Hospital of Hell

Five

Scarlett

Annoyance is clear on my face as I trudge around the, once again, busy hospital.

There is never a calm day around here. There is never any peace, honestly just the opposite. Hectic and constant. Everyone runs around, never taking a break, jumping from room to room. It's a never ending cycle, and the burn out comes relatively fast in a twelve hour shift.

"Ms. Scarlett?" A young nursing assistant walks towards me, her eyes low with exhaustion. "The alarm for the safe baby box is going off," she motions her arm for me to follow her. My eyes widen just a bit as I ignore everyone else, continuing our journey towards the small box located at the back of the hospital.

We put in a safety feature about two years ago. Simply used for women who have been raped, abused, or simply don't want to have a child by a mafia member to have a safe place to drop off their newborns. We also have a program here specifically for those reasons. A woman can come here for free abortions and also have their entire birth paid for as long as they give up rights to their newborn if that is what they choose to do. When I first started we had more than a handful of woman that were hospitalized from botched at home abortions. Some were too shameful to come in, some were being forced to have their child.

This way it is safer for a woman that doesn't want to have a baby. We've had eleven babies placed in the box since it was put in two years ago, seven of those being from the last nine months. Word is traveling and it warms my heart that we can provide some type of safety for these vulnerable women.

Once we reach the small office, I bask in the silence of it all at first. No beeping machine, yelling doctors, or crying patients. Silence. I quickly type in my code, the alarm silencing. It doesn't make noise in the actual office; it just sends an alert to a few designated women in the hospital, so they are aware. We try and keep all attention away from this room. I swing the latch door open, smiling softly at the infant that is swaddled in a large wool blanket.

"Call the NICU, tell them we're bringing up a safe baby, please," I ask the girl with me, watching as she picks up one of the hospital phones. "Hello, beautiful," I hum, lightly picking up the sleeping baby. A note lays in her bundle of blanket. I open it as we start to walk out of the room.

'I love my baby. I love her enough to not put her through the hell I have been through dealing with her dad. He's going to kill me one day. I can't escape him, I can't run. But she can. She deserves the world. A world her mommy can't give her. Take care of her please.

I love you, Samira-Lynn.

- Mommy'

Tears burn the edges of my eyes as I fold the note back up, climbing into the elevator before clicking the button.

"Samira," I coo to her once her eyes are open. They're a bright brown, full of an untold life that she will be able to enjoy. I unfold the blanket a bit to check what bit of her skin I can, not seeing any trauma to her flesh. "Your mommy did the right thing," my smile doesn't falter as we head to the unit. A nurse meets me halfway, stripping the baby from my arms and rushing to have her examined. I hand another one the note.

With her back turned to me I watch the nurse walk away, Samira beginning to cry at the disrupting noises and lights. Maybe she's hungry. I'm not sure. I don't have any kids, I've never really been around babies. I'm not convinced I have the motherly-love needed for a child.

A sigh passes my lips as I thank the girl from earlier. We part ways and I'm forced to drag myself back to hell.

I spend the next two hours suturing up stab wounds, putting splints on broken limbs, and comforting family members once I inform them their loved ones are dead.