1.02 - Death's Kingdom

Mrs. Druse holds a seance to attempt to contact the spirits haunting Kingdom Hospital but faces opposition from some of the hospital staff. Elmer Traff attempts to win the heart of Dr. Massingale. Dr. Hook has an encounter with something that he cannot explain.

A worker drives a piece of equipment through the hospital parking lot. He hears a car alarm going off and investigates to find Dr. Stegman's car. He removes the paper bag Stegman placed over the handicapped parking sign and, after considering this for a bit, kicks the side of Stegman's car; denting the door and causing the alarm to cut off. The street teens across the street laugh approval.

Dr. Stegman is meeting with Dr. James who is picking up "Operation Morning Air" buttons which the most recent earthquake scattered across the floor. He tells Stegman that the hospital is apparently built on a fault line. Dr. Stegman tries to complain about Dr. Hook and his ordering of the MRI scan for Mrs. Druse but Dr. James seems to ignore him and instead tries to talk about a new design for his "Operation Morning Air" buttons. Stegman leaves in annoyance.

Outside he runs into Dr. Louis Traff who offers to show him the sleep lab but Stegman stalks off. Traff asks James if he told Stegman about the malpractice lawyer but James says he thought that Stegman was already in a bad enough mood. They laugh.

Elsewhere in the hospital, we see a girl staring blankly at the wall. A sign on the door identifies her as Mona Klingerman. The attending doctor's name was Stegman but it has been crossed out.

Dave Hooman is working on the roof of his house, dermal patches stuck all over himself. A sheriff's officer arrives and tries to talk to him about Peter Rickman's hit-and-run and the damage to Hooman's van. Hooman, obviously drugged, lets slip that he was involved then falls off the roof.

The same ambulance that carried Peter to the hospital arrives to collect Hooman. One of the EMTs comments how much this case is like the one they had the day before. Hooman's heart stops but the EMT manages to get it restarted. Hooman regains consciousness and looks up to see Antubis staring back at him from the rear of the ambulance.

The ambulance reaches Kingdom Hospital and Hooman is brought to the emergency room. The staff is able to stabilize Hooman even though Carrie passes out again from the sight of blood. At one point we see Mary looking in the window. One of the doctors comments that they do not have an empty room in the ICU and are forced to put Hooman in the same room as Peter Rickman.

One of the EMTs is getting a soda from a Noza-la machine. An oddly dressed man comes by and asks where the children are. The EMT directs him to the pediatrics wing.

Bobby Druse is walking through the hospital and Otto (and Blondie) invite him into the security booth. Bobby is concerned that his mother is about to have another seance and that Dr. Stegman is out to get her.

He interrupts his thought to pick up the paper that Otto was reading. He reads an article about a serial killer in the nearby prison who killed six members of his own family. Otto says he heard the killer was planning to cook and eat the victims then takes the paper back.

Elsewhere, Druse is setting up for the seance. Lenny is there with her and they talk about the dead and dying and Druse says the dead just want to go to the light. Lenny worries about dying for a bit then starts talking about the "Emperor of Ice Cream".

Dr. Hook goes to Peter's room and meets with Natalie. Natalie is angry because Peter seemed be conscious but now isn't. Hook tries to calm her by telling her that Peter has made a remarkable recovery even though he is still unconscious. Peter, who can hear everything, says that he is conscious but only we can hear him. He also notes that Dr. Hook's fly is open.

Dr. Stegman arrives and drags Dr. Hook away. Both Natalie and Peter comment that Dr. Hook seems to be in trouble.

Hooman is wheeled into the room. Natalie is angry because she thought Peter would have a private room but the staff assure her it is just temporary. For his part, Peter recognizes Hooman and cannot believe it.

Hooman finds himself in the abandoned corridors of the Old Kingdom as Peter did previously. He runs around in more and more of a panic trying to find a way out. He finds Peter hanging from a noose and encounters Lenny who warns him of the Emperor of Ice Cream. He then finds the vampire boy, apparently selling ice cream.

Natalie notices that the monitors attached to Hooman are going crazy and alerts the nurse who speculates that he is having a nightmare. Peter and Hooman both see Antubis appear in the room with them. Antubis goes to Hooman and seems to rip all of the life support tubes out of his chest. Hooman dies.

"He heard a bell." whispers Peter. "Her name is Mary."

Meanwhile, Druse is holding her seance with about a dozen other patients attending. They are interrupted by Dr. Stegman with Dr. Hook and Dr. Draper in tow.

Stegman takes everyone to an office and berates Druse for wasting hospital resources. He does the same to Drs. Hook and Draper for running the MRI. He gives the MRI scans to Hook and say that they show no problems. Dr. Hook tries to point out what he calls a UBO, an "Unidentified Bright Object" and says they have been connected to potentially fatal problems but Stegman says they are unimportant flaws in the scan. He orders Dr. Hook to discharge Druse and leaves.

After he is gone Dr. Hook apologizes to Mrs. Druse but she accepts that he is not at fault and tries to shrug off Stegman's comments. She also points out to him that his fly is open.

Elsewhere, Elmer is pushing a gurney carrying Hooman's body. Dr. Massingale is with him and asks what he wants to show her. He leads her to the morgue where a table bearing an elaborate meal has been set. She is somewhat angry and berates him for trying to seduce her but eventually agrees to have the dinner with him.

Dr. Hook is walking with Druse to the elevator while she tries to explain to him about the girl she heard crying. Hook gets on the elevator with her and says that she probably just heard someone from pediatrics. Then, the elevator stops suddenly and both he and Druse hear the crying.

Otto calls from the security booth and tells him how to restart the elevator. Dr. Hook tells him that they are all right then opens the hatch in the roof of the elevator and climbs onto the top of it. There, he finds the doll and picks it up.

When he does, he hears a sound above him and looks up to see Mary standing on a ledge on the edge of the shaft. He is startled and drops the doll. It falls down the adjacent shaft and Mary wails in horror.