I used to work in a hospital morgue. I discovered the most horrific thing on my last day of work.

I worked in a hospital morgue for two years, from 2011 to 2013. I was a resident digital radiologist, meaning that I helped the pathologists digitise their autopsies for future reference. I used to spend my days taking photographs of deceased bodies, taking X-rays and CT scans, as well as assembling reports that would serve as reference for future autopsies of similar cases. Our department was responsible for more than 3,000 autopsies a year. It was an emotionally challenging but rewarding job.<br><br>In the morgue, I saw the bodies of most of the confirmed COVID victims during the height of the pandemic. I also saw several suicide cases, which were depressingly common. I saw the bodies of babies who had died in their cribs without explanation, as well as the bodies of adults who had died in their sleep for the same reason. I saw the bodies of road traffic accidents, beheadings, drownings, hangings, stabbings and shootings. You learn to focus on the science of it all and not let the stories bother you. Or at least you try to.<br><br>One day, I was working overtime as part of the night shift. I wasn’t supposed to do this, but it paid 50% more than a regular shift, and as a student I needed the money to survive. Working these shifts would also give me some extra quiet time, alone, from 1am to 4am, which I cherished.<br><br>One of these nights, I was in the middle of a report when a new body arrived. I wasn’t supposed to leave my office to take deliveries. I was a radiologist, and a few security guards had been posted in the morgue to take care of the bodies. But for some reason, I felt compelled to go out and take a look.<br><br>I recognised the paramedics who had brought the body in. They were a couple who worked in the department. I’ll refer to them here as J and G. I had got to know them through a few deliveries and conversations. I found them lovely. There was however a third person with them who I had never seen, a woman with curly green hair who was wearing the same paramedic uniform. I assumed she was a recruit who was being trained by J and G.<br><br>I watched as they unloaded the body and brought it to the storage fridge. I noticed that the body was in a closed opaque body bag. I found that unusual. Usually, around 90% of the bodies that arrived were in clear body bags, which were used when there was no infection risk. Only when there was an infection risk did we use closed, opaque bags, as a way to prevent infection and rotting during transport. But this was the middle of the night. I was certain that this body could not be an infection risk. COVID was rampant at the time.<br><br>I approached J and G, and asked about the body bag. They explained that the body was a suicide case, and that they had found the deceased hanged from a tree in a nearby park. I was even more perplexed at this, as suicides do not require opaque body bags either. I asked if they were comfortable telling me more about the case, and they said that there was nothing abnormal about it. It was a young woman who had reportedly killed herself, who was discovered by a passerby who called ambulance services.<br><br>I thanked them for their time and was about to leave when I noticed something that made my skin crawl. I saw the green-haired woman, who was a few steps away from us looking in the opposite direction, suddenly turn around and start looking at me. She stared at me for what felt like an eternity, as if she was trying to warn me away from something. I felt her gaze piercing through my skin. It sent chills down my spine. I wanted to ask who she was, but before I could ask, she turned around and walked away from me.<br><br>I asked J and G who she was, and why she was looking at me like that. They seemed to be puzzled by my question. They denied that there was a third person with them, and said that they had arrived alone.<br><br>I assured them that I had just spoken to them and seen the three of them unloading the body, but they were still adamant that they were alone. I was growing more and more confused, when G started looking at J in a strange way. She seemed to be trying to get J’s attention, and as soon as she did, she started talking as if she was in a trance.<br><br>“She’s talking about Rachel”, she said, looking at me.<br><br>“Oh, Rachel? We didn’t bring a Rachel here tonight,” J replied.<br><br>G continued talking in a monotone voice. “No, Rachel is the recruit who joined our department last year. She was sent out on a delivery with us two months ago. When we arrived at the hospital to deliver the body, we were involved in a car accident. The car crashed into a lamppost and caught fire. Two of us managed to escape. One did not.”<br><br>The pieces were falling into place. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be. The Epicanthic green-haired woman I had just seen, the one who had stared at me with her piercing gaze, was Rachel?<br><br>I asked G and J how they knew about Rachel’s death. They explained that Rachel had been in the back of the ambulance with the body when the accident happened. Rachel had burned alive inside the ambulance. Three people had escaped, one was dead. I felt a cold sweat running down my back. I was shaking, and I didn’t know what to do.<br><br>G and J continued. They explained that they had been bringing Rachel’s body into the morgue every night since her death, as part of Rachel’s training as a recruit. They said that they had to do it, because Rachel had still been in training when she died, and that the training couldn’t end until it was completed. They said they were allowed to do it. Someone had given them permission to do it. And that’s why they were allowed to bring her body into the morgue, every night, as part of her training as a recruit.<br><br>I was mortified. How could this be allowed? What kind of training could a recruit possibly have when she was dead? And who was this person they claimed had given them permission to do it?<br><br>I needed to know more. I asked G and J where Rachel’s body was now, and they told me that it was in one of the fridges labelled as R-17. They explained that they hadn’t yet completed her training, and that they would continue bringing her body into the morgue until the training was over. I thanked them for their time, and as I turned around to head back to my office, I saw the green-haired woman looking at me again, in the same place where I had first seen her.<br><br>I walked up to her, and as I approached her, she turned around and walked away towards the parking lifts. I followed her, and as I reached the lifts, they closed in front of me. I pressed the button to call the lifts again, and when they opened, I found myself alone in the lift. I took it anyway, and it stopped on the first floor, which was where the intensive care unit was. I walked out of the lift and into the ICU, which was empty, and walked to the window. As I looked out the window, I saw a hearse parked in the roundabout, with the back door open, and G and J pushing a body bag into it.<br><br>I couldn’t believe it. What were they doing? Why were they taking Rachel’s body away? I needed to know more. I ran back to the lift, took it back to the morgue, and ran to the storage fridge marked R-17. I opened the fridge and drew the curtain back. Rachel’s body was gone. But then I noticed something written on the wall. It was a message written in blue ink. It was addressed to me. It read:<br><br>“If you’re reading this, then you’re in danger.”