Chapter Text
In a dark room with very little lighting, Quinn looked away from the torture they were currently and cruelly subjected to against their will. Squinting his eyes in pain, Quinn began whispering to Rembrandt on his right, “We have got to get out of here Cryin’ Man. I can’t take it anymore.”
Before Rembrandt could say anything, Sokka whispered on Quinn’s left in utter desperation, “Whatever it is, I agree. Just take me with you!” But seeing their slight hesitation, Sokka added in harsh whispered tones, “And if you don’t take me with you, family or not, I’m gonna squeal on you two!”
Rembrandt and Quinn’s eyes widened in fear and then nodded simultaneously. Licking his lips, Quinn then whispered, “Okay, but if we do this, we have to do this together.”
With the torture continuing, Rembrandt could only shift uncomfortably as he took a discreet but deep breath and said in hushed tones, “On my mark fellas.”
The three positioned themselves and Rembrandt said, “Ready.”
Sokka twitched as he prepared for the worst.
“Set,” Rembrandt said.
Quinn began to sweat in anticipation.
“Now ,” Rembrandt whispered harshly.
Looking at their captor, Rembrandt, Quinn, and Sokka said in unison, “We’ve got to go to the restroom.”
At their statement, Naomi looked away from Count Alamaviva’s aria ‘Hai gia vinto la causa’, leaned forward to look past Arturo, and smirked knowingly at the trio. Professor Arturo though turned an annoyed yet simultaneously imploring looked heavenward.
Turning his laser-like gaze at them, the red faced Arturo had every intention letting them have it; however, he then felt a warm hand clasp his own. Looking down, the Englishman saw Naomi’s hand, he then looked at Naomi as she said, “Max, let them go. We’ll have to slide soon anyway.”
Breathing deeply in annoyance, Arturo looked at the trio to his right as they were attempting and failing to hide their relieved smiles. “If you must go, just go.”
Instantly, Rembrandt, Quinn, and Sokka got up from their seats on the balcony overlooking the opera Le Nozze di Figaro and went to the open area away from the balcony.
After a moment, Sokka patted his solar plexus in relief and said, “Phew! I thought that we’d never leave.”
Nodding, Rembrandt said, “I get that. I’ve always thought operas were just too long. Especially when you can’t understand a word they’re sayin’.”
Looking at the older man in surprise, Sokka said, “I thought you liked all music, Remmy?”
“I appreciate all music but that doesn’t mean I like it all and it doesn’t mean I understand it all,” answered Rembrandt.
“Well, we’ve only got ten minutes left before we leave this world anyway,” said Quinn, looking more relaxed by the moment.
“Great! Hopefully, we’ve got time to grab some more gummy worms before then. I love those snacks!” said Sokka.
Finding the prepubescent boy’s enthusiasm funny, Quinn and Rembrandt chuckled as they continued to wait for the remaining of their sliding group.
“Besides this though, this was a really interesting world,” said Sokka, “I mean who knew there was a world where facial hair was made illegal just because ninety percent of the population are firefighters!”
“Well, with an infinite possibilities of worlds, anything is possible,” said Quinn.
Rubbing his clean shaven face, Rembrandt said, “Look, I don’t mind shaving but I had a lot of attachment to my ‘stache.”
Chuckling, Quinn added, “But at least you still look like yourself. The Professor though looks almost unrecognizable.”
Whistling lowly in unison, Rembrandt and Sokka completely agreed with their young physicist friend. The Professor looked completely different and the Englishman was extremely displeased with the laws of this particular Earth; however, since they were there for two weeks, they had to comply. Besides this fact though, the sliders did enjoy their time on this particular world.
About two minutes later, the trio heard an eruption of applause and heard Naomi screaming “Encore!”
Looking between each other in horror, Quinn, Rembrandt, and Sokka thought they’d miss the slide because their friends were going to continue to watch the remainder of the opera. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry much longer because the other sliders finally emerged for intermission. Approaching their three friends, Wendy said, “You know guys, another few minutes wasn’t gonna kill you.”
“It might’ve,” said Sokka, “This past month, I’ve been craving some wacky, time-wasting nonsense but this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“It’s not that bad,” said Wade.
Making their way out of the opera hall and into the cool autumn afternoon, Quinn looked down at Wade and said, surprised, “Really? You liked that?”
“Well it’s not like those really long operas and the plot here made much more sense than other operas we’ve been subjected to before,” said Wade.
They finally made their way into a secluded area of the Golden Gate Park, but before Quinn or anyone else could say anything about the opera, Malcolm sneezed so forcefully a huge gust of wind emerged.
After the wind subsided, the young air-bender sniffled and rubbed his leaky but mildly congested nose. Watching the young boy still rubbing his nose, silently the other sliders wondered if the young air-bender was going to be okay during their slide.
Looking at her son, Zoe finally asked, “Are you okay baby?”
Nodding, Malcolm answered, “I’m okay mama. This is just the last bit of this cold.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t let loose in the opera,” quipped Adira.
Everyone nodded in relief but then Quinn looked at the timer and said, “It’s time people.”
Quinn then activated the timer and opened the portal. As the portal swirled to life, Lisa squinted her eyes in pain. This didn’t go unnoticed by Dorian, who then in turn asked, “Are you okay Lisa?”
Breathing the pain away, Lisa smiled appreciatively at the younger Mallory and said, “I’m fine. Thanks Dorian. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Not looking as if he truly bought that, Dorian though let the subject drop for the moment and said, “Alright. If you’re sure.” Looking behind him, Dorian saw that most of their group had already left and said to her, “Let’s get going.”
Smiling, Lisa ignored the growing pain in her abdomen, she and the remaining sliders left the present world behind as they leapt into the waiting portal.
On another world, the giant portal spewed out the Sliders in a heap before closing and disappearing out of sight.
Disentangling from the others, Rembrandt asked, “How long are we here for Q-Ball?”
Quinn, ignoring the bemoaning of his professor, looked at the timer and for some reason the timer wouldn’t turn on again. He smacked the sides and turned the dial several times before saying, “I, uh, don’t know Remmy. Something’s not right.”
Arturo, who’s stretched the kinks out of his bulky form, came over, looked at the timer in his protege’s hands and asked, “That’s odd. Whatever could be the matter with this blasted thing now?”
“Why don’t we get a hotel and check it out there?” offered Derek.
“Excellent idea Mr. Roman,” Arturo said with a nod before he and the others then made their way to the Chandler Hotel.
As they made their way to the hotel, Lisa swayed a little as she walked slightly behind everyone else.
Malcolm and Joon were the first to notice that Lisa wasn’t keeping up with them and hung back to help the swaying young physician.
“Lisa. You don’t look so good. Are you okay,” Malcolm said through his stuffy nose as he helped balance his sister.
“Malcolm’s right Lisa,” Joon said on Lisa’s opposite side as he, too, helped her stand straight.
“I’ll be fine. Just need to rest, probably,” Lisa said.
Like Dorian before, the boys dropped the subject and helped her walk after the others in their group as they finally made their way to the hotel. They hoped she was right and that she simply needed rest.
As they made their way to the hotel, the Sliders passed Bernie’s Newspapers and Pretzel stand and on the front page of every magazine and paper was the headline: ‘Another Butcher Doctor Sentenced to Death!’
Two days later, the Sliders were in their three suite hotel relaxing and working on the timer. “Anything yet Quinn?” asked Joon as he saw Quinn enter the living room.
Rubbing his eyes from exhaustion, Quinn shook his head and said, “Not yet. We’ve taken it apart and put it back together. But it’s still not working.”
As he was speaking, Lisa came out of the bathroom yet again from emptying the contents of her stomach for the second time that day.
Zoe, sitting on the couch with some of the kids, looked at her daughter with concern. Her daughter’s not been eating a lot lately and they thought she had caught Malcolm’s cold but that didn’t make her worry any less.
The sick physician took up her residence back in the overstuffed chair she had been occupying before she had to rush back to the restroom moments earlier.
Looking at the tall young physicist, Jett looked away from their cartoon program and said, “Nothing’s been out of the ordinary right? Maybe it’s something simple.”
Before Quinn could answer though, Lisa shrieked in pain. Her howl was so ferocious that it practically shook the windows in the room. It was also so powerful that it got the attention of each and every slider, as they rushed out of their respective rooms to see what the commotion was about.
Her face was contorted in agony as she clutched her stomach in unbelievable pain.
“Lisa! What’s wrong?” Zoe screamed, now at her daughter’s side. However, Lisa couldn’t answer through her pain.
Looking at the distressed young woman, Arturo approached and placed a hand on her forehead as Zoe attempted to stabilize the young girl in the overstuffed chair.
Retracting his hand, Arturo projected his voice over the agonized woman’s screams and said, “She is running a high fever. I thought she had a cold.”
Answering him in an equally loud voice, Zoe said, “She had a bit of a fever earlier but went down a little. Then she started throwing up even though she hadn't really eaten anything. What’s this mean?”
A peculiar look crossed Arturo’s face with this information and then knelt before Lisa. On her level now, Arturo pries Lisa’s hands away from her abdomen and presses down on the area.
Immediately after doing this, Lisa surprised everyone in the room with a scream even louder than before.
Again, Arturo retracted his hand and then pushed his bulky form into a standing position.
Looking down at the young woman as spittle ran down her jaw due to her mouth being opened so long as she screamed in pain, Arturo said, “We must get a doctor immediately.”
Turning away and grabbing his long overcoat, Arturo made it halfway to the hotel room door before he felt someone grab his arm clad sleeve.
Looking behind him, Zoe asked in fear, “Professor, what’s wrong with her?”
“I think I know; however, we need a doctor here regardless,” he said.
Approaching them, Wade asked, “Why don’t we take her to a hospital ourselves?”
“Because quite frankly, assuming she were to survive it would still be added torture on her. I’d rather go and get one and bring them here,” Arturo said.
“I’m going with you Professor,” said Quinn. But then Arturo turned immediately stopped the young man with a raised hand.
“No Mr. Mallory, you stay here and fix the timer. If we need to get Dr. Lisa any sort of help off this world we’re going to need the timer fixed and ready.”
Understanding where the older man was coming from, Quinn nodded.
Wordlessly and without any hesitation, Rembrandt and Wade stepped forward. Rembrandt grabbed his black leather jacket and Wade grabbed her thermal red jacket and then they followed Arturo out of the hotel room. Behind them, Lisa’s screaming could still be heard.
Thirty minutes later, Arturo came out of the hospital and met with Rembrandt and Wade on the sidewalk outside.
“Well?” asked Wade expectantly.
Arturo looked at them and said, “This is horrendous. The doctors inside have no problem treating Dr. Lisa; however, when I mentioned she might need emergency surgery one physician said that while they would try to help her, they think any form of surgery would be futile.”
“What?!” screeched Wade and Rembrandt in one voice.
“My sentiments exactly. When I asked why, the quack looked at me as if I were not in my right mind; however, he decided to indulge me, I suppose, and told me that the great majority of people don’t survive surgery due to the amount of pain they are in and, as such, most physicians are greatly encouraged to avoid surgeries. Those who don’t are then in the position to be sued because of the trauma the surgery leaves the patient and families in,” answered Arturo as he led them down the sidewalk.
“Pain?” asked Rembrandt.
At the same time, Wade asked, “Why are we here, Professor?” She looked up at the bookstore they were currently standing in front of its doors.
“Well, Ms. Welles, we’re here to see if there’s anything that can help us find a way to help Dr. Lisa. Which in turn, hopefully will prove me wrong about my suspicions Mr. Brown.” Arturo said with a sigh, as he turned away from them and entered the bookstore.
Looking at each other with worried expressions crested on their faces, Wade and Rembrandt then followed the big physicist inside the bookstore to find answers.
Upon the trio’s arrival, they immediately noticed the lack of screaming and went to investigate.
Finding the others cramped in one of the bedrooms, Rembrandt asked, “What’s happened?”
Naomi looked away from Lisa’s prone and unconscious form laid on the bed with a damp cloth on her forehead.
“She stopped screaming, obviously, but we think it’s because her body just couldn’t handle it and slipped into unconsciousness,” said Naomi.
Blowing out a breath, Arturo then sat on the edge of the bed beside Lisa’s motionless form and checked her temperature by placing his hand on her forehead.
After shaking his head, Arturo then got up and took off his coat when Zoe asked, “Where’s the doctor, guys?”
Looking among each other, Rembrandt was the one to answer, “Uh, well, Zoe, we found out that while this world has doctors...they don’t typically perform surgeries because the patients don’t generally survive.”
“Don’t survive? Why?” asked Harold.
Looking at him, Arturo picked up from there and said, “Because medicine on this world hasn’t changed due to the fear of the public who hates doctors due to several horrific incidents that occurred in this country over a century ago. Unfortunately, because medicine wasn’t allowed to grow, the growth of medical practices was stunted in the 1800s.”
“Well,” said Wendy, “How do we help her? ‘Cause Quinn still hasn’t fixed the timer yet.”
“And even if he did, we can’t move her. She would die from the pain alone,” offered Alex.
“Someone’s lived through these few surgeries, right?” said Malcolm. “Can’t we just ask the doctors to do it anyway and help Lisa recover?”
Hugging the young boy, Wendy said, “That’s a great question baby but we don’t even know what she has. I highly doubt with the knowledge of this earth, they’d be able to diagnose what’s wrong with her.”
“I believe I know what’s wrong with her,” said Arturo, shocking everyone in the room.
“What is it?” asked Zoe anxiously.
“I believe Dr. Lisa has appendicitis. I’ve seen it when I was a young man in the military. I was desperately hoping I was wrong but the more I think about her symptoms, the more I’m convinced,” said Arturo.
“Okay, well with that diagnosis, maybe we should try our luck with a doctor,” said Derek.
Naomi looked away from her sick niece and back at Arturo, Quinn, Rembrandt, and Wade and said reluctantly, “Look, we more than likely are going to get a doctor to take out her appendix. And with that said, I don’t want to do this; however, Quinn, if you and Max can get the timer up and running again and then see the window is too close, I...want you all to slide.”
Eyes wide in shock, Wade asked, “You mean, without you guys?”
Looking at their perplexed expressions, Naomi solemnly said, “Yes.”
...:TBC:...