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Weird Hospital Experience

 

I was working a few years ago in a very small hospital located on the Navajo Reservation. It was pretty old and very outdated, with only about 15 patient rooms arranged down two hallways in an "L" shaped fashion, and the nurse station was located the corner of where the lines of the 'L' met. At the end of one of the hallways were a pair of double doors leading to a more recent addition of the hospital, a surgical unit, no longer used. I never gave it much thought as my shifts were pretty busy and didn't have much time to do much else. After I had been there awhile though I decided I would take some time to check it out, because how many people get to explore old hospitals that are no longer in use, or at least a closed-off section?

So before I go any further I need to let you all know that I have never thought of myself as someone who has had any experiences with weird or paranormal stuff, other that what I had written in an earlier story, I've stayed in plenty of buildings considered to be haunted - never have seen anything, or maybe not open to it or just never put any credence to it because even if something strange happens I can always explain it away. So although I was curious going into that part of the hospital, the notion I would experience anything out of the ordinary was the furthest thing from my mind.

I opened the doors, which lead to an air lock, before going through a second set of doors leading into the surgical area itself. The surgical area was nothing very special, it basically consisted of on large room with a hallway towards the back and several other small rooms leading off from it. An assortment of old medical equipment had been retired to this space and other than cabinets and counter tops along the walls the unit was mostly empty. It wasn't unlike any other abandoned space, but it was a little too quiet and still in that lonely place. As I walked around and toward the hallway to check out the back rooms I suddenly just felt really - uncomfortable. Maybe it's how some would describe as that feeling of being watched. Not exactly how I felt, but what I really noticed is that the atmosphere had a weird heaviness to it that was beyond stifling. It was oppressive. I don't recall feeling like that before, so on an emotional level it really stood out for me.

I never made it to those back rooms. I just felt an overwhelming compulsion to leave, so I did. I think I must have been there no more than a few minutes.

So even though I never heard or saw anything it struck me as strange why I felt that way when there was no reason to.

The hospital had been considered to be creepy, if not outright haunted. Staff would report hearing things, disembodied voices, patients reported people coming in and out of their rooms during the night or would request a ward bed, so they could be in a room with other patients and not by themselves in a private room. Others would report raps on their windows (which logically could happen since they were on the ground floor). Personally the only "weird" thing to happen to me was having the automatic hand sanitizer go off by itself one time, again maybe a malfunction. I worked plenty of night shifts and never once got spooked, aside from what I've already written.

I never went back into the surgical wing aside from accompanying another staff needing to get something from there because she was too scared to go in by herself.

About 6 months went by and one day I was talking to someone who had worked there for many years and mentioned the surgical unit had been shut down about 6 years prior because a patient had gone in for a Cesarean section and had bled to death there on the unit. The surgeon and hospital was found at fault. I don't know if that had anything to do with why I had felt so apprehensive the time but I just know I never felt that way any other time. Not necessarily that spooky but certainly intriguing.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Desertmoon, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-02-02)
KikiGirl - maybe it's one of those things kids just do, so there might be a lot of similar stories. Yours is a lot more interesting as it seemed like the holder was being moved by something else and that it spelled out the word "shot" and the way the door slammed shut but wouldn't open. That's pretty scary stuff to happen to a kid. I wasn't scared because I never thought any of it was real. Maybe that kind of puts me in a bubble, versus people who will attribute any strange occurrence as something paranormal. For instance you're home alone and you hear a door slam shut. It's happened to me too many times to count. Usually it's in the summer and it happens when the windows are open, so I don't ever give it a second thought. (If they weren't then I would be a lot more unsettled). But someone else might freak and immediately think it's some kind of activity without thinking it through. But maybe someone might say "how do I know that it was (just the wind) " Because I know how cross breezes can change air pressure enough to slam doors, it's simple physics. And if one of those times it was not the wind, how would I know that anyway? Mostly because my senses, my intuition don't raise any alarm bells that something is "off." I mean I would like to think I would sense it, the way I felt the heaviness in that surgical wing. That felt totally different than anything else I've felt. It didn't feel normal so my senses told me something wasn't quite right. Even the time I saw the shadow of someone walking in our hallway (in my other story) I can't for sure, in my head, admit that it was a "ghost." To me it was an actual person because I could hear their steps but the rest just doesn't make sense I mean where did they go? I simply will never know for sure what I really saw and just leave it that way. So even though I readily believe other people's stories I discredit my own by trying to find a logical explanation.
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-30)
Desertmoon! 0MG! That is so SUPER weird of you to share when we are talking about how similar our theories are! When I was 12 exactly! My friend also, invited me to her house, only, she said she had a PSYCHIC-CIRCLE board! Which supposedly had nothing to do with quiji and darkness, in fact, it was the very opposite - it was of love and light and such was everything about it. I would've been convinced one of us was moving the eggholder (me, her or her little sister) but the way that the eggholder or whatever moved was Just S0 LIGHT! It just moved so incredibly differently then if somebody was actually moving it with their hand/s or finger/s. We asked the lady spirit how she died and she spelled out SH0T slowly which sounded a bit odd to me to answer the question "how did you die?" But, it was with effort from her side as it was slow and hangy. 0nce I realized she had met such a terrible end, I convinced the girls it was time to say G00DBYE. So we asked "can we leave? We'd like to say goodbye?" 0r something to that effect, to which the board replied "N0" straight out N0 hesitation. We asked a few more times but the reply was still the same - N0. We started freaking out, and as any little girls would do, starting from the youngest, lifted our fingers off the eggholder. I think I was last or second last to remove my finger, if I recollect correctly. As we did, the candles in the room went out and there was a gust of wind that shut the door, loudly. My friends little sister tried opening the door and she couldn't. Then my friend tried and we were panicking hey?! She also couldn't. Eventually, I managed to open the door. The next week at school my friend told me that her Dad had told her that the lady who lived in the house before them had shot herself. I also never had any further encounters... But... Now I am beginning to piece some stuff together. But, yes just like you, nothing happened to any one of us after that.
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-29)
Oh thank you KikiGirl! When I was eleven or twelve I was at a sleepover at a friend's house for her birthday and she had gotten a ouiji board, so of course we were all trying it out. I was convinced she was moving the plachette - at least I know I wasn't anyway. At one point we asked for a sign from the "spirit" we were supposedly communicating with and right then a gust of wind blew the window shade. The window was open so I didn't think anything of it, especially since I didn't believe for a second we had contacted anything and it was just a stupid coincidence. That was the only time I remember playing around with that kind of thing. Maybe other people claiming to have a lot of stuff happen to them experimented more, or tried messing around with the occult, which I knew you shouldn't ever try, because honestly there are just some things out there that we don't fully understand about the universe and other planes of existence. My mom had read a book about someone who got involved with it and had some horrible things happen to him. I was also raised Christian so I knew it was never a good thing to get involved with. Yes SA is a terribly long way from Arizona USA, but it's wonderful how folks from all over the world can share stories. Mysterious stuff happens everywhere no matter what country or continent one lives!
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-01-28)
Just a correction! - It was NEVER my idea! And, the person instigating it always never knew what they were talking about, or what to do if the situation turned sour.
Sorry!
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-01-28)
A karma point for Desertmoon!
I am a lot like you, I've just messed around just a little bit though. NEVER my idea and the person instigating it, always never knew what they were talking about or what to do I the situation turned sour.
I am also especially fond of the Warrens. In their latest movie, the way in which his wife managed to get the name and use it in time to help the family, her husband and clear the house showed true moxie and know-how! I cannot imagine what Mr. Warren was like, he just doesn't L00K like the type of guy who would be into this stuff and I don't know any guys like him at all. Sure! I know guys who know about this stuff, mostly, through experience but they really depict his character as a hero very gung-ho for taking out the rubbish and didn't falter a step out of that way of doing things.
Wish you lived in SA I would love to have a friend to do a weekend Super-Para-Bus! *Lol
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+2
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
KikiGirl - I guess you could say I have a fair weather interest in the paranormal. In other words I love to search for videos, photos, hear and read stories and books or watch accounts on cable. I would never dream of going on a ghost hunt, using a spirit board, or do anything to bring any negative energy or "open portals" by buying charms or citing incantations. Because I have no knowledge of such things I just don't go there. It just doesn't feel safe to me. At the same time knowing that something exists that we don't fully understand seems to merit more study, except I prefer to read about others stories who are willing to do the hardcore "studying' I'm too much of a wimp, so to me, famous demonologists like the Warren's, seem to do extremely risky stuff and I figure they know what the hell they are doing and know how to protect themselves. Long post but this is my take on it.
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
KikiGirl - I did read your story and left you a comment - it's a great read! Thank you!
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
Dreyk - Wow that is great insight - I would never have thought of a building as being meant to have a specific purpose energy-wise but I guess that would make sense in some ways. Maybe disappointment was the case because of that untapped potential. I just know I "felt" some kind of vibe I that I wasn't comfortable with so I didn't fight it, nor was I curious to find out more. As far as the unit being shut down, you are right about it being the "last straw", as I am certain that was the case. Without trying to reveal the location, the hospital had a history of poor management, misappropriation of funds and a number of physicians and other providers who came and went. While I didn't know the specifics most of what I had learned were whispered among long term employees while other information was common knowledge. I know management had been turned over several times and rumor was that several years earlier a lot of physicians had suddenly quit, so yes there was as lot of unprofessionalism going on, to put it lightly. I liked working there, though, and the history of the area fascinated me, as well as no shortage of ghost stories experienced and told to me by virtually everyone who had lived or worked there for any length of time (a lot of the houses the staff lived in were also reportedly haunted).
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
Desertmoon, if you'd like to read one of my own experiences which was pretty 'juicy' and 100% true - have a look at "The Boy Ghost - Can You Give Me A Ride?"
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
Desertmoon! Thank-you for getting to the point of us understand what and how you think about paranormal activity and sixth-sensing. Regards what you said, about, intuitively knowing there are things we should not mess around with or take for granted, I also, have not come across a person who has suffered severely, because of a paranormal encounter unless they did something they shouldn't. I am absolutely NOT saying that every attack is a "result of" a "fault" by a person, just that... If you are aware something is bad, like playing spirit boards, why would you do it?
I have made my slip-ups and bad decisions, and I was attacked and put a spell on, by a young witch. It made me do really awful things. In this case it was not my fault, but, I wonder how far her experience/s in life with the occult went before she too, took head of what-you-give-out, you will inevitably receive.

Dreyk! I was unaware of the building fact provided! I do think I have heard something like that before and I would like to read more about it.
Dreyk (9 stories) (27 posts)
+3
8 years ago (2017-01-23)
A surgical wing wouldn't close down because of a single incident. That's what malpractice insurance is for. More likely, the hospital had a longer history of malpractice that made them un-insurable. There's probably a much more dark history there than you were told. That incident may also have been the "final straw."

In Russia, there is a belief that buildings have a purpose and that purpose doesn't really change over time. A bank is always a bank, an office building is always that, and a hospital is always a hospital. If the purpose needs to change - the entire building is torn down. Some of the strange aura you experienced when entering that abandoned surgical wing, may have been disappointment. The missed potential from the combined energies of all the people who worked to build it, worked there, the community. All that potential, and now it sits empty... If the dead can haunt a place, certainly the living can as well. 😉
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-01-22)
Enlightened - I worked the nightshift at a fairly large hospital for a couple years and was always roaming around and going through endless corridors as the lab, radiology and the cafeteria was all the way on the other end. I admit I wondered how I would respond if I unexpectedly encountered a spirit or ghost coming around one of our many corners, but never saw, felt, heard anything (not that I wanted to!). That must have been terrifying to be pushed only to find no one was there!
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-22)
Enlightened - thank you so much - I have a few other stories to share, although a couple were not my experiences but from other family members. I wish I had more to offer everyone. I really enjoy reading about everyone else's experiences.
Enlightened1959 (8 stories) (118 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-22)
Desertmoon,

Nice read! I felt as if I was right there with you! I favorited you so I can read more of your articles if you make any and will check out your other stories.

By the way, I work in a medical building and when I have to work the night shift, I sometimes get a creepy feeling like I'm being watched. One night I went down to the first floor to get a drink from the vending machine and I felt as if someone gave me a stern shove forward as I was walking. I haven't been down there since.

Thanks for sharing!
Desertmoon (4 stories) (23 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-22)
KikiGirl - Thank you for your kind words. I think many of us sense things we can't explain, which either may be outside of our 5 senses or part of them, albiet so subtley we receive input that we are not aware on a conscience level. I am really fascinated by the paranormal and others' stories, especially those who claim to have a sensitivity to it. I have no claim to such a gift (or curse depending what one has been through) nor do I wish to. I am in no way psychic either - with the exception of a few interesting things I just have a "normal" life on a day to day basis, which does make ghost stories seem like something of a fairy tale and gives me the tendency to think that kind of stuff doesn't exist. That, however, is self centered thinking and I know intuitively there are things we shouldn't take for granted or mess around with, and that there are plenty of folks out there who have had extremely traumatic experiences - I don't believe for a minute they are making it up or that it's just "in their head." So having encountered this one small thing makes me more aware to approach things cautiously when poking around strange places. The whole compound where I worked was full of history and many of the old buildings are considered to be haunted- in fact our physical therapist used to leave her building to chart at the nurses' station because she was too creeped out being there by herself, especially after dark.
KikiGirl (8 stories) (207 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-01-22)
Desertmoon! I loved your article!
Long ago, when I was searching for spiritual guidance, I remember somebody telling me, "you will know if something is right or wrong. You will feel it in your gut or you will know it in your heart, but, you will just know".

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