It is a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashes nearby. In a small back room at St. Georges Hospital in Greentown, a man, or a body of a man, lies on an unkempt hospital bed. He wears clothes of a doctor, but they are old, bloody, dirty and torn. He smells of rotting flesh, Necrotech juice and faintly of Fruit Punch.
Lightning flashes again. His eyes open slowly and he sits up. Staggering out into the main lobby, he asks one of the many people there what day it is.
"why, July 1st, of course" they answer politely.
"what year?" Doctor Daz asks
The person looks at him funnily, "uh, 2009."
"hmm... 8 months..." Doctor Daz mutters.
"Pardon?" replies the person.
"Nevermind," says Doctor Daz, "where are all the MCM faculty and students? I don't see them here."
"Oh they're on a field trip up north somewhere, they didn't say where, it's a secret or something."
8 months. That's a long time to be in a coma. Stupid pool, stupid slippery floor. They always tell you not to run near pools, but no-one ever listens, he thinks as he gets out his mobile phone and scrolls to Violet's name.