0:00

This episode is supported by FX's

0:03

American Horror Stories.

0:05

The Twisted Anthology series from Ryan

0:08

Murphy returns. Each standalone

0:10

episode contains a new nightmare delving

0:12

into horror myths, legends, and

0:15

lore.

0:16

Don't miss FX's American Horror

0:18

Stories four episode Huluween

0:21

event streaming October 26th only on

0:23

Hulu.

0:26

This episode was produced with audio effects

0:28

in full surround sound. For the best

0:31

experience, we kindly recommend you listen

0:33

with headphones. Hi

0:35

listeners, I'm Shannon

0:37

Hemmings, and I have a story

0:40

I want to tell you. A story

0:42

that takes an unexpected turn near

0:44

the ER. So gather

0:46

round and listen. Close.

0:55

Closed. Closed.

1:01

Closed. Closed.

1:07

Closed. Hi

1:11

everyone. Hope you don't mind

1:14

the anonymous post. This

1:16

is my first time asking for advice in this group,

1:18

because thank the Lord, this is

1:20

my first time needing any guidance in

1:22

this particular area. For

1:25

context, I'm the graveyard

1:27

shift receptionist for the local hospital's

1:29

ER. And last week, I

1:31

had an unsettling run-in with a patient.

1:35

And here's where I could use your opinions

1:37

and expertise, my fellow healthcare

1:40

employees and professionals.

1:41

Am I ethically

1:43

able to report this situation to the police?

1:46

God, this is going to sound like

1:48

an episode of The Twilight Zone. Please,

1:52

just bear with me. Here's

1:55

what happened. 3 a.m.

2:00

alarm had just sounded, which meant I

2:02

was officially halfway through my shift, and

2:05

it was time for my crossword puzzle. The

2:08

population of the town our ER serves is

2:10

a whopping 5,000, so

2:13

I usually have a lot of downtime. Like sometimes

2:15

I'll go a whole shift without taking any

2:17

patients, and that's how this

2:20

particular shift was going, until

2:22

the automatic doors swung open and in

2:24

wobbled an elderly woman. I did

2:27

what I always do when a patient walks

2:30

in, throw my crossword puzzle

2:32

to the floor, and pretend

2:35

to be busy on my computer. Immediately

2:38

I knew what I was dealing with. The

2:40

woman was wearing one of those hideous flower-patterned

2:43

calf lengths caught in nightgowns.

2:46

No one's called fashionable since 1930. Easy, I thought.

2:51

She's an escaped patient from a nursing home across

2:53

the way. We get sneaky little

2:56

elderly fugitives over

2:57

here all the time,

3:00

but as I picked up the phone to notify

3:02

the nursing home, I took a closer

3:04

look at the woman. She didn't

3:06

fit the bill of the usual suspect. She

3:08

wasn't confused-looking or disheveled.

3:11

In fact, she looked put together, kind

3:14

of adorable. I gently

3:16

put the phone back down and addressed the

3:18

sweet granny. Hi

3:20

honey, what can we do for you? I

3:23

beamed. She replied in

3:25

a sweet voice that sounded like fresh

3:27

baked cookies.

3:29

Oh, well sweetheart, I'm

3:32

not sure. I have every reason

3:34

to believe I'm seriously injured.

3:36

I exhaled a chuckle, deployed

3:40

the old brow furrow head

3:42

tilt combo, and politely

3:44

inquired as to what in fresh hell

3:46

she meant by that. She too

3:49

chuckled and told me she knew it

3:51

sounded insane, but she'd just

3:53

been attacked in her home by an intruder

3:55

who she somehow fought off. But

3:57

she was positive she must have gotten injured.

4:00

in the process. She said she

4:02

still had plenty of epinephrine pumping through

4:04

her body, so she couldn't yet identify

4:06

what hurt. She was right though,

4:09

she did sound insane. I

4:11

got her name, Norma Faye. A

4:14

pseudonym, of course, continuing

4:17

with the theme of anonymity, and told

4:19

her to take a seat while

4:21

I figured out how I was going to handle this. Clearly,

4:25

lovely Norma had just had a bad dream

4:27

or one-off psychotic episode because physically

4:30

she looked fine. But of course,

4:32

it was going to cost Miss Norma a small

4:35

fortune in every last one of those ugly

4:37

nightgowns she owned to have a nurse

4:39

or doctor tell her that. So, since

4:42

the waiting room was

4:44

otherwise empty without another patient

4:46

in sight, I decided to get

4:48

my daily good deed out of the way early. All

4:52

right, Norma, I said as I sank

4:54

into the chair right across from hers, pen

4:56

and clipboard in hand. Tell

4:59

me everything. She placed

5:01

her hands on her lap and twiddled

5:03

her thumbs in a manner that told me

5:06

she was about to spill the pipingest

5:08

hottest tea of the week, and boy

5:11

was she ever. She

5:14

told me that just an hour

5:16

or so prior she was lying

5:18

in bed unable to sleep, kept

5:21

awake by her poor decision of drinking coffee

5:24

post 4pm, when all

5:26

of a sudden her shih tzu, muffin,

5:29

cholted awake and

5:31

stood at attention. Norma

5:34

said she too had heard something,

5:37

but she just assumed it was the creaking

5:39

and cracking of her 100-year-old mini

5:41

mansion. The one she heard

5:43

the floorboard squeaking. She

5:46

knew something wasn't right. Muffin

5:49

got the same vibe and ran yipping

5:51

and yapping out of the room to investigate.

5:55

Muffin's roofing got further away

5:57

but didn't cease. So...

5:59

Norma grabbed the butcher knife

6:02

she kept on her bedside table and

6:05

crept out of the bedroom and down the hallway

6:07

See where muffin was and if she was

6:10

barking at someone who needed a little

6:11

old-fashioned acupuncture therapy

6:15

Norma traced the barking to her favorite

6:17

room in the house the library Now

6:20

she stood in the hallway back against

6:22

the wall trying to muster up the courage

6:24

to come face to face with the intruder Amid

6:27

muffin sparks she heard the quietest

6:29

of whispers Something

6:34

about whoever it was calling her pooch by

6:36

name Norma just couldn't

6:39

handle it. She stormed into the library

6:42

Waving her knife in the air screaming

6:44

words far too colorful to repeat here

6:47

She froze for a moment as her eyes

6:49

locked with

6:50

the intruders Which were peering

6:52

through the torn fabric of a makeshift

6:54

schema? All at once

6:57

Norma resumed her profanity-ridden screams

6:59

and Spartan like surprise attacks And

7:02

she said she almost got him her

7:04

knife was poised to pierce his chest Puncher

7:07

a vital organ to

7:08

two and maybe even make it to the

7:10

other side But Norma's burning

7:12

rage was no match for the man's cat

7:14

like reflexes He grabbed

7:17

her knife wielding arm and stopped her momentum

7:19

with ease She raised

7:21

her other arm to slug him in the face if

7:24

you'd caught that arm, too Norma's

7:26

struggle with all her might to get loose,

7:29

but the man's grip overpowered

7:30

her The two

7:32

stumbled around the library knocking

7:34

books off shelves and knickknacks off

7:36

the desk But it didn't seem like the masked

7:39

bandit had plans to harm

7:40

her Norma said it

7:42

was clear. He'd come only to burgle her

7:44

home under the cloak of night What

7:46

he wanted to steal Norma in the moment

7:49

wasn't sure

7:50

Could have been her collection of imported diamonds

7:53

her cash stacks of life savings

7:55

Or her barrels upon barrels

7:58

of individually wrapped suit crackers

7:59

As she and the man

8:02

struggled, Norma realized

8:04

he wasn't leaving without getting what he wanted.

8:07

Though, she played her last card, a swift

8:10

knee to the crotch. The

8:13

intruder yelped and shoved Norma in the

8:15

hole, where she conked her noggin so hard

8:17

she merely fainted. But

8:19

she clung to reality and

8:21

watched as the intruder limped in the direction

8:24

of her most prized possession.

8:27

And her heaviest black ironwood

8:29

bookshelf, in a safe tucked

8:32

neatly into the wall,

8:33

was a signed copy of Don

8:36

Quixote. I

8:38

wanted to press as to how she got her hands

8:40

on one of those bad boys, like was she a

8:42

professional book thief or just a skilled

8:44

antiques collector? But before

8:46

I could ask, Norma pressed on

8:49

to the climax of the

8:50

story.

8:51

She stood against the wall, holding her

8:53

stinging head as the man was struggling

8:56

to move the bookshelf and gain access

8:58

to the safe. The sight

9:00

of this reignited one last fire

9:02

inside of her.

9:03

She staggered over to the man

9:05

in an attempt to foil his plans. Right

9:08

as she got a few feet away, the ceiling

9:10

was successful at pushing the bookshelf, which

9:12

weighed a couple hundred pounds, over,

9:16

right on top of Miss Norma, pressing

9:18

her flat against the ground like

9:19

a geriatric pancake.

9:22

Wow,

9:23

sounds like your guardian angel was working overtime

9:25

tonight. I said, don't

9:28

worry, she gets time and a half.

9:31

She replied with a stifled snicker. But

9:34

her half hearted smile quickly dropped

9:36

to a straight face.

9:38

Can you keep a secret?

9:41

Before I could get out my full reply,

9:43

which was going to be, well, depending

9:45

on what it is, I probably legally

9:48

have to. Norma already

9:50

had her eyes fixated, staring into

9:52

space with a single tear

9:54

gliding down her cheek. On

9:57

the record, the story ends there.

9:59

bookshelves on top of me,

10:02

intruder gets away.

10:04

But off the record, I

10:06

saw who it was.

10:09

She said the bookshelf had fallen just

10:11

so that her shoulders and head were poking

10:13

out.

10:14

And once the man realized she was pinned,

10:17

instead of taking what he came for and

10:19

fleeing, he ran to her

10:21

side.

10:22

And when she told me what he said,

10:25

it sent a chill down my spine. Are

10:29

you okay, grandma? The man

10:31

ripped off his mask and placed it under

10:33

Norma's head. And once his face

10:35

came into focus, she realized

10:37

she was staring into the terrible eyes of

10:40

her precious 17 year old grandson.

10:43

Crazy plot twist, right? I

10:46

thought she was pulling my leg. But

10:48

Norma once again asked me to keep it

10:50

between us. Because her grandson

10:53

is really a good kid. And she doesn't

10:55

want to see him get in trouble for a silly mistake.

10:58

With that, Norma let out

11:00

a sigh of relief. She

11:03

thanked me for chatting with her and told me

11:05

she was sure the adrenaline must have worn off

11:07

by now, but she felt fine. So

11:09

she was gonna head out. I

11:11

assured her that if a shelf as large and heavy

11:14

as she described, truly toppled

11:16

over on her,

11:17

she needed to be evaluated by a trained

11:19

professional stat. She

11:21

reluctantly agreed. So I hopped out of my

11:23

seat, hightailed it through the double doors

11:26

into the treatment zone and grabbed my night

11:28

shift, our end buddy to come escort

11:29

poor Norma to an eval room.

11:32

He and I walked back through the double doors into

11:34

the waiting room and I went straight to my desk, melted

11:37

into my chair and was back into my

11:39

crossword within seconds. But

11:42

before I could even write the answer to

11:44

five across, my buddy's voice

11:46

cut through my laser like focus. He

11:49

asked where she was. At

11:51

that corner,

11:53

I barked, literally the only

11:55

person in the room. He

11:57

sighed in the voice of a tired mother of five.

12:00

scolding her middle child and told me he

12:02

didn't have time for another one of my half-baked

12:04

pranks. He had actual work to do.

12:06

I rose to my feet,

12:09

exasperated by my buddy's selective

12:11

blindness and pointed bitterly to Norma's

12:13

seat, which was empty,

12:17

vacant, and occupied.

12:20

Miffed, my buddy stormed back through the double

12:22

doors and left me sitting there, wondering

12:24

if we had an elderly woman wandering around

12:27

town unknowingly suffering from internal

12:29

bleeding. Or if I had officially lost

12:31

every last one of my precious marbles. Nuh-uh.

12:35

No way. I thought I wouldn't

12:37

be excelling at my crossword if I was off my

12:39

rocker, right? Maybe she went

12:42

to the bathroom? I

12:44

was about to meander over and check my

12:46

theory, but then the radio buzzed.

12:48

Methodist? We

12:51

got a patient heading your way in wagon 27, possible

12:53

critical condition. Prepare for arrival.

12:56

That's us, Methodist, which

12:58

meant go time. Once I got

13:01

out of my chair and walked to the doors, the

13:03

ambulance had arrived and the EMT

13:06

used the lack of sense of urgency. She

13:08

must have missed it. Good news. EMT

13:12

number one hopped out of the back of the wagon

13:14

and approached me, the bead

13:16

of sweat dripping down her face.

13:19

We lost her,

13:20

she said.

13:22

Resuscitation attempts failed. Can

13:24

you talk to the kid?

13:26

Sure.

13:27

I replied,

13:29

peering into the back of the ambulance to see

13:31

a teenage looking boy with his head in his

13:33

hands.

13:35

Who is he?

13:36

In that moment, my heart stopped

13:39

and my throat tightened because

13:41

to the left of the boy, dangling

13:43

off the gurney, was a section of

13:45

one of those hideous flower patterned, calf-length

13:48

cotton nightgowns that no

13:50

one's called fashionable since 1930.

13:54

Kids or grandsons?

13:57

The EMT's voice pierced through the

13:59

ringing in my head. He's the one who

14:01

found her. Everything

14:05

after that is kind of a blur. I

14:08

know I got the kid a warm blanket and water,

14:11

but I can't remember much else. By

14:14

the time I came out of whatever trance I was

14:16

in, the woman's death had hit the news. The

14:20

media is calling it a freak accident.

14:23

Local police are using it as a reminder

14:25

to properly secure heavy furniture and

14:28

haven't once used the word foul play.

14:30

And the entire community

14:32

has been quick to heal her grandson as a

14:34

hero for trying to save her. I

14:37

guess what I'm trying to say is, I think

14:39

it's safe to assume that I'm the only one

14:42

who knows the real truth. And

14:44

that's what's been stumping me. It's a

14:46

question that's been haunting my mind. Does

14:49

HIPAA hold any water if

14:52

the patient was a ghost?

15:05

Full Body Shows is an audio-chunk production.

15:08

This episode was written by J.C.

15:11

Crawford Williams and read by Shannon

15:13

Hemings. This story was modified

15:15

slightly for audio retelling, but

15:17

you can find the original in full on our

15:19

website. So, what do you think,

15:22

Chuck? Do you approve?