A loud ringing noise echoed around the room causing Susan to spin around, letting the autopsy room door snap shut behind her. At first she thought that she had tripped some alarm system and she felt the urge to bolt for the door into the corridor. But before she could move, a pathology resident appeared out of another side door.
“Well, hello there,” said the resident to Susan as he walked over to the sink and picked up a distilled water irrigator. He smiled at Susan as he squirted water over a tray of slides he was staining. The color went from deep violet to clear. “Welcome to the path lab. You a med student?”
“Yes.” Susan forced a smile.
“We don’t see many med students this time of day . . « or night. Is there anything special we can do for you?”
“No, not really. I’m just looking around. I’m quite new here,” said Susan putting her hands in the pockets of her white coat, her pulse racing.
“Make yourself at home. There’s coffee in the office here if you’re interested.”
“No thanks,” said Susan walking back along the desk, aimlessly touching some of the slide boxes.
The resident added another amber stain to the tray of slides and reset the timer.
“Actually, maybe you could help me,” said Susan fingering a few slides on the table. “Several patients from Beard 6 expired today. I wondered if they’ve been … um …” Susan tried to think of the right word.
“What were the names?” asked the resident wiping his hands. “There’s a post going on right now.”
“Ferrer and Crawford.”
The resident walked over to a clipboard hanging from a nail on the wall.
“Hmmm … Crawford. That rings a bell. I think that was a medical examiner’s case. Here’s Ferrer … that’s a medical examiner’s case. And I was right, Crawford is too. They’re both medical examiner’s cases, but hold on.”
The resident walked quietly over to the doors into the autopsy room and banged one open with the palm of his hand. With his right hand holding the edge of the remaining closed door he leaned into the room beyond, his head just out of Susan’s view.
“Hey, Hamburger, what’s the name of the case you’re doing?”
There was a pause and a voice but Susan could not hear it.