Doctor Who - American Version - Serial

by RevolutionMan

Doctor Who - Presented as a re-imagining of the show Doctor Who for American audiences. It presumes NO connection to the continuity established by the long running British television series, but absolutely WILL borrow heavily from that awesome/amazing show. Some characters will be re-named. Some "laws" will be broken. A serial adaptation, in script form.

33. Chapter 33 - Doctor Freak Out

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – ZIRA CLINIC

DOCTOR'S POV: The Doctor sees double of Rose standing above him. He moans, like someone sick and about to throw up.

ROSE
Doctor? How are you feeling?

The Doctor tries sitting up in bed. He's now wearing loose-fitting white sweat pants and a t-shirt. He instantly regrets the decision to sit up and Rose helps position his pillows as he let's himself fall back. There's a bandage around his head.

DOCTOR
Uuuugh, like someone turned one of my eyeballs upside down. Where am I?

ROSE
You've been admitted. The doctor – I mean, Dr. Heeya – was coming back to check on you soon.

The Doctor looks down.

DOCTOR
My clothes are different? Did you get me naked and have your way with me?

ROSE
The nurse changed you when you fell in your... you know. She also took a sample of the stuff and then threw your clothes in that orange biohazard pod in the corner. I told her to burn them, but she wasn't sure if you wanted to eat it later.

DOCTOR
Eat it?

ROSE
They're dogs. And don't worry, I got the telepathic paper and the other thing.

DOCTOR
Right.

ROSE
I'm worried about you. I want to know what's going on.

DOCTOR
Rose, I'm fine, really. I just have to get back to the Tardis.

He tries getting up from the bed, but she pushes him back down.

ROSE
No, you're staying here until we figure out what's wrong with you.

DOCTOR
Don't you see what's happening? I was fine on the Tardis. I leave the Tardis and this happens.

ROSE
So, what, you're just never going to leave the Tardis again?

DOCTOR
No, but if I get back there, I can figure this out on my own.

ROSE
How do you know that?

DOCTOR
These people don't have any experience treating Time Lords. How could they? I'm the last of my kind. There are no others. But I do have experience, so who better to cure me than me?

The door opens and in walks Dr. Heeya, along with nurse BORMI, a cairn terrier with the voice of a chipmunk. Bormi wheels a cart inside with some medical instruments.

HEEYA
I see our patient is awake. How delightful. Doctor, this is nurse Bormi. I don't know if you remember, but she was the one who changed you and wrapped your head.

DOCTOR
Usually I make people buy me dinner first.

Nurse Bormi walks over and takes the Doctor's temperature by scanning his forehead with a device no larger than a cell phone.

BORMI
You have no fever, sir.

DOCTOR
Great, so I'll just be going.

ROSE
Doctor, you can't...

Rose tries to stop him from getting out of bed, but Heeya puts an arm in front of Rose to hold her back.

HEEYA
It's all right. The Doctor's not a prisoner here. If he wants to leave, he's certainly entitled. I won't treat anyone against their will.

The Doctor falls out of the hospital bed and down to one knee. Clearly dizzy, he closes his eyes and grabs the nurse's tray to try and steady himself. He takes a deep breath and manages to stand upright, but after a single step forward he falls into the wall.

Rose takes a step to help him, but again Heeya holds her back.

HEEYA
It's okay, dear.

The Doctor grinds his teeth together and purses his lips to keep himself from throwing up. Despite using the wall for support, he falls to one knee on his way to the door. He takes a breath, then continues forward on his hands and knees. Finally, he makes it to the door, but all the effort is too much for him. He lays down in the doorway.

Rose looks to Heeya.

ROSE
Can we stop this? It's making me sad.

Heeya nods. Rose and Nurse Bormi jump into action and help the Doctor back into the bed.

Dr. Heeya approaches the bed.

HEEYA
Now, Doctor, with your permission, of course, I'd like to give you something for the nausea. It's just a little antiemetic. It's called zinfrazopine.

His eyes shut and forehead sweaty, the Doctor doesn't even look at the hypodermic injector Heeya removes from the cart to show him.

DOCTOR
K.

Heeya injects him in the arm. The Doctor's breathing eases. Bormi takes a wash cloth and presses it to the Doctor's forehead to wipe away the sweat.

BORMI
My goodness, you're going to sweat right through your bandages. I'll have to change them later.

ROSE
I can take that.

Bormi hands the wash cloth to Rose, who wipes some sweat from the Doctor's face.

HEEYA
We did a full work-up of the samples we took earlier and couldn't find any indication of viral or bacterial infection. Throat cultures came back negative. I'd like to take you in for a full MSRI scan of your brain, see if we can't get to the bottom of what's causing this, or at least rule some things out.

Heeya turns to Rose.

HEEYA
He hasn't suffered any recent head trauma, has he? Besides the bump in the exam room?

ROSE
Well, a dragon from another dimension dropped some church on his head, but he was sick before that.

HEEYA
(to the Doctor)
Do you have any objections to the MSRI, Doctor?

Rose is taken off guard when the Doctor suddenly grabs her hand. He holds it tight.

DOCTOR
Do what you have to do, doctor.

HEEYA
Okay. Nurse, could you bring him down the hall?

Nurse Bormi nods and starts prepping the Doctor's bed for transport.

Heeya leaves.

ROSE
(to Bormi)
Can I go in with him?

BORMI
Not into the scanner room, but there's a little room where the techs and Dr. Heeya sit. You can observe from there.

Rose nods and walks with the Doctor, holding his hand, as the nurse wheels him out into the hall.

INT. MSRI ROOM AND OBSERVATION – ZIRA CLINIC

Through a glass window, Rose watches Bormi wheel the Doctor into the blue-lit MSRI room. The room itself is round, with a white column that protrudes from the floor to the same height as the bed. Bormi helps the Doctor move from the bed onto the cushioned flat top of the column.

BORMI
I'm going to spread your arms and legs out.

Bormi helps the Doctor spread his arms and legs into a pose similar to that of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man". Once done, she wheels the bed out of the room.

In observation, Dr. Heeya turns to the two techs, CHUI and REDGE, a pair of pitbulls. Chui nods to signify they are ready to begin. Heeya presses the intercom.

HEEYA
Okay, Doctor, we're going to begin. Try to stay calm. Once the machine is active, you're not going to be able to move, but you'll feel a tingling sensation throughout most of your body. You won't be able to close your eyes because we're going to be measuring your reaction to certain visual stimuli, but you will be able to talk. The images will be pulled from your memories and projected above you.

DOCTOR
I understand.

CHUI
Initiating scan.

The tech turns on the machine.

As the MSRI machine roars to life, a nervous Rose chews her nails. The Doctor's body levitates four inches above the surface of the column when a sudden electric yellow haze envelops his body. His eyes open wide at the same time and his muscles go rigid.

DOCTOR
That's a new sensation.

In front of Dr. Heeya, a computer monitor displays a three-dimensional image of the Doctor's insides, with specific emphasis on his nervous system and sense receptors. She touches the screen area around his brain and the image zooms in. The Doctor's brain has six lobes, but is similar enough to that of a human to be recognizable as a brain without context. Neon colors green, yellow, pink, and blue appear to varying degrees and change in intensity.

HEEYA
Fascinating. You have a beautiful cerebral cortex, Doctor.

DOCTOR
I'm relieved to know my first place finish in the Mister Brain Beauty Pageant of Offcron in Twelve wasn't just because I agreed to mind meld with one of the judges.

ROSE
Wait, that's a real thing? Are you being serious?

DOCTOR
Of course. I never joke about how awesome I am. Or the magical splendor of the various parts of my person.

REDGE
Heh. What a weird guy. Is he always like this?

ROSE
No, I get a break when he sleeps.

HEEYA
Here comes the visual stimuli.

Above the Doctor, various images are projected on a round screen equal in size to the column beneath him; scenes of violence, cute children, nature's beauty, Rose...

On Heeya's monitor, sections of the Doctor's brain change color.

HEEYA
Wonderful, Doctor. You're doing so well. Thank you so much for the opportunity to treat you.

The image of the Doctor's brain suddenly blurs, which captures Redge's attention.

REDGE
What the...? Who hit something?

ROSE
I didn't.

HEEYA
Neither did I.

CHUI
Try tightening the containment field. Maybe he's moving.

Redge tightens the containment and the yellow haze around the Doctor's body condenses. The color deepens.

DOCTOR
That's a little tight.

HEEYA
The image is still off.

ROSE
What's happening? Is he all right?

HEEYA
Everything's all right, dear. Just a problem with the scan.

CHUI
Maybe there's something wrong with the scanner.

REDGE
It's reading right. I'm not detecting a malfunction.

HEEYA
Wait a minute. Let me try...

Heeya turns the image of the Doctor's brain on the screen, revealing the potential cause of the blurred image. An ultra-thin filament layer completely surrounds his brain, colored differently than the areas of the brain it surrounds.

ROSE
What is that?

Heeya speaks into the microphone.

HEEYA
Doctor, is your species telepathic?

DOCTOR
No, why?

HEEYA
This doesn't make any sense.

DOCTOR
What doesn't make any sense? Rose, what's happening?

ROSE
(to Heeya)
You need to tell me what's going on, right now.

HEEYA
Typically, when someone's vision is impaired in some way, it's due to physical damage or distortion of the signal being transmitted to their brain. But for the Doctor, the reason he's seeing double is because two different sections of his brain are receiving the same signal and acting on it independently of each other. It's almost as if he has two brains occupying the same space.

Close on the Doctor's eyes, we can just make out from the reflection when the image slideshow above him swaps out one image for another.

DOCTOR
No. No, it can't be.

On Heeya's monitor, both the Doctor's brain and the filament layer around it turn a fiery red.

DOCTOR
No! Get me out of here! Get me out! Let! Me! Goooo! Rose! Help me! Rooose!

Without hesitation, Rose runs to the door.

ROSE
Shut it down. Shut the scan down!

HEEYA
Do it. Turn it off. Now!

Chui and Redge shut down the scan.

In the scanning room, Rose bursts through the door. At the same time, the Doctor's body is lowered back down onto the column and released from the restraints. She runs to his side.

ROSE
I'm here.

Dripping with sweat, the Doctor grabs her hand.

DOCTOR
Get me out of this room.

Rose nods and helps him up. She wraps his arm around her shoulders to support him. Before they head for the door, she looks up and sees...

The image frozen on the ceiling is of a thing she does not recognize. It has a matte copper metal base for a body, sharp as a razor on the edges, with no identifiable legs. Two arms protrude about two feet from the center of its body, one ending in a nasty electrified blade and the other a personal laser canon. Its head is a round glass dome housing a disgusting creature within, like a cyst with a single glowing red eye in the middle.

Disturbed by the image, Rose looks away and focuses her attention on liberating the Doctor from the room. She basically carries him out the door.

INT. HALLWAY – OUTSIDE MSRI – ZIRA CLINIC

Rose carries the Doctor from the room where she is met by Bormi, who helps Rose assist the Doctor back into bed. Dr. Heeya arrives shortly thereafter.

HEEYA
I'm terribly sorry. What happened? Is everything okay?

DOCTOR
I'm not going back in there. Take my temperature, analyze my blood, cut me open, but I will never step foot in that room again, do you understand me?

HEEYA
Of course.

DOCTOR
I want to go back to my room.

HEEYA
Nurse, please take the Doctor back to his room.

BORMI
Yes, ma'am.

Rose moves to follow nurse Bormi. As she passes Heeya...

HEEYA
I've never had a patient respond so wild and all of a sudden like that before. Whatever could have made him react that way?

Rose reflects on the image she saw.

ROSE
I'm not sure.

She follows Bormi.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – ZIRA CLINIC

The Doctor lays in his bed, on his side, with his back to the closed door. The door opens and Rose enters, quietly. She closes the door and stands in front of it, looking at him.

ROSE
You want to tell me what happened back there?

He takes a breath.

DOCTOR
I'll need to see the MSRI scans. If you go out to the nurse's station, you should be able to request them. And I'll need some kind of neural inhibitor. It might make me foggy, but it should help correct my vision enough that-

ROSE
That's not what I'm talking about.

DOCTOR
It just... took me off guard. I don't know why I reacted that way.

ROSE
What was that thing? The thing on the ceiling?

DOCTOR
Something you don't need to concern yourself with.

ROSE
I'm concerned because I'm worried about you.

DOCTOR
The only thing you need to worry about is helping me get better. I don't have to tell you everything all the time. I'm entitled to my secrets and when I say you don't need to concern yourself with it, what I really mean is back off. So, back off.

Rose bites her lip.

ROSE
Fine. If that's the way you want it.

DOCTOR
That's the way I want it.

ROSE
I'll just... ask the nurse about those scans, then.

DOCTOR
The quicker the better.

Rose opens the door and walks back out.

INT. NURSE'S STATION – ZIRA CLINIC

Nurse Bormi sits at the nurse's station; a long desk with a computer. Rose approaches.

ROSE
Hi, the jackass around the corner was wondering if he could get a look at the MSRI results, when you have a chance.

BORMI
Dr. Heeya is still reviewing them. I can let her know he'd like a copy.

ROSE
Thanks.

Rose turns to head back to the room, but Bormi stops her.

BORMI
One thing she did want me to mention is we don't actually have a healthy MSRI reading of a Time Lord on file, for obvious reasons. She was wondering if you wouldn't mind allowing us to scan your brain so she has something to compare it to.

ROSE
Oh, I'm not a Time Lord.

BORMI
You're not?

ROSE
No, I'm a human.

Nearby NURSES, having overheard Rose's admission, look up from their stations.

Bormi smiles unusually wide. Rose notices, but isn't sure what to make of it.

BORMI
Human? Okay. Well, nevermind.

Rose nods and walks back to the room. Once Rose's back is turned, Bormi's smile turns to concern and panic. NURSE HOOM, a dachshund, walks over.

HOOM
Did she just say she's a human?

Bormi nods and grabs the communicator next to her station.

BORMI
(into communicator)
This is nurse Bormi on level thirty-one. I need security for a code Z red major.

INT. HALLWAY – LEVEL THIRTY-ONE – ZIRA CLINIC

Rose turns the corner on her way back to the Doctor's room. At the far end of the hall, she sees two SECURITY OFFICERS, enormous bulldogs wearing red uniforms. Shoulder to shoulder, they take up the entire width hallway. As they approach, they make eye contact with her, and walk faster.

Rose stops at the sight of the two men coming towards her. She turns around and walks in the opposite direction. Looking over her shoulder, she notices that they've started running towards, and she takes off. But as she turns the corner, a third security officer appears and grabs her. She tries to scream for the Doctor, but the officer covers her mouth with his hand, muffling the sound.

-To be Continued...-