Harry was signing some paperwork for the previous patient he treated yesterday, because he no longer needed treatment. It was this patient's first time at Terra Hospital and would most likely be his last, as his treatment was not that difficult. Now he just had to keep in touch with that patient to make sure nothing unusual was happening because of the surgery or because the treatment did not work.
Harry checked his e-mail.
"Weird. I told him to e-mail me how he was doing last night ad he hasn't sent anything."
Oh well. It's not likely that anything is going wrong anyway.
He was just about to continue working when–
"Harry! We have an emergency!"
Without questioning the situation, Harry listened to his assistant Pete and put his mask and gloves on, ready to begin an operation.
"Okay. What are the symptoms."
"The family said he hasn't eaten for a few days and that he has been feeling a pain in the right side of the lower abdomen. Today the pain was worse than ever, and he began experiencing extreme nausea and started vomiting. He fell unconscious about fifteen minutes ago at his home."
These symptoms sounded familiar for some reason. But Harold had no time to think about that.
"Appendicitis. He is lucky it isn't something worse. This surgery will be an appendectomy, we will be removing his appendix."
Harry began the operation immediately.
When all the necessary steps of the operation were finished, the final step was the only remaining one. The removal itself.
As Harold was carefully trying to remove the organ, his hand slipped. He suddenly heard a buzz sound.
"Damn it, I made a mistake."
Luckily, it was not a major one. None of the patient's other organs were damaged, and the surgery could continue properly.
This time, Harry removed the patient's appendix flawlessly.
Pete stitched up the wound that was made from the surgery. They placed the patient in the recovery room and waited for him to wake up.
Just as Harry finished his report on today's operation, Pete walked into his office and told him the patient woke up.
"Oh okay great. I have some things to tell him so I'll go talk to him." Harry told Pete
"Sorry, sir, but Theodore insisted on leaving. He said to call him at 548-246-1943 if there was anything important."
Harold was angered by Pete's words, and confused. How can he just leave after getting a surgery like that? That doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't he be in pain? I imagine it would even cost him a little bit of trouble to stand up after that operation.
"Who picked him up from the hospital?" Asked Harry, with a frustrated look in his eyes. It was likely that nothing would go wrong, but Harold had to make sure.
"An unknown family member. The boss said it was okay." Pete claimed.
Harold could barely contain his inner rage. How could they just let a patient leave without letting him check them up first?
Then he felt something. Something other than rage. A familiar feeling. Or rather, a feeling that the feelings he was feeling were familiar.
Now that he thought about it, he recognized the patient's name.
It's probably nothing. Maybe he has had a patient with the same name before or something.
Harold grabbed his office phone and dialed the number 548-246-1943.
"Hello, is this Theodore Williams?"
"Yes, I presume this is Doctor Elmer?"
"That's correct. I am a little disappointed that you left without a check up. I was hoping to make sure everything was okay."
"Yes, I'm sorry, I had urgent matters to attend to. However, I am suffering from no symptoms whatsoever and I feel completely healed thanks to you."
"I understand, thank you. Please call this number between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. if there are any complications. Have a great night."
Harry quickly hung up before letting out a sigh of frustration.
Then, he heard Peter whisper something to himself. It took him a couple of seconds to process what he said, but when he did realize, he froze.
Peter whispered...
"I never told him Theodore's last name..." before turning his head around to look at Harry with wide open eyelids and sweat dripping down his face. He quickly turned away, but Harold noticed the expression of fear on Pete's face.
Now that Harry thought about it, he also dialed down the phone number without even looking at it. No, Pete never even wrote it down. He only said it once, and Harold remembered it number for number without even trying.
An ominous feeling took over Harold's body, and with shivers going down his spine, he gulped in fear and decided to look at the patients list he signs every day.
He went to the front office, and luckily Mary wasn't there. She must have been in the bathroom or something, but Harry didn't care. The receptionist was gone and he had a chance to look at the list of patients on the desk.
Each page was a different date and he had been working there for years. he only took four to six weeks off per year depending on how he and his family were feeling.
He looked through each one quickly, but carefully. It was so incredibly shocking he could barely handle it.
[Date] 3/14/2020 (Today)
[Doctor Name] Harold Elmer
[Patient Name] Theodore Williams
[Patient Contact Information] 548-246-1943
[signature] *Harold's Signature*
*Turns to next page*
[Date] 3/13/2020
[Doctor Name] Harold Elmer
[Patient Name] Theodore Williams
[Patient Contact Information] 548-246-1943
[signature] *Harold's Signature*
*Turns to next page*
[Date] 3/12/2020
[Doctor Name] Harold Elmer
[Patient Name] Theodore Williams
[Patient Contact Information] 548-246-1943
[signature] *Harold's Signature*
...
It was the same thing over and over again. The only thing changing was the date.
Has Harold been treating the same patient every single day for the past ten years?
Wait... No...
"2020" ????
What?
Harold was convinced he was hallucinating. The year is two-thousand-twenty? That's impossible! It's 2015!!
Harold desperately turned the pages until he got to the year 2015. He had to see what was on those pages.
The final page he turned to, or the first page that was written on, had the date:
6/14/2015
Every. Single. Page.
Had the same exact thing.