Stiff Corpse

Night Shift

Tok tok tok tok

Suddenly I heard the sound of the doctor's door being knocked. I lazily got up, opened my heavy eyes, stretched out my legs and hands. Then I sat on the edge of the bed and glanced at the watch. It's 6 in the afternoon, I fell asleep. Although the air of this room is not so cool, but not so hot as well. Plus a soft bed. If it's like this, I can go to bed in the morning. I am very satisfied with my PTT workplace, the jobdesk is light, the facilities are quite complete and comfortable. I think I've been here for a year.

"Sorry doc there's a patient." A young man opened my bedroom door, breaking my daydream.

"Oh. yes, mas.." I said a little surprised.

Because I was so busy daydreaming that I forgot to open the door. This man is the nurse Shift night, replacing Mr. Badrun who worked Shift this morning. His name was Joko, he introduced himself politely. Highlight her eyes were plain round, with a sloping nose and small lips complementing her lithe face. His short hair was neatly combed, with a small thin body. He stretched out his hand, timidly.

I call him Mas Joko because I think he's a little older than me. And just like Doctor Denny and Mr. Badrun, he is also a native of this village. We both left the room and went downstairs.

Looks like Doctor Denny and the other morning employees have been home since 2 p.m. Indeed, they were too old to keep watch for 12 hours, I had also predicted this. Mas Joko - as a night nurse - is assigned from 3pm to the next morning every day. Given the laboratory facilities are only available in the morning, –according to the explanation of Doctor Denny - this means that only the two of us are in this hospital until the morning.

I'm not surprised, that's how health facilities in remote areas that lack HR like this, sometimes there are no doctors who serve. Arriving downstairs I was greeted by several patients. Immediately I went into Doctor Denny's examination room, and began the ministry. It's okay even though my watch hasn't started yet, the patients I came to still serve, because that's our doctor's oath. Besides, tonight I can relax until morning when there are no patients.

Mas Joko is so clumsy. Many times I see him nervous while helping me check on patients. Maybe she just graduated from nursing school? No way, I feel that he is 5-6 years older than me. Presumably, Mas Joko was clumsy from birth. He sometimes looks wrong when giving drugs to patients, or doing injections. Because of anxiety, sometimes some patients I inject myself.

After the patient ended, Mas Joko breathed a sigh of relief, while saying Alhamdullillah. I laughed a little while following her words. Then he suddenly asked me a familiar conversation, as if he had known me for a long time. I don't mind, maybe that's how bumbling people interact. Besides, he was my partner last night, and for the next year, so I have to get used to it. I accepted his invitation to sit around and watch TV in the patient's waiting chair.

Both of my legs I thrust into the patient's waiting chair, then I lay my back on one of the pillars of this room that clashed with the silver long chair. Then I cheerfully opened my phone and played the game. I ignore Mas Joko who dariitadi chattering around unclear, telling about himself and this village. Really fun, if the "safe" of patients like this continues, I can play games until morning.

But it seems like it was just wishful thinking. At about 7pm, I suddenly heard the sound of several motorcycles coming from the front. Mas Joko and I, who were still watching TV, were flushed out. There were six people coming, some young men and women with frightened faces. They looked panicked, their faces were ambushed with fear as if they had seen a demon. One of the young men was seen crying while holding his stiffened female friend with white foam in his mouth.

"No one, sir..." The young man said sobbing.

Without a second thought I turned around, intending to head to the ER, to pick up the bed. But Joko's hand held my shoulder.

"S-It's dead from what time?!" joko said a little nervous.

The young people looked confused. So do I, why not immediately handling? I tried to talk to Mas Joko but she didn't seem to be poking.

"Hasshh...Already let's take it to the back" Mas Joko snorted annoyedly.

He then directed them all towards the left side of the puskesmas. I just gawked in confusion, watching them all leave me alone at the front door. I was confused as to whether I should take the ER bed or follow them. How was the patient pronounced dead? Why not check first? Where do you keep going? Too many questions raging in my head. I better follow them.

They all headed to the left side of the puskesmas building, precisely leading to an empty room with a glass door that I had come this morning. Mas Joko quickly opened the glass door and told them all to come in, including me. Then he directly faced the iron chain wooden door. Mas Joko took out a bunch of keys from her pocket, then opened the iron padlock. After the padlock was removed, he began to remove the iron chain that shackled the two leaves of the wooden door. After the chains came off, he hurriedly opened the wooden door. Instantly a strange smell pierced my nose, a strange scent that I knew well, a scent that I had once felt back when Young Doctor, this was the morgue!

After Mas Joko turned on the room lights, then I was completely sure. Does this puskesmas have their own morgue? There I saw three iron beds complete with drainage channels of liquid, to bathe the corpse, in the bottom corner of the bed. Soon Mas Joko and the young man put the corpse of his theme in one of the beds. It seemed like the other friends did not dare to enter the room, and they looked at me in surprise when I entered.

I was confused, I wanted to help Mas Joko, but I was still amazed. I didn't expect that the room I was about to enter this morning was the morgue. Then what's the reason this room is chained? My eyes scoured the room, I saw a box of Handscoen in an old wooden closet. I immediately took it and put it on, I was about to do a Body Visa. Shit, Visa again... Visa again...

"Later dok checked.." said Mas Joko interjected, when I was about to check the eyeballs of the corpse.

I frowned at Mas Joko who was busy positioning the body of the corpse. Mas Joko's face looked serious and tense. I myself looked confused, still unable to believe that this woman was dead. Actually I was about to check the condition of his pupils, and maybe a corpse bruise or some other sign of death. But Joko chased us out.

I had to follow what he told me, I didn't understand at all. And this strangeness increased when I walked out. Behind the two wooden doors there are old brown papers inscribed with Javanese script. The paper was stuck to the whole door, like someone was covering the door, what the hell. My hands could not help but feel curious to touch the papers, but Joko, again thwarted them. He held my hand, pulled me out of the room and immediately closed and chained the morgue back.

We then went back inside the puskesmas from the front door. I wanted to ask Mas Joko a lot of things, but not in front of them. These young men were seen being taken for granted when the corpse of a friend was put into the morgue, then locked tightly with a chain. They seem more relieved than ever. We all went into Doctor Denny's check room. Then Mas Joko immediately took a form paper from the drawer, and began to ask the chronological death of the young woman. Mas Joko seems to have gotten used to this. He didn't look nervous at all, not like that. I could only lean on the door of the check room while listening to the description of the young men of this village.

The woman died at about six this afternoon out of confusion, which I can clearly conclude. Not a drug overdose, but rather drinking insect fluids, according to his friends. There seemed to be a problem of romance, so the woman was desperate to chug a bottle of mosquito repellent in front of them while hanging out, crazy. But still, to ensure all this must be done a visa and analysis of fluid from the mouth of the corpse. Determine whether the liquid is mosquito repellent or not. Then the police have to be involved, we don't know if their story is true, what if the woman was forced to drink, or deliberately minimized. Those are the ideas that I have in mind, but it seems like Mas Joko's thinking is different.

After he finished filling the form, he let them all go home. Mas Joko and I drove them to the front door. My eyes frowned in wonder looking at the young men of this village. I wonder why a child as young as them could do such a terrible thing. Plus the smell of alcohol is thick from their shirts, even women too.

After observing them out of the puskesmas, I immediately set my gaze to Mas Joko. My eyes glared sharply, I could no longer stem my curiosity.

"Relax doc.. enter first. I explain everything..."