The Good Doctor

Vitrectomy

"The patient suffers from retinal detachment," explained Jack to the good doctor. "He's having visual hallucinations as a result."

"Vat sort of hallucinations?" Schneeplestein asked as he checked his mask and gloves.

"He claims someone hit him from behind," said Jack as they made their way to the operating room.

"Chances are he slipped, fell, and ze impact detached his retinae!" Schneeplestein replied. "Ze mental trauma has gotten to his noggin!"

Schneeplestein turned his back to the doors and pushed through them so as not to touch anything with his clean and gloved hands. When he turned to face the patient, he saw a familiar face lying unconscious on the table.

The good doctor smiled and pulled over his tray of tools, and patted Jim gently. "Don't vorry, Jim! Ve will take care of your eyes! Just lie still! Not like you have much of a choice!"

Schneeplestein then called for a pair of wire speculums. Upon obtaining them, he placed one on each of Jim's eyes to pop the lids open. Then he pulled up his scalpel, and lowered it carefully. The blade sliced into the side of the eye. Blood and fluid began to spill. Jim's whole body lurched suddenly.

"Jack!" Schneeplestein called, "I think I hit a nerve! Hold ze patient down!"

Schneeplestein continued to work despite the writhing. Blood went everywhere, staining the good doctor's hands. As he dug in deeper, Jim flailed again, moaned loudly. In one deft movement, the entire eye came out and Schneeplestein dropped it in a dish. Schneeplestein moved over to the other eye and began to dig in.

Jim screamed.

"WE NEED ANESTHETIC!" Schneeplestein screamed, "NURSE!!!"

Schneeplestein popped out the other eye and tossed it on the tray. He screamed for Jack to assist him as Jim continued to convulse, but when he looked to Jack for help, Jack wasn't there. Instead, he saw only his reflection in a broken mirror through a bathroom door.

Schneeplestein looked around confused. The nurse was gone, too. The dim lights of the room flickered softly above him. He had to call for help! Schneeplestein turned to the landline phone that was always by the door, but he found it had been ripped clean out of the wall. He looked back to Jim. Blood covered the hospital bed that Jim was in. Straps held him down as he continued to scream in pain. Schneeplestein hands were bare and covered in blood. A pair of mutilated eyes stared up at him from a TV tray of half-eaten food. In his hand was a shard of mirror.

Amidst the horrific screaming, everything came flooding back to him. He saw Sarah in his mind kissing Peter right there in the hospital! He attacked Peter, and Peter grabbed Shneeplestein by the neck. Peter began to choke him. His best friend was choking him! The good doctor lashed out with a scalpel. He saw the blood as he sliced into Peter's torso. He watched the man's guts literally spill out of him. He saw the horror in Sarah's eyes as he turned on her and cut into her chest. He saw her bones crack open as he dug into her ribcage with precision while she screamed. Her heart was exposed. Still she screamed. He cut into her lungs. Still, she screamed. Why wasn't she dead yet?!

Her scream warped and changed. Schneeplestein was snapped back into the present as Sarah's scream became Jim's scream. Realizing what he was doing, Schneeplestein dropped the glass and screamed for a nurse.

Time slowed down to a hellish crawl as several orderlies, and the security guard rushed in with a pair of doctor and nurses. The orderlies and Security grabbed Schneeplestein and threw him to the ground as the doctors and nurses pulled Jim - bed and all - out into the hall to rush him to the Emergency Room.

The Security officer slapped a pair of handcuffs around Schneeplestein. He felt a slight jab in his neck, and when he turned to see what happened, he saw Nurse Malki with a syringe, and a look that was simultaneously horrified and apologetic at the same time. His vision blurred, and he could feel the effects of the drug kicking in instantly.

"Tell my children..." said Schneeplestein, "...Tell zem I am sorry..."

As the drug overcame him, and he slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard Nurse Malki say was: "Henrich, you don't have any children..."