Vegetable

 

Beep...beep...beep.

           The sound repeated itself relentlessly all through the night at regular intervals. It was annoying to the plump woman sitting on a plastic chair who seemed to be dozing with her mouth wide open while her head jerked up and down infrequently. But she knew as long as the sounds continued, the woman lying in front of her was safe. Soon she got up and started strolling in the 6-10ft cabin, cursing her luck that had caused her to land up with yet another duty. "Lynnette'', she slowly pronounced the name written on the chart hung on the bed rails. Her face contorted and then softened as she surveyed the patient - a slim figure with a yard of white gauge wrapped around her head. An accident case, definitely. Her-Lynnette’s- face seemed to be ashen like that of a corpse; sleeping her way through the intense pain, thanks to the marvels of modern medicine.

            A colossal yawn escaped the mouth of the plump woman as the sun rays slowly entered the premises of the room. A few men, clutching sheets of paper, came to the bedside to check on the woman. One of them acknowledged the nurse's presence with a stiff nod. She had to strain her ears to catch snippets of their conversation.

"...no brain activity...not good,..."

"...no change in condition...second test..."

A frown overshadowed the nurse's face for an instant, only to be replaced by disbelief. She moved near the table to be able to hear a few more words, with the pretext of arranging the items. Had the men been less preoccupied, it wouldn't have escaped their notice that all that she was doing was picking up an item and placing it again in its former position.

"no need...vegetative state...tell the nurse"

"...no, newbie...will panic"

That's what used to annoy her from day one at her new job-hardly a single soul refused to take her lightly. They were all of the opinion that her so-called inexperience would render her with weak nerves in case of any shocking news.

"Hmmm... notify...family"

"...give consent for..." the voice faltered.

She slowly straightened herself, brushed off the dust from her cream coloured sleeves and moved out of the room with a million thoughts running in her mind.

 No, she would have to wait for some more time before she could do it.

      

   A man was sitting in a chair under a not so subtle sign board that classified the area as one of the worst places to be in a hospital -waiting lobby; one had to be prepared for news belonging to the wide spectrum including the heart-wrenching ones. His keen eyes scanned the faces of all the people who passed by. Suddenly, a wave of relief washed over his face as he managed to locate the plump woman who was in charge of his wife's well being the previous night. He swiftly walked up to her and said," Excuse me".

The woman seemed not to have heard him. So he cleared his throat and said," Excuse me, can you please tell me about the patient in cabin 048?" A wee bit of panic was identifiable in the otherwise controlled voice. The nurse moved past him as if he didn't have any existence at all, into cabin 048. The man tried to peek inside but was cut short by the door which shut right on his face. Dejected, he muttered expletives under his breath and tried once more to open the door but to his surprise found it to be locked. This was not supposed to happen in a hospital. He half sprinted to the reception to lodge a complaint against the nurse who was in charge.

 

     The woman stared at Lynnette. Her eyes changed colour from brown to honey to yellow. The mist inside the oxygen mask cleared and the mask along with the various pipes detached themselves and moved away from Lynnette’s body. The machines started going haywire and emitted loud beeps but they too faded away. A glowing reddish tinge was visible on the nurse's skin, which grew prominent every second.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin slammed open and two administrators who had come to tackle the situation were greeted with a peculiar site- not a single noise erupted from the machines and the monitors were devoid of any display. Neither was any nurse present in the room, as claimed by the man at the reception desk. They rushed in to check on the patient and to their immense horror, were unable to find a pulse.

"Hey! What's this?” one of them called out aloud. He bent down to pick up something from a chair. It was a piece of cloth- a cream coloured uniform, to be specific. As he held it to the light, sunrays passed through hundreds of perforations and fell on Lynnette’s lifeless body.

Author's Note

It's been a long time since I have written anything, much less one of this genre. It would be wonderful to go through your reviews.

Reviews

[Bear]

Critique: (a slim figure with a yard of white gauge) gauze
(no need...vegetable state) vegetative state
(brushed off dust) brushed off the dust
(thoughts running in her mind) running through her mind
(which shut right on his face) right in his face
(sunrays passed through hundreds) sun rays
(fell on the Lynnette’s lifeless body) fell on Lynnette's

Review: I enjoyed the chill the ending gave me, the suspense was engaging and the mystery of who was in the room with Lynnette is thought provoking. I give it four out five Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

[ExquisiteEyes]

Thank you for pointing out those mistakes. I will edit it as soon as possible

[ExquisiteEyes]

Most of them were pretty silly mistakes...thanks for pointing them out