So… things didn’t work out the way I expected. I totaled the rental car. And the hospital…

When I first wrecked the rental car, my wrists hurt where the airbag exploded. By the time the taxi dropped me off at the Bed and Breakfast, they were really swollen. My hostess took one look at me and said she was taking me to the doctor.

The nurses were on strike. It had been all over the news. Operations were cancelled and rescheduled. Some clinics were consolidating for the day. So, we were a little concerned. Especially when we noticed there weren’t many cars in the parking lot. Mary had me check before she left me. The lights were on and the door was unlocked, so I waved her on.

There was no one at reception, but I guessed that was because of the strike. I could hear people in the distance and see other lights on, so I headed to where I heard people.

I walked into the hallway and found those weren’t lights. It was the sun setting through the windows. I went back to reception and realized it wasn’t a light either. It was a skylight. I ran back to the door to see if by some miracle I could catch Mary and found I was locked in.

By now my hands were really throbbing. I was walking along with them up, trying to get the swelling down. I could still hear people talking in the distance, so I headed toward the sound.

But I couldn’t find it. I went down hallway after hallway, with it getting darker and darker. There were light switches, but none of them worked. Back at reception, I tried the phone, but no dial tone.

It was so strange! There were chairs, tables, desks… but no people. The rooms had beds, chairs and equipment, but there were no mattresses. It was getting more and more eerie. I could hear someone following me, but when I stopped walking, it was the echo of my own footsteps.

I could hear people talking, but always in the distance. Always echoing back to me. Walk, stop, listen. Walk, stop, listen. I kept getting turned around and ending back at reception and the voices were never any closer. I started to wonder if I really wanted to find those voices.

The sun set. There was barely any light coming in from the windows. Finally, I thought the voices were just a little louder behind a closed door. I got the door open, with my by now extremely swollen hands. It was a janitor’s closet. A leaky tap was running into a bucket, which overflowed into a floor tub and down a drain. The rippling sound was echoing and sounded like people talking.

OK. So, now what? It was dark. Really, really dark. I stood there in the hallway looking for any light at all. I walked down the hall, with my elbow touching the wall just to keep my bearings. When the hallway turned, I could see a distant light. I walked toward the light and when I got there, it was an elevator button. Just the one button. So, I pushed it with my elbow.

And the elevator opened! A perfectly normal elevator. With light. And Muzak. And I could hear the audience screaming “Don’t do it!!!!”

I just stood there while the doors closed again.

Now it was even darker, because the light had kinda blinded me.

I was really spooked. It wasn’t until the third time the elevator opened that I went in. One of the buttons had a star on it, so I pushed it.

The elevator went up. The doors opened on the other side. And I was in a perfectly normal hospital.

Staff were very surprised to see me. It seems that end of the hospital was closed for renovation. The doors I came in used to be the front doors before the new addition and remodel. That’s why Mary dropped me off there. It should not have been unlocked.

The only strange thing after that was, they did not take my money. I was fitted with splints and sent back to the B&B in a taxi.

Next: Greenacres Bed and Breakfast >