"Pervert Hospital" Episode 7: I'll Let It Run on Auto for 30 Minutes. 《Creative Awards 2025 #Workplace Novel Category》

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　Episode 7: I'll let it run on auto for 30 minutes.

“People are born perfect, and are dropped into the human world seeking a more imperfect form. This is me. This is the kind of person I am. To begin with, what is ‘me’? There is no such thing as ‘me.’ In a sense, what the soul seeks becomes the ego.”

　I’ve been blankly listening to this kind of talk for two hours.

“I will send you healing. That is why I want you to open the door. If you open it—”

“...It opens.”

　I’m not even sure if it’s actually opening. Apparently, this man is going to inject something into my body.

“I will send the healing little by little from now on. The effects vary from person to person, but if you can accept the healing, you might feel a little sleepy or notice some lethargy in your body. Conversely, if you don’t believe in it or haven’t opened up, it seems some people feel irritated.”

　Tonight is a night shift. I have to stay in this hospital for a total of 16 hours.

　I am abnormally fast at my work. And there are days when I am strangely free. Today was one of those days.

“Have you accepted it?”

　The man is looking straight at me. I don’t usually look people in the face, but suddenly his facial features stood out, and I started to feel a sense of discomfort at his thick palms and extremely short fingers. When these signs appear, I’m in trouble. It’s the point of being completely turned off.

　I am currently caught up with a weird man.

　The downside of finishing my work early is that it gave this weird man an opening. I felt a gloomy, cold sweat running inside my mask. I feel like my pores are more open than usual.

“Yes, I feel like I’ve accepted it.”

　This is tough. I decided to try resisting in a small way.
　The thing I hate most being done to me. I tried clicking my ballpoint pen repeatedly... click, click.

　Click, click, click, click... my finger went numb, and I quietly put the pen down. It seems it had no effect.

　I feel lethargic the whole time I’m listening to this man’s story. This rally is eroding my body. However, since it feels like he might see through my true feelings, I decided to look into the distance. To be precise, I just stared at the fluorescent light swarming with gnats. I looked up at the heavens. If it were now, I feel like I could see all the way to the universe beyond.

　Let’s look back once more.
　As expected, I am currently caught up with a weird man.

　Who is this man?

　He is just a nursing assistant. He works well. Nothing good, nothing bad. Throughout the day, I think nothing of him. The start of this conversation was him asking about my love life. It usually doesn’t go well. It’s not what I expected. The gap between reality and appearance is too strong. That’s usually the kind of thing that leads to a breakup.

　You have bad luck with men, don’t you?

　How many times have I been told that until now?

“I will say it again. What are you? Please love yourself. However, that must not become narcissism. Do you understand what that means?”

　I stopped thinking. This is a new frontier. I surrendered myself and quietly pretended to be asleep. This is probably more convenient for various reasons.

“My healing will make you sleepy, won’t it? I’ll let it run on auto for 30 minutes.”

　I have no luck with people at all.
　I decided to send some healing to this man as well.

　‘Please, just shut up...’

　This man, believe it or not, is popular in the hospital. Humans have something called virtue. Strangely, he is classified as a healing presence.

　I am always treated as a weird person.
　My emotions are always logged out. Between him and me, which one of us is off-kilter? No, the answer is already out.

　The one who is off-kilter is—probably me. I am standing calmly in a place where even healing cannot reach.

　Riiiiiiing!!!!

　He and I both jumped in surprise.
　A shrill, loud emergency alarm was blaring through the hospital from a distant hallway.
　When we rushed out into the hallway, a patient well over 180cm tall was standing there with his arms spread wide, shouting toward the ceiling.

“Cosmic energy, nowwww!!”

“Shall I send him an extra-large dose of healing?”
　That man was standing behind me.
　　　ーーーー13 hours left until the end of the night shift.

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