Roses in the Hospital

by McKenna
(United States)

With shaking hands, I placed the needle back in its sheath, feeling my body temperature decrease as the chills of what I had just done caught up with me.

I opened my mouth to speak, with only a whimper at first. I readied myself, closed my eyes, and spoke, successfully this time, "Sir, I-It's done." My tone confirmed that any more out of me would leave me a bawling mess on the floor. I had signed up for a slot working in a hospital, yes, but not for this.

"Whatever are you speaking of, Miss Rose?" My boss smiled down cruelly at me, a dark bemusement glittering within his irises. He found amusement in my fear, but I would not let him ask of me an explanation that he knew absurdly well. Not now.

I managed to open my eyes and glare at him with the small control I still had left of myself, and focused on putting one foot in front of another out the door without another word.

He grabbed my wrist harshly before I could make two steps.

"Answer me" He demanded. I shook my head furtively, finding a new energy within myself, driven by fear. Fear of him, fear of the now lifeless body on the bed only a few inches away from my fingertips.

"He is dead," I concluded.