The Inmate

This experience happened almost a year ago. It was a Sunday and I was working on graveyard shift at a call center in Makati. My brother-in-law texted me at around 10PM and broke the news about my sister Karen who was still pregnant at that time. She was brought to this hospital in Manila and is already in labor.

After my shift ended at 2AM, I went straight to the hospital. I know it was a very popular maternity hospital and it is still today. At one point, I think a newspaper named it a "baby factory." Twenty percent of the babies born in Metro Manila are delivered at their maternity ward. Pregnant women opted to go there because the cost is cheaper than other hospitals.

When I arrived I somehow felt remorseful when I saw three mothers sharing one bed. This is my sister’s panganay but she and her husband haven't saved enough for a private hospital. They just graduated from college when my sister broke the news that she's 3 months pregnant.

The hospital was so crowded and the air was thick with the odor of poverty. I lacked sleep the day before and my blood pressure was high. (Before I left the office, I had a check-up with the clinic nurse and took Catapres twice.) My sight was blurry and my face was half-numbed. I had a hard time searching where my sister was.

I took rounds from ward to ward and got dizzy looking at numbers of pregnant women with tubes on them and their families by their side. The smell of disinfectant lulled me until I saw my brother-in-law standing outside the discharge patio, key-ing something at his cellphone. He saw me walking towards him.

"’Asan si Karen?" I asked him.

"Nagle-labor pa raw eh," he said.

"Ahh.." I replied and saw him going back to his texting. "Nakapagdala ka ba ng pera?" I prodded him again.

"Konti lang," he answered with a heavy face.

My brother-in-law said the doctor told him my sister needed a C-section. It costs 6K. He only brought 2K, enough for a normal delivery. I only have less than 500 on my wallet so told him I'll look around for an ATM to get more money. My face was still numbed when I left him.

I was walking past the corridor when I felt something heavy over my right shoulder like a hand. I immediately turned my head to my right side. There was nothing. I was alone and the rooms to my left were closed or abandoned. The lights were also dim. I could hear the whirr of the yellowed florescent lights. There were posters on the wall to my left. When I passed by one with a glass cover, I was shocked. I saw two reflections. One was mine and the other was a shadow of someone else.

I turned around again, patay-malisya, and just saw the darness that had swallowed the corridor where I entered. Kinilabutan ako. I heard my heartbeat racing. I walked faster looking straight ahead. I didn't want to take glances, I might see the images that I was already seeing in my head.

At last, I was out of that labyrinth. I saw some nurses in uniform, smoking and talking to each other. They were looking at me with questions in their eyes. I thought they were just surprised when they saw me coming because I emerged from the dark. I just smiled at them and asked them where the nearest ATM was.

"Samahan na namin kayo, ser?" one of them offered.

The other two: the fat girl was almost crushing the gay guy’s arm. He said, “Aray! Ano ba!”

"Hindi na lang. Thanks," I told them while waving my hand left and right. I went to the direction they had given me.

I found myself walking alone again. At the back of my mind, I was thinking that the nurses’ eyes were glued to me while I shrink away at their sight. Then I heard a Psssst. I didn't mind it. I assumed it was the swish of the wind or something. But when I heard it again Pssssssst.. it was louder now. I was patay-malisya again. Maybe someone was just having his laugh trip. But after a few second, something cold held my arm. I thought it was the male nurse who followed so I turned around. I was shocked. There was nobody at my back.

Finally, it sank in. I just had two ghost encounters that day. It wasn’t just a coincidence. I was so paranoid when I stepped in front of the ATM and took money from my savings.

When I went back to the discharge patio, my brother-in-law wasn’t there. So I texted him: Nasaan ka na? He replied he was already inside. The doctor had just delivered my sister’s baby.

I went inside and saw the male nurse who offered his help to me awhile back.

“Nakita n’yo, ser?” he queried.

Yes, I said.

“Nga pala, ser,” he pursued, “may nakasunod daw sa inyo kanina.”

“Ha?” I was lost for words.

He said the girl he’s with awhile back was sort of psychic. She saw someone tailing me when I went out of the hall. “Lalaki daw, ser. Matanda.”

Later I learned from him that that side of the hospital was once a part of a prison hospital. Back in 1951, it was rehabilitated and more buildings were added after a decade. They just renovated the old building and added some floors. I realized I was tailed by the ghost of a dead prisoner.

“Samahan ko na kayo, ser,” he presented again. “Sa’n po ba kayo?”

“Sige na nga. Baka nakasunod pa sa ‘kin ‘yung multo,” I joked. We laughed at my embarrassment.

When I saw my brother-in-law, I just smiled and congratulated him. My sister gave birth to a baby boy. Whenever I tell my friends about this story, they always fall silent when I ended it.