La joven enfermera terminó de colocarle la vía intravenosa a la pequeña niña de ocho años que padecía de leucemia, compartió varias palabras de aliento con ella y finalizó con un suave “nos vemos mañana" para luego salir de la habitación y dirigirse al pequeño cubículo de descanso dónde se encontraba su bolso. Lo recogería y se iría directo a casa, necesitaba recostar su dolorosa espalda luego de arduas horas de trabajo.

Al salir de nuevo al largo pasillo de paredes blancas y suelos brillosos que estaba ahora casi vacío a excepción de Miranda, la recepcionista. Dio un rápido vistazo al reloj de pared que se encontraba justo al lado de las dos grandes puertas de vidrio que encima había un gran cartel azul que decía “salida" en letras blancas con bordes negros. Eran pasadas las doce, sabía que debía apurarse si quería llegar sana y salva a su hogar, pues vivía afuera; en los suburbios.

Al poner un pie fuera del hospital, pudo sentir el frío de la madrugada. Si no se apuraba en llegar a su auto los huesos de sus manos empezarían a entumecerse, así que los apretó en un puño y cruzó hasta el otro del estacionamiento, ahí se podía ver un auto gris no tan viejo que tenía algunos desgastes de pintura que le pertenecía.

—¡hasta mañana Eva!—escuchó que alguien decía, se trataba de Patricia, una guardia de seguridad con quién compartió alguna vez una amena charla.

No respondió con palabras, pero sí levantó su mano y en un leve movimiento se despidió al igual que le regaló una sonrisa de boca cerrada. No tenía ganas de hablar, solo quería dejar caer su cuerpo en las sábanas blancas que estaban sobre ese cómodo colchón de plumas que había comprado hace ya un año cuando logró salir de la casa de sus padres.

Subió a su auto y emprendió su viaje hasta su hogar, no fue bastante el tiempo que tomó en entrar a la autopista y poder ir hacia aquella zona de la ciudad. En el transcurso pudo pasar por un lugar de comida rápida y compró lo que sería su cena y su desayuno, pues estaba tan agotada que no sentía ganas de tomarse el tiempo de preparar algo saludable para su desayuno.
Mientras más se adentraba en los suburbios peor era la vida que se veía en la calle. A pesar de que no era temprano se podían ver a algunas prostitutas paradas en las esquinas justo al lado de los faroles, entre ellas hablaban y se reían mientras se retocaban el rojo amazona de sus labios. Pero algo llamaba la atención de Eva cuando estaba a casi una cuadra cerca de su casa.

Ella estaba acostumbrada a la monotonía del lugar, conocía caras y sabía ciertos nombres. No juzgaba el estilo de vida que llevaban aquellas féminas pues sabía que de algún modo ellas no tenían la culpa, ellas necesidades las llevaban a recurrir el vender su cuerpo. Eva se sentía triste cuando se le venía a la cabeza.

Mientras más avanzaba el auto, su incertidumbre se incrementaba en grandes cantidades. Las luces de las casa vecinas a la suya estaban totalmente apagadas, ventanas del frente estaban rotas y las puertas tenían algunas marcas que por la oscuridad no se podía divisar si se trataba de sangre o restos de algún otro líquido. Tampoco podría acercarse y observar con más claridad, no sabía si alguien se encontraba dentro y terminaba acabando con su vida.

Cuando logró estacionar el auto en el pequeño garaje que había en su casa, bajo todas sus pertenencias y caminó dentro de la casa. se percató de que la puerta de madera sencilla estaba abierta, pero debido a su cansancio le restó importancia. Pues pensó pudo haberla dejado abierta antes de salir hacia el hospital.

Apenas entró a la cocina estiró su mano al encendedor que se encontraba justo al lado de la puerta, pero no funcionaba así que sin preocuparse caminó hasta los gabinetes de la cocina y sacó una de las velas provisionales. Agarró una pequeña caja de fósforos que estaba al lado de la estufa y las encendió. Era la primera vez que no había luz en ese lugar, a pesar de que eran los suburbios el servicio de luz era bastante bueno. Claro, si pagabas las cuotas al día. Cosa que ella hacía.

Puso la vela encendida sobre el mesón de la cocina y al alumbrarse casi toda la habitación, pudo darse cuenta de varias cosas que habían cambiado. Ahora no se encontraban los cuchillos que ella ordenó meticulosamente el día anterior, la otra cosa que le parecía raro es que de la nevera salía un olor para nada agradable. Lo primero que pensó fue que las pechugas de pollo y la carne que había dejado en el congelador ya se habían dañado por la falta de electricidad así que rápidamente agarró la vela que ahora se encontraba encima de un pequeño platillo de porcelana que sacó de la vajilla que su madre le había regalado apenas se mudó y con la mano que le quedó libre abrió el refrigerador.

En toda la casa se pudo escuchar el grito que soltó Eva al abrirlo al igual que el sonido de un plato romperse. Estaba tan asqueada de lo que veía, quería vomitar pero su cuerpo no le permitía moverse. Estaba estupefacta ante tanta sangre y los pedazos de carne humana que estaban esparcidos y con algunas moscas pegadas a la piel que estaba empezando a descomponerse, podía decirse que por el estado deteriorado en el que estaba eso llevaba días ahí. Pero ella estaba segura que ahí no había nada, pues tenía un poco más de dieciséis horas que salió a trabajar.

En cada una de las cuatro esquinas del refrigerador había un dedo, no eran de la misma mano pues unos eran más regordetes que otros y estaban pintados de un color naranja tan fuerte que logró reconocerlos. Era el mismo tipo de pintura que usaba aquella vecina anciana de la que no recordaba el nombre ¿Gloria? ¿Sonia? No lograba recordar, sólo sabía que venía de Cuba y que le gustaba escuchar música a un volumen exorbitante cada mañana.

Los otros dedos no logró reconocerlos. Pero lo que si sabía era que luego de ver los pequeños huecos que se le formaron alrededor de la piel tenían algunos gusanos blancos comiendo gustosamente la carne, le producían tanto asco que tiró en el suelo y comenzó a vomitar sin parar durante minutos enteros. De la puerta de la nevera se podía ver algunas tripas colgando de esta.

Cuando pudo reponerse se levantó y sacó su celular de su bolsillo, necesitaba llamar rápidamente a un número de emergencias.

—hola buenas noches, se está comunicando con el servicio…

—necesito ayuda… encontré restos de personas en mi refrigerador. Mi casa se encuentra sin luz y tengo miedo de que la persona que hizo esto ahora venga por mí.

Susurró rápidamente, temía que si hablaba con voz alta alguien la escuchase. No era tonta, estaba segura de que el asesino se encontraba cerca. Solo que no sabía que tan cerca podía estar.

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Imagen de ELG21 en Pixabay

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English

The young nurse finished the intravenous line for the little eight year old girl suffering from leukemia, shared several words of encouragement with her and ended with a soft "see you tomorrow" and then left the room and went to the small rest cubicle where her bag was located. She would pick it up and go straight home, she needed to rest her aching back after arduous hours of work.

Stepping back out into the long hallway of white walls and gleaming floors that was now almost empty except for Miranda, the receptionist. He took a quick glance at the wall clock that stood right next to the two large glass doors above which was a large blue sign that read "exit" in white letters with black borders. It was past twelve o'clock, she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to get home safe and sound, as she lived outside; in the suburbs.

As she set foot outside the hospital, she could feel the chill of the early morning. If she didn't hurry to her car the bones in her hands would start to go numb, so she clenched them into a fist and crossed to the other side of the parking lot, there she could see a not so old gray car that had some paint chips that belonged to her.

-See you tomorrow Eva!" he heard someone say, it was Patricia, a security guard with whom he once shared a pleasant chat.

She didn't respond with words, but she did raise her hand and in a slight movement she said goodbye as well as gave him a closed-mouth smile. He didn't feel like talking, he just wanted to let his body fall into the white sheets that lay on that comfortable feather mattress he had bought a year ago when he managed to leave his parents' house.

He got into his car and started his journey home, it wasn't long enough to get on the highway and drive to that part of the city. Along the way she was able to pass by a fast food place and bought what would be her dinner and breakfast, as she was so exhausted that she didn't feel like taking the time to prepare something healthy for her breakfast.
The further she got into the suburbs the worse life was looking on the street. Even though it wasn't early in the morning some prostitutes could be seen standing on street corners right next to the street lamps, between them they were talking and laughing while touching up the amazon red on their lips. But something caught Eva's attention when she was almost a block away from her house.

She was used to the monotony of the place, knew faces and knew certain names. She didn't judge the lifestyle those women led because she knew that in a way they were not to blame, their needs drove them to resort to selling their bodies. Eva felt sad when it came to her mind.

The further the car went, her uncertainty increased by leaps and bounds. The lights of the houses next to hers were completely out, the front windows were broken and the doors had some marks that, due to the darkness, she could not make out if they were blood or traces of some other liquid. He could not get closer and observe more clearly, he did not know if someone was inside and ended up ending his life.

The further the car went, his uncertainty increased in large quantities. The lights of the neighboring houses were completely out, the front windows were broken and the doors had some marks that, due to the darkness, he could not make out if they were blood or traces of some other liquid. He could not get closer and observe more clearly, he did not know if someone was inside and ended up ending his life.

When he managed to park the car in the small garage that was in his house, he put down all his belongings and walked inside the house. He noticed that the simple wooden door was open, but due to his tiredness he played it down. He thought he might have left it open before leaving for the hospital.

As soon as he entered the kitchen he reached for the lighter that was right next to the door, but it didn't work, so without worrying he walked over to the kitchen cabinets and pulled out one of the temporary candles. He grabbed a small box of matches that was next to the stove and lit them. It was the first time there had been no light in that place, even though it was the suburbs the light service was pretty good. That is, if you paid your bills up to date. Which she did.

She put the lit candle on the kitchen counter and as it lit up most of the room, she noticed several things that had changed. The knives she had meticulously ordered the day before were now missing, and the other thing that seemed strange to her was that the refrigerator had a very unpleasant smell coming out of it. The first thing she thought was that the chicken breasts and meat she had left in the freezer had already been damaged by the lack of electricity so she quickly grabbed the candle that was now on top of a small porcelain saucer that she took from the china her mother had given her as soon as she moved in and with her free hand she opened the refrigerator.

The scream that Eva let out when she opened it could be heard throughout the house as well as the sound of a dish breaking. She was so disgusted by what she saw, she wanted to vomit but her body would not allow her to move. She was stupefied by so much blood and the pieces of human flesh that were scattered around and with some flies stuck to the skin that was starting to decompose, she could tell by the deteriorated state that it had been there for days. But she was sure that there was nothing there, since she had been at work for a little more than sixteen hours.

In each of the four corners of the refrigerator there was a finger, they were not from the same hand as some were chubbier than others and were painted in such a strong orange color that she recognized them. It was the same type of paint used by that old neighbor whose name he couldn't remember Gloria? ** Sonia? He couldn't remember, he only knew that she came from Cuba and that she liked to listen to music at an exorbitant volume every morning.

The other fingers he could not recognize. But what he did know was that after seeing the small holes that formed around his skin, there were some white worms eating the flesh with pleasure, which made him so disgusted that he threw up on the floor and began to vomit non-stop for minutes on end. From the refrigerator door he could see some guts hanging out of it.

When he was able to recover he got up and took his cell phone out of his pocket, he needed to call an emergency number quickly.

-Hello, good evening, you've reached the service....

-I need help... I found people's remains in my refrigerator. My house is without power and I am afraid that the person who did this is now coming for me.

She whispered quickly, afraid that if she spoke loudly someone would hear her. She wasn't stupid, she was sure the killer was close by. She just didn't know how close he could be.

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Imagen de ELG21 en Pixabay