Reila stopped at what she was doing. She stood up and stretched her hands upward, arching her back for a few seconds and heaved out a sigh of relief.
A cup of coffee would be nice... Reila smiled with excitement as the thought of coffee entered her mind. She hummed as she walked to the direction of the cafeteria.
After returning to her desk, she sat down and breathed in the aroma of the coffee. She took a sip and placed the cup down her desk. She closed her eyes and took in the delicious flavour and the warmth that it brought to her body.
She glanced at the entrance of the hospital, seeing nothing but darkness that was enveloping the environment outside.
There was a blackout due to the storm and it was the first time Geneva suffered a large-scale blackout. Fortunately, hospitals took note of accidents that may happen, including electricity loss, so they prepared generators in every hospital.
Reila placed both her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her hands and stared vacantly. Her mind started to went adrift. The combination of coffee and the noise of raindrops made her mind peaceful and tranquil.
As she was staring, lightning flashed at the front of the hospital and illuminated the outlines of the outside setting, and what she saw next made her dumbfounded: a human-like silhouette emerged at where the lightning struck.
A nurse passed by to request some documents but when she looked at Reila she was taken aback.
"Reila, are you okay? You look so pale. It's like you've seen a ghost or something," The nurse chuckled as she asked her half-jokingly.
Reila didn't move an inch.
The nurse followed her gaze, turning her head towards the hospital entrance. She saw nothing, just the fluorescent light which was beaconing the front area of the hospital.
And out of the darkness, a lady appeared. Her clothes were completely wet, and she was clasping her hands in front of her mouth.
She stood there, staring back at the 2 nurses.
Unlike Reila, the nurse that was in the front of her wasn't scared on what she saw. Instead, she walked towards the lady and noticed her bulging stomach.
"Reila! Come, quick!" The nurse called Reila while looking at the stranger.
Reila snapped out of her daze and briskly walked. She gathered her courage and opened the glass door. By then, she noticed the stomach of the lady.
"She's pregnant and about to give birth! We need to bring her to the emergency room, STAT¹!" Reila yelled at the top of her lungs, letting others know of the situation. She went beside the lady to assist her and at the same time inspected her body to check if there were any injuries.
The doctor that was dozing off quickly jumped in his seat when he heard Reila shouted. He quickly understood the situation. He sprinted towards the entrance and ordered the other nurses, "Prepare the needed pieces of equipment in the E.R., also inform the midwifery section of the situation."
.....
In the E.R., the lady was giving out a deafening shriek. She was exerting both her mental and physical strength.
"Breathe. Breathe. Take a deep breathe and push." The midwife instructed her while some nurses comforted the lady.
After some time, the delivery was successful.
After cleaning the baby, all the medical staffs in the room were confused. The baby had an ash-grey hair and the same hue in its eyes, which was uncommon for a person to be born with. A normal person's hair pigment ranges from brown to black, blonde, and red. Hair colouration is a norm in today's era but being born with a different hair colour meant something abnormal. It wasn't albinism either.
"Why is the baby not crying?" A nurse quickly asked and looked at the mother of the baby who was slowly losing consciousness due to all the stress and pain.
The lady slowly lifted her right hand and whispered, "Lev."
The moment she said that name, her hand immediately dropped and a beeping noise came out of the machine, indicating that her heartbeat was failing. She closed her eyes and breathed out her last breath.
The doctor and nurses quickly shifted their attention towards the patient. They hurriedly tried to revive her using the defibrillator, but all their efforts went in vain.
"Time of death, 3:03 a.m., October 13, 2010. Friday." The doctor looked at his watch with a depressed face.
It was not just the doctor but all the people in there were disheartened, making the room silent and eerie.
The midwife that was cradling the baby broke the silence and spoke with a modulated voice, "The baby is faintly breathing.
"But what's weirder is that this baby didn't cry. I'll go check it up if there are any abnormalities in his vital signs." The midwife left the room while the doctor and nurses paid no attention to what the midwife said.
The reason why they were at that miserable state was that they failed to do their only job: to save the patient's life. Moments like these made them question themselves if they were capable to uphold the oath that they made before they became a healthcare worker. An oath where they promised to do their very best to save lives. But what if their best wasn't enough?
The doctor, who had his face down, slightly opened his mouth and asked, "What was the baby's time of birth?"
The nurses swiftly swept their gaze at each other, hoping that someone would answer the question. It wasn't because they didn't know what was the time of birth, but they were rather afraid of giving him the answer.
The doctor lifted his head and noticed the anomaly between the nurses. He understood what it meant. He didn't believe in things such as superstitions but the abnormality that he witnessed from the baby made him admit the possibility that things such as those may be true.
"I see. That explains the hair colour of the baby. Being born in the devil's hour, on the devil's day and the devil's number... That baby might be cursed, or unlucky. Worse, it may be both."
STAT — common medical abbreviation for urgent/rush. From the Latin word statum, meaning 'immediately.'