Fallen in love with a cadaver (prologue)

One of the most fascinating things of second year of medschool is getting to see, study and dissect cadavers for the very first time. The stories told to us by our predecessors only succeeded in putting our curiosity on edge. It's the twelfth week of resumption now but still we haven't started the dissection and that kept infuriating the shit out of me and more so because the reason they gave for not having started the dissection was so flimsy. They claim that the school departments are under renovation because inspectors are coming to inspect, which is a criterion for accreditation. They have done alot of brushing, painting and scrubbing on the anatomy department and God! Did it look new! It wasn't as if it was old before, it just needed some brushing up. Somehow I understood why they had to delay it when I saw the work they had done and the day of the inspection being the next day, I was already getting ready for our inevitable dissection session next week.. ________________________

"Surgical gloves please"! I heard the lab attendant say in scolding tone to those who don't have it with them, making them hurry out of the lab to get theirs so they won't miss out on the fun. I, who was brimming with curiosity and excitement in my clean, ironed lab-coat with surgical gloves and plain trousers stared at the cadavers numbering up t(o twenty on tables lying on opposite sides of the rather large laboratory. I could see some young ladies on the other side cover their nose with handkerchiefs despite wearing facemasks. It was the formalin! I looked to my left and see others do the same. I couldn't believe that I was so engrossed in my excitement that I lost consciousness of the strong smell, either way I couldn't care less. The sight of the dead bodies made me rethink life, it strongly reminded me of how fleeting this life is and how we will all die. Those dead bodies once had a life like us but here they are now, used as objects to teach students and satisfy their curiosity after which they are buried in parts in the department's graveyard.

We were then divided into groups, a table for each and where given instructions then the short lab attendant yelled "proceed!"

Confusing as it was, we managed to remain organised. We brought out our dissection kits with manuals and set to work. Since we were discussing the Upper Limb, we were only allowed to work on the arm, breasts up to the upper part of the abdomen while the remaining parts of the body remain covered with a thick blanket like material. A girl from our group suddenly coughed and passed out quite quickly. The lab attendants were alerted and they rushed to the scene, they didn't look the least fazed since it is something they are used to. On the opposite side of the room, I could hear someone sweeping probably someone vomited.

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I felt something tighten in my chest making me feel uneasy. The exciting atmosphere has now turned into spooky. A short, light skinned girl with snow white lab coat broke the silence "hey guys, let's get to work, the silence is getting scarier than the cadavers, I could faint from it" in her squeaky voice. Aliya is a very funny girl whose voice alone makes us laugh. We soon brightened up as we set to work. I volunteered to dissect according to the instructions of the first paragraph of the manual as I listen to the girl reading. Instinctively, I turned my head towards the exit to see the girl who fainted being taken out of the dissection hall...

To be continued (.. or maybe not!)

PS: I am having a very busy day today hence my inactivity and because I couldn't squeeze in time to write anything today, I decided to drop the prologue of a book I had been writing based on my experience as a second year medical student(with a lill bit of fiction of course!) . I am not yet done with the story and haven't been working on it, I just found this one and was like, "oh okay yes!" 😂

Imma drop by on y'all articles when things get less noisy.

Thanks for reading,

Layla,

❤❤❤