Fresh Meat

Fresh Meat

It is freezing out here, Beth stated; when are you going to quit that filthy habit. Steph just laughed and said, I know they are going to kill me.

Beth was a good friend braving the cold while her friend Stephanie took a smoke break. Both women had worked 10 hours straight and had 6 more to go before the next shift relieved them. As they walked back into the hospital, Beth noticed the snowflakes starting to get larger and coming straight down instead of blowing in the wind. The weatherman had called for a winter storm expecting 6 to 12 inches, but there was something strange about this weather. Beth had only seen this pattern of snow once in her lifetime, the blizzard of 2016. 

Three more hours went by in the X-ray department, where the ladies worked, and the snow continued. The hospital only required employees to call in an hour before their start time, but the phones were ringing off the hook. Three of the four people scheduled for nights had already called in and told the supervisor there were at least two feet of snow that had already fallen. An hour before the last employee on the night shift was scheduled, the Radiology department got its final call in. 

Beth, Steph, Michael, and Jake were stuck with no relief. They knew the hospital wouldn't be extremely busy with the snowstorm, but the department had to be covered. At midnight, an hour later than their shifts would have been over, Stephanie and Jake decided to lay down. The hospital was only willing to pay the employees for their wake hours, so all four intended to take short naps to ensure the largest compensation for their sacrifice. 

Beth and Michael grabbed the pager and slipped down to the basement. They had plans. With a flashlight guiding their path, Michael stopped downstairs at the first door he found unlocked. He grabbed Beth while he passionating kissed her. She didn't back away because she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. They had danced around their attraction for far too long, and we're finally giving in to their desires. As Michael started pulling Beth's scrub top over her head, they heard the door open. 

Trying to stay hidden in the shadows, Beth and Michael froze. They heard two men talking about a car accident that had transpired earlier in the night. Beth and Michael were aware of the patients they discussed because they did multiple portables and CT scans. Sadly the couple only survived for a short period of time after arriving. 

One of the men walked past the couple on his way to the freezer. He also carried a small flashlight, and the couple managed to remain unseen. After they left, Beth and Michael laughed and exhaled a sigh of relief when realizing if they would have been caught, both of their jobs would have been lost. 

Their pheromones calmed, and they were curious about what was stored in the cooler. Neither one of them, even though they both had worked at the hospital for over ten years, we're aware of its existence. After checking the door and locking it from the inside, they decided to investigate. 

Michael shined the flashlight toward the freezer, not turning on the overhead light because of the glass that leads to the hallway. He then led Beth in. With the freezer door left only slightly open, Michael turned on the light.

Beth started gagging. She had seen gruesome things in her career as an x-ray tech but was not prepared for this. There were body parts everywhere, fingers, toes, hearts, brains, every part imaginable. Everything was placed in a plastic bag and labeled with names and prices. 

Michael looked at Beth both realized something was very wrong. They had been in enough surgeries where the organs were harvested, and CORE was always on the scene to pick up the donated organs. They usually were helicoptered in and took them out with a small cooler. This was something very different. It was like a grocery store that specialized in selling body parts. If it would have been a teaching lab, Michael and Beth didn't think there would be dollar amounts on the bags. 

Beth and Michael continued to look around, stunned at what they had found and trying to figure out which law authority should be reported to the local sheriff, the state police, or the medical association. While they were discussing who to consult, they didn't hear the door open behind them. Dr. Williams, a prominent internal medicine doctor, walked in. He had a reputation of being difficult to work for, especially in surgery, but they never suspected he would pull out a gun. 

Michael asked him why he was doing this, and he sneered and told him, didn't he see the prices on the bags. There is more money on the black market for these organs than you can imagine. We don't have rules like CORE; a person can drink with their new liver, cancer can continue to invade your new lungs, and we don't care how old you are as long as you have the money, the organ is yours. 

Dr. Williams told them both to get in the cooler; he could shoot them but, he might damage some more valuable merchandise, and it would be more profitable if he froze both of them to death before he extracted their organs. Malcolm, Dr. William's number one man, walked in as he was about to close the door and, Michael hit Dr. Williams over the head with a frozen arm. Malcolm ran up to help his boss as Beth grabbed the gun off the floor. 

She pointed it at Malcolm and told him to get in the freezer, Michael drug Dr. Williams in behind him. They closed the door and sat outside for another hour, contemplating who to call. Beth noticed a computer that was practically hidden under a pile of papers. She turned it on, and the previous user, Malcolm or, Dr. Williams had failed to sign off, and a list of patients on a waiting list needing organ transplants came up. She read the patient files and realized that many of them didn't qualify, and the only way they would ever receive a chance of getting a transplant was through a black market. 

Michael and Beth looked at each other wondering, what the ethical thing to do was. They could let Dr. Williams and his assistant out and act as though they didn't see anything, or they could call the authorities and let them handle all of the legalities. 

Beth clicked the file on the computer and sent the list to the printer, and after she and Michael rested for six hours, they returned to the freezer to see if the Dr. and Malcolm were dead yet. They were looking forward to starting their new business adventure.