Visiting Hours (ST short story)

Visiting Hours was the sixteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Day in the Life. It was written by Eddie Robson. It featured the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon.

Summary
Eleanor Woods is in hospital because she occasionally passes out. When she does, she seems to find herself in a very strange place. The other patients in the ward have the same condition, and one by one they have fallen into comas.

One day she has a visitor, who introduces himself as the Doctor. He is actually here to visit his friend Jamie, but since Jamie is in a coma, the Doctor makes friends with Eleanor. She tells him that the hospital personnel won't let them contact their families, and that no one has had a visitor.

During the Doctor's visit, Eleanor passes out and in her "dream" she encounters Jamie. When she wakes, the ward sister is shooing the Doctor out. However, when the sister is gone, the Doctor comes back in through the window. He waits with Eleanor, and when she passes out again, he grabs her hand.

In her "dream", Eleanor sees that the Doctor has come with her. She also notes that the other patients from the ward, including Jamie, are in her dream. The Doctor explains that he's not supposed to be in this place, and if he gets out, maybe he can take the others with him. He pokes a "hole" in the air, and he and Jamie widen it enough for the others to pass through. They all grab hands, but two of the patients, Miss Stevenson and Mr Scott, are too busy arguing. As they argue, Eleanor notices that light seems to drain from Mr Scott, while Miss Stevenson grows brighter.

The Doctor has Mr Gilbert-Jones lead everyone out, with himself coming last. As they leave through the rift, Eleanor notices that the two arguing patients are now just shapes of dark and light.

The patients are back in the ward, but not yet in their bodies. The Doctor starts to explain that what happened inside the strange place was an attempt to create something similar to the big bang, with two opposites, Mr Scott and Miss Stevenson colliding. When Eleanor asks what this means, the Doctor reminds them to get back inside themselves.

The Doctor and Jamie make their farewells, and head off to find Zoe.

Characters

 * Second Doctor
 * Jamie McCrimmon
 * Eleanor Woods
 * William Scott
 * Mr Gilbert-Jones
 * Mrs Abner
 * Mr Lyndon
 * Miss Stevenson
 * Ward sister

Worldbuilding

 * The Doctor gives Eleanor Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and Gulliver's Travels.
 * The Doctor brings grapes for Jamie.
 * After they escape, Jamie says that they need to find Zoe.
 * The Doctor and Eleanor play rummy.

Continuity
to be added