Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 39

Suddenly the curtain was pulled to the side. I had to fight back my instinctual urge to scream. A man pushed a wheelchair in wearing a face mask and scrubs. It took me a moment to realize it was Eli as he had somehow found the time to slick his hair back, as if that made him less recognizable. I couldn't stand the thought that he wasted precious time on it when he should've been getting back to me.

"Your chariot awaits," he bowed and gestured to the seat.

"I thought you were getting me scrubs too," I hissed as I sat down.

He responded dismissively, "You can change on the way."

Whistling to himself Eli pushed me back through the triage and past the nurse's station. I subconsciously held my breath, expecting every doctor and nurse to stop us as we went by, but no one gave us a second glance. It was almost too easy. Then again, how often did the upstate hospital have a pair of con artists break into their morgue? I had to assume it was next to never.

Eli navigated down the corridor past several operating rooms until we eventually reached a pair of security doors, which he then unlocked with a swipe of a keycard. I didn't have time to question how he got his hands on the keycard as the doors opened automatically and Eli didn't hesitate to continue onwards. As we crossed the threshold into the main hospital, I felt like the operation had really started. There was no going back, no excusing why we were away from my bed in the triage. I glanced up at the security camera staring square at us. Although it appeared to be operating normally, I knew Eli had the footage being looped. How long would it take for security to notice?

Not far from the security doors were the elevators for the various different wards. Eli glanced around to check for witnesses before hitting the button for down, not that there was anyone in sight. The hospital halls were eerily quiet in the dead of the night, but it was a quiet we appreciated. I think we both sighed with relief to find the elevator empty as well when the doors opened. As soon as the door closed, Eli tossed a set of scrubs onto my lap.

"Put them on over your clothes," he instructed as he pushed the button for basement level 3.

Without hesitation I got up and pulled off my hoodie, then threw the shirt and pants over my clothes. Eli handed me a face mask, then took my hoodie and tucked it into the back of the wheelchair with his. As the elevator was larger to accommodate gurneys, it was also slower than your standard elevator, which gave me ample time before the doors opened again.

As the basement level was designed for storage and record keeping rather than treating patients, it wasn't as brightly lit at night as the upper floors were. Spotting a couple of wheelchairs standing to the side, I pushed ours beside them and carried our hoodies the rest of the way. I couldn't risk leaving them behind with the wheelchair in case someone came to take the chairs upstairs.

Continuing down the hall, a humming sound drew my attention to the server room with its own ventilation and cooling system. I half expected Eli to go in, or at least express a desire to, but he marched onwards without hesitation. Around two more bends, we reached the morgue, with its oppressive double door entrance and electronic locks. Again, I held my breath as Eli walked up to the lock. With a single swipe, the lock disengaged and he pulled open the door. The cold, refrigerated air hit us with a distinct stench of disinfectant and death. Eli slipped in and turned on the lights, revealing the room with blue-green tiled walls and stainless steel everything else. The bright fluorescent lights only served to make every shadow sharper. Walking into the room, I felt like we were the ones being examined.

I relaxed a little when I saw that the eight metal examination tables were unoccupied at the time. I hadn't even considered until then the possibility of bodies being there, but of course, the staff wouldn't leave the bodies out overnight. The wall of refrigerated doors though were most likely full. I kept my distance from them. I had seen far too many horror films to trust those door latches to keep the dead from escaping because that would be my luck – trying to take down a serial killer on the eve of a zombie apocalypse.

While I was distracted, Eli picked the lock of the medical examiner's office at the back of the morgue. The office was surprisingly warm and cozy with soft lighting and natural wood furniture. A large desk sat in the middle of the room with a name plate that read "Dr. Vincent Chambers, MD". On one wall was a line of filing cabinets and on the opposite floor to ceiling bookcases. As expected, Eli made a beeline for the computer and plopped himself down at the desk, plugging a USB stick into the side of the all-in-one monitor. I on the other hand was drawn to the filing cabinets.

"What's the chance Brodie's file is in there?" I questioned.

"It's been six years, but who knows?" Eli shrugged.

I walked along the cabinets reading the months and years on the drawers. There were too few files to be every death in the area during these periods. Out of curiosity I opened a drawer and picked up a random file. It was of a child that had drowned in the river. Going to another file, I found a poisoning case.

"Oh, these are suspicious deaths," I thought out loud.

"Probably no point in keeping deaths due to natural causes close at hand. Maybe Brodie's file is in there," Eli commented.

"How many suspicious deaths could there be in this county?" I asked honestly.

"If it's one thing I learned over the years it's to not be surprised by anything people are capable of," he humored.

Ignoring him, I closed that drawer and checked the next couple of cabinets until eventually I found the right year range. I opened the drawer and flicked through the files until I found April. Lo' and behold, 'Carmichael, Brodie' was between my fingers. I felt like I had just found a unicorn in the middle of the woods.

"I've got it!" I exclaimed cheerfully.

"Shh," Eli hushed me strongly.

Jumping out of the chair, he rushed to turn the office lights off, then gingerly locked the door while there were loud banging noises on the other side. Quietly I slipped the file out of the drawer and shoved it under my scrubs, then pushed the drawer closed ever so carefully, keeping my eyes glued to the light peeking under the door. Large shadows moved around – there was more than one person in the morgue itself. My pulse pounded deafeningly in my ears as I considered hiding behind the desk, but I feared even moving a muscle would alert them to our presence.

Suddenly the doorknob rattled. Someone on the other side was checking to see if the door was unlocked. That was it, we were caught in an office with no other exit. We were doomed! However, instead of hearing the sound of keys rattling to unlock the door, the lights flicked off and the morgue doors slammed closed again. In a stunned silence, we waited a few moments longer before we both let out a deep breath.

"That was close," Eli admitted as he turned his phone light on to illuminate the room.

"Too close!" I pulled the file back out and waved it in the air, "But I've got it!"

Eli pointed his phone at me, blinding me with the light. "Yeah, I heard you the first time."

"Well, did you get anything? No? Then I win!" I teased.

He rolled his eyes as he walked back over to the computer, "I've uploaded a trojan to the computer. I can access everything back at the motel in my spare time including the ME's email." He turned the monitor off and rejoined me. "Speaking of which, we better leave now before our luck runs out."

"I think that's the best idea you've had in a while," I mocked as I shoved the file back under my scrubs.

Eli unlocked the door again and led the way out through the morgue theater. As I stepped out of the office I did a double take at the sight of the fresh body lying in body bag on a slab. We simply could not get out of the morgue fast enough.