"The Faceless Nurse"

"Doc...Gising na...May Patient..."

"The Faceless Nurse"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

During what was supposedly my last year of Medical School I was assigned to the Department of Medicine. On one of my duties I decided to rest in the Department office. The Divan that I was sleeping on was in front of the Nurse station in the ward and before falling asleep I could distinctly hear the Ward Nurses talking. Dead tired I started snoring in no time.

Around midnight someone shook me awake and told me..."Doc may patient po...(Doc you have a patient...)"

Junior Interns assigned to the wards were supposed to receive patients coming from the ER and update histories so I was thankful for being woken up. I tried to stand up and see who it was who did me the favor.

In front of me was a nurse with an old fashioned nurse cap and I found it odd that she was wearing a different uniform from those that I have seen around the hospital. I was finding it hard to focus on her face and until now I cannot recall it. 

"Susunod na ako"(I will be right there) was my reply.

I dozed off for about 5 more minutes.I woke up and bolted right toward the Nurse station when I remembered that there was a patient that I have not seen yet. I asked the Nurses at the ward to give me the chart of the patient that was just moved up 5 minutes ago.

The nurse looked at me surprised.

"Wala pong bagong patient." (There is no new patient)

I was surprised too.

"Pero may gumising sa akin kanina na Nurse..." (There was a nurse who woke me up earlier)

The Nurse looked even more puzzled.

"Doc , walang pong lumalapit sa inyo, kanina pa po kami naguusap dito. Nakikita ka namin galing dito"

(Doc ,  no one came near you , we were talking for awhile and we could see you from here)

Somewhat relieved that I did not miss anything and feeling a bit sheepish I returned to the Divan and slept.

I never did find out why I was awakened that time nor did I find the true identity of the ghost who woke me. Maybe some things are just better left alone.