master hoped to be able to come up with a way he could live forever - preferably ruling the Universe, but he'd settle for a newer, healthier body right now.
The Master looked around him. Assured that no one else was present, he began looking for a way up into the hospital. He found a stairwell, and proceeded up to the main levels. He arrived in the Emergency department on the first floor, and due to the bustling activity there, was able to wander around almost unnoticed. He spotted a thin, blonde-haired nurse standing at a counter talking to a fair-haired man carrying a primitive communication device. The Master recognized him as one of the men who'd worked on the Doctor at the park. The Master flattened himself against the wall peering around the corner at them. When the man left, the Master approached the woman. She smiled up at him, asking if she could help him. His gaze bore into her eyes, hypnotizing her almost immediately. Earthlings! he thought, amused,They're so easy!
"I am the Master, and you will obey me," he said steadily. "I am looking for the Doctor. You will tell me where he is."
"Doctor who?" she asked. "We have many doctors here, and . . . "
"The man known only as the Doctor," the Master interrupted. "He was brought in here earlier with a heart attack."
"Oh, yes," she said, recalling the strange patient being operated on upstairs, "he's still in surgery, but you're welcome to wait here." She indicated the public waiting area.
"No," the Master said, "I would like to see him now."
"Sir, you can't do that. He's in surgery. The doctors will let you know . . ."
He intensified his hypnotic hold on her, and she stopped, suddenly, confused.
"He . . he's on the fifth floor, operating room seven. There's a viewing area. You can watch the procedure from there." She struggled, but was unable to prevent the words from coming out. The Master smiled at her.
"Thank you, Nurse . . ."
"M . . . McCall," she stammered under his intense gaze, "Dixie McCall."
"Thank you, Nurse McCall."
The Master released his hold on her, and Dixie smiled slightly at him, not quite sure what she was being thanked for.
"You're welcome, sir," she said to the Master's retreating form.
Roy returned from the parking lot, where he'd gone to look to see if Johnny had arrived with the Squad, yet. He was wavering between being annoyed at his partner's tardiness, and concerned by it. Head nurse Dixie McCall was standing at the emergency station rubbing her right temple, looking pained and slightly confused.
"You okay, Dix?" he asked.
"Yeah," Dixie replied, but was unsure. "I just had a strange conversation with that man . . ." she indicated the hallway the Master had gone down, but didn't see him there. "Oh, he's gone now. Funny, I can't remember exactly what we were talking about. He asked me for a doctor, I think, but I can't remember what he said to me. He thanked me when he left, though. He seemed happy enough."
"Huh," Roy said. "Maybe you aught to lie down for a bit."
"Oh, no, no! I'm fine, Roy, really. I guess I'm so used to answering questions, I just do it automatically!" She noticed Roy looked concerned. It was silly, really, she was fine, and didn't want the paramedic worrying about her. "Hey," she said, smiling. "how 'bout a cup of coffee in the lounge while you wait for Johnny? He probably just got stuck in traffic, or something."
Roy hesitated a second, then decided, what the heck? Johnny should be there any minute, and he hadn't been able to get much coffee in him before their first run that morning. "Sounds good!" he agreed.
The Master arrived on the fifth floor and found the seventh operating theater with no problem. He immediately used his superior powers of mind control to set up a mental force field around the entire floor which would encourage most of the occupants to leave, and would discourage anyone from stepping foot onto the floor while he was there waiting to claim the Doctor. He slipped into the scrub room, and donned a white doctor's lab coat which was hanging on a peg. He slipped the nametag off into his pocket and went to observe the Doctor's surgery. As he entered the observation room, he saw two men, also in white lab coats, standing in front of the window watching the operation going on in the next room. He slipped quietly in behind them. The grey-haired man turned to look at him, and nodded a greeting, but didn't speak. The Master returned his greeting, and the man turned away. The three men stood quietly for a time before a disembodied voice echoed through the room.
"Dr. Early to emergency room 2, please? Dr. Early to emergency room 2."
"Rats!" declared the grey-haired man. "Hey, Kel, let me know how this turns out, will you?"
The other man said, "Sure thing, Joe."
Dr. Joe Early left the surgical viewing area, obviously disappointed, and the Master moved in to take his place. Now, the other doctor, taller and darker than Dr. Early, turned to nod a greeting to him. The Master nodded back. They stood silently for a moment before the Master spoke.
"So, this the man with two hearts I've been hearing about today?"
"Yes," the other man replied, "It's truly an amazing phenomenon! I can't wait to get a chance to talk to him!"
The doctor turned to the Master suddenly.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met?" he said extending his hand, "I'm Doctor Kelly Brackett, head of Emergency medicine."
"Dr. Masters," the Master replied clasping Dr. Brackett's hand. "I'm just in from Boston." He looked into Dr. Brackett's eyes, and used his mind to dissuade the physician from asking anymore questions.
Dr. Brackett looked confused momentarily, then nodded, turning back to the procedure before him.
"I don't recognize the surgeon," The Master said, casually fishing for information. "Who is it?"
"That, my friend, is the best cardiac surgeon on the west coast, Dr. Steven Langford. He just started here a little over a week ago, and boy, are we lucky to have snatched him away from UCLA!"
"Indeed!" The Master feigned impressed interest. He fingered the name tag in his pocket, running his fingers over the indented letters, smiling. "Indeed."
Roy looked at his watch for the fifth time in two minutes. Dixie sighed.
"Maybe Johnny's out there waiting for you," she suggested.
Roy shook his head. "No, he would've come in here, don't you think?"
"I don't know."
Roy picked up the HT from the table where he and Dixie sat drinking coffee in the staff lounge.
"HT 51 to Squad 51. How do you read?" he said into it.
Nothing.
"HT 51 to Squad 51; hey, Johnny, can you hear me?"
Again, nothing.
"It's just too bizarre," Roy said setting the HT down again. "It's really unlike Johnny to do this."
"Maybe he stayed to help with the fire."
"Yeah, maybe, but he wasn't supposed to; he was supposed to come in the Squad behind the ambulance. Well, it can't hurt to check." Roy picked up the HT again.
"HT 51, to Engine 51, do you read me?"
"Engine 51, I read you," Captain Stanley's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Hey, uh, Cap, is Johnny still there with you guys?"
"No, he was supposed to follow you into Rampart. He's not there?"
"No. I've tried calling the squad, but there's no answer. Was there an accident between there and the hospital?"
"None that I've been made aware of."
"Hang on, Captain, let me check something." Roy paused briefly staring at the Handi-talk, thinking, 'This is silly,' then said into it: "HT 51 to Station 51, do you read me?"
There was no response. Roy knew it was a long shot that Johnny would've gone back to the station without swinging by the hospital to pick him up, first, but he was quickly running out of ideas. He was also starting to get worried. Johnny wasn't with the squad, he wasn't with the Engine at the fire scene, he wasn't at the station, and he wasn't at the hospital. Roy tried to think, but other alternatives were eluding him. Suddenly an idea came to him. It was an idea he didn't like.
"HT 51 to Engine 51. Ah, Cap," he said into the HT, "I, uh, think I know where he might be." Roy said.
"I give up, where?" Captain Stanley asked, his tone dangerous.
"I, uh, I think he might've taken that girl back to Lakeview Park to pick up her friend's car." Roy said, and cringed, anticipating his Captain's response.
"You think he what?" Captain Stanley shouted.
Roy suddenly didn't want to continue the conversation, and was sorry he'd mentioned it. He squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. Even though his Captain was not in the same room with him, Roy could feel the man's steely gaze on him.
" Roy," the Captain growled, "You stay there. We're just finishing up here, and we'll swing by to pick you up, then we'll go check the park. Let me know if your AWOL partner shows up in the meantime."
"10-4," Roy said weakly. He looked over to Dixie who gave him a sympathetic smile.
Roy leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. It was not like Johnny to do something so unprofessional, even for a pretty girl. Of course, he remembered, they were both going to do the exact same thing before. Then again, he countered himself, they were just going to drop her off, and head back to the station, remaining available the entire time, but then there was the fire, and everything else. Roy wondered if something had happened to the girl, but then he wondered why Johnny hadn't called it in. Or had he, and Roy just hadn't heard him; missed it while he was dealing with stuff here at the hospital? Roy was starting to feel restless. He grabbed the Handi-talkie off the table and started to get up.
"I'm going to go out and look around again."
Dixie stood up, too.
"Yeah, I'd better get back to work as well."
Together they left the lounge. Roy went out to check the parking lot again, while Dixie returned to the base station. Things had quieted down, some, and Dixie was relieved. The headache that had started after her conversation with the strange man earlier was still throbbing in her brain. The more she tried to remember the conversation, the more it hurt. She decided to just let it go.
Moments later, Roy returned, looking concerned. He set the HT down on the counter, and leaned on his hands.
"I don't like this, Dix," he said. "It's just not like Johnny to be so irresponsible."
Dixie was just nodding her head in agreement, when Chet Kelly, approached them, still donning his firefighter gear, his face smudged with soot and dirt.
"Hey, Roy," he said, "Nurse McCall." Chet tipped his helmet at her, smiling.
"Chet," Dixie said, "How are you doing?"
"Very well, thank you, ma'am," Chet replied politely, then turned to Roy. "So, that lazy, skirt-chasing partner of yours show up, yet?"
"No," Roy growled, annoyed by Chet's remark.
"Well, let's go see if he's messin' around in the park with that girl, then. Ma'am." Chet again tipped his helmet to Dixie, and he and Roy left the hospital. The Engine was waiting outside for them, and both men jumped on, Roy hanging on to the outside since there was no room for him in the cab. The engineer, Mike Stoker, deftly maneuvered the large engine out of Rampart Emergency's parking lot with the confidence and ease that years of experience behind the wheel provided him, and headed off to Lakeview Park.
Engine 51 arrived at the park, and came around to the side where Roy told them they'd worked on their first case that morning. What they saw stunned them all: Squad 51, apparently abandoned, sat in the parking lot of the park, the passenger door wide open. Johnny's turnout coat was lying on the back of the squad.
Roy jumped off the engine before it had come to a complete stop, and ran towards the squad.
"Johnny!" he called, looking around. The park was quite full with people now, but Roy didn't see Johnny anywhere, nor did he see the young woman he assumed Johnny would be with. The other firemen and Captain Stanley gathered around near Roy. Captain Stanley glanced in the cab, and noticed the microphone lying on the seat.
"I wonder if he called something in to dispatch," he wondered aloud, trying to remember having heard something while they were finishing up with the restaurant fire.
"You'd think we would've heard that, though," Roy said, reading his thoughts.
"Well, we were a little busy with that fire back there," Chet suggested, "We might've missed it."
"You may be right," Captain Stanley said. He reached into the cab to grab the mike, and noticed the keys dangling from the ignition. He hesitated only a second, before picking up the microphone and speaking into it.
"LA dispatch, this is Engine 51."
"LA dispatch, go ahead Engine 51."
"LA, did Squad 51 call a still alarm in to you within the last hour or so?"
"One moment, Engine 51. Affirmative, Engine 51, Squad 51 responded to a still alarm at Lakeview park at 1135. No further contact has been made with Squad 51."
"Have you tried contacting Squad 51 since then?" Captain Stanley asked, slightly annoyed.
"Negative, 51."
Captain Stanley took a deep, cleansing breath before continuing. "LA, Squad 51 is presently parked at Lakeview Park, apparently abandoned. My paramedic, John Gage, is missing. Please respond the police to our location, and take Station 51 out of service indefinitely."
"10-4, Engine 51 . . ."
Captain Stanley turned back to his men, who were huddled around speculating at Johnny's whereabouts.
"Well, guys, it appears Johnny has gone missing. Now, I don't want to jump to any conclusions here, but considering the state he left the squad in, and the fact that dispatch hasn't had contact in over an hour, I'm afraid we have to assume something has happened to him."
The men exchanged worried looks, all except Chet Kelly, who always took peculiar pleasure in tormenting his colleague with pranks and practical jokes, and generally giving the man a hard time.
"Aw, c'mon, Cap," he said, "Nothing's happened to Johnny! Roy said it himself, Johnny was bringing that girl back here. I bet they're off in the bushes together, getting it on, you know."
"Chet!" Marco Lopez piped up, and reached over, whacking Chet on the arm. "You know Johnny better than that! You know he'd never leave the Squad opened and abandoned like this for anything, least of all a girl!"
Mumbles of agreement ran through the other men, and despite what he'd said, in his heart, Chet knew Marco was right. Johnny may be a skirt-chaser, the perfect pigeon for his practical jokes, and an occasional pain in the ass, but he was always very professional when it came to his job, and responsible when it came to the Squad. Chet regretted the statement even before the others ganged up on him.
"Alright, everyone, just calm down," Captain Stanley said loudly. "Shut up! Okay, why don't we all split up and start searching the park. The police are on their way and . . ."
The sound of sirens caused him to look up, and the rest of the men to turn around.
"Well, they're here now," the Captain finished.
Three police cars pulled up around them, and Officer Vince Howard stepped out of one, approaching the firemen.
"Hello, Hank, what's up?" he asked.
"One of my men, John Gage, appears to have gone missing. He was, ah, responding to a still alarm here at the park after responding to a fire a few blocks away, and hasn't been heard from since about eleven thirty this morning. We arrived here a few minutes ago and found the squad pretty much as you see here: Abandoned, the passenger door wide open, the microphone was just laying on the seat in the cab, but I replaced that after calling dispatch, and the keys are left in the ignition."
By this time, several other officers gathered around to hear the Captain's story. Vince sent them off to different sections of the park to search for the missing paramedic, and Chet, Marco and Mike joined them. Captain Hank Stanley didn't want to admit it, but he was very worried. Johnny Gage was one of the best firefighter/paramedics in the county, and was always, no matter what, the consummate professional when it came to his job. Pretty girl, or no pretty girl, Johnny would never abandon the Squad, leaving it wide open with the keys inside, vulnerable to theft or vandalism. The fact that he had, told Hank that something very bad had must have happened.
"Do you know if any drugs or equipment are missing, or anything?" Vince asked, beginning to scribble notes down on a pad of paper.
"I don't think so," Hank responded, "but, Roy, could you double check." Roy nodded and began to check the compartments.
"Everything's here, Cap," he said, "but, let me double check the drug box."
He pulled out the black box and set it on the ground, kneeling in front of it to open it. A small white packet lying on the ground just under the squad caught his eye.
"Hey, what's this?" He leaned over and picked it up. "An open packet of smelling salts."
"I wonder what that means?" Captain Stanley squatted down beside Roy.
"Johnny must've had to revive someone with this. Maybe the girl, Ace," Roy answered.
"If so, where are they now?" Hank asked, standing up again, walking around to the front of the squad. "Did she do something to him? Did they get jumped by a gang? What? Where the hell is my paramedic!" Hank smacked the hood of the squad with his hand. He was angry with himself for initially thinking the worst of Johnny, for being pissed off at him, for thinking he was just screwing around. Hank knew better. Then again, Roy had confessed they'd both agreed to give that girl a ride to the park from the hospital in the first place, which was totally against policy, and something for which they'd both have to be disciplined. When Johnny was safely returned, of course. Latrine duty was probably the most hated chore at the station, but Hank thought perhaps Johnny would be better punished by being forced to take on cooking duty for a few weeks. Then again, Hank mused, that might be more of a punishment for the rest of his men, than to Johnny. 'Perhaps I'll make him mow the lawn . . .' Shouting voices yanked him out of his reverie.
"Vince! I've found something over here!" A police officer shouted from the hedge across the park from them, and at the same time, Chet hollered, "Cap! I've found something here on the rest room window!"
Vince and Hank headed off to the hedge, while Roy and another police officer went to check out Chet's discovery. The hedge produced a torn piece of blue fabric, which when compared to the other firemen's uniforms, appeared to be a match, and likely came from Johnny's shirt. Several branches were broken off, and a large square shape could be seen indented in the dirt. Several sets of footprints could also be seen in the dirt surrounding it. A further search revealed no more footprints around the hedge, and nothing beyond it besides the road which ran behind the park. Chet's discovery was a small piece of torn fabric as well, which was caught on a sharp portion of the window frame of the women's rest room. Roy thought it might be from the black skirt Ace was wearing. He couldn't be sure, but maybe. It was enough. Vince called for detectives, and the two areas of the park were taped off. Although the men from Station 51 wanted to help in the intensified search, Vince convinced them to let the police do the work now. The detectives interviewed all of the firefighters regarding the appearance of the scene when they first arrived, Chet was asked about his discovery by the rest rooms, and Roy told them about finding the packet of smelling salts under the squad. Afterwards, they were told they could leave, but they all chose to stay and, if nothing else, observe. Periodic calls were made to both the Station and Rampart General Hospital to see if Johnny had turned up in either place, but he hadn't. No more clues were found at the park, and as the afternoon wore on, hope started to fade.
"That is one amazing story, Ace," Johnny Gage shook his head in disbelief and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head.
"It's all true, I promise you," Ace replied, shifting slightly herself. She couldn't believe she'd just told this man she hardly knows her whole life story, plus everything she knew about the Doctor, the Master, Time Lords, time travel, alien life forms, and visiting other planets. To her amazement, the paramedic seemed to take it all in stride, interrupting her narrative occasionally to ask questions, and seriously considering her answers. She supposed it helped that he'd seen the TARDIS, which is infinitely larger on the inside than it appears outside, and that she'd taken him on those two little excursions afterwards. It seemed to open his mind to other possibilities.
"You know," he was saying, "I always wondered if there was life on other planets. I mean, there's so many stars up there, you gotta think, you know, maybe somewhere there might be something!"
"Well, now you know: There is, and lots of it!" Ace smiled, feeling better than she had in some time; getting all that off her chest was huge relief.
Johnny returned her smile. Initially, he thought she'd managed to slip him some PCP, because the box he'd followed her into was in no way big enough to contain all he'd seen inside. The place was huge! But, Ace explained to him that the TARDIS - short for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space - was designed to be larger on the inside than it was on the outside, and that it could travel through time as well as space. Johnny had not believed her at first, of course, because, well, that was impossible, wasn't it? But, she proved it to him by taking him back in time a couple weeks to an accident he and Roy and the rest of Station 51 had responded to, where a man had run a stop sign and smashed into a graffitied Volkswagen van full of wannabe hippies. It was a bit disconcerting, he had to admit, to watch himself and Roy from distance working on the victims, particularly when he remembered the rescue so well. Afterwards, she dropped them in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, where he'd stood, slack-jawed, staring at the steel marvel. Then she took him down to the TARDIS' cafeteria by way of a maze of white corridors, through a large, overgrown garden she'd called a cloister, past the bath room, which contained an Olympic size swimming pool, and down about twenty flights of stairs. There, over sandwiches provided by a rather common place vending machine, and a couple mugs of hot tea, she told him her story.
She told him about being a rather normal, if not unusually angry young girl in Perivale, England in the 1980's, still many years in John's future. She got into plenty of trouble before being blown up to another planet after a particularly nasty experiment with nitro-9 had gone awry (at which point, Johnny chastised her for messing around with explosives in the first place), and meeting the Doctor and eventually travelling with him. She told him about meeting unusual people and creatures, and fighting monsters and various other evil aliens throughout the Universe. The worst and most evil of all the monsters was a man Ace called the Master, who, like the Doctor, was a Time Lord - a supreme race of humanoid beings who had two hearts, and the ability to regenerate their bodies twelve times before finally dying at a ripe, old age. The Doctor, Ace told him, was around 950-some-years-old, and was currently in his seventh regeneration. The Master had apparently squandered all twelve of his regenerations early on, and had to resort to stealing a body to survive. That body was now weak and badly damaged, Ace had said, and the Master was looking for a new one. The body he wanted, however, was the Doctor's, and he'd recently made an unsuccessful attempt to get it.
"So, let me get this straight," Johnny said becoming serious once again, and absently scratching at the thin, red lines that marked his left forearm and part of his face from his encounter with the shrub at the park, "This Master fella wants to steal the Doctor's body for it's regenerative properties, and eventually come up with a way to keep the body alive forever?" He cocked his head to the side as if trying to make sense out of what he'd said.
"You've got it," Ace said.
"And, if he does this . . ."
"He'll be even more powerful than he is now, and tons more dangerous. Ultimately, I think he wants to take over the entire Universe. It would be horrible, Johnny! He's pure evil!"
"Well, then we have to stop him, huh," Johnny said warily.
"I don't know if we can, alone. The Professor has been trying to defeat him for decades, and even he . . ." Ace gasped as she suddenly remembered. "The Professor! The Master's probably gone to the hospital to get him. He won't be able to defend himself!"
"Ace, calm down," Johnny said. "Just calm down! We won't accomplish anything by panicking. Okay? Now, we just need a plan, okay? Okay." He thought for a moment. "Now, why don't we go back to the hospital and we can check on the Doctor. I don't think we need to worry about him, though. He's been in surgery, so he's been safe from the Master, but he might be out of surgery by now. If so, he'll be in a special recovery area. They don't let just anyone in recovery. The hospital's real strict on who the let in to see patients."
"You don't know the Master," Ace said darkly. "He can hypnotize people. He can be very persuasive."
"Oh yeah? Well, I know the people over there at Rampart, and they can be pretty persuasive, too!" Johnny grinned at her, hoping to cheer her up some. It didn't seem to be working.
"Okay," he said, seriously. "Anyway, it's time we got back, so you can check on your friend and I can check in with my station. I can't even imagine the amount of trouble I'm in right now! They're probably running around going 'Where's Johnny? Where's Johnny!'" He tried to laugh, but the gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. He hadn't realized it until just then, but he'd been gone a long time, and had just left the squad sitting there, unattended at the park. He was in very, very deep trouble, and he knew it. At the same time, he also knew the Doctor was in danger, and Ace could never take on this Master guy alone.
"Oh, God, Johnny, I'm so sorry!" Ace hadn't even considered what the consequences might be for Johnny. She felt badly that his job may suffer because of her.
Johnny laughed, having already decided to help Ace and the Doctor, and take the punishment dealt him - whatever it was - later.
"Oh, don't worry. Yeah, I'm in trouble, and I'll probably get latrine duty for a year, but it won't kill me! Besides, I'm a rescue man, and it sounds like your friend is in need of some serious rescuing!" He flashed her another charming, crooked grin. "Let's go!"
Ace materialized the TARDIS in what Johnny assured her was an unused storage area of Rampart General Hospital's basement. From there, they could go up to Emergency, and find out from Dixie, the Head Nurse, where the Doctor was. Johnny initially thought about calling the police in to protect the Doctor and hunt down the Master, but decided against it, because his story would probably not be believed, or, worse: He would be considered a nut job, and end up locked up in a rubber room. No, he decided, they would be on their own.
They stepped out of the TARDIS, and headed in the direction of the elevator. An out-of-place, but familiar object in the corner caught Johnny's eye, and he stopped staring in amazement. "Hey, Ace!" he whispered sharply.
Ace stopped in her tracks. "What!" she said, annoyed. She wanted to go find the Doctor and see that he was alright. She did not want to check out any of the old, moldy, dust-covered medical crap that was down in this stupid basement.
"I think our friend the Master is here," Johnny said simply, and pointed to the tall, grey, dingy column standing conspicuously in the corner.
"Oh, God!" Ace's heart dropped. The Master was here.
Johnny turned and headed purposely towards the elevator snagging Ace along the way. There was no time to stand around and speculate on the worst. They needed to get to the Doctor right away.
The elevator doors opened on a relatively empty first floor. Johnny saw Dixie pouring over some paper work at the nurses station, and went straight for her.
"Hi, Dix!" he gave his customary greeting. Dixie jumped at the sound.
"My goodness you startled me!" She exclaimed, then realizing who she was speaking to, turned into a scolding mother: "John Gage! Where have you been? Do you know we've all been worried sick about you? Do you know half the county is out looking for you?"
Johnny was taken aback. "Huh?"
" Roy has been calling here all day to see if you've been brought in here!" Dixie continued her tirade. "All your crewmates are at Lakeview Park looking for you, not to mention the police department, detectives, I think they've even called in the F.B.I.!"
"The F.B.I.!" John paled. It was worse than he thought. But, he couldn't worry about that now. "Look, Dix, never mind that, we need to know where the Doctor is."
"Doctor? Doctor who?"
"My friend," Ace stepped up to stand next to Johnny. "The man Johnny and Roy brought in this morning."
"Oh, him," Dixie said, her headache once again beginning to throb.
"Yeah, him," confirmed Johnny. "Where is he now?"
"He should be getting out of surgery about now. Kel hasn't come down, yet - he was observing - but it should be over by now. He'd be in recovery, your friend. Fifth floor, OR 7."
"Thanks, Dix," Johnny said as he and Ace headed back to the elevator.
"Hey, wait a minute," Dixie called after them. "Johnny, aren't you going to call Roy and tell him you're okay?"
Johnny skidded to a stop and went back to her.
"Look, you said he'd been calling here all day, right? So, he'll probably call here again soon, right?" Johnny said matter-of-factly. "So, feel free to tell him yourself. I'll be gone for a little while more. Sorry, Dix, but this is really important. Maybe someday I'll tell you all about it."
The elevator door opened, and Ace got on, calling to him. "Sorry!" he said again, as he sprinted down the hall to catch the elevator before the doors closed.
Dixie was left shaking her head in disbelief. "Important? Is it important enough to scare your friends to death, or risk your job? Your career?" she asked the vacant space where Johnny had stood.
Johnny and Ace arrived on the fifth floor to an intense sense of foreboding. They looked at each other realizing they both felt very uncomfortable being there, and really wanting to leave, but the Doctor was in danger, and taking a deep breath, Johnny grabbed Ace's hand, and stepped off the elevator with a fierce determination. They hurried down the corridor on the fifth floor looking for the seventh operating theater. They were just passing the scrub room, when Johnny heard a moaning sound coming from inside. He stopped, instinctively responding to the sound of distress, and went through the door. Inside, he found Dr. Kelly Brackett lying on the floor, the right side of his head bleeding from a rather nasty scalp gash; he was just regaining consciousness.
"Doc!" Johnny yelled, and immediately knelt down beside the physician and started checking him over. Ace came through the door and stood there, half inside the scrub room and half in the corridor.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Someone's jumped Dr. Brackett," Johnny said, still ascertaining the doctor's injuries. "I think he'll be okay, but he'll probably need stitches on that cut. Doc? Can you hear me?"
"John?" Dr. Bracket said groggily. "Johnny Gage, is that you?"
"Yeah, Doc. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"No," Dr. Brackett said, trying to sit up. "I don't think so."
"What happened?" Ace asked again.
"I'm not sure," Dr. Brackett replied. "I was talking to Dr. Masters from Boston about this fascinating case of a man with two hearts! You know, John, the guy you and Roy brought in. We were observing the bypass surgery being performed on the man by our new cardiologist, Steve Langford, and when it was over we went to congratulate Dr. Langford on his successful performance, and to ask him some questions about the patient. I was talking to Dr. Langford, when suddenly I got whacked on the head. I don't remember anything after that."
"Okay, Doc. Can you stand?" Johnny asked him.
Dr. Brackett started to stand up in reply, and Johnny helped him.
"I think I'm okay, Johnny. I just have one hell of a headache!"
"Okay, well, let's get you into a treatment room or an office, or something, so I can check you out, and at least get you bandaged up." Johnny helped support Dr. Brackett, and they turned to go out the door, when Johnny suddenly stopped.
"Wait! What's that?" he pointed to something leaning up against the wall in the corner behind the door. Ace stepped into the room, letting the door close behind her, gasping at what she saw.
"The Master!" she exclaimed.
"Dr. Masters!" Dr. Brackett exclaimed at the same time.
They looked at each other confused.
Johnny left Dr. Brackett leaning against the sinks, and went to check on this second victim. He tried to get a carotid pulse. Nothing. Johnny pressed his head against the man's chest, listing for a moment, then leaned back.
"Nothing," he said. "This man's dead."
"Oh, my God!" Dr. Brackett exclaimed, then suddenly remembered. "Dr. Langford! He was in here, too!"
Johnny began to make a search of the scrub room for the other physician, but came up empty. "He's not here."
"Where could he be?" Dr. Brackett wondered concerned.
"Johnny!" Ace said as a horrible thought crossed her mind. "I don't think this is the Master!"
Johnny looked at her. "But you just said . . ."
"I know what I said," she interrupted him, "but, remember what I was telling you earlier, about the Master stealing bodies?"
Johnny did not like what he was hearing; did not like the thought that had just occurred to him. "Do you mean . . ."
"I think so, Johnny." Ace said simply.
"Well, could one of you enlighten me, please!" Dr. Brackett demanded, annoyed.
"I believe this man, known as the Master, switched bodies with your Dr. Langford. I believe the Master is still alive in Dr. Langford's body, and that Dr. Langford was pushed into this body, which was already dying. Dr. Langford obviously didn't have the mental strength to keep it alive." Ace explained.
Dr. Brackett looked at Johnny, wincing at the pain that shot through his head with the movement. "Is she joking?"
"'Fraid not, Doc," Johnny said, seriously. "Look, I know it's hard to believe, Doc, but I've seen things today I never imagined in my whole life. I witnessed a moment of my life from two weeks ago, and saw the Eiffel Tower in the course of 20 minutes . . ."
"What the hell kind of drugs are you on, John Gage?" Dr. Brackett yelled.
"I'm not on any drugs, Doc, I promise you! Look, I'm telling you, I've seen these things, and I've experienced these things, and they were real, every single one of them! And, if Ace says that the Master is now impersonating Dr. Langford, then I believe her." He paused, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm. "Look, this has just gotten a lot more serious. Okay. You two better stay here, I'm going to find the Doctor and bring him here," Johnny held up his hands to silence Dr. Brackett, who was just about to protest the plan. "I know, I know, we shouldn't move him so soon after major surgery, Doc, but I think we should take him someplace safe. Then I'll look at that head wound of yours, Doc, and we can both keep our eyes on the Doctor's condition."
"Wait, Johnny," Ace stepped in front of him, blocking his exit. "I don't like you going out there alone. The Master is out there! I've told you how dangerous he is, and he's already killed one man today!"
"Yes, and the Doctor is vulnerable to him, now! Look, Ace, the Master knows you, he's seen Dr. Brackett, and knows him, too. He's never seen me. As a paramedic, I can walk around here freely and get in to any room I want without question. I'm going to go do that now: I'm going to go get the Doctor. I'll swing by and pick you guys up, and we'll go someplace safe, wherever that may be."
"The TARDIS would be best," Ace told him, reluctantly agreeing with his plan. "The Master won't be able to get to us in there."
Johnny nodded his agreement. Ace stood aside, and let him by. Dr. Brackett had watched the whole exchange with amazement, but said nothing. The whole thing was making his head throb more than ever. Johnny opened the door, and peeked out side. "Okay, it's clear. I'm going. Stay here!"
He slipped outside, slowly letting the door fall shut behind him. He made his way around the corner to the main corridor, and headed down to where the recovery rooms were located. The entire floor was eerily quiet and appeared to be empty, and instinctively Johnny peeked behind the nurses station to make sure there were no more victims of the Master around, and found the station abandoned. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he continued down the corridor, straining to hear any sound of other people, but hearing nothing but the beeping, pulsing, and whirring of life sustaining equipment. He reached the first room, and slowly opened the door, carefully looking inside. It was empty. So were the next two. His heart sank as he imagined the Doctor in his vulnerable post-operative state being at the mercy of a man capable of moving his spirit into another body, and repelling the spirit that had been residing there first. Finally, he entered the final room to find a patient hooked up to several pieces of equipment. He walked over to the gurney and immediately recognized the Doctor.
Thank God! Johnny let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Quickly he scanned the room to make sure it was empty, before returning to the Doctor's side. He checked the equipment and found the Doctor was stable, and doing amazingly well. He quickly removed all the unnecessary equipment, and moved the gurney towards the door. Slowly, he opened the door, and looked up and down the corridor. Still empty. Johnny's heart raced. This was all too weird! This floor is usually very busy with nurses, doctors, orderlies, patients, patient's families. Now it was completely deserted. Johnny figured this was the Master's doing, but he did not want to think how he'd accomplished it. He propped the door open, and wheeled the gurney out into the hall, heading back towards the elevator and scrub room, where Dr. Brackett and Ace were waiting. He was nearly to the end of the corridor when an office door before him opened, and a tall, thin, blonde-haired man stepped out of it.
"Just where do you think you're going with that patient?" he demanded.
The combination of the white lab coat he was wearing, and the stethoscope around his neck, told Johnny this man was a doctor. The I.D. pin on his coat that read Dr. Langford, however, told him this man was probably not a doctor at all, but, very likely, the Master instead. Johnny froze. Everything Ace had told him about this man came to him at once, terrifying him. He realized he was way out of his element! He was a fireman, for Chrissakes, a paramedic! He had no business messing around with crazy men from outer space who could steal people's bodies and wanted to take over the Universe. At the same time, he knew this patient lying on the gurney was in grave danger from the man standing before him, and Johnny had to come up with some way to get them both out of here in one piece. Suddenly a fragment of an idea came to him.
"I have been instructed to remove this man," Johnny said in a level voice, trying to remove all emotion from his face.
"On who's authority?" Dr. Langford/the Master asked.
"The Master," Johnny said simply, and noticed with amusement as the brief look of surprise ran cross the man's face.
"Well, this man is my patient, and I order you to return him to the recovery room at once!"
"I cannot do that," Johnny said blandly. He desperately wanted to run away, but, instead, he locked his knees and stood his ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ace peering around the corner, obviously alerted by the sound of their voices. He prayed she'd come up with a conclusion to his plan.
"You can, and you will!" the man insisted, moving slowly towards him, his eyes boring deep into Johnny's soul. "I am the Master, and you will obey me!"
Johnny suddenly felt compelled to release the Doctor into the man's care. It suddenly seemed like the reasonable thing to do. But, wait, wasn't this man dangerous? Johnny became confused. He was still locked eye-to-eye with the Master when he heard a dullthunk and the sound of breaking glass, and the Master crumpled to the ground. Johnny looked up to see Ace standing there, then looked down to see the Master unconscious on the floor, a broken vase, spilled water and a bouquet of disheveled flowers surrounded his head. Johnny's mind was muddled; he shook his head to clear it.
"What the . . ."
"The Master tried to hypnotize you, Johnny," Ace informed him. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Johnny said, but his head hurt a little. Dr. Brackett had come around the corner then, and tried to look him over, but Johnny waved him away, so he checked on the patient on the gurney instead.
"Really," Johnny said, "I'm fine, now. What about this guy?" He knelt down beside the Master, quickly checking his pulse and respiration, more out of habit than out of any real concern for the man. "He'll be fine," he decided. "C'mon, we'd better get out of here before he wakes up!"
Johnny started pushing the gurney from behind, with Dr. Brackett on the left side, guiding it towards the elevator. Ace ran ahead and pressed the down button several times.
"C'mon, c'mon!" she muttered, anxiously waiting for the light to move up the row of numbered buttons lined above the elevator doors. It was stopped on the first floor, and seemed to take forever to start moving up. When finally it did, the three let out a collective breath, then looked around from one another and shared a brief, nervous laugh. The elevator stopped at the third floor, and Johnny groaned his displeasure.
"Dammit!" he swore, "Hurry up!"
"Never mind the elevator," came a chilling voice behind them, "you won't be going anywhere, any of you!"