Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
A/N – Now I'm really excited about this story, I can't wait to hear what you think!
A/N – This story takes place in the UK, I haven't seen it done before for years now
Chapter 01 – POV of Rocky Walker
My foot shook as I sat in one of the many uncomfortable waiting room chairs. There were so many other people in the waiting area. Opposite me sat a woman who had a boy on her lap, he was bawling his head off like you would not believe it, my ears were struggling to cope with it. I couldn't block it out. Occasionally, the woman would smile apologetically at me as her son screamed, clutching his arm. An elderly lady sat on my left, she kept trying to make small talk with me, that was, until her husband came along. Then she sat in silence.
A third person kept staring at my foot shaking that made me really conscious that I was doing it. It was a nervous habit of mine, I couldn't help it. When I was nervous or agitated, my foot would shake. The heel of my trainer was practically bouncing off the plain hospital floor. I just wanted it all to be over, forgotten about, I wanted to get on with my life, not having to wonder what was wrong with me.
"Mr Walker, Doctor Bailey is ready for you now."
I glanced up and saw a nurse looking down at me with green eyes, peering over the top of her clip board.
"Second door on the left."
I avoided eye contact with her; she had an incredibly intimidating stare.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to my feet, looking down the corridor where I saw the door she was talking about. It felt like the corridor was expanding, the door getting further and further away.
Leaving the screaming boy behind, I strode bravely towards the door all I could think was how much I didn't want to be in the there. The hospital, I mean. I paused outside the door, feeling my hand begin to shake as I reached for the handle.
"Come on, Rocky, everything will be fine; there's nothing to worry about," I murmured to myself once I reached the door.
Pushing the door open, I noticed the MRI scanner the moment I walked in the room; it was so big that it took up the majority of the room. It almost looked like a prop for a science fiction film. The sight of it made me feel hot, flustered and a little sick in the stomach.
I had been dreading this all week.
The need to have an MRI started earlier this year, three months ago to be precise. I was having problems in class, I couldn't focus on the work and I was constantly tripping over things no matter what size they were. Tables, chairs - I even walked into a lamppost.
It wasn't my choice to be at the hospital. When my mum suggested I made an appointment at the hospital, she was more ordering me to do it. She's so headstrong and argumentative that I didn't want to get on the wrong side of her too quickly. After she told me she wanted me to book an appointment, I made a big deal about it which didn't go down well with her. I got the usual, "Rocky, I am sick and tired of you not doing things for yourself, it's about time you grew up." Most of the times that Mum and I had an argument, it would generally be about something small or insignificant.
After having an argument with her, I organised the appointment myself. This brought me to today. Getting an MRI scan. This sucked beyond belief.
"You must be Mr Walker, I'm Doctor Bailey. Do you mind if I call you Rocky?"
My mouth went dry, I nodded my head. The doctor slowly shook my hand; he wore a pristine white jacket with gloves over his skinny hands. They felt so bony; I accidently shuddered at the thought of what his hands might have looked like without them. He had a mask over his mouth and a shower hat like cap covering his head. I felt like he just didn't want any skin to be showing. I assumed that he might have some kind of skin condition. The clothes he wore were different to the surgical scrubs I've seen the doctors wear in the medical dramas that are shown on the telly.
"Yeah, that's me." I smiled weakly, something didn't seem right about this doctor, but I just wanted to get out of the hospital quickly.
"Well, we've run some tests on a blood sample we took and found that you would be better suited for a different experiment we have, please, right this way. I called your mother and she seemed to approve of it," Doctor Bailey said.
Something about him just seemed suspicious, but if Mum agreed, I thought that he must have been legit. I listened to Doctor Bailey explain all the procedures and safety precautions.
"You've not got anything metal have you?" Doctor Bailey raised his eyebrows at me.
"Well, there are just a few things in my pockets, most likely my belt buckle too. Here." I emptied the contents out into a plastic tray that the Doctor now held in his hands.
Still carrying the tray, he led me towards another door and into the next room where there was a machine that did look like just another scanner.
"Take a seat whilst I just go and get you a hospital gown."
I nodded, lowering myself into a chair which appeared far more comfortable than the waiting room chairs. I watched Doctor Bailey disappear out of the room and stood up, wanting to investigate the scanner. I peered inside the tunnel like pod.
"If you just slip this on-"
My heart skipped a beat. I was not expecting the doctor to be so quick. I thought it would have taken far longer. He handed me a hospital dress for me to change into.
"I'll come back in a few minutes and then we'll see what we can find."
I went over to the window at the far side of the room, outside the sun was shining and I could see families playing in the playground across the road from the hospital. My head jerked a little when I saw a guy - who looked identical to the doctor - sitting on a park bench by himself. Unlike the doctor, this guy was wearing a black suit and aviator like glasses. His gaze was fixed on the hospital. My hand shot out and closed the blinds of the room. I quickly dropped my trousers and pulled my shirt off over my head and leaving them on the chair.
But boy, the hospital gown made me itch like crazy. Scratching around the collar of the gown, I wandered towards the machine and looked inside.
Something was clearly different about this machine, but it looked the same to me. The doctor returned and switched on the machine. The scanner hummed loudly as the tray came out, ready for me to lie on.
I watched the doctor's mouth move, unable to hear exactly what he was properly saying but I nodded anyway, lying down flat on the tray. Wriggling about a little to get comfortable was frustrating at first, but it had to be done.
Mum had told me that these scans could take a long of time and to get comfortable as soon as you can.
The machine buzzed and hummed louder. I tried to focus on something else, closing my eyes for a moment but, I didn't want to fall asleep. I just wanted to rest my eyes.
Next, I had my eyes scrunched shut because of a bright light. I wasn't expecting it. I could feel a gently breeze blowing through my hair. A fresh air breeze. It reminded me of the times where Mum, Dad, me and my older brother Noah would go on holiday to a little cottage in a surreal, quiet location on the coast.
"This can't be right," I mumbled to myself slowly opening my eyes. "What the?" I squeaked awkwardly, looking at the sky, looking at the clouds floating by.
"This can't be happening." I slowly tried to sit up but it was like I had hit a force field even after I lifted it about a few centimetres from where I lay.
"Ouch, that is not meant to happen. What the hell is going on here?" I snapped angrily, cursing under my breath at the sharp pain right between my eyes and on my forehead.
When the pain started to settle I called out again, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
A weird electrical pulse surged across the sky which caused it to light up in a series of large squares which spanned as far as I could see. The sky started to alter its appearance, now it was a rocky cave. All I could see was what was in front of me. I was in too much shock to move.
"Oh this just gets better." I raised my hand up a few centimetres and again, the force field stopped me from extending my arm out further.
"Hello!?" I called out, tucking my head into my prominent collar bone to see further into the cave.
There was an egg; I could see it just passed my feet. It was grey, a smoky grey with red flames decorating it around the base of the egg.
"This just keeps getting weirder."
The red spark jolted across the roof of the cave, fading away out of my eyesight.
"This place is suffering a serious power shortage," I mumbled to myself. I felt my eyes drop, I tried to open them again but I just couldn't do it.
"Mr Walker? Mr Walker?"
This voice, it was the doctor was calling out for me. I opened my eyes again and saw the doctor leering at me from the machine's control panel.
I jerked backwards a little, a petrified look on my face. Doctor Bailey stood upright, his eyes locked on me.
"Everything seems just fine. You can make an appointment with me and we'll do another test. I'll let you get changed." His voice was muffled by the mask, but I could definitely make out a smirk creeping out at one side.
"What happened?" There was a little confusion about what had just happened. I couldn't shake the feeling that something felt a little out of place about that particular scan. I was sure that I didn't imagine it, and it certainly wasn't a dream.
"Oh, that's nothing special, some people experience complete hallucinations, I wouldn't think too much into it."
"Okay. I won't," I replied, hesitating a little, I wanted to ask the doctor again, hoping he would tell me the truth. It seemed like he knew more than he was letting on.
"Well you see to yourself Mr Walker, good day."
As soon as the door closed, I was sure I could hear the doctor laughing, no, cackling on the other side of the door.
This whole experience was starting to creep me out. I started to question whether the doctor was a genuine doctor or not.
Getting out of that hospital was a relief. I let out a deep sigh and went towards Mum, who was waiting in our little dark green Peugeot in the parking lot; I could see the very same man sitting on the park bench. The man who looked identical to the doctor… I ignored him and sat down in the passenger seat of the car.
Mum seemed all jittery. God knows how long my paranoid, protective mother could have been waiting for me.
"Rocky Walker, I've been worried sick. Where have you been?" She squeezed my shoulders and rubbed my cheek. "I've been waiting here an hour." An hour? "I was beginning to wonder if you had gone to the appointment at all."
"Mum, you know I wouldn't do that. Besides, I had nothing to lose from going. Just chill out, will you?" I slumped back in the passenger seat. "Anyway, I was only in there about twenty minutes."
"What- you mean you got to the hospital twenty minutes ago though you arranged an appointment for it over an hour ago? I know you are an imaginative boy Rocky, but sometimes, you get tangled up in your own web of lies." I watched her tighten her grip on the steering wheel, her knuckles going white at the pressure.
"I'm not lying! I mean, sure, I may have walked into the hospital at about sixteen, twenty three- just three minutes late. Then I walked into the MRI room where I got sorted out in about two seconds. I was in the scanner for no longer than, like, twenty minutes max!" I looked down at my right wrist and let out a short squeak. Locked around my wrist was a weird computer like digital device, a green light blinked momentarily. My mouth dropped open.
Whilst she was distracted lecturing me, my left hand grappled with the device, willing it to come off but, it was like the device was welded onto my wrist.
"Rocky, are you even listening to me?" Mum asked impatiently. "This is not a good start to the evening. I've really had a stressful day without-"
"Mum, please, we barely spent any time together in the evening as it is." I noticed Mum lean back in her seat, loosening her grip on the wheel.
"Well- your brother Noah used to come and watch a television programme with me nearly every day so, why can't you?"
The car stopped at a set of traffic lights, I had heard her use this line over and over again, and I knew exactly what line was coming next.
"Why can't you just be more like your brother?" I think I even mimicked her, moving my mouth with hers.
"Oh, come on. Will you give it a rest with this whole golden boy act? I am sick and tired of being constantly compared with him." I knew I was shouting, and that Mum was not impressed in the slightest.
She shot a short glance my way; that was the first sign to stop whilst I got too carried away. I couldn't help it, she was always comparing me to my brother, Noah.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me, young man! I am beginning to lose my patience with you. Pretty soon, if you don't turn your life around, then - then I will have to take drastic actions."
This was an empty threat- I can't remember the amount of times I had heard that.
"Mum, when are you going to admit that me and Noah are two different people. He's into academia whilst I am into sports- and girls." I smiled as the car drove past two girls wearing these summer dresses that showed off the perfect amount of leg, nodding a little.
"Rocky!" Mum snapped ferociously like a dog.
I froze and kept my mouth shut. I was not going to apologise. It was her turn to apologise; I was always the one to apologise. It wasn't fair. I may have been acting like a child, I may only have been seventeen, but Mum needed to realise that Noah and I were different.
"And what is that thing on your wrist? Where's that new watch your father got you from his holiday in Turkey with his new girlfriend?"
I looked down at my wrist, pulling the sleeve of my hoodie down over the digital device on my arm. I started racking my brain for something to say, the last thing I wanted to do was lie to my mum, but I had no choice. She wouldn't believe me if I told her.
"Well, I didn't really like it. And when I asked Dad if I could sell it, he was only more than happy to oblige. I thought this one was cool, and it won't slip around when I'm playing games."
Speaking of games reminded me of my extra athletics training that my coach wanted me to do at the local arena.
"By the way, you can just let me out here, Mum. I've got athletics training-" I pointed at the school's athletics track and my finger followed it as we drove straight past it.
"Mum, you missed the tracks." I watched the athletics track disappear around the corner.
"I know I did Rocky, because you aren't going until you do some revision. All I've seen you do is watch T.V and play on your stupid games."
"Mum…" I moaned, she was so unbelievably irritating sometimes. I needed her to loosen the reins a little and let me make my own mistakes. I needed space, I needed for my mum to butt out of my life. I slammed my head into the passenger side window. "Why-"
"Rocky! You stop that right now or-" Mum gripped the steering wheel harder as the car picked up speed.
"Or what, Mum? You'll set me up with a maths tutor? Or you'll cancel my internet privileges?" I let out a gentle chuckle. "How many times have you made those threats Mum?" I gritted my teeth and leant towards her, feeling the seatbelt rubbing against the side of my neck. "Eh?"
"Rocky, if you don't stop then I will do the one thing that I promised your father I would never, ever do…" Mum trailed off, getting quieter. I'm not even sure if that is what she said.
"Ahem shah aha, what? Mum, you're mumbling." My voice sounded cold to my own ears. Mum dug her fingernails into the steering wheel as I watched the speedometer shoot further clockwise. "Mum, Mum?" I repeated.
I looked ahead to see a set of traffic lights which had been on green for some time so I expected them to change to red pretty soon.
The car tore towards the crossing, as we approached the crossing I caught a glimpse of the traffic lights switch back to red. I expected Mum to slow down, press the brake, but she didn't. Her eyes were kept fixed on the road. My eyes were darting between the road and her.
"Slow down!" I yelled, beginning to feel petrified for my own life.
I gawped at something else momentarily.
A guy dressed in a black suit wearing aviator glasses was watching me, watching the car drive by. I was sure I saw him nod.
That's when it happened. We were barely half way across. I looked at Mum who had the glimmer of a thrill seeker in her eyes.
"MUM!" I screamed as a van come hurtling towards us.
It smacked into her side of the car. The impact caused my head to whip round and smack into the headrest of my seat. The car was sent in a corkscrew like rotation. I raised my arms up by my face, to try and protect it.
I was tossed about uncontrollably, smacking into the passenger door and roof of the car. The seatbelt was barely holding me in the seat. I kept tucked in, hoping that the car would stop flipping. I was terrified for my own life, before that moment, nothing had come close to being as scary as that was. I could hear my heart beating distinctly in my ears.
Through the screams and the car horns, the car came to a stop upside down. I could hear people calling out to us, hoping that one of us could react. My legs were resting against the dashboard and my thighs were on the backrest of the chair. My body ached all over. I froze up, becoming panicky. The device on my wrist began to light up, I could make out the outline of an egg. I was sure I could see it moving. I craned my neck to see Mum who was crumpled on the roof of the car. My stomach began to turn making me queasy. I didn't want to believe what I saw. My mouth went dry as a tear built up.
"Mum? Mum. Mum!" I screamed coarsely, reaching out for her though it hurt just trying to touch her. "Mum?" A lone tear drop off my cheek. Her body was still, too still. "Wake up!"
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = So it is a fairly fast paced chapter at some points. And what is with this strange device on Rocky's arm?
By the way, you can check out The Tangled Web topic in a forum called Digital Connections where I will keep you updated on the next publish date, opportunities to have your say in what could happen in the next chapter and just helpful little hints :)