Many people believe that hospitals are very 'dirty' places because many people have died in hospitals. There have also been many stories about strange and inexplicable incidents that happen in hospitals. If you don't believe me, just ask anyone you know who works in a hospital. I assure you they have plenty of creepy and bizarre tales to share. They may also share with you some of the strange practices that hospital staff adopt to avoid entanglement with 'the others'. below is the documentation of an event that actually happened in one of our local hospitals.
'I'll come and see you tomorrow,' David promised his wife, as he kissed her goodbye. After a twelve hour labour, Cheryl was too tired to do any other thing than to nod drowsily before losing herself to sleep. She had taken a quick look of her new son before being wheeled back to the ward. She was so exhausted that all she wanted to do was sleep, new mother status or otherwise. 'She needs the sleep,' David thought as he looked at her fondly. Gently tucking a few strands of stray hair into their proper place, he leaned forward and gave her another peck on her cheek. Then he drew the covers over her before he left the single ward quietly.
Before he went home to catch up on some much needed sleep, he went to the babies ward, hoping to catch another glimpse of his brand new son. It was still too early to say for sure whom the little fellow resembled; he looked like any other newborn, thought the objective father, half alien, half monkey. When David spotted his son in the banister, he smiled unconsciously. He did not realise that he was suffering from the New Father Syndrome, of which one symptom is to put on a silly grin at most times. His grin grew even larger as he suddenly realised that his son had quite a mop of straight, black hair. He felt proud because he knew that not all babies are born with hair, so he felt a sense of achievement that his son was one of the babies to have hair. And of course the hair should be straight, seeing as how both he and Cheryl had straight hair too. It would have been mighty upsetting and suspicious otherwise. (David was being irrational but it was the first day he was a father, so he could be forgiven)
He caught sight of the clock in the ward. It was already after eight! He had been standing there, in front of the glass panel, looking at his son and thinking silly thoughts unconsciously for more than half an hour. Suddenly, the day's events caught up with him and he felt his exhaustion keenly. He really should return home to shower and get a good night's sleep. 'I'll see you again tomorrow,' he mouthed silently to his sleeping son. Feeling a little foolish, he grinned once more before he turned and walked out of the hospital.
Back in the ward, Cheryl awoke suddenly in the night. She checked the digital time display counter and noted that it was twelve thirty in the morning. She lay back in bed. All vestiges of sleep gone, she wondered what had caused her to wake up. There was an indistinct memory of children's laughter, so she guessed she might have been dreaming. Which was quite probable. After all, having a baby is a drastic step that changes the parents lives in many fundamental ways. It would be no surprise if deep down, Cheryl was wondering how she would cope with her job and her baby.
having set her mind at ease, she settled down to get as comfortable as she could in the hospital bed and tried to return to sleep. It did not take her too long to reach slumber land. She had just gone through an excruciating labour on top of a nine month pregnancy. She was due for some rest. There it was again, an indistinct murmur of a child's giggle. Could it be one of the young patients wandering about at this late hour? If that were the case, then what were the staff doing? How could they allow a young child to wander around in the middle of the night, disturbing the rest of the patients?
Indignant, she tried to get out of bed but the soreness of her lower body reminded her that she had just delivered a baby less than 24 hours ago. Then she heard it again, a child laughing outside her ward, as if taunting her, asking her to come out to get him, if she could. Determined to give the fellow and the staff a piece of her mind, Cheryl ignored the discomfort of her own body. Walking in wide, open steps to avoid rubbing her thighs and sore vagina, she reached the door. She opened it just in time to see the back of a little girl running down the darkened corridor, vanishing into the darkness. As she took a step out to follow the child, a streak of pain seized her and she had to grab the door for support.
'Drat!' By the time she recovered, the child had disappeared completely. Still disgruntled, she returned to bed and rang for a nurse. A few minutes later, pretty young nurse came to her. 'You pressed the button, Ma'am?' 'Yes. There was a child just now, outside my ward, giggling away. Woke me up from my sleep. I think she's a patient of this hospital. I would like to know why she was walking about, unsupervised at this time of the night and disturbing other patients!' A queer uneasy look that Cheryl took for guilt flashed past the nurse's face. But she recovered quickly. 'Are you sure? I'll look into the matter but I assure you, Ma'am, that our hospital's policy is that no young patient is allowed to wander about by herself... or himself so late in the night. But Ma'am, ... Could you have been dreaming?'
'Of course not! I saw her with my own eyes. She was wearing a white hospital gown and had two ponytails. I think she was carrying some doll.' 'OK. I'll go and check but you try to get some sleep,' the nurse promised and tucked Cheryl back into bed. Cheryl was not completely satisfied. But the look on the nurse's face said that she would brook no further dissent for the night. Cheryl also felt too tired to argue. She had made her point. As long as there was no further disturbance in the night, she was prepared to let the matter rest. She lay back in bed, watched the nurse walk out of the room briskly and fell asleep before she realised it.
'What...' Cheryl mumbled as she was roused from sleep once more. Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she checked the time. It was just after three in the morning. 'What is it this time?' she thought to herself. 'This is just too much. A hospital is a place where patients are supposed to rest and recuperate. Yet I can't even get a decent night's sleep! What type of service...' Cheryl's fuming was distracted by a sound outside the room. It was a giggle, as if the owner of the giggle was involved in some conspiracy and did not want to give the game away. It was more than Cheryl could take. She got out of bed, ignored the soreness of her body and struggled to the door. A strange sight greeted her when she opened the door. A little girl around seven or eight, dressed in a patient's gown, was standing in front of her door. The little girl so thin that she was almost emasculated and her skin co translucent that Cheryl fancied she could see the blood flowing in the veins. Two lank ponytails hung limply over her shoulders.
'So you're the culprit,' Cheryl thought grimly. However, the little girl was not carrying a doll. She was carrying a real baby and judging from the look of it, it was a newborn and very likely premature too! Cheryl keep her abusive thoughts about the negligent staff of the hospital to herself and attended to the odd couple instead. The little girl was looking at her expectantly. 'Girl, you should be in bed at this time. And where did you get the baby from? You must be careful with the baby or you will hurt him. Is it a him or a her?' 'Him.' The girl replied in a calm, childishly high voice. 'His mummy doesn't want him, so I'm helping him to look for a new mummy. Auntie, will you be his new mummy?'
Amused by the little girl's strange request, Cheryl broke into a smile. 'Nonsense! Why would his mummy not want him? All parents in the world love and cherish their children, including this little tike's mummy and daddy, I'm sure. Now, tell me where you got him from so that we can return him to his parents.' The little girl's lips set into a stubborn line. 'his mummy doesn't want him. That's why he came to me for help. Will you be his mummy?' Cheryl sighed. She just did not feel up to the task of lecturing the girl. She asked, 'What's your name?' The little girl's thin face broke into a grin. revealing two missing front teeth. 'Mei,' she replied. 'Well, Mei, how long have you been here, in the hospital?' 'Don't know,' the thin shoulders heaved in a shrug, 'so long that I cannot remember.'
Cheryl's heart contracted as she surmised that Mei must have been suffering from some serious or chronic disease that led to her prolonged stay at the hospital. 'Even if you've stayed here for a very long time, and know the people and the rules and regulations very well, you shouldn't be walking about at such a late hour. not only are you disturbing other patients, but what if you were to slip or somehow injure yourself, who would come to your rescue? Moreover, who gave you the permission to carry the baby? What if you hurt the baby?' Mei's mouth turned down. 'I told you,' she reiterated, 'he came to me for help. He wanted to find a new mummy who will love him. Will you be his mummy?'
Cheryl was at her wit's end. Short of grabbing the obstinate little devil by the shoulders and giving her a good hard shake, she really did not know what to do. Much as her hand itched to do so, she rationalised that she better not. The girl was frail enough as it was. Cheryl did not want some nurse's or doctor's wrath falling upon her head. her next best course of action, she reasoned, was to wrest the baby from Mei's hands and to contact the staff and leave it to them to solve the problem. Hopefully, by then, she would be able to get some much needed rest. 'No, I don't want to be his mother. But why don't you give him to me? I will see to it that he gets back to his own mummy safely,' Cheryl put her hands forward to receive the infant, who was resting his head on Mei's shoulders, his head turned at an angle so that it seemed as if he too, was looking at her.
'No!' Mei retreated, clutching the baby even more tightly. 'I'll only give him to his new mummy . So do you want to be his mummy?' In exasperation, Cheryl nodded her head. she reasoned that a white lie to save a baby was forgivable; especially since all that she really wanted to do was to get back to bed, not to save babies by tricking little girls. 'You must say it,' Mei insisted, not realising how close she was to being shaken out of her senses, 'you must say that you want to be his mummy,' Rolling her eyes at the thought of the surreal conversation she was having with the stubborn chit at the witching hour, Cheryl gave in and uttered the required line. Only then would the little imp hand the bundle over. Then she smiled broadly and said, 'Good, now I'll have another new friend.' Before Cheryl had tome to ponder over this strange proclamation, she swivelled around and ran down the corridor.
She would have made a fine sprinter, for when Cheryl tried to see which direction she went, she had already disappeared. As Cheryl walked back to the bed, she examined the baby to make sure that it had not been hurt in Mei's little escapade. It was indeed a 'he' and he seemed fine, with no sign of injury on his small body. Still wondering how Mei could have spirited him out of the babies ward, Cheryl pressed the call button for the second time that night.Feeling exhausted after the incident with Mei, Cheryl leaned back against her pillow. Right before she dozed off, she realised that the infant had a tiny black mole on his right palm. She looked at him. he was staring at her with blazing, hungry eyes and (was it her imagination?) he was smiling at her. Nonsense, babies that young cannot smile...
The next morning, Cheryl awoke with a start. It took her a few seconds to recall the events of the previous night. She looked for the baby, worried that she might have crushed him in her sleep. But he was not around. The nurse must have come after I buzzed them and taken him away, Cheryl thought. Putting the matter out of her mind, Cheryl got out of bed to perform her daily ablutions. David might drop in on his way to work. As she shuffled out of the toilet, she saw that her breakfast had been served. The nurse was waiting for her. She was a different nurse. The one was middle aged and looked like she had served in the hospital for quite a number of years. Her nametag real Lynn Poh.
'Good morning, Mrs. Lim. Did you have a good night's rest?' 'No.' Lynn was taken aback by the patient's bluntness. Then her heart missed a skip as she realised that the imp must have struck again. Cheryl continued, 'There was a little girl who was walking around in the night. She woke me up once at midnight and another time after three. She was also carrying a young, live baby. How could your staff have allowed such thing to happen?' Lynn put her face down, trying to hide her expression from Cheryl who mistook her distress as guilt and felt a little remorseful for being so harsh. After all, it was not the nurse's fault, she was not on duty last night.
'So what happened?' asked Lynn. It had happened before, it had happened now and it would continue to happen again, until the little imp found peace and moved on to where she should. But she still got upset every time it happened, for the innocent child, and the innocent parents. The hardest past was not being able to own up, to explain to the bewildered parents. For the truth was not official and therefore, not true. 'So I took the baby from the girl and buzzed for one of the staff. But I fell asleep before she came. When I got up this morning, the baby was already gone. I guess whoever came last night must have put the baby back into his ward.' Lynn nodded her head and left. There was nothing else that could be done now.
Cheryl settled down and attacked her breakfast with gusto. she was finishing her breakfast when David entered the room. 'How's the new mummy feeling?' he asked as he kissed and presented her with a bouquet of champagne roses. 'Not too great. You wouldn't believe how crap this place is...' Just Cheryl was about to launch into a tirade about the inefficiencies of the hospital, Lynn came into the ward, pushing a baby boy who was wailing in a banister, with an air of resigned expectancy. 'It's time this little fellow is fed, Mrs. Lim. Do you want to try breastfeeding him now?'
Cheryl looked at David. He nodded. They had agreed that Tyson would be breastfeed for at least two full months. After that, it would all depend on Cheryl's schedule after she returned to work. So they might as well start now. Cheryl unbuttoned her pyjamas and cleaned her breasts. In the meantime, David went over to the banister to greet his son. 'Eh, nurse?' 'Yes, Mr. Lim?' 'I think you've brought us the wrong baby.' A sigh. 'What?' 'Look, I just sw my son yesterday and this baby is not him!'
Both mother and nurse hurried over to the banister. The nurse checked the identity tag on the infant's wrist. It read 'Baby Lim. Mother; Cheryl Foo'. 'I don't think there's mistake, Mr. Lim. The ID tag is placed around the baby's wrist immediately after birth and it is not removed till the baby is brought home. How could there have been a mistake?' 'I saw my own son yesterday. I know what he looks like and this is not my son! My son has thick, straight hair! This baby here has so little hair! He is not our son, right, Cheryl?'
Cheryl picked up the baby and carried it upright so that she could take a good look at him. Turning him one full round, she scrutinised him for a good while. Then she unfolded his right hand and saw the black mole in the palm before she hugged him close. Throwing David a puzzled look, she said, 'What are talking about, David? Of course he is our baby!' David looked at his wife incredulously. He did not see the frightened, knowing look on the nurse's face.He also did not know that Mei was right outside the door, eavesdropping on the happenings in the room. In her arms, she was carrying a baby boy with thick, straight hair.
'Of course not! I saw her with my own eyes. She was wearing a white hospital gown and had two ponytails. I think she was carrying some doll.' 'OK. I'll go and check but you try to get some sleep,' the nurse promised and tucked Cheryl back into bed. Cheryl was not completely satisfied. But the look on the nurse's face said that she would brook no further dissent for the night. Cheryl also felt too tired to argue. She had made her point. As long as there was no further disturbance in the night, she was prepared to let the matter rest. She lay back in bed, watched the nurse walk out of the room briskly and fell asleep before she realised it.
'What...' Cheryl mumbled as she was roused from sleep once more. Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she checked the time. It was just after three in the morning. 'What is it this time?' she thought to herself. 'This is just too much. A hospital is a place where patients are supposed to rest and recuperate. Yet I can't even get a decent night's sleep! What type of service...' Cheryl's fuming was distracted by a sound outside the room. It was a giggle, as if the owner of the giggle was involved in some conspiracy and did not want to give the game away. It was more than Cheryl could take. She got out of bed, ignored the soreness of her body and struggled to the door. A strange sight greeted her when she opened the door. A little girl around seven or eight, dressed in a patient's gown, was standing in front of her door. The little girl so thin that she was almost emasculated and her skin co translucent that Cheryl fancied she could see the blood flowing in the veins. Two lank ponytails hung limply over her shoulders.
'So you're the culprit,' Cheryl thought grimly. However, the little girl was not carrying a doll. She was carrying a real baby and judging from the look of it, it was a newborn and very likely premature too! Cheryl keep her abusive thoughts about the negligent staff of the hospital to herself and attended to the odd couple instead. The little girl was looking at her expectantly. 'Girl, you should be in bed at this time. And where did you get the baby from? You must be careful with the baby or you will hurt him. Is it a him or a her?' 'Him.' The girl replied in a calm, childishly high voice. 'His mummy doesn't want him, so I'm helping him to look for a new mummy. Auntie, will you be his new mummy?'
Amused by the little girl's strange request, Cheryl broke into a smile. 'Nonsense! Why would his mummy not want him? All parents in the world love and cherish their children, including this little tike's mummy and daddy, I'm sure. Now, tell me where you got him from so that we can return him to his parents.' The little girl's lips set into a stubborn line. 'his mummy doesn't want him. That's why he came to me for help. Will you be his mummy?' Cheryl sighed. She just did not feel up to the task of lecturing the girl. She asked, 'What's your name?' The little girl's thin face broke into a grin. revealing two missing front teeth. 'Mei,' she replied. 'Well, Mei, how long have you been here, in the hospital?' 'Don't know,' the thin shoulders heaved in a shrug, 'so long that I cannot remember.'
Cheryl's heart contracted as she surmised that Mei must have been suffering from some serious or chronic disease that led to her prolonged stay at the hospital. 'Even if you've stayed here for a very long time, and know the people and the rules and regulations very well, you shouldn't be walking about at such a late hour. not only are you disturbing other patients, but what if you were to slip or somehow injure yourself, who would come to your rescue? Moreover, who gave you the permission to carry the baby? What if you hurt the baby?' Mei's mouth turned down. 'I told you,' she reiterated, 'he came to me for help. He wanted to find a new mummy who will love him. Will you be his mummy?'
Cheryl was at her wit's end. Short of grabbing the obstinate little devil by the shoulders and giving her a good hard shake, she really did not know what to do. Much as her hand itched to do so, she rationalised that she better not. The girl was frail enough as it was. Cheryl did not want some nurse's or doctor's wrath falling upon her head. her next best course of action, she reasoned, was to wrest the baby from Mei's hands and to contact the staff and leave it to them to solve the problem. Hopefully, by then, she would be able to get some much needed rest. 'No, I don't want to be his mother. But why don't you give him to me? I will see to it that he gets back to his own mummy safely,' Cheryl put her hands forward to receive the infant, who was resting his head on Mei's shoulders, his head turned at an angle so that it seemed as if he too, was looking at her.
'No!' Mei retreated, clutching the baby even more tightly. 'I'll only give him to his new mummy . So do you want to be his mummy?' In exasperation, Cheryl nodded her head. she reasoned that a white lie to save a baby was forgivable; especially since all that she really wanted to do was to get back to bed, not to save babies by tricking little girls. 'You must say it,' Mei insisted, not realising how close she was to being shaken out of her senses, 'you must say that you want to be his mummy,' Rolling her eyes at the thought of the surreal conversation she was having with the stubborn chit at the witching hour, Cheryl gave in and uttered the required line. Only then would the little imp hand the bundle over. Then she smiled broadly and said, 'Good, now I'll have another new friend.' Before Cheryl had tome to ponder over this strange proclamation, she swivelled around and ran down the corridor.
She would have made a fine sprinter, for when Cheryl tried to see which direction she went, she had already disappeared. As Cheryl walked back to the bed, she examined the baby to make sure that it had not been hurt in Mei's little escapade. It was indeed a 'he' and he seemed fine, with no sign of injury on his small body. Still wondering how Mei could have spirited him out of the babies ward, Cheryl pressed the call button for the second time that night.Feeling exhausted after the incident with Mei, Cheryl leaned back against her pillow. Right before she dozed off, she realised that the infant had a tiny black mole on his right palm. She looked at him. he was staring at her with blazing, hungry eyes and (was it her imagination?) he was smiling at her. Nonsense, babies that young cannot smile...
The next morning, Cheryl awoke with a start. It took her a few seconds to recall the events of the previous night. She looked for the baby, worried that she might have crushed him in her sleep. But he was not around. The nurse must have come after I buzzed them and taken him away, Cheryl thought. Putting the matter out of her mind, Cheryl got out of bed to perform her daily ablutions. David might drop in on his way to work. As she shuffled out of the toilet, she saw that her breakfast had been served. The nurse was waiting for her. She was a different nurse. The one was middle aged and looked like she had served in the hospital for quite a number of years. Her nametag real Lynn Poh.
'Good morning, Mrs. Lim. Did you have a good night's rest?' 'No.' Lynn was taken aback by the patient's bluntness. Then her heart missed a skip as she realised that the imp must have struck again. Cheryl continued, 'There was a little girl who was walking around in the night. She woke me up once at midnight and another time after three. She was also carrying a young, live baby. How could your staff have allowed such thing to happen?' Lynn put her face down, trying to hide her expression from Cheryl who mistook her distress as guilt and felt a little remorseful for being so harsh. After all, it was not the nurse's fault, she was not on duty last night.
'So what happened?' asked Lynn. It had happened before, it had happened now and it would continue to happen again, until the little imp found peace and moved on to where she should. But she still got upset every time it happened, for the innocent child, and the innocent parents. The hardest past was not being able to own up, to explain to the bewildered parents. For the truth was not official and therefore, not true. 'So I took the baby from the girl and buzzed for one of the staff. But I fell asleep before she came. When I got up this morning, the baby was already gone. I guess whoever came last night must have put the baby back into his ward.' Lynn nodded her head and left. There was nothing else that could be done now.
Cheryl settled down and attacked her breakfast with gusto. she was finishing her breakfast when David entered the room. 'How's the new mummy feeling?' he asked as he kissed and presented her with a bouquet of champagne roses. 'Not too great. You wouldn't believe how crap this place is...' Just Cheryl was about to launch into a tirade about the inefficiencies of the hospital, Lynn came into the ward, pushing a baby boy who was wailing in a banister, with an air of resigned expectancy. 'It's time this little fellow is fed, Mrs. Lim. Do you want to try breastfeeding him now?'
Cheryl looked at David. He nodded. They had agreed that Tyson would be breastfeed for at least two full months. After that, it would all depend on Cheryl's schedule after she returned to work. So they might as well start now. Cheryl unbuttoned her pyjamas and cleaned her breasts. In the meantime, David went over to the banister to greet his son. 'Eh, nurse?' 'Yes, Mr. Lim?' 'I think you've brought us the wrong baby.' A sigh. 'What?' 'Look, I just sw my son yesterday and this baby is not him!'
Both mother and nurse hurried over to the banister. The nurse checked the identity tag on the infant's wrist. It read 'Baby Lim. Mother; Cheryl Foo'. 'I don't think there's mistake, Mr. Lim. The ID tag is placed around the baby's wrist immediately after birth and it is not removed till the baby is brought home. How could there have been a mistake?' 'I saw my own son yesterday. I know what he looks like and this is not my son! My son has thick, straight hair! This baby here has so little hair! He is not our son, right, Cheryl?'
Cheryl picked up the baby and carried it upright so that she could take a good look at him. Turning him one full round, she scrutinised him for a good while. Then she unfolded his right hand and saw the black mole in the palm before she hugged him close. Throwing David a puzzled look, she said, 'What are talking about, David? Of course he is our baby!' David looked at his wife incredulously. He did not see the frightened, knowing look on the nurse's face.He also did not know that Mei was right outside the door, eavesdropping on the happenings in the room. In her arms, she was carrying a baby boy with thick, straight hair.
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