New Year'shift

 I remember that my boss, briskly said to me : You are on duty on December 31st in the night hospital shift

I wasn't surprised, after all, I haven't worked on Christmas.

So,  It was unrefusable, as I had no family in the city, nor friends inviting me for a New Year’s  party .

-The hospital must be empty, as is a hospital practice to keep only critical cases  in ward, and other rooms of the hospital. 

Well, why not trying a different New Year's day ?

There will be a supper, I will enjoy! And I will make extra money.

Taking my high spirits into consideration, I went there, having a cup of coffee in the coffee shop at the entrance of the hospital.

I  made my rounds in all floors of the building, taking a look in the clinical history. Then, I  entered to all the rooms to check beds, serum hangers, bathrooms, equipments, personnel ( only ten ).

By now, everything for me seems  to be ok .But some suspisciousness arouse me.

What is it? 

- is it good or bad? I could not define it, as it disappeared in a glimpse. 

It was almost half past eleven, and the coffee that I drank before taking my duty, was still working.

In that vague moment of doing nothing, I started to hear  a sudden and vibrant sound of the sirens of an ambulance, cutting and  crossing the air, enlightening the darkness of that empty and lazy space, exciting my nerves and my ears.

I took a look on the outside of the building, and saw two white-dressed paramedics taking a person out of the ambulance.

The doctor in charge of emergency and I run towards the ambulance,  just in time to listen the driver say:

• Heart attack, in a New Year's party, with his girlfriend.

The victim, an old blond man,, was still breathing when the paramedics were carrying him to the entrance of the emergency 

The doctor and the nurse gave him heart massage.

• he needs medication thru endovenous 

So the nurse brought all the equipment, gloves, needles, catheters, liquids while doctor was sterilizing his hands, and the nurse was preparing the surgical field for the procedure, when the man started to become really gray 

• Cyanosis  
• Let's send him to  the intensive care unit !, it was ordered by the emergency doctor 

So we ran with him, thru the elevators a bit slow.

-what if he dies right now, I asked myself, as a witch.

I looked at him.

The old fatty and bald man, had his eyes closed.

We arrived at the intensive care unit, and the doctor in duty immediately gave instructions for the two nurses that were working there.- 

he is not breathing anymore !

• Tube !
• Respirator!
• Heart massage!
• Medications!

Everything was done, according to the doctor's orders.

But, exactly when a new year was starting to be born. ,the life of a person was being stolen, as a tribute or a sacrifice.

What was there to celebrate , I asked, as I was watching the agony of his body and the desperation of doctors and paramedics.

But without asking permission, the old chubby man, simply died, lying his life and memories on a bed of the emergency room.

Death confirmed at one o'clock in the morning,  I had to call his family, so I took his identification card from the pocket of his jacket, and found a telephone number written in a paper.

I called.

And called.

And called.

Ten times.

But the only answer I got was a recorded message,, repeated times as I thought it would be the num of of his girlfriend.

At the eleventh time. I got a. Answer:

• Ok , dear, I do not know who this person is. Sorry .

And the  call was hung up.

.

• It seems that nobody will answer the phone call.

 It was four o' clock in the morning and I was almost giving up, when  a young lady appeared, saying : 

• I am his daughter. I want his body to be buried.

For me it was a problem solved.

But she was covering her face with a hat. So strange! , I thought.

When she was taking the body in a private ambulance, a black one, I saw  a little knife coming out of her dress.

Was she going to tear it, cyr it, eat it ?

I got scared 

So I called the police. 

• This girl is a murderer. We are looking for her 

So, I spent the rest of my hospital shift giving cues to the police, like name, appearance, the syreet she went on , the color of her hair, did she pay the hospital bills?

Am I blind, stoned or what? , I asked myself, going to the kitchen to take another cup of coffee.

So I finished my New  Year's Eve.