Both were mentally spent, but still went forward to check all the rooms.
Their pace was slow, and they were cautious, sometimes checking behind them.
“The light is on.”
Ayano pointed to a light coming from a small window on a door, that shined brighter than a bulb.
“That’s Mako’s…”
“Let’s go!”
This girl with a heart condition had been hospitalized for a long time. Longer than Shiori had been working at this hospital.
If something happened to her…
“Mako!”
She could not contain herself, and opened the door with force.
But the lights were off, despite the light they saw, and it was quiet like nothing happened.
“…Mako?”
She turned on the light, and saw her lying on her bed.
However, she was not sleeping, she just stared at the ceiling.
They called out to her, but there was no response, so they wondered what happened. It did not appear as though something was done to her, it just seemed like her mind was not really there.
“Who!?”
After checking on Mako, Ayano turned back.
“What?”
“Someone was here! Hiding in the bathroom!”
Ayano grabbed the toilet brush. Shiori wanted to say that was nasty, but could say nothing to the girl with the tense expression.
“Did you see who it was?”
“Not really. Just that it was a large person running to the elevator!”
Both peeked out the door and towards the elevator, but saw no such person.
They figured that person got away, but they needed to contact security right away, considering there was a suspicious person in the hospital. Or if it came to that, the police.
Also, this was the pediatrics ward. They had to do something to protect the children.
They searched around the door, and then noticed the elevator moving.
It went up from the first floor, passed the second and third, and ended on the fifth, where they were.
The elevator chime echoed, which was normally not that loud, but strangely enough, it rang in their heads this time.
The door slid open, and they saw a male employee they knew quite well.
Shiori and Ayano let out a sigh of relief, as a little bit of the tension was lifted.
Being alone in a situation like this made them wonder if they had been abandoned and the other employees were not coming back.
The employee took a few steps, and then fell limp on the ground.
Seeing a colleague collapse made them panic, and they were about to rush towards him, but they saw a woman with her face hidden by her hair right behind him.
She was not of that world.
One look sent chills down their spines, and they could not look any more.
They quickly closed the door to the patient’s room, and stayed quiet.
The lights suddenly went out, and the room was dark while they heard footsteps in the hall.
They sat in front of the door, and covered their mouths with their hands.
If they relaxed even a little, they would scream, and that dangerous presence might attack them.
How far would it chase them? Thinking about it filled their hearts with fear.
The footsteps drew closer.
They held hands harder than before, as if it were the last fortress keeping their sanity intact.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door.
They gulped, and then regretted it, wondering if that presence heard that noise.
A strong chill ran down their spines, perhaps a rejection of the dead by the living, and their hands and feet were so cold, one would not think it was summer.
This moment seemed to go on forever, and it ended when the sound of footsteps was heard again.
Ayano and Shiori looked at each other, thinking it was over.
And then the woman with the face covered by her hair stood in front of them.
Neither screamed. They were as scared as one could be, and could do nothing.
They failed to even faint, as they could not take their eyes off the woman.
As they stood still, they did not close their eyes, and forgot even to breathe.
The woman passed by them, seemingly having lost interest in them.
◇ ◇ ◇
They were at their limit, but they still felt a duty to check every room.
What happened? When would this abnormal situation end?
They knew they would not get answers, so they did not ask.
“…It’s the last one.”
“The surgeon’s child?”
“Mayori, right? The one from that accident.”
Mayori, like Kanata, was the victim of a traffic accident.
She was gravely wounded when, as she waited for a traffic light, she was run over by someone driving rashly. Three lives were lost in this incident, and ten people were wounded. The culprit escaped, and had not been caught yet.
The wounds Mayori suffered had not fully healed, and it seemed she would either never wake up, or best case scenario, suffer from hemiplegia.
“Is Mayori all right?”
When they were about to enter the room, they heard a voice.
…Found you.
“…Did you say something, Ayano?”
“…That wasn’t you?”
…Finally found you.
It appeared to be a male voice coming from somewhere.
They looked around, but found nothing.
Another chill ran down their spines. It was more intense than the one from before, meaning they could not stand.
They fell to the floor, and tried as hard as they could use their hands to get up, to no avail.
And as they struggled, it got progressively darker around them, and they could feel something drawing closer.
Their instincts told them not to look, but they had to. After all, it was right behind them.
They turned around slowly, and saw a large man with a white mask that they had seen in a horror movie long ago.
That alone was not scary, but many spirits were behind him, looking down at Shiori and Ayano.
This sudden pressure meant they could no longer hold on to their consciousness.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the middle of a dark world, there was a man shining faintly.
She could not see his figure, but it was not bad.
It was as though she was the audience watching him on a stage.
She realized this must be a dream, but could only look on.
She looked around, and saw she was not alone, there was a large audience. Among them were Ayano, and many patients like Mako, Kanata, and Mayori. And many adults.
The man on the stage sometimes swung a sword like he was fighting, and looked unsightly. And yet, Shiori kept looking, and tears streamed down her face before she knew it.
The light coming from the man intensified with each swing of the sword, and illuminated the audience.
There was not just Shiori, Ayano, and patients like Mako. Kanata’s father, the woman in the elevator, and many other dead people were there.
The man put his hands on his shoulders as if hugging himself, and the light shined even brighter, turning into a pillar of light that stretched to the sky.
Shiori understood. She knew why the dead roamed in that place.
They looked for salvation, and were drawn to the strong light.
That was what that voice meant when it said it had found it.
Many people ascended through the pillar of light, including children she looked after.
As she watched, she could only cry.
◇ ◇ ◇
Shiori and Ayano woke up when the sun was showing itself.
Both were lying on couches, as were their colleagues.
Not long after, the others also woke up, and even though they wanted to discuss what happened, they could not leave the patients, and tended to their duties.
But then something big happened.
The bedridden patients were walking around normally, and many illnesses were completely cured, including major ones.
Also, apparently three burglars had snuck in the previous night, and they lied unconscious on the floor.
It was going to be hard to process this, but that was a matter for the day shift, and Shiori and Ayano clocked out at nine o’clock.
“What was that all about yesterday?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll know if we think about it either.”
They thought back to the frightening and strange experience from the previous night.
They remembered feeling scared enough to collapse, but somehow, did not feel like quitting their jobs.
Perhaps it was because of that pillar of light they saw at the end, and left it at that.
◇ ◇ ◇
A large man pulling a trolley bag passed in front of them, so they moved to one side to let him pass.
He looked drowsy, and yawned.
As he passed by them, he said good job, and left.
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“Is Maori all right?”
Mayori*