One World Chapter 1

Dan had woken up in a hospital and had uttered the words "Where am I?"

Inside he was amused by the fact that he had actually said that cliched line, but outside there was a completely different feeling. His head was pounding and he was experiencing the cloying smell of disinfectant and the stuffy heat of a room with no ventilation. He thought he might be about to throw up.

As he gathered his wits, he realised that there was someone else in the room with him and he hadn't been talking to himself. A nurse was peering at him as if she could diagnose his malady simply by staring. She had looked concerned but now became business like as she asked him how he was. That was a very good question.

As he paused before answering a confused Dan wondered how he had ended up in this situation. Whatever had led to this moment was missing from his memory and he hoped that there would be someone who could enlighten him. First things first.

"My head hurts, a lot." His priority was pain relief and then he could ascertain what had happened.

The nurse nodded, acknowledging his requirement.

"I'll go and get a doctor."

Dan hoped that she would find one quickly and then bring him some drugs. He had a look around the room. Moving his head exacerbated the pain so he did a, slow motion, pan of the space and then closed his eyes.

Nothing had registered as odd on this first scan, but he had to look again. Dan hadn't been in a hospital for a couple of years but he couldn't remember it being like this. His next inspection was more thorough. There were chintz curtains at the window and what looked like a hand stitched quilt on the bed. He couldn't see any technology of any kind.

The walls were magnolia and the floor a beige linoleum, the standard hospital livery, but it was different in some way. Dan stared at the colours and tried to work out what was so strange about his surroundings. The air had an odd taste too. What was his injury and why was it making him feel so unsettled?

Thinking was not helping with the pain so Dan laid back and closed his eyes. Only a couple of minutes had passed but the wait for a doctor and medication seemed to be taking forever. He tried not to frown, that hurt too, and listened for footsteps in the corridor. Moments later the, longed for, sound was heard and the door to the room opened.

The nurse was back with what he assumed was the doctor. Dan was asked once more how he was feeling and he explained that he was in considerable discomfort and needed painkillers. His pulse was taken by the nurse whilst the doctor shone a small torch into his eyes. Did he have double vision? Was he feeling pain anywhere else? Did he feel sick? Was he confused?

Too right he was confused. He seemed to be in a sort of cottage hospital with no idea of how he had got there. Dan answered the questions and the nurse was despatched to get some NL15, a drug he had not heard of. Many things were strange but the main thing on his mind was finding out what event had resulted in him being there.

"What happened to me?" Dan enquired.

The doctor smiled and replied "I was hoping you could tell me that. You were found unconscious outside of your house two days ago. Looks like you took a nasty bump to the head."

As he absorbed this information the nurse came back into the room and handed the doctor a small vial. The doctor carefully dripped a tiny amount of the brown liquid from the bottle into the glass of water which the nurse was holding. She stirred the concoction and then handed it to the doctor who handed it to him.

"Drink" he said.

Dan took a few tentative sips of the bitter medicine and was then chastised by the doctor.

"Come on my lad, down in one. It will help with the pain and relax you."

The patient reluctantly drank the rest and the nurse swooped in to remove the empty glass.

"We will leave you to rest." The doctor announced. "I will of course ensure that your wife knows that you are awake and she will no doubt make arrangements to visit you."

He couldn't wait to see his wife. Despite his, sometimes strained, relationship with Sam it was times like these when he realised how much she meant to him.

"She's working at the town hall managing an update of their systems this week, but she'll be able to get away fairly easily." The doctor was open mouthed in surprise at his words.

The torch was back out and the doctor was having another close look at him.

"What did you say your wife was doing?"

Dan hesitated. His previous words had confused the doctor and made him worried. He mumbled that he couldn't remember. There was a nod from the medic but also a frown as he became more unnerved about the strange injury of the strange patient.

The doctor swept from the room with the nurse running along behind as if she were attached to him by an invisible tether. With the unpleasant taste of the medicine still in his mouth Dan closed his eyes once more. He wanted to drift away on some drug induced reverie as the pain in his head abated. Instead, he began to analyse all the things that had struck him as peculiar since he had awakened.

The hospital room was quite bizarre. The bed he was on was narrow and had a metal frame. He couldn't see any of the levers or switches which would enable him to elevate to a more upright position. The décor was more B&B than health service and the lack of any medical equipment was noticeable.

The nurse had been dressed in an old fashioned uniform complete with starched apron upon which was pinned a small watch. A white paper hat, had been perched on her head. It would not have served any protective function so it must have been purely decorative. She did not seem either capable of, or willing to, make any decision without referring to the doctor.

And that brought him to the physician. The man who had come to the room was probably in his fifties. He had been wearing a, three-piece, suit with a shirt and tie. His hair was a little too long, curling up at the back where it met his collar, and he had a large bushy moustache. There was the air of a bygone age about him in both looks and manner. In fact, that was the feeling Dan was getting about the whole set up.

The headache was receding and Dan was grateful for the NL15. He had never heard of that particular painkiller but it was working and that was good enough for him. He knew that he would be drifting off to sleep shortly and he welcomed the relief that would bring from the rather unsettling situation he had found himself in.

An hour later Dan awoke. The large clock on the wall had moved onto four and he wondered when his wife Sam would visit. The nausea had gone and there was only a hint of pain behind his eyes. He tried sitting up and found that it was bearable. He searched in the bedside table drawer hoping to find his mobile phone but it was not there. What should he do now?

There was no locker or furniture in the room which might hold his clothes and other possessions. Dan was wearing pin striped pyjamas and didn't want to leave his room barefoot and in nightwear to explore. He would wait for a while and then if no one appeared he would stick his head outside of the door and call out.

Minutes later the rattling wheels of some sort of trolley could be heard in the corridor. A woman in a brown uniform, still with the paper hat, came in and asked if he wanted tea. Dan asked if he could have coffee and the woman seemed bewildered.

"Tea" she said. "Only tea."

That was fine he assured her and she returned with the tea in a China cup and saucer.

Dan requested a nurse and the orderly practically bowed as she left the room promising to find someone straight away. A different nurse attended him this time. She was slightly more assertive.

"You must stay in your room, sir. Dinner will be served at 5.30 and then the doctor will do his rounds. You will be allowed visitors once the doctor has seen you."

More trolleys clanged along the hall just as the clock showed 5.25. They certainly liked to stick to the timetable in this hospital, thought Dan. He braced himself for a cold pile of mash with an unidentifiable meat served on a plastic tray. He was by now very hungry and would eat whatever they offered. What transpired was unexpected.

Two of the brown uniformed ladies came into the room. One was carrying a small table which was placed over his legs. A table mat was put on the table and silver cutlery was arranged on each side of it. A covered plate was brought in and when the lid was removed a very appetising meal was revealed. There was mash, but it was soft, creamy and hot. Two juicy lamb chops nestled next to carrots and runner beans. Dan laughed with joy.

He tucked into his food and enjoyed every mouthful. The ladies returned and cleared his plate away before returning with apple pie and custard. A small glass was placed on his table too. He took a sip of the ruby liquid and was delighted to find that it was port. He had hit his head and he had woken up in the 1950's. It was a flippant thought, but Dan, on reflection, was finding everything a bit troubling.

There was something very wrong about what had been happening since he woke up after his head injury. It was impossible that he had been taken somewhere away from his home town to a place which would have a set up like this. The clothes, the environment and the food were all very strange.

He wanted to get out of this weird place and go home. Dan couldn't wait to see Sam and be rescued from this archaic hospital with its, old fashioned, practices. It was as if he had woken up in some sort of parallel universe or had travelled back in time. The doctor had mentioned his wife and now he was getting a bit worried that someone other than Sam was going to turn up and claim him.

The arrival of the doctor stopped him from fretting. He could ask some questions and find out what was going on. The man with the magnificent moustache was called Doctor Frobisher.

"I know I've had a bang on the head, but I'm a bit confused. Which hospital is this?" Dan asked.

"District 31" was the reply and that didn't explain anything at all.

"We have run the standard tests and there is no lasting damage to your noggin. As time goes on things will settle back down and you will get back to normal. It may be that you will never remember what caused your injury, so you will just have to put it behind you and get on with life." Dr Frobisher patted Dan on the shoulder in what was supposed to be a reassuring way and then turned to leave. "Your wife is here and will be with you presently."

Thank God that Sam was there. Dan was sure that once he had spoken to her there would be rational explanations which would allay all his fears. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and prepared to get up and greet her when she came in. As she arrived in the doorway, he remained seated and was astonished.

Sam was a jeans and T shirt type. Maybe a dress or a skirt for a night out, not that they had many of those, but the rest of the time she liked casual. The woman (his wife?) in front of him was sporting a jacket with a nipped in waist and a pencil skirt which reached halfway down her shins. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was clasping a small handbag.

Dan frowned, then smiled and then laughed. "Get a look at you in your post war fashion. Is this all some kind of massive practical joke."

The look on Sam's face was not one of amusement. "The doctor said you were confused. He also said that you would get back to normal in time. Once you are home things will be better."

So, this was not some, ill advised, prank. It could not be the result of his head injury. That might affect his memory but it wouldn't transport him to another time period. Dan put his head in his hands and tried to work out what was happening. He looked up at his wife and saw worry and also fear.

"I am going to leave you to rest. Get some sleep. Tomorrow you will be allowed home and then, when we are all together, you can start getting better. The children are desperate to see their daddy."

"The children?" Dan said.

"Yes, Grace and Alexander." Dan buried his face in his hands once more as Sam quietly left.