the morgue.
“ Today is the very
definition of morbid,” she chuckled. The morgue was discretely
tucked away where no one would stumble across its refrigerated
compartments and inhabitants. As Vivian trotted down to the
basement, she wondered if the morgue shared the same refrigeration
infrastructure as the cafeteria. That notion was slightly amusing
to her.
The security attendant on duty seemed
stingy when he greeted her. Aside from a mumbled “hey” and “let’s
get going,” his social skills were severely lacking. Perhaps that
was an inevitable consequence of working with the deceased. His
mood was probably dampened by the low pay and undying cold,
too.
Icy whispers rushed out as soon as the
guard opened the doors to the mortuary. To Vivian’s relief, it
wasn’t the crimson slaughterhouse she was expecting. It seemed more
sterile than any patient ward she set foot in.
The red tiles were worn from tables
being wheeled in and out of the room as the dead journeyed to their
final destination. If not for the low temperature, the fans would
have surely chilled her to the marrow.
Vivian scanned the human-shaped
bundles sacrificed on stainless steel tables. Paper shrouds were
draped across the nude corpses in various stages of decay. The
scent of formaline masked the stench of ammonia, methane, and
liquefied tissue.
One cadaver in particular
stood out among the other piles. He, she, or whatever it was under the sheet must
have easily weighed five hundred pounds.
“ That’s the fourth junkie
overdose this week,” the security attendant said. “He won’t fit
inside a compartment and the higher-ups are taking too long to
authorize his transfer. At this point, I just want to mitigate the
stench as much as possible. Can you check the identification? Just
to make sure we’re not eviscerating the wrong body.”
“ Not a problem.” Vivian
studied the instruments in the morgue as she approached the corpse.
Scales used for hanging body parts dangled from the ceiling, oddly
reminiscent of the hanging cages in the Vesica Piscis art gallery.
She would rather work overnight in the morgue than return to that
haunt.
She lifted the linen sheet off the
cadaver’s legs and grimaced at the purplish-grey tinge of his skin.
She held her breath and quickly checked the toe tag. The guard was
probably getting a kick out of making her get this close to
a—
The corpse spasmed.
“ What the hell!”
The guard doubled over in
laughter.
“ He’s been doing that all
morning! His nervous system is still shooting off. Sorry, I need to
have my fun with the new students.”
“ You’re lucky I didn’t club
that thing in the head! Are you sure it’s not one of the morgue
techs hiding under the sheet?”
“ You’re welcome to
check.”
“ No, I’d prefer to keep my
lunch in my stomach.”
In spite of herself, Vivian couldn’t
help but grin at the poor joke.
“ You want to see something
really horrifying?”
Vivian turned a curious gaze on him.
She wondered what else this morgue concealed besides severed limbs
and maggot-infested bodies.
“ I’ve seen my share of
horror. Not much impresses me these days.”
“ An innocent lady like you?
I didn’t have you pegged as the sinister type. Well, maybe you’ll
enjoy this then.”
“ What exactly?”
The guard delicately lifted a shroud
off a female corpse. The woman’s face was marbled with splotches of
decay and degenerating vessels. The skin was slipping in folds on
her face and neck, but it did little to disguise the boiling
lesions. There was no mistaking, it was the homeless woman who
succumbed on Vivian’s first day of clinicals. Crenshaw, the head
surgeon, was too hasty to write her off as a drug
overdose.
Her emaciated frame was fast
disintegrating on the table as the bacteria once housed in her
gastrointestinal spilled out.
“ Disgusting, isn’t
it?”
Vivian didn’t reply. Her
head was swimming at the sight of this hub of meat-eating
bacteria. Maybe
“ Today is the very
definition of morbid,” she chuckled. The morgue was discretely
tucked away where no one would stumble across its refrigerated
compartments and inhabitants. As Vivian trotted down to the
basement, she wondered if the morgue shared the same refrigeration
infrastructure as the cafeteria. That notion was slightly amusing
to her.
The security attendant on duty seemed
stingy when he greeted her. Aside from a mumbled “hey” and “let’s
get going,” his social skills were severely lacking. Perhaps that
was an inevitable consequence of working with the deceased. His
mood was probably dampened by the low pay and undying cold,
too.
Icy whispers rushed out as soon as the
guard opened the doors to the mortuary. To Vivian’s relief, it
wasn’t the crimson slaughterhouse she was expecting. It seemed more
sterile than any patient ward she set foot in.
The red tiles were worn from tables
being wheeled in and out of the room as the dead journeyed to their
final destination. If not for the low temperature, the fans would
have surely chilled her to the marrow.
Vivian scanned the human-shaped
bundles sacrificed on stainless steel tables. Paper shrouds were
draped across the nude corpses in various stages of decay. The
scent of formaline masked the stench of ammonia, methane, and
liquefied tissue.
One cadaver in particular
stood out among the other piles. He, she, or whatever it was under the sheet must
have easily weighed five hundred pounds.
“ That’s the fourth junkie
overdose this week,” the security attendant said. “He won’t fit
inside a compartment and the higher-ups are taking too long to
authorize his transfer. At this point, I just want to mitigate the
stench as much as possible. Can you check the identification? Just
to make sure we’re not eviscerating the wrong body.”
“ Not a problem.” Vivian
studied the instruments in the morgue as she approached the corpse.
Scales used for hanging body parts dangled from the ceiling, oddly
reminiscent of the hanging cages in the Vesica Piscis art gallery.
She would rather work overnight in the morgue than return to that
haunt.
She lifted the linen sheet off the
cadaver’s legs and grimaced at the purplish-grey tinge of his skin.
She held her breath and quickly checked the toe tag. The guard was
probably getting a kick out of making her get this close to
a—
The corpse spasmed.
“ What the hell!”
The guard doubled over in
laughter.
“ He’s been doing that all
morning! His nervous system is still shooting off. Sorry, I need to
have my fun with the new students.”
“ You’re lucky I didn’t club
that thing in the head! Are you sure it’s not one of the morgue
techs hiding under the sheet?”
“ You’re welcome to
check.”
“ No, I’d prefer to keep my
lunch in my stomach.”
In spite of herself, Vivian couldn’t
help but grin at the poor joke.
“ You want to see something
really horrifying?”
Vivian turned a curious gaze on him.
She wondered what else this morgue concealed besides severed limbs
and maggot-infested bodies.
“ I’ve seen my share of
horror. Not much impresses me these days.”
“ An innocent lady like you?
I didn’t have you pegged as the sinister type. Well, maybe you’ll
enjoy this then.”
“ What exactly?”
The guard delicately lifted a shroud
off a female corpse. The woman’s face was marbled with splotches of
decay and degenerating vessels. The skin was slipping in folds on
her face and neck, but it did little to disguise the boiling
lesions. There was no mistaking, it was the homeless woman who
succumbed on Vivian’s first day of clinicals. Crenshaw, the head
surgeon, was too hasty to write her off as a drug
overdose.
Her emaciated frame was fast
disintegrating on the table as the bacteria once housed in her
gastrointestinal spilled out.
“ Disgusting, isn’t
it?”
Vivian didn’t reply. Her
head was swimming at the sight of this hub of meat-eating
bacteria. Maybe
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