Just eight days to go 'till my surgery and still the panic has yet to set in. Hmmm., let's see ... The full moon rises over the town, bathing the hospital in an eerie glow. Barton Road, the main street of sorts, is deserted. Not sound fills the air, save for the rustle of a few leaves skittering across the sidewalk. The stroke of 11 p.m., and a church bell peals in the distance. What an odd time to report for surgery, I muse. The hospital looms before me, a pale orange glow emanating from the lobby. Did I remember to pack my toothbrush? I enter the lobby, and the automatic door creaks as it slides open. Gingerly I approach the front desk, and the receptionist looks up at me as the florescent light over her desk begins to flicker.
"May I help you?" She asks.
"Yes, I'm here for surgery". I whisper. Reaching up under the countertop of the desk, she pulls down a thick, leather-bound tome and blows the dust of the cover.
"Your name. Please." She asks in a monotone. I gave her my name and looked behind me, out the door and into the night. A shadowy blur streaked across the parking lot, reminding me much of a very large dog.
"Yes, you need to go down the hall to area D it's on the left and tell them you are here for your operation." I thanked the receptionist and headed down the long, sterile corridor. Overhead, a bank of lights began to flicker.
Entering area D, I made my way to the nurse sitting behind another desk. The waiting area was deserted. The nurse informed me that my operation would be a little behind schedule, as the doctor was late he had to run to get here, she said.
So I sat down and propped myself up to do a little reading. Searching through a stack of magazines, I was most dismayed to discover that the newest issues dated from the mid- 80's!
As I perused an ancient issue of Ladies Home Journal, off in the distance I heard what sounded like someone screaming. Dropping the magazine, I sat straight up, cocking my head from side to side to discern the direction of the noise. The nervousness that had earlier possessed me now turned into terror.
""Excuse me". I said to the nurse behind the desk. "What's taking so long - where's my doctor?"
"Let me go back and check they may be ready for you now". She replied calmly, exiting the room. Moments later, for what seemed to be hours to me, she re-appeared and motioned me to the back. I followed her around a corner, though a room where every bed had a curtain drawn closed around it, and into another room with several beds, all empty. She approached a bed in the corner, and turned around and handed me a gown, explaining the drill about taking everything off. I watched her as she strode away and vanished into the hall. There it was again - the scream! I listened, but it did not repeat. I pulled the curtain around the bed closed, and began to undress. As I was standing there naked, something shuffled outside the curtain. My heart was racing at this point, and the cool air raised goosepimples all over my body. Quickly I pulled the gown on and made sure I tied all the straps in the back. Then, with utmost caution, I peeked through a small opening between the curtains. At that instant the curtain was thrust aside and I found myself looking into the deep blue eyes of Dr. M.
"Hello, how are you tonight?' He asked in a pleasant tone. For a second I was speechless, staring at the doctor's blood-red scrubs
"F-fine." I replied in a shaky voice. "Just lie down and the anesthetist and a nurse will come and start the IV and prepare you for the operation, I'll see you later." With that he smiled and walked away. The minute hand on the wall clock inched closer to 12 - 12 midnight. And the row of lights over my bed began to flicker like a strobe lamp. The room was deserted, but down the hall footsteps fell, echoing against the hard walls and tile floor.
A nurse appeared with a tray, which she set down on the end of my bed. Then came a man in black scrubs, with an IV bag in his hand. In a second, they had surrounded me, the anesthesiologist on one side and the nurse on the other. The nurse reached around and yanked the curtain closed. She and the doctor both introduced themselves, and on the surface they sounded reasonably pleasant. As the doctor was feeling for veins on my arm, the nurse momentarily turned away, and I could hear wrappers crinkling. A few seconds later I felt a stinging on my forearm, and noticed that the needle had been put in. The nurse began to lift my gown, and reached to stop her, asking what she was doing. "I'm going to catheterize you now. Lie back down and hold still." "No! Aren't you supposed to wait until I'm asleep to do that?" I protested, pinning my gown down.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the anesthetist preparing an injection, and he reached for the IV tubing that was connected to my arm.
"Hey, what is that?" I shouted at the doctor.
"This will make you sleepy". He relied calmly. The curtain had come open slightly and I could have sworn that my doctor was standing in the back corner of the room, just watching, with his arms folded across his chest, yellow eyes staring. The nurse seized my legs and pressed them down against the bed, and the anesthetist grabbed for my wrist. Instantly I kicked free of the nurse, and she snarled in fury as I wrenched my wrist away from the doctor. Then the light row over the bed went dark. I leaped up off the bed, ripped the needle from my arm, and made a dash at the slat in the curtains. The anesthetist seized me by the arm again, and I whipped around and went to bite his hand. He let go of me, but not before I noticed how thick the hair was on the back of his hand. I rushed free, but my doctor was blocking the exit. I stopped and glanced back, and the anesthetist and nurse were lunging for me. Dr. M. made a grab for me as I ducked under his grasp and continued down the hall, my bare feet slipping on the glossy floor. Evil snarls and pounding feet seemed ever so close behind me as I kept running towards the lobby.
The lights were flickering and winking out one by one, snuffed like candles in a howling wind. I burst into the lobby, and the receptionist looked up and said, "Where are you going? Your surgery has yet to begin. Come back!" Ignoring her, I lost precious seconds as the automatic door squeaked and groaned, slowly sliding open. I knew they were behind me, I could here their breathing as I leapt out onto the moonlit sidewalk and driveway.
Out into the street I ran, never looking back until I had crossed the road to the main building. But where could I go? The hospital campus was huge, and there wasn't even a 24-hour convenience store nearby.
Up ahead I saw a figure, a woman. Part of me wanted to run, since she was in front of the main hospital, but then she might be able to help me.
"Hey!" I yelled, sprinting towards her. The woman stopped under the deep shadow of a huge tree and looked at me.
"Yes?' She replied.
"You have to help me - they're after me the doctors, nurses they've gone nuts at the community hospital!" I drew closer, desperate for a safe hideout.
"Now just calm down. I will help you." As she said that, she reached out for my arm, and at that point my eyes had adjusted to the shadows, so I could make out the word "nurse" on her badge.
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