Room 421 is just another room to an outsider, it looks like all of the other rooms on my unit, tan walls, oak wood trim, deep red curtains, a television on the west wall, a small brown counter top, and a simple bathroom but there is more than meets the eyes...
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Mae was a 72 year old congestive heart failure patient who was sharp as a tack and always making jokes. She was what we called a frequent flyer, since her chronic condition flared up frequently landing her in the hospital.
She was a sound sleeper and always in good sprits, which is why her current less than happy state on this sunny morning caught me off guard. I asked her how she was felling and she snapped, "fine but tired!".
Like any good nurse I asked her if she was having difficulty breathing and laying down to sleep.
She knew the drill and responded back no my hearts doing fine today!
It was all the giggling that kept me awake!
I was puzzled by her statement since I was unsure who was giggling on a unit full of elderly cardiac patients so I brushed it off, and assured her I would make sure to let everyone know they needed to keep it down at night. She nodded and we went about our day.
The next morning I returned and had Mae on my assignment list. I enjoyed caring for patients I knew so I happily started my day by checking on her. Mae again insisted that someone was in her room at night giggling. This time I mentioned her complaint to my charge nurse who laughed at me and said is Mae in 421?
I shook my head and quickly tried to figure out how my charge nurse knew Mae's room without me telling her. Within a few minutes I had 3 senior nurses and my charge nurse trying to convince me that room 421 was haunted by a child from the pediatric unit who died a slow lonely death by cancer.
The child was a foster child who only knew nursing staff as her family. Families tried to care for her but her illness always proved to be too much to handle and they gave her up time after time.
That did not keep the little girl from fighting a long hard fight before passing away. I was not sure how I felt about hearing this story or if passing this information on to my patient was a good idea. Later that day I received discharge orders for Mae. So lips sealed about the story I sent Mae home.
About 2 months later I agreed to work midnights for a few months until a nurse returned from maternity leave. I had long forgotten the story of the giggling girl in room 421 but I was quickly reminded.
I was making my 3 am rounds checking on all of my patients. I slipped into my patients room to ensure he was sleeping, safe, and not in any distress when I heard a rustling noise in his bathroom. I opened the bathroom door and did not see anything. Then I heard a little girlish giggle behind me.
I turned around so fast I almost fell over.
I could feel my heart racing in my chest and I could not get out of the room fast enough.
I had not seen anything but that giggle I heard was plain as day. It sounded as if a young girl was standing right behind me giggling at me for falling for her bathroom noise joke and then getting scared.
When I told the nurses in the station what had happened they all laughed at me and reassured me that the sweet giggling girls ghost would not harm me or my patients. They informed me that if my patient complains about the giggling they come up with an excuse to switch rooms.
I have never been a believer of ghosts but I guess I have never been a non-believer either. I just coasted through life never having an experience that made me ask myself, do I believe in ghosts?
Now that I have heard and met the giggling girl who makes 421 her home I know that I am a believer in ghosts.
After doing some research to reassure myself I am not crazy I found that room 421 was once a room which isolation and critically ill children where placed. Many children took their last breath in that room. I believe at least one child is still alive and well in that room pulling harmless practical jokes on the nurses and giggling about it.
