Under Shadow

Harvey

"Suction."

The steady beeping of the heart monitor was a comforting sound - a constant reminder of the oath he took to save lives. And he was decent at it. Better than decent. He was good. Excellent. Outstanding. The words reflected on his many awards and certificates that hung in his office. He hated those things. It wasn't him. He would have stuffed them into a drawer if the hospital had let him. But no - he had to show them off proudly, to assure his patients that he was more than qualified to have their lives in his hands. He was a humble man who only wanted to do good. To bring family members together once more, even for just a little longer, because it was what they deserved. It was what he deserved. Just one more moment...

"Dr. Harvey."

He did not turn to the nurse. "Yes?"

"There seems to be a problem," the male voice said.

He pinched his lips together. "What?"

"The city..." The man hesitated. "The Shadow People are here."

Harvey felt his pulse race, but his steady hands continued to work, accustomed to working through panic and chaos.

But this was not a panic he was accustomed to.

The lights began to flicker and Harvey finally looked up from the body before him. The nurses murmured and looked to each other before turning to him for reassurance.

"What's happening out there?" Harvey asked, steadying his voice.

The lights went out. The equipment went silent. Harvey froze, his hands still in the delicate, exposed body.

"What's happening?" He shouted, growing anxious.

The male nurse spoke frantically on the phone. Harvey listened to the "uh-huh" and "mhms" as he withdrew his hands carefully.

"We need to close him up," Harvey instructed as the emergency lights came on. He turned to the heart monitor as it began to beep again, and then the pulse quickened.

"He's going into cardiac arrest," another nurse said quickly.

"Get me the paddles," Harvey instructed.

The emergency lights went out and the heart monitor ceased once more.

"Charge!" Harvey rubbed the defibrillator pads together as he watched the heart stop. "Clear!" He pressed the device pads around the fragile heart and delivered the shock. He watched the heart carefully, but it did not continue it's pulse.

"Five hundred," he demanded and repeated the process. "Clear!"

"Doctor," the nurse said, hanging up the phone. "We need to evacuate."

The heart began to pulse weakly. "Evacuate? Are you crazy? We have an open body here!" The heart stopped once more. "Shit," he muttered. "Charge!"

The nurse hesitated, looking to him and her coworker.

"I said charge, dammit!"

The device charged and the shock was sent, but the heart did not react.

"Doctor..."

"The Shadow People are here."

"Leave," Harvey hissed. "Evacuate."

"Doctor..."

"Call it."

"Time of death 16:32."

Harvey stared at the lifeless body in horror as the nurses began to hurry around him, leaving him along in the operating room. He finally started to recognize the screams throughout the hospital.