Strap yourself in and pack a lunch, because this expedition starts before the first hints of dawn on the eastern horison.. Having previously explored this hospital in midnight darkness under strict light discipline and as such had non-existant photo-ops, I resolved a daytime jaunt was neccessary to open up the photogenic side of this not-so-healthy institution. A post -dawn attempt would leave us painfully exposed to the hawkeyed community residents that had in the past taken it upon themselves to alert the authorities of the clandestine goings-on in thier beloved eyesore. This left us with a rude 5am muster and entry, and then waiting inside the dilapidated and colder-than-outside structure for the sunshine.
The first couple hours were spent methodically exploring the muted semi-sterile atmosphere with nothing extraordinary occuring. As I've seen quoted somewhere in the UE internets "Institutional, and boring". Minding to ourselves on the third floor, heavy blows of Metal on metal coming from the tunnels below alerted that we were not the only presence inside the complex. Cautiously triangulating the source of the clamour, we queitly poked our heads around a tunnel bend and watched in abject Horror as two men in filthy work clothes set about to pounding on a section of insulated copper pipe.
Asbestos insulated copper pipe.
Our P100's had been donned for nearly the entire morning, and were still merrily protecting our lungs, even though the risks were minor. And yet , watching from the darkness, as two obviously undereducated copper thieves took it upon themselves to shorten thier lifespan considerably. I mean, it's not like there were warning placards every 15 to 20 feet... everywhere in the building....including on the insulation on whch they were swiftly rendiing into cloud form. Thinking it wise to put as much distance as possible between the extraordinarily loud and slightly illegal pair, we retreated to the second floor, which contained the Autoclave/sterilisation rooms and a handful of operating theatres.
A car door slammed, just below the window of the room we were located.
Whether it was his routine patrol or the pounding that could be heard throughout the complex had alerted a nearby resident, I couldn't say, but within two minutes of the car arrivng, the pounding silenced. Footsteps were heard on the pavement below and we looked on in amusement as the two scrappers were loudly protesting thier eviction. Silent chuckles turned to cold terror as the Patrolman did not return to his vehicle. rather he resumed his methodical sweeping search. The autoclave room was large and completely devoid of furniture, save for a low stainless steel counter unit that had been pulled about a foot and a half from the wall. Ducking behind it and cursing at how loud blinking suddenly became, we waited and hoped our quick thinking was enough to avoid an encounter of the official kind.
Seconds dragged out into minutes of silent hiding, my heartbeat was audible abd breathing was a risk we weren't willing to take. The crunch of footsteps over broken glass announced the search of our floor had begun. the muffling of the steps varied as the path wound through individual rooms and hallways, The muffling of obstructing walls ceased and each footstep rang with soul-opening clarity. He was in the same room.
The footsteps became muffled, eventually dissipating fully.
The car door slammed again, white spots danced in my vision as my body screamed for oxygen. We stood up and laughed out of sheer fear. Observing our hiding spot from the point of view of the searcher, it became clear why we were not spotted. The countertop was still close enough to the wall to provide the illusion that there was no gap.
After successfully Near-missing the guard, we had the rest of the day to freely explore and take in the fully sunlit 7 story hospital. we had lunch in the cafeteria, with mold creeping up the walls, sunbathed on the roof, and spent some time in the hydrotherapy vats
Posted in Archival by fyrephreak on 2008-09-25. Viewed 1167 time(s).
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John