Part 3
You wake in hospital, comforted by the clinical white walls, the fresh sheets under you and the silence.
"So, young man," A voice says from one side of your bed. "You're finally awake."
You look up into the doctor's calm features and feel instantly reassured.
"Doctor? How did I get here?" You ask in a hoarse voice, your throat sore and dry. "What happened?"
"Now that," The doctor tells you as a nurse helps you sit up and take a sip of water, "is an excellent question." He waves the nurse out of the room as you begin to look more alert and aware of your surroundings. "Do you have a headache? If so we can get you some painkillers."
You shake your head.
"It seems to have gone, doctor."
"But you did have a headache before, didn't you, Jay? Your teacher told us about it when you were brought in."
You nod, there seems no point in denying it. You do feel suddenly cautious though. There is something in the careful way the doctor is treating you that reminds you of a man juggling with eggs, terrified of dropping them.
"And you were hearing voices too, weren't you, Jay?" The doctor went on in that same gentle, careful voice. "You've been talking in your sleep."
"Voices?" You force a laugh but it sounds hollow even to you. You're suddenly terrified of being diagnosed as mad, of being sent away to a mental home and trapped with the lunatics for the rest of your life. What scares you most is that you're at least half convinced that the doctor would be right. "I don't hear any voices, doctor!"
"We heard you talking to them while you were unconscious, Jay." The doctor reminded you gently.
"I was dreaming! Can't a guy dream?"
The doctor looks at you uncertainly and you know he doesn't believe you.
"Where are my Mum and Dad?" You ask, desperate to change the subject.
"Your father is hurrying here from his office." The doctor tells you. "Your mother doesn't appear to be at home."
You nod, back on more comfortable ground.
"She's probably gone out shopping. Can I go when Dad gets here?"
"Well, I'll have to talk to your father about that." The doctor says his face serious.
He leaves you alone after that but you know the damage has already been done. You just have to try and convince the doctors that you're normal. And try to convince yourself that you didn't hear voices after all. Are you going mad? Did you hear what you thought you heard. After all the headaches you don't know what to believe any more. You lie miserably in the bed and stare at the ceiling trying to figure out what's going on in your life.
"Hey, kid." A voice hisses from the door in an East London accent. "Jay?"
You sit up. A tousled head of ginger hair caps a rough-hewn face that's peering round the door at you.
"Yes?" You ask cautiously.
The head enters the room, followed by its body and stumbles as if he had been propelled by a push. You relax slightly as you see that the man is wearing the outfit of a hospital porter and is followed into the room by a taller blond haired man in the same clothes. The first man gives his companion a reproachful look.
"You didn't have to shove me, Chris!" He hisses.
"Well we couldn't talk to the kid from outside the door, could we, Ginge?" The younger, blonde man answers in an irritated tone. He turns to you, businesslike but quiet. "Look, you are Jay, aren't you?"
You nod, fascinated by the bickering men.
"Right. I'm Chris and this is Ginge. The Tomorrow People sent us."
You stare at him, blankly, your confusion palpable.
"You know," Ginge whispers, "John and Elizabeth and that lot."
John, Elizabeth, those were names that the voices in your head knew and used. They were the names of your fantasies. You cower back against your bed, suddenly afraid of these strange porters.
"They thought you'd find us less intimidating what with you being new and everything and not having any telepathic shields."
You don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about now and your hand reaches towards the nurse call button beside your bed. Chris sees it and grabs your wrist, firmly but gently.
"Look, we have to get you out of here. John doesn't think these Sap doctors know what's best for you."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" You tell them, some of your old spirit returning now you have a tangible threat to deal with.
"Don't be stupid, kid." Chris tells you wearily. "Look, I can prove I'm telling you the truth and I'm not going to hurt you." He hesitates and looks uncomfortable. "You can even read my mind if you must."
You stare, unable to believe what you're hearing but Chris takes your hand.
"I know you can do it. Just reach out, touch my mind. Concentrate, Jay!"
Without thinking about it, without even realising what you are doing, you follow his command. It seems natural to look at Chris and feel his mind as a glowing ball of energy around his skull. It seems more natural still to reach out and touch that glowing sphere with your own thoughts. It's not long before Ginge is pulled into the link too and you begin to see the truth behind their thoughts.
Large in the memories of both men loom a series of faces. You see Roman soldiers and a strange, shiny time that you somehow know is here although it's not the world you know. You experience the horror of mind control, a figure dressed in white robes, a shining robot and a cage in space. And you see a growing pulsating creature and you know it's after you. It will feed on you unless you can run away, get away.
In an instant the voices are back, crashing in on you, trying to wash you away as the ocean washes a single grain of sand from the shore. You scream in pain as the telepathic link with Chris and Ginge shatters. Again you feel the stronger voices calling out to you in startled dismay and know that they stand as rocks against the tides of pain that are washing through the hospital.
[Jay!] John.
[Jay, you have to listen to us and trust us!] Elizabeth.
"Now you've torn it." You hear Ginge tell Chris. "He's breaking out. Listen, kid! You have to trust John and the others! You have to trust them."
Do you trust them?
a) Yes
b) No
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