Dos

Persistent(teaser)

MY eyes flickered in light as I stared down the observer's deck.

My classmate, John, was doing fine. He managed his first cadaver without peeing in his pants. Although he dropped the scalpel many times, that he needed to disinfect it over and over again.

"You ok?" Andrei’s icy cold voice shattered the silence.

It made me feel creepy. Somehow I knew that Andrei was nervous, too. This was the batch’s first time on Forensics101. I saw him put on his best poker face and froze into position.

"You're not making this easy." I whispered as I kicked his sheen with my mightiest. Of course that had no effect. I just felt the need to release the anxiety I have inside.

Angst in the observers’ deck swelled into massive proportions.

Criminal Law99 students held onto their pens and papers as they await the closure of the first cadaver.

Murder, as it seems, was not that surprising in the county morgue. Those who are unclaimed and unidentified are sent here. Some were fairly misdiagnosed that needed to be run through again to reinstate the cause and manner of death, while others were truly criminal by nature.

"I'm not supposed to make it easy. I'm having a difficult time myself." Andrei was turning pale as he another cadaver being wheeled as the other was being brought out.

“You are here to make thorough observations of the doctors and the assistants. Not to ogle at the cadaver itself. Do you understand?” Professor Clark, a man with beady eyes and an angular jaw, reminded his CL99 students. He stands around 6 foot tall and oversees everything from his spectacles.

Andrei clutched his stomach and held his nose. “Argh!” He garbled.

The deck’s door opened wide enough allowing all smell of formalin to flood the room. There were several student’s reacted similarly to Andrei’s but I kept my face unaffected and unruffled.

I peered down to see the cadaver being enshrouded and the lamp affixed its beam. A boy, about 12 years of age, stared right back at me. The sight of the boy alone made me nauseous but the stare caused me to become unsteady.

"Rodriguez, inside. Williams, you're next." Professor Wood’s glassy black eyes pierced right through my soul making me shudder.

He raised an eyebrow to my reaction and turned around to return to the lower deck.

Ayesha, my block mate for three years straight, was ready to collapse right where she stood. She sighed heavily as she prepared herself.

I pitied her in some ways. When she was invited to Harrison, she merely wanted to concentrate on Literature. But when her father heard the news, she was prompted to take pre-med. She was expected to follow her footsteps as head surgeon.

She wore her gloves in a goofy manner, forgetting altogether the proper way to wear it. I sighed. No one really noticed what the others were doing; they were too busy entertaining their own thoughts.

I approached Ayesha and helped her into her lab gown and apron. “Take care, ok? Do your best.” I patted her back and returned to my post.

She smiled at me before going down to the lower deck.

Her steps were awkward as she neared the cadaver. Careful as she may be, she stumbled on a wire.

A resident caught her by the arm and helped her to her feet. Her resident, as we say in-charge, was a young woman and was clearly beautiful even through the protective equipment she wore.

I saw Ayesha smile at her with gratitude.

"Cause and manner, Rodriguez. Do it now." Professor Wood's voice had a tinge of urgency which startled Ayesha who in turn stumbled over the cart.

Some of the resident’s shook their head but a few had hopeful glint in their eyes.

"Pens and papers ready, clerks." Professor Clark was in head tutor mode and checked on his gaping students.

Andrei straightened up with his poker face on again and started to scribble the date, location and all the specifics.

“Do you write there that the assistant was fidgety?” My curiosity gets the best of my manners at times.

Andrei gave a weak laugh and nodded.

“Oh.” I wonder how he’ll write it down if I was stumbling all over.

“No worries, Nikki. I’m not that harsh.” Andrei’s voice was barely perceptible.

“Smith, no talking.” Prof Clark really had the reputation of overhearing everything and anything, even if it was just the smallest whisper, said by his students.

Andrei and I both smirked and returned to observing.

Back on the lower deck, Ayesha was groping over the dissection instruments. Her jumpiness was evident even with the slightest move. I remembered her shrieking to the top of her lungs as we dissected cats before. How long will she be able to hold it out? Maybe she’ll make it through?

External examination was done and it was time to open the cadaver.

"Doctors! Let's have a look inside!" The head pathologist, I've been told his name was Mr. Good but I doubt that, announced and ushered Ayesha and one of the residents to do their job.

Everything became silent that it was deafening. Everyone watched Ayesha pick up the scalpel. I know she feels the tremendous pressure on her shoulders, it bore all the expectations of her father and all who knew her father.

In a split second, Ayesha fell to the floor.

My eyes grew wide in terror and started to sweat cold beads. I was primarily worried of her state then I suddenly worried about my own. I was next in line which meant whatever was left of it is on me.

The other students, about seven people, glanced on my direction. I know felt the burden on my own shoulder.

My dreams started flashing across my very own eyes. My mother told me to take fine arts while my father said interdisciplinary studies would do me well but I insisted that I take pre-med and cross-enroll with whatever they want me to become.

They favored my decision even with a heavy heart. My siblings, of course, had the least influence on my decision. At four and two, they were just sad that I needed to leave.

"Ah. Another of the faint-hearted ones. Doctors, get this girl to ER." Dr. Good’s voice brought me back to reality.

Some residents were quick to their feet in removing Ayesha from the tangled up wires and exited through the doors of the lower deck.

"Williams, get down here." Professor Wood's voice boomed out from the large speakers.

“I wanted this. I wanted this and this alone.” I started to chant as I approached the station which held the protective gears.

A figure moved closer to me and helped me adjust my apron. “Good luck.” Andrei’s voice managed to set my systems back to equilibrium.

“I’ll need lots of it.” I slipped on a set of latex gloves.

“All the best I can give.” He whispered one last time as he quickly resumed his post.

I examined myself in the glass as I wore my safety goggles. I could’ve sworn that it was somebody else. My auburn hair was tight in a bun and covered for protection, my arms were rounded with diffidence and my eyes didn’t glisten back.

With one last breath, I started heading down the stairs of the viewing area.

“Doctor Gray, Miss Williams will be assisting you in place of Miss Rodriguez. Wear your lapel, Williams.” Professor Wood was stern. His disappointment with Ayesha was not quickly exhausted and added to the burden I bore.

“Alright. Tell me when you’re ready.” Doctor Gray encouraged me by giving an odd hand gesture.

I turned to him and accepted it. The lapel contained a small mouthpiece and a speaker with an antenna. It submitted even my breathing to the system. I gave out a little laugh and arranged the mouthpiece over my mouth.

“Ready.” I tried to sound calm but I knew that went out wrong.

Doctor Gray somehow smiled under his mask and ushered me towards cadaver dissection table. He had an alluring aura and a jewel-toned set of baby blue eyes.

I pulled along the utility table which contained all the dissecting tools and eyed the dead boy with nervous eyes.

“Relax.” I heard Doctor Gray whisper. He was standing beside me with a clipboard in his hand. His stance was relaxed and confident.

I tried to imitate his equanimity. I pulled my shoulders back and breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. The smell of formalin was like a cabinet of liquor. My olfactory must’ve numbed the smell out because it now smelled like vodka.

Doctor Gray clicked his retractable pen and started reading the external examination results.

“Morris, Brian. 12 years old. Brown eyes…” He continued on but my mind was not set to his words.

I tried to imagine the boy alive, sitting on a bench in the playground looking after his sister on a Saturday afternoon. He had blond hair, a stronger shade compared to Andrei’s. Approached by bullies and was mocked and beaten up, he threw his final punch and fell to the ground.

I nodded on as I tried to run through the possible signs and symptoms that were recovered from the lab tests. He had blood in his urine. His skin was yellow, just like cheddar cheese, jaundice.

“I believed that the boy died due to a kidney failure.” I tried to grab the mouthpiece away but everybody heard that now. My mouth doesn’t seem to shut up when I’m nervous. Biting my tongue was probably the most convenient way to lock my mouth up.

“That’s probable.” Dr. Gray nodded to my direction and gave the clipboard to one of his colleagues.

I studied the residents’ faces. Just like me, they had their own hypothesis but unlike me, they knew better to wait until the end of the internal examination. I shook my head in disbelief and bit my tongue harder.

“Doctors, let’s have a look inside.” Doctor Gray’s announcement didn’t make me flinch this time. I knew it was coming. The whole dramatic announcement didn’t excite me anymore. One way or another, I also knew they wouldn’t want me to faint just like the one before me.

I took the scalpel from Dr. Gray’s extended hand and inched closer towards the boy. The body block was perfectly in place which threw the boy’s arms backward.

As I held the scalpel steady in my right hand, I leaned over the table and. I touched the boy’s shoulder with my lightest touch. Somehow, I was afraid to hurt him.

I started out with a deep incision from the top of the left shoulder towards the sternum. I was itching to get it done that I didn’t notice I was applying too much pressure.

“Not too deep, Williams.” Doctor Gray’s voice was stern but assuring.

I ended my first cut in the lower sternum and loosened my grip on the scalpel. Another incision was made congruent to the first one.

I glanced up the boy’s face. He had a smile painted on his face as if he was happy he died. I tried to shake away the idea but it prevailed.

“Please proceed.” Impatience in Dr. Good’s voice was intimidating.

Intimidation usually didn’t do me any good but this time it did. I made a quick final incision from the sternum down to the pubic bone, slightly deviating from the navel.

“This is just like dissecting a frog.” My tongue got loose from the bars of my teeth.

“Yes, with longer appendages that doesn’t flex involuntarily.” Dr. Gray’s humor was calming in surprising ways.

My tactless remarks could’ve blown up Dr. Good and Prof. Wood's head if it weren’t for Dr. Gray’s follow-up.

The doctors, including Good and Wood, laughed with Dr. Gray, while I saw some students up the deck loosen up but tried to control their amusement in deference to Prof. Clark’s unshaken gait.

I held the scalpel with more confidence this time and worked on the soft tissues attached underneath the skin flap.

“I’ll take over.” The bone shears Doctor Gray was holding was slightly bigger than what the university had.

He started by cutting it laterally and slowly raised the chest plate. My eyes stung while I waited for Doctor Gray to finish. Elegance while doing it almost made it easy to do but the noisy cracking of the bones disagreed.

He finished off by reaching out a scalpel to me.

My breathing started to become labored as I tried to remember the protocols. With all the admiration that went through me, I forgot what to do next.

In the open chest, the heart was like crying out to me to cut it loose.

“Pericardial.” A figure moved into my peripheral vision. Doctor Gray was now across me while making a snipping action with his hands.

With the right amount of pressure, I managed to slice through the pericardial sac without damaging the heart.

I dropped the scalpel into a beaker full of disinfectant, hypochlorite. Surely, that scalpel would be autoclaved later. Sanitation still mattered to the dead, evidence-wise perhaps.

The operating scissors lay on the farthest left of the utility cart. I picked up it up and snipped the pulmonary artery. My eyes focused on Doctor Gray.

“Is there a clot?” He asked me in a casual tone.

I simply shook my head in response. I was afraid to make another mistake. This resident had too much faith in me and that didn’t make things any better. It made the burden grow heavier.

My hands started to shake as I proceeded to cut the other blood vessels. As I’ve been told bleeding would be minimal, still blood gushed out when cut the aorta.

“It does that. Don’t worry.” Doctor Gray slowly picked up the boy’s heart and weighed it in.

My eyes narrowed as I examined the other organs intact. Nothing could prepare you for this, even 500 dissections of different animals.

“1.2” Doctor Gray called out from the end of the room where the weighing scales and faucets were situated.

Returning to reality used to be easier when you’re not in the presence of a cadaver. But a doctor breaking that silence is also good.

Looking up, I saw another doctor record the recent report onto the clipboard.

My mind collapsed for awhile that it forgot the presence of, other than my professor and Doctor Gray, students observing me from the deck above including one head tutor.

I breathed deeply and detached a lung. It seemed in perfect condition. But it could possibly have been asphyxiated. My brows were creased but no one noticed.

Doctor Gray cleared his throat and jerked his head towards his outstretched hands. How long have I been spaced out?

I handed him the first lung and started to work on the next. There was something wrong with the set of lungs.

No one seemed to notice my hesitation and I didn’t want to make another hilarious moment. I removed the other organs systematically.

Reporting became an ease when you are around secure people. Doctor Gray was confident in me and in himself. He went about like I was one of the residents and I was fairly amused that I reported like one too.

The body was then reconstituted.

The residents were throwing out there supposition now. A conversation I would never dare interject.

I was almost done stitching up the corpse when someone from behind me applauded.

“Kidney failure it is.”

My head spun around and saw Doctor Good.

“We will have a 15-minute recess.” He smiled under his mask and exited the room to a small passage on the right. The whole entourage of residents followed him as nurses came in to remove the carcass.

Doctor Gray held my arm and accompanied me into the lobby. He removed his protective gear and threw it into an infectious waste disposal. I caught myself staring at him and slapped myself. I was not to be caught admiring a guy especially in this situation.

“Well done, Williams.” Professor Wood clasped my arms and smiled from ear to ear. Seeing a student manage through an autopsy was not probably his best achievement but he did look ecstatic about it.

“Yes, child. Well done. Your father would never think you did that.” A entered the lobby and removed his scrubs.

“You knew my father?” I inspected him through the equipment he was wearing.

“Well, Nikki. You couldn’t recognize your neighbor under the medical clutter?” He removed his mask and revealed Mr. Wilson. I knew he left town years ago but I never thought he studied medicine. It wasn’t his type.

“Oh. Hi!” Surprise as I may be, my brain still didn’t function the way as it was supposed to. So, that came out less enthusiastic than I would’ve really meant.

A nurse wheeled the body out of the autopsy room followed by Doctor Good. The other residents were missing and Dr. Gray left a while ago.

“Ah. Here’s the little star.” He beamed to me. I realized why he’s called aptly by his name. Without the tensed atmosphere, he emanated a lot of good vibes. He even seemed free-sprited.

“Doctor Gray was the one who did all the work…” I looked around for the doctor I just mentioned. Half-heartedly hoping he didn’t hear that for some reasons.

“Modesty has no place here, Williams.” He glided out from the east wing and handed me a water bottle. The water bottles he carried must’ve totaled to a gallon or so but still managed to gracefully hand it out to the others.

“Yes, that’s true. We seldom give out commendations.” The resident who helped John emerged from the door along with the other residents. They have removed their lab gowns and revealed their casual attires.

The residents were young as expected. About 25 to 27 years old and still had that hip façade they projected. With the exemption, of course, of Mr. Wilson since he’s already in his 40s.

My eyes then fell on Dr. Gray who was casually talking to Professor Woods and Dr. Good.

He was handsome in his own right. He stands about six foot tall or somewhat shorter. My assessment wasn’t all the sold to his features. His clothes were tapered and well ironed to suit his medium built. His stance didn’t seem to falter even at the presence of authority. With this, he reminded me of one movie star. They’re features were similar even to the smallest detail of their face.

“That’s my brother you’re thinking of.” He was approaching in graceful gait. It reminded me of Andrei’s dramatic walked.

“What?” My alarmed reaction caused the residents to stare at me with intent. I was supposed to be embarrassed by that but I ended up laughing.

Doctor Gray laughed with me and patted my back.

“Alexander Gray is my brother. You know, ‘Rescue’ and ‘The Survival’.” He made a face in attempt to imitate a role.

“No, don’t do that. Please. You look stupid.” I shook my head at his effort.

“That’s I wasn’t the actor.” He laughed again.

“And that’s why Alex wasn’t the doctor.” A familiar voice startled me. It belonged to the one I heard every morning on the radio and the one who wished me all the luck he could give.

“How are you, Drei? I hope pre-law’s not treating you that bad.” Dr. Gray took Andrei’s hand and shook it.

“I’m quite well. Doing some pre-law credits up there.” Andrei punched Dr. Gray in the arm and laughed.

“Mind filling me in a bit?” My mind kept floating around the fact that Doctor Gray and Andrei knew each other. It was as if they were brothers or childhood friends. Or was it just a boy thing I never even tried to decipher?

They looked at each other before bursting into hysterics.

“Doctor Gray’s father is our family doctor. My mom is his brother’s agent.” Andrei’s eyes met mine and tried to let the fact sink in a little faster. He did that most of the time to control my fits of rage. It used to work but didn’t really did the trick this time.

“I think I left my brain with the cadaver. Do you think I shall go get it? Because you know, things are overwhelming.” I felt betrayed for some reasons I didn’t know what and I didn’t even care what. It’s just some raw emotions I could fasten inside me.

“Do you want help with that?” Doctor Gray laughed with utmost gusto. That came into a form of insult to me. I didn’t know that someone with a higher level of sarcasm even existed.

“I want to slap you right now.” That’s what I really wanted to do but my arms felt heavy.

“Ok, Nikki. Chill. You’re going overboard.” Andrei put one hand on my shoulder and gave it a little shake.

Right then, I noticed everyone was looking at us.

“I think I need post procedure psychological help or something. I’m not thinking straight.”I felt my knees betraying me. They wobbled like jelly.

“You have a great humor, child. But I think you should sit down. Formaldehyde works wonders to your brain.” Doctor Good pulled a chair and set me on it with care.

I nodded and sat down in silence. My temples throbbed like it was ready to burst. I tried to massage it but the smallest amount movement made it more painful.

Andrei mouthed Dr. Gray something. I knew Andrei well and I could lip read most of his sentence. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out what he asked.

“I’ll be fine, Drei. Shut the pinhole.” I glared at him as I chugged down some water. My inappropriate anger slowly dissolved. It was uncalled for and I am ready for whatever my seniors and professors wanted to shout at me.

“You heard her, she’ll be fine.” Doctor Gray gave me a weak smile and continued talking to Andrei.

I wanted to listened but my eyes dropped involuntarily as I felt physical exhaustion kicking in.

I felt someone pull a chair next to me and let my head rest onto a shoulder. Whoever it was, it was comforting. Just like my mom’s shoulder.

Reviews

[Francez]

I watch CSI a lot, so I don't find that there are too much medical information here.

What I do find confusing is all the doctors' names and which one is which. Just a few seconds after finished reading this, I still don't remember which one did Nikki like, who has a brother to whom, was Dr. Good really his real name? Are they all male or female? How many people were actually in the room? There are too many characters that went by fleetingly, confusing the whole story.

Maybe it's better to leave out some of the characters if they are not contributing to the whole story.

Apart from that, I still find this story compelling.

[emmajoy]

Hm .. yes, you set the scene, there was more atmosphere in this chapter than the preceding one, But then you added dialogue which is, I imagine, medically accurate. To be honest however, there was far too much detail for me. I'm all for factual details to create a accuracy in such a scene but frankly I wouldn't pay for a novel with so much medical information scattered on its pages.

You're a fine writer but would suggest you add considerably more light and far less detail.