The Whispering Presence

“The patient in Room 9 died last night… but this morning, someone was still

calling the nurse button from inside.” I was doing volunteer work, delivering charts,

when I saw the red light above Room 9 blinking. The nurses were confused—no one

had been assigned to that room since the body was taken away. One nurse finally

sighed and said, “It’s just a malfunction.” She reset the panel. Five seconds later, the button lit up

again. This time, the monitor inside the room turned on by itself.

Heart rate: 41 BPM. But the bed was empty. I stepped inside to check,

even though every part of me screamed not to. The room was freezing. My breath came out