Chapter 4:

Night

Los Angeles, Dollhouse

The black van parks in the driveway of the Dollhouse. Two staff members come rushing with an ambulance stretcher, carefully place Boyd on it and rush into the elevator.

The elevator goes down then the doors open and Tru finds herself in a strange place that does not resemble the standard hospital design. Boyd is carried to Dr. Claire Saunders office.

Being a Med student, Tru quickly fills the doctor in on what happened and Boyd's recent condition.

"A shot in the back. I tried immobilization and applied pressure to the wound, but the two hour drive has caused him to go into Hypovolemic Shock. I think he's in stage four. There's a great amount of blood loss, extreme tachycardia with weak pulse, pronounced tachypnoea, significantly decreased systolic blood pressure, decreased level of consciousness; skin is sweaty, cool, and extremely pale. We have to operate on him STAT."

Dr Claire is shocked by the precisely accurate medical terms, but like what any professional would do, she remained focused and started prepping for operation with the help of the two paramedics and Tru, who played a big part in the performing of the operation.

Thirty minutes later, Boyd is lying unconscious in Dr. Saunders office, with Oxygen and glucose tubes. Tru is standing beside the window looking down on the main area of the Dollhouse.

"What is this place? I've never seen anything like it. Are you sure this is a hospital? It's so… soothing." She pauses for a minute then looks at Dr. Saunders and hesitantly says:

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you get those scars?"

"I do mind." Dr. Saunders sadly answers.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pry, I just…"

"You know, I didn't catch your name." Dr Saunders interrupts.

"Tru Davies."

"Are you a doctor, Tru?"

"Will be, hopefully. I'm a med student, and I work at a morgue. Do you have a phone? I really need to call my brother Harrison. He must be worried sick."

Very confused, Dr. Saunders excuses herself out of the office and heads to Topher's lab, where Topher has just entered after a long meeting with Adelle DeWitt.

"Dr. Saunders. What can I do for you?" Topher says with the usual wide smile on his face when he sees his favorite doctor.

"I thought you programmed Echo to be someone's sixteen year old daughter." She says.

"I did." He replies.

"And does that sixteen year old girl have any medical education, and goes by with the name Tru Davies by any chance?"

"Tru Davies? Medical education? Uh… I don't know where you're going with this, doc., but no. Her name is Joy Richmond, and she's just a high school kid with an average IQ."

"What was she wearing?" Asks Dr, Saunders.

"Jeans and a white T—shirt."

"Then how do you explain her professionalism in medical care? And her khaki shorts and brown tank top?"

"I…. don't know. Why? What happened?"

--- --------------- -------------------------- ------------------ ---------------- --------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------

At this point, everyone is misled, deceived or lied to. Tru Davies, the medical student from New York, who has the incredible ability to relive days, which she inherited from her deceased mother, did not know that she had a twin sister, and neither did her brother Harrison.

Echo, who was previously known as Caroline before entering the Dollhouse, is a mystery. Her recent state of being a blank doll to be used for personality imprints at the Dollhouse prohibits her of her basic rights of free will and the right to know who she really is.

Now as fate played a role in having both sisters indirectly cross roads, the roles have switched. Tru, who happened to come Disney Land for a vacation, has been mistaken by agent Paul Ballard and the Dollhouse staff alike to be Echo. Agent Ballard believes that she had been programmed to be someone named Tru Davies, while the Dollhouse staff members believe Echo has gone through some kind of deliberate mind manipulation that caused her to glitch.

Echo on the other hand, who was on an engagement at Disney Land, has been mistaken by Harrison Davies to be his sister Tru and is now held captive by him.