A Kid's Note

domtoral

Since my first day of duty in the Pediatric unit of the hospital, my colleagues had been telling me about the unusual noise I would probably be hearing during midnight. I did not take it seriously because in the first place, I don't believe in such horrific elements, and perhaps they are just telling me such stories as a welcome spice in the unit. There were five of us in the nurse's station for the night shift, and everybody was busy carrying out the physician's orders and doing the necessary evening care.

As I was checking each patient's chart, a small ball rolled along the hallway from the patients' rooms. I decided to pick it up as it might cause injury if someone would accidentally bump on it. But as I was walking along the hallway, the ball kept on rolling away from me. I hurriedly walked towards it, but it continued to roll away even faster. I was already running to catch it until the lights suddenly turned out. I closed my eyes for a while, then opened them slowly to adapt to a dimmer light coming from the outside through the glass windows at the end of the hallway.

Then I heard footsteps, irritating sounds produced from the tiny feet as they hit the steel lining of the wooden staircase. The sounds of a child's laughter and giggling echoed in the hallway. I hurried to catch the child as the injury was a near possibility. Suddenly the lights turned on again, and the hallway was dead silent. There was no one in the stairs. Then I felt something hit my back. It was a crumpled paper. I immediately opened and read it, "Welcome to the Unit!"

I smiled, even laughed. I was right. It was a very clever welcome from the nurses in the unit. They were bursting out laughing at me. I learned it was a tradition when new nurses will be assigned in the unit. We resumed our work while they were telling tales about how exciting and fulfilling it has been while working with children. We were too busy that we did not realize the shift was almost over.

"So who was the child running away from me last night?" I asked one of the nurses as we were changing our clothes in the quarters. "What do you mean by that?" Lolita answered. "Are you trying to scare me again? I saw a child running down the stairs that night," I was already having a weird feeling.

Lolita looked serious. Then she told me the story of that child. She said a nine- year old boy was left inside the Pediatric ward when the hospital was burned fifteen years ago. Although he was physically abused by his father, the child was very enthusiastic and loves to play with the nurses. When everyone had panicked during that fire, he fell down the stairs. Now there were reports that his spirit has been wandering around the unit.

After hearing the story, I packed my things up and went outside the hospital. Incidentally, Rodrigo, my friend who is also a nurse in the Burns unit, spotted me at the ground floor. I told him about Lolita and the traditional welcome surprise in the unit. "Lolita? Is she a new nurse in the Pediatric unit?" he looked curious. "Lolita works in the Pediatric ward and she told me the story of the boy who was killed in a hospital fire fifteen years ago," I told him the details. "You know what? Lolita was the nurse who was also killed during that fire incident fifteen years ago. Suspected to be impaired with narcotics, she was the one who pushed the boy down the stairs." he said in a matter- of- fact tone.

I was totally confused about everything that just happened. I knew something was not right. I immediately scanned the nurse's rotation schedule on the bulletin board. Indeed, there was no nurse named Lolita in the Pediatric unit.

Then I noticed something in my bag. It was the crumpled paper I picked up that night. I opened it again and to my surprise, "She is not a friend" was written on the back portion. The words looked like it had been written by someone who is in grade school. I remembered the kid. Then I heard a sound of a ball bouncing, and laughing and giggling, again. Maybe the kid's spirit was giving me a clue, or even warning me, specifically. I couldn't be so sure.

Later that day Rodrigo was in a car accident. He is in the ICU until now. In the meantime, I am already transferred to the morning shift, when I can be sure that ghost encounters won't happen again, perhaps beyond my own sensory perception and rational understanding.

A Kid's Note

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