After signing a contract on the table that's dirtied with my blood, I'm hired, I moved to another city and rented a small humble apartment that's walking distance from my workplace.
I wrote a letter to my mom on the very first day I arrived, updating her on my situation and understanding hers. She should be doing just fine, with the burden of me alleviated, she was able to support herself and enjoy life.
My workplace is...very unexpected. I'm inexperienced, but I'm pretty sure a surgeon's assistant should not be working in a shady block like this.
The bottom floor of this block isn't even a hospital of any kind, it looks more like a massive car mechanics shop with all the tires on display and equipments related to vehicles.
But this is definitely the place, the man in a the black coat was waving at me from the stairwell inside the block, gesturing me to come.
"This...is the place?"
"Yeah, you're ridiculously early, go upstairs, someone will tell you what to do."
I came really early because well, it's a very fancy job, I don't want to make a bad impression, call it paranoia.
As instructed, I went upstairs and indeed, it's an operating theater, far cleaner than downstairs, still not as pristine as I would've thought it'd be.
"Ah, new guy?" Someone sitting at the corner called out to me, he also looked ridiculously young and inexperienced like me, what is this company?
"Honestly I don't even know why they hired you, me and Eden was more than enough, our job is outrageously simple. But hey, you're getting paid, why not right?" He said with a friendly smile.
I don't experience that often, someone being genuinely friendly to me.
"This feels...shady." I expressed my concerns on this job.
"That's because it is dude, but we ain't here to ask questions."
"What if it's illegal work? That would explain this odd location and unusually high salary, it also explained why they're hiring high school dropouts."
"Shit you're a dropout too new guy? Well too bad, you didn't read the contract thoroughly."
"Huh?"
Don't tell me I actually signed an NDA without knowing.
"You signed an NDA bro."
Fuck.
"Stands for non-disclosure agreement in case you're not aware. Don't worry about, they hid it really well, I fell for it too. Listen new guy, I've been working for a year, all I've received is pay, I'm sure it's fine alright?"
Well still...I could be breaking the law right now can't I? This is some really suspicious stuff man.
I wanted to quit just because of how suspicious this job is, but listening to the guy in front of me talking, it seems it's easy money. I thought even if I a breaking the law here, as long as I make a living, I'm fine with it.
It's better than ending my life after all.
"Can't quit by the way, they also hid that in the contract."
What?!
"Why do you seem so relaxed about it?" I inquired him, who seems care-free despite being scammed like me by a contract.
"Because I'm getting paid outrageously good bro. Trust me new guy, I was like you when I first started, I considered killing the manager and leaving, but after a while I realised, damn, nothing's happening actually."
Sounds...ok?
"I don't wanna call you new guy and I certainly don't want you calling me old guy. I'm Eric, what's your name?"
"Jasper...are you sure it's okay?"
"It's fine broo, it's easy money trust me."
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen, you don't look a year older than that either, I'm gonna guess eighteen?"
I nodded. Still, I'm incredibly anxious right now.
"You're ridiculously early you know that? I'm just early because I ain't got nothing else to do."
"Same here...so uh..."
"Oh right, the job. It's very simple, it's not something for me to teach though, you just follow the surgeon's instructions."
"Um...uh..." Well that's not a lot of information you're giving me Eric...
"The internship thing manager said doesn't exist by the way, it literally just means the days where you have no idea what you should do, you'll get the hang of it with time."
"Who's the surgeon?"
"Damn, that's a good question, I worked with that guy a whole year and I don't even know, just ask Sarah I guess, she's been here 4 years, she'll arrive soon. Take a seat bro."
Though I'm anxious, I feel I should appreciate Eric's presence here. Not a lot of people has been this nice and talkative with me, so it felt great, it made me feel less uneasy as our conversation about our pasts goes on until Sarah walks in with the surgeon, another teenager.
"No job yet. You the new guy?" She turned to me.
"Uh, yea, Jasper."
"I'm Sarah, this is our superior, the surgeon himself."
"He never talks! I don't know why." Eric says while wrapping his arm around the surgeon's shoulders. The surgeon was unbothered by it, he equipped himself with a medical mask and synthetic rubber gloves while ignoring Eric.
"If he never talk, how do we follow his instructions?" I asked.
"Sarah translates." Eric points to Sarah, who nods in response.
"He instructs with hand gestures, I'm familiar with it."
"Been here a whole year and I still don't understand them not gonna lie." Eric releases his arm from the surgeon and prop it on Sarah's shoulders instead.
"Hands off me Eric."
"Ah man alright..."
Rings
An alarm bell on the wall rang for about five seconds.
"Shit, that's fast, that means a body's coming up." Eric told me.
"Mask and gloves this way, aprons hanging over there, follow me." Sarah instructed me.
What's brought up to us looked like a corpse, a man's body covered in blood and unconscious.
The surgeon checked his eyes, checked his breath, checked his vitals, then gave a few hand gestures.
"Jasper behind you, get the electric cardioversion, Eric, air."
"Oh ok." I hurriedly turned back and took the machine that Sarah pointed at next to the dying patient while the surgeon was performing CPR.
After one long operation, where most work is done by the surgeon, Sarah announced, "Alright, this one's done."
"What's that?" I asked pointing at the syringe the surgeon was using and injecting into the patient's arm.
"After the patient's heart rate and pulse rate is stable, AKA, alive, we inject a sedative into him to prevent him from waking, and send him off to the second location." Sarah explains, and Eric immediately follows, "Don't ask questions, we don't know why and they don't disclose why."
I am only all the more convinced I'm working for some crime organisation now. An operating theater, located above a car mechanics store and the three surgeon assistants are all teenagers.
What have I gotten myself into...why is my luck just always so rotten.
The saved patient with now standard vitals are sent downstairs again by a delivery team. After they leave, the man in the black coat enters.
"That's the manager." Eric whispers into my ears.
He only took a few glances at us, before sitting down in a corner idling on his phone.
"He does that, sort of like monitoring us." Eric whispers again.
"Why are you whispering?" Sarah asks.
"Well I don't know, aren't we supposed to be pressured when watched by the manager?"
"Eh? He literally does nothing every single time he's here and you're clear of that, you're just scaring the new guy."
"Oops, busted. My bad Jasper." He said while playfully punching my shoulder.
They seem cheerful enough, maybe it is indeed easy money. So what if I'm working something illegal?