The Concealed Culture Deep Within (part ten.)

Just a few floors above the hospital cafeteria, the ward was eerily silent, but for the incessant 'bleep bleep' noises being emitted from the electronic monitoring equipment all lit by an array of red, blue, green, and yellow, status panels, that were dotted around the 4-bedded independent bay areas, giving the bays more of a sci-fi spaceship-type appearance, rather than simply just one of the many hospital wards. Darkness had long ago shrouded 'Hawthorne 2' ward into night mode. There was a total absence of the usual bright luminescence that otherwise bathed the ward through its waking daytime hours. A slimmed-down complement of staff, every couple of hours, could be noted to be milling around the nursing station areas outside of each bay, tapping inpatient reports into the numerous computers, giving a short respite from the noises of the monitoring equipment in the bays by adding to them with an almost rhythmical 'tap, tap, tap' as fingers met with keyboards. Many a night was much the same as the last, nothing untoward would usually be happening. The night shift had long before nicknamed the nighttime as the graveyard shift, the only difference being was that graveyards never displayed flashing neon-type lights on top of tombstones but save for the main ward corridor where the nurse stations could be found, each bay was cloaked in darkness. Every physical patient check and monitoring check was met by the staff equipped with torches to light their way around each of the beds.

Occasionally breaking through the almost melodic-like tones of the electronic monitoring systems, the rumblings of snoring could be heard coming from a patient lying in their bed, followed by more settled and relaxed patterns of restful breathing. Many staff would argue that nighttime periods on the wards could be noisy in their own way.

The newest patient addition to 'Hawthorne 2' had been Miss Josie Crevin, barely an 11-year-old-girl and far from her home village of Stumpton. Admitted during the late handing-over period between the outgoing day team and the incoming night team, this young girl remained yet still a mystery to the team. The admitting doctor, Dr. Carmichaels, had recently developed a name for himself as Dr. Death. Not one of his most endearing qualities granted, but it had simply been more of an unfortunate coincidence that had made this name stick to him like glue. Dr. Carmichaels had so far been burdened with twenty-two total admissions during this past month who had all died within a couple of days of each other. The last of those admissions had passed away just the night before Josie's arrival on the ward, so this twenty-third intake of Dr. Carmichael's had sadly already been given a label to his newly acquired and distasteful nickname of his, 'Dr. Death.' Despite this unfortunate turn of events which was now in play, this little girl had thankfully shown no outward signs of giving up and making herself number twenty-three just yet...

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She tapped the red, 'end call' key on her mobile phone. 'God, it's so bitterly cold out here tonight!' she realized to herself, as she began shivering despite her having grabbed her coat and put it on when the paramedic crew had prepared to drive off, with her and her daughter, from their home. She slowly stood up from the bench where she had been sitting whilst speaking to Geoff, the priest for her local parish of Stumpton. Walking the few steps back toward the hospital entrance, she navigated her way through the signs that led her toward the hospital cafeteria. Inside it was pleasantly warm and free from the sudden harshness of the cold weather climate outside.

Lucy had been clutching the polystyrene cup for the past forty minutes. Her mind appeared to be elsewhere, other than on drinking its contents, now cold and uninviting to taste. The hospital cafeteria was usually relatively quiet at this time of the night. Every now and again the spartan night support team there would readily receive staff from other departments coming down from the wards for their allocated breaks, and clinic workers prizing themselves free from within the isolation of their offices, who had been hastily trying to catch up with the office paperwork, that had accumulated from the previous day's clinic attendances, simply making their last call to the cafeteria for a couple of hot coffees before heading home in the early hours of the morning, simply to return hours later the next day to start the process all over again. Lucy's mind had been so occupied by the moments leading right up to her daughter being ferried hurried to the hospital. Nothing had changed, nobody had come down to see her and apprise her of any new developments upstairs. She tried to tell herself that 'no news is good news,' and the doctor had told her to go home and try to get some rest, that he would call if there was any news on her daughter.

Sat alone in a relative sanctity of peace for the moment at least, Lucy continued staring intently at the polystyrene cup, as if it was suddenly going to provide her with all the answers, to her unending flurry of questions cluttering her head, although it didn't seem to have been working, the cold coffee only served to remind her of how flat she felt and, emotionally cold and unwanted; just like the coffee. Suddenly as if out from nowhere, a young, dark-haired, gentleman who appeared to be no older than twenty-five at all and clean-shaven, approached where she was sat. He introduced himself to her offering her a smile. "Hi, I'm Mike it can get pretty lonely around here at night, but I have to stay open for the hospital's night team. I couldn't help noticing but, that coffee is not half that bad really!" he announced comically. Lucy shook her head blinking her eyes as if to awaken herself from her temporary stupor, "Erm, sorry, Mike did you say?" as she focused herself back into reality for a moment, "could I have another please, only this time I intend to drink it!" Mike nodded and came back a few minutes later with a freshly brewed cuppa.

"Are you waiting for a doctor to come and see you?" asked Mike as he set the coffee down next to her on the table. "No. I've just been introduced to Dr. Carmichaels up on 'Hawthorn 2,' my daughter was brought in here several hours ago now. I'm simply waiting for a friend to come and collect me to take me back home,' offered Lucy, and thanking him for the new cup of coffee. "Well feel free to shout me out if you need someone to chat with while you're here, it beats staring at the cup or that table!" joked back Mike as he wandered off back toward the counter area. Lucy managed to smile back toward him with a simple, "thanks, maybe I will."

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Geoff glanced at the lower half of the windscreen as it showed the 'heads-up display,' with a digital clock superimposed onto it. He whistled a deep sigh to himself as he'd just realized that it was fast approaching half-past five in the morning now, and instead of being fast asleep in his bed back in the sleepy village of Stumpton, where nothing interesting ever happened to anyone, what was he doing instead? Wide awake and just pulling into the car parking area at the city hospital had certainly not been one of his plans for his night. He alighted and sauntered into the hospital, quiet and seemingly deserted, but for the occasional sight of a cleaner going about his nightly chore of cleaning the floors, the gentle humming of the buffer that he was pushing was the only sound that could be heard, echoing through the empty reception area. He glanced up at the signs, searching for the directions to the café where he had told Lucy to go there and wait for him, discovering it, and made his way toward the west corridor, to meet up with her, to drive her home.

************

Jen had made the internal call to bring Dr. Carmichaels back up to 'Hawthorne 2' just a couple of minutes ago, as Josie had slowly awoken during the very early hours of the new morning. The doctor had made his way back to the ward to discover that the young girl was sitting up in her bed now, sure she presented as somewhat distressed and nervous, even rather subdued in her nature (which by all accounts) both her mum and her school had reported this before now; add all this into the mix and it was not surprising in the slightest. It could all represent pretty much anything of how an adolescent would have been living in today's uncertain world.

Josie's eyes were darting wildly back and forth from where she laid all this time, propped up in her bed. She slowly began becoming more aware of her surroundings. She remembered nothing more, other than leaving home just the other day with her mum, with no more than just a trickle of feelings ranging from an enveloping sense of warmth and a new found understanding that she was no longer alone in this world, something outside of her relationship she had grown with her own mother, her friends and teachers at school. But as she began to realize that she was now obviously in a hospital there was a slow growing anxiety growing within her. 'why was she in a hospital, something had happened to her, what had gone on, why could she not recall everything, what day was it even?' Josie knew who she was but not much else, that felt frightening to say the least, had she indeed gone mad, lost her marbles at the tender age of just eleven?

Dr. Carmichaels smiled at the nurse and began walking towards the bay where Josie was sat up in her bed. As he approached Josie's bed, she could see his confused appearance as he neared her, that just compounded her mind which just did nothing for her already growing list of questions.

"Where's my mum?" were the first words she could think of uttering. The doctor came toward her smoothing down his starched-white jacket, before sitting down on the chair next to her bed.

"Good morning, Josie, how are you today?" his bedside manner lacking somewhat, as he had missed her initial question then instantly recalled what his young patient had first put to him, "sorry, I encouraged your mum to go back home and try to get some sleep. She's been here right by your side, ever since you were brought in last night. She was exhausted, and as you were sleeping safely, there was nothing more she could do, far better she could rest comfortably and come back to see you later today. I'll call her if you'd like and tell her you're now back with us in the land of the living hey?"

"Please, I need her, I don't understand what's going on here?" Dr. Carmichaels simply responded, "I will get Jen, sorry the nurse, to give her a call to let her know but, for now, we are all so glad that you are stable and back with us Josie. Would you like a drink and a bit of breakfast, it's not bad stuff we make down in the kitchen, believe me, even I can eat it!!"

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Geoff found the cafeteria which was now filling with more of the domestic staff who were just having snacks and strong freshly brewed coffees, as they marked the end of their cleaning shift from the night. He quickly identified Lucy who was sat warming her hands round a polystyrene cup of coffee. Walking over to her table, he announced his long-awaited arrival, "Lucy hi, let's get you back home now, shall we?" Geoff's warming smile gave her a sense of joy for her to see him there. "Oh god Geoff am I glad to see you, I'm so very exhausted, I can't think straight what with everything that has happened, and all so quickly. I've been so worried; I don't know where to start!"

"Let's get to the car, we can talk inside, tell me everything," Geoff spoke calmy and reassuringly to her, "you're not alone in whatever has been going on here tonight."

With that, he offered his hand and Lucy stood up, the two of them leaving the area walking out towards the car as the early morning dawn light began its approach...

Stay tuned for the 11th part coming soon, of this fiction, 'The Concealed Culture Deep Within.' If you missed the first nine parts of this story, you can click on the link below, to catch up with part one, to discover where it all started from.

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