Please Don’t Leave Me; They Are Coming to Take Me Away

Confession by Anon

This did not happen to me but to my colleague whom I was on duty with at that time. The incident affected her so badly that she was given a week’s compassionate leave and subsequently went for a counseling session as recommended by HR.

An elderly patient who came in for a simple surgery, was brought to a ward to rest and kept under observation. 

At around 4 to 5 pm in the afternoon, she would keep pressing the call button and my colleague who attended to her looked flustered each time she went in and out of the ward. We didn't know what the reason was because my colleague did not share any information with us. Anyway, getting constant calls is not uncommon for us. 
 
Later on we learned that the patient had been complaining that she could see an old lady standing in the corner of the room. This old lady, that my colleague couldn’t see, was apparently telling the patient that her time was up and that she (the spirit) was here to take her away.

The patient was hysterical, of course, and despite the nurse placating her and saying that it was probably just the effects of the anesthetic, she was inconsolable.

This was a woman who was healthy with no drug allergies. She had come for a simple operation. Then she saw a ghost who said it was going to claim her life and by 9pm she was pronounced dead.

My colleague on her part was inconsolable because she felt directly responsible for her death. From a medical perspective, there was a small window of possibility that could explain the tragedy, but as experienced nurses, we know this sort of unnatural death will be conveniently explained away, because, in all honesty, what else could we write in our report? The hantu had taken her? I would lose my job.

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