By Alfred Odiakosa
I was not going to share the news with my boyfriend. . . not so sure he'd see it as news. I was called by the St. Mulumba's Hospital Human Resource person the day before.
"Hello good morning. . . this is St. Mulumba's Hospital. Am I speaking with Ms Akaedo Onwudinjo?", a melodious voice from the other end queried. "Yes you are. Good morning", I replied. "You have been appointed an Assistant Embalmer at the hospital's morgue, you're advised to pick your appointment letter and resume work by next week Monday. We anticipate working with you. Have a nice day", she ended the call.
It left me anxious and at the same time excited. My boyfriend, Jekwu had always asked about my future, having read Human Anatomy; he always frowned whenever I mentioned being a Mortician. It took me a lot of thoughts to confront whatever outcome the news of the employment would bring. When I finally broke the good or bad news to him, he wasn't happy but he reassured me he'd support me.
I have convinced myself that the morgue's atmosphere would be similar to that of the Cadaver room in school but coming to work on my first day, there were plenty of doubts. The morgue is a complex that has a reception and a waiting hall adjacent each other and a vast room down the hallway that is the main depository. Opposite the main depository is a smaller room with a tag boldly written in red VIP.
I haven't seen such a crowd of corpses in my life or my entire stay in school studying Human Anatomy. They were in various sizes, age brackets and skin hues. . . huge, small, elderly, young and even innocents, black, brown and fair. It looked like an assembly ground only that instead of people standing, they all laid motionless and that the arrangement is similar to that of wares in shelves in your regular store. Asides the fear of the multitude of the dead, there was this air filled with the stench of Formaldehyde that would force tears from your eyes even if you don't want to weep for the dead.
"Akaedo. . .after looking around the place, check the shift list in the waiting hall to know your shifts. And please remember to do proper introduction so you can familiarize with everyone", Mr. Ikpeama, the Morgue's Director instructed with a smile on his face. I wondered how he was able to smile.
On the waiting list, my name appeared thrice on the the list - all nightshifts; Thursday night would be my first shift.
On the D-Day or should I say D-Night, about less than thirty minutes after I resumed. A fresh corpse was brought in, they have filed the details and a tag bearing. . .Igwe Chinasa Stephanie, 27years. Sacred Heart Hospital - Died of Leukemia. . .
I removed the white linen and uncovered the corpse. A light skinned lady, pretty face and a physique that made me wonder why she had to go now.
"Stephanie, I will clean you up now. . . it's so sad you left here so early, I hope you find peace where you are now", I said as it's customary to say nice words to the dead before touching the body - it is a form of respect for human dignity which the person possessed before death.
She wasn't looking dead. . . it was as if she was in a deep sleep but there was no breath and the time of death was three hours ago. I was drawn to her beauty, as I held her right palm with my left palm. . . my body started shaking and streams of tears flowed down my cheeks. This time around it was not as a result of Formaldehyde but something inside of me.
I felt something clinging to my fingers, it was slowly getting tighter. . . I looked down - Stephanie fingers held mine! I screamed and dragged my fingers free of hers. I ran towards the door with a blurry vision and weakly legs; there, there was a figure blocking the doorway, I felt my weight collapse on my weakly legs.
"Akaedo, hope you're well now. . . what happened at the morgue happens to every dead person - it was RIGOR MORTIS setting in. You collapsed by the doorway in the hands of your colleague, Stanley who rushed in when he heard your screams. ", Mr. Ikpeama said.
"But. . .burh. . .
