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Six
Another day, another dollar. Her night off had been short-lived but wonderful. After catching up with Pippa, getting to watch her fave show and eat greasy takeout, and make good on her daily ensoulment quota, she parked her hearse Morticia in the Arcadian Waters parking lot and went in for her shift with a spring in her step.
The only difference this time was, she was keeping Death close. If anyone decided they were going to seek him out and try to shuffle off their mortal coil, she wanted to be there to turn them around and send them back to bed. At least for the time being. He was right by her side as she slipped into the nurses’ station and took a seat silently in the waiting area.
“Thank God you’re here,” Dana sighed with relief.
Bunny’s brows pulled into a concerned line as she approached her colleague. “Why, what’s up?”
“We’ve had a bunch of residents come down with some weird illness.” Dana shook her head in disbelief. “Even the doctors don’t know what’s causing it.”
“What kind of illness?” Bunny felt her Spidey sense tingling, sure she knew exactly what Dana was going to say long before the words even left the woman’s mouth.
“Their eyes have gone all milky white,” the other nurse said, lifting her shoulders in a show of how weirded out she was. “Like the whole eye, including their irises and pupils. And they’re practically non-responsive.”
Bunny blinked, forcing herself to seem surprised about this new development. “Really?”
“Yeah, like… they’ve had lobotomies.” Dana pulled a face. “It’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s insane,” Bunny breathed, for lack of a more emphatic response.
“I know, poor things.” Dana shook her head again, going back to her notes. “They’re saying it might be some kind of extreme viral thing.”
“Wow. I hope they manage to get on top of it soon.”
“Mmhmm,” Dana murmured in agreement.
“What’s this?” Bunny pointed to a schedule entry on the computer screen that had caught her eye.
NOTAKON AIR—BETWEEN 9-11PM.
Aside from being in all caps, it was also highlighted bright yellow.
Dana diverted her attention. “Oh,” she said. “Some of the staff on day shift noticed a weird smell down in the low-care ward. They investigated but couldn’t find anything wrong. They think something might have gotten up into the AC venting and died.”
“Greeeeat,” Bunny drawled. As if it wasn’t bad enough they had their actual work to deal with, they were now going to be putting up with dead animal smell on top of everything else.
“Tell me about it,” Dana groaned. “I caught a whiff of it earlier and it was rancid.”
Bunny shuddered at the mere thought. “So, the AC guy is coming tonight?” She pulled a huh face. “I didn’t even know they provided a night service.”
“Neither did I,” Dana shrugged, “but Cerise was telling me that apparently this is their busiest time of year for this kind of call out. Guess they keep the days for installing new systems and whatnot.”
“Makes sense,” Bunny agreed.
“I’ve left my on-call number with the service company, so I’ll let him in when he gets here. Just wanted to keep you in the loop so you don’t…”
Dana petered off, making it obvious that she’d thought better about what she’d been about to say.
Bunny tossed a look at her coworker. “So, I don’t freak out seeing a weird guy in the building?”
“Sorry,” Dana said sheepishly. “Just trying to be considerate.”
“I appreciate it,” Bunny said, her tone a little kinder. “Thanks.” Her smartwatch beeped, and she shook her wrist to turn off the alarm. “I better start my rounds. See you in a bit?”
“I’ll be here,” Dana promised, adjusting her glasses as she turned back to the computer screen.
As far as rounds went, it was a pretty even keel. Nothing dreadfully strenuous—a few medications to dispense, a couple of wound dressings to change. Death seemed much happier to go along with her, so Bunny could go about her work knowing he wouldn’t touch any other old people who were due to pass into the great beyond. At least not on purpose.
