We figured you had been in a car accident or tried to commit suicide before you showed up. You weren’t bloody, but your neck was pretty messed up. Such severe bruising like that either happens when someone suffers considerable whiplash or takes a jump off of a second story rafter with a noose around the neck.

Your head wouldn’t sit properly on your spine, but you didn’t seen to notice. The other patients did. The woman who was slowly dying from food poisoning; the man who had accidentally bungee jumped into a boulder; the small child who was, surprise!, found out to be allergic to peanuts a sandwich too late. They all stared at you when you walked into the Waiting room. We could tell they were disgusted. Some even made a face.

Well, not the man. He didn’t have a face, per say.

Too much had happened in the last few hours. It seems you’ve slowly became numb to surprise. We don’t really mind if our patients are too shocked to speak. It’s easier for us. Things move faster and more efficiently. The problems start when people begin asking questions.

We get that a lot. We’re more confused then angered. Perhaps the Higher Up should start debriefing people before dumping them right inside Town. It’d save more time. And save us the pain of hearing all that frantic mumbling and screaming that accompanies some.

Anyway, back to your question. You’re in a coma, right? Well, than, that’s the reason you’re here.

Another repetitive question. No, you aren’t in Limbo. Limbo is a few miles away. Hell?! Are you serious? We take offense to that. No one seems to ever guess Heaven.

We take offense to that as well.

The Town.

No, what is this place?!

The Hospital.

I’m the Doctor.

That is my assistant.

We never know how to answer this one. We started responding with a smile centuries ago, but that seemed to worsen the problem.

Maybe we have bad teeth?

These days, we offer a pat on the back, a nod, and a high dosage of anesthesia to calm the nerves. We stopped offering lollypops only because a young man died from eating one.

Or maybe it was the animal chasing the man that killed him.

Eh, better to be safe then sorry.

Anyway, we were surprised you made it as far as you actually did . You had dropped the Flashlight a long ways off, probably from running that quickly. We had made a bet to see if you would ever make it to the front steps of the Hospital in one piece.

I lost a lot of money on you.

It’s not that we wanted you to get lost on your way here. If you’ve noticed, the Town is quite beautiful, isn’t it? You never see it when it’s in White, though. The real beauty of the Town comes out during White. Also, you run less of a risk of being eaten.

That’s always a plus.

Either way, you made it here safely and we’re proud of your achievements. It must have been difficult the first moment you woke up. The bewilderment, the confusion. We’ve never really been outside the Town during Black so--

Oh? Black? That the Town you’re in right now. During Black, we’re able to communicate with Limbo. They sent you here. You see, when a human being falls into a coma, supposedly, they’re dead. You can’t speak, you can’t move, you can’t…be. Limbo gets confused and takes the body away to be processed for Heaven or He-- well, whatever you believe in, really. Once they find out that the human brain is still connected to the real world by resuscitators and food tubes and heart monitors…

Dreadful, awful things really. We don’t understand why human’s are afraid to die.

…they dump them outside Town.

That’s where you woke up. Outside Town. Understand? The fog? Well, the moment you step onto the Hospital’s doorstep, our Town changes to White. It’s only Black for as long as it takes you to reach us. During White, the roads are blocked.

And you’re stuck here with us.

We’ve heard horror stories of people not going the right way down the road. Some never even enter the Town. You’re supposed to have an internal pull, something that moves you towards us. That feeling when you just know. You’re supposed to have that. Those who go the wrong way are rare, beautiful things. That road into and out of Town moves on forever. If they keep resisting, they’re never find their way here.

We’re not complaining. Less for us to do.

But, that doesn’t really matter because you found your way here! You can celebrate if you want. If we’ve injected you with too much anesthesia, we’re sorry. We don’t normally ruin anyone’s fun like that.

Sigh, well, you look like you’re getting tired. I don’t normally talk this much with patients. I guess it’s just been a rough few days. Oh, before you black out, try to remember these three things.

One, when you awake, you will be alone.

Two, listen to that initial pull.

Three, find the train within three days. You don’t want to know what happens if you don-- ….Alice, she’s gone. Did you give her too much? I know, but we’ve gone over this before. You’re supposed to measure the patients exact weight, height, body mass, some other stuff, some of this and that, more of something else, before you administer any-- …are you listening? ….Eh, whatever, hand me the scalpel.