Dark, darker, yet darker.
Shadows cutting deeper and deeper—but
A light
F
A
L
L
I
N
G
"Urgh... my head," thought Marcus, his body telling him that he was lying on something soft. Marcus blearily opened his eyes, grimaced at the bright light, squinted, and recognized the antiseptic smell in the air, along with the sight of white walls and a tile floor in front of his bed. Looking down at his arm, he saw an IV connected to it, and following the plastic tubing, he noticed a clear bag labeled 'Saline.'
"What the heck? Is this a hospital? Wait... why am I so small?" Marcus said, his voice rising in the way young men do on the cusp of puberty when startled.
A passing nurse, hearing Marcus's exclamation, peered into the room and smiled.
"My fellow nurses and I were wondering when you were going to wake up, young man. Let me go get the doctor on call."
Marcus, still disoriented from waking up and wondering if he was in some strange dream, vaguely nodded, but the nurse was already gone. He noted she had a British accent.
Marcus's next thoughts were, of course, ones of confusion.
"Okay. I'm in an unknown situation. My body appears much smaller than I last remember it being. Count to four, breathe in, count to four, exhale. Follow the Blazkowicz method. Next step: Find out where I am, exactly."
Fidgeting with anxiety, Marcus stared at the door and saw someone wearing a white coat—the doctor—had arrived. The doctor said,
"Good evening, young man. I need to check your vitals, but then you and I are going to talk. Is that alright?"
Marcus nodded, for what else could he do? He noted that this man also had a British accent. Where was he!?
After the doctor finished checking the basic vital signs (pupil response to bright light, glanced at the pulse, checked oxygen level, and blood pressure), the doctor's smile then turned slightly more forced.
"Well, good news, young man. You seem fine so far. Can you tell us your name?"
Marcus, confused, asked, "My name?"
The doctor replied, "Yes, a pedestrian was going for their morning jog this morning when they found you unconscious in an alleyway. EMS responded, and they brought you here to the hospital. However, we have scanned our systems and not found any information on you, which can happen sometimes. So, young man, what is your name?"
Marcus, still confused, responded, "Marcus Castle."
The nurse wrote this down on her clipboard.
The doctor asked, "How old are you, Mr. Castle?"
Marcus replied, "I was born on the 11th of October, 2003. I turned 20 last month."
At this, the doctor and nurse gained a glimmer of worry in their eyes before they regained their composure. Marcus, still confused, did not notice this.
The doctor asked another question, "Do you remember what happened, Mr. Castle, to bring you to our hospital?"
Marcus tried to remember but could only recall a great void and a fall.
"It was dark... I think I fell and hit my head?"
The doctor nodded and then asked his next question, "Where are you from, Marcus?"
Marcus, now getting seriously worried, responded, "Georgia. I'm from the state of Georgia."
The doctor smiled a little bit and said, "That would explain the Southern drawl I normally see on the telly. Well, Marcus, how long have you been in the United Kingdom?"
Marcus, shocked, exclaimed, "The UK? I'm in the friggin' UK? Last I checked, I was going to sleep on my dorm bed in Georgia!"
The doctor and nurse looked deeply troubled at this point. They excused themselves and assured Marcus a nurse would be by with dinner soon for him.
Marcus, on edge now, could only wait for them to return.
