Chapter 6: The Secret of the Morgue
“–And so, I asked them to open the lock on the basement floor during the late-night patrol.”
“For what reason?”
When she reported the situation to Kuroomi Otoya, who was hospitalized, he frowned and tilted his head.
After that, she negotiated through a young nurse to see if she could accompany her on the late-night patrol, but the answer she got was that the basement floor would be open to the public, so she could look around as she pleased.
No one wanted to accompany Houzuki on what she was doing. The basement floor was taboo at Tsukinashi Town General Hospital, and stepping in carelessly could be a reason to quit the hospital.
Houzuki also wanted to avoid forcing the nurses to quit their jobs. The nurses probably didn’t want to have to deal with any more problems with the basement floor, so the hospital gladly agreed to allow Houzuki to exorcise the ghost.
“That’s too dangerous. You know the basement floor of this hospital is on a completely different level?”
“It’s fine.”
The one who answered for Houzuki was Yuiru, who was swimming above Otoya’s head and showing off his graceful synchronized swimming.
“Although I wasn’t able to confirm the appearance of the certain someone who dropped the scalpel, I’ve eaten most of the ghost in the basement floor. All that’s left is the main dish.”
“Do you not care about putting Kasugadani in danger?”
Otoya glared at the silver-haired, red-eyed high school boy,
“Kasugadani is still a high school student.”
“What a coincidence, I’m a high school student too. Forever.”
“Don’t make excuses.”
“Koroomi-sensei.”
Houzuki stopped Otoya, who was about to attack Yuiru,
“I’m fine. Yuiru eats most of the ghosts that approach me, and that’s how I’ve managed to get by so far.”
“But,”
“I don’t have any relatives, so there’s no one to worry about.”
That’s right, Houzuki has no family.
The only entities that she can consider her family members are Aoyagi Towako and Yuiru who is taking advantage of Houzuki’s constitution to draw in ghosts. There is no one alive in this world who will worry for her safety.
That’s why, even slightly dangerous situations become manageable. She ends up thinking, “As long as I have Yuiru then there will be no problem.”
“……Sorry for making you say such a harsh thing.”
Houzuki shook her head at Otoya’s apologetic expression while saying sorry.
“It’s alright. My life is unexpectedly fun these days.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
As Houzuki smiles,
“Towako and the freeloader are staying with me so I’m having fun. As long as I have them both, I’m fine.”
“Hey, are you referring to me when you said freeloader? Don’t you think treating me as a freeloader is too harsh?”
“Are you okay going to the basement floor by yourself today? Can you settle it by yourself?”
“I was just kidding, I’m a freeloader.”
Yuiru immediately changed his mind, and Otoya gave a wry smile and said, “That sounds fun.”
☆
At night, the hospital was enveloped in an eerie atmosphere.
The bustle that was felt during the day had died down, and most of the patients were probably resting comfortably in their rooms. Houzuki also got permission from the nurses to kill time with Otoya, and it was at night that the real action begins.
They are exploring the basement floor. This time, they will see the true nature of the scalpel that fell into the morgue.
“Are you sure you’re okay alone…?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Houzuki nodded firmly in response to the young nurse’s worried question.
As Otoya is a patient, there’s no way she can let him move, so Houzuki is inevitably left to act alone.
Well, technically she isn’t alone. There is no problem as Houzuki is haunted by the silver-haired, red-eyed high school boy named Yuiru Enen, whose target is the ghost in the morgue. He has eaten most of the ghosts.
In fact, even now, he is eating all the ghosts that have flocked due to Houzuki’s peculiar constitution. After eating all those things, is there no limit to his stomach’s capacity?
“You don’t need to push yourself if things get dangerous, okay?”
“But the hospital wants to solve the problem with the basement floor, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
The young nurse looked away from Houzuki,
“But if you die, it’ll all be for nothing.”
“It’ll be fine.”
Houzuki smiled at the young nurse,
“I won’t die. I’ve been in a lot of similar situations before, so I’m used to it.”
“R-Really? Oh, then I’ll tell you what the head nurse told me.”
The young nurse lowered her voice and checked to see if there were any other patients or nurses around. Once she was sure there was no one there, she began to tell the story she had heard from the head nurse.
“Actually, there used to be hospital rooms on the basement floor as well.”
“Really?”
“They called it end-of-life care, and they moved patients who couldn’t be saved no matter how hard they tried. Patients with terminal cancer, patients with incurable diseases, all sorts of things.”
The young nurse frowned and said,
“In other words, the hospital abandoned the patients. Moving a patient to the basement floor was the same as killing them.”
Although the story is in the past, it’s nothing more than a dark secret from the hospital’s point of view.
Is it really OK for doctors and nurses, who are there to help patients, to abandon them? Even if the patient is on their last legs, why wouldn’t they do everything they can until the very end?
Well, there are probably other considerations to be made by the hospital, and after much consideration, they decided to move the patient to the basement floor. It must have been a difficult decision.
“One day, a patient committed suicide. He was a terminal cancer patient who was moved to the basement floor.”
The story takes a turn.
Looking up at the young nurse’s face, she has a pale face and seems to be hesitant to tell the punch line.
Having guessed what would come next, Houzuki waits for her to tell the truth herself.
“The room where the patient who committed suicide was is now the morgue.”
