It wasn't always so

In the background I could hear a rapturous applause I stood and took it all in. yet the sound seemed hollow, and empty and false.  It sounded as if it were some distance away like a car accelerating on a road outside somewhere, not here and definitely not less than 5 metres in front of me

Everything around me seemed dark and empty and I felt like I stood alone on an empty highway and the only thing that showed my existence was an empty spotlight pointing directly at me as if I was about to undergo some major interrogation

"Oh My God!" there was a scream from the auditorium
"The curtains close the curtains" somebody shouted in a panicked voice, as they already began to be drawn.
"A phone?  Anyone got a phone? Call an ambulance!" came the frantic cries from another
The same voice moments later whispered into my ear "it's okay, I'm here"
"What's wrong?" asked a masculine voice of authority
"How should I know, do I look like a medic.  Has somebody called for that damn ambulance yet?" came once more the lilting accent of a southern American drawl
Behind me I heard a voice saying "It's Aurelia Monroe, she's collapsed.  We need an Ambulance.  We are at the Old Vic in SE1" The same voice in an attempt to soothe the American notified us all that the ambulance would be here shortly