The Black Coffin

Chapter 1: Rise

Chapter 1: Rise

A black coffin sat at the end of the hallway. My vision tunnels to it. The beige walls close in, and the space feels narrowed. I walk slowly to it. It is closed. Is there someone in it? Are you in there grandpa? The silence pressurizes my ear drums preventing me from hearing anything at all. Then, my hand reaches out to touch the shiny surface. It is glossed over and slippery. I lift the top, the everlasting lid that preserves the body, which keeps it safe from worms and decomposition and soil. It is heavy, but there is nothing in it. I see only the white silk inside, cold and waiting for its resident.

            “Hi,” a voice echoes in the empty hall. My head jerks up, surprised. He is there in his button down and his slacks, short in stature but large in width, his large ears protruding, but with a jolly smile on his lips, the kind that I imagined only Santa Clause could possibly wear.

            Then, a massive ringing sounds out. The walls begin to vibrate and my hands clutch the coffin to prevent from falling.

            “I think you have to wake up now,” grandpa said in a monotone, matter of fact voice.

            Suddenly, I sit up in bed with a gasp. The alarm clock on my night stand is wildly alert as I struggle to feel it in the dark. Finally, my fingers find its rectangular edges and press on the screen, without me even glancing at it. It quiets down and stops, much like a baby comforted back to sleep. I, however, was not longer relaxed. Why do I keep having this dream? I wipe the sweat from my forehead, still breathing heavily, and glance out the window. It is still pitch black outside, and I groan. I knew it was Monday, I knew that when I looked at my phone it would read “5:45 AM”, and I knew that I would have to get dressed. Starting the day before the sun was there with me was always difficult, but the black coffin and my dead grandfather depleted my energy sources even further.

            I did my routine that morning automatically and robotically: brushed my teeth, made some coffee, got in my car, and drove through the empty streets of Miami. Soon I was sitting in the nurses’ lounge waiting for the morning staff meeting before taking on the full weight of human lives. Jess sat beside me, on her phone of course, scrolling through the much more luxurious day to day worries and triumphs of people much more important than me. Still, she always tried to be polite.

            “So how was your weekend?! Do anything fun?” she exclaimed in her bubbly voice. I would never understand how anyone could be so perky before even seven in the morning.

            “Uneventful. I just studied for our test on Wednesday.”

            She was silent for a full minute, staring down at her phone, processing my short and simple sentence for far too long, “Mhm, mhm. I went to see Chase in Key West.”

            I was very uninterested in Chase as well as Key West and the inevitable story that she would soon tell me involving amazing sex, amazing food, and amazing alcoholic beverages. I loathed the people in Florida so ardently, yet I so wanted to be loved by each one of them.

            “That sounds like fun,” I replied. I looked down at my own phone. 6:55 AM. Only five more minutes of small talk until I could separate myself. The truth was that I liked helping people at the hospital. I felt useful there. It was an incredible plus side, however, to have an excuse to get away from the people that knew me as something other than a selfless servant to the sick.

            “Morning, slores,” Hazel said, her greeting as cold as it was degrading.

            “What’s up with you this morning?” I asked with a sly grin.

            “Just don’t want to be here, tired as fuck,” she replied with a shrug.

            Hazel’s presence was so different than Jess’s that at times I had a hard time understanding how they were friends, but I guess they weren’t really. We were all just pretending until graduation anyway. Hazel then took out her phone as well to look through numerous Instagram photos of a world with colors that were very out of this world, abstract, and fake.

            “Yeah, I definitely don’t feel like being here either, but I brought my notes so we can study today in our down time,” I said.

            “Girl!” Hazel exclaimed.

            “Oh my God, you are so smart,” Jess stated, finally looking up from her phone and reaching out for my notes. I handed them to her. Of course, as soon as I offered study materials, I was worthy of attention. I could say whatever bad things I wanted to about these girls, but one thing that they were was hardworking. I looked up as the door to the lounge opened and the “real” nurses walked in with smiles as if it was one in the afternoon. The technicians and assistants filed in behind them like an army ready to take on the casualties. Hazel put away her phone.

            “Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend,” Melissa, the charge nurse said looking around the room, “Now, unfortunately, today we will be understaffed because Joey and Mark took off. We are also short one nurse practitioner, so if you guys could call in some favors that would be great. Jess is with Tatiana today,” she said looking up and Jess raised her hand with a gleeful smile, “Hazel is with Luis,” Hazel nodded, her lips in a tight line, “and Audrey, you are with Emilio.” I softened my lips, and internally breathed a sigh of relief. Emilio! He was always fantastic. He let me try my hand at IVs, hang saline bags, run the EKG machine, and do whatever the hell else there was to do. I knew that a day with Emilio meant a day that I would really learn and do, and most importantly, help.

            The day started out as all the days did: slowly. After obtaining the initial vitals on my two patients, I followed Emilio to the computer to watch him chart and document.

            “All right, we’re caught up for now. I’m going to hit up the cafeteria and grab a coffee while I still can. Do you want to stay here or come with?” Emilio asked me.

            “I’ll just stick around here and take some more notes on the charts and the meds, you know, just in case my professor comes to bust my balls,” I said with a grin.

            Emilio smiled, “All right kid, good luck. Keep an eye on our patients for me.”

            I decided to do just that, took a deep breath, and walked into the nearest patient room. I couldn't have known what would happen that day, what kind of case I was about to witness, or the emotional toll that this particular Monday would force me to carry for the rest of my existence. However, today was that day. It was the day that would change me, perhaps irreversibly. Today was the dead baby day.