Episode 20

The sterile scent of Mountain West Medical Center did little to disguise the undercurrent of unease that clung to its halls. I was a patient there, a stark contrast to my usual role on the other side of the scrubs. It had been a routine procedure, or so I’d thought, until the night things took a turn for the truly spectral. I lay in bed, the rhythmic beep of monitors a dull counterpoint to the thrumming in my own chest, when I first felt it – a prickling sensation, as if unseen eyes were fixed upon me. My nurse’s aide, a kind man named David was tending to me, her movements gentle as she adjusted my pillows. We were mid-conversation, a quiet exchange about my recovery, when the air around us shifted. It grew heavy, charged with an energy that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

My Nurses Aide named David paused, his hand hovering over my blanket. "Did you feel that?" she whispered, her eyes wide. Before I could answer, the medical equipment beside my bed began to hum, a low, resonant vibration that seemed to emanate from the very metal. The IV pole, usually so stoic and still, swayed as if nudged by an invisible force. Then, the most unnerving thing happened. A faint, almost crystalline chattering filled the room, like tiny bells tinkling in the distance, growing steadily louder. It wasn’t coming from anywhere I could pinpoint. It was in the air, around us, pressing in. Davids face paled, his gaze darting around the room as if searching for an intruder.

Suddenly, my monitor flatlined. The insistent, terrifying wail of the alarm pierced the spectral sounds. Brenda gasped, her training kicking in as she frantically hit the call button. Doctors and nurses rushed in, a flurry of motion and urgent commands. They worked on me, their faces grim, the phantom chattering fading into the background noise of resuscitation. I remember a sensation of being pulled, a dizzying, disorienting descent, and then… nothing. When I finally came to, the familiar, yet jarring, environment of the University of Utah Medical Center surrounded me. The Mountain West experience had been too much for my fragile system. Later, when I was stable enough to speak, I recounted the bizarre occurrences to David confirmed it all, his voice still trembling, describing the swaying IV pole and the phantom chattering as if it were happening all over again. We both knew, with a certainty that transcended logic, that we had encountered something from beyond the veil.