“You know it’s bad for you right?” Mr Howard frowns at the pipe, “but yes it seems we’re all here for the study and two beat us to it already.”
@Shimmin
He turns to Mr Wellerby, “A week does seem more reasonable for this sort of study, but I’ll have to write to my registrars and tell them not to expect me for a little longer. I gather we’re to have no outside contact but the tests haven’t started yet.”
“A week! I see, that may pose a problem. I must write and have additional clothes set for. No matter, it is simple enough to solve. Will I have to sign anything Judith?” Aurore gestures wildly in shock before calming down and indicating with her hand the documents Eli signed.
@EliScrubbs @Naith
“I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, sir” says Judith. “There must have been a mistake with some of the materials. Dr. Thorne will explain everything… well, if you are sure it’s alright… yes, ma’am, please just check and sign this register here.”
Mr Wellerby nods. “Yes, of course, sir. I’m sure it won’t be a problem; letters and that, I mean. We’ve had folks in sending out postcards and suchlike to while away the time. It’s more not worrying about the newspapers or chatting in the pub and suchlike.” He reluctantly abandons his attempts to relieve Mr Howard of his bag, and begins leading the way to Dr Thorne.
Q. for you @EliScrubbs, should people address him as “doctor” or “sir”? Not sure with surgeons. I know he’s a Mr.
Aurore looks over the register skimming it for anything of interest and if finding nothing, signs it. “It will be ok Judith, I will work it out with Dr Thorne. It is not your fault at all.” she says with a warm smile trying to comfort the lady, before following Mr Wellerby.
Striking up a conversation, “So is there anything you can tell me before we get to Dr Thorne?” Aurore starts to charm the man.
(@Shimmin fun fact, as opposed to Dr for physicians, surgeons go by Mr/Mrs as the professional title, stems back to barber surgeons vs physicians. Though most people who aren’t in the know will probably just use Dr. for anyone medical. )
“Yes, thank you Judith, presumably a typo or our friend mis-estimated the initial length, no trouble as long as we can quickly sort things.”
Mr Howard rolls his shoulders and follows Mr Wellerby, “yes do share, I haven’t spoken to Dr Thorne in a while, how is the man?”
Sorry, that’s what I was getting at with “I know he’s a Mr.”, but I’m wondering how he’d want people to address him: should they say “excuse me, doctor”, “excuse me, sir” or something else?
“Well, I don’t suppose there’s much I have to tell, to tell you the truth,” admits Mr. Wellerby. “You’re acquainted with the doctor, sir? Now there’s a coincidence! Yes, he’s very well, very well indeed, I should say. Very taken up with his research these past few years, but always has a friendly word for me.”
“Where we’re going used to be a psychiatric ward, but about eight months back Dr. Thorne set up his institute - the dreaming ward, we often call it, on account of his research. There’s people like yourselves coming and going most weeks, staying in the ward for one study or another. We still see a lot of day patients, of course, come to ask about sleeping troubles and suchlike.”
Feel free to ask if there’s anything more specific you’d like to ask. He seems very open to talking; he obviously takes pride in being part of the hospital.
Antonella will happily sign at this point and turn to Mr Howard and smile “My Querido, I can choose to die from the cold or the smoke, given the weather I think I’ll take my chances!”
happy to move to the East Wing!
"Ah well that is lovely to hear about Dr Thorne. It is good to know we are in good hands. Can you tell me a little about the actual treatment? What happens day to day? Given that the treatment is around sleep what is going to happen. The original electronic telephone conversation we had was sparing on the details." Aurore replies yawning.
(@Shimmin “sir” or “doctor” both work, though sir is technically correct I believe, but both the character and I aren’t gonna be pedantic about it)
“it’s not the smoke, it’s the - nevermind just…” Duncan looks away from Antonella and gives up trying to explain.
“Let me start over,” he extends a hand to shake, “Mr Duncan Howard, surgeon, sleep study applicant, pleasure.”
“As to that, ma’am, I couldn’t rightly say. I don’t get much involved in the actual treatment - being retired from doctoring, you understand.” He winks. “Besides which, it varies - different experiments, I suppose. One of the nurses mentioned hypnotism, and I know there’s a lot of talking in groups, because I take the tea-trolley up sometimes.”
PS you don’t need to bold speech here. I’m just using italics for GM comments, plain text for everything else, maybe bold if you want to emphasise
“Antonella de la Cavallería, it is a pleasure to meet you doctor” Antonella smiles. “As a shopkeeper we must have similar experiences no? You get stones from blood in patients, I get blood from stones from difficult customers!” Antonella pauses “I must admit I am too tired to tell if that makes sense, so I am glad we both are at least sleep study applicants.”
“Certainly, and while I’m not sure about the metaphor we can certainly agree the public can be… A bit much sometimes.” he thinks for a moment, “oh blood from stones! Right. I thought it was a metaphor about getting stones from people… I need a lie down Methinks. Let’s see if the rest of the group isn’t waiting for us shall we?”
@RogerBW @Suz,
The agreement Dr. Thorne presents is essentially as follows:
Participants agree:
The restrictions
Do you have any questions?
Are you happy to sign the agreement?
If there’s nothing else you want from Dr. Thorne, let me know and you can head out.
@Naith @Asydic @EliScrubbs
you will all be offered the same agreement once you’ve spoken to Dr. Thorne, but I’m assuming you may want to actually speak to him
McQueen: “Ah, well, very well, I suppose so.” (I’m thinking that I can use this a few books down the line; a year to wait is nothing, and if Thorne gets famous, I’ll have a manuscript ready to go to cash in on it.) (Signs.)
Stella adjusts her glasses and gets comfortable in one of the chairs to read through the agreement. She straightens up a little though as she reaches the part about ‘personal freedom’.
“I’m happy to sign, but just to be absolutely sure… I assume, if there’s a family emergency, we would be free to leave the study? I’m not expecting anything but I left the hospital contact details with my husband just in case.”
She laughs as she turns the piece of paper over, pretending to search for something. “I can’t quite seem to find the get-out clause!”
“Oh, dear me! Yes, naturally, anything of that nature- let me be clear, any of you are free to leave the study any time you wish, without reservation. Paragraph… nine, I believe?.. covers that. The restrictions are simply to restrict ordinary affairs - business matters, family squabbles, everyday life - from influencing the results of the study and of your treatment.”
He looks apologetic, and settles back in his seat. “If I may speak generally for a moment, everyday troubles and strain frequently play an influential role in maintaining and exacerbating the symptoms of trauma. By removing patients from those daily frictions, we achieve several things.”
“Firstly, we exclude a complicating factor from the equation. It will help to ensure our results are robust, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment.”
“Secondly, a complete change of environment and routine can make the mind more amenable to treatment - more flexible and creative. I’m sure you’ve heard of authors taking a country cottage to finish their masterpiece? And simply leaving the room for a stroll to clear one’s head can let worries melt away or bring the inspiration needed to solve a puzzle.”
“And thirdly, those daily concerns often magnify the underlying problem. A busy day in the office leaves the mind over-stretched and when bedtime comes, our brain is still digesting. A patient’s family may be unsympathetic and critical, adding to the existing strain. If our patients were to call the office every day, or receive demands from a manager, or pop home for dinner - it could severely upset the progress of treatment and undo whatever good we have accomplished.”
Stella rereads paragraph nine, “Oh yes, I don’t know how I missed that. I’ve been doing so much reading lately… my brain is so full there’s standing room only.” She smiles as she signs and hands the agreement back. “Thank you Dr Thorne, that all makes sense to me.”
There’s nothing else Stella wants to ask.
Dr. Thorne thanks you, and asks for one of the staff to show you to the common room where everyone in the study will be congregating. As you exit, you see Mr. Wellerby arrive with three more people.
“Would you wish to see Dr. Thorne together, or should I show you in one at a time?” he asks, hand poised to knock.
Antonella examines the contract and sighs softly to herself, having never particularly enjoyed paperwork. She considers trusting her gut that everything looks relatively straightforward overconfidence check 12 or less to resist:: 2+6+4 = 12 success! but despite her tiredness, she taps to point day 2 and how sporific drugs could possibly mean possible trauma (most likely with a worried look in here eyes…) Happy to continue whatever the answer!
“A reasonable question, miss de la Cavallería. Anything of that nature could muddle the results of our research here, you see. It becomes hard to distinguish the influence of our own treatments on sleep from that of, say, a large brandy before bed.” He half turns, and taps a volume on his bookshelf - you can see the title, The Influence of Diet on Sleep. “A lot of my work has been with military men, who have a reputation for hard drinking at the best of times. I’m sure you’re familiar with the image of retired colonels with a bottle of Cognac always at hand, so so on.”
“In fact, the hypnotic treatment itself depends on lulling the brain into a specific state of semi-consciousness where memories and associations are more susceptible to change. Any form of soporific or stimulant could disrupt that, and prevent the treatment from working.”