Post by russm on Aug 10, 2012 15:42:37 GMT -5
Chapter 1 Hot Zone
The landing pad at State-University hospital was hot, the air-ambulance had only just landed and already members of the trauma team were running towards it. The patient was unloaded before the blades had stopped turning and quickly wheeled towards the trauma entrance, one paramedic was standing on the trolley performing CPR whist it was in motion. By the time the trolley was wheeled into a trauma bay the CPR had stopped, that patients heart was beating again.
"Quiet for handover" called out Dr Armand, one of hospitals senior trauma neurosurgeons. The trauma team quietened down as paramedic spoke.
"Female, early twenties, victim of assault she was hit twice over the head with a hard blunt object, closed head injury, possible depressed skull fracture, previous hospital found signs of both bleeding and swelling in the brain, unstable life signs we had to take control of her breathing during the flight, heart has briefly stopped twice in transit, BP 80 over 60, sats are 100%, GCS of 5."
Dr Armand nodded in acknowledgement, "OK, she's stable at the moment so let's get her to CT while we have the opportunity; we'd better prep a theatre just in case" the trauma team wheeled the patient towards the CT room as the paramedic went to the reception desk to book the patient in.
"What's her name?" asked the receptionist.
The paramedic looked at his notes then replied "Dinkley, Velma Dinkley."
(Author's note - GCS stands for Glasgow Coma Scale. GCS gives a way of recording the conscious state of a person. The lowest possible GCS is 3 (deep coma or death), while the highest is 15 (fully awake person).
Chapter 2 In The Beginning
Several hours later Daphne was sitting at Velma's bedside in the Intensive Care Unit gently holding one of her hands. Velma had been placed in a chemically induced coma to shut-down her brain and cold water was being piped through tunes wrapped around her head, both of these in an effort to halt the swelling and stop her brain from destroying itself. The rise and fall of her chest was dictated by the ventilator breathing for her, all sorts of tubes and wires covered Velma, doing for her the things she could no longer do for herself. With the help of one of the nurses Daphne had adjusted the pillows and sheets to how Velma liked them and then tried to convince herself that she now looked more peaceful and comfortable than before. Daphne attempted to assemble her thoughts; she was supposed to brief her father on Velma's condition soon. Her only thought was this was so unfair; Velma had only been with them for a few days after being away for a while. Daphne smiled slightly as she thought back to two days earlier and how they had given Velma such a surprise at the airport…
Velma put down her bags and looked up into the light, she started as a multi-headed and armed shadow moved towards her faster than she could react. It loomed over her, grabbed her and began to squeeze her tightly. Velma was slowly being crushed.
"OK, OK, I'm glad to see you all as well, but please can I breathe?" she croaked.
"Sorry Velma, it seems like you've been gone for ages." replied Shaggy "How did you do?" Velma had just returned from England where she had been on a month long course in field forensics and evidence collection.
"Passed with flying colours" beamed Velma "They have offered me a place on the lab based course later this year." The gang headed out of the airport to the Mystery Machine "I had a great time but its sure good to be back home with you all" she said as they settled down for the journey home. They finally arrived home, Fred took Velma's things inside whilst Shaggy and Daphne spent the next 10 minutes tying to wake her up. Once awake she went to her room, unpacked her things then went downstairs.
"Present time everyone" she said and handed out various gifts she had brought for her friends.
"Freddie, go get our present" whispered Daphne to Fred.
"OK" he replied and off he went. As he did this Velma went into the kitchen and began to spread something on some bread.
"One more thing, I came across this breakfast spread called Marmite which they have over there I thought you'd like to try."
"New food, come on Scoob" "Roo Rood! Ro roy!" chorused Shaggy and Scooby.
"It smells a bit strange Velma, have you tried it?" Daphne asked suspiciously.
"A couple of times," replied Velma "but I preferred the home-made marmalade they had on campus. Freddie can try this when he comes down. All try it together on 3... 1..."
Fred was upstairs digging out Velma's welcome home present; he had just located it when the strangest set of noises he'd ever heard began to come from downstairs. He quickly went down to see a bug-eyed Shaggy and Scooby fighting each other over the water tap, Daphne, now a grey-green colour, was desperately trying to paw something off of her tongue and Velma, well she was doubled up in laughter on the floor. Fred became distracted by an unusual smell and felt hungry, he walked towards a plate on which lay a piece of bread covered with some kind of spread.
"Velma!" yelled Daphne leaping onto her and used her scarf to quickly tie Velma's hands together; she then began to tickle her. Velma was still helpless with laughter to put up any resistance "Velma you asked for this" Daphne began to laugh as well.
"Shaggy hold her hands out of the way" Shaggy held her hands above her head as Daphne proceeded with the tickling just as Velma began to regain some composure.
"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist it, No stop it stop it, stop it" she cried out and tried to twist away as the tickling began in earnest.
Daphne saw Fred about to eat from the bread "Fred, don't do it! Velma's trying to poison us!" It was too late.
Everybody stopped and stared at Fred as he took a bite from the bread, then another then another. "Not bad, when did we get this in Daph?"
"You like it?" Daphne cried in horror, "Velma you monster, you've poisoned my Freddie" she laughed and she resumed tickling Velma "Velma, what is that stuff?" asked Daphne "Not even Shaggy and Scooby can eat it"
"Ro Ray" confirmed Scooby.
"Stop tickling me" Velma shrieked in laughter "I'll talk, I'll talk." Daphne eventually stopped and finally Velma was able to reply "As I said, it's a breakfast spread, for what it's worth I can't stand the stuff either. My class mates played the same trick on me" Daphne finally climbed off Velma and untied her hands, "There is a theory that you will either love or hate the stuff, nothing in between. Looks like we proved that theory today" she laughed.
Over the evening meal Velma described here time in England and found out all that had gone on whilst she was away, towards the end the phone rang it was answered by Daphne and was evidently from her parents. After the call she sat down at the table
"We have a job to do, and this one comes from my father. It seems that there are some counterfeit versions of his products being circulated. He thinks they are being made near here and would like us to have a look, but we don't have to set off immediately, he knows you have just flown back today Velma"
"Well I don't get jet-lag when flying back" replied Velma, Shaggy and Daphne exchanged knowing glances "But I'll get an early night in any case. But why pick us Daph? Doesn't your father have his own investigation team?"
"Yes" replied Daphne "But one of the products has only just been released so he is concerned that someone on the inside is involved, he would like us to take an independent look into it."
The next day the gang set off, a few hours later they arrived at the town identified by Daphne's father and checked into a hotel. The rest of the day was spent looking around and getting a feel for the area. That evening they got some more information, including some possible locations. "OK gang, we will look into there tomorrow. We will start with the old factory in town, move onto the junk yards and finally the buildings out of town." suggested Fred. After their evening meal at the hotel the gang decided to catch a film that evening by way of a little light R&R before getting down to business the next day. The following morning the gang set off for the first site, a small disused factory near the outskirts of town.
"Looks better than the places we normal visit" said Shaggy as they got out of the van.
"Reah, rot reepry" agreed Scooby.
"Come on gang, lets looks around" encouraged Fred. For the next half hour the gang looked around the site.
"Someone has gone to a lot of care to make this place look unused" said Velma "This door looks like it's been used, and there are some signs of tyre tracks and footprints. It is also clear that someone has tried to cover this up. Scooby has also got the scent of people being here recently." Velma spent the next 5 minutes going through the various signs she had spotted and how the cover-up was attempted.
"Like wow, no wonder you passed that course with flying colours, you're better than ever" exclaimed Shaggy.
Velma smiled reddening slightly at his attention "Thanks Shag. The thing they emphasised on the course was the consistency of evidence. When considering a possible suspect or scenario the clues that are not there, but should be, are just as important as those that are. Also things that are there but should not be cannot be ignored. You need to consider both these sets of evidence simultaneously and find a suspect and theory which resolves the contradictions as well as.... sorry gang, lecture over, let's look inside."
Daphne made quick work of the door lock and gang went inside. Unlike many of the places they had looked over, this one was quite simple, just a number of large rooms joined together with a small office area at the front. Each room was well lit, and lacked the usual basement and dark spooky corners. Even the spider webs seemed well behaved.
"Let's split up and look for clues" suggested Fred.
"This early?" asked Shaggy "Like we haven't even seen a monster or a counterfeiter not even a counterfeit monster yet. Not that I'm complaining"
"I know, but I've been thinking about setting up a training program for our mystery hunting" replied Fred.
"If he makes us do press-ups I won't be responsible for my actions" whispered Velma to Daphne who nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, Daphne can have a look in the office area; the rest of us will walk through and take a room each." Daphne shrugged her shoulders and went into the office area the rest when into the first factory area, as soon as they entered the area, Scooby started to sniff around.
"He's got something on the old nose radar" whispered Shaggy
"Rake's Rubbles" replied Scooby.
"Perhaps we'll have this one solved in record time" said Velma as the gang followed Scooby further into the large room.
"Scooby shows that the scent is this waaaaaaaaaaaay" Fred and Scooby slid off into the distance crashing into a pile of boxes.
"Freddie!" shouted Velma, she and Shaggy dashed towards him and slipped on the same area of the floor. Velma landed on top of Shaggy and they both ended up in the same place as Fred and Scooby "Thanks for the soft landing boys" said Velma as she sat on top of the heap.
"Like, any time." groaned Shaggy.
"Now whose danger prone" laughed Daphne walking into the room and looking at the scene in front of her "looks like its Daphne to the rescue for a change" and she walking towards them. Daphne took care to avoid the slippery area on the floor by stepping onto the platform of a machine. All of a sudden the machine whirred into life "Aaaah, help me!" cried Daphne as the platform she was standing on began to spin and parts of the machine began to move around her. The rest of the gang watched in silence as the machine went to work, a few seconds later Daphne was tightly wrapped in multiple layers of cling-film from shoulder to ankle. "I can't believe this is happing" growled Daphne as she hopped off the machine and towards the rest of the gang "Daphne watch out!" the others shouted but it was too late, the mummified Daphne slipped on the floor and slid towards some more boxes near the others. She crashed into them, tipping some over causing them to empty their contents onto her from above "Ow, ow" she winced as bars of soap bounced off her. Daphne struggled angrily causing another box to tip over, a couple of lids came off and bubble bath poured onto her for a few seconds. The silence that followed was deadly. "Get me free NOW!" exploded Daphne angrily "This NEVER happened! UNDERSTAND!" the rest of the gang quickly hid their camera-phones and tried to look all innocent. Eventuality Fred and Shaggy dragged Daphne away and the gang set to freeing her. Daphne found some water and cleaned herself up as best she could; she was relieved to find that the cling-film had protected her clothes so they could continue with their investigation without having to head back to the hotel to change.
"Daphne found the biggest clue of all, this must be where they are packing up and shipping the counterfeit products" said Fred
"Bet they didn't teach you that on the course Velma" said Daphne
"No, I wonder why" replied Velma innocently. The gang cleared up the mess as the best they could and set off back to the hotel so Daphne could clean herself up properly. No-one noticed that they were being watched. The hidden figure made a call "Boss, you were right, it's Blake's kid and her nosy friends, you want us to get her" he listened to the reply "Don't worry boss, we've got a nice hole in the wall to keep her."
Chapter 3 Prelude to peril
They returned to the hotel where Daphne changed and refreshed herself then updated her father with what they had found. After which the gang set off for the first of two junk yards. Shaggy insisted on an essential refilling stop of a few pizzas and ice-cream on the way. When they finally arrived at the first junk-yard they spent a couple of hours searching but came up with nothing. Everyone could see that the weather was closing in. "I suggest we look at the other junk yard, then leave the other buildings till tomorrow." said Fred, everyone agreed and they set off. They arrived at the second junk-yard and kept it under watch for a while before moving closer.
"Looks like no-one is at home, let's check it out" said Fred.
"Wait, I see someone moving" exclaimed Daphne "Yes, there is someone getting into a van." Everyone watched what was going on in the yard; it was obvious that the van was going to leave.
"Let's split up" said Daphne.
"Wha...?" exclaimed Fred to everyone else's amusement.
"Fred, you follow that van in the Mystery Machine and the rest of us will check out here. Shaggy and Scooby can take one end and Velma and I will take the other and we'll meet up in the middle."
"OK Daph" replied Fred. The rest of the gang got out and headed off. Fred followed the van into town.
"Right, Shaggy and Scooby, you start at that end of the junk-yard, Velma and I will do the same from the other end and we'll all meet up in the middle." Daphne repeated the plan.
"Sounds good to me Daph, OK Scoob let's hit the road" replied Shaggy, suddenly he started sniffing the air "I've just found a clue Scoob, the best clue here"
"Rue?" said Scooby a bit put out
"A food clue, there's hot-dogs at our end" he and Scooby set off like a rocket.
"We'd better get moving as well Velma" said Daphne and the girls set off at a more leisurely pace Velma started to sniff the air.
"What are you doing?" asked Daphne
"Checking to see if there is a book-shop at our end" smiled Velma.
True to his nose, there was a hot-dog stand at their end of the junk-yard. Shaggy and Scooby spend a while there 'checking' the food to see if they contained any of the counterfeit products.
"Mmmm those two hot-dogs were OK, perhaps if we try some more, that relish looks suspicious" grinned Shaggy.
"Reah, rets reck" replied Scooby.
"After all, it's what Daph told us to do" said Shaggy. At the other end .Velma and Daphne were methodically working their way through the yard.
"Found anything yet Daph" asked Velma.
"Not yet, wait what's this?" she replied picking up some paper from the ground.
"Well, that's a clue if ever I saw one" said Velma as Daphne showed her a Blake's Bubbles label "But where did it come from?"
"I can see some paper on the floor over there" said Daphne pointing a short way away.
"Or it could be from there" said Velma looking at some boxes in the opposite directions.
"Let's split up and look for clues" the girls said simultaneously. Daphne walked up to follow the paper and Velma went to check the boxes. After a while Velma concluded that there was nothing suspicious with the boxes and started to walk back to catch-up with Daphne. As she got closer she could see that Daphne was not alone.
Velma paused and looked again, there was indeed someone coming up behind Daphne "Daphne! Behind you!" shouted Velma as loud as she could and began to run towards her. Daphne quickly ducked down and to the side just as the figure went to put a large sack over her. The sudden absence of Daphne caused them to fall forwards, Daphne spun round and elbowed him in the back and he crashed to the ground. The figure got to his feet again and began to spar with Daphne. Velma was nearing Daphne when a figure stepped out in front of her; she dropped down and slid between his legs. As she got to her feet she felt a hard blow to her head, the world spun and she staggered for a few steps "Daphne!" she called out, next thing another much heavier blow hit her head and it all went dark.
Daphne saw what happened to Velma, playtimes over she thought so quickly dispatched her assailant who ran off into the gloom clutching their face, then ran to help Velma. Someone was attempting to carry Velma away, Daphne picked up some stones as she ran and let fly with a volley which struck the figure, she picked up some more and repeated the attack driving Velma's assailant away. Daphne got to Velma and quickly examined her, she was out cold; two huge bumps were already coming up on her head. Daphne started to move Velma to where Shaggy and Scooby were but was struggling moving Velma's inert body. Daphne was built, and trained for, speed, agility and stamina, not strength, she quickly called Shaggy.
"Shaggy can you get over to our side of the field near the main road; we were jumped by a couple of people and Velma's out cold"
"On our way Daph we'll be there in a few minutes" Daphne then called Fred, he was in town but should be here soon with the Mystery Machine.
The main road was quite close and Daphne was able to get Velma there before her arms and legs turned completely to jelly Daphne checked Velma again, she looked quite pale and her skin was cold and clammy. Daphne was worried and considered calling an ambulance, just then one came past so she flagged it down; the crew got out and attended to Velma. Shaggy and Scooby could just see Daphne in the distance, standing next to an ambulance! "Zoinks! Velma must be in a bad way, step on it Scoob" and they sprinted towards the ambulance taking a short cut over some rough ground so they approached from the side and unseen.
Velma was put onto a backboard then put into the ambulance. "Just to be sure ma'am" said the technician as they started to strap Velma down but it looked like they were also tying her wrists and ankles to the board as well. Daphne was feeling uneasy, something was not right here, the inside looked quite basic and one of them had a black eye, just like the one she had given to the man she had just fought!
"Wait, take her out of there now... ow!" something sharp jabbed her in the leg. Daphne started to back away "Shaggy, Scooby Doo, where are you?!" but quickly stumbled and slumped on the ground. Shaggy and Scooby were now close enough to see Daphne being placed on a back board and being strapped down.
"Ro no! Raphne" exclaimed Scooby They could see tape being placed over Daphne's mouth then she was covered with a sheet
"If that's an EMT I'm a pumpkin pie." said Shaggy on seeing what was going on "OK Scoob, Freddie is nowhere in sight, if we ever want to see Scooby Snacks again, it's up to us to rescue the girls."
Velma began to come round, she found she couldn't move much and was covered with a sheet her head hurt badly. There was enough light coming through the sheet that Velma could see she was strapped to a backboard of some kind, and tied hand and foot to the same. "Let's get this one inside as well" she heard a voice say and she felt the world shake. Think I've been hit with a tree... OK, I'm tied-up and in a vehicle of some kind so I guess they are talking about Daphne, better play possum thought Velma Looks like its Shaggy and Scooby to the rescue for now. Shaggy and Scooby to the rescue? Oh boy is we in trouble.
"Let's check if she is who we think she is" said one voice and Velma could hear the sounds of some movement
"Yeah, she's Blake's nosey little brat all-right," said another voice "What about the other one?"
"One of her meddling friends, the boss warned us about them. The boss says we'll be due for a profits windfall from these two. Better get them back and stash them away for safe keeping" said the first voice. Velma inwardly groaned Oh great this just gets better, now we are going to be held for ransom. Wonder if they take payment in Scooby Snacks?
"Let's check this one and see if she's still out" Velma closed her eyes just before the sheet was pulled away, she kept her face blank but gritted her teeth as her arm was pinched "She's still out, no need to drug her as well" a voice said. Velma felt a number of strips of tape being pressed around her mouth there was no need to do that either she thought angrily, then she was recovered. The vehicle moved off and a siren started. I'm in an ambulance, but I don't think we're going to hospital. "That siren sounds a bit off" a voice said. Velma listened and inwardly smiled at the sound of the unusual siren. They seemed to drive for ages, the pain in Velma's head grew worse and waves of giddiness and nausea washed over her from time to time I wish we were going to a hospital I don't feel at all good, eventually Velma felt the vehicle stop then reverse. She heard the doors open and felt her stretcher being moved out, a few seconds later she could hear what could only be Daphne's. She could hear nothing of Shaggy and Scooby, good, they haven't been found yet she thought.
Their trolleys were pushed along a few corridors and into a well-lit room. Velma heard the sounds of a door opening, something sliding, what she assumed was Daphne being moved, some more sliding then a door being closed. Then she heard a door opening and some sliding next to her, she was moved onto something and she then began sliding no no no please no she thought as she realised what was happening. She jumped at the sound of the morgue freezer door slamming shut. She fought for breath and trembled with fear, must remain calm, must remain calm they don't want to kill us they want to ransom us, they don't want to kill us... she forced herself to control her breathing and after a while was just about in control. Velma was finally in a position to take stock of her situation, she noticed that the air, though cool was not cold and there was some light coming in through the door, so the place was not airtight; they would live to see another day. The coolness and her, albeit enforced, immobility was also making her feel better which helped improve her outlook though she was still on the brittle edge of panic. The bad news was that as she had been out for the count when tied up she had been unable to put any slack in her bonds. She struggled for a while but only managed to make her head hurt, Oh well, time to try out Daphne's damsel-in-distress routine "MMMMM! MM! MMMMM!"
Chapter 4 To the rescue
Pale, shaking and cold Shaggy and Scooby slid off the top of the ambulance when the coast was finally clear.
"OK Scoob lets add that to the list of things we do only after we've had a Scooby Snack" whispered Shaggy
"Rist ruprated" replied Scooby.
The two looked around; they were in some kind of garage, through a window they could see a loading bay outside. "Let's look around and see if we can find the girls" Shaggy whispered and both set off carefully to look around the building. It seemed to be made mostly out of corridors.
"This room looks dark and, more importantly, unoccupied, so let's occupy it" Shaggy whispered
"Reah, runoccupied" replied Scooby. They went inside and found a number of printers, labels, bottles, buckets of ingredients and mixing bowls.
"Hey, it's your regular production line" said Shaggy.
"Raphne's rubbles" whispered Scooby.
"Good work Scooby, Blake's Bubbles labels; this is the clue we need. This must be where the counterfeiters are, time to bring in the cavalry." Shaggy called Fred and whispered into his phone "Fred, it's Shaggy, we've hit pay-dirt! We have found where the counterfeiters are, they're in the old medical services building out of town past the scrapyard plus they have kidnapped the girls."
"Good work guys, I was getting worried, I couldn't find them anywhere, have you located them yet? Daphne said Velma was hurt."
"Daphne said she'd been knocked out. Haven't found them yet, but they are in the building, they were both put into a phoney ambulance and we hitched a ride" replied Shaggy.
"Right, I'll alert the authorities and you try to find the girls."
Shaggy and Scooby slowly nosed around the building trying to find where Daphne and Velma were being held.
"Anything on the old nose radar Scoob?" whispered Shaggy.
"Rot Rure" Scooby's ears twitched "Rat ray" indicated Scooby.
"That way? OK" replied Shaggy and they set off. They rounded a corner into a brightly lit room "Zoinks! It's a morgue" whispered Shaggy "Are you sure they are not in the canteen?"
"Rshhh" replied Scooby. They could both hear some mumphing, but from which door?
"That sounds like Velma" whispered Shaggy as he kept watch whilst Scooby sniffed around.
"Raphne rere" and a few seconds latter "Relma rere."
"Good work old buddy" he said, the mumphing was indeed coming from behind Velma's door. Shaggy quietly knocked on the door.
"MMMMMM!" went Velma in surprise.
"Velma? It's me, Shaggy, are you in there?"
"Mmm" Jinkies that routine works better than I expected.
"Good, well try to get you out" Velma relaxed, a few seconds later the door opened and she was slowly slid out and the sheet pulled from her. Velma savoured the sight of Shaggy as he pulled the sheet from his head, a few seconds later Scooby's head popped into view. Despite their predicament she felt safe for the moment.
"You two are a sight for sore eyes" she whispered when she had been un-gaged.
"Good work Scooby" whispered Shaggy, The two set to work freeing Velma, then they helped her off the slide and to her feet, Velma staggered as soon as she was upright.
"Ohh my head!" she whispered. Shaggy rushed to hold her up.
"Velma?" he asked.
"I was hit over the head pretty hard Shaggy, I'm seeing double, but that will have to wait, we need to get Daphne out of here. They are planning to hold her for ransom" she replied.
"Not hold you for ransom as well. Personally I'd be insulted" quipped Shaggy trying to lighten the mood.
"They were going to hold me as well, but they know Daphne Blake will fetch more than me" she replied with some amusement. Shaggy opened the door and pulled out Daphne whilst Velma closed up the door where she had been and ended up having to hold onto another door for support.
"Shaggy, we need to get out of here, I'm not sure how long I can keep going" she looked and saw some white coats hanging up "Call Fred, tell him plan 29C, but we'll only get one chance."
"Right" he replied and called Fred. They freed Daphne but were unable to wake her.
"She's not long been drugged Shaggy" said Velma quietly, resting against a wall and holding her head. "I'm not sure I can make it, just make sure you get Daphne out of here. I'll try and catch up later when I feel better."
"Ro ray Relma" said Scooby.
"Like Scoob's right Velma, you're in no fit state to go solo." replied Shaggy.
A short while later Shaggy's phone buzzed "Fred's all set, Velma we are not leaving without you" he said putting on a white coat, surgical hat and mask, then getting an increasingly passive Velma dressed the same way. Scooby, also suited up, had an idea.
"Remergency rack!" he pointed at Velma.
"Emergency snack, well I guess this is a good emergency as any" Shaggy took a key out of his pocket, Scooby made a key out of his tail. He then took a small box out of another pocket; they both unlocked the box to reveal two Scooby Snacks.
"Magic of the Snacks, don't fail us now" he whispered, Shaggy opened Velma's mouth, placed the snacks on her tongue then closed her mouth, he moved her mouth to get her to chew.
"Rhew Relma rhew" encouraged Scooby, instinctively Velma chewed and swallowed. Both attentively studied Velma's face, they saw a spark come into her eyes.
"Fred listen Velma's nearly out of it so we've got to go now. We're set, get your part of the plan rolling" said Shaggy into his phone. She stood in front of Velma and gently took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes "Velma, plan 29C starts now..."
The crooks were resting in a room near the entrance when they heard the sound of a siren and an ambulance pull up in the loading bay, suddenly 3 doctor's bust through the doors wheeling a trolley.
"Dr Dinkley, get this patient to the ER stat!" shouted the male.
"Her vital signs are unstable Dr Shaggy... Get those doors opened now mister" yelled the female to the two crooks.
The crooks leapt to their feet, "Yes Doctor" and opened the main door to the loading bay and the waiting ambulance. The trio quickly loaded the causality on the ambulance.
"Thank you gentlemen, we won't be back" said the female doctor to the crooks as the ambulance door was closed. It spread away with its sirens blazing. The crooks stared dumbfounded at what had happened did one of those medics have a tail? A few seconds later more sirens were heard as the police converged on the location.
They drove a short way to clear the area but it was soon clear the police had got all the gang in the building, so Fred pulled over, removed the ambulance get up and got into back of the Mystery Machine.
"Great work everyone" he exclaimed.
"How's Daphne?" asked Velma in a hollow voice.
"Still out for the count Velma, but this should bring her round" said Fred getting out some smelling salts and held them under Daphne's noise.
A few seconds later Daphne stirred and opened her eyes "Fred?!" she whispered "Oh Fred I'm so relieved to see you" Fred and Daphne hugged each other.
"Err Fred, can we make like a real ambulance and go to a real hospital?" asked Shaggy nervously.
"Why? Daphne's awake now" replied Fred.
"It's not for Daphne, it's for Velma" said Shaggy, more nervous than before.
Daphne looked up "Oh no! Velma!" Fred turned to see Velma slumped against the side of the van, her face completely blank, mouth open, eyes unfocussed staring into nothing. To everyone's horror her legs began to buckle and she slid down the side of the van, Fred got to her in time to stop her head hitting the floor. "Velma!" they all yelled.
Chapter 5 Blues and Two's
Velma was taken to the local hospital and the gang were settled in for the wait, expecting Velma to come round soon. After half an hour of waiting, and way too much medical activity around Velma's cubicle than they would have liked, the gang were getting worried. They were all familiar with hospitals, all had needed to be patched up from injuries they had received in mystery hunting, most of the time it was just bandages, a plaster cast at worse. This time things felt different. Daphne was called over and returned shortly, visibly shaken and upset. Fred and Shaggy shared worried looks.
"What's wrong Daph?" asked Fred.
Daphne sat down "They're airlifting Velma to State University hospital. They can't treat her here, they think she may need brain surgery" she replied near tears at the end. Fred was frozen to the spot and the colour drained from Shaggy's face. A few seconds later Fred managed to snap himself out of his shocked state "Let's get moving gang, that's a good 4 hour drive. Daph, call your father and tell him what's going on, we're off the case."
They arrived at State University hospital early next morning, Velma had already undergone numerous tests and scans before they had arrived and was currently in the Intensive Care Unit awaiting a decision on surgery. The gang took turns in being with her, later they would agree that this was the scariest thing they had ever had to do. At midday she was again subject to another battery of tests and scans to see if she would need surgery after all. Fred and Daphne waited for the results. Daphne sat on a chair, head in hands, staring at the floor, Fred paced up and down. Scooby's howling could still be faintly heard though the double glazing.
"I can't believe I did that, I knew Velma was hurt, why didn't I check on her? Why didn't I just come straight here?" muttered Fred.
"Fred, please sit down" said Daphne "None of us knew how badly she was hurt. No-one is blaming you, I don't and neither will Velma."
"But..." he replied.
"No buts Fred Jones." said Daphne sternly.
Just then a doctor walked in "Are you the friends of Miss Dinkley?" he asked.
Daphne nodded and got to her feet "I'm Daphne Blake and this is Fred Jones", she glanced at Fred and took his hand.
"Please, be seated" the doctor said "I'm Dr Armand and I'm responsible for looking after Miss Dinkley."
"How is she doc?" said Fred, almost too afraid to ask.
"Well, she's not out of the woods yet, but there will be no need for surgery and she can now be moved out of the ICU into a high-dependency unit, I know it does not sound like progress, but it is. We have reviewed her CT and MRI results and while there was a small bleed on the brain it has stopped, there is however slight swelling of her brain so we will be keeping her sedated and cooling her head for a while longer to minimise the chance of further brain injury."
"Further injury," gasped Daphne "you mean she already has brain damage" Fred hung his head "Will she be all right? Will she still be our Velma?" asked Daphne. The doctor paused.
"That's harder to say, then best I can say is probably, given the injury profile and the fact that she was brought here quickly the prognosis is good, but we will only know for sure when we bring her round."
"When will that be" Fred whispered.
"That depends on how quickly the swelling goes down. I guess that you are a sporting man Mr Jones?" Fred nodded to the doctor's question "If you were to injure a muscle then you would rest it and apply ice for a while to prevent further injury" Fred nodded again "that is in effect what we are doing to Miss Dinkley's brain. We will rescan her tomorrow and then decide where we go from there."
"Can we see her?" asked Daphne.
"In a short while, I'll send someone to get you when she's settled in" replied the doctor.
Later that evening Shaggy and Scooby were dozing fitfully in the Mystery Machine. Both had consumed numerous boxes of Scooby Snacks by way of comfort food and were now dreaming.
"Velma I'm sorry Velma, I let you down" muttered Shaggy in his sleep Scooby did like wise.
"No you didn't silly," said Velma "and neither did you Scooby, for once I'm glad you didn't listen to me. You are both heroes in my book" she went and gave both of them a huge hug.
"Velma? Thanks Velma I needed that" muttered Shaggy.
"Raaah ranks Relma" muttered Scooby.
"Jinkies" laughed Velma "Just look you two; have you left any Scooby Snacks for me?"
"Rave a rox Relma" muttered Scooby.
"Like sure, take a box Velma, help yourself" muttered Shaggy.
"Thanks guys, I'll see you tomorrow" said Velma taking a box, as she left she blew them a kiss. Shaggy and Scooby both woke with a start.
"Velma!" "Relma!" they cried out and looked around for her.
"Must have been a dream Scoob" said Shaggy.
"Ro ream! Ro ream! Rox rissing!" yelped Scooby. They checked a box of Scooby Snacks was indeed missing.
The van door opened "Arghhh! Velma! Scooby Snacks! Arghhh!" the yelled and held each other.
"Guys? What's up?" asked Daphne getting into the van.
"Oh it's you Daph. Velma was here, we think, it must have been a dream but it was so real." replied Shaggy.
"Oh I wish that was true Shaggy" replied Daphne "We've spoken to her doctor again."
"And?" asked Shaggy in a trembling voice.
Daphne sighed deeply "She's not well Shaggy, they hope to know more tomorrow, on the bright side she doesn't need surgery and is out of the ICU. The doctors say the prognosis is good but she's in a high-dependency unit at the moment. I'm just so unsure of what's happening."
"I'm so glad we didn't listen to her back there" said Shaggy.
"What do you mean Shaggy?" asked Daphne seriously.
"There's something I didn't tell you earlier, I didn't want to freak you out any more than we were already" replied Shaggy fidgeting uncomfortably under Daphne's gazed "When we got her out of the morgue Velma told us she had overheard the gang planning to hold you two, mostly you Daph, for ransom, they knew you were a Blake. Velma didn't think she could make it, man she even couldn't put on a lab coat without help, so she asked us to leave her there so we could be sure that we got you out, Scoob and I refused."
Daphne hugged them both hard, tears were in her eyes "That's just like Velma, she's too logical for her own good at times, I'm so glad you ignored her, you saved her life, you're both heroes."
"That's what Velma just told us" smiled Shaggy weakly.
Chapter 6 Good Morning
Later the next morning Velma was rescanned, the swelling had gone and it was decided to remove the sedation that afternoon. Daphne was in her room with Dr Armand and one of his colleagues Dr Magnusson, Daphne thought he looked half-Viking half-Terminator; even Fred would look small next to him. "Ja, she is coming round slowly, her heart sounds good and breath sounds are even" he said as he checked on Velma with a stethoscope. Velma began to come round to the feeling of being prodded, must have overslept was her vague thought, her mind felt so fuzzy, error 404 Dinkley not found, she half opened an eye to see a white-coated blond giant with a caring face looking over her, stethoscope in hand this isn't my room... oh hello handsome she though. The stethoscope, with the attached doctor, moved towards her oh yes come closer please please please, "She is breathing quite deeply now, her heart rate is very strong and colour has come back to her cheeks I'm sure she is aware of her surroundings" Aware? Jinkies I am so aware "Miss Dinkley, Velma, can you hear me? You are in hospital, wake up Velma" said Dr Magnusson.
"Mmmmmm" went Velma opening her eyes and looked around; most of the room was all blurry, she was glad that the doctor was close enough to be in focus. "Everything is so blurry.... oh my glasses, can I have my glasses please?" she asked quietly.
"Here you are Velma" said Dr Magnusson as he put the glasses on her face; she smiled as the world came into focus.
"Thank you, I can't see a thing without them" she said.
"Velma!" cried Daphne. Velma turned towards the voice and sat up slightly.
"Daphne? Is that you?" she asked, confused by her unexpected surroundings.
A tearful Daphne dashed over and held her tightly "Velma, do you still remember me?"
"Would I ever be allowed to forget you Daph?" smiled Velma "But why would I forget you? This isn't my bedroom, how did I get here?" asked an even more confused Velma.
"You're in hospital Velma" replied Daphne gently "you got hit on the head and knocked-out, don't you remember?"
Velma thought for a while "Hmmm... Sorry Daph, my head still feels like I've overslept; guess I was jet-lagged after all."
"Never mind, you should be out of here soon," soothed Daphne.
"Soon?" sighed Velma "Guess I'll be sitting this one out then, please send my apologies to your father.... Look Daph, I'll be fine here, you'd best be off after those counterfeiters your father called us about last night."
Daphne looked stunned "Last night! Velma, we solved that case a couple of days ago. You've been in hospital ever since." Velma's eyes opened wide in surprise, Daphne continued "You're been in State University hospital for the past couple of days."
"But State-U is miles from where we live, it'll take you hours to get home let alone set off for where your father thinks the counterfeiters are." protested Velma, still not sure if she could believe what she was hearing.
Daphne shook her head "It's been solved. We visited a factory, everyone slipped on the floor, I got wrapped in cling-film; you must remember that, you couldn't stop laughing."
Velma's face was blank "No, I'm sure I would remember that."
Daphne continued "We visited two the junk-yards that same day remember..." Velma slowly shook her head "...We were attacked in the second junk-yard, that's where you got knocked-out. Don't you remember?"
"No, nothing Daph" replied Velma.
"We got kidnapped, Shaggy and Scooby saved us, you were there, you came up with the escape plan, 29C, remember?" pleaded Daphne.
"No, nothing" replied Velma blankly.
Daphne sighed "That was the day you were airlifted to the neurosurgical trauma unit here. They nearly lost you twice in the helicopter; you spent a day in the ICU, that's how ill you were..." Velma lay back down in shock, Daphne held one of Velma's hands in hers "The doctors warned us your memory could be affected" she said gently.
"It's called retrograde amnesia Daph" interrupted Velma "and I don't like it, I don't like it one bit. Was anyone else hurt? Where are the boys? Are they ok?"
"Everyone else is fine. Don't worry Velma, we'll fill in the gaps for you as best we can, Shaggy is out walking Scooby at the moment, he knows the most of what happened but I'll get Fred, he knows a bit more." Daphne fetched Fred; to Velma he appeared quite nervous and pensive.
"What's wrong Fred?" asked Velma "Don't worry I haven't forgotten you, come over here and give me a hug."
"See" whispered Daphne to Fred.
Velma was brought some food and left in the company of Fred and Daphne for a while. Fred had got word to Shaggy and Scooby, who were now off getting some 'welcome back' gifts for Velma. Daphne and Fred tried to keep up with the barrage of questions from Velma; it was obvious that she could not remember anything of the case they had just been on. Her memories ended with her going to sleep the night before they set off. In an attempt to jog her memory Fred showed Velma the film of Daphne's encounter with the packing machine in the factory. As Daphne feared Velma nearly cried with laughter.
"That's so funny Fred. When did that happen?" she asked. Fred was shocked; he hadn't fully grasped what Daphne had told him about Velma's amnesia.
"A couple of days ago! Velma, you were there, you were sitting on top of the rest of us when it happened" he said.
"Sorry Fred, I don't remember" Velma replied.
"Check your own phone" he suggested.
Velma checked her phone "I made two calls on the day I came back from England, I remember those... then there are calls the day after that, I don't recall making those calls, and I received one from my sister the next day? This can't be right."
"Check your most recent film clip" he suggested. Velma watched a near identical clip of the one Fred had shown her. This time it wasn't so funny, Velma lay back in bed feeling rather shell-shocked.
"Don't worry Velma, we've got your back on this one." said Fred.
"And besides" said Daphne "You're still yourself; you knew the name of that condition straight away."
"Thanks both of you, it's just feels so strange, as far as I'm concerned none of that ever happened." she paused then smiled slightly "I've got a few more questions if you are up to it..." Velma pleaded with them for information, at one level she knew that memory loss did occur after head trauma, but that did not help, she just had to know what happened. But, aside from the slight loss of memory Velma appeared to be Velma.
Chapter 7 Changes
Velma was taken for some personality and reasoning tests which were conducted by Dr Magnusson. Fred and Daphne were waiting outside the room, ready to take Velma down to see Shaggy and Scooby. Daphne had positioned herself so she could watch Velma during the tests, after a while she leaned over to Fred.
"Fred I'm not sure he's safe in there alone with Velma."
"I don't understand, why would Velma be dangerous?" replied Fred.
"I mean she's... she's... flirting with him!?" whispered Daphne her voice full of surprise and disbelief.
"What Velma?" replied Fred.
"Yes, in a big way" nodded Daphne.
"Let me see..." he stared at Velma for a while "good grief, she's not holding back is she" said Fred, now just as surprised as Daphne, he smiled and turned to Daphne "I have a plan, we'll need a crow-bar, a strait jacket and Hannibal Lecter mask both in Velma's size, a hand cart, some tape..."
"Freddie" laughed Daphne.
Dr Magnusson survived the tests unscathed and Fred was now pushing Velma in a wheelchair so she could see Shaggy and Scooby, Fred was mostly on autopilot as Daphne and Velma were doing 'girl-talk' Daphne was walking next to the wheelchair listening to Velma.
"Wow Daph, I must go into hospital more often if I get to wake up and see the likes of that doctor, no wonder my heart was pounding. And then spending that time alone with him doing those tests, I'm surprised I got anything right."
"Oh Velma stop it" laughed Daphne.
Velma looked around "Jinkies Daph, look over there he's got one cute behind, and over there wow he's hot too. I must come here more often... Hello there boys!" Velma called out and waved to them, the next second Daphne was sprawled on the floor.
Daphne was sitting on a bed in a cubicle in the minor injuries clinic of the hospital "OW ow ow OW ow ow" she complained as her head was bandaged by one of the nurses.
"Daph, why did you walk into that wall?" asked Fred.
"Go ask Velma, she's gone man mad" came the sore reply Fred was biting his lip, trying not to laugh too much. Daphne looked at Velma "I'm going to lock you in your room when we get home, no man is safe from you at the moment."
"Sorry Daph, I don't know what came over me" replied an embarrassed, but highly amused Velma "But still, that Dr Magnusson, oh wow!"
"Velma!" wailed Daphne.
"I was merely expressing my appreciation of the classical male form" replied Velma in a mock serious tone.
"Rubbish Velma, you were ogling him" retorted Daphne. Velma was aware that she was not thinking or acting quite like her usual self yet. Dr Magnusson had explained that it may take a bit of time for everything to get back to normal and any changes to become fully integrated into her personality, for the moment it looked like it would be an enjoyable and interesting experience. But she was not sure if it was going to be the same for Daphne.
They all finally arrived at the entrance Shaggy and Scooby where all over Velma in an instant.
"Guys, guys easy" she said joyfully, hugging them back just as hard. Velma paused and became a bit emotional "I want to thank you two for saving my life. Daphne told me how I asked you to leave me behind I'm glad you didn't listen to me, you are both heroes."
"Thanks Velma, but you told us that yesterday when you visited us in the van" replied Shaggy.
"Shaggy, I've spent most of my time here sedated with my head in a fridge; I've only been fully awake for the past few hours" replied Velma.
"Well Scoob and I are sure that you came to the van last night and had a box of Scooby Snacks with us" replied Shaggy.
"Ewww Velma" whispered Daphne.
"It must have been a dream Shaggy" replied Velma, "Even I didn't know I was here last night."
"Well we checked and there's a box missing." replied Shaggy.
"Reah" added Scooby. There was a few seconds of quiet.
"How did you hurt your head Daph?" asked Shaggy.
"Don't ask" replied Velma and Daphne simultaneously.
"Well how's your head doing Velma?" asked Shaggy as he leant over Velma to check on the bumps on her head, as he did she looked up into his face.
"Wait, I remember something, Shaggy, you, you're" to everyone's surprise, especially Velma's, she pulled Shaggy down and began to kiss him. The spell was broken a few seconds later by Daphne falling off her chair in surprise. Velma stopped and felt awfully embarrassed; Shaggy looked rather stunned by the whole affair. "Oh err, sorry Shaggy. When I looked up and saw you leaning over me like that, I just had an overwhelming feeling of relief, safety and happiness, I... I couldn't think of another way of expressing myself and I just had to do it." Velma smiled "I'm finding that I'm a bit more, expressive, than I normally am at the moment Shaggy. The doctors say this should settle down over time."
"Sooner rather than later" muttered Daphne, now nursing a sore behind as well as well as her sore head.
Finally Velma was able to get the answers to her questions when Shaggy explained what happened to her and Daphne after they had been put into the fake ambulance.
"Hmmmm let me see.... that must be it Shaggy; I must have remembered my emotions of looking up at you when you pulled the sheet off me." Velma shivered slightly and held herself "I'm glad that I can't remember being locked up in there, I must have been petrified. No wonder I felt such emotion when you freed me..." she smiled at him "... and every kiss was meant and you deserved every one Shaggy. Anyway, what I can't figure out is how you got me so involved with the plan, you said I could barely put on the lab coat?" she asked, Shaggy leant over and whispered in her ear. Daphne watched Velma's face take on a look to surprise.
"You did WHAT to me?" exclaimed Velma, she slumped back in her wheelchair "That would explain how I appeared in the dream you had" she said with a weak smile.
Fred and Daphne looked quizzically at Shaggy "We gave her some Scooby Snacks; it was the only thing we could think of. I mean it works for me and Scoob so why not Velma."
"You don't remember this Velma? Asked Daphne.
"I have no memory of it at all" replied Velma "A blessing of retrograde amnesia I guess" she smiled.
"Aw come on Velma they're not that bad" exclaimed Shaggy.
"OK Shaggy, I was just teasing. You know I'll always be grateful to you and Scooby for getting me out of there, even if you did use... unorthodox methods" she replied gently.
"We'll put an extra snack aside for you Velma," replied Shaggy "just in case" and patted he on the arm.
"Velma Dinkley DOOOOOOO!" exclaimed Velma. Daphne rested her head against Fred groaned, everyone else laughed.
The landing pad at State-University hospital was hot, the air-ambulance had only just landed and already members of the trauma team were running towards it. The patient was unloaded before the blades had stopped turning and quickly wheeled towards the trauma entrance, one paramedic was standing on the trolley performing CPR whist it was in motion. By the time the trolley was wheeled into a trauma bay the CPR had stopped, that patients heart was beating again.
"Quiet for handover" called out Dr Armand, one of hospitals senior trauma neurosurgeons. The trauma team quietened down as paramedic spoke.
"Female, early twenties, victim of assault she was hit twice over the head with a hard blunt object, closed head injury, possible depressed skull fracture, previous hospital found signs of both bleeding and swelling in the brain, unstable life signs we had to take control of her breathing during the flight, heart has briefly stopped twice in transit, BP 80 over 60, sats are 100%, GCS of 5."
Dr Armand nodded in acknowledgement, "OK, she's stable at the moment so let's get her to CT while we have the opportunity; we'd better prep a theatre just in case" the trauma team wheeled the patient towards the CT room as the paramedic went to the reception desk to book the patient in.
"What's her name?" asked the receptionist.
The paramedic looked at his notes then replied "Dinkley, Velma Dinkley."
(Author's note - GCS stands for Glasgow Coma Scale. GCS gives a way of recording the conscious state of a person. The lowest possible GCS is 3 (deep coma or death), while the highest is 15 (fully awake person).
Chapter 2 In The Beginning
Several hours later Daphne was sitting at Velma's bedside in the Intensive Care Unit gently holding one of her hands. Velma had been placed in a chemically induced coma to shut-down her brain and cold water was being piped through tunes wrapped around her head, both of these in an effort to halt the swelling and stop her brain from destroying itself. The rise and fall of her chest was dictated by the ventilator breathing for her, all sorts of tubes and wires covered Velma, doing for her the things she could no longer do for herself. With the help of one of the nurses Daphne had adjusted the pillows and sheets to how Velma liked them and then tried to convince herself that she now looked more peaceful and comfortable than before. Daphne attempted to assemble her thoughts; she was supposed to brief her father on Velma's condition soon. Her only thought was this was so unfair; Velma had only been with them for a few days after being away for a while. Daphne smiled slightly as she thought back to two days earlier and how they had given Velma such a surprise at the airport…
Velma put down her bags and looked up into the light, she started as a multi-headed and armed shadow moved towards her faster than she could react. It loomed over her, grabbed her and began to squeeze her tightly. Velma was slowly being crushed.
"OK, OK, I'm glad to see you all as well, but please can I breathe?" she croaked.
"Sorry Velma, it seems like you've been gone for ages." replied Shaggy "How did you do?" Velma had just returned from England where she had been on a month long course in field forensics and evidence collection.
"Passed with flying colours" beamed Velma "They have offered me a place on the lab based course later this year." The gang headed out of the airport to the Mystery Machine "I had a great time but its sure good to be back home with you all" she said as they settled down for the journey home. They finally arrived home, Fred took Velma's things inside whilst Shaggy and Daphne spent the next 10 minutes tying to wake her up. Once awake she went to her room, unpacked her things then went downstairs.
"Present time everyone" she said and handed out various gifts she had brought for her friends.
"Freddie, go get our present" whispered Daphne to Fred.
"OK" he replied and off he went. As he did this Velma went into the kitchen and began to spread something on some bread.
"One more thing, I came across this breakfast spread called Marmite which they have over there I thought you'd like to try."
"New food, come on Scoob" "Roo Rood! Ro roy!" chorused Shaggy and Scooby.
"It smells a bit strange Velma, have you tried it?" Daphne asked suspiciously.
"A couple of times," replied Velma "but I preferred the home-made marmalade they had on campus. Freddie can try this when he comes down. All try it together on 3... 1..."
Fred was upstairs digging out Velma's welcome home present; he had just located it when the strangest set of noises he'd ever heard began to come from downstairs. He quickly went down to see a bug-eyed Shaggy and Scooby fighting each other over the water tap, Daphne, now a grey-green colour, was desperately trying to paw something off of her tongue and Velma, well she was doubled up in laughter on the floor. Fred became distracted by an unusual smell and felt hungry, he walked towards a plate on which lay a piece of bread covered with some kind of spread.
"Velma!" yelled Daphne leaping onto her and used her scarf to quickly tie Velma's hands together; she then began to tickle her. Velma was still helpless with laughter to put up any resistance "Velma you asked for this" Daphne began to laugh as well.
"Shaggy hold her hands out of the way" Shaggy held her hands above her head as Daphne proceeded with the tickling just as Velma began to regain some composure.
"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist it, No stop it stop it, stop it" she cried out and tried to twist away as the tickling began in earnest.
Daphne saw Fred about to eat from the bread "Fred, don't do it! Velma's trying to poison us!" It was too late.
Everybody stopped and stared at Fred as he took a bite from the bread, then another then another. "Not bad, when did we get this in Daph?"
"You like it?" Daphne cried in horror, "Velma you monster, you've poisoned my Freddie" she laughed and she resumed tickling Velma "Velma, what is that stuff?" asked Daphne "Not even Shaggy and Scooby can eat it"
"Ro Ray" confirmed Scooby.
"Stop tickling me" Velma shrieked in laughter "I'll talk, I'll talk." Daphne eventually stopped and finally Velma was able to reply "As I said, it's a breakfast spread, for what it's worth I can't stand the stuff either. My class mates played the same trick on me" Daphne finally climbed off Velma and untied her hands, "There is a theory that you will either love or hate the stuff, nothing in between. Looks like we proved that theory today" she laughed.
Over the evening meal Velma described here time in England and found out all that had gone on whilst she was away, towards the end the phone rang it was answered by Daphne and was evidently from her parents. After the call she sat down at the table
"We have a job to do, and this one comes from my father. It seems that there are some counterfeit versions of his products being circulated. He thinks they are being made near here and would like us to have a look, but we don't have to set off immediately, he knows you have just flown back today Velma"
"Well I don't get jet-lag when flying back" replied Velma, Shaggy and Daphne exchanged knowing glances "But I'll get an early night in any case. But why pick us Daph? Doesn't your father have his own investigation team?"
"Yes" replied Daphne "But one of the products has only just been released so he is concerned that someone on the inside is involved, he would like us to take an independent look into it."
The next day the gang set off, a few hours later they arrived at the town identified by Daphne's father and checked into a hotel. The rest of the day was spent looking around and getting a feel for the area. That evening they got some more information, including some possible locations. "OK gang, we will look into there tomorrow. We will start with the old factory in town, move onto the junk yards and finally the buildings out of town." suggested Fred. After their evening meal at the hotel the gang decided to catch a film that evening by way of a little light R&R before getting down to business the next day. The following morning the gang set off for the first site, a small disused factory near the outskirts of town.
"Looks better than the places we normal visit" said Shaggy as they got out of the van.
"Reah, rot reepry" agreed Scooby.
"Come on gang, lets looks around" encouraged Fred. For the next half hour the gang looked around the site.
"Someone has gone to a lot of care to make this place look unused" said Velma "This door looks like it's been used, and there are some signs of tyre tracks and footprints. It is also clear that someone has tried to cover this up. Scooby has also got the scent of people being here recently." Velma spent the next 5 minutes going through the various signs she had spotted and how the cover-up was attempted.
"Like wow, no wonder you passed that course with flying colours, you're better than ever" exclaimed Shaggy.
Velma smiled reddening slightly at his attention "Thanks Shag. The thing they emphasised on the course was the consistency of evidence. When considering a possible suspect or scenario the clues that are not there, but should be, are just as important as those that are. Also things that are there but should not be cannot be ignored. You need to consider both these sets of evidence simultaneously and find a suspect and theory which resolves the contradictions as well as.... sorry gang, lecture over, let's look inside."
Daphne made quick work of the door lock and gang went inside. Unlike many of the places they had looked over, this one was quite simple, just a number of large rooms joined together with a small office area at the front. Each room was well lit, and lacked the usual basement and dark spooky corners. Even the spider webs seemed well behaved.
"Let's split up and look for clues" suggested Fred.
"This early?" asked Shaggy "Like we haven't even seen a monster or a counterfeiter not even a counterfeit monster yet. Not that I'm complaining"
"I know, but I've been thinking about setting up a training program for our mystery hunting" replied Fred.
"If he makes us do press-ups I won't be responsible for my actions" whispered Velma to Daphne who nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, Daphne can have a look in the office area; the rest of us will walk through and take a room each." Daphne shrugged her shoulders and went into the office area the rest when into the first factory area, as soon as they entered the area, Scooby started to sniff around.
"He's got something on the old nose radar" whispered Shaggy
"Rake's Rubbles" replied Scooby.
"Perhaps we'll have this one solved in record time" said Velma as the gang followed Scooby further into the large room.
"Scooby shows that the scent is this waaaaaaaaaaaay" Fred and Scooby slid off into the distance crashing into a pile of boxes.
"Freddie!" shouted Velma, she and Shaggy dashed towards him and slipped on the same area of the floor. Velma landed on top of Shaggy and they both ended up in the same place as Fred and Scooby "Thanks for the soft landing boys" said Velma as she sat on top of the heap.
"Like, any time." groaned Shaggy.
"Now whose danger prone" laughed Daphne walking into the room and looking at the scene in front of her "looks like its Daphne to the rescue for a change" and she walking towards them. Daphne took care to avoid the slippery area on the floor by stepping onto the platform of a machine. All of a sudden the machine whirred into life "Aaaah, help me!" cried Daphne as the platform she was standing on began to spin and parts of the machine began to move around her. The rest of the gang watched in silence as the machine went to work, a few seconds later Daphne was tightly wrapped in multiple layers of cling-film from shoulder to ankle. "I can't believe this is happing" growled Daphne as she hopped off the machine and towards the rest of the gang "Daphne watch out!" the others shouted but it was too late, the mummified Daphne slipped on the floor and slid towards some more boxes near the others. She crashed into them, tipping some over causing them to empty their contents onto her from above "Ow, ow" she winced as bars of soap bounced off her. Daphne struggled angrily causing another box to tip over, a couple of lids came off and bubble bath poured onto her for a few seconds. The silence that followed was deadly. "Get me free NOW!" exploded Daphne angrily "This NEVER happened! UNDERSTAND!" the rest of the gang quickly hid their camera-phones and tried to look all innocent. Eventuality Fred and Shaggy dragged Daphne away and the gang set to freeing her. Daphne found some water and cleaned herself up as best she could; she was relieved to find that the cling-film had protected her clothes so they could continue with their investigation without having to head back to the hotel to change.
"Daphne found the biggest clue of all, this must be where they are packing up and shipping the counterfeit products" said Fred
"Bet they didn't teach you that on the course Velma" said Daphne
"No, I wonder why" replied Velma innocently. The gang cleared up the mess as the best they could and set off back to the hotel so Daphne could clean herself up properly. No-one noticed that they were being watched. The hidden figure made a call "Boss, you were right, it's Blake's kid and her nosy friends, you want us to get her" he listened to the reply "Don't worry boss, we've got a nice hole in the wall to keep her."
Chapter 3 Prelude to peril
They returned to the hotel where Daphne changed and refreshed herself then updated her father with what they had found. After which the gang set off for the first of two junk yards. Shaggy insisted on an essential refilling stop of a few pizzas and ice-cream on the way. When they finally arrived at the first junk-yard they spent a couple of hours searching but came up with nothing. Everyone could see that the weather was closing in. "I suggest we look at the other junk yard, then leave the other buildings till tomorrow." said Fred, everyone agreed and they set off. They arrived at the second junk-yard and kept it under watch for a while before moving closer.
"Looks like no-one is at home, let's check it out" said Fred.
"Wait, I see someone moving" exclaimed Daphne "Yes, there is someone getting into a van." Everyone watched what was going on in the yard; it was obvious that the van was going to leave.
"Let's split up" said Daphne.
"Wha...?" exclaimed Fred to everyone else's amusement.
"Fred, you follow that van in the Mystery Machine and the rest of us will check out here. Shaggy and Scooby can take one end and Velma and I will take the other and we'll meet up in the middle."
"OK Daph" replied Fred. The rest of the gang got out and headed off. Fred followed the van into town.
"Right, Shaggy and Scooby, you start at that end of the junk-yard, Velma and I will do the same from the other end and we'll all meet up in the middle." Daphne repeated the plan.
"Sounds good to me Daph, OK Scoob let's hit the road" replied Shaggy, suddenly he started sniffing the air "I've just found a clue Scoob, the best clue here"
"Rue?" said Scooby a bit put out
"A food clue, there's hot-dogs at our end" he and Scooby set off like a rocket.
"We'd better get moving as well Velma" said Daphne and the girls set off at a more leisurely pace Velma started to sniff the air.
"What are you doing?" asked Daphne
"Checking to see if there is a book-shop at our end" smiled Velma.
True to his nose, there was a hot-dog stand at their end of the junk-yard. Shaggy and Scooby spend a while there 'checking' the food to see if they contained any of the counterfeit products.
"Mmmm those two hot-dogs were OK, perhaps if we try some more, that relish looks suspicious" grinned Shaggy.
"Reah, rets reck" replied Scooby.
"After all, it's what Daph told us to do" said Shaggy. At the other end .Velma and Daphne were methodically working their way through the yard.
"Found anything yet Daph" asked Velma.
"Not yet, wait what's this?" she replied picking up some paper from the ground.
"Well, that's a clue if ever I saw one" said Velma as Daphne showed her a Blake's Bubbles label "But where did it come from?"
"I can see some paper on the floor over there" said Daphne pointing a short way away.
"Or it could be from there" said Velma looking at some boxes in the opposite directions.
"Let's split up and look for clues" the girls said simultaneously. Daphne walked up to follow the paper and Velma went to check the boxes. After a while Velma concluded that there was nothing suspicious with the boxes and started to walk back to catch-up with Daphne. As she got closer she could see that Daphne was not alone.
Velma paused and looked again, there was indeed someone coming up behind Daphne "Daphne! Behind you!" shouted Velma as loud as she could and began to run towards her. Daphne quickly ducked down and to the side just as the figure went to put a large sack over her. The sudden absence of Daphne caused them to fall forwards, Daphne spun round and elbowed him in the back and he crashed to the ground. The figure got to his feet again and began to spar with Daphne. Velma was nearing Daphne when a figure stepped out in front of her; she dropped down and slid between his legs. As she got to her feet she felt a hard blow to her head, the world spun and she staggered for a few steps "Daphne!" she called out, next thing another much heavier blow hit her head and it all went dark.
Daphne saw what happened to Velma, playtimes over she thought so quickly dispatched her assailant who ran off into the gloom clutching their face, then ran to help Velma. Someone was attempting to carry Velma away, Daphne picked up some stones as she ran and let fly with a volley which struck the figure, she picked up some more and repeated the attack driving Velma's assailant away. Daphne got to Velma and quickly examined her, she was out cold; two huge bumps were already coming up on her head. Daphne started to move Velma to where Shaggy and Scooby were but was struggling moving Velma's inert body. Daphne was built, and trained for, speed, agility and stamina, not strength, she quickly called Shaggy.
"Shaggy can you get over to our side of the field near the main road; we were jumped by a couple of people and Velma's out cold"
"On our way Daph we'll be there in a few minutes" Daphne then called Fred, he was in town but should be here soon with the Mystery Machine.
The main road was quite close and Daphne was able to get Velma there before her arms and legs turned completely to jelly Daphne checked Velma again, she looked quite pale and her skin was cold and clammy. Daphne was worried and considered calling an ambulance, just then one came past so she flagged it down; the crew got out and attended to Velma. Shaggy and Scooby could just see Daphne in the distance, standing next to an ambulance! "Zoinks! Velma must be in a bad way, step on it Scoob" and they sprinted towards the ambulance taking a short cut over some rough ground so they approached from the side and unseen.
Velma was put onto a backboard then put into the ambulance. "Just to be sure ma'am" said the technician as they started to strap Velma down but it looked like they were also tying her wrists and ankles to the board as well. Daphne was feeling uneasy, something was not right here, the inside looked quite basic and one of them had a black eye, just like the one she had given to the man she had just fought!
"Wait, take her out of there now... ow!" something sharp jabbed her in the leg. Daphne started to back away "Shaggy, Scooby Doo, where are you?!" but quickly stumbled and slumped on the ground. Shaggy and Scooby were now close enough to see Daphne being placed on a back board and being strapped down.
"Ro no! Raphne" exclaimed Scooby They could see tape being placed over Daphne's mouth then she was covered with a sheet
"If that's an EMT I'm a pumpkin pie." said Shaggy on seeing what was going on "OK Scoob, Freddie is nowhere in sight, if we ever want to see Scooby Snacks again, it's up to us to rescue the girls."
Velma began to come round, she found she couldn't move much and was covered with a sheet her head hurt badly. There was enough light coming through the sheet that Velma could see she was strapped to a backboard of some kind, and tied hand and foot to the same. "Let's get this one inside as well" she heard a voice say and she felt the world shake. Think I've been hit with a tree... OK, I'm tied-up and in a vehicle of some kind so I guess they are talking about Daphne, better play possum thought Velma Looks like its Shaggy and Scooby to the rescue for now. Shaggy and Scooby to the rescue? Oh boy is we in trouble.
"Let's check if she is who we think she is" said one voice and Velma could hear the sounds of some movement
"Yeah, she's Blake's nosey little brat all-right," said another voice "What about the other one?"
"One of her meddling friends, the boss warned us about them. The boss says we'll be due for a profits windfall from these two. Better get them back and stash them away for safe keeping" said the first voice. Velma inwardly groaned Oh great this just gets better, now we are going to be held for ransom. Wonder if they take payment in Scooby Snacks?
"Let's check this one and see if she's still out" Velma closed her eyes just before the sheet was pulled away, she kept her face blank but gritted her teeth as her arm was pinched "She's still out, no need to drug her as well" a voice said. Velma felt a number of strips of tape being pressed around her mouth there was no need to do that either she thought angrily, then she was recovered. The vehicle moved off and a siren started. I'm in an ambulance, but I don't think we're going to hospital. "That siren sounds a bit off" a voice said. Velma listened and inwardly smiled at the sound of the unusual siren. They seemed to drive for ages, the pain in Velma's head grew worse and waves of giddiness and nausea washed over her from time to time I wish we were going to a hospital I don't feel at all good, eventually Velma felt the vehicle stop then reverse. She heard the doors open and felt her stretcher being moved out, a few seconds later she could hear what could only be Daphne's. She could hear nothing of Shaggy and Scooby, good, they haven't been found yet she thought.
Their trolleys were pushed along a few corridors and into a well-lit room. Velma heard the sounds of a door opening, something sliding, what she assumed was Daphne being moved, some more sliding then a door being closed. Then she heard a door opening and some sliding next to her, she was moved onto something and she then began sliding no no no please no she thought as she realised what was happening. She jumped at the sound of the morgue freezer door slamming shut. She fought for breath and trembled with fear, must remain calm, must remain calm they don't want to kill us they want to ransom us, they don't want to kill us... she forced herself to control her breathing and after a while was just about in control. Velma was finally in a position to take stock of her situation, she noticed that the air, though cool was not cold and there was some light coming in through the door, so the place was not airtight; they would live to see another day. The coolness and her, albeit enforced, immobility was also making her feel better which helped improve her outlook though she was still on the brittle edge of panic. The bad news was that as she had been out for the count when tied up she had been unable to put any slack in her bonds. She struggled for a while but only managed to make her head hurt, Oh well, time to try out Daphne's damsel-in-distress routine "MMMMM! MM! MMMMM!"
Chapter 4 To the rescue
Pale, shaking and cold Shaggy and Scooby slid off the top of the ambulance when the coast was finally clear.
"OK Scoob lets add that to the list of things we do only after we've had a Scooby Snack" whispered Shaggy
"Rist ruprated" replied Scooby.
The two looked around; they were in some kind of garage, through a window they could see a loading bay outside. "Let's look around and see if we can find the girls" Shaggy whispered and both set off carefully to look around the building. It seemed to be made mostly out of corridors.
"This room looks dark and, more importantly, unoccupied, so let's occupy it" Shaggy whispered
"Reah, runoccupied" replied Scooby. They went inside and found a number of printers, labels, bottles, buckets of ingredients and mixing bowls.
"Hey, it's your regular production line" said Shaggy.
"Raphne's rubbles" whispered Scooby.
"Good work Scooby, Blake's Bubbles labels; this is the clue we need. This must be where the counterfeiters are, time to bring in the cavalry." Shaggy called Fred and whispered into his phone "Fred, it's Shaggy, we've hit pay-dirt! We have found where the counterfeiters are, they're in the old medical services building out of town past the scrapyard plus they have kidnapped the girls."
"Good work guys, I was getting worried, I couldn't find them anywhere, have you located them yet? Daphne said Velma was hurt."
"Daphne said she'd been knocked out. Haven't found them yet, but they are in the building, they were both put into a phoney ambulance and we hitched a ride" replied Shaggy.
"Right, I'll alert the authorities and you try to find the girls."
Shaggy and Scooby slowly nosed around the building trying to find where Daphne and Velma were being held.
"Anything on the old nose radar Scoob?" whispered Shaggy.
"Rot Rure" Scooby's ears twitched "Rat ray" indicated Scooby.
"That way? OK" replied Shaggy and they set off. They rounded a corner into a brightly lit room "Zoinks! It's a morgue" whispered Shaggy "Are you sure they are not in the canteen?"
"Rshhh" replied Scooby. They could both hear some mumphing, but from which door?
"That sounds like Velma" whispered Shaggy as he kept watch whilst Scooby sniffed around.
"Raphne rere" and a few seconds latter "Relma rere."
"Good work old buddy" he said, the mumphing was indeed coming from behind Velma's door. Shaggy quietly knocked on the door.
"MMMMMM!" went Velma in surprise.
"Velma? It's me, Shaggy, are you in there?"
"Mmm" Jinkies that routine works better than I expected.
"Good, well try to get you out" Velma relaxed, a few seconds later the door opened and she was slowly slid out and the sheet pulled from her. Velma savoured the sight of Shaggy as he pulled the sheet from his head, a few seconds later Scooby's head popped into view. Despite their predicament she felt safe for the moment.
"You two are a sight for sore eyes" she whispered when she had been un-gaged.
"Good work Scooby" whispered Shaggy, The two set to work freeing Velma, then they helped her off the slide and to her feet, Velma staggered as soon as she was upright.
"Ohh my head!" she whispered. Shaggy rushed to hold her up.
"Velma?" he asked.
"I was hit over the head pretty hard Shaggy, I'm seeing double, but that will have to wait, we need to get Daphne out of here. They are planning to hold her for ransom" she replied.
"Not hold you for ransom as well. Personally I'd be insulted" quipped Shaggy trying to lighten the mood.
"They were going to hold me as well, but they know Daphne Blake will fetch more than me" she replied with some amusement. Shaggy opened the door and pulled out Daphne whilst Velma closed up the door where she had been and ended up having to hold onto another door for support.
"Shaggy, we need to get out of here, I'm not sure how long I can keep going" she looked and saw some white coats hanging up "Call Fred, tell him plan 29C, but we'll only get one chance."
"Right" he replied and called Fred. They freed Daphne but were unable to wake her.
"She's not long been drugged Shaggy" said Velma quietly, resting against a wall and holding her head. "I'm not sure I can make it, just make sure you get Daphne out of here. I'll try and catch up later when I feel better."
"Ro ray Relma" said Scooby.
"Like Scoob's right Velma, you're in no fit state to go solo." replied Shaggy.
A short while later Shaggy's phone buzzed "Fred's all set, Velma we are not leaving without you" he said putting on a white coat, surgical hat and mask, then getting an increasingly passive Velma dressed the same way. Scooby, also suited up, had an idea.
"Remergency rack!" he pointed at Velma.
"Emergency snack, well I guess this is a good emergency as any" Shaggy took a key out of his pocket, Scooby made a key out of his tail. He then took a small box out of another pocket; they both unlocked the box to reveal two Scooby Snacks.
"Magic of the Snacks, don't fail us now" he whispered, Shaggy opened Velma's mouth, placed the snacks on her tongue then closed her mouth, he moved her mouth to get her to chew.
"Rhew Relma rhew" encouraged Scooby, instinctively Velma chewed and swallowed. Both attentively studied Velma's face, they saw a spark come into her eyes.
"Fred listen Velma's nearly out of it so we've got to go now. We're set, get your part of the plan rolling" said Shaggy into his phone. She stood in front of Velma and gently took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes "Velma, plan 29C starts now..."
The crooks were resting in a room near the entrance when they heard the sound of a siren and an ambulance pull up in the loading bay, suddenly 3 doctor's bust through the doors wheeling a trolley.
"Dr Dinkley, get this patient to the ER stat!" shouted the male.
"Her vital signs are unstable Dr Shaggy... Get those doors opened now mister" yelled the female to the two crooks.
The crooks leapt to their feet, "Yes Doctor" and opened the main door to the loading bay and the waiting ambulance. The trio quickly loaded the causality on the ambulance.
"Thank you gentlemen, we won't be back" said the female doctor to the crooks as the ambulance door was closed. It spread away with its sirens blazing. The crooks stared dumbfounded at what had happened did one of those medics have a tail? A few seconds later more sirens were heard as the police converged on the location.
They drove a short way to clear the area but it was soon clear the police had got all the gang in the building, so Fred pulled over, removed the ambulance get up and got into back of the Mystery Machine.
"Great work everyone" he exclaimed.
"How's Daphne?" asked Velma in a hollow voice.
"Still out for the count Velma, but this should bring her round" said Fred getting out some smelling salts and held them under Daphne's noise.
A few seconds later Daphne stirred and opened her eyes "Fred?!" she whispered "Oh Fred I'm so relieved to see you" Fred and Daphne hugged each other.
"Err Fred, can we make like a real ambulance and go to a real hospital?" asked Shaggy nervously.
"Why? Daphne's awake now" replied Fred.
"It's not for Daphne, it's for Velma" said Shaggy, more nervous than before.
Daphne looked up "Oh no! Velma!" Fred turned to see Velma slumped against the side of the van, her face completely blank, mouth open, eyes unfocussed staring into nothing. To everyone's horror her legs began to buckle and she slid down the side of the van, Fred got to her in time to stop her head hitting the floor. "Velma!" they all yelled.
Chapter 5 Blues and Two's
Velma was taken to the local hospital and the gang were settled in for the wait, expecting Velma to come round soon. After half an hour of waiting, and way too much medical activity around Velma's cubicle than they would have liked, the gang were getting worried. They were all familiar with hospitals, all had needed to be patched up from injuries they had received in mystery hunting, most of the time it was just bandages, a plaster cast at worse. This time things felt different. Daphne was called over and returned shortly, visibly shaken and upset. Fred and Shaggy shared worried looks.
"What's wrong Daph?" asked Fred.
Daphne sat down "They're airlifting Velma to State University hospital. They can't treat her here, they think she may need brain surgery" she replied near tears at the end. Fred was frozen to the spot and the colour drained from Shaggy's face. A few seconds later Fred managed to snap himself out of his shocked state "Let's get moving gang, that's a good 4 hour drive. Daph, call your father and tell him what's going on, we're off the case."
They arrived at State University hospital early next morning, Velma had already undergone numerous tests and scans before they had arrived and was currently in the Intensive Care Unit awaiting a decision on surgery. The gang took turns in being with her, later they would agree that this was the scariest thing they had ever had to do. At midday she was again subject to another battery of tests and scans to see if she would need surgery after all. Fred and Daphne waited for the results. Daphne sat on a chair, head in hands, staring at the floor, Fred paced up and down. Scooby's howling could still be faintly heard though the double glazing.
"I can't believe I did that, I knew Velma was hurt, why didn't I check on her? Why didn't I just come straight here?" muttered Fred.
"Fred, please sit down" said Daphne "None of us knew how badly she was hurt. No-one is blaming you, I don't and neither will Velma."
"But..." he replied.
"No buts Fred Jones." said Daphne sternly.
Just then a doctor walked in "Are you the friends of Miss Dinkley?" he asked.
Daphne nodded and got to her feet "I'm Daphne Blake and this is Fred Jones", she glanced at Fred and took his hand.
"Please, be seated" the doctor said "I'm Dr Armand and I'm responsible for looking after Miss Dinkley."
"How is she doc?" said Fred, almost too afraid to ask.
"Well, she's not out of the woods yet, but there will be no need for surgery and she can now be moved out of the ICU into a high-dependency unit, I know it does not sound like progress, but it is. We have reviewed her CT and MRI results and while there was a small bleed on the brain it has stopped, there is however slight swelling of her brain so we will be keeping her sedated and cooling her head for a while longer to minimise the chance of further brain injury."
"Further injury," gasped Daphne "you mean she already has brain damage" Fred hung his head "Will she be all right? Will she still be our Velma?" asked Daphne. The doctor paused.
"That's harder to say, then best I can say is probably, given the injury profile and the fact that she was brought here quickly the prognosis is good, but we will only know for sure when we bring her round."
"When will that be" Fred whispered.
"That depends on how quickly the swelling goes down. I guess that you are a sporting man Mr Jones?" Fred nodded to the doctor's question "If you were to injure a muscle then you would rest it and apply ice for a while to prevent further injury" Fred nodded again "that is in effect what we are doing to Miss Dinkley's brain. We will rescan her tomorrow and then decide where we go from there."
"Can we see her?" asked Daphne.
"In a short while, I'll send someone to get you when she's settled in" replied the doctor.
Later that evening Shaggy and Scooby were dozing fitfully in the Mystery Machine. Both had consumed numerous boxes of Scooby Snacks by way of comfort food and were now dreaming.
"Velma I'm sorry Velma, I let you down" muttered Shaggy in his sleep Scooby did like wise.
"No you didn't silly," said Velma "and neither did you Scooby, for once I'm glad you didn't listen to me. You are both heroes in my book" she went and gave both of them a huge hug.
"Velma? Thanks Velma I needed that" muttered Shaggy.
"Raaah ranks Relma" muttered Scooby.
"Jinkies" laughed Velma "Just look you two; have you left any Scooby Snacks for me?"
"Rave a rox Relma" muttered Scooby.
"Like sure, take a box Velma, help yourself" muttered Shaggy.
"Thanks guys, I'll see you tomorrow" said Velma taking a box, as she left she blew them a kiss. Shaggy and Scooby both woke with a start.
"Velma!" "Relma!" they cried out and looked around for her.
"Must have been a dream Scoob" said Shaggy.
"Ro ream! Ro ream! Rox rissing!" yelped Scooby. They checked a box of Scooby Snacks was indeed missing.
The van door opened "Arghhh! Velma! Scooby Snacks! Arghhh!" the yelled and held each other.
"Guys? What's up?" asked Daphne getting into the van.
"Oh it's you Daph. Velma was here, we think, it must have been a dream but it was so real." replied Shaggy.
"Oh I wish that was true Shaggy" replied Daphne "We've spoken to her doctor again."
"And?" asked Shaggy in a trembling voice.
Daphne sighed deeply "She's not well Shaggy, they hope to know more tomorrow, on the bright side she doesn't need surgery and is out of the ICU. The doctors say the prognosis is good but she's in a high-dependency unit at the moment. I'm just so unsure of what's happening."
"I'm so glad we didn't listen to her back there" said Shaggy.
"What do you mean Shaggy?" asked Daphne seriously.
"There's something I didn't tell you earlier, I didn't want to freak you out any more than we were already" replied Shaggy fidgeting uncomfortably under Daphne's gazed "When we got her out of the morgue Velma told us she had overheard the gang planning to hold you two, mostly you Daph, for ransom, they knew you were a Blake. Velma didn't think she could make it, man she even couldn't put on a lab coat without help, so she asked us to leave her there so we could be sure that we got you out, Scoob and I refused."
Daphne hugged them both hard, tears were in her eyes "That's just like Velma, she's too logical for her own good at times, I'm so glad you ignored her, you saved her life, you're both heroes."
"That's what Velma just told us" smiled Shaggy weakly.
Chapter 6 Good Morning
Later the next morning Velma was rescanned, the swelling had gone and it was decided to remove the sedation that afternoon. Daphne was in her room with Dr Armand and one of his colleagues Dr Magnusson, Daphne thought he looked half-Viking half-Terminator; even Fred would look small next to him. "Ja, she is coming round slowly, her heart sounds good and breath sounds are even" he said as he checked on Velma with a stethoscope. Velma began to come round to the feeling of being prodded, must have overslept was her vague thought, her mind felt so fuzzy, error 404 Dinkley not found, she half opened an eye to see a white-coated blond giant with a caring face looking over her, stethoscope in hand this isn't my room... oh hello handsome she though. The stethoscope, with the attached doctor, moved towards her oh yes come closer please please please, "She is breathing quite deeply now, her heart rate is very strong and colour has come back to her cheeks I'm sure she is aware of her surroundings" Aware? Jinkies I am so aware "Miss Dinkley, Velma, can you hear me? You are in hospital, wake up Velma" said Dr Magnusson.
"Mmmmmm" went Velma opening her eyes and looked around; most of the room was all blurry, she was glad that the doctor was close enough to be in focus. "Everything is so blurry.... oh my glasses, can I have my glasses please?" she asked quietly.
"Here you are Velma" said Dr Magnusson as he put the glasses on her face; she smiled as the world came into focus.
"Thank you, I can't see a thing without them" she said.
"Velma!" cried Daphne. Velma turned towards the voice and sat up slightly.
"Daphne? Is that you?" she asked, confused by her unexpected surroundings.
A tearful Daphne dashed over and held her tightly "Velma, do you still remember me?"
"Would I ever be allowed to forget you Daph?" smiled Velma "But why would I forget you? This isn't my bedroom, how did I get here?" asked an even more confused Velma.
"You're in hospital Velma" replied Daphne gently "you got hit on the head and knocked-out, don't you remember?"
Velma thought for a while "Hmmm... Sorry Daph, my head still feels like I've overslept; guess I was jet-lagged after all."
"Never mind, you should be out of here soon," soothed Daphne.
"Soon?" sighed Velma "Guess I'll be sitting this one out then, please send my apologies to your father.... Look Daph, I'll be fine here, you'd best be off after those counterfeiters your father called us about last night."
Daphne looked stunned "Last night! Velma, we solved that case a couple of days ago. You've been in hospital ever since." Velma's eyes opened wide in surprise, Daphne continued "You're been in State University hospital for the past couple of days."
"But State-U is miles from where we live, it'll take you hours to get home let alone set off for where your father thinks the counterfeiters are." protested Velma, still not sure if she could believe what she was hearing.
Daphne shook her head "It's been solved. We visited a factory, everyone slipped on the floor, I got wrapped in cling-film; you must remember that, you couldn't stop laughing."
Velma's face was blank "No, I'm sure I would remember that."
Daphne continued "We visited two the junk-yards that same day remember..." Velma slowly shook her head "...We were attacked in the second junk-yard, that's where you got knocked-out. Don't you remember?"
"No, nothing Daph" replied Velma.
"We got kidnapped, Shaggy and Scooby saved us, you were there, you came up with the escape plan, 29C, remember?" pleaded Daphne.
"No, nothing" replied Velma blankly.
Daphne sighed "That was the day you were airlifted to the neurosurgical trauma unit here. They nearly lost you twice in the helicopter; you spent a day in the ICU, that's how ill you were..." Velma lay back down in shock, Daphne held one of Velma's hands in hers "The doctors warned us your memory could be affected" she said gently.
"It's called retrograde amnesia Daph" interrupted Velma "and I don't like it, I don't like it one bit. Was anyone else hurt? Where are the boys? Are they ok?"
"Everyone else is fine. Don't worry Velma, we'll fill in the gaps for you as best we can, Shaggy is out walking Scooby at the moment, he knows the most of what happened but I'll get Fred, he knows a bit more." Daphne fetched Fred; to Velma he appeared quite nervous and pensive.
"What's wrong Fred?" asked Velma "Don't worry I haven't forgotten you, come over here and give me a hug."
"See" whispered Daphne to Fred.
Velma was brought some food and left in the company of Fred and Daphne for a while. Fred had got word to Shaggy and Scooby, who were now off getting some 'welcome back' gifts for Velma. Daphne and Fred tried to keep up with the barrage of questions from Velma; it was obvious that she could not remember anything of the case they had just been on. Her memories ended with her going to sleep the night before they set off. In an attempt to jog her memory Fred showed Velma the film of Daphne's encounter with the packing machine in the factory. As Daphne feared Velma nearly cried with laughter.
"That's so funny Fred. When did that happen?" she asked. Fred was shocked; he hadn't fully grasped what Daphne had told him about Velma's amnesia.
"A couple of days ago! Velma, you were there, you were sitting on top of the rest of us when it happened" he said.
"Sorry Fred, I don't remember" Velma replied.
"Check your own phone" he suggested.
Velma checked her phone "I made two calls on the day I came back from England, I remember those... then there are calls the day after that, I don't recall making those calls, and I received one from my sister the next day? This can't be right."
"Check your most recent film clip" he suggested. Velma watched a near identical clip of the one Fred had shown her. This time it wasn't so funny, Velma lay back in bed feeling rather shell-shocked.
"Don't worry Velma, we've got your back on this one." said Fred.
"And besides" said Daphne "You're still yourself; you knew the name of that condition straight away."
"Thanks both of you, it's just feels so strange, as far as I'm concerned none of that ever happened." she paused then smiled slightly "I've got a few more questions if you are up to it..." Velma pleaded with them for information, at one level she knew that memory loss did occur after head trauma, but that did not help, she just had to know what happened. But, aside from the slight loss of memory Velma appeared to be Velma.
Chapter 7 Changes
Velma was taken for some personality and reasoning tests which were conducted by Dr Magnusson. Fred and Daphne were waiting outside the room, ready to take Velma down to see Shaggy and Scooby. Daphne had positioned herself so she could watch Velma during the tests, after a while she leaned over to Fred.
"Fred I'm not sure he's safe in there alone with Velma."
"I don't understand, why would Velma be dangerous?" replied Fred.
"I mean she's... she's... flirting with him!?" whispered Daphne her voice full of surprise and disbelief.
"What Velma?" replied Fred.
"Yes, in a big way" nodded Daphne.
"Let me see..." he stared at Velma for a while "good grief, she's not holding back is she" said Fred, now just as surprised as Daphne, he smiled and turned to Daphne "I have a plan, we'll need a crow-bar, a strait jacket and Hannibal Lecter mask both in Velma's size, a hand cart, some tape..."
"Freddie" laughed Daphne.
Dr Magnusson survived the tests unscathed and Fred was now pushing Velma in a wheelchair so she could see Shaggy and Scooby, Fred was mostly on autopilot as Daphne and Velma were doing 'girl-talk' Daphne was walking next to the wheelchair listening to Velma.
"Wow Daph, I must go into hospital more often if I get to wake up and see the likes of that doctor, no wonder my heart was pounding. And then spending that time alone with him doing those tests, I'm surprised I got anything right."
"Oh Velma stop it" laughed Daphne.
Velma looked around "Jinkies Daph, look over there he's got one cute behind, and over there wow he's hot too. I must come here more often... Hello there boys!" Velma called out and waved to them, the next second Daphne was sprawled on the floor.
Daphne was sitting on a bed in a cubicle in the minor injuries clinic of the hospital "OW ow ow OW ow ow" she complained as her head was bandaged by one of the nurses.
"Daph, why did you walk into that wall?" asked Fred.
"Go ask Velma, she's gone man mad" came the sore reply Fred was biting his lip, trying not to laugh too much. Daphne looked at Velma "I'm going to lock you in your room when we get home, no man is safe from you at the moment."
"Sorry Daph, I don't know what came over me" replied an embarrassed, but highly amused Velma "But still, that Dr Magnusson, oh wow!"
"Velma!" wailed Daphne.
"I was merely expressing my appreciation of the classical male form" replied Velma in a mock serious tone.
"Rubbish Velma, you were ogling him" retorted Daphne. Velma was aware that she was not thinking or acting quite like her usual self yet. Dr Magnusson had explained that it may take a bit of time for everything to get back to normal and any changes to become fully integrated into her personality, for the moment it looked like it would be an enjoyable and interesting experience. But she was not sure if it was going to be the same for Daphne.
They all finally arrived at the entrance Shaggy and Scooby where all over Velma in an instant.
"Guys, guys easy" she said joyfully, hugging them back just as hard. Velma paused and became a bit emotional "I want to thank you two for saving my life. Daphne told me how I asked you to leave me behind I'm glad you didn't listen to me, you are both heroes."
"Thanks Velma, but you told us that yesterday when you visited us in the van" replied Shaggy.
"Shaggy, I've spent most of my time here sedated with my head in a fridge; I've only been fully awake for the past few hours" replied Velma.
"Well Scoob and I are sure that you came to the van last night and had a box of Scooby Snacks with us" replied Shaggy.
"Ewww Velma" whispered Daphne.
"It must have been a dream Shaggy" replied Velma, "Even I didn't know I was here last night."
"Well we checked and there's a box missing." replied Shaggy.
"Reah" added Scooby. There was a few seconds of quiet.
"How did you hurt your head Daph?" asked Shaggy.
"Don't ask" replied Velma and Daphne simultaneously.
"Well how's your head doing Velma?" asked Shaggy as he leant over Velma to check on the bumps on her head, as he did she looked up into his face.
"Wait, I remember something, Shaggy, you, you're" to everyone's surprise, especially Velma's, she pulled Shaggy down and began to kiss him. The spell was broken a few seconds later by Daphne falling off her chair in surprise. Velma stopped and felt awfully embarrassed; Shaggy looked rather stunned by the whole affair. "Oh err, sorry Shaggy. When I looked up and saw you leaning over me like that, I just had an overwhelming feeling of relief, safety and happiness, I... I couldn't think of another way of expressing myself and I just had to do it." Velma smiled "I'm finding that I'm a bit more, expressive, than I normally am at the moment Shaggy. The doctors say this should settle down over time."
"Sooner rather than later" muttered Daphne, now nursing a sore behind as well as well as her sore head.
Finally Velma was able to get the answers to her questions when Shaggy explained what happened to her and Daphne after they had been put into the fake ambulance.
"Hmmmm let me see.... that must be it Shaggy; I must have remembered my emotions of looking up at you when you pulled the sheet off me." Velma shivered slightly and held herself "I'm glad that I can't remember being locked up in there, I must have been petrified. No wonder I felt such emotion when you freed me..." she smiled at him "... and every kiss was meant and you deserved every one Shaggy. Anyway, what I can't figure out is how you got me so involved with the plan, you said I could barely put on the lab coat?" she asked, Shaggy leant over and whispered in her ear. Daphne watched Velma's face take on a look to surprise.
"You did WHAT to me?" exclaimed Velma, she slumped back in her wheelchair "That would explain how I appeared in the dream you had" she said with a weak smile.
Fred and Daphne looked quizzically at Shaggy "We gave her some Scooby Snacks; it was the only thing we could think of. I mean it works for me and Scoob so why not Velma."
"You don't remember this Velma? Asked Daphne.
"I have no memory of it at all" replied Velma "A blessing of retrograde amnesia I guess" she smiled.
"Aw come on Velma they're not that bad" exclaimed Shaggy.
"OK Shaggy, I was just teasing. You know I'll always be grateful to you and Scooby for getting me out of there, even if you did use... unorthodox methods" she replied gently.
"We'll put an extra snack aside for you Velma," replied Shaggy "just in case" and patted he on the arm.
"Velma Dinkley DOOOOOOO!" exclaimed Velma. Daphne rested her head against Fred groaned, everyone else laughed.
