A strange place

Cara slowly opened her eyes and immediately closed them. She had such a massive headache and she knew it was probably from all the shots last night. God knows how many times they did it last night too. She could remember three more after that first one and it was all blurry after. She smiled to herself as her mind wandered off to all the different positions they tried.

The room was noisy. Strange. Dan must have turned on the TV, she thought. That wasn't really a Dan thing. But who knows. Dan always surprised her in more ways than one.

Her lips were parched, her throat dry from all that screaming last night. Wanting to get some water, she very slowly sat up with her lids still half closed.

"Doctor Yue is awake!" a voice behind her yelled from across the room, causing Cara's eyes to open wide with alarm.

As she took in the scene in front of her, she got a rude shock. Where was she?!!!???

She seemed to be in a large wooden shack that resembled the layout of a hospital ward, except there was no modern equipment.

There must be about 50 more wooden beds in this shack, all with patients on them looking sickly. They were wearing white garments that were now dirty. A smell of musk, sweat, feces and death filled the whole place and Cara grimaced. It was not a pleasant place to be in at all. And if not for the fact that she was used to this as a doctor, Cara knew she would have probably fainted by now.

A young girl around 14 years old ran excitedly towards her. "Master, please rest. I can't believe you're recovering! It's a miracle!"

Yes, it was miracle! Though not sure why she had ended up in this... there were really no words to describe this situation indeed.

The girl was dressed in a traditional blue garment, much like what she had seen in historical dramas. The numerous sewed patches on her clothes hinted that she wasn't very well to do. Her hair that should be in a bun was also in a mess, likely from all the running around.

"What's wrong with me?" Cara asked.

"Don't you remember? You got the plague when you were treating patients. I thought you might die, thank God you look better than before!"

Where were they? How had she got there? What plague was the young girl referring to? Was she a doctor? How was her own condition now? Questions raced through Cara's mind frantically.

Calming herself, she looked at the young girl, and asked for a cup of water.

The girl nodded and rushed out of the shack before returning after awhile with a bowl of water which Cara gulped down in one go. This water tasted like shit but damn, she was parched! She did feel her headache get a lot better after drinking the water though.

She tried to stand up but her body was still weak and shaky. Must have been all that action last night, Cara laughed to herself. But then she remembered she was in the body of a weak recovering doctor and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had to hold the bed frame to stabilise herself, just like a patient.

She then headed for the small wooden door at the corner, deciding to go outside to get some fresh air and examine the surroundings. And figure out how to get the fuck out of this place.

The sunlight was blinding and Cara raised her right hand to shield her eyes from the glare. Looking around she could see that there were big barricades around this wooden shack she was in.

Beyond the barricades, she could see that the shack was in the middle of a seemingly deserted town. The town looked like one from the olden days, with houses and architecture made of mostly timber, stone and tile. It was a very Eastern look, reminding her of the Forbidden City, which she had been to on a holiday.

Looking at the shack, there was a signboard at the top that said 'Wu Ping? Wu Ying? Wu Xing? Infirmary'. Her Chinese was pretty sucky and she felt a bit of regret for not paying much attention in school (Chinese was her Mother Tongue but she used mainly English for her day to day). In hindsight, she should have put in more effort into learning the language. She inferred that she had to be at a clinic of sorts. It seemed that the body of the person she was in was the doctor of the clinic.

As Cara walked towards the barricades, she could see a notice stuck to it. And guess what? It was written all in Mandarin! Yay! (Note: Sacarsm)

"Residents of Wu ____ town who are infected with the ____ are to seek medical ____ from Wu ____ infirmary.

There is no cure for the ____, so the Emperor has decided to protect the healthy citizens by ____ the sick.

The sick citizens are to live out their final days. Upon death, all bodies are to be burnt to ____ any further ____." The notice was signed off with the Emperor's seal.

Oh god that was a hard one to read. She couldn't remember a time where she had to read more than a sentence in Chinese.

Though from just a few words, Cara immediately understood that there must have been some sort of an epidemic going on. Why else would the sick be stuck in this infirmary and why would their dead bodies have to be burnt when they died? She secretly praised herself for her great deduction skills. At least there was one thing she was decently good at.

She had studied about epidemics in school and had read up on them due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. She wondered if she had gone back to the past (which her environment seemed to suggest). In that case, what she had studied would at least be of some use.

Though, it would be tough luck finding any decently hygienic place here, or any medicine she would know how to administer.

It was an odd situation to be in and Cara couldn't recall at all how she ended up in this place. The last she could remember was the very intense session with Dan the night before... Cara's cheeks heated up at the thought.

Putting aside all her questions for now, Cara headed back into the shack to look at the other patients.