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| Phin in the hallway of the unit in April, 2022 |
These occurrences, which we experienced while Phin was admitted, are apparently common in hospitals. Which is the likelier cause--the accumulation of many medical devices plugged in close together, each drawing current from the hospital grid and creating an electromagnetic field, or the presence of a supernatural being?
Opinions vary.
One of Phin's nurses who has since moved on (to another hospital, not from the Earth) told me, in hushed tones, that "the ghost" was encountered most frequently in the room typically assigned to Phin. This nurse also recalled some of the strange happenings attributed to the presence of this spirit: malfunctioning equipment, tripped sensors on medical devices, the room's automatic paper towel dispenser activating without warning. I confirmed that we had also seen some of those things happen during our months-long stay in that room.
"That would be the ghost," the nurse said, nodding.
From this and other interviews I gleaned that no one has ever actually seen or heard the ghost, as its ability to interact with the physical world appeared to be limited to interfering with electronics. Most of those to whom I spoke stopped short of speculating whose ghost it might be.
I was grateful for that.
These kids--the cancer patients staying in the pediatric oncology unit--already find themselves restricted, unable to leave their room, the building, the hospital complex. To think that a child's life would end in that place and that even then their spirit still would not be allowed to leave...
And what of the parents? Imagine an inner voice whispering, No, Mr. __________, you may have buried your child, but their spirit remains right here in their hospital room, where you are no longer allowed to go. You have lost them. Twice.
We saw and felt things we could not explain while Phin was admitted, it's true. I choose to believe there must be a rational explanation for them.
The alternative is too ghoulish to bear.
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