The Sleeping Dead
Dark fantasy.
The Sleeping Dead
I just lie quietly, Mr. Wentworth.
Cotton nurse.
Yes, doctor.
And a septic?
Yes.
Pulse?
Normal.
Temperature normal.
How long have you had these symptoms, Mr. Wentworth?
About two weeks.
Have you been walking with a limp as long as two weeks?
Yes, I have.
And did you first notice the injury?
Oh, it must have been six months ago.
Yes, at least that long ago.
There was a slight swelling in the black and blue mark.
Then it disappeared.
I thought nothing more of it until my leg began paining me two weeks ago.
I see.
Is there much pain now?
No, none.
The leg feels numb.
Hmm.
Let me see the x-rays, nurse.
Here they are, doctor.
It got so I couldn't stand on the leg more than an hour at a time,
and I began walking with a cane.
After that, about three weeks ago,
I couldn't put weight on it at all, and I had to buy the crutches.
Who suggested the crutches?
Why, no one.
You should have seen a doctor two months ago.
I didn't suspect that anything was wrong two months ago.
You... you might have saved your leg.
Saved my leg?
Yes.
I'm sorry, Mr. Wentworth.
It will have to be amputated at once.
Oh, no.
Lose my leg.
No, doctor.
No, you can't. You can't.
I'm afraid, Mr. Wentworth,
it isn't a matter of can or can'ts.
None of us have any choice in the matter now.
Oh, but... but, doctor...
Naturally, I can't compel you to undergo the operation.
The choice is up to you.
But if you refuse, I cannot take your case
or be responsible for your life.
My life?
Yes.
Unless that limb is removed instantly,
I'm afraid, Mr. Wentworth, the poison in your body
will never stop until it has reached your brain.
It's that bad, then?
It's more serious than I can tell you, yes.
Very well, doctor.
Do what you think is best.
Oh, no.
What was that, nurse?
Nothing, Dr. Mason.
Nothing.
Prepare this man for surgery.
Yes, doctor.
Have you any... any people you wish to notify, Mr. Wentworth?
No. No one.
No one who would care.
You have no living relative, do you?
I know.
What makes you ask?
I... I didn't think so.
I mean, we want to be sure relatives are notified
in cases such as this.
No, there's no one.
You'll perform the operation at once.
There, um... there's just one thing I don't understand.
Yes, what's that?
I... I don't know how I got here.
You fainted.
You were found unconscious by... by one of my assistants.
He saw that you needed medical attention,
so he hurried you here.
Your name, doctor?
Mason.
Dr. Clarence Mason.
I see.
And the hospital?
This isn't a hospital.
But... well, then, where am I?
You are at my private sanitarium.
Sanitarium?
Yes.
Now just lie quietly, please.
But which sanitarium?
You might as well know now.
You will sooner or later.
This is Fairchild Sanitarium.
Fairchild?
The sanitarium on the island?
Yes.
But Fairchild has been closed for ten years.
Has it?
Why?
Why, yes, I... I used to work there just before it closed.
Yes, I know.
You do?
Don't you remember me, Wentworth?
No.
No, I've never seen you before.
Certainly you have.
Look at me closely.
Look into my eyes.
Imagine me without this beard.
Picture me as you think I might have looked...
ten years ago.
Holtz.
Abraham Holtz.
You see, you hadn't forgotten me.
But don't you wish you had?
Holtz.
No, it can't possibly be.
Do you remember, Wentworth, that I once told you
nothing is impossible for Abraham Holtz?
It is you, Holtz.
Yes.
I finally caught up with you.
Caught up with me?
Yes.
I warned you ten years ago that you would suffer
for what you did to me.
What I did to you?
Of course.
You thought your testimony against me would give you
a good position at the sanitarium, didn't you?
My testimony against you was given regretfully,
but in good faith.
Good faith, you say.
Good faith, indeed.
You thought by ridding the sanitarium of me,
you would win your way into the good graces of Dr. Van Sickle.
Dr. Van Sickle died about a week after your trial.
Yes.
A pity.
And strange, wasn't it?
What do you mean?
That the man who swore out the charges against me
didn't live two hundred hours afterward.
You.
They said there was something strange about Van Sickle's death,
but whatever it was, it completely baffled the experts.
Yes.
They're so easily baffled.
Poor, stupid nincompoops.
You killed Van Sickle.
Do you think you could prove that Wentworth?
You were supposed to be in the penitentiary at the time.
Yes, and so I was.
What?
I was in the penitentiary.
I am.
Now.
Now?
Now, you say?
Yes.
Yes, indeed.
Did you forget?
My sentence was for life.
I could hardly serve a sentence like that in ten years.
You escaped.
In a sense.
What do you mean?
I haven't the inclination to explain it to you now.
Suffice it to say it has been impossible from the first
to imprison the one whom you first knew as Dr. Abraham Holtz.
How could you be in prison and here at the same time?
Mad.
You're mad.
Completely.
Well, that is probably what the doctors would say, yes.
But I repeat, their plain out-and-out stupidity is as amazing as it is alarming.
I'm getting out of here.
Out of here?
Well, yes, of course.
Go right ahead.
You bet I will.
I'm going to get out of here so fast I...
Well, something delaying you went with?
My leg.
I can't move it.
What have you done to me?
I've merely made it a little inconvenient for you to leave.
You...
You devil.
I think that's what you said, Wentworth, in the courtroom when you testified against me ten years ago.
Remember?
Remember what you said, Wentworth?
I do.
I remember quite distinctly what you said.
You've asked me to testify in this court just what my reaction has been to the practices of Dr. Abraham Holtz.
Well, gentlemen, when I first came to Fairchild Sanitarium,
Dr. Holtz was apparently a normal, capable, practicing surgeon with a very extraordinary ability.
But then, he began to change.
Yes, change.
He ceased to be human.
Yes, he became more like a devil.
That's it.
He became more like a devil.
You remember that, don't you, Wentworth?
I only said what I thought was true.
You did cease to be human.
You treated me and the rest of the interns like we were beasts.
You were like beasts to me.
Suddenly, everyone became beast-like.
Because suddenly, I found myself in a position that put me far above every other human on earth.
Made all mankind to me like beasts are to man.
What do you mean?
Found yourself in a position.
Some time, Wentworth.
Some time soon, perhaps.
You'll know.
Ah, the electric warning.
Someone has just entered the front door of the sanitarium.
I must leave you now, but first...
What are you doing?
While I am gone, you must rest.
Get away! Get away! Get away!
An injection of this Wentworth to quiet you.
No, no.
Get away from me or I'll...
There.
What will happen next will probably amaze you.
You...
You devil.
You persist in calling me that, do you?
Very well, Wentworth.
At first, I was going to take only one of your legs in exchange for what you did to me with your testimony.
Now, I shall take them both.
No.
Don't you dare do anything like that to me!
Is Dr. Mason here?
Miss Young?
Yes, I have an appointment with the doctor.
Go away, miss.
Go away, quickly.
What?
Oh, please.
Please, I beg you.
I beg you to go away before it's too late.
Too late?
Yes.
There's nothing but trouble for you here.
Trouble? What do you mean?
No, I can't tell you. I can't.
Just go away, miss Young, while there's still time.
Perhaps nurse Miss Young doesn't wish to go away.
Dr. Holtz.
Please.
Quiet.
You will go take care of the patient in surgery, nurse?
Yes, doctor.
I must apologize, Miss Young.
You see, my nurse is quite upset.
One of our surgeons operated this morning under most adverse conditions.
A death resulted.
The nurse has been quite upset about it all day because, well, to be quite frank, the surgeon was her brother.
I'd warned him an operation would be fatal to the patient, but he went ahead anyway while I was away from the sanitarium.
When I came back, I did everything I could to resuscitate the patient, but I was just minutes too late.
I was compelled to discharge the surgeon from my staff.
His sister is merely upset about the whole thing.
She called you Dr. Holtz.
What?
Yes, I heard her. She called you Dr. Holtz.
Did she? Well, that's her brother's name. She's so confused about everything.
No.
What?
No, I said no. That isn't her brother's name. It's your name, doctor.
Miss Young.
Yes. When you telephoned me yesterday, I knew there was something about your voice I vaguely recognized.
Now I know. You're Dr. Abraham Holtz.
You always were a very keen and intelligent woman, Miss Young.
Dr. Holtz.
It's nice to see you again, Linda.
You escaped from prison.
In a way.
You lured me here, pretended you needed a supervisor for your sanitarium. I should have known better.
Yes, Linda, perhaps you should have.
What do you want?
I thought perhaps we could have a good laugh together over my court trial.
Laugh?
Yes, just so. You remember, don't you, that it was partially your testimony that sent me to prison?
You had a fair trial.
Are you so very certain I didn't?
Of course. You had every opportunity to explain your devilish actions, but you refused.
Devilish actions?
Yes. You were a devil.
That's what he said just a few moments ago.
Who?
Wentworth.
Paul?
Yes, and both of you called me a devil when you testified at my trial.
Where is Paul now?
You will see him, my dear, much sooner than you expect.
What do you mean?
I have great plans for you, Linda. Yes, for you and Wentworth.
You were supposed to serve life in prison.
Life, life, you say?