Shades of Black

Putting the white coat on, over black T shirt and jeans, while the nurse read: “Mrs W. In ward 6 needs her dressings changed. The boy downstairs is still complaining of headaches. You’ve got the two kidney transplants in recovery. The interns are in the kids ward . They’ll need more babysitting than the kids will. Oh, and there’s a new one in the corner room. Came in overnight. Don’t have any details”, his mind wandered. Hopefully it will be a routine day, and he’d be done by noon.

But it was not to be a routine day at all he realised. It was in fact his last day at the hospital. Finally he’d be finished forever. He was not cut out to be a doctor. He hated the hospital. He hated the people who worked in it and he hated the work itself. He’d finally mustered the wherewithal to resign. The words of the hospital director still resonated. “Change your mind now or you’ll never come back.” But he felt liberated. He wasn’t changing his mind. And he certainly had no intention of coming back. He headed for the corner room.

He examined the man lying in the bed. Sound asleep. They must have given him a sedative. Hopefully, it will last at least another hour or two, he thought. Unusual that the patient was wearing the same sort of black T shirt and jeans as he was. They should have put him into hospital gear, but he didn’t care. He picked up the clipboard at the foot of the bed. Odd. The whole top section was blank. Admitting physician: Blank. Time of admission: Blank. Presenting symptoms: Blank. Blank. Blank Everything: Blank. He continued. Patient Name: Not blank. James Black. His name. DoB: it couldn’t be, could it.... Then, below, in neat script: “Time of death 09:33”.

The voice of the director echoed inside his head. “Change your mind now or you’ll never come back”. He looked at his watch. It was 9:32.

___________________________

Written for Trifecta week forty seven using the word BLACK in the context:

"dressed in black"