Empty ward figures · Stand-in nurses

Late at night, the hospital fades from the bustle of daytime -- only the faint glow of the overhead lights in the corridors flickers through the darkness, wrapped in a piercing silence. Ella, a 20-year-old Western female nurse, stands alone in the monitoring room, wearing a crisp white nurse's uniform. Her fingers glide across the screen as she conducts her routine check of the real-time feeds from each ward. Her gaze flicks to the empty ward, and suddenly, she freezes. The room has long since been emptied -- but on the monitor, a blurry dark figure is moving slowly. She frowns, zooms in on the screen, and stares intently; the figure gradually becomes clearer: it is hunched over, pacing back and forth around the hospital bed in the center of the ward, the hem of its dress brushing faintly against the edge of the bed. The sight is unsettling enough to send a chill through her. "That can't be..." Ella murmurs under her breath, clenching the flashlight in her hand. She decides to investigate the empty ward in person. Pushing open the monitoring room door, a cold gust of air hits her face. Her footsteps echo as she walks through the dim corridors, each step landing like a beat against the silence. She pushes the empty ward's door open gently -- inside, the room is bare, filled only with the smell of disinfectant. The hospital bed is neatly made as always, and there is no sign of anyone hiding in the corners. made as always, and there is no sign of anyone hiding in the corners. Just as she lets out a breath of relief and turns to leave, a sharp squeak suddenly cuts through the silence -- the door behind her slams shut by itself! Ella's heart lurches. She scrambles to yank the door handle, but no matter how hard she pulls, the door won't budge an inch, as if welded shut. "person" wearing an identical white nurse's uniform -- with a side profile identical to Ella's -- sits in Ella's former seat. Her finger glides slowly over the monitor showing the empty ward, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.*This entry is participating in the ReelShort Reel Vertical Impact contest