The Canterbury Tales
by Kiya Montgomery
Prologue
lived a rude, angry doctor who was up to no good
Performing illegal operations on filthy rich patients
To finance his many girlfriends and pay for his vacations
Selling organs illegally, on the black market
Scoping out his hospital rooms, for his next target
He tries to convince only poor patients you see
If they donate an organ, their stay has no fee
Because of lack of money, obviously they're willing to comply
They don't think twice, and just believe his lies
The nurses know also, and whenever he draws near
They duck their heads and tremble with fear
Cross him and they just may lose their life
There's nowhere on earth they can go to escape going under his knife
Everyone has learned that being silent is the only solution.
If they talk, they may face persecution.
Tale
It was just like any other day Hospital Liars-field. Everyone in the hospital waiting room seemed to be moving at 60 miles per hour with no sign of slowing down any time soon. Doctor Hook stepped into the waiting room and assessed the chaos. Tucked into a corner of the room alone, was a man of average height. He was hunched over, a large dark stain spreading over the front of his dirty black sweatshirt. With every breath the man took, he seemed to hunch over even more.
“Perfect...” thought Hook as he walked over to the man and gently took his arm.
“Sir, you look hurt worse than anyone here you shoulder been taken to the emergency room immediately!” Hook exclaimed with fake concern. He gently ushered the man towards the emergency room desk.
“I...I didn't want to be...a bother...” the man gasped out. “I don’t have...much money...you see. I've been...stabbed.”
“We can discuss your payment options later sir, we really need to get you looked at.” His eyes filled with false concern. “Annabeth! Excuse me, Lym. Would you please send a patient information sheet to my office and tell my team to get ready to operate.”
Lym fumbled with the phone on her desk and refused to look at either the wounded man or Dr. Hook.
“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on that” she stuttered, pressing buttons on her computer.
Dr. Hook continued ushering the man toward the operating room. A short woman teetered up behind him in mile high heels.
“Jason! Hi! I’m the new anesthesiologist! My name is Selma!” She shouted. “Oh my! I see we have someone who needs help! I’ll go get ready!”
Dr.Hook narrowed his eyes at her as she teetered away. He hated people calling him by his first name. He’d give her a pass since she was new, couldn't go upsetting the new girl before she solidified her job. They hadn't had anything but temporary replacements after the last anesthesiologist turned up dead. The poor girl had had all her vital organs removed before being placed in her bed, not to be discovered for another week.
It didn't take long to put the man under. It took only slightly longer to stitch him up. He was up and talking within 5 hours of his surgery.
“Thank you Doctor! So much! I don’t know how I could ever repay you!” the man couldn't control the volume of his voice and was nearly weeping with joy.
“Well I’m actually here to talk about your payment options.” Dr. Hook grinned slyly. “You mentioned that you didn't have a lot of money?”
“Yes doctor but I-” the man started.
“No problem we have a contract here that we’d like you to look over. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes to hear your decision.” Dr.Hook left the man as he began to read through the packet.
“Jason! I need to talk to you! It’s about the contracts!” She was still shouting.
“What about them?” Dr. Hook questioned, feigning innocence.
“They ask the patients to give organs! For money!” her voice took on an even higher pitch than Hook thought possible.
“Your point being...” He didn't have time for this new girl to be butting into things that don’t concern her.
“It’s illegal! The hospital could get into trouble for this!” She waved her hands around frantically.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut. No one has to know what goes on here.” Hook attempted to walk around her.
“I will not! How dare you call yourself a doctor! First thing when I get home I will file a report!” She stomped away, her heels clicking annoyingly loud.
Hook watched as she walked out the side door. She wasn't going to make it home, not if he had anything to do with it.
Dr. Hook walked back into the man’s room.
“So, have you decided what you want to do?” Hook tapped his pen expectantly against his clipboard.
“I...I don’t know. Is this safe?” The man refused to meet his eye.
“Of course!” Hook replied with false sincerity. “At Liarsfield we take extra caution to make sure every procedure is one hundred percent safe.”
“Alright then. I’ll sign” The man reluctantly handed over the sheet of paper.
“Follow me then.” He led the man into darkness.
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"Steven...Steven....can you hear me?" A voice drifted through the darkness above him. "Try to open your eyes if you can hear me."
His eyes seemed to be glued together but he tried to force them open anyway.
"Mhhmgg..." only after he had forced his eyes open did he feel the throbbing in his lower back.
"Hi! Are you feeling well? I almost had a heart attack when I walked in! You were just laying here all covered in blood! Luckily my husband is a surgeon so he got his team to perform an emergency surgery!"
"What? Where am I" Steven failed to sit up and settled for squinting at Selma through the glare of the bright lights.
"You're in the hospital still! You're just in the recovery wing! You're the first patient to come in here since we built it!" Selma's smile suddenly faded.
"Dr. Hook apparently convinced some of the nurses in his place