The note and I had been in a staring contest, neither willing to acknowledge anything except each other. I was the first one to break as I looked around trying to find out if anything else had been tampered with or if any other clues had been left by the anonymous figure that had left the note. However, nothing seemed out of place, everything was as I left them, at least as far as my memory extended.
Everything was eerily in place, and I don't know what was worse, the fact the perpetrator slipped in and out of the room unnoticed or the fact that the only thing they came to do was to leave this note in my office. The only noticeable difference was the note in my hand, the words burning through the paper and into my mind. I had so many questions, noticed by who? Why was I singled out? Was I the only one who was 'noticed'?
Realizing that there was nothing in my room of substance, I determined that leaving the room would be the best place for me to check for any clues as to who may have left this. All that was outside the room was a hall leading to the waiting area, so I had no idea where to begin looking or what I was even looking for, but I'm sure, something would turn up.
Before I was able to leave and investigate the outside surroundings, I heard a knock on the door and a nurse I had seen a few times in passing poked her head around the door to ask if I was ready for the next patient.
"Send them in."
She was about to leave but then stayed in the same place asking, "Are you feeling okay dr. Azurine?"
"Yes of course, why do you ask?" I faked a smile, hands trembling ever so slightly while folding the note to put it in my coat pocket.
"Oh, you just look a little pale is all."
"Not to worry, I'm only a bit tired from all the excessive work we've been doing lately. You can go ahead and send the next patient in."
Nodding in understanding, she left and the door soon reopened, a scrawny looking male walked in with deep purple bags under his eyes and spiky black hair. His clothes were disheveled and his lips cracked, likely from a fever, without staring I could tell that he was definitely in the worst state from any other patient I had dealt with so far.
Thinking back to it, Mrs.Iyla had also shown physical symptoms much like this, but not as severe as this patient, whose name I soon learned to be Rin.
I hadn't made it very far into the consultation, just confirming name, address and all the other details on Rin's file when he said to me, "They've noticed you haven't they." The choice of words striking me like a volt of lightning, 'noticed'. It's like I was being haunted by a single member of the oxford dictionary.
"I don't know what you're talking about Rin." Deciding to play dumb in hopes that this would bait him into saying more, I paired my statement with a look of utter confusion written all over my face.
A dry chuckle rumbled through his chest, "You don't have to lie to me doc. I can see it on you, the ghastly expression, the way you keep swallowing out of pure anxiety, the panic, the fear. I can damn near smell it on you because the same thing happened to me."
At that sentence my eyes snapped to him to find a fragment of truth in all that he said, his eyes never budging, holding mine steady, not an ounce of fear or confusion. He believed every word he had just said to me.
"I don't have much time left and judging by the look you gave me when I walked through that door, you already knew that. I need to pass on a message to you, I don't know if you're the right person to tell, but since I walked into this hospital, you're the only one away from the patients, who have had a slight look of concern or panic, so I'll take my chances." His breaths started becoming shorter and he was now wheezing in between his words; I could tell speaking was increasingly more difficult.
"It's not just a virus, it's an experiment." I listened, waited for him to elaborate or say more, but he never did, just stared with deep sunken eyes that told more than his lips did.
"What do you mean it's an experiment?" I quickly tried continuing the conversation once I realized he would not.
He looked away for a brief moment, eyes fixed on the top of my desk, staring at nothing particular, his ghostly pale skin a stark contrast to the black vinyl chair he sat in. A few more seconds passed, the tension palpable, "As much as I would love to tell you Dr. Azurine, you are simply not ready to hear it."
For the first time since the consultation began, he smiled, but it was so somber I wondered, if I should even call it that. He finally looked at peace, as if a weight had lifted off his chest by passing on that cryptic piece of information. I waited for him to open his eyes, but he never did.
"Rin." No response.
Not a-fucking-gain.
There's no way someone was dying in my room for the second time in one damn shift. I sprang into action shouting for a nurse once again, who thankfully arrived soon after I called. Thankfully he hadn't stopped breathing, so no resuscitation was necessary, but it took around ten minutes to clear the room.
A few hours had passed until nightfall finally arrived. The day's events proceeded as normal, but it felt like an overnight type of day with the number of patients still left to be treated. I took a break heading to the vending machine for one of the granola bars, my lifeline at this point really.
My wandering feet started leading me in a singular direction, no longer surprised by this I just let them take me there. Besides it was late at night, and Dr. Brans had already left for home, this was the perfect opportunity to give my curiosity a taste of what it needed.
The adrenaline is probably what I needed to feel less zombie-like and more of the human I actually am. I had no hesitation stalking around the familiar corner and walking right up to the door.
'Twice to the left, once to the right'
A soft click emanated from the door so faint, you could only hear it if you were right in front of the door itself. I pushed the door moving in, and for a moment my eyes didn't adjust because of how dark my surroundings were. I slowly moved forward as I began to see ahead of me, poles, iron rods, bags of cement, everything you would expect at a regular construction site, no trace of human life present.
To say I was discombobulated, would've been the understatement of the century. I don't know what I had expected, but nothing was definitely not at the top of my list. I continued moving around the site, checking through every nook and cranny still unable to find anything.
This made less sense the more I searched, everything was perfectly normal. Why was Dr. Brans and Nurse Joyce coming here every day then? What was in the trays and carts that they took?
Who had been coughing? So many questions rushed at me all at once.
Could it have been possible they were just assisting the workers and there really was nothing special about the place?
I stood frozen in a corner, thoughts racing, it was so odd that even though everything looked like construction equipment and materials, I had never heard the whirring of a machine or seen anyone in uniform walking in other areas of the hospital.
The more I looked around, the less it looked like an area used every day, and the more it resembled a carefully placed prop, like a stage set. Everything was too perfect, too in place to seem believable, at first glance it seemed legitimate, but now that I looked around everything was simply too perfectly laid to be an actual used site. The air I now noticed had a slight whiff of bleach rather than dust.
Odd.
Without another lead however, it was best I left for now before they started wondering about my whereabouts.
I made one final circle of the area before heading back to the door. Just as my hand was about to hit the handle, I felt myself swaying from left to right, then I heard a distorted voice behind me, 'R. Azurine - Phase 1 complete. Take her in'
Phase 1? What the hell was Phase 1?
My thought slowed, but I did realize one very significant thing, a distorted voice could only mean I was falling unconscious.
That's funny because I could've sworn, I was awake just a moment ago.