Wow! What an awesome chapter! That's it can't think of anything else to say - amazing!

Sometimes I wonder why people don't like hospitals. At least John's getting there.

Ahh... now I'm kind of feeling sorry for Scott because that puts a whole new spin on things and makes me think the purpose of the exercise was to allow John to confide in him. Only, John hasn't. That's going to lead to lots of muted but battered feelings. Lots of understated emotions in this and handled really well. John's muddled thoughts interlaced with the medical paraphernalia was really good too - a good balance of reality against John's perception of reality. I loved how Scott's change in attitude comes across with one word and the comparison to his father too. And also - Scott's been counting! That speaks volumes. Continue to thoroughly enjoy this and I'm so very looking forward to next Tuesday now to see how we go from here (and of course, what the problem is).

Yeah, it's bad when they find a name on you and it's not your own name. Poor John.

Oh dear... this isn't looking good for John. I loved the misconception in this chapter around Alan being there and being on the hologram - that was really well delivered. I also like John's muddled thoughts and the way they wander and his slowness to realise Scott was finally taking the hint and moving to the hotel. All constitute a really slow build to subtly tell us something isn't right. Continue to enjoy this - it's well written and the twists and turns really keep you on your feet. Looking forward to Thursday!
Oh - should probably mention your aptitude for periphery characters too, the shopkeeper comes to life in the previous chapter. You snuck him in as a non-entity and then suddenly even the characters on the periphery are as complex and have backstory (which I think is brilliant!).

Oh dear. Poor John.

Loving this. Great follow on dissecting the relationship between John and Scott. I love Scott's brashness here; you really get a sense for his youthfulness but also the tendrils of something darker lurking around the edges. Giving him a hardness in flickering moments. John continues to build towards some semblance of self-worth and his reactions to Scott I think make that clear without him really acknowledging it himself. The comparisons to their childhood and a time when they relationship was on safer ground are a good addition and make us realise how far they've come individually from that. Looking forward to reading the rest - thanks for sharing.