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The Old Mental Hospital

The hospital, on top of the hill overlooking the village, had been there since Victorian times. It had been built well away from the city, surrounded by its own fields where the more sane of its occupants could be profitably occupied in growing vegetables for the inmates and the staff as well as giving them wholesome work to keep them busy. Gradually the village had grown until the hospital grounds were virtually surrounded by houses as the village expanded over the years. The hospital had closed in the late sixties as mental health moved away from care in large asylums to what was termed 'community centred' care. Not everyone, it should be noted, was entirely convinced that the 'lunatics' should be let loose like that on an unsuspecting public, but things change and so the hospital had become derelict. Everything which could be sold for scrap or whatever had been stripped out, the local children had had great fun in smashing the remaining windows and now the whole had been surrounded with barbed wire in case some child went inside and fell down a staircase or had some masonry fall on their heads. Large red and white signs warned of the dangers of entry. The hospital trust was hoping that some developer would either clear the whole lot, even though the building was Grade II listed, or perhaps turn it into smart apartments for the wealthier members of the community. The only problem had been the history of ghostly happenings at night in the hospital. There would be flickering lights from some of the glassless windows which moved from window to window. When the police went up to check, the lights immediately vanished and there was no trace of the anticipated vagrants who has been sleeping there and been lighting fires to keep themselves warm. In fact, the surprise was that none of the local vagrants would even go near the place. Perhaps this was because of its history for housing such vagrants and treating them as insane or, as was actually the case, they were terrified by the lights at night and so sensibly stayed well away.

John and Glen Walker were brothers who lived in the by now large commuter village. Their parents loved the 'village' atmosphere but drove each day into the nearby city to work. The boys caught a school bus each day to take them to the large comprehensive school some five miles away. John was fifteen and Glen was thirteen. They had, like all the local children been up to the hospital during the day either at weekends or during school holidays. It was almost a local 'rite of passage' to have done that and there was always the chance of finding the last remaining unbroken windows to throw stones at and so render them glassless. As a result of a disagreement at school, John had been called a coward for not fighting the school bully. The reason for this was simple as he had seen a member of staff approaching and wanted to avoid the trouble which would have resulted from being caught fighting. After the teacher had passed, John had explained his reason for not fighting but the bully called him a coward and dared him, to prove he wasn't, to go into the old hospital at night with a camera to take photos to prove he had been there.

That evening John confessed to Glen what he'd been dared to do. Glen, being sympathetic to his elder brother's dilemma - being called a coward for being sensible and not going into the hospital - offered to go with him. John initially refused, but didn't press that too hard as he was secretly glad to have someone to go with him. So they agreed to go that night, leaving their home at 23.30 hr. to get to the hospital around midnight. They set off with two torches with new batteries (neither of the lads was by any means stupid in this respect) and a camera to take pictures of the place at night. The plan was to take a picture out of one of the ward windows of the village with the street lights illuminating it so that it was definitely taken at night. They hadn't taken any food as they very definitely didn't plan on staying more than the bare necessity of getting the photo and going as quickly as possible. As it was summer and a hot night, both lads were dressed in jeans and tee shirts.

They quietly made their way out of their home and walked up the street towards the hill and the hospital. Thankfully for their nerves, there were no lights visible at the hospital. They made their way around the perimeter fencing to a spot where they knew there was a decent sized hole to clamber through and set off for the large brick edifice. They entered through one of the side doors and set off for one of the ground floor wards which overlooked the village. They made their way by the light of their torches down a long dusty corridor with moonlight lighting the floor of the corridor as the moon shone through the glassless windows. They were passing an office when they heard a sudden noise. The lads diving into the office as the noise appeared to be from behind them on the corridor. They stood there by the doorway listening to see if they could hear any more sounds. They planned to move off out of the office if there were no more 'alarms and excursions'.

Suddenly the office was not only filled with light but was also populated with people and furniture. There were two male orderlies, dressed in white tunic tops and trousers, standing either side of the lads, two nurses dressing in the traditional nurses' uniform of white starched cap, starched cuffs and apron and the light blue of staff nurses and behind the desk which had appeared in the middle of the office was seated a lady in a much more elaborate headdress, frilled cuffs and apron with dark blue dress which was so typical of the then garb of a matron. John noticed a calendar on the wall behind the desk which showed the date to be mid December, 1950 instead of June 2011. The matron spoke, "So these are the Walker boys?" One of the nurses replied, "Yes, matron." The matron turned to look sternly at the boys and was about to speak when John came to his senses and shouted at Glen, "Run!" Both lads turned and tried to make for the door but one of the nurses standing nearer the door pushed it shut and the lads were grabbed firmly from

The lads were terrified by all this as it was. Their fear would have been out the other side of terrified had they known that while all this was happening, the lights had been flickering at some of the hospital windows. Worse, they had by now faded away and disappeared leaving the whole building black as the night itself. Matron spoke to one of the nurses, "Would you get the other orderlies in with the strap down trolleys? I guessed from the medical records that these two would be completely uncooperative." John suddenly spoke out, "What's happening here? This hospital has been derelict for years. When we came in, the whole place was empty and covered with dust and it was 2011 when we came up here for a dare." Matron gave a short laugh, "I can see that your doctor was absolutely right with your delusions and fantasies. Look around you. This place is running as it has done for years and you two are our latest patients." The two extra orderlies came in the door. Matron told the new pair to hold onto Glen whilst the other two held firmly onto John.

"Nurses, go with the two orderlies holding Glen and get him strapped down to the trolleys. Then do the same with John and we'll get them to their ward and suitably attired instead of this weird clothing that they're wearing." At this point, matron gesticulated at the 'Iron Maiden' tee shirt which John was wearing and the 'Muppet' tee shirt worn by Glen.

The time line in the hospital was different from that in 2011. After all, it was December 1950 in the hospital and June 2011 in the outside world - although who could say when in the hospital which was the 'real' world? Morning had broken in 2011 and Mrs Walker had gone into the get the lads up for school that day only to find, to her horror, that their beds had not been slept in. She shouted to her husband who came running upstairs to see for himself. He noticed that the lads' torches were missing and so said to his wife, "We need the police here." The police arrived quickly and listened to what the parents had said about the unused beds and the missing torches. The lady police officer, always sent along in missing children cases to reassure anxious parents, said to them, "I'm guessing they went up to the old hospital for a dare. It won't be the first time that lads have done that. I'm thinking we'll go up there and find them asleep somewhere in the building. However, we'll also check at the boys' school to see if anyone does know what they were up to last night."

Meanwhile, at the hospital in 1950, the boys were by now firmly strapped to the stretchers and being wheeled to one of the children's wards. There were two of these. One for the less disturbed children and the one they were being taken to was for the seriously disturbed children who would be there for the long term or even for life. They had straps across their upper and lower legs, across their hips, chest, arms and even their head was strapped down. They were so frightened by all this that they hadn't yet been gagged as they were too terrified to even speak. Matron stopped before the door of the ward. She took a large bunch of keys from under her apron, selected the appropriate one and opened the door to the ward. The procession to two nurses, four orderlies and the two boys on the trolleys proceeded into the ward and matron turned to lock the door firmly behind her. It was dark in the ward so the lads guessed that it might be night here too. The ward sister came up to greet matron, "Good evening , matron, I presume these are the new patients you were telling me about?"

"Yes, indeed, sister and troublesome they are already. We need to get their clothing off, into hospital garb and then into their cots and sedated for tonight. I'll stay to help you." Sister led the way to a side room which had two large metal cot beds with lockable sides and roof. Matron looked sternly at the two lads, "Now then, you two, we are going to get you out of those clothes and into hospital clothing and then into your beds. There are two ways we can do this: either we can strip you by force or you can cooperate. Let me assure you that cooperating will be far more pleasant for you! Which is it to be?" John had seen sister turn to lock the door of the room in which they were all in. He'd also noticed that the room had no windows so escape would be impossible. Deciding that cooperation at this point was the better option, he spoke out, "Glen, let's be sensible and cooperate, shall we?" Glen nodded his acquiescence.

They started with John, undoing the straps to his upper body and arms. The nurses did this while the orderlies looked on, ready to act if the boys caused any trouble. John's tee shirt was taken off him and carefully folded up then placed in a large stout paper bag with his name and what John guessed must be his hospital number on it. His trainers were unlaced, taken off and placed in a smaller bag then inside the large bag.

"What unusual plimsolls," Matron commented, "I've never seen the like before, have you, sister?" Sister agreed with matron as sisters always did back in the 1950's because matron was 'god' in the hospital. His socked were removed too. A grey shift was pulled over John's head and then done up under his arms and down the sides. There was a yoke to the shift through which his head went. His arms and chest were now fastened back down. Next his jeans were unbelted and taken off. The nurses were at least being gentle with them, thankfully. His pockets were searched and his MP3 player and mobile phone with built in camera were taken off him. These two items caused great interest as none of the hospital staff had seen the like before. They were placed in a separate paper bag which was then placed in the large one. Matron remarked, "What weird underwear! No wonder these boys have gone off the rails if their parents allowed them strange things like this!" Of course, the usual briefs for boys were white cotton ones whereas John had black 'Calvin Klein' underwear - the like of which none of the staff would see for many years yet. One of the nurses turned away to a cupboard and took out a pile of what looked like towels and a red rubber garment. She came over to John and started folding the 'towels'. John suddenly realised that these 'towels' were nappies! "No! I don't wet the bed and I don't need ...." John's cry was cut off as matron, who had been expecting this, pulled a ball gag into John's open mouth and fastened the straps behind his head to silence him. She turned to Glen, "Open wide as I expect we need to keep you quiet too!" Glen didn't like the look of the gag one little bit so kept his mouth firmly closed. One of the nurses came behind his head and pinched his nose until he had to gasp for air when matron, with the skill of doing this many times, pushed the ball gag into his mouth and strapped it behind his head. Meanwhile, John had a really thick pile of nappies skilfully fastened around his hips and then the red rubber hospital incontinence pants were pulled up over his legs and thighs and covered the nappies. John was then lifted from the trolley and carried over to one of the beds. As he was held over the cot bed, one of the nurses pulled his shift down so his rubber pants were just covered by the shift. He was then strapped down by his ankled and wrists and around his chest so he was trapped there with his hips raised up by the thick pile of nappies now around his waist. Matron turned to him as the cot top and sides were locked in place, "You may not wet the bed at home but you certainly will need your nappies here. The drugs will cause you both to wet yourselves anyway and you'll be changed at morning and night. You won't be allowed out of bed to use the toilet, so forget that!"

Shortly afterwards, Glen was similarly lying in his silver painted metal cot bed with the sides up and the top locked in place with his own grey shift and red rubber pants over a thick pile of nappies. Matron could see the terror in Glen's eyes and, taking pity on the younger boy, announced, "I'll get him sorted first." Glen watched silenced by the ball gag firmly fastened in his mouth, as matron opened a small trap in the side of the cot sides by his hand. One of the nurses grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tight so the veins on the back of his hand stood out. Matron skilfully inserted a metal needle in the back of his hand which the second nurse taped down firmly so it wouldn't become detached accidentally. The needle was connected to a rubber tube hanging from a glass bottle containing saline. Matron opened the valve on the rubber transfusion tubing so the fluid started running into his veins. Matron said, "That will fill your bladder overnight anyway so you'll be needing your nappies!" She then took a pre-filled glass syringe of a type never seen by the boys used to the modern disposable needles and plastic syringes, swabbed the drip tubing and inserted the needle into the tubing. Depressing the plunger, she smiled at Glen, "You'll soon be asleep and won't be worrying about all this tonight." As the drug was washed into his veins by the saline running through the transfusion set, the powerful drug caused Glen's eyes to glaze over as he relaxed and slumped asleep. She turned to do the same to John who started struggling to stop her, but the staff were well used to uncooperative adults so what chance did John stand? Soon John's eyes glazed over too. Matron turned to sister, "Take their photographs for their records first and then you can shave their heads and then take them to their places in the ward."

In 2011, the police had started to search the hospital, expecting to find the boys safely asleep. One of the young lady officers went into the ward where the boys had been taken in 1950 and found, in the side room, two strong paper bags, each with the boys' names on and a number, one different from Glen to John. She called out and soon the whole team had collected in the room. Wearing gloves, she looked inside the bags and found the boys' clothing and phones. A look of horror came across all their faces: what had happened to these boys?

It was her job to take these to the boys' parents who did identify them as belonging to John and Glen. Back at the police station afterwards, discussion ranged about what had happened to the boys and what the numbers on the paper bags might mean. The woman police officer went into another room where it was quieter and rang the local primary care trust to ask about the numbers. The primary care trust confirmed that it did still have some of the records stored from the old hospital, but these were soon to be destroyed. Would she like to come to look through the documents/ She spoke to her boss, saying she had a lead to follow since they had found the boys' footprints leading into a room but no sign of them leaving that room again. She drove over to the warehouse where the hospital's records were being kept. The caretaker had been warned to expect her and readily let her in. She found stack upon stack of cardboard boxes with patients' numbers on. Some searching found the box which held numbers in the range of the boys' numbers on the paper bags. \opening the box, a cold shiver ran down the back of her spine: there, in front of her, were records for a Glen Walker and a John Walker, admitted December 1950 and the same age as the two missing boys. What on earth was going on here? Picking up the folders, she thanked the caretaker, but said that the files were now part of an on-going police investigation and so must not be destroyed. Ignoring speed limits and using her blue light and siren to the full, she drove back to police HQ with the two terrible folders Parking her car, she grabbed the folders to her as she ran up the steps, through the entrance and arrived, out of breath, in the middle of a discussion in the incident room. Her boss looked surprised as she struggled to blurt out, gasping for air between every few words, "Sir, I think I know where the boys were and when, but I just don't know how." She gasped for breath as she put the folders on the table. He boss picked them up, looked at the names and numbers and made the same link she had.

"Good God!" He exclaimed as he opened the folders and saw the black & white photographs in the files of exactly the same boys whose photographs, this time in colour, had been shown to him by their very distressed mother. He showed the photographs to the other police in the room and voiced the question they all were thinking, "How can these boys have gone up to the old hospital last night and ended up being admitted to the hospital 51 years ago?"

Both boys woke up nearly 51 years earlier in the 'disturbed teenager' ward. They were firmly held in their cots by a strap around their waists and both wrists and ankles were fastened to the bars of the cage of their cots. The ball gags had been removed and they were well aware that the drug given top them last night had relaxed them so much that their nappies were well and truly wet. They also discovered that their hands were in stiff mittens which would stop them from tampering with any buckles on straps holding them as the mittens were well fastened about their lower arms and wrists. Sister was standing between the pair of them.

"Now then, boys, I'm sure you're much more comfortable without the gags in your mouths but we'll put those back straight away if you start making a fuss or acting up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sister", said John and Glen echoed that remark.

"Good! Now, if you behave yourselves we can remove some of the straps too. Then we'll have you sat up and one of the nurses will feed you breakfast. Let me tell you, it is porridge only for breakfast so you can eat that or go without. Then you'll be given a drink of orange juice, then washed and put in dry nappies so that you'll be ready to see the doctor later this morning . He'll decide how long you need to stay here and what treatment you'll get. Any simple questions?" Glen asked, "Sister, why are our heads shaved?"

"It's more hygienic that way," sister told him. John, ever practical, but very embarrassed, asked, "Sister, what do we do if we need to have a bowel movement?" The sister laughed, "That's what your nappies are for and you'll soon get used to using them like the other children in the ward." With that, she pulled back the curtains around Glen's and John's cots. The boys could see an old fashioned (to them) 'Nightingale' ward with a nursing station (a desk and chairs) in the middle of the ward and the silver-painted metal cots along each side. The patients were of various ages from about eleven or twelve up to seventeen. Looking more, John realised that this was a mixed sex ward as the girls had their heads shaved too. One patient had a leather helmet around her head and, as she laid there, she repeatedly banged her head on the bed. As she did that, one of the nurses went over to her and gave her an injection which very quickly calmed her down so that she had a vacant expression on her face as if she was not really there in mind, although present in body. The boy in the next bed was lying there, twitching which is a side effect of high doses of the anti-psychotic drugs used on that ward. He shuddered as he realised that Glen and himself might soon end up like that, sedated up to the eyeballs with what are now termed 'chemical coshes'.

As the boys had given their promise of good behaviour, they were fed by the nurses. The straps on their hands and chest were removed, the cot side lowered and the boys helped to sit up. Large red rubber bibs with a 'catch all' pocket were tied around their necks and each one was fed, one after the other. The nurse held the bowl of porridge as the mittens were definitely not removed and the porridge was spooned into their mouths. As always happens, some gets spread around their mouths so the nurse had to stop from time to time to wipe off the excess. Neither boy liked porridge but, as that was all on offer, they had little choice but to eat it. Their drink was orange juice given in an oversized baby bottle. Both found it hard to suck as they weren't used to it. The nurse noted that they struggles and laughed, saying, "You'll soon get used to it!" You get fed all your meals unless you're uncooperative when we strap you down and feed you by tube which isn't nice at all, so don't make us do that." After they had been fed, the bibs were removed, a final wipe of their faces and then they were strapped back down and the cot side locked firmly in place. The girl with the leather helmet was tube fed and the boys decided that they really didn't want that!

After all the 'patients' had been fed, the nurses started washing and changing the bedding. The cot sides were lowered on both sides and the shift garment untied along the sides and under the arms so it could be slid off over their heads. They were washed from head to waist and then their legs, rolling them sideways to get to their back. Then their rubber pants were pulled down, the wet nappy removed and their 'nappy area'; washed, dried and creamed. Fresh thick nappies were applied and the same rubber pants pulled back up. The nurse said to the boys, "We only change your rubbers at the evening change." As the draw sheet only was changed for each boy since none of their bedding was wet, they discovered that the mattresses were covered with red rubber sheets, there was a red rubber draw-sheet under the cotton draw-sheet and their pillows were in sewn rubber covers under the pillow cases. No wonder they found the pillows so hot and sweaty under their heads!

Mid morning, Two nurses came to take away John in his bed. Glen cried out, worried about his brother, "Where are you taking him?" One of the nurses told him to be quiet or he'd be gagged again: they were taking him to see the doctor and he'd be going next. John was wheeled into a large room at the side of the ward where the doctor sat at the desk with John's file and matron sat beside the desk. She always took a personal interest in all new patients. The doctor asked John some questions.

"When were you born?" John answered, corrected, "16th February, 1996." The doctor wrote down the answer. The next question was "Where do you live?" John gave the name of the street in the village. Regrettably, these were all new houses built since 1950 so didn't exist when the boys were in the hospital. The doctor wrote that down too and looked over to matron, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

"Where do you go to school?" John gave the correct answer, but, again, regrettably for him, the school had not been built until 1969. The doctor asked John a few general questions about his family and his health then waved to the nurse who had wheeled him in to take him back to the ward. Matron turned to the doctor, "A very sad case of delusions, I think."

"I agree. Let's see if the same applies to his brother." Glen was wheeled in and asked the same questions. He gave similar answers except that his birthday was 6th May 1968. When he was taken back to the ward, matron asked, "What are you going to do?" The doctor thought for a moment, "They're not violent, or don't seem to be yet, so I think we can use the minimum of psychotic drugs on them. Tomorrow, will you get sister to give each boy a good cleansing enema and then I'll get my colleague to give them both ECT. That should help to break up their delusions. Will you assist?" Matron said that she was delighted to do so.

The day passed slowly for the two boys as they were only mildly sedated. The only 'entertainment' was from lunch and supper, both soft foods which were so bland as to be almost tasteless, but easily spooned into mouths, and from watching the nurses checking on their patients a s they moved around the ward. The nurses changed to the night shift and the new night sister stood with her nurses around her at the desk in the middle of the ward. The nurses then went to the sluice room and came back with trolleys with rubber pants and nappies and buckets for the wet nappies and used pants. When it was the boys' turns, the nurses removed the rubber pants and wet nappies, washed and dried them carefully, then applied cream (Matron would get really cross if any child got nappy rash!) then the boys had even thicker nappies applied and much larger rubber pants which ballooned around them. Their backs were off the bed because their nappies were so thick. An extra draw-sheet was placed under them and they were again strapped down. Glen tried to ask why his nappies were so thick, but the nurse told him not to ask such questions - the nurses knew what they were doing.

Later, sister came round with another nurse on the evening drug round. When they came to John's bed, sister gave him an injection into his leg of a strong anti-psychotic drug which quickly started to make him drowsy.

"Open his mouth, please, nurse!" The nurse helped to hold John's mouth open. The sister placed a sugar cube with just one drop of croton oil on it into John's mouth and ordered him to swallow it. He did so and was given a peppermint for being a good boy. The same happened to Glen. The sister stood between them both, "Boys, I've seen you've not had a bowel movement today so I've given you a very strong purgative which will work in one to two hours and you'll have loads of copious watery stools during the night. That's why your nappies are so thick tonight. Tomorrow, the doctor has ordered an enema and then you'll go for therapy.. No, don't ask - you'll find out tomorrow."

Despite the high dose of anti-pyschotic medication which enabled them to get some sleep, they woke frequently as their bowels painfully emptied again and again, soaking into their nappies. It was one thing to just wet them as they had had to do during the day as their bladders had filled, but this awful mess in their nappies was horrid! Also, despite the fact that none had leaked past their rubber pants, they could smell their own wastes and the stench made them feel really nauseated. Thankfully, the drips were still up so the nurses were able to increase their fluids overnight to stop them from becoming severely dehydrated - a problem with such a powerful purgative.

In the morning, neither was offered or given breakfast nor anything to drink. After the dire warnings about being gagged again, both boys decided that it was better not to ask why in case they had their gags put back. Glen was the first. He was wheeled in his cot bed to another side room off the main ward and there lifted out of bed and he was strapped to a horizontal pole so his arms were outstretched, his neck supported and he was just standing on his feet. The room was half tiled with a tiled floor and a wash down gully. The nurses had wheeled the bad outside, shut the door and were putting on rubber Wellington boots, long rubber gloves and sleeved long green rubber aprons. Glen soon discovered why! The nurses slid his rubber pants off him. The smell was even worse than before as the croton oil had virtually completely emptied his digestive system so there was bile and all sorts soaked into his nappy. The nappy was then removed for one of the nurses to take it to a sluice sink to wash the solids, such as there were, adhering to the nappy down the sink before dropping the pants and nappy in appropriate bins for later washing. The other nurse, behind Glen's sight, took a hose, ran it into the drain until it ran warm and then proceeded to hose him off. When he was reasonably clean, the two nurses soaped him from head to food and then rinsed him off. Drying him as he stood there, held up by the pole, Glen was glad when they'd finished and brought his bed back for him to lie on while they applied his clean nappies, rubber pants and the grey shift. Glen was wheeled back into the main ward and John was subjected to the same treatment.

The boys were left in their cots for a while and tis time had not been given any anti-psychotic medication. When the nurses were at the other end of the ward, the boys talked to each other, trying to work out what had happened and how to get out of it. John, who was a big Sci-Fi fan, guessed that there must be some sort of time rift at the hospital which is why the flickering lights at night, but that certainly wouldn't help them to get out of their current situation. Half an hour later, Glen was wheeled away and out of the ward. The sister had to unlock the door to let the porter and nurse wheel Glen's cot through. John was very anxious both for himself but especially for his brother as he wondered what was happening to him.

Glen, being younger, was merely worried about himself as he was wheeled through the hospital. The porter pulled his bed through a wide doorway labelled 'Treatment'. Once the bed was inside, the porter left and the nurse on duty in that room locked the door behind him. The nurse from the ward and the treatment nurse lowered the cot side to Glen's bed and helped him out of bed and, as he turned round, he saw what was awaiting him. It was a bit like a dentist's chair, but covered in black rubber. There was an inflated cushion for a seat with a hole in the middle and shaped like the hole in a bedpan. The leg supports, unlike a dentist's chair, were separate and spread wide apart with a raised section at the front of the seat - this was a splash guard for the male patients rather like the raised front on a child's potty. Under the seat was a white enamelled bucket with the characteristic blue rim which these sorts of things used to have. Attached to this was a transfusion pole onto which his drip bottle had been hung. The drip pole had four hooks and hanging from the one opposite the glass bottle of saline which was still being run slowly through his veins was a large white enamelled can with an outlet on the side at the base connected to a long rubber tube with some strange looking device on the end of the tubing. Glen had his shift removed along with his still dry nappy and rubber pants as he was sat in the chair with his legs wide apart. The rubber struck cold against his buttocks and back but soon warmed up and caused him to start sweating. The nurses swiftly strapped him down with straps to his legs and arms and across his chest. The treatment nurse spoke to him, "I'm going to tip this chair back for a moment to allow me to put something into your bottom. So don't scream out or anything when I tip you back." Glen kept his mouth shut. He hated being gagged as the gag made his jaws ache as they were forced apart by the ball gag.

The chair was tipped backwards so his back was horizontal. His head rested against a headrest so reminiscent of a dentist's chair! The nurse who was in the room had dressed in long rubber apron and gloves. She reached for the strange looking device connected to the rubber tubing and opened a clip to run some liquid into the bucket. The tip of this strange device was covered in lubricant. Suddenly the other nurse who had also put on rubber gloves placed one hand over his mouth to stop him from crying out. The treatment nurse then pushed the tip of what was a Bardex double balloon retention enema catheter into his back passage. Glen's cry was muffled by the nurse's gloved hand across his mouth. Suddenly he felt the first balloon being inflated inside him as a pressure inside his back passage. When it started to hurt, he winced which gave the treatment nurse the clue that a couple more squeezes on the inflation bulb should be enough. She then inflated the external bulb to ensure no leakage. Glen was tipped back to a sitting position with the hole over the bucket. The clip was undone on the tubing as hot water rushed into Glen's colon. The treatment nurse said to the other, "I don't know why we bother to do this. I expect he's had croton oil last night?" The ward nurse confirmed that he had indeed had that. The treatment nurse continued, "Then he'll be empty and not need a 3H enema, will he?" Glen cried out that he was full and he needed to 'go' badly. He was told that he was no where near full. The treatment nurse said, "Which is to be? This or you shut up?" She was holding a ball gag in one hand so Glen said, "I'll be quiet." The ward nurse said, "He'll complain, you know. Stick the gag on him and we'll have some peace and quiet." She pinched Glen's nose until he was forced to open his mouth and the ball gag was rammed in and strapped behind his head. The ward nurse spoke again, "May as well leave that in place until he's ready for his shock treatment. The nurse, of course, meant 'electro-convulsive therapy' but even the name sent a thrill of fear through Glen.

He squirmed as much as the straps enabled him as his colon filled rapidly with the hot, soapy water. Perhaps the nurse would have run it through slower, but she also had Glen's brother to deal with so was in a hurry. Eventually, a gurgle from the can showed that Glen had taken the whole lot. Glen looked down and his abdomen was so swollen that he looked pregnant! The treatment nurse timed ten minutes as ordered by the doctor then, reaching behind the seat, she was able to release the air valves on both balloons to deflate them and ripped the Bardex catheter from Glen's back passage none too gently so Glen would have cried out, were it not for the gag. Glen didn't need to be told to let the enema go into the bucket as he couldn't hold it any more. After a while, he had no more to pass and he'd also passed urine into the bucket. The splash guard was strictly unnecessary n his case as the drugs he'd been given stopped him from having an erection and releasing his urine upwards anyway. He was unstrapped, lifted back onto his cot bed, firmly strapped down, and put back in nappies. This time, to his surprise, he had a pair of rubber drop front pants put on instead of the pull-on type. The front flap was pulled up over his nappies and the side flaps fastened to that with stainless steel poppers. Then a second flap attached to the front flattop was poppered onto the side flaps so that there was little chance of him leaking. The treatment nurse made some notes in his record and then said to the ward nurse, "Right, let's wheel him next door into ECT!" Glen shivered with fear as this did not sound good!

He was wheeled next door into what could have been a large operating room. There was also, to Glen's eyes anyway, a very old fashioned looking X-ray machine and an anaesthetic machine. He'd seen both modern versions when he'd had a general anaesthetic to reset a broken wrist a couple of years ago or was that 49 years in the future? Matron was there along with a male doctor.

"Thank you, nurses. You can start on his brother now," Matron said, "Ill take over from here and ring the ward when he's ready to go back." Matron always helped with the ECTs for her young patients as she liked to make sure that they received the appropriate treatment. Glen's cot was pushed so that the head was adjacent to the anaesthetic machine.

"Good," said the doctor, "I much prefer it when they're gagged so they can't make a silly fuss over this." Matron and the doctor lowered the cot sides and then removed the head of the cot so the doctor could get at Glen's head. He picked up a rubber strap with holes along its length. He placed two metal discs with rods which stuck out of the strap into the strap and put the strap onto Glen's forehead.

"Right first time!" said the doctor as the metal discs covered his temples on each side. Taking the strap off, he placed a saline soaked gauze pad on each temple while matron held Glen's head still by grasping his jaw and holding it firmly. The doctor reapplied the rubber strap with the discs so the discs were now in contact with the gauze pads to conduct the electricity which would soon be passing through them. He then took two wires from a machine plugged into the mains electricity and connected these to the metal rods protruding from the rubber strap around Glen's head. Pressing a button marked "Test" on the machine, the dial flicked over satisfactorily showing that there was a good circuit to the electrodes. Matron let go of Glen's jaw, "Now then, young man, I'm going to give you an injection of a strong drug to relax you. Then I'm going to remove the gag and I won';t be answering any questions! The doctor will then put something into your mouth so I want no fuss at all, understood?" Glen nodded as best he could. Matron had already drawn up a large injection of morphine which she proceeded to give Glen through his drip tubing, running the saline through quicker afterwards to flush the drug into Glen's bloodstream. The morphine wasn't to calm Glen down, although that was a useful side effect, but rather to make sure that the anaesthetic took quickly. When Glen's eyelids started to droop, showing that the morphine was taking effect, matron removed the gag and held Glen's chip down. The doctor placed a 'U' shaped rubber gag between his teeth which was attached to a nasal mask and strap. Matron helped the chin section over Glen's chin to ensure that his teeth were firmly clenched on the gag and the doctor made sure that the mask covered his nose and mouth. There was an air hole through the gag so the patient could either breathe through the nose of mouth or both, but they would have to breathe in the anaesthetic no matter what! Finally the head strap was pulled up over Glen's head so that the chin support and mask were securely in place. Glen was now breathing just air through the connection on the mask. The doctor checked the circuit once more to make sure that he hadn't knocked any of the contacts loose.

"Are we sterilising him as well?" the doctor asked.

" The box for that isn't ticked."

"Oh yes!, matron replied, "We always do for the severe cases. We don't want them breeding, do we?" Matron took a pen and made sure that the relevant box for this had been ticked.

"Let's get him ready for that as well," the doctor answered. Matron unpoppered Glen's rubber pants, unpinned his nappy and folded that down. Next she got a piece of rubber tubing and made a running loop on it. Passing that around Glen's scrotum between his testicles and his body, she pulled the ends tight so the tubing knotted firmly around his testicles and scrotum. Holding the ends tightly, the doctor placed a lead apron with a small hole in the middle over Glen and Matron passed the tubing through the hole. Pulling hard, she pulled the bottom of his scrotum and his testicles through the hole. Next, the doctor took a special lead tool which had an adjustable hole in the middle. He passed this between the lead apron and the rubber band and worked a clamp on the device so the hole squashed as small as possible around Glen's scrotum, spermatic cords and blood supply to his testicles. Next the X-ray device was lowered and clamped onto the plate so that his testicles could be irradiated to sterile him. Glen struggled feebly against all this but the morphine was doing its job.

The doctor plugged the tube from the anaesthetic machine into the connector on the front of the mask and gag assembly. He then turned on 100% nitrous oxide - the way the old dentists used to knock out the children quickly. Glen smelt the gas and tried to hold his breath, but the doctor squeezed the re-breathing bag attached to the anaesthetic machine so the gas was forced into his lungs. At the same time, as both matron and the doctor now stood behind a lead shield with the anaesthetic machine on their side and the ECT machine as well with the wiring and anaesthetic tubing leading to Glen. The doctor turned on the X-rays and, when Glen had started to turn blue, pressed the button on the ECT machine giving Glen a maximum dose. Glen convulsed as if having a fit for three minutes while the doctor switched over to pure oxygen and squeezed the re-breathing bag to keep Glen breathing. He then switched off the X-ray machine, having thoroughly 'cooked' Glen's testicles, rending him sterile for life. Glen started to stir as he slowly regained consciousness. Matron placed a vomit bowl ready for when he was sick after the mask and gag had been removed. Matron also removed some of the straps and turned Glen onto his side. The straps had ensured that the convulsions caused by the ECT hadn't done any physical damage. The lead shielding had been removed and Glen's nappy done up and rubber pants refastened around the nappies. Glen started to vomit into the bowl from the anaesthetic as a nurse from the ward and a porter came to wheel him back to the ward. They had also brought John ready to be taken into the room and John was horrified at Glen's vacant stare as he also emptied the fluid which had collected in his stomach. Glen didn't even appear to recognise his brother. John was wheeled into the room as Matron gave a beaming smile, "Now you get the same treatment as your brother!"

Back (or should that be 'forward) in 2011, the police were discussing what could have happened to the boys. The policewoman, Jane, said, "Look, this is going to sound crazy, but please hear me out. We showed the boys walked into a room at the hospital but there were no signs that they walked out again and also no signs anyone else had been in that room. In a different room, we found large brown paper bags with their clothing and belongings neatly folded and placed inside - not the sort of thing teenage boys do. On the bags were their names and a hospital number referring to someone of the same name who were patients at that hospital in December 1950. There were no footprints or signs from now anywhere around those bags of clothing. In fact the dust in the room we found the clothes hadn't been disturbed for years. OK so far?" Her boss agreed so she carried on, "There have been strange lights at night at this hospital for years and no-one has ever found out what is causing them. What if, and I know this sounds crazy, the boys were caught in some sort of time rift and carried back to 1950. So I suggest that we might stake out the hospital for several nights to see whether we can find out what is going on." Expecting her boss to tear her to shreds, she was surprised when he agreed.

"I think it's all we can do really. But I want a list of everyone on the team who will be on the stake-outs to make sure that none of us have the same name as any patients back in 1950. Agreed?" He turned to the most junior police constable, "You know who's on the team, check it out." The PC replied,"Yes sir!"

Later that day, the PC confirmed to his boss that no-one had the same name as anyone at the hospital as a patient in 1950, so that night, the team would be up at the hospital from 23.30 hrs until 01.30 hrs to see if they could find the lights flickering and any cause for that. They rendezvoused at the gates of the hospital just before the planned time, all armed with their radios and powerful torches. The boss had also insisted on everyone carrying an old fashioned whistle as well - just in case. The police officers were also told to radio in every ten minutes as a safety precaution. They split up and started around the hospital. At midnight precisely, lights were seen flickering at some of the windows and then suddenly they faded out. The boss called for all his staff to radio in to check that they were all still there. One by one, they answered him and reported back - except for the policewoman. He ordered al the team outside by the front door of the hospital. They all made their way there, except for the policewoman who had suggested the time rift.

"Right," the boss said, "Let's have a forensic team up here now and a full search team as well. We must find Jane. She must be in there somewhere." After half an hour, the forensic and search team arrived and they started working their way through the hospital. Suddenly, the junior police constable radioed in, "Sir, I have bad news. I have found a carrier bag with Jane and a different surname on it along with a hospital number. I haven't opened or touched the bag, sir. I am in room 58,"

The whole crew assembled just outside room 58 and the forensic team confirmed that the only footprints were from the PC who had opened the door who had gone in just far enough to see the bag and the name but had gone nowhere near the bag. The boss looked at the name on the bag and called the PC to him and shouted at him at the top of his voice, "You stupid pillock! Jane got married three months ago and you checked just her married surname. That's her maiden name, you fool. We've lost her!" The forensic team opened the bag and found all her uniform, underclothes, wedding ring, radio, whistle, warranty card and radio. She had gone, just like the boys.

Back in 1950, Jane suddenly found herself in the hospital admission room. As the staff approached her, she fought back until one of the nurses jabbed her with a syringe and she collapsed unconscious on the floor. She was rapidly stripped, gagged with a ball gag and dressed in the grey shift, nappies and rubber pants like the boys had been. As this was morning and the boys had arrived in the evening, she was taken straight to see the doctor, the same one who had just given the boys their ECT. When she recovered from the fast acting sedative, the doctor asked her name and she, of course, gave her married name. She gave her address too which, like the boys, was in a newer part of the village which didn't exist back in 1950. The doctor asked about her uniform, asking whether she was going to a fancy dress party. She told him that she was a serving policewoman. Of course, the doctor didn't believe her as the police uniform back in 1950 was very different to 2011. He turned to matron, "We've just done those two new boys, so there's no reason not to take her straight to ECT as she's obviously severely deranged. Matron asked, "Don't you want her bowel prepped first?"

"No, we'll dispense with that in her case and get the nurses to clean her up when she gets back to the ward. Jane obviously protested loudly, but matron quickly reinserted the ball gag in her mouth to shut her up.

Jane, strapped down onto a cot bed with sides and lid just like the boys and was wheeled by a nurse and a porter over to the ECT room. The end of her cot was removed and two nurses held her head from either side while a third nurse proceeded to use a pair of electric clippers to remove all her lovely long blond hair from her head. Jane started to cry while they did this and she was terrified about what was to happen to her as she'd heard such terrible things about ECT which were to prove true in her case. The doctor tried to place the electrodes around her head, but she struggled so he turned to matron, "Sedate her heavily now or we'll never get this done." Matron went to a cupboard and retrieved a glass syringe and a phial of morphine. She filled the syringe and went over to the bed. Turning to two of the nurses, she told them, "

"Hold her arm for me so I can get this in." One nurse grabbed her around her upper arm, having pushed her shift out of the way, so that her veins stood out. The other nurse held her forearm flat onto the mattress so matron could stick the needle into an engorged vein in the crook of Jane's elbow. She squirted the morphine straight into her vein and smiled as Jane's eyelids fluttered as the drug took hold.

The doctor then was able, with the aid of two nurses supporting her head, to get the electrodes , saline pads and rubber retaining strap around her head. Connecting the wires, a quick press of the test button on the ECT ,machine showed a good connection. The nurses were well trained as they held down Jane's jaw and another removed the ball gag so the doctor could insert the 'U' shaped gag to prevent damage to her teeth, then put the rubber chip support to help hold the gag in place, the mask fitted easily over her nose so it covered the gag and both Jane's nose and mouth and then pulled the rubber straps tight around the back of her head to hold her jaw closed and the gag in place. A quick push of the test button again showed that the circular was still OK and no wires had been dislodged. He turned to matron, "Maximum as usual?"

"Oh yes, doctor, definitely, "matron replied. Jane was still feebly struggling against the straps holding her down when the doctor took the corrugated black rubber pipe from the anaesthetic machine as it hissed with 100% nitrous oxide. He plugged it into the connector on the front of the mask and waited for the gas to take effect. Jane panicked as she saw the anaesthetic tubing being connected to the mask. She held her breath as long as possible, but eventually she had to take a deep breath of the nitrous oxide. She immediately could smell the sweet smell of the nitrous oxide. As she had now had one breath, the doctor squeezed the black rubber re-breather bag to force nitrous oxide again into her lungs. Unable to stop herself as her own involuntary breathing took over, Jane took a third breath and started to hear the buzzing noise and felt as if she were falling down a deep dark hole - so familiar to anyone who had a tooth removed by gas back in the 1950's. When she started to turn blue, he pressed the ECT button as she convulsed as the fit took her. It was a good strong fit lasting four minutes while the doctor switched from nitrous oxide to oxygen and massaged the black rubber re-breather bag to force the oxygen into her lungs while she fitted. The straps were loosened and the gag removed along with the electrodes as she started to gain consciousness. Jane vomited as she wondered where on earth she was and why she had wet her nappy.

In 2011, the 'boss' of the team of detectives had assembled his team and the ordinary PCs from the night's disaster outside the Chief Constable's office so that they could all bear witness to what had happened. As the Chief Constable arrived, he called the boss into his office, telling the rest to get back on with whatever they were doing.

"George, I'm well aware of what happened last night - I have my own sources of information and, incredible as it all seems, I do accept that your detective disappeared. I also now accept that those two boys almost certainly disappeared in the same way. Now, what do you want from me?"

"Please, sir, could I have the medical records for the two boys and for Jane as well from the old hospital to see if any clues to what happened and what is to happen to them might be found there? Also, I would like to discuss an idea with both you and the Primary Care Trust's Chief Executive." The Chief Constable smiled, "He's on his way now with the records and should be here in the next few minutes. I didn't get made Chief Constable for being a total idiot - I'd worked out that you'd be asking for those. Now, what do you want to put to the PCT's Chief Executive?"

"I would like to suggest that we cordon off the hospital and a start is made to demolish it. I have a feeling that doing that will disrupt any link with the past and, forlorn though that hope might be, we may get Jane and the boys back."

"That seems eminently sensible to me. Apart from anything else, hopefully, with the hospital gone, no more people will be dragged back in time as appears to have happened."

Back in 1950, Jane was wheeled back to the ward. There, the sister came with a nurse to overlook Jane.

"Now then, nurse, this patient was admitted and taken quickly to ECT and didn't get purged or washed out first. I want you to give this patient a dose of croton oil to purge her. I expect she soiled herself when she had the ECT but she's well nappied so she may as well empty her bowel fully now - she'll just get messier. Also set up a drip: I want her to stay well hydrated as she';s due several days of ECT and there's no point in feeding her in between. It will also help her to get used to wetting herself"

"Yes, sister" the nurse replied and went to carry out sister's instructions. She came back with another nurse who removed the ball gag and -pinched Jane's nose so that she had to open her mouth while the other nurse pushed the cube of bread dosed with the croton oil into her mouth and then rapidly inserted the ball gag and fastened it in place to stop Jane from spitting it out. The senior nurse got the junior nurse to hold Jane's arm while she inserted the steel needle connected by rubber tubing to a bottle of saline. The needle was fastened down well with adhesive tape and the saline allowed to flow into one of Jane's veins. Later, Jane, well strapped down onto her cot bed, writhed as the croton oil purged her.

Meanwhile, what was happening to the boys? By now, both were back in the severe children's ward, lying in their cot beds dazed by the very strong fit caused by the high voltage which had been applied across their temples. As intended, it had 'shaken' up their brains and caused amnesia too. Neither could even remember their names. In 2011, ECT was still used but not at the voltage used back in 1950 and neither is it allowed to be done daily as the three from 2011 were to get. Their bottles of saline were empty by now so the nurse in charge of them changed the bottles for fresh ones. She had also been instructed by sister to start their anal dilatation. Getting a junior nurse to help her, she first lowered Glen's cot side and then lowered his drop front rubber pants. The junior nurse, as instructed, undid his nappies and opened them out so the senior nurse could access glen's anus. Glen was lying on the cot bed with his arms and legs fastened to the corners of the cot so he was lying there, like John, spread-eagled. The senior nurse took a pear shaped rubber device which was connected by a long tube to an inflation bulb. She smeared Vaseline onto the bulb and around Glen's anus using her rubber gloved hand. Taking the pear shaped bulb, she then inserted it into Glen's anus. Glen twitched as she did this as it was large and quite painful for him. The senior nurse gave the inflation bulb several squeezes until Glen cried out in pain. She smiled at this and then told the nurse to refasten his nappies and rubber pants. The rubber bulb and some of the tubing emerged from the front of Glen's rubber pants at the waist.

"Now then, nurse, I want you to do this to John while I help you. Then every hour, I want you to give the bulb for Glen and John one full hard squeeze. Ignore any protests from the boys. This is part of their treatment." The nurses did the same to John and the younger nurse, new to the ward and the hospital asked, "What is this for, please?" The older, more experienced nurse laughed, "These patients are here for life. Constipation is often a problem, In the past, patients deliberately tried not to pass stool to make the only protest they can against their treatment. So this dilated the anus and expands it so much that the patients can't hold back their stool any more. Instead of purgatives and enemas, we give each patient a good dose of liquid paraffin every night and their stool will just slip out overnight into their nappies ready for us to change them in the morning! They will soon become completely in continent of stool and urine so we can change their nappies as required instead of messing with urinals and bedpans, as well as getting soiled bedding when the patient doesn't wait for a bedpan or urinal. The thick nappies and rubbers keep the bedding clean and dry."

The next morning, matron had organised for the three newcomers to be treated as early as possible. Jane was changed and washed, put into a clean shift and taken to the enema room where she was strapped into the chair and given a large 3H enema just like the boys had had the day before. Like the boys, she returned just the hot soapy water since the croton oil had done its work of emptying her. Her nappy had not only been very wet but very messy as the oil had purged her over a very uncomfortable night. Unlike the boys who were sedated overnight, the adult patients were left to get what sleep they could. As soon as she had finished, the rubber pear shaped bulb was inserted into her anus and inflated hard to start stretching her anus irreparably. She was then taken to the ECT room when Glen and John had just arrived. There was room for all three beds to be taken into the treatment room. The doctor said, "We'll deal with the youngest first and finish with the woman." Glen's bed was wheeled to the anaesthetic machine. The head end of the bed was lowered as the doctor put the electrodes held in place with the rubber strap around Glen's head with the saline pads and electrodes over his temples. Glen couldn't remember what had happened in this room but he remembered enough to know it wasn't good so he weakly struggled against the straps on his bed which held him down. The ball gag was removed from his mouth as his nose was held so he had to keep his mouth open to breath. The U shaped gag to stop him from breaking his teeth during the convulsions or from biting his tongue was forced between his teeth as the mask was pulled over his nose. The chin strap held the gag firmly gripped between his teeth and the head strap pulled the mask over his nose and the gag. A final check that the electrical circuit was still intact, the doctor turned to matron, "How much, matron?"

"These all need the maximum dose and we'll be giving them two week's of this every day. That should render them docile and cooperative permanently."

"Are they to have the morphine first?"

"No, there's no need to waste morphine on them today. Just get on with it!" The doctor connected the hose from the anaesthetic machine to the mask and turned the nitrous oxide on full. The gas flowed through the mouth gag and around Glen's nose so he could either breathe through his mouth or his nose: but either way, he'd get the full effect of the gas. He could smell the sweet smell of nitrous oxide and got that familiar buzzing in his ears as the world went black and he started to fall down that black pit of unconsciousness. As soon as he started to turn blue from asphyxia as he was just being given nitrous oxide to breathe, the doctor changed to oxygen and pressed the button on the ECT machine. Glen's body convulsed for a full four minutes as the electricity caused a massive fit. John and Jane looked on horrified as this was done to Glen. Once the fit had stopped, all the electrodes and gags etc. were removed and Glen was pushed off to the ward with John's cot taking Glen's place. Jane struggled against her bonds as did John as neither wanted the same treatment as Glen had had, but it was no use. As they fought their bonds, the doctor injected a dose of anti-psychotic drug through their drips. They were aware but unable to fight back as the drug almost paralysed them. John was treated just like Glen and then Jane received the very same treatment, almost breaking the bonds holding her down as the fit took hold.

In 2011, the Chief Constable, 'boss' and the Chief Executive of the PCT were sitting reading the three medical files, their faces turning white as they read what had happened to Jane, Glen and John. The files gave full details of the drugs and treatment administered as well as what the end purpose was: to produce docile, incontinent patients who stayed in their cots all day as they soiled their nappies. The files were swapped around so that all three read each file. The Chief Constable broke the silence, "That's simply barbaric! The Boss looked at the end of Glen's file, "They were only there for four days each and then discharged with no comment at all. I'm hopeful that 'attacking' the hospital may be what can get them back." The Chief Executive of the PCT said, "You'll get no argument from me. Let's do it! How quickly can we get this happening?" The Chief Constable replied, "I think tomorrow by the time we line up diggers and the cordon."

"No sooner?" That's the fastest I think practical." The boss thoughtfully commented, "I pity them all suffering like that."

"Amen to that!" replied the Chief Constable.

Back in 1950, Matron was having a discussion with the doctor who had done the ECT.

"I have a strange feeling about these three. I want to get them rendered completely docile as fast as possible. How many ECT could we do a day?" I think we could safely give them three short anaesthetics a day and two doses with each anaesthetic, Matron. However, we could increase the effect by giving them insulin shock therapy in the evenings. How does that sound?"

"Perfect! We'll do that, doctor. I'll supervise their therapy myself!"

Matron went to the severe female ward and the severe children's ward to arrange for the three to be brought back to the treatment room for more therapy. All three by now had been given large doses of chlorpromazine and were lying there in their cots, well sedated as well as suffering from severe memory loss and confusion from the ECT they had received. All three were brought back to the treatment room at lunchtime. Matron went round to each patient and gave a squeeze to the bulb which inflated the 'rubber pear' stretching their anal sphincter muscles. Glen again was done first. He was so spaced out that when the ball gag was removed from his mouth, he continued to hold his mouth open , drooling slightly, as if waiting for the mouth gag to protect his teeth to be inserted. Once unconscious with the nitrous oxide, a large fit was produced by the first shock lasting four minutes. As soon as his poor body had stopped twitching, the doctor pressed the button again to produce a huge fit lasting five minutes on this occasion. While this was going on and because the patient was unconscious with the pure nitrous oxide anaesthetic.. matron gave the bulb repeated squeezes and smiled with delight as the bulb suddenly became easier to press, meaning that his anal sphincter muscle must have torn. She continued to squeeze the bulb to stretch his anal sphincter muscles as much as possible to help to make him fully incontinent of stool. Glen was taken back to his ward and the same was done to John. Once John had been removed to the children's ward too, Jane was treated the same. The doctor asked matron, "When is she going to be sterilized?"

"Unfortunately, the team from the general hospital won';t be able to come over to sterilize her until next week. I keep feeling somehow that it will be too late and she'll manage to avoid having it done. That worries me."

"I wish I could help, but you do need a surgical team to remove her ovaries." The three were brought back again at tea time when the whole process was repeated, including matron continuing to take delight in squeezing the bulb to make sure their anal sphincter muscles were well and truly destroyed.

That evening, matron had arranged for all three to be brought into a large room equipped with resuscitation equipment in case things went too far. As before, Glen was the first to be treated. Matron had everything prepare and four nurses to help her. Glen had an injection into the rubber tubing of his drip of a massive dose of insulin. Matron then speeded up the drip to flush the insulin quickly into his blood system as fast as possible. The same was done to John and Jane. The nurses then carefully watched each patient after switching the intravenous saline for intravenous glucose. As the three had not been being fed anyway. Receiving occasional bottles of glucose to maintain his nutrition at minimal levels. The insulin rapidly destroyed their plasma glucose, or blood sugar, and soon each of them started to show the signs of hypoglycaemia. Their faces became flushed, then pale. Sweat broke out all over them so their faces and their shifts were soaked with sweat. Suddenly each one went into convulsions, Jane first as her last bottle of glucose had been given to her well before the boys had received theirs. Jane was twitching, then rolling from side to side as far as her bonds would allow her, then spasms which meant that her back arched as she strained against her bonds. Soon the boys were showing exactly the same sort of convulsions as Jane had. The nurses watched the patients closely and waited until they stopped convulsing and fell into a coma. As this could rapidly result in death, as soon as they stopped their convulsions, the nurses immediately opened the clip on their drip tubing so that pure glucose solution flowed into their veins to reverse the coma. Soon all three had recovered consciousness.

"Turn off the glucose. We'll do it again," matron said. The use of insulin pre-dated ECT, but the convulsions had a similar effect to ECT. This was repeated again and then for a third time. By now, all three patients were exhausted and drained so matron decided that it would be too risky to continue. The three were taken back to their relevant wards and given a large dose of chlorpromazine to keep them well sedated overnight. Instead of saline they were given glucose to replenish their glucose levels overnight ready for their continued 'torture' the next day. After giving them their injections, each nurse remembered matron's instructions and gave a final squeeze of the bulb so that their anal sphincters were, by now, stretched and torn so much that they would never close again.

The Chief Constable and the Chief Executive had certainly done their jobs well. After the meeting early that morning, broth men had been phoning and giving their orders. By the evening of that day there was one of those concrete block and metal fencing panels slotted into those bases and clipped together at the top around the derelict hospital, two large JCBs on site, a Portacabin for the workers and a police cordon to keep people out and to stop the JCBs from being stolen overnight, The next morning, bright and early, the 'boss', his team and the Chiefs assembled in front of the old hospital.

They all stood quietly and looked at it. Yes, the vandals had done their worse by smashing virtually every window, but it was still an imposing edifice. The main block was five stories high with a tower capped with stone pinnacles dropping down to four story offices on either side with three story extensions for the wards and other parts at the rear. It had been built to look imposing with its dark red brick and stone decorations - lintels, sills and corner blocks on the edges of the various sections. In front of the main entrance, through which the senior executives, doctors and matron used - never a patient or nurse ever entered there - with a circular road in front connected by an 'in' and 'out; road to the main gate with roads leading off either side for lesser mortals to use. The circular road had a sort of roundabout in the centre which obviously once had flower beds and probably an immaculately trimmed lawn in front of it for the senior staff to look down on. It might have made a superb apartment building were it not for what had happened there.

Four ambulances were there: three for the hoped for recovery of Jane and the boys, and a fourth just in case of accidents or injuries to the workmen or police. The Chief Executive and the Chief Constable turned to the 'boss', with the Chief Constable speaking their thoughts, "George, I haven't a clue what to do next. Where do you think we should start knocking this down?"

"Sir, I've given this a great deal of thought and I would like to suggest that we start well away from where we think the boys and Jane might have been kept. Don't ask me why, but that just feels right to me, so I suggest we start round the back with the old outpatients' section. As far as I can see from the hospital records, they were never in that section."

"Sounds good to me," as the Chief Constable turned to the PCT's Chief.

"Sounds good to me too. Let's do that."

"Sir, may I suggest that we stay here at the front and I put two PCs with the JCBs so we can tell them to stop immediately if anything should happen?"

"Good thinking! A splendid idea! Make it so and tell them they can start when your PCs are in place." George, known as the 'boss' to his team, went to speak to two junior PCs who hurried round to the JCB drivers and went with them around the back to the outpatient section. The two chiefs nodded to George when his PCs had radioed to him that they were in place. George gave the order, "OK, tell them to start knocking it down but be ready to stop immediately at my order." Each constable in turn responded in the same way, "Roger that, sir!"

This was now the fourth day for the boys and Jane's third day. They had been taken to the ECT room for their first treatments that day whilst other patients were being fed breakfast. Brought back at lunchtime, Matron said to the doctor, "I have the strangest feeling today. I can't explain it but let's get started" Glen was first as usual and was prepared with the electrodes, gag and mask.

One of the JCBs had started up his machine first and started to pull the wall down of the outpatient section. As the wall fell, the building seemed to shudder as if hit by an earthquake so the boss radioed to stop for a moment.

The doctor was about to connect the corrugated black rubber tubing from the anaesthetic machine. As he did so, there was shudder which went through the building as if there was an earthquake. As the doctor turned on the gas, the shaking got worse.

"Matron called to him, "Remove the tubing from the mask now please!" The doctor looked puzzled but matron was always a force to be obeyed. The shaking stopped.

"Try again, doctor, please." The doctor did as he was bidden and the shaking was even worse this time with dust falling from high ledges and cornices around the room, too high for normal cleaning to reach. The doctor didn't need telling this time as he removed the tubing himself. The shaking stopped to be replaced by a sort of trembling. Matron said, "Please doctor, remove everything from that patient's head." When this was done, the trembling reduced but was still there. Matron suddenly grabbed her head as if in severe and acute pain.

"I have the strangest feeling about this. Nurses, please don't argue, take those three beds to the main entrance and put them outside the main entrance on the top step." One nurse, braver than the rest, spoke out, "But matron, no patients are allowed through those doors on your strictest orders!"

"I know nurse, you are, of course, perfectly correct. However, I feel that these three somehow shouldn't be here and we need to get them outside. Please do it now!" Her icy tone meant that she would brook no refusal, so the nurses started to take the cot beds and their patients to the front door of the hospital.

The shuddering stopped and as they watched the front of the hospital, three silver metal cot beds were pushed out onto the wide front step by nurses who appeared translucent. They could see right through them and then a woman who had to be matron from her elaborate headdress and uniform, also translucent, called the nurses back into the hospital and left the three cot beds there.

The police and the ambulance men needed no orders: they all ran to the beds and lifted them down and away from the building which once so solid now seemed to be trembling. The three senior staff looked with horror at the way Glen, John and Jane had shaven heads, dressed in their short grey shifts fastened by tapes under the arms and up the sides of the body, their rubber pants visible under the shifts and, perhaps worse, the way they were strapped down and their utterly blank faces with no expression at all. The sides were dropped of the cots and the patients lifted onto ambulance stretchers and then into the vehicles which rushed off to the general hospital with blue lights and two tone horns blaring, escorted by a police traffic car, clearing the road before them.

Inside the hospital, the trembling stopped. Matron turned to the nurses, "Come now, you all have work to do!" The nurses went back to the wards with no further explanation than that.

"Carry on!" George said into his radio, "We've got them back and I want that place flattened as soon as possible!" The second JCB joined in in demolishing the outpatient section. This time, the building shook far more violently and the JCB drivers needed no orders to quickly reverse their diggers back to a safe distance. What they saw now was unbelievable had they been told it, but they saw it with their own eyes. From the top pinnacles of the main tower, the stone work turned to dust as a strong wind came up suddenly and blew the dust away. In a matter of fifteen minutes, the whole building had turned to dust right down to the very foundations. Nothing at all was left as the foundations were just holes in the ground of bare earth. The Chiefs looked puzzled but George used his radio immediately, "Get the drivers to fill in the foundations so no-one can fall into them. Good work, everyone!" Everyone wondered exactly what they had done, but he seemed pleased anyway and they had the three back. Suddenly the sky over the hospital turned black and there was a sound like a loud sigh as the blackness lifted up and flew away in the opposite direction to which the wind was from.

"I think it's all over!" George said.

The three 'victim's arrived at the local hospital where plans had been already made for their hoped for admission. A team of top consultants was there ready to examine the three should they arrive. When they were brought in, they were taken into Resus. To be checked over. Physically, the news was not too bad for Jane but less so for the boys. All three were well hydrated and, as they had only been at the Mental Hospital for a maximum of four days, they were not showing signs of being malnourished. Other than their shaved heads, they were generally in good physical health, the exception being the damage done to their anal sphincters and the burning to the boys' scrota caused by the high doses of X-rays to sterilise them. The urology consultant decided that the only way to deal with the boys was to finish the sterilisation properly by surgically removing their testes and also the burnt scrota as well. However, these opinions were revised after each patient had a head CT scan. The damage caused by the extensive ECT shocks they had received at far higher doses than would be allowed and at very much higher frequency had caused multiple bleeds in their brain and blood clots to form - effectively hundreds of mini-strokes which would cause permanent brain damage in them. The consultants had noticed how placid and 'spaced out' the three were and now they knew why. They might never regain their memories or cognitive abilities. They had their nappies removed for the examinations and the three showed no response worth noting- it was 'matter of normal' to them. However, all three immediately showed severe distress when they were put in modern disposable diapers. The psychiatrist decided that this was not good for them, so nappies were cobbled out of hospital towels and their rubber pants washed out and reapplied. The Chief Executive authorised the purchase of terry towelling nappies for the three, replacement rubber pants and a few plastic ones to see if they would tolerate those.

Permission had been obtained for the needed surgery on the boys as it had been explained to their parents that they risked gangrene otherwise as the testes and scrota rotted. A few days later, the Chief Constable, the Chief Executive and some of the consultants, with specialist nurses met with Jane's husband, her parents and the parents of Glen and John. The Chief Constable started with explaining what they think might have happened to them, showed them the hospital records from 1950, along with photographs taken then for the records which were obviously the three 'victims' and told them that they had no idea how it had all happened: there was no 'natural' explanation. The Chief Executive said that the hospital trust had apparently no legal responsibility in a case so strange and rare as this, but the trust would guarantee the best possible treatment for them all. The psychiatrist explained that none of them were showing any signs of improving mentally, so he recommended that they be transferred to a special care home where they would be fed, washed, cleaned and well cared for. As can imagine, the relatives went through all the stages very rapidly. Starting with anger, they went through denial, bargaining, trying to see if there were treatments, albeit very costly perhaps, available, depression and then acceptance as the medical team and nurses comforted them and answered their questions.

Later, after the grieving families had left for Jane and the boys were effectively rendered into living vegetables by their treatment back in 1950, the Chief Constable spoke to the Chief Executive, "I'm frankly puzzled by one thing in this whole episode, apart of course from how they travelled back and forwards in time itself which, I guess, we'll never know how that was done. No, why these three? I've been having my staff ask around the community and loads of children have seen the lights at night and gone up to the hospital for a dare, but it was just these two and Jane who were 'captured' and sent back in time - for I must accept that is what happened to them - we have the documents to prove it."

"I've no idea!" came the response.

Little did they know what was happening elsewhere in the country. The 'black cloud' of the entity travelled by night so anyone seeing it would just see a dark cloud passing by, even if it did seem to be going against the wind's direction. It sought out and found its next site. This time it was a general hospital with a mental;l hospital in the same grounds. With most of the mental care being in the community, the district general hospital had moved to one of those new concrete monstrosities which are so soulless. It needed to target two children specifically to protect itself in the future. It knew that killing the children by getting them to fall into some abandoned basement so disrupted the future that the effects were unpredictable: no, it was much safer to transport them back to a previous time to render them harmless so they would never make the discoveries which would harm the entity in the future. It had learnt a lesson form the taking of Glen, John and Jane: it was too obvious where they had been and leaving the bags of their clothing so labelled had been a bad mistake. However, the necessary damage to them had been achieved. Also it could see no other way of getting Jane there to prevent her form interfering in the future. This time it chose a further past - during World War 2 when children could 'disappear' or become orphans for a whole host of genuine reasons which would not attract suspicion. In 2011, instead of bright lights flickering in the hospital windows to attract children to its 'lair'. This time, knowing where its intended targets lived, it sent beams of light out like laser beams to flash on the windows of the two children it needed to nullify next.

Holly and Ben were both top of their class by ,miles at school and both were really keen on science. They were brother and sister living in a new community built on an area of former industry which had been totally destroyed by German bombing in WW2. They were respectively fourteen and fifteen. Their mother had decided to have her children close together so that the 'baby' stage would soon be over. They both woke when the lights from the old hospital flashed through their bedroom windows, which both faced the old hospitals, and Holly went into Ben's room.

"Ben, have you seen ....?" She stopped as she realised that Ben was indeed awake and he had seen the lights. It was Ben who said, "Mum and Dad would go spare if they knew, but how about getting a torch and going up there to see what this is? Have you noticed that the lights are just into our bedroom windows as if we're being called?" Holly and Ben quickly dressed, never being ones to reject a challenge, and slipped out of the house on a fine summer night. No one saw them go and no one knew where they were going.

They slipped through a hole in the barbed wire around the derelict hospitals and skirted an old bomb hole in the hospital gardens which no one had ever bothered to fill in. Suddenly there was a huge flash and bang as the bomb landed in the hospital grounds and created that crater. As the entity planned, both children were knocked unconscious and had minor shrapnel injuries. If it could have felt such emotions, the entity would have been pleased with itself.

They both recovered consciousness at about the same time as the two stretcher parties arrived at the scene. An air raid warden had seen the two children walking through the hospital grounds and being knocked out by the bomb, fortunately a small one. The dazed children were lifted onto the canvass stretchers by their rescuers who turned and carried them the relatively short distance to the general hospital. They were taken to casualty where a nurses questioned them as to who they were and what they were doing out during an air raid. Both Holly and Ben were still confused by being knocked out and had concussion. They hadn't noticed the tin hats and uniform clothing worn by their rescuers nor the old style hospital uniform worn by the nurses. The nurses noted down their answers as they laid side by side in casualty.. Both nurses looked at each other and shook their heads sadly. There was no such street as they claimed they lived on and how could their birthdays be in the 1990's? After all, it was 1941 and Britain was fighting a desperate war against Germany. Both children, within a few minutes of each other, vomited up their last meal as a result of the concussions, while the nurses dressed their thankfully minor wounds. The doctor, rushed off his feet with the casualties from the bombing, came in and started asking the two questions. The children told the truth but that just seemed incredible to him. They claimed to have been born some years in the future, their home address did not exist and they were telling him things which were, frankly, as far as he could see, impossible! He told the nurses that the children were to be admitted for the night and their future would be decided tomorrow.

When they arrived up at the children's ward, pushed in wheelchairs by two porters accompanied by a nurse carrying their notes, they discovered it was a mixed sex children's ward. They were told to sit by the beds as the nurse handed them over to the ward nurses. A child of their age was out of bed and the two noticed that the child was wearing rubber pants which bulges as if they had nappies underneath. When a ward nurse saw her out of bed, she was sent straight back again.

The nurse came to Ben and pulled the curtains, on frames attached to castors so they were moveable - no curtains around each bed here! She had a trolley with some items on it covered by a sheet. She was wearing rubber gloves and started to help Ben undress, She told him that he had to remove all his clothes and lie on the top of the bed on the sheet she had put there. She then gently washed him from head to foot. Ben was so embarrassed by she told him to lie still while she cleaned him up. She then pulled the cover off the trolley and picked up a pair of red rubber pants and nappies. Ben realised they were, of course, for him and protested.

"But I don't need nappies, nurse! I don't wet the bed!"

"All our patients wear nappies and you are no exception!" the nurse told him sternly. He submitted as she put thick nap[pies around his hips and pulled the rubber pants over them so Ben's legs were forced apart by the rubber pants and nappies. A gown was pulled over his head and he was told to get into bed and stay there! The same was happening to Holly. Shortly afterwards, one of the nurses brought every child a milky drink and the nurse also pulled up the cot sides to the beds to make sure the children stayed in bed overnight. Ben and Holly were given a dose of chloral hydrate to help them sleep and then the lights were put out. During the night, both Ben and Holly woke with that feeling of a full bladder which needs urgent attention. Trying to get out of bed, both found that they were in a strange bed, dressed in an unusual way and wearing nappies. Both realised that they were in a strange hospital and didn't understand what was happening. However, they soon realised that the only way to relieve the pain in their bladders was to wet their nappies. It is hard to break the training of' do not pass urine in bed', but they struggled and soon were trying to get back to sleep whilst wearing very wet nappies.

The next morning, they, like all the other children in the ward, were washed, had their nappies changed and given breakfast. Ben and Holly were next to each other and, because of war pressures, the beds were close together.

"Holly, what on earth is going on? Where are we?" Holly answered, "I've no idea and I hate being made to feel a baby in these rubber pants and nappies!" Because of their 'neurosis', a psychiatrist came from the adjacent mental hospital to see them. His name was William Liddell Milligan and he used ECT extensively to to "reduce the patient to the infantile level, in which he is completely helpless and doubly incontinent." He talked to the children and requested that they be taken at once to his hospital. They were strapped into wheelchairs and carried over to the children's ward at the mental hospital. The entity had achieved its aim: the children would be neutralised! There, strapped down into their cots, the children awaited their fate........

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