Chapter 1
It's the first week of February and all the staff are busy decorating the hallways with cut outs of hearts for Valentine's Day. Everyone was so pumped because the hospital always held a competition for the best decorations during special occasions such as this. In the laboratory, however we have managed to plan our entire concept despite the busy schedule. Even if we're understaffed, our pride of winning every competition for the past few years fueled our drive to do better every year. It was my second year working here as a lab scientist and this type of events excite me especially when we're always working, this breaks the ice for most of us. In healthcare, we have tirelessly work for many shifts a week and now with the state of healthcare workers working abroad, our hours of work have stretched us to our limit but I think that doesn't explain anything what I have experienced recently.
It all started on New Years Eve. I was working a 12 hour shift. The hospital was not as busy as usual, maybe because it was holiday season. I went to the ward to deliver a STAT result. The hallway going to the nurse's station was a bit dark and the lights were flickering. I guess the maintenance haven't replaced them yet. It's quite cold in January because of the winter monsoon but it became colder on what I saw at the corner of the stairs while I was on my way back to the laboratory.
There was a little girl, all curled up around the corner. She had no slippers and was wearing a hospital gown. My first reaction was, "Did she sneak out? But it's impossible, every patient here has one person to take care of them every room." and I did notice one odd thing about the kid, she has no IV on her. So I thought maybe a patient subjected for observation. Which is sometimes done here but it puzzled me because they're usually in the ER. Maybe it's a different case with this kid, so I approach her in order to assist her back in her room. As I got closer I noticed her feet were a bit muddy , and her arms and hands were red, full of scratches. I was very concerned now, maybe this kid came from an accident. Did she had a firecracker incident? Which is somehow the thing during New Years when parents were too busy preparing and forgot to monitor their children and now playing with their neighbors kids with firecrackers. I was feet closer to her when I heard a voice "My Sweet Girl" it was a soft voice, soothing to the ears to be honest. I looked to my right shoulder and saw a tall, pale woman, probably in her late 40s. She was wearing a nurse's uniform. She has a pretty smile and she gave me a nod and went to pick up the little girl. They went downstairs together. As I was at the bottom of the stairs, I scanned the left hallway and then to the right, no sign of them. Maybe they went back to the ER, I thought. So I went ahead. That incident never left my mind because first, I have never seen that nurse ever again, second, nurses here wear scrubs not full on uniforms with caps, unless their intern nurses and third, interns are only allowed here in early morning shifts and she looks old for an intern and finally, that kid was very strange.
A few days after that encounter, i was on the graveyard shift, I took a nap on our bunk beds when I had a very weird dream. In that horrid nightmare, I saw a black hairy creature with bright red eyes. It was trying to wake me up to sleep. I was shaken up from my bed when I actually felt it moved. My entire right arm was numbed and hot. I looked at my watch, it was 3:01 AM. I removed my lab coat and saw three claw marks on my arm. I was speechless. After that, I never dared to sleep during graveyard shifts again. After several days, I forgot about the incident because we were very busy, so I shrugged it off. I thought of many logical explanations as possible cause I'm a skeptic of the paranormal. Maybe I did scratch myself intentionally while sleeping. It could be because of the dream I had, maybe it was self inflicted. But another encounter happened again. It was quarter to 3 in the morning when I was reading a book, I heard a sob. At first it was a soft cry but got louder and louder which lasted for almost 3 minutes. I scanned the entire laboratory, I was alone. I went outside the lab, maybe it's from a family member of someone who might have been DOA because we're quite close to the ER. But nobody was there and the ER's lights were out which means, no admissions, so no patients. I went back to the lab, opened my book and suddenly felt a wisp of cold air at the back of my neck and that soft voice again saying "My Sweet Girl". I jumped out of my seat and look at my back but no one was there. It was only me.
I kept trying to explain it on my own, could be lack of sleep that I was hallucinating. I shrugged that one off another time. Just before Valentine's Day, in my PM shift. It changed my perspective. There were only 3 of us on that shift. My coworkers went out to buy our dinner, so I was left alone in the laboratory. It was 9:30 PM, when I heard someone entered the lab. I look at the reception area, no one was there, so I continued working. Then suddenly I heard a giggle from a child, I turn around still no sign of life. Then the room got colder and colder, when I heard a familiar sob again which came from the pantry. I took a very deep breath and went there to check it out, still no one was there. I started to panic, but chose to get my shit together when I heard glasses breaking. I went out of the pantry and saw shards of glass on the floor. The test tube rack was somewhat thrown out. I was shocked, then there was a rumbling of glass on my right, I saw another rack of test tubes moving then it flew right in front of me, blood was all over the white tiles of the room and the eeriest laugh coming from everywhere broke the silence. That laugh, devilish. Sounded like it was very entertained and feeding on my fears. I covered my ears and I closed my eyes, all curled up at the corner of the room thinking that I'm hallucinating and imagining all of these things when suddenly it all stopped. I slowly opened my eyes and what I saw will hunt me for life. On the walls written in blood "My Sweet Girl". My colleagues who came back after buying dinner were shocked on what they saw. They thought I did it all by myself. I tried to explain but all of them think I'm psychologically incapable of working. They let me passed an incident report and was fired from work. Three weeks after that happened, a colleague of mine called me. What she told me brought shivers up my spine. She said something happened to one of the nurses after I left. But the worst thing was, she jumped out of the third floor from the hospital. She told the same story as mine, she saw a little girl and was picked up by a nurse whom she have never seen working in the hospital before. She kept blurting about it to her co workers but none of them listened. She became paranoid and tells them it keeps following her.The eeriest case was that, before she committed suicide, she cut herself, bleeding, vandalized the entire hallway with her own blood going to their station. Guess what she wrote? "MY SWEET GIRL"
Chapter 2
It's summer and the dormitory here is very hot. I've been staying in the hospital's dorm for a while now. I just got in here 5 days ago. The AC broke down and I haven't slept since my shift. I'm an "on call" OR nurse and we just had a nerve wrecking 8 hour craniotomy. And so I thought of buying some cold milk and pandesal just outside the hospital hoping that being full might help me sleep. I took all the energy left to put on some jeans and shirt, grabbed my coin purse and fixed my tired self to not look as sleepy as possible. I was heading towards the main gate of the hospital, close enough in just a few steps when I heard a loud thud. Like a big chunk of meat fell from the sky and a gust of wind from behind me, propelled my long hair to my face. And then "SPLAAAAT!" I was not myself, maybe because I was too tired that I did not bother to look what fell behind me. "Maybe a tree or something" I thought. Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. "Get the fuck out of there Therese" I jolted. Finally, I'm back to my senses. Then I heard a loud scream, I look at my right shoulder and saw a woman hugging her child tightly, frightened by what she's seeing, pointing at the direction where the fall came from. After her screaming, I heard multiple cries, but this time it came from the people around me, they were panicking. I look at my back and saw a person, wearing scrubs, flat on her face, bathed in her own blood with a scalpel in her right hand. I froze, staring at the scene, "am I actually seeing this?", I rubbed my eyes and blink several times in disbelief.I stood there like a rock but trembling in shock. "Grab the gurney!" It was Dr. Martinez, the ER resident who just threw his coffee away after seeing the lifeless body on the cement. "Francine!!!!" a loud cry from afar, I look up and saw three people, could be her colleagues. Right there and then I knew, I just witnessed a suicide. Slowly, they scanned for her pulse, hoping that the girl survived the fall, and after a few minutes, I saw doctors and nurses hand in hand saving the lifeless girl and she started to shake vigorously. "She's having seizures! Get the OR ready!" One doctor screamed. They gently transferred her to the gurney with breathing bags and rushed her to the OR. "Are you okay?" I glanced at my left shoulder and saw a familiar face, it was my room mate Rose. She was also in shock I can tell, she's squeezing my hand so tight. "Do you know her?" I asked, she nodded saying "She's new here, I talked to her once while looking for Dr. Chan at the ward, she seems okay. However, rumors spreading that she's acting strange lately. Why don't we go to a place far away from here? How about let's sleep at my uncle's house tonight? I can't bear walking on hospital grounds after what I saw, we don't have work anyway this weekend" I seem to agree with Rose, that whole ordeal was too heavy to swallow. We immediately went back to the dorm, grab a few things and left. As we got to her uncle's house, Rose was replaying that scenario, she sounded like a detective, I was quite amused on how she remembers every slight detail from Francine's time when she was climbing out the window and the time she jumped without hesitation. And now, pictures surfaced all over the hospital's net forum about the vandalism Francine did before jumping out the window. "What do you think Therese?" She was seriously waiting for my own analogy of the entire situation. "Maybe she can't carry the weight of her problems anymore. Nobody tried to help her out. She might have some issues within her home, boyfriend or.........."
"Herself?" Rose added. "Could be" She chugged her bottle of soy milk and stared at the gazebo which can be seen just outside their right glass door. "Do you believe in ghost?" She started, I did not say a word because the paranormal never entertain me in any way. For me, souls are energy and energies return to our surroundings, we're just an interconnecting being of parallel universe maybe? " Do you know, a lab scientist was fired 2 weeks ago? It was same thing, she kept talking about seeing a little girl and a nurse. That followed her around but the interesting part of all is that, an indescribable incident happen on one of her shifts when her lab mates found her on the floor all curled up, babbling about spirits trashing the place and vandalized the room." I saw the look on Rose's face, she seemed terrified. "So you mean to say, it could be that the two entities are real?" She was silent and then said "I think so" I chuckled adding "So now you blame ghosts for obstruction of property?" She gaze back at me, and stood up now in front of the door and faced back at the gazebo "Because what gave me goosebumps are the words that were written everywhere. Don't you think it's coincidental?"
"What is?" Then she showed me the picture of the crime scene during that day. My eyes got bigger as I saw the words written on the walls of the laboratory "My Sweet Girl", same as the hallway going to the ward on the third floor station. "Now tell me Therese, is this a coincidence" I became silent cause I don't know what to say about I saw.
The beginning of another weekday, me and Rose were hesitant to go back to work but we need to put it aside. The hospital's parking lot where the body fell was fenced with yellow tape from the local police. We can still see dried blood on the cement floor and the silhouette of the body shaped as if trying to crawl out from its terrors. I can still remember that entire scene which makes all the hairs in my body stand. I heard Francine died not because of the impact but due to massive blood loss. The third floor of that building was temporarily closed while the investigation is still going on. It was an unending tell tale and even in the OR, it was discussed. Days, weeks and months went by, Francine's name was remembered as someone who lose her sanity and they said, she's friends with the lab scientist as well. It could be that the delusion she had was shared by her friend. Everyone became busy preparing for the Halloween Party which will be on the 1st week of November also, the opening of the third floor after renovation. To celebrate the re-opening, the party will also be held there. Days before the party, we decorated the third floor. Our department volunteered since the surgeons financed the party itself. The church bell toll and I look at my watch, it's 3 in the afternoon, we've been decorating for almost 5 hours now. "I guess that's a wrap guys, let's hope everything will be intact on the day of the party" our head nurse exclaimed. We were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, I on the other hand was fixing the skeleton dressed as Annabelle at the corner of the stairs when I saw a little girl walking towards me barefoot, wearing a hospital gown staring at the floor. Her hair was messy and her hands worry me, they're full of wounds like a lot of scratches. "Hi little girl!" She ignored me, she continued walking and motioned to go down the stairs. The more she got closer, the more I got weirded out of her. I moved closer to her "Little girl? Are you lost?" She stopped then she started to giggle. Her head moved slowly up and giggles turned to a very disturbing laugh. Her head started to move to my direction and opened her mouth as if she was trying to scream but there was no sound. I just stood there in disbelief, shaking in fear "what the fuck am I seeing now?!" I said to myself. Every limb in my body froze, and I really want to run but I can't. It felt as if my feet were glued to the floor and moving away was impossible. The kid started to walk towards me, still with her mouth open, then her right hand reaching out to me and I saw her eyes, "My god her eyes" the sclera is as dark as her pupils and red tears started to fall from her eyes "Blood?"She's crying blood! I can hear myself screaming inside me "Please someone help me please for the love of god!" The girl is only a few feet away "Therese!" A hand grabbed my right shoulder tightly, it was Dina, our chief nurse. "Are you okay?" She looked worried and I felt a damp on my face, I was literally crying. "I'm fine chief" She was uncertain of my reply "Then can you please tell me what happened just now?" I told her about what I saw and she said "Have you been sleeping well? Cause you were standing and mumbling to yourself. I called you several times but you didn't seem to hear me." So I was sleep walking in some way? I'm a little puzzled now "Maybe I'm just tired and seeing things. Will you allow me to take a day off?" She looked concern and said "Sure thing, rest as much as you can"
That night I haven't slept. Still the image of the kid kept flashing in my head and every time I closed my eyes I can still see it's bloody eyes. I look at my phone, it's a quarter past 3 in the morning. "Dammit, I have a craniotomy today at 9 and I'm about to throw a fit with these imaginations" I took a pill, which Rachel gave me, the pharmacist. She said if I'm having trouble sleeping, I just have to swallow one. She's right, a few minutes later, I drifted off.
It was damn dark and I can't find the switch. I walked in my corner and haven't felt anything solid. All I know is that I'm walking on concrete floor telling me that I'm inside a building. I reached out my hands while moving forward hoping that I might touch something when I heard little steps. It came from behind me. I can hear it getting louder as it gets closer. I just realized the footsteps I heard are from heeled shoes. "Tap, tap, tap" then suddenly I felt a gust of cold air on my nape and I turned to look behind me and I saw no one then I heard a whisper on my left ear "My Sweet Girl" which brought shivers down my spine. I started to run with my hands still extending forward hoping to be in contact with walls or doors then "Boom" I woke up and found myself bumped into a column just outside the parking lot. "What the heck am I doing here?" Then suddenly I heard a familiar sound. That thud. As if something or someone fell down hundreds of feet from the top of a building. I turn to the direction where it came from and saw the body again, just the same way I saw it that very day. It started to twitch "Did it actually move?" Then twitch again "Shit, it did" the thing twitch and wobble as it tried to stand up with its blood dripping from its body. I can see the bones from its calves, broken bones! It took a step from its splintered legs and its walking TOWARDS ME. I froze staring at the thing in front of me, and I can feel my insides trembling. Her big cranky steps left trails of blood from the impact, my face is soaking wet with tears, begging and praying that someone will get me out of here when a ray of light was flashed on my face "Miss Therese? Are you okay? Can you hear me?!" I snapped, it's the security guard. He was relieved to see that I gained my consciousness "What were you doing here in the middle of the parking lot?" I looked around, trying to explain what just happened and asked him "Were you trying to wake me up?" He nodded "You were like in a trance, your eyes they were frozen staring at the direction where the crime scene happened, I called your name several times but you seem not to hear me at all and when I tried to squeeze your shoulder and shake you out from whatever is happening to you I panicked because your entire body stiffened, good thing I got you out from it. "Thanks a lot Greg, you just saved me from being trapped inside my dream again" He gave me a bottle of water and offered his boots, "You should schedule an appointment with Doc Hernandez" I smiled at him "I think you're right, this is getting way out of hand."
Hands shaking, and my legs were restless while waiting for my turn outside Dr. Hernandez' clinic. I still can't quite figure out what happened to me. I never had episodes of sleepwalking before. Ever since I got here, I experienced some very strange things that I can't quite explain why. "Therese? It's your turn" the secretary motion to let me in. This is the first time I actually talked to him, Dr. Frederick Hernandez, the hospital's neurosurgeon. He seems not to socialize a lot during operations and even in small gatherings in and out the OR. "Therese, what seems to be your problem?" He squinted his eyes trying to scan my face , I think he's now trying to look for any signs and symptoms of whatever diagnosis he has in mind. "I'm actually having terrible episodes of sleepwalking" He stood up and moved his face closer to me, with his penlight he flashed it on my eyes. I felt awkward because he's immensely good looking, with his deep defined eyes "Look straight at me Therese" I stared at his eyes, and wondered how can someone as perfect as him still not married, maybe he has super high standards. "Are you having headaches?" I shook my head "Not at all doc" He took his pen and wrote on the chart "How about your dreams? Can you remember them?" I nodded "What type of dreams are you having?" I bit my lip, thinking, I can't possibly just tell him about it, they'll think I'm one of those staff who lose their sanity maybe because of not having enough sleep. "It's not that bad at all" he stared at me waiting for a follow up on my statement "They're just the usual dreams I'm having" then he wrote another one on the chart "Are they nightmares?" I gazed blankly at him, I don't know how to answer that, "Therese?" I know he felt that I'm hesitating to respond but I gave him a slight nod "Let's run a CT scan and MRI okay? Then you'll talk to Dr. Ang about your dreams" I nodded. That very afternoon, I was scheduled for consultation with Dr. Fe Ang, the psychiatrist. She handles patients here who're recovering from a traumatic accident. She was studying the file which was forwarded to her by Dr. Hernandez together with my CAT scan and MRI results. "Looks insanely normal to me" she smiled showing her pearly white teeth. She and Dr. Hernandez will look great together, I wonder if they're dating. "Now tell me about your nightmares?" She took off her pink resin glasses and stared at me intensely "Well, I don't know if by telling you, it can answer any of my questions. But I need a bird's eye view regarding this manner" She bobbed and gesture her hand telling me to continue "I started seeing things after witnessing the suicide of Francine Hermosa" she sat straight this time with her pen on the chart ready to take down every detail of what I'm about to say "I don't want to sound crazy or anything at all but, the story about the little girl might be true" I looked at her still writing and I continued "The first time I saw the little girl was when we're at the third floor decorating for the Halloween party, she was just walking, I called up to her and when she started to come towards me, her face was horrifying. I didn't know that Dina tried to snap me off from whatever's happening to me that day. The day after it happened, the security guard saw me at the parking lot, stiff and crying barefoot but actually I don't know how I got there I just had a weird dream about seeing Francine trying to walk towards me after she fell from the third floor. Also I kept hearing this voice every time I'm in some like a trance 'My Sweet Girl' over and over again" then she stopped me right there and then with her hand "This is a matter of PTSD or so we call 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder'. These hallucinations and sleepwalking could be treated if you take a leave. You were traumatize about what happened and the stories that you have heard became a part of those nightmares. You know how complex our brain is and we create different scenarios in our heads especially when we sleep, we cannot control how our subconscious operates. Here, take these, but during you think you'll have some triggers. Also, meet me here every week. This will pass Therese, I'll help you out" She's right, after meeting her, everything that I have experienced just somehow gone. I'm starting to feel myself again. When I thought so...........
After an emergency operation I was super tired and head back to the dorm immediately. As I entered the room I didn't turn on the lights since my roommate whose bed was just next to mine was all curled up in her bed. She seems sound asleep and turning on the lights might wake her up. Quietly, I jumped into getting my Zs when she suddenly sat up with covers, I even chuckled softly thinking "Is she drunk again?" She just sat there and her head slowly move towards my direction. "Dara, are you okay?" Just silence "Did you drink again? What did I tell you about that, if you're hangover tomorrow, chief will kill you like last time" She was still silent "Okay then suit yourself" I lied at my back feeling my body slowly drifted to sleep when she suddenly mumbled something. I opened my eyes and now she was standing next to me still covered by her blanket. She stood there saying something, "What now Dara?" Her left hand moved upward pointing at my left, still with a hush tone mumbling. I stared at my left and saw a silhouette outside the window of our dorm. A woman in her uniform wearing a nurse's cap. Something weird happen, the figure slowly walk towards the window and now she's inside the room. I couldn't believe my eyes. She just walked past the
wall! The room suddenly went cold, Dara continued to whisper, and now I can hear her clearly "My Sweet Girl". She kept saying it over and over and over and I can even hear her voice inside my head. I closed my eyes and prayed, hoping that all of these will go away. Then everything stopped, total silence, a deafening silence. I slowly opened my eyes. I regret opening them.......Felt my heart stopped as I came face to face to a woman floating in front of me. She had a blank stare of death, blood dripping from her face and I could taste the smell of copper from that slimy crimson liquid which now started to fall on me. I recognized the woman, because I saw her lifeless body that splat on the cemented lot that day. She started to smile and then an eerie chuckle that turned to laughter. Then she repeated "My Sweet Girl" over and over again laughing harder as if mocking me. I screamed closing my eyes then suddenly I felt a cold hand touching my right arm, I turned and saw the little girl, she was grinning as well then I turned to my left and saw the nurse that I saw that day when Francine jumped out of the building. I know something was off with her. Now I heard multiple cries as if several people was inside the room and yes, there were many of them. Children, women, and men, dead people I can tell. I jumped out of my bed, opened the door, screamed at the top of my lungs and felt that my voice was getting fainter because of intense pressure to my voice box. "I can't do this anymore" I kept thinking as I ran across the cemented floor of the parking lot. I look back at my dorm and saw those people. I knew my time was about to end. I rushed to the guard house, no one was there. The hospital gates are closed, "Wtf! Seriously?!" I desperately climbed up the steel bars, when I felt a hand on my leg, I looked down and it was Francine! I shook lose and continued to climbed, as I got to the top, trying to get to the other side, my foot slipped! I forgot what happened next. I just knew I was free. Finally free.....
Chapter 3
I was back from my vacation and I missed working. It's past 6am, as I drove for coffee going to St. Agnes Hospital. This day is very important especially for all the doctors in the institution, because we only meet once a month for a meeting where we tackle certain issues and finding solutions which could elevate the hospital's performance and quality services. I was hyped to get back, playing my favorite playlist in the car and sipping my favorite white chocolate coffee from Starbucks. Just when I am about to turn on the corner towards the gates, I was blocked by police cars. I opened the window seat "What happened?" An officer asked me for my ID and he immediately motioned his partner to let me through the barricade, then I saw Greg, who ran towards my direction instantly recognizing my car "You're the Medical Director?" The officer asked "Just in time. You should park your car just right there" He pointed at the empty lot at the right next to the ambulance "Then we'll ask you a couple of questions Doc" I nodded. As I got out, Greg was there, waiting for me. He looked relieved to see me "Doc, something's been going on I knew it, but I will talk to you later about it" I stared at him puzzled then the officer interrupted "Good morning Dr. Cruz, I'm officer Orteza and this is my partner officer Dingco. Right now we are waiting for the NBI to arrive but the SOCCO are over there trying to gather samples from the scene" I just stared at them trying to comprehend what could be happening "What do you mean?" They accompanied me towards the gate "Well you're a doctor, I think seeing things like this will not make you nauseous?" Then pointed at the direction towards the gate, As my head turned towards the direction he was pointing I just froze. My eyes were sore from the pain I just saw. A body was forked at the tip of the steel bars of the gate. Her eyes were open and her mouth was screaming lifelessly. She had lacerated wrists, they said, the witnesses saw her running outside from her dorm trembling in fear screaming and bleeding from self infliction. Then climbed the gates hysterically, slipped while the guard was trying to stop her from injuring herself more. I cannot believe what I saw, she was staked to death by two pointed steel bars. Then a cry broke as I saw Dr. Tan trying to force herself towards the crime scene. Now I remembered, the girl was Dr. Tan's niece. Just the same age as my daughter, she just graduated and passed the board exams 2 years ago. I went to calm my colleague "Dee, I think it's best if you take a leave" she looked at me with soaking eyes "Hera, you know she's my only family. She's like a daughter to me. I should've took her with me in the conference. I called her several times last night, I knew something wasn't right. She always leave me voice mails when she misses a call" I patted her to calm down. "Take a leave, I'll handle everything okay?" She shook but I insisted.
The story I heard which was stitched by the officers was that, Therese was the closest witness when Francine, jumped out of the third floor last year. After that incident, she started claiming to see things then a few people caught her sleepwalking or in a trance talking to herself. She seek help from Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Ang which claimed that her symptoms subsided during their care but seems like she had another episode which unfortunately took her life. Maybe because she forgot to take meds. Eerily, another similar thing happened before she died. Her dorm was vandalized. It was covered in her own blood with a phrase written again "My Sweet Girl". Three incidents already and two suicides which could affect the image of the hospital. I called for an emergency meeting. Trying to gather as much information as I can. Hours after the incident, the press are all over the place waiting for my statement. This is not a good day to be back. Not good. After the meeting, I tried to compose myself and getting ready to face the press. I just have to assure the people, that everything that happened here were all accidents and not to make a hysteria of insane staff members. We're almost close to achieving our goal as one of the top hospitals in the city. And incidents like this could be used against us. "What happened today is one of the darkest days in our institution. Losing another brilliant staff breaks our heart. This accident will be investigated and we will be cooperating with the officers to our fullest potential. We'll keep you posted" I ignored the questions from the reporters. I know I don't have the answer yet to their questions. However, I know, I should get to the bottom of this. "Doc Cruz" I heard a familiar voice, it's Greg, the security guard. His eyes seem to tell me that he has an idea of what's been going on recently "Yes Greg, you were suppose to tell me something right?" He gave me a nod and asked me to talk with him in private. "Do you believe in the supernatural Doc?" I just stared at him, thinking that I clearly can't be dealing with such delirious hypotheses right now, I sighed a little, quite upset of what I thought could be an answer to my problem "If you're talking about what the victims saw Greg then no. If there's such thing as ghosts, they can't harm people" he seemed to agree with me "I know Doc, I myself couldn't even understand the tragedies. This never happened before. I've been working in this hospital my entire life, this is the first of the many occurrences because of a ghost" there was silence for a while. "Do you have an idea of what might be going on Doc?" I shook my head, feeling uncertain of my capacity as a leader. As a medical director, I should've taken this seriously after that first incident. "I think I need more information from this Greg, you should take care of yourself and if you see something suspicious, report to me at once" he gave me an assuring smile then we went our separate ways. That same night I stayed in the office, trying to search for any explanation of the succeeding deaths. My phone rang, I answered it, but the line seemed to be broken. I hung up the call then suddenly it rang again. I pressed the phone over my ear "Hello?" Nothing, there was silence in the other end, maybe a prank call I thought then hung up. Then it rang again, I was pretty pissed "Seriously? Who is this?" Nobody answered. It was an eerie silence on the opposite end then I heard someone breathing then, a static noise which was painful to my eardrums, I dropped the phone and banged it to the receiver. I called the maintenance on duty through my cellphone and he told me the lines are functioning properly but he'll check my office after fixing the AC on the third floor station. As I was packing my things to go home, the room temp dropped. It was icy cold suddenly and I was very sure I turned off the AC. I looked at the white rectangular box on top of my bookshelf on my right, it was dead. I heard a scratch and a giggle from a child. It sounded like it came from outside my office. I started to walk towards the door and saw shadows just at the bottom of the door illuminating from the outside. Small footsteps of a child running back and forth as if playing with somebody, maybe it's one of the staff's daughter but this late?. I thought....when it just stopped in front of the door. Shivers ran down my spine as I saw the shadow getting an inch closer. She knocked, three times and stoped for a few seconds and then knocked again for another three times. As she finished knocking the third time she whispered "Sweet Girl, sweet sweet girl" I was unable to gasp at the reality that I heard all of that just now. I burst the door open and saw no one. No child, nor footprints. I look at my watch it's 3:01 in the morning. I rubbed my eyes thinking that I was imagining things already and went home.
It's been a week throughout the investigation, no leads. It all ruled out that the subjects were schizophrenic. As a person of fact, I did agreed that all the accidents were coincidental however, some parts of me thought otherwise. I went to the third floor, looking for maybe something that could lead me to the first incident. It was almost 6 in the afternoon when the sun starts to set and a play of shadows illuminated from the outside. I was about to give up when suddenly I heard a giggle. It came from the stairs just behind me. I look back and saw nothing. Maybe I'm imagining things out of desperation to solve the mystery. I let out a huge sigh and decided to call it a day. I went towards the elevator waiting for it to stop on the third floor. The steel doors opened and I immediately entered. Suddenly I heard a faint voice "My sweet girl". I was startled to hear it and instantly thought that there could be someone else who wants to take the elevator ride, so I pressed the hold button waiting for him/her to get inside but no one was there. I stepped out while my fingers are locked into the button, I scanned the vicinity from left to right, I did not see anyone. I shrugged it off and decided to let it go. The steel doors closed and a few seconds later, it opened. I waited for a person to get in but none showed up. I stepped outside again locking my fingers on the hold button while scanning the hallways, it was empty. I could be imagining this. I tried to convince myself that I could be hallucinating because of stress. I pressed the arrow down button to proceed descending. The elevator stopped on the second floor and opened. I again, waited for someone else to enter but nobody did. I checked the hallways and noticed that there was no one there. We have a few admissions this month due to the upcoming Semana Santa. For Catholic Christians, it is a very important holiday for repentance. The second floor is for the Pediatric care. We don't have children admitted for the past few days but I can hear a giggle again and children's footsteps in the hallway. I got out from the elevator and immediately surveyed the area. The nurses were not there in the stations because they were pulled out to compensate the understaffing from different areas in the hospital. So the entire second floor was empty. Now I wonder, where are these children?. I heard another giggle that is going down the stairs. I went to examine the area, nothing. I dive into a deep breath and held my shit together cause I know something is starting to feel wrong. I briskly walk towards the elevator. I pressed the door button, it slowly opened and I saw a nurse intern. She was slender with a chart on her hand and just looking at the floor. "Good afternoon" she did not even bother to reply. I was irritated that she did not show me an ounce of respect. Does she even know that I'm the medical director of this hospital? Wait till I know what school she is from. We were standing side by side as I try to look for an ID or a school seal on her uniform. Funny, she seems to be not wearing anything. Disrespectful and not compliant to the hospital rules. "May I know what school are you from hija?" Still not a sound. "Why are you still here? Aren't you kids suppose to be enjoying your Lenten break?" She was still silent. As we reached the first floor, I waited for it to stop but it skipped at we descended on the basement to the parking grounds. I quickly pressed the open button but it continued to descend. Shit! Then the temperature in the enclosure started to drop, the nurse intern started to tremble, her knees were shaking and she was mumbling something. "Are you okay child?" Then she let out a huge laugh. She slowly raised her head and I met her eyes. They were bloodshot. She looked mature. I can tell she's in her 40s. She laughed and mumbled over and over again. "Sweet girl? My sweet, sweet girl". I cannot believe what I am seeing. I continued to press the open button of the elevator. She started to walk towards me. I was praying in panic. "Help! Help! Can someone hear me?!!!!" I was very desperate to get out. She grab my right arm very tight and tried to cut me with the metal chart she was carrying cashing a sharp pain and immediately, blood ooze out from my wrist uncontrollably. I let out a deafening scream. "Doc! Doctora!!!!" And I felt a warm palm hitting my right cheek. I saw Greg and he looks very worried. "Doc? What happened? Are you okay?" I squeezed his hand and asked "Please tell me what did you see?" He stared at me, puzzled by what I meant. "See?" And I nodded "Did you see a nurse? She was wearing a white uniform like the nurse interns. She was here, she tried to cut my wrist. She spoke to me, over and over again. 'My Sweet Girl' and the elevator did not stop on the first floor, it continued to descend to the parking ground where she terrorized me! Greg, please, tell me you saw her right?" Greg stared at me worriedly "Doc, I was on my way to the third floor when I heard a scream here on the second floor. I ran towards the scream and saw you here in the elevator. You were just screaming and I tried to snapped you out for whatever you are going through but it did not work. I'm sorry, my slap would really hurt but I don't have a choice, you were almost going to cut yourself with your ballpen." And I looked at my wrist and saw the marks of the pen's nose cone buried on my skin as if I tried my best to actually cut it but failed. "I was like in a trance" he nodded "You did not hear me. I panic seeing your eyes were all white.....and....." I burst out of the elevator. What happened? Deep inside I know, something is definitely not right. I took my phone, dialed a few numbers and waited for the other person to pick up. It took me two tries to call until finally, somebody answered. "H-Hello?" I took a deep breath and said "Is this Stella? Stella Salvador?" It was silent for a few seconds when she replied "No, this is her mother, Helen Salvador. May I know why are you looking for my daughter?"
"Mrs. Salvador, I'm Dr. Cruz, the medical director of St. Agnes Hospital. I would like to know if your daughter is available for a little interview? We just have a few questions with her" I heard her gave off a huge sigh "Why? Your hospital fired my daughter now she had a hard time looking for a job. Now you want to talk to her? For what?!" Before I could even answer, she dropped the call. I was expecting that it will be hard for us to access Ms. Salvador. The last news we heard from her close friends was that, she got admitted to a psychiatric facility. Her depression got worse. However, the doctor who catered her during that time was a friend of mine, Dr. Eloisa Valledo. I was very happy she agreed to meet me.
It was the evening of Good Friday when we had coffee in the cafeteria of the Hospital. She brought Ms. Salvador's files for me to review. I opened the file and started scanning "She was hysterical when I first met her Hera. Talking about the nurse and this little girl that haunts the hospital grounds. She keep saying that they killed Francine." I listened while continuing to read her chart while she continued "I suspected her with PPD." I immediately stopped and stared at her. "PPD? Why?"
"Paranoid Personality Disorder one of a group of conditions called "Cluster A" personality disorders involve odd or eccentric ways of thinking. People with PPD also suffer from paranoia, an unrelenting mistrust and suspicion of others, even when there is no reason to be suspicious. She highly showcase this trait. There are times that it worsen that we have to sedate her for an entire week. Her PPD progressed to Hebephrenic schizophrenia. She became hallucinating that they are after her. We put her in suicidal watch round the clock and strapped her. I think, her and the other girl, Francine experience somewhat a Folie Deux. This is quite a rare disorder but the two shared a specific delusion and when I found out the two are friends I have concluded since this disorder occurs in people in a close relationship. The inducer could be Francine, who has a psychotic disorder already which influenced Stella on her delusional belief." I sip my coffee, the bitterness started to taste sour on my tongue. I had so many questions flooding my head on how a Folie Deux could involve me when I have no interaction or close relationship with the two girls. "Do you know where Stella is?" She nodded. "We had extensive unconventional therapy sessions and the medication was vital while her therapy progressed. It took me a year to finally help her. She got out from my care and I closely watch her up to this day. She diligently goes to the clinic during her schedules. Last time she told me, she got accepted to work in hospice patients just located in Herardo City." I thanked her when she asked "Why do you want to talk to her Hera?" I was silent for a moment and made an excuse "I just want to check on her. We would like to extend our deepest apologies after removing her from this institution when we heard that her situation got worse after being fired. Do you happen to know her phone number?" She immediately handed it to me and we said our goodbyes. Before she left she reminded me "Please be gentle with my patient Hera. She's been through a lot already. Don't make it harder this time." I smiled assuredly. I went to my office to get my other stuff before heading home. As I was about to head out, I heard a smash on my glass window behind. I looked at my back and walk towards it, nothing. Then suddenly a crow smashed itself in front of me, I screamed when the glass shattered and I covered my face with my arms. I got a few cuts from the shards. The janitor, who was mopping the hallway outside my office ran inside when he heard glasses breaking and me shouting. "Doc! Are you okay?!" I was still in shock with what happened as I saw the bird shaking on the floor with a broken neck swimming in its own blood. I was staring at it when a gust of wind blew across my nape and the hairs stood on one end and the eeriest voice whispering to my ears "My sweet girl" I instantly felt fear for the first time. I never imagined that what I have been hearing about the rumors and stories are happening to me. I covered my ears as the voice kept ringing in my head. My body started to heat up. I was mad, mad for what is happening to me. I could not explain the feeling, the situation of where I am right now. I shouted my lungs out "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" and I felt a warm hand touching my shoulder "Doctor Cruz? Are you okay?" I opened my eyes and saw my fellow doctors and the janitor who locked eyes with me, worry screamed on their faces. The papers on Stella's file was scattered on the floor with the crow's blood. I picked up all the papers when Dr. Tan grabbed my arm. "Hera? What is wrong?". "Dee, I......I....." she squeeze my shoulder and held my hand. "Why don't we get you fixed up and we'll talk". I nodded. She brought me to her clinic and she tended my cuts. Her face was anxiously waiting for me to share something. She couldn't help it when she started to ask "Why do you have Stella's file Hera?" I looked at her hoping that if I tell her, she wouldn't judge me at all "Dee, I just want to investigate what's happening here. It was a Domino effect after Stella Salvador's first encounter......uhmmm" she stared at me confused "What encounter? The ghost?" I shook my head "No, it's not a ghost. It's real. A ghost can never hurt you. What is happening here is a mystery. Someone might be doing this to hurt people." She crossed her arms while she continued listening to me "You mean to tell me, the rumors about a nurse and a child stalking you when you're alone and telling you to kill yourself are real people?" I nodded "I don't know how to explain it yet but, I'm trying to get a more sensible explanation to all of this. Could be a series of hypnosis or other kind of shit that I don't know. That's why I want to talk to Stella to find out" she looked at me in awe, trying to understand what I was saying. "Fine, I will help you out. I also want to find out what happened to my niece. If I know a psychotic person did this to her, he or she will pay for the crimes" She drive me home because my hands were filled with small cuts from the glass shards. As I got home I called Stella's number from what Dr. Valledo gave me. She picked up after a few missed calls. "Hello?" I took a deep breath and answered "Stella? Is that you? This is Dr. Cruz. Remember? The Medical Director of St. Agnes" there was total silence at the other end of the line "I know you don't want to talk to me. It's just, I want to ask you a few things" she didn't say a word "it's very important to get to the bottom of the deaths...I....I just really need to ask you a few questions please."
"My mom told me you were trying to reach me the other day. I'm very sorry doc, I can't help you. I just got better. I don't want to remember. I wish you well on your investigation" then she hung up before I could even answer. When I told Dee about it, she was also disappointed. "I guess we have to do the I investigation ourselves?"
"How? If the staff know that we are trying to solve a ghostly crime. They might laugh at us" she chuckled "It is pretty funny when you think about it, but we have to approach it, as scientifically as we can. They will cooperate" I agreed with her suggestion. The following day, we had an emergency meeting, urging the staff to give us any leads or information about people that could be acting strangely. We interviewed a few people who are closely linked to Francine, Therese and Stella. It took us an entire day to get their statements. As I finished talking to the detective that afternoon, it was Black Saturday, we called it a day and he headed back to the police station. I on the other hand gathered my stuff and went straight to the parking lot. I was very tired and I can't walk straight, my shoes are killing me. I removed them and continued walking to my car. The parking lot on the ground floor was eerily quiet and empty. I got inside my car and stretched my back a little before starting the engine. When my car roared the lights on the parking lot shut down. I turned my headlights and felt my eyes bulge from what I saw in front of the car. It was the little girl. She was muddy, her arms were filled with cuts, her hair was matted from a black gooey thing, she slowly raised her head and I felt my mouth started to open to shout but no sound went out. The girl started to walk towards me, she forge a creepy smile. While her black eyes were lock towards me she raised her right arm pointing at something behind my back. I look at the rear view mirror and slowly there was a figure that started to materialized behind me. My body was frozen from what I saw, it was Therese, she was all bloody and disfigure from the last state she was found forked on the Hospital gates. She suddenly whispered eerily that echoed in the entire car "My sweet girl", finally I let out a huge scream as I got out from the car. "HELP! HELP! Somebody! Please! Help me!" I don't know which direction I was running, it was all dark. I stopped when I felt water on floor. Water? Why is there water here? I touched the ground and rubbed it between my fingers, the consistency was a little sticky. My body started to tremble when I smelled the copper like stench from the liquid on my hand, it was blood! I ran hysterically not knowing where to go when suddenly I heard a splat! As if something heavy fell on the ground on my left. I remembered what Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Ang told me about Therese's statement that she saw a replay of Francine's fall from the third floor. I froze on my place and slowly turned my head towards the noise. After the splat, I heard ripples of footsteps walking towards me, as my eyes adjusted on the dark, I saw that the entity was not walking but crawling so fast to my direction. I screamed again and run. I ran and ran as fast as I could into the darkness hoping and praying to get out from this nightmare when I felt a painful smack on my right cheek. The blow woke me up from where I was. "Hera?! Are you okay?!" I saw Dee she had a very worried look on her face. "I.....she...I....." she helped me get up "You were lying on the pavement, eyes open and you look like you were shouting but there's not a single word that came out from your mouth. I tried to wake you up when you started convulsing and you kept murmuring 'She's here, She's here' What happened Hera? Tell me" I wept in front of my friend dumbfounded on what I have heard. I crouched on the ground in fetal position why my hands to my head. I felt that I might have lost my mind "Dee, I don't know what is happening to me anymore. Eversince I saw......."
"What did you see?"
I look at her still uncertain of what I have been experiencing this couple of days. "I saw the child and the nurse Dee. They're real. It started when I investigated the happenings." She nodded as she was intensely listening to every detail of my stories. After I told her everything she sat beside me "I think the best way is to talk to the person who experienced the first encounter. We have to get to the bottom of this but first, let's get you fixed up" she pointed at my arms and legs "Where the heck did you got those?" I shook my head slowly "I don't know"
We went to the ER. I was lying on the gurney and I can hear people outside the curtains talking about my state. "Is she going nuts?" I heard one nurse blabbering to her colleague "She could be in a state of shock" a doctor responded "Maybe it's because of her divorce" I overheard from another. I just knew that they will start asking about my sanity. My body was numb and my soul is too, but I can't let this affect me, I still have a daughter to go home too. The tranquilizers has taken its effect slowly when I started to drift away from the world, and when I woke up, the ER was totally dark. I got up from the stretcher scanning the entire area, it was empty. "Where is everybody?" I whispered to myself. I walk towards the door and called Dee's name, nobody answered, I was all alone. Suddenly the gurneys shook uncontrollably as if there was an earthquake in the vicinity. My eyes couldn't believe what I saw when a figure illuminated from the sheets of one stretcher, the figure twitch and it snapped its head towards me. I immediately recognized the girl, it was Therese. She smiled creepily and said "Come with me, we are all waiting for you" her voice was hoarse from the distraction of her voice box during her death. She continued walking towards me, repeating "Dark is good, dark is better" she wobbled as she tried to walk towards me. I scanned for any object to protect me from her, and I saw a shiny thing on the countertop. Is was a Mayo scissor used during wound dressing. "Stay away from me you bitch! What do you want?!" She stopped and pointed her finger behind me. I looked immediately towards my back and saw Francine covered in blood. She grabbed me by the throat, and I slashed her hands with the scissors. She smiled as if enjoying the pain I have inflicted. While I continue to stab her hands with the scissors I heard the girl's giggle that echoed inside the ER. At last, Francine let go of me. I crawled towards the door, gasping for air just when two pairs of white shoes stood on the door. "Please help me" I touched the shoes asking for help, when I glanced my head towards hers, I realized I'm not going anywhere.