The Visit

"Ever wonder why we hate the doctor? Why we postpone and postpone, until it's too late?"

Dr. Hadley had always been weird, but this was insane. I just stared at him as he poked the needle in my side.

"I think that it's because we cannot STAND the idea that someone has complete control over us. I think it belittles us, TEARS US APART, until there's nothing left. What if the serum I just injected you with destroyed your liver? Or stopped your heart? You wouldn't know until it's too late. Doctors look inside you, know more about you than you do! And we discover... things."

By now, he had used his tweezers to work on my vocal chords. I tried to scream, but found I was unable.

"So interesting, what we discover. Did you know that once I slit your throat, it takes exactly ten seconds? Though, this doesn't matter much now, does it?"

He pulled something out of my throat. The metal shone under the white lights, and I tried once more to scream.

"A bullet. Completely intact. Whoever shot this is very skillful."

I stared at him with as much disbelief as I could muster.

"I suppose it's strange, isn't it? Why does a mortician talk to his corpses? I think it's because I really don't have any friends. Well, we knew the bullet. Maybe the finger-printers can find something. Goodbye, Mayor. Hard to believe, I know, but I don't like this place."

With that, a mortician named Eric Hadley pushed the cold bed I lay on back into the wall, and left the room. It was time for a coffee break.