Emily dabbed the damp cloth on Doc’s forehead as her husband mumbled and turned his head feverishly on the pillow in his sleep. “....there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home....”. Emily leaned in closer. “Theo, Theo ! It’s me Emily”. Doc opened his eyes, slowly getting used to the light and then took in the wonderful visage of his beloved wife sitting on the edge of the bed. He raised his head slightly, smiled and took her hand, countless emotions running wild in his mind. Then he noticed the other people around the room. Ryan Cawdor the local sheriff, his wife Krsyty and his young son Dean stood in the doorway, whilst the local physician Mildred Barrymore and her husband Johan stood at the open window, the summer breeze rippling the net curtains. Young scarred Jak the farmhand was also there, carving a small toy with a knife from one of his pockets on a stool in the corner. Doc closed his eyes again and returned to the comfort of the pillow. “Wake up, honey”, said Emily, concern still evident in her tone. But Doc continued to ramble. “....no place like home, there’s no place like home. No place....”. “Please, Theo. Wake up, my love”. Doc opened his eyes for the second time. “Oh, Emily, it really is you ! I thought I was dreaming” “Yes, darling” “Hello. Anyone at home in there?”, asked Mildred in her usual sense of humour, her elbows now resting on the windowsill. “I heard a grown man got caught in the big....Well....” Doc shot Mildred a weak but wicked look. “Well the buzzard seems all right now!” “Yeah, fireblast, you got quite a bump on the head -- we kinda thought there for a minute you were going to leave us.” said Ryan brushing his head through young Dean’s unruly mop of hair. Doc suddenly rose up on his elbows in the bed. “No, but I did leave you my friend, that’s just the trouble. And I tried to get back for days and days...”. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but faltered as if confused. Emily pushed him gently back down and made to leave the room, when the children Rachel and Jolyon burst past the Cawdor family into the room and knelt beside their father, their words flowing out uncontrollably, before Emily settled them and return her attention back to her husband, her tiredness and relief written on her face. “There, there Theo, lie quiet now. You just had a bad dream. Your back with us, surrounded by all your friends and relatives! You do remember me, don’t you ? “Surely you remember me, your old pal Ryan?” “And me – Johan ?” “Couldn’t forget my face could you” asked Jak from shadows of the corner, Doc shook his head defiantly. “No. But it wasn’t a dream. It was a place. And you – and you – and you – and you were there”. “Oh, really ?” asked Mildred, her professional attitude immediately running a diagnoses through her mind. Docs shoulders slumped resignedly. “But you couldn’t have been there, could you?” “Oh my love” said Emily mopping his head once again, “we dream lots of silly things when we - ”. “No, dear Emily. This was a real, truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn’t very nice......”, Doc stalled, and then continued. “In fact very little was beautiful and all I kept saying to people was ‘I want to go home’. And finally the white-coats sent me home” “White-coats?” asked Ryan, a puzzled look on his face. “Doesn’t anyone believe me?” “Course we do Doc” pacified Mildred, hoping t was just the dehydration of the last few days talking. “Anyway, I’m home now” said Doc looking around the room, tears coming in his eyes as he squeezed Emily’s hand. “Home! And this is my room – and you’re all here. And I’m not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all. And – oh Emily – there’s no place like home!”