"My name is Joe. I work at a hospital and a lot goes on at it, but there's one time that really disturbs me the most."
"My whole life, I studied to become a doctor. I did pretty well and I was qualified to nurse at one of the best hospitals there was. I would start at the bottom and work my way up until I became a full fledge doctor. It wasn't easy, but I found ways to make it work. What I didn't like was taking a night shift, but I didn't have much choice in that."
Joe always wanted to be a doctor. With his brain and dedication, he soon was able to work at one of the best hospitals. From there, he worked his way up until he was able to become an official doctor.
"One day, we had a woman giving birth, but there was some complications. First, the woman passed away after giving birth. Second, the baby was premature. That meant he was small and underweight, so it was moved the NICU. The father, understandably, was upset and just wanted to take their child home. The doctor in charge said that it wasn't a good idea. The newborn baby needed immediate care and it wasn't safe to move it just yet."
When you work at a hospital, you're bound to run into come complications and dreadful matters. A woman passing away after giving birth to a premature baby was one of those things. That was tough for Joe to hear, but there wasn't much the doctors could do for her. They just had to focus on saving the baby despite how much the father just wanted to take his new son home.
"Then, the night shift came around for me. It wasn't easy, but I had a couple others keeping me company and helped me out during that shift. A fellow nurse and myself were just relaxing when we spotted the doctor in charge of the newborn baby head for the NICU. That was rather strange since he wasn't suppose to come back until morning."
As Joe and a fellow nurse tried to relax during the night shift, they spotted the doctor in charge of taking care of the newborn and found it weird for him to be there as late as it was.
"We stepped out to greet him and see if he needed anything, but he just ignored us and went to the NICU. That's when we realized that there might be some sort of emergency or urgent matter that needs our attention. As future doctors, we had to make sure all was well."
When they noticed the doctor didn't greet them back, Joe and the nurse worried that there was some sort of problem. That's why they hurried to see if they could help in anyway.
"The only patient in the NICU was the newborn baby, so the doctor went straight there. We just stood by and watched for it seemed like there was nothing too out of the ordinary. In fact the worst was that the nasal tube wasn't placed in properly. That's when the weird behavior started."
Watching what the doctor was doing closely, the doctor made sure the baby was doing well. That's normal of a doctor, but here's where it gets weird.
"What he did next was lift the baby in his arms and was trembling like he was trying to cry. I even saw a couple tears. That was unusual for a doctor. I was beginning to get this odd feeling. It was like something was telling me he was just going to take the baby and run. That would be dangerous for the baby's health. Just as I was about to say something to him, he put the baby back and just ran off through the other exit."
After seeing the doctor get emotional towards that baby, Joe thought it was rather strange of him. Joe could tell something was wrong, but he didn't get the chance to do anything. The doctor just put the newborn back and ran off.
"The nurse and I made sure the newborn baby was properly taken care of. Thankfully, it was. Still, it was rather strange for a doctor to act in such a way."
...
The Next Day
"When morning came around, just as my shift was going to end, the doctor came back to NICU. He was acting like his normal self again, but he asked something strange."
"How's that newborn doing? Did it make it through the night okay?" The doctor asked.
"Of course. Doctor, didn't you see that when you were here last night?" Joe asked.
The doctor came back again just as Joe was going to leave and he acted normal, but what he asked was weird considering what happened last night. Both Joe and the doctor seemed rather puzzled.
"I told him what happened last night and the nurse helped me since she saw it too, but the doctor claimed he never came in last night. He said he was home with his wife all night. That made me a little sick to my stomach. We all checked again to make sure the baby was okay, but we couldn't find anything wrong. Despite all that, the baby still managed to become healthy. Even so, I can't stop thinking about what happened. Who did I see that night? What was he really trying to do with the baby? I remember my instincts were telling me that he might take the baby. If that's what he was going to do, thank goodness he didn't. That poor baby never would have made it if he did."
Joe still doesn't know who he saw that night. The truth is that it was actually the baby's father and was somehow able to look like the doctor. He was planning to take his son home with him, but seeing his child like that made him realize that he had to leave his son at the hospital so it can live. If he hadn't done that, the poor thing would have been joining his mother a lot sooner than the father would have wanted.