Uncle…She is Following Me! Part I
After completing the patient examination, Doctor Aun felt free…so free that it was boring. The games on Facebook were no longer fun at this moment. Taking this opportunity to visit Golf, Doctor Aun told the nurse at the station that he would go for a walk to the ER ward. By now, his friend might be busy stitching up the wounds or performing CPR for emergency patients.
The corridor stretched between the buildings was packed with patients until the hospital was overflown. Some were in wheelchairs. Some lay in bed, struggling to breathe. Some were limping alone with their broken legs. Even though Doctor Aun had seen these images for many years, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them. This was the reason... why he wanted to be a doctor to cure these people. It was because he believed that the absence of disease was indeed a great fortune.
The ER ward was located at the very front of the hospital for the convenience of moving critically ill patients for treatment. The building's entrance was a cemented slope designed for the use of wheeled stretchers and wheelchairs. Sauntering into the ward, the smell of the hospital wafted to greet him as soon as he arrived. The nurse at the counter stood up and raised her hands as a wai to greet him so rapidly that he almost couldn’t greet them back in time.
“Is Doctor Golf in?”
"Yes...he is. He’s taking a lunch break in the doctor lounge on the second floor,” said the nurse. Before leaving in the other direction, the doctor bowed his head slightly as a thank you.
The elevator of the ER building was located in a reasonably narrow nook. Even though Doctor Aun didn't come here often, he knew the way. The young man stopped in front of the elevator and was about to reach out to press the door open. Nevertheless, the elevator door opened on its own, with the appearance of a scary-looking old man wheeling the bed of an ill person. No...they were no longer ill. It should have been called a 'dead person' because they were covered with a white cloth from head to toe. Doctor Aun was stunned but still managed to compose himself. The young doctor smiled at the old man in front of him; however, the other party didn't smile back. He only gave Doctor Aun a meaningful look that was too difficult to comprehend.
The old man pushed the bed of the dead out of the elevator. The creaking sound of the wheels of the bed made the doctor’s heart shudder with fear. When he saw that the bed was out of the elevator, he whisked inside and pressed on the doctor lounge floor. As the door was slowly sliding shut, it was opened again by someone's hand intervening. The doctor was startled while thinking that he really hated his jumpy self.
The hand belonged to no one but the old man who had just been pushed out the bed of the dead a moment ago. He was standing still in front of the elevator door with bloodshot eyes staring at the doctor. The young man couldn't help but ask.
“Do you want me to help you with anything, uncle?”
“No, I don’t, but the woman next to you does,” he said in an icy tone. The doctor frowned and asked again.
“Woman, what’s the woman, uncle?”
“It’s the woman standing next to you now.”
The old man's words made the doctor's heart flutter. He slowly glanced at the side but found no one, a woman? Where? He was standing alone in the elevator!
“Uncle is joking with me, right?” Doctor Aun laughed to cover up his fear. But the other party doesn't seem to laugh with him. Those bloodshot eyes still fiercely stared at the doctor.
“If you want to think I was joking, then by all means. But let me tell you that she exists. The woman standing next to you, she came to ask for your help. If you don't help her, she will follow you everywhere...anytime. So, if you want to know more, find me in the morgue at the back of the hospital,” said the old man, who then quietly turned around and pushed the dead patient's bed away. Doctor Aun hurriedly closed the elevator door and let out one long sigh...
Lord...if he wasn't mishearing things, Doctor Aun heard the sound of someone sighing beside him!
He was out of his mind!! It wasn't true... It must be an echo from the elevator.
Although he thought like that, the feeling of warm breath on his nape wasn’t pleasant. Doctor Aun didn't even dare to look at his side. As soon as the elevator door opened, he rushed out instantly. He had never been this scared of being alone in an elevator in his life.
After walking a little further, he found a relatively empty glass room with a long table placed close to one side of the room. Doctor Aun saw the back of Doctor Golf, who was eating lunch, opening the door and greeting him.
"Why are you eating here alone, Doctor Golf?" The friend's greeting made Golf Doctor turn to look. His mouth was still chewing rice with basil minced pork as if he was starved for a long time.
“It’s my first bite of food since the morning. I'm starving to death. Can't you see the ER room? It was packed. Well, those technician students quarreled with each other. They had fun fighting each other...but the suffering is on me." Doctor Golf grumbled while shoving another mouthful of rice into his mouth. Doctor Aun smiled and dragged a plastic chair to sit next to his friend.
“Chill bro… Take it slow or you will die from pork stuck in your windpipe. I am an obstetrician and am only good at pulling the baby out of the mother's womb. I'm not good at going through the doctor's throat myself," said the young doctor jokingly.
“I’m super hungry. So… why are you up here? Is the OB/GYN ward so chill?”
“It's not that chill. But I’ve finished checking the patients in the morning batch. A shift doctor came in the afternoon, so I’m free. I’m about to go back and take a nap at the dormitory since I have a shift tonight until the next morning. Just talking about it gives me a headache. Your food looks so nice, let me take a bite." There was no need to wait for Doctor’s Golf reply; he grabbed a plastic spoon in his friend's hand and took a bite with an innocent face.
“You…idiot. Go back to sleep. Your talk riled me up with the jealousy of people who can get a sleep!” Doctor Golf complained in one breath and grabbed the spoon back. Doctor Aun hurriedly chewed the rice and swallowed it down his throat. Before thinking about what he would like to ask his friend.
“Hmm… I’ve just met an uncle, and he said something strange.”
“How strange? Did he speak backwards or speak from the ear?"
"Come on...I’m being serious here, Golf. The uncle said that a woman was following me out of nowhere." Right after he said the last word, a strong wind from somewhere hit the glass window, startling both of them with a loud bang.
"He was just joking with you, Aun," said Doctor Golf and laughed. The food in his mouth became too difficult to swallow. Getting goosebumps, his eyes fluttered across the silent room.
“I want to think so. But the uncle's eyes look serious, I don't know. Plus, the uncle told me to go see him in the morgue at the back of the hospital. Just thinking about it shakes me to the core. You know how scary the morgue at the back of the hospital is. I’m not sure I will go there even if someone pays me a thousand baht.”
It wasn't long before he could say anything more; Doctor Aun's cell phone rang. The young man grabbed it up from his pants with no delay. Seeing that it was a number from the OB/GYN ward, he tiredly let out a long sigh.
“The ward’s calling, isn’t it?”
“Yeah… Maybe they’re calling for me to handle some cases.” Doctor Aun nodded before deciding to answer the call. Talking to the caller for a moment, he turned to Golf and said, “The nurse at the ward called me to do the ultrasound (1) for the patient. I will get going. Let's talk soon, Golf.” The doctor jumped out after he finished speaking.
His friend busted out, “Wait a minute, I'm going down too.”
"Why?... You haven't finished your food yet."
"I'm full, let's go down together." Doctor Golf smiled wryly. He dared not say that he was scared after listening about the 'woman' who followed his friend. He didn’t know whether it was true or not...he only knew that people died in the ER ward every day. There must be some spirit wandering around. Which was not what Doctor Golf wanted to encounter much.
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(1) Ultrasound unit is a device that detects high-frequency sound waves that are in a range that is too high for the human ear to hear. From the past to the present, it is commonly used. Due to its high security, it can be used as often as needed. At present, the development of ultrasound machines has progressed greatly, from 2D to 3D and 4D. As the resolution is much clearer, it helps the diagnosis, such as looking at the physical characteristics of the baby's surface, cleft lip and palate, baby’s heart anatomy, and blood vessels. Together with the experience of medical professionals, the device enables doctors to early detect various abnormalities associated with fetal chromosomal abnormalities.