At Death's Door

Chapter 3: Unnatural

Elta opened her eyes and the ceiling moved in a very unnatural way. Groaning, she tried to sit up, but a firm hand on her shoulder pushed her back down. She fought against it, confused.

"Sit still!" her mother's voice commanded. Elta looked over and met her gaze. Her mother's face was knotted with worry. "Are you alright? What happened? We heard you scream!"

Elta narrowed her eyes trying to make sense of what her mother said. Hadn't she just been napping? Why was that so upsetting? What was she talking about? But pushing her palm down, she felt coolness and the grit of dirt; she was on the floor now, there was no mistaking that. She closed her eyes fully, concentrating, trying to remember what had happened last.

She remembered having an unsettling dream and waking up. The room had been cold because the fridge was open, and... and there had been someone in here...

Elta sat up quickly, avoiding her mother's forceful hand. Her head span momentarily. Her eyes met with the crowd that hovered over her.

The room had filled with the entire staff of the clinic, each with a pained look of concern on their faces. Elta cringed, not from her throbbing her forehead, but disgust at their expressions.

But they continued to stare, oblivious to her sudden rush of hatred for them; they were all expecting an answer. "Someone came into the room and they—they startled me!"

Her mother gave her a confused look, her brows knitting together, and the rest of the staff exchanged similar looks. None of them had been the ones who were rooting around in the fridge.

"Someone was in the room," Elta repeated, stone-faced and her tone deathly serious. "They were... they were taking the blood out of the fridge."

Recognition dawned on her mother's face like a warm sun. "Oh, dear, that must've been the new volunteer," she grinned sheepishly. "We asked him to remove the old blood from the fridges... It's not supposed to be his job, but we're so swamped and—"

Elta closed her eyes again and tuned her mother out. Shame and embarrassment at her stupidity consumed her, and the burn of her clumsiness only added to it. Her face reddened, revealing her embarrassment to the room, and in turn, adding to it. It had just been a volunteer who was just disposing of old blood. She had totally overreacted. How could she let herself get carried away? This day was getting worse and worse.

One of the resident doctors coughed, breaking the awkward silence of the staff. He nodded and made a motion with the clipboard clutched in his hand that all unnecessary persons should vacate the room. Elta stealthily scanned the employees as they left, and none of them were unfamiliar. The new volunteer must not have been amongst them.

"Don't scare me like that!" her mother said after they had left, cupping her daughter's face in her hands. She kissed the tender area on Elta's forehead, causing both Elta's injury and temper to throb. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Elta hissed through clenched teeth.

Her mother pursed her lips. "Alright, then... Well, if you're okay to move, we should get going."

"But don't you have to finish your shift?" Elta asked; her head still felt woozy, but she still hated having to be fussed over, even if it meant leaving early.

"I'm sure they'll let me take off a little early tonight," her mother said, breaking apart from her daughter and heading towards her locker to collect her coat. Elta picked her hooded sweatshirt off the floor from where it had fallen beside her, unrolled it, and pulled it back on. She was glad her mother's back was turned when she stood, because she swayed slightly before regaining her footing. That was not something she wanted her to notice.