[HR] The Doc Is In (my first attempt I tried)
Chapter 1: Days 1–2
My name is Reed Jones, and I am cursed. The week after I proposed to my gal, my job at the WOHM (Worldwide Organization of Health and Medicine) forced me to go on my first travel call. Although I am excited, this could not have come at a worse time, for I had just gotten engaged. I have only been working at the organization for about two years now, which is why it is such an honor to be sent on a travel call; they usually send the seniors for these.
Tomorrow, I will board a ferry to the island of Rokien—or Rokia, it’s one of those. From there, I will work under a man named Dr. Newgate. He is supposedly a great surgeon, so I can't wait to meet him, being a surgeon myself. Me and my lady are postponing the wedding until I get back in a few months. It's sad, but it must be done. So, tonight before I leave, I will be spoiling my lady.
Day 2. I'm suspicious of this ship; it looks barely held together and the captain is creepy. He speaks vaguely and unkindly, and he has told me I am actually going to the island of Wodsworth, not Rokien or Rokia. We leave in about an hour, and my gal has given me a picture to remember her by, while I'm away. I put it in my medical bag—I can't think of any safer place.
Chapter 2: Days 3–4
OH GOD, this ship will be the death of me. I'll never sail again. I keep throwing up from seasickness, and ol’ Captain Chimney keeps sucking down these weird cigars with a black smoke that smells of death itself. I cannot sleep because of these waves, and I swear he is actively taping the ship together. I am an optimist, though, so I have to look on the bright side. I'll write it down when I find it.
Day 4. We make port in about an hour or two. Supposedly, this island has been hit with a massive flood and has been experiencing constant, heavy rain for a year. There's a civil war going on or something, so I'm guessing I was sent here to help with that. I'm a little nervous to be this far from Atlanta; I haven't been so far from home since The Great War. But that barely counts because I was barely a man back then. That war was so awful—all my friends dead, over some Duke. But I did pick up my trade on the battlefield, so at least something good came from it. I already miss my gal. I stare at her picture like it's the beautiful sky itself, since on these cursed waters, all you can see is fog.
Chapter 3: Day 10
Maybe I judged the ship too harshly. Just getting off the boat almost killed me, but let me play it out for you. The first thing you are met with when you step onto this cursed pile of mud is a wind so strong and sharp it burns. I barely kept my hat, coat, and capelet on; they were blowing so violently it was unlike anything I've ever felt. After the wind tries to blow you away, you are met with rain that is so heavy it's like a giant's tears—it was coming in from all angles, I swear. Then, if that doesn't get you, the streets are flooded up to your ankles. It’s just like the trenches, so it's a good thing I brought extra socks.
I thought the captain was exaggerating, but he sugarcoated this place. Half of this island has also been swallowed by these cursed waters. The air here is so gross, too, like mold is suspended in the air; everything is wet and foul.
Now for the fun part: some lowlife stabbed me. There I was, walking to the hospital and following the map I got, when boom—some little runt snagged my medical bag. Now, I wasn’t gonna let him get away with the picture of my gal, so I chased the little hobgoblin. I grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed him to the ground. Boom. Face down in the mud he went. I was ready to tan this little rat's hide, but he wiggled out of my grasp, and then the little coward stabbed me in the neck. While I lay there bleeding out, all I could think of was how I failed to get back to my lady. But I lived. Dr. Newgate found me in the streets and patched me up. Sadly, he could not get my medical bag back; the guy ran too fast. I still have my memories of my gal, though. I was out for a few days, but the doctor did a great job. I feel I should rest for a few more days, but I won't argue with the man who saved me, so I start work tomorrow. Even after all this, I am happy I am here. From the time I spent walking the streets, all I saw were people who could use my help.
Chapter 4: Days 11–12
This hospital is off. It's dark and the lights barely work. Most of the windows have been barricaded. It is unwelcoming and weird, and coral grows right on the walls. Most of the lower floors are flooded. A lot of hurt and homeless merfolk protest outside the front door. There is a minority of merfolk that live on the island; they believe they are blessed by the sea. I think it's just a skin condition, but it was a merfolk who robbed me.
The merfolk are on the other side of the civil war here. The humans believe that the merfolk brought the flood and the rain, but I don't buy into that. This civil war is not small like the ferry captain said. It's island-wide, and every time I look out a window, I see an atrocity being committed by one of the sides. The hospital is segregated because of this; we only take humans. I hate that. I think it's stupid. I tried to help the merfolk by going out to treat them, but Newgate came out with a gun, shot it in the air and drove them off. I will stick to slipping them medical supplies when I can. I asked one of the nurses about this, and supposedly Newgate's family was killed by a merfolk, so he hates them. I understand his perspective, but not all merfolk are bad. The ones I helped were very nice—kinder than most of the patients I've treated today. I am going to bed now. I have a small room in the surgery ward, which is the lowest, not flooded floor in the hospital.
Day 12. That was the worst night of sleep ever, worse than on the ship. I kept hearing people talking from the lower floors. I don't know how, since they are flooded. Maybe divers? Today was weird. There was a strange stillness in the hospital. No one really spoke, and we didn't have any patients, really—only a couple of stab wounds from the war. I mostly stayed at the front desk catching up on some reading. Although the hospital was quiet, the weather was anything but. The rain was awful; I thought the hospital was gonna fly away.
Chapter 5: Day 14
A sad day: I got “promoted” to head of psychiatry. I was helping with unflooding the surgery ward today when Newgate came up to me looking irritated. I thought he found out I was slipping supplies to the merfolk, but it was worse. He said, “Reed, I hate to do this to you, but you have to sub in for the head of the psychiatry ward.”
I was like, "What? Why me?" and he kinda got mad at me. He said, “You are here to help, are you not? Then why are you questioning me?”
I found out later that day that the former head of the ward, Dr. Mundur, had sadly taken his own life. May he rest in peace. I spent my last day as a surgeon as best as I could; I finished unflooding the ward, and that was about it. Then I went to bed. It wasn't a very eventful day.
Chapter 6: Day 15
The first day in the ward was unsettling. When I first got here, I had to restrain a frail old lady who was beating her head against the wall, chanting about a flood, a new world, and a "Dagoon"—whatever that is. The ward is in shambles and is a very small room. The wallpaper is peeling off, and it is damp because of a very bad patchwork job on the roof that lets the rain in. I tried to fix it, but I'm not a builder. The same coral growth from the lower floor has taken over this floor really badly. I'll try and put up warning signs so people will watch where they step; the small pieces are sharp and pointy.
The patients are interesting. They are all rocking, crying, and chanting like the old lady was. Some of them have a weird stomach bug where they will throw up, spit up, or even cry this black goo. I wanted to get it analyzed, but the night nurse on this ward told me the college that analyzed things like that got destroyed in the flood. And since that lowlife stole my bag, I can't analyze it myself. My room is not very good. It has a broken window, and the closet they found Dr. Mundur in won't stay closed. I feel like something is watching me from inside it. I also keep hearing weird whispers and voices, but I think they are just the patients. Tomorrow, I will put the patients on various different drugs to see if it helps.
Chapter 7: Day 19
Truly fascinating. Over the past few days, I have put my patients on a variety of antipsychotics, but none of them have worked in any way. No other new symptoms have occurred with my patients, and they are all non-violent, so I won't have to use any harsher treatments yet.
I was talking to Harriet the other day, asking about Dr. Mundur, but she didn't know much about him. He was a complete hermit but a great doctor. All she knew was that his first name was Ebios, which I thought was unique, and that his mom was one of those merfolk. She said he always seemed a little off and talked to himself a lot; she'd overhear him at night going over different ways to cure the patients, which he never found.
I have spent most of my days going over his journals. None of them have been very helpful. I was hoping to see what he’d already tried, but he was a conspiracy theorist, and most of his journals talk about a figure named "Dagoth," which I guess is what the patients chant about. The full sentence they repeat is: “Great flood, Great storm, Bring the blood, Dagoth is born.” Very weird and creepy. If I was a superstitious man, I'd think something unholy was going on here. Other things in his journals note that the Ironhill mines are unnatural, that the merfolk are offspring of this Dagoth figure, and something about transcending to the other side. Very eerie.
Chapter 8: Days 20–21
I tried to focus on these weird voices and conversations I've been hearing, and they said something about morphine being able to cure the patients. I took a chance, and it would seem my patients are cured. They have stopped chanting and can walk freely, talking to the nurses coherently. I can’t be sure yet—this could just be a bandage—but it is looking promising. Newgate was very impressed with me and came to check over some of the patients himself. He wanted them given some morphine and sent home, but I stood firm that they needed to stay for observation.
Other than that, I have started noticing weird creatures, which I couldn't even begin to describe, scurrying across the ward just outside of my vision. I also had a weird interaction a little before trying to go to bed. I was awoken by a dream I was having where Dr. Mundur was in the water and I was trying to swim to him, and I swear I heard him yelling, "Closet!" for some odd reason.
For some reason, I did wake up, and I found myself opening the closet. And I saw him. A blue, fat man with a small goatee and a doctor’s coat, with a rope burn around his neck. He told me to stay quiet. I don't think I'm going crazy, but I don't know how else to explain this.
Day 21. Today I awoke to Dr. Mundur sitting at my desk with two cups of coffee. He slid one my way and told me to sit, even though I was already sitting on my bed. He explained how he had transcended man and became greater. He told me that he has knowledge of all and can now truly begin to help the patients, and how he has seen the throne of God—and it was empty. He told me I can't tell anyone and must keep him a secret. I nodded and went along with it. I figure as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone, he’s fine, and he truly just seems to be a little wacky.
Chapter 9: Day 22
Today I was awoken by the screams of Harriet. I ran out and saw her on the floor in horror, crying and screaming. I ran to comfort her. The patients had all died; they had been taken by the same coral that took over this ward, bursting right out of them, and black goo stained the beds they lay on. It was the most unholy thing I had ever seen. I did not know what to do and called Newgate.
He rushed in and was very confused as to why we were both freaking out. He said, “I guess you both are newcomers. This is the end stage of the illness we’ve been fighting since the flood happened. At this point, all we can do is burn them.” I asked him about it, and he told me more, explaining how Mundur had been fighting it since the flood first started. Supposedly, Mundur never got close to finding a cure; each time he felt close, they would all die, and Newgate believes that is why Mundur took his own life. The bodies were taken and burned. I went back to my room after letting Harriet go home for the day. Mundur was sitting on my bed. He knew what had happened and tried to comfort me, but I just went to bed for the day. I had nothing to do. What an awful day.
Chapter 10: Day 23
Another awful day at the hospital. Those fish were evil. They took over the Ironhills district of the city and slaughtered everyone there—mostly the richer families, but that doesn't matter, they were people. I was in the emergency ward today to help with the overflow of victims. Most didn't make it through the doors, but the ones who did, I gave my all to. I'm so tired, but I'm not giving up on these people.
The fishmen call themselves The Hand of Dagoth. Not every fishman is in it, but the cult is all fishmen. This group stormed the district with weird weapons, as the survivors say. If you didn't instantly die, you were tortured and thrown from the hills, and sadly, they did not discriminate with the victims. They wanted the hills because they are on high ground, and during the storming of the hills, they were chanting the same thing my patients were. The cult was led by a merman named Fushal; he was the mastermind behind this slaughter.
The hospital had most of the police force protecting it; they shot and killed a group of merfolk who were just trying to get help. This place is awful—they just wanted help. I spent all day helping the wounded and saw some of the most horrific injuries that looked entirely unnatural. Some of these victims were coughing up seawater. They honestly looked like the sea had taken them, like they had lived underwater for years. It's so unnatural, but I tried my best. I can’t sleep; me and Mundur have just been talking.
Chapter 11: Day 24
Today is another awful day, such times I haven't seen since the war. Today when I awoke, all the victims from what they are calling “The Blood Flood of Ironhills” had died. Weirdly, it was all in the same way as my insane patients. I hope they all rest in peace. I don't know what's happening here, but something much bigger than me is going on. Still, I won't give up. My ward is full again, and I think I can help.
Mundur wasn’t in my room today; I haven't seen him since I awoke. The docks have been hit with a massive wave and they, along with the whole harbor, are gone. The island is being hit with waves a lot more than usual, and the rain is picking up. I don't know how I will get back to Atlanta, but I know I will. Some of the new patients are violent, and I have to keep them in isolation rooms and in straightjackets.
Chapter 12: Days 25–27
These past days have been brutal. I have been having an internal war on whether I should use lobotomies and electroshock therapy on patients, but sadly, I must. I never wanted to, but one of the violent ones almost killed a nurse, and I can't play with fire like this. We started with just the violent ones, but it seems to be helping, so I'm going to be doing it with the other patients, too.
The ward has become more corrupt, you could say. Black goo has started leaking from the walls. It's not a nice work environment. I better be getting some sort of hazard pay. The voices have also become so intense I can no longer ignore them. I have to do something about it. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I might try to self-lobotomize; the morphine isn’t shutting them up anymore.
Chapter 13: Days 28–29
Mundur returned after I performed the lobotomy on myself. Weirdly, it didn't hurt and I don't feel any different, but the voices and scurrying creatures are gone. Mundur seems different, though—not as cheerful. He looks like he has shell-shock. I asked about it, and he stayed silent.
My patients are doing better. I think I have beaten this disease. My name will go down in history. I noticed Newgate and the other doctors giving me weird looks, but what do they know? They are fools. I’m about to solve something that stumped them for months.
Chapter 14: Day 31
My patients all died. I don't know how; I did everything right. I’m going to have to use all the tricks this time. Me and Mundur are brainstorming ideas right now. I like exploratory surgeries and ice therapy so far, but there is more. The next batch, sadly, has to be guinea pigs. I know it sounds wrong on paper, but it's not—I'm a doctor. I know that this needs extreme measures. Mundur has been a big help recently. I feel I am so close to a breakthrough. Sadly a few lives can’t outweigh the many so these extreme measures will be taken. I'm looking forward to the next batch. I think that it might be a parasite or a seed that sprouts into big ol’ coral things. We will be doing exploratory surgeries for sure, and I have a few other things in mind.
Chapter 15: Day 33
New patients. The ward is full again. I have wasted no time; me and Mundur took one of the patients and dissected them. Sadly, they died and we found nothing, but now we know it's probably not something internal. We will go for a few more rounds, though. My gal is gonna be so proud of me when I return.
In other news, if you care, the island has begun fully sinking. The streets are empty and waves are destroying things, so I am kinda on a time limit. I also haven't seen anyone in the hospital besides my new patients. I wonder where they went, but I have to focus.
Chapter 16: Day 36
Mundur left me, mad at me because I didn't want to join him on the other side. It's weird—he's gone and I feel different. Lighter, maybe, I don't know. Maybe clearer. I'm starting to wander around this place. I don't know if maybe it's a holiday, but no one is here. The streets are empty and look like rivers now. I probably shouldn’t worry about these things. I have patients to care for.
Chapter 17: Day 40
Umm, it's very lonely here. All my patients have succumbed to the illness again. It's like fighting the same battle over and over again with less will to do so. I swear I've tried it all and got nothing, and I feel I may have gone too far. I held a service for the ones who died by my hands during the treatments, but the other 25% died from what I have named "Coralisis."
I don't know where everyone went. When I look out my window, the streets are vacant; the hospital is now just me. It's weird and lonely. I hate being alone. I feel different without Mundur. I will wait for more patients.
Chapter 18: Day 42
Oh God, what have I done? All those people dead, at my hands... I didn't help at all. I'm a monster. What was I thinking? Guinea pigs? No human, no matter how sick, is a guinea pig. This island has gotten to me. I became mad. I think I have snapped out of it, but God, who knows? And God, I hope so. Tomorrow I am going to look for my friends. My head is killing me.
Chapter 19: Days 43–44
All I can do now is try to right my wrongs. I have set out to find my friends, and maybe anyone else. For what I have done, I should be dead but I'm not so I”ll help. I'm bringing the rest of the food I was hoarding and filling my backpack with any medical supplies I can use. I'm going to actually try and help. It's the least I could do. Those poor patients came to me for help, and... God.
Day 44. This place is wrong. It's not the same at all, nothing like when I first got here. When I first stepped out of the hospital, there was a dock with a small, rickety boat at the end instead of stairs like normal. It was dark and the rain was falling harder than ever, but I swear the clock said noon. I got onto the boat and started rowing. For a moment, I wanted to row back to the hospital, but I couldn't; when I turned to look back, the hospital had been taken by the sea.
The water was dark and viscous; it was like rowing in molasses. Every building has been taken by coral and become a monument of the sea. A foul fog makes it impossible to see. The only light anymore is a faint green glow coming from a destroyed lighthouse. I will try to row there and try to signal a ship, but the waters have become so violent I don't think a ship can get here. I see—or maybe feel—something awful. The air is heavy and unpleasant. I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eyes. After a bit of rowing, I passed out. When I came to, I was outside of a cave, and that is where I am right now. I believe I am in the mines of Ironhills, but I cannot be sure. I will sleep here tonight. I think I have to go deeper into the mines; the water is rising and the storm has become devilish.
Chapter 20: Days 44–50
I have started my descent into these mines. There is a faint green light radiating my way; I have to follow it. The entrance to the cave has collapsed, the water is rushing in, and I'm worried. There are things that I swear are staring at me from the waters. These caves are tight—I feel like a clay kicker. My mind has become foggy, my head is killing me, and I don't know how far these tunnels go.
Day 45. I lost my capelet. I thought I felt something grab me, but I think it was just a rock I got snagged on. This light is faint and I feel blind. I walked all day—I think a day has passed or more since I got in here. I keep getting turned around in here. There is this dark goo on the walls, though the water stopped rushing in.
Days 46–47. Nothing notable, really. It's so dark. I've just been walking for so long. I feel like I'm heading to my doom, but I still have to get back to my gal. I have decided to only think happy thoughts, but when I do, my head feels like it's splitting. But that's worth it.
Day 48. These caves go on forever. May God help me. The water has just become that black goo that was on the walls. My legs are killing me, I keep tripping, and I swear something is following me. I know it; I feel it.
Day 49. My heart is racing—I've never run so fast in my life. I saw something at the end of the tunnel. My God, my God. Why am I in this place? Was it for my sins in the ward? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please God, I'm sorry. I ran so far. Stairs appeared—I don’t know how, I just ran up them and am now at the top of the lighthouse. I shoved some boxes down the stairs and blocked the door, but it doesn't matter; the island is gone. This lighthouse is flooding rapidly—it's halfway up already. I have seen the view from the top of the lighthouse. The water is no longer water; it's black and moves unnaturally. Weird obelisks have arisen, and the storm has become so violent it feels like the wrath of hell.
Day 50. I passed out, and my dreams have even become corrupted. My gal, the only light in this darkness, has become corrupted in my mind. I saw the tunnel thing in my dream and I could not escape it. The sun looks unnatural now; maybe my mind is just shattering. Something is happening here and I don't know what it is. Armageddon?
Chapter 21: Days 51–53
The past few days in this dark tower, the only thing to comfort me has been the whispers from the sea. Why did I ever run from such peace? The sea is so calm. It's so gentle and tranquil, like my girl. It whispers to me. Maybe it's not all bad.
Chapter 22: Day 55
Today I am meeting my girl in the sea. Mundur has returned, and Newgate and Harriet. I found my friends. They are all in the water waiting for me. I knew this nightmare would end. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and my light is with my friends at the bottom of these stairs. Thank you, Lord. I shouldn’t keep them waiting too long. Forgive me for making you wait so long, Marianne.