Broken Reflections

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. At first, I didn't think anything of it. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, and then it was gone.

The layout of my bathroom had shifted so that everything was in their opposite place. Where I saw the toothpaste I just used on the right side of the sink, it was suddenly displayed on the left. The framed picture of my wife and I in Africa, looked like someone had flipped it upside down. And the towel I had just placed on the rack was on the wrong side. Everything suddenly looked and felt equally wrong. Unsettling.

But the worst of it, was the man I saw in the mirror. It wasn't me. At least, I didn't think it was.

Just as I looked into the reflection, the lights overhead began to flicker and that's when I saw him. His frail and weakened disposition drove his sunken eyes further into his face and his mouth hung open as he seemingly stared past me like I wasn't even there. He was old. Or perhaps it looked so only because of whatever illness overtook him.

But before I could even cower at the sight of him, he disappeared again. The lights flickered one last time and everything was suddenly back to normal.

Though I was still frozen. And I finally took a breath after loosening my tightened grip around the porcelain edges of the sink.

"What the hell?" I said aloud as I remained staring into the mirror trying to make sense of it all. I hesitated for a moment and finally mustered up enough courage to glance back over my shoulder, sighing with relief at the sight of the mundane glory of my bathroom.

It was a long shift at the hospital the night before, and after what I had just seen, it was bound to be an even longer one this time around. But it made no difference as I glanced up at the clock on the wall.

"Shit," I thought to myself. "I'm late."

***

After clocking in, I rushed to the desk where Sherry, the nurse from second shift, carried a sour look on her face. Everyone else had already exchanged care for their patients on the floor and I was the last to arrive. Again...

"I'm sorry, Sherry. I passed out and forgot to set my alarm-"

"Save it, Derek." The older woman curtly replied as she waved her badge over the scanner. She wasn't one to mask her emotions, and her most recent divorce didn’t help matters much either. But as the years wore on her, so too did her brazen attitude toward those who annoyed her. And there were many who annoyed her.

After a moment longer, a screen lit up at the computer she impatiently stood beside, and without hesitating, she proceeded to brief me on the patients that would be under my charge for the night.

With the occasional slight thrown my way, I opted instead to keep my mouth shut and happily watched as she finally made her way toward the locker room. But a voice behind me suddenly pulled me back into reality.

"She's definitely gonna complain to Deb about it this time."

Behind me, Jenna stood with a smirk on her face and a hand on her hip. Her golden hair had been pulled back into a pony tail, revealing the sharp hue of her beautiful green eyes. And her royal blue scrubs hugged her figure in all the right places.

"Yeah, probably." I replied, smiling back as I turned to face her. She then leaned forward to kiss me and in my shock, I quickly pulled myself away.

"What are doing?" I asked as I scanned the halls hoping that no one had seen us.

"Oh, come on, Derek. You can't be serious..."

"I just can't right now, you know that." I replied as I began to log my credentials into the system. I was careful to avoid her gaze as I knew exactly what it was that she was thinking. And much to my relief, it worked. As I started typing, she sighed sharply after she finally relented.

"Alright, fine," she said, and leaned her back against the wall beside us. "I could've covered for you if you’d have just let me know that you were going to be late."

"It's fine. Really." I said as I kept my focus on the screen in front of me.

But as I scanned through the list of the patients on our floor, I suddenly noted to myself that something was off.

"Wasn't there another patient here? The one in 1406. Did he get moved or something?"

It had only become apparent to me because I happened to recall the others complaining about the guy just the night before. I looked back at Jenna whose curiosity pulled her toward my side.

"What? Oh yeah, that was Deb's patient, I think. He died I guess."

"What?" I found myself suddenly taken aback by the news which made Jenna equally as confused as I was in the moment.

"Uh, yeah. She just told me that he coded this morning. But I mean the guy looked like he was gonna croak any minute anyways. I'm surprised he even lasted as long as he did." She pulled herself even closer as she peered up at me.

"Derek, are you okay?"

That's when it hit me. The man in the mirror. I suddenly found myself recalling his face in the reflection and remembered exactly who it was. I suppose it never hit me earlier because I had only ever seen the man in passing through my shift in those recent days but now it was clear. As clear as his face was in my mirror, it was clear to me now as I stood in the darkened hallway of the hospital.

"Yeah..." I replied after I could feel the gentle touch of her hand against my shoulder, yanking me from my trance. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just out of it a little I guess."

I quickly tried to brush the thought aside and turned to check on my first patient for the night.

"Oh, uh, okay..." it was a poor excuse, but it was all I could think to say in the moment and thankfully she accepted it.

After she eventually left to tend to her patients, I made it a point to tend to my own, but as I hoped to avoid the strange coincidence, or whatever you call it, it only seemed to creep up even more inside my head.

So, after my initial rounds, I made my way straight for Deb as she sat in front of a computer at the charge desk. She remained silent as I approached her from the other side of the counter, greeting me instead, with a pleasant smile that matched her often warm disposition. But behind the smile, it was easy to notice the strain in her eyes. Most likely from the loss of one of her patients.

I was careful with my approach and initiated the conversation first with an apology for my second tardiness this week, to which she responded gracefully. But as we carried on, I gradually pushed the conversation toward the man who passed in 1406, and her expression quickly shifted.

"I don't understand it," she eventually noted. "He was stable when our shift ended. And the others even said that he was talking with them through most of the morning. His vitals were stable, his labs were good, or at least they were considering his condition... I- I'll have to talk to Dr. Henderson about it later."

"I'm sorry, Deb." I uttered as I offered her my condolences. It was rare enough to lose a patient on this floor, but in the moment, I couldn't help feeling at a loss for words when faced with the sight of her sullen expression. She was kind. More so than anyone else I had known during my time at the hospital, and I suppose that was why I felt the way I did on her behalf.

But it still didn't help to ease the dread I felt over the whole of it.

I had seen death so many times before, but this was something else entirely. They had never appeared to me before like that man had, and it made me dread the very idea of something like it happening again.

But as the night continued, the notion of it all seemed too ridiculous and too implausible to be of any real significance. I eventually chalked it up to being just some strange hallucination, however coincidental it may have been. And thankfully, Jenna was there to draw my attention elsewhere.

Then, by the time our shift had come to an end, the incident had all but left my mind entirely.

***

The next two days carried on as normal. But as I dreaded the idea of returning to work again, Jenna's hand gently began to caress my chest, bringing a smile to my face.

We laid in bed together for some time before either of us said a single word and only when my phone began to vibrate did I pull myself back into reality. I rolled over and lifted the bright screen into view, only to turn it face down again on the bedside table.

I sighed aloud and hesitated to pull myself out of bed.

"I should go."

"Just stay with me tonight," Jenna replied as her eyes remained closed.

"I can't. She's starting to get suspicious."

Jenna scoffed at the notion and finally opened her eyes.

"Like she's the real victim here. Tell me again why you're still with her?"

"It's a little more complicated than that." I replied as I began to dress myself.

"Of course it is..." I could hear the tone in her voice shift, and she quickly pulled herself out of bed.

"Jenna..."

"Just forget it, Derek." She was quick to shut me down before I could continue and made her way out of the bedroom.

I could then hear her in the kitchen as she began to clean up the dishes which had been left out.

But before I could follow her, my phone began to vibrate once more. I cursed aloud and made my way into the bathroom instead to get myself ready.

And as I stood in front of the mirror, I could hear Jenna began to speak. Her voice was muffled from behind the wall on the other side, but I could tell that her harsh words were directed at me.

I chose instead to carry on, and pulled the door open to the cabinet in front of me. I found the mouthwash and pulled it out, replacing the mirror back in its place, only to drop it in the sink.

There in the reflection, stood another man. And the room was again backwards. Like the world had shifted and flipped itself on end, everything became darker, and fissures began to form in the walls around me. But this time, the man stood beside me. Staring at me at me from within my own reflection and dripping in blood from head to toe.

I gasped and looked beside me to find that the man was actually standing beside me and now existed outside of the mirror itself.

His eyes were wide with pain as he trembled and choked on the blood which poured over his lips. His dark hair, and thick black beard stood in contrast to the paleness of his skin. And his gaunt lines of his cheeks seemed to accentuate the terror in his expression.

"Shit!" I quickly cowered at his sight and tripped backwards, spilling several objects onto the floor beside me. But as I pulled myself back, I looked up once more to find that he was gone. Jenna came running into the room as I struggled to catch my breath. And I looked at her with my eyes wide with terror.

Her look of anger quickly shifted to concern as she lowered herself beside me and helped me back onto my feet.

"What the hell happened? Geeze, look at you. Derek, you look like you've just seen a ghost or something!"

I looked back into the bathroom and back at her again, as I struggled to comprehend it all just the same.

"I- I don't know. I thought I had seen something but... I'm not sure..."

"Oh my God! Did you hit your head?! There's blood!" She directed my gaze toward the floor where a small pool of blood had gathered near the spot where I was standing. She then reached for my head and began to search for an injury.

After a few moments longer she hesitantly ended her assessment as she looked at me.

"I don't understand..." she uttered. "I can't find any injuries, but... well, where did the blood come from?"

I found myself equally at a loss for words and instead pulled myself to my feet. I could hardly believe what I had seen myself, but I knew it was real. The blood on the floor proved it so. But I couldn't help but wonder if Jenna would believe it also.

So before I could say the words aloud, I redirected them.

"I think I just busted my lip or something," I said, and quickly made my way for the door.

"Derek?!" She followed me through the apartment as I gathered my belongings and finally stopped me at the door.

"Derek, stop!" As I relented to her plea, I suddenly realized that my hands were trembling, and beads of sweat had begun to form over my brow. Jenna had noticed it all just the same and grabbed my arm.

"Derek, what's going on?"

"I don't know, I-I think I just slipped."

"Derek-" but before she could lift her hand to my face, I quickly pulled myself away and opened the door.

"Look, I'll call you later, okay?" And before she could respond, I was already down the hall.

The ride home did little to calm my nerves, and the more I thought about what I had seen, the more the questions arose. None of it made sense, but what bothered me most was why it started happening in the first place.

As I rounded the next turn, I suddenly came to a wreck which had obviously just occurred. A black sedan had been overturned and shards of glass and debris lined the road. The driver had already exited her car and cupped her bloodied hand over her face as she spoke frantically to someone on the phone.

Meanwhile, another vehicle, a truck, had overrun the embankment and smashed into the trees as the driver's body slumped partially over the crumbled hood through the windshield. The horn continued to blare, and the truck's headlights peered through the woods like an ominous beacon through the shadows.

I halted my car to a stop on the side of the road and ran first to the woman.

"Lady, are you okay?! Is there anyone else in the car?!" She waved me by as she shook her head no and struggled to contain her endless flow of tears.

"The ambulance is coming!" she shouted against her trembling voice.

So, I ran to the truck down below and pulled myself over beside the man who's lifeless body rested atop the mangled steel.

His head was cocked to the side, and he stared, eyes widened into my very soul. His mouth drooped open, and blood spilled out from within it. And as I looked at him, my heart stopped. My jaw dropped and I grabbed my chest as I slowly pulled myself away.

It was him.

The man I had seen just moments before, and the same man who stood beside me with such terror in his eyes now lay dead in front of me.

The world around me began to fade and everything suddenly fell silent. The man continued to stare at me just as he did before and no matter where I moved, his eyes never left sight of me. He was dead, and yet his eyes were more than alive in that very moment.

***

My first night back at work, I struggled to even leave the safety of my car. While I had arrived well in advance of my shift, I still couldn't bring myself to walk inside. But soon, my phone began to vibrate, and I looked down to see Jenna's name appear across the screen.

I hesitated, but finally answered it as I lifted it to my ear.

"Hey... are you okay?"

"Yeah-" I cleared my throat before I managed to continue. "Yeah, I'm just running a little bit behind. I'm headed up there now."

"Oh, okay... um... yeah, I'll let Deb know. I guess I'll see you in a little bit."

"Thanks." After I hung up, I sighed in a feeble attempt to collect myself and finally pushed the door open.

After the car accident, I struggled deeply. I thought that maybe I was going crazy for a time, but I quickly came to the realization that what I had seen, these encounters, were premonitions. Premonitions of the dead. Or at least of those who soon would be.

I couldn't understand how or why, but all that I knew was that I wanted nothing more to do with it. I wanted more than anything to be rid of this curse and I just wanted to forget that any of it had ever happened.

I wanted to tell someone, but who would believe me? I couldn't even believe it for myself, but it was real nonetheless.

With each passing moment, I struggled to reason it all again in my mind, until I suddenly found myself standing at the entrance to the floor where I worked.

Jenna suddenly emerged from behind it with a certain eagerness in her eyes. She then wrapped her arms around me and fought to meet my gaze.

"Jenna..."

"I haven't heard from you, Derek. You basically fell off the planet and the entire time, I'm left wondering if you're even okay!"

"I'm sorry. I've just been going through some stuff."

"I heard about what happened. I can't imagine... I just- I just wish that you could've let me be there for you, that's all."

"I know. You're right, and I'm sorry." Despite who may have seen us together in that moment, I couldn't help but gently place my hand on her face. Hers was the one that I longed to see more than anything, but it did little to ease the dread I still couldn't seem to shake.

As we entered the hall, Sherry, the second shift nurse, greeted me with a passive expression. And much to my surprise, she somehow managed to veil the disdain she would've normally felt for me in my tardiness. But instead, she merely grunted as I approached her side and began to brief me on my patients for the night. After she was done, she quickly turned and made her way toward the locker rooms.

Deb eventually found me that night and offered her ever gracious forbearance before continuing with the task at hand. And over time, I eventually settled into my routine.

I made my rounds through each of my patients’ rooms and updated their vitals along with my reports. Soon, the hours began to pass me by, and I was more than grateful for the distraction of it all.

And as I my shift began to near its end, I entered a patients room to empty the urine from his catheter.

I opened the valve, watched the fluid drain, shut it, and took it to the bathroom where I emptied the contents into the toilet.

Afterwards, I made my way to the sink and began to wash my hands when I heard Jenna call to me as she approached.

And as I looked up at my reflection, there I saw myself looking back. But yet again, the room in my reflection had shifted. Something was off, and dark flakes of ash seemed to float in the air around me. Those same fissures began to emerge on the walls around me and the lights flickered overhead.

But as I looked into the mirror, I saw that I stood alone, and that my reflection showed me as though death itself had washed over me. My skin had turned gray, and my eyes sank deep into my skull. My jaw hung loosely as though it had been broken and a dark shadow slowly rose behind me as its rested over my shoulders.

My heart dropped. Every part of my body began to tremble, and I froze in fear at the very sight of what I saw there in my own reflection.

I knew in that moment what would happen to me but there was nothing more terrifying than what I see now in Jenna's eyes.

As she stands there now by the entrance, I can see the very same horror which I felt the very first time I had the premonitions.

I can see it on her face.

She too sees me as a dead man. A man whose life will soon come to an end, but what she doesn't know, is that so will hers.