Bedside Manner

In the cold silence of a damaged spaceship, a woman awakens to a nightmarish emptiness. She discovers she can feel phantom pain but has no limbs, eyes, or ears, realizing she is both blind and deaf in a body that is essentially a torso. Panic gives way to a stubborn curiosity as she tries to piece together how she survived a catastrophic crash.

The emptiness is broken by a single, hoarse yet clear voice that identifies itself as a doctor. It promises to restore her senses and even her speech, offering a glimmer of hope amid the alien wreckage. As she listens, she confronts the terrifying possibility that an unknown being has already begun to reshape her very being.

The tale weaves a tense, claustrophobic first act that blends visceral terror with the wonder of an extraterrestrial caretaker. Listeners are drawn into a meditation on identity, survival, and the strange kindness that may arise from the most unexpected source.