A Live

I awoke to the sound that many of us awake to every morning. It’s amazing how sleep, such a peaceful and beautiful state is destroyed by the piercing siren that pulls us unwillingly into the next day; at least that’s how I viewed it.  I wearily gazed at the aggressor of my dreamed state, “Christ”, I whispered, the clock read 4:15. Little did I know I was hours away from my impeding death.

I rose to my feet and glanced at my new surroundings; I had hastily left my home town of Orlando, Florida a few months ago for the fresh air and mountains of Upstate New York. I had recently finished Med. School and was about three months into my residency at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. My studio apartment was kept clean, but pitifully furnished. The white couch at the far corner of the room wasn’t in horrible shape, it wasn’t brand new either. The T.V placed in front of the couch was even drearier; the knobs used for turning to the next channel required quite a bit of effort to crank, the rabbit ears dropped to the sides bending downwards as if the Television was admitting defeat to time, it didn’t matter, I never used it anyways. And of course, the pathetic twin mattress lying on the floor I called a bed.  Perhaps the only “nice” item that stood out in the apartment was the Sony sound system, a house warming gift from my father, balancing on a small black table next to the couch. The kitchen was tidy, mostly due to lack of any dish and silver ware. I made my way through the dark to the bathroom, pressing play on the stereo as I passed; it’s amazing how routine things were already becoming.

I stared into the bathroom mirror; I wasn’t tall but I wasn’t short either, I was unhealthily skinny, maybe it was the diet of ramen, maybe it was the eighty hour work weeks, or maybe I had always looked like that. My Uncontrollable brown hair was a mess; I learned not to bother a long time ago.  My face was gaunt and had stubble from lack of a decent shave. I brushed my teeth and dressed, I looked back at the clock lying on the floor next to my mattress,” 4:50”.Like usual I had five minutes to spare. I shook my head and smiled to myself, “lack of change can cause that”.

My apartment was about a 20 minutes away from Crouse Hospital, a walk I dreaded in the exceedingly cold January weather.  Snow was beginning to fall as I locked the front door of my apartment; I took a deep breath of air and let out a heavy sigh, couple the cold with the sudden increase in murders over the past few months I tried to remind myself why I decided New York was an option. I began to make my way down the dark streets, steam rising from my breath, “I need to invest in a car” I thought to myself, “or at least a bike”. I was halfway down my street, when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, the primordial instinct that has been passed down for thousands of years that told warns us something’s wrong. I stopped and quickly glanced to my right, a lone figure was standing at the bus stop across the street staring at me. I relaxed a little, air flowing back in to my lungs, I had no idea I was holding my breath for so long. I decided to prove my instinctual fear wrong, “the bus doesn’t come until seven!” I shouted across the street. Nothing…, he stared back in silence, “o…k” I muttered under my breath. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up again, I wasn’t about to argue with my instincts again. I quickly turned, only to stop short; ten feet away directly in front of me stood what looked to be the stranger from the bus stop. “It couldn’t be”, I thought to myself, I quickly looked behind me, the bus stop stood empty A testament to my fears. I slowly turned back to face the stranger blocking my path, to my surprise, the sidewalk was empty. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, “I’ve got to get some more sleep”. I opened my eyes and the stranger was barely six inches from me staring into my face, mouth ajar.  He looked real enough; he was roughly the same height as me, his hair reminded of my own only much better kept. He could easily pass as a model, his jet black eyes and red lips stood out from his very pale skin. We stayed locked in this stare for what seemed an eternity. The strangers open mouth turned up wards into a smile, “are you a doctor?”

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