Random Short Stories (from middle school)

The Reawakening (Myles' POV)

I wipe the thick fluids off of my scalpel with a tissue and set it down on the surgical utility tray gently, while periodically glancing up at Calvin. He's my partner in this autopsy, and also the only other surgeon in the building during the night shift.

I decide to ask Calvin for a favor as I organize the tools. "Hey, do you think you could go clean up in the Emergency Room? I'm finishing cleaning up the body."

"The body" is that of a patient who flatlined before an emergency operation yesterday, as he was being driven to the hospital in ambulance A-Three. He lives- I correct myself, lived off in the country about twenty-five kilometers away from the building, so the ambulance just didn't return quickly enough.

"Okay, but what were the results?" he replies slowly, as I've not mentioned anything yet.

"Um, I don't believe there were any, Calvin."

"Myles, no kidding around, this is serious!"

"I'm not," I defend myself, as I am telling the truth.

"No results? Impossible! Let me see the computer," he argues, quickly walking over to the computer. His eyes widen and his jaw drops slightly, when he realizes that there are no results, like I said.

"This is completely impossible!" he exclaims, "there has to be! He's only in his early thirties, he can't just die randomly!

Calvin storms out of the Autopsy room, his reasoning, I presume, is to cool off. I hear his quick and fierce steps, indicating that he is definitely a bit frustrated. Well, who am I kidding? I am too! It should be impossible for a patient of that age to not have any results during an autopsy!

A few minutes later, I hear the familiar sound of Calvin's footsteps, this time much softer. I hastily compose myself, as I had been pulling my dark brown hair and my hands were in clenched fists as a result of my vexation.

"Hey, Myles, we should go turn off the Christmas lights. You remember last time we forgot to turn off most of the power," he reminds me. 

A few weeks ago, maybe last month, we had prematurely left the hospital, my reasoning being that I was getting an eerie vibe from the long, vacant halls in the vast building. The more I think about it, that may have been his too.

At the exact moment he asks that question, I hop up off of the hard wooden stool I had been sitting on. I want so badly to have an excuse to leave the room, even for a short amount of time, as it might aid in the clearing of my mind. We climb the stairs out of the underground portion of the hospital. It's used for autopsies, like we had been performing; holding bodies, pre- or post autopsy; and storage of backup supplies or pretty much anything else that would appear informal or out-of-season in public.

I hear Calvin exhale slowly, as if he were attempting to calm himself. It could have just been a yawn though, as it was about a quarter after one and it wouldn't be seen as abnormal to be exhausted. There's usually nothing the matter with it. I begin flipping the switches of the poorly hidden power strips, and right before I flip the last one in the lobby, I hear the phone ring in the room Calvin is in. He states the required speech in the required tone. After that, the halls are completely silent. Finally, I hear him set down the phone with no further speech, which startles me. Simultaneously, I shout surprisedly at the fact that all of the power had just shut off! The only thing I hear now is the distant whirring of life support machines upstairs, which are now running on backup electricity.

"What the-" I'm interrupted by the shattering of glass downstairs and a few thumps. Moments later, the remaining lights and heat turn back on. I see Calvin rush back towards the stairwell we had come up earlier and I follow after him. Once we get back downstairs, we lock eyes for a split second, somehow knowing to divide a search of the rooms in the hall between us. I run over past a locked and filled storage closet and into the room we had previously been performing the autopsy in, then opening my eyes wide while stopping in my tracks.