The Hospital Check-In

Laying down in an old hospital bed is the formerly fainted Chase Houston. He is currently sleeping peacefully but he has not woken up in the past day and a half. Sitting across from him is a nurse who looked to be calming herself down after being formerly panicked. She looks over at a shadow she sees through the door window followed by a slow knock. 

Nurse: Coming...! Wait one second! 

The Nurse opens the door to see Urogen who looks like he hasn’t shaved in two days. She then walks back to her chair and Urogen follows. 

Urogen: Hey there. How’s he doing? 

Nurse: He’s alright. He’s doing better than I expected for someone who... you know? 

Urogen: Yeah his fear of blood has ended his whole career. Even though I only heard his story in the pub after it happened, I can imagine he was a lot less depressed before his procedure. 

Nurse: Yeah... 

Urogen and the Nurse exchanged saddened looks. Urogen thought about what the guy in the purple suit said earlier this week. Could the guy that Chase saved at the pub really be a ghoul? Urogen pulls out the flip-phone and opens it up to see one contact without a name. He also checks the time to be twelve in the morning. He has to go into work soon. The nurse glances over at Urogen’s flip-phone. The nurse lets out a slow exhale. 

Nurse: We expect him to wake up any second now. 

Urogen: That’s… good. I have to go to work now. Can you give me a call if he wakes up Ella? 

Ella: Of course-- also can you not tell Chase it was me who looked after him. 

Ella stands up and brushes off her pants. 

Urogen: Yeah absolutely, talk to you later. 

Ella: I’ll call you soon. 

Urogen walks out of the room and Ella follows behind. The smell of alcohol cleaners fades away.

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??????: Hey, I'm sorry for calling you out here during these rough times, we've been short on staff.

Urogen: No, no it's alright I don't mind coming out here. It doesn't make a difference in my life so it's fine.

Urogen walks over and into the bar.

Urogen: Anyways, Nathan, what did you come to talk to me about?

Nathan: Come on don't give me that, I'm just making sure you're doing well. Employers' mental health is a part of a boss's job as well.

Urogen: There's no need to worry about me, I was a bit shaken up when that... dude walked in but it's alright.

Nathan: Have you heard the news today? The missing person number was raised to 47.

Urogen: Forty-seven people... I hope they're okay.

Urogen feels for the flip phone in his pocket then takes his hand out.

Nathan: Yeah, be safe if you are going out later, we can't afford to lose more staff.

Urogen: Ah don't worry about me I'm fine.

Nathan: Alright, I have to go back to my home now, my and my wife are painting the living room this weekend and I need to go back to make sure she didn't mess up.

Urogen: Huh? Okay see you later, boss, tell Miru I said hi.

Nathan walks out of the Village Pub with one earbud in and hums an unfamiliar tune with his hands in his pockets.

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Urogen: Sir, I think you've had enough.

Unknown Customer: Just give me one more goddammit!

Urogen: Sir, it's past closing time let me drive you home.

Unknown Customer: JUST ONE MORE! HURRY UP! It's gonna get too dark to drive home.

Urogen: Sir, do you have any kids or grandkids that can pick you up.

Unknown Customer: STACY! COME HOME DEAR!

Urogen: SIR! Calm down and walk with me slowly. I'll get you a water, just sip it slowly in the back of my car. 

Unknown Customer: Alright, fuck.

Urogen drives the old customer to their small home in the countryside. 

"It's quiet"

Not in an eerie way, but a nice breath of solitude. Urogen slows down pulls out his mobile phone and looks through his messages.

"Ill take care of him, don't worry I'll get him back on his feet." "Friday at 11:46 p.m."

"Call me already"

Urogen continues on the road when he encounters a lone man carrying a disk. He slowly drives up to him and rolls his windows down.

Urogen: Hey man, it's getting pretty late if you need a drive home I can be your chauffeur. I don't want you to be the next missing person, you know?

Man: Haha, I appreciate it but I don't think we have to worry about missing people anytime soon.

Urogen: Hm? Are you sure? It's no big deal for me I just dropped of some drunk old man. Compared to him you're no issue.

Man: I'm sure. Not many people would do what you're doing though, you're a nice guy. Most people are selfish and only care about their own safety. What if I was the reason for all those missing people? What would you do then? Of course, this is only hypothetical but the nicest people are usually either guilty and want to convince themselves they are a good person or stupid. In this society, if you care for others you are the one who will get harmed. Being too trusting can get you scammed or cheated, being too loving can leave you easily taken advantage of or hurt, and being too open-minded can coax others into believing lies and forgiving them. Of course, this shows our own human flaw rather than your flaw. Your judgment is morally right, to help those in need is what we as a community should focus on, but we don't. We constantly push each other down in order to give ourselves a boost. We tell people their beliefs are wrong because we don't agree with them. We group ourselves in communities based on nonsense like skin color and political parties to demonize everyone who is not in the same group. But where are these lines drawn? Are those who are mixed race black, white, or something else. Are Italians the same as the Danes even though they have different skin tones. There are humans of every color but somewhere along the line they stop becoming one race and become another. Middle-Easterns can be as white as white men and as dark as Indians but they are all inherently from the same place. Adding on to that, what are borders? Without physical barriers, borders would be undetectable. So why must we feel the need to group ourselves in countries and states and provinces? Do you think birds care about what country they fly into? Of course they don't! So why do humans do it? It's because it creates a sense of community. When a local sports team wins people in the area are happy. But the only connection they have to the team is the location. Swap that team with any random people and people would still be happy when they win and sad when they lose. It's an artificial feeling of treating ourselves as a member of the community. But notice how sports fans get mad at the team they lost to. Some fans get so mad they beat up fans of the other team which the team in their area lost the game to. But if that fan was born where the other team plays they would be celebrating with them. The same applies to countries. Wars are fought because both sides think of the other as not human and evil. We kill our own species because our country and their country don't agree on an issue. It's sick what we do to each other. All for self-gain do we push others down.

Urogen:...

Man: Oh I went on a little tangent there haha. I have to hurry up, it was fun talking to you.

Urogen:... 

The man walks away as Urogen puts his car in park.

"What was he on about, is that guy okay?"

Urogen pulls out his phone. He has to go the same direction as the man to get home but he doesn't want to cross his path again.

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Fifteen minutes have passed since the man started walking away and Urogen puts his car in drive. It was getting extremely late and he hadn't heard anything about Chase yet.

"Just let me get home already"

After driving for a while Urogen comes across two figures moving quickly. He turns his car so the high beams point right at the figures so he can understand what's happening. Urogen sees two men staring at him. The one who he just met, and the one who was known to him as a

"Ghoul"

The most intrusive thought in Urogens head. He reaches in his pocket with one hand and puts his hand on the wheel with the other. The man was carrying a huge bloody disk made up of what looks like human organs. It's purple, red, yellow, and pink, looking at it would make a normal person throw-up. The... ghoul... was currently unarmed but he has what looked like two different guns at his waist. His face portrayed an oozing amount of grimace.

Randy: Haha I knew we'd meet again!

Buro: You? From the bar? Thanks for the drink the other day but I'm afraid I must kill you now.

Urogen turns his car around and speeds away as the two familiar men follow.