My roommate Anyoso was a fitness freak. She would go jogging or long walks every evening. I would come home from work around 6 pm while she was still out to jog.
One day when I came back from work, I found Anyoso sleeping in her bed, fully covered under the blanket. It was unusual for her to be sleeping at this time.
“Probably she’s home early from her jogging session and must be tired.” I thought and did not disturb her and worked on my laptop without making a sound.
An hour passed by and she was still sleeping. It made me a little uneasy, so I called out her name.
“Anyoso, wake up! It’s 7 pm already lady.” I yelled.
No response.
I waited another hour before a retry.
“Anyoso, come on girl…wake up already!” I yelled again.
No response.
I was now concerned. I noticed the blanket closely and there was no movement. It was still, not even a movement of breath. My anxiety ripped through the roof.
“Is she dead?” I dreaded.
I called on her phone to check if it is around. It kept ringing but nobody picked up, no sound of the ring in the room either.
“Oh My God! Someone probably broke into the house, murdered her, and stole all her belongings along with the phone. That’s why nobody is picking up the phone!” I panicked in conviction. My imagination was running wild with the worst possible thoughts. I lacked the courage to go closer and remove the blanket. I knew I would faint with the gruesome sight. I couldn’t see blood. I did not know anything about her family or friends. I was left with only one option: “911”.
And I did. This was my first ever call to 911. It did not even complete the first ring as I heard a woman’s voice on the other side.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
“I think my roommate is murdered!” I said in a trembling voice, distress easily audible, as I explained the scene to her.
To my surprise, the woman’s voice was still calm, though alarmed, after I made the explosive statement. I guess the dispatchers are trained to avoid panic which can be catastrophic in such a situation.
“What’s your address, Sir?” She asked.
I gave her my address.
“Can you remove the blanket and check if she is breathing?”, She asked.
“I’m sorry Ma’am but I am too scared to go near the body.”
“Okay. Please stay wherever you are. Help is on the way.” She said in a comforting voice.
“Don’t panic. Stay with me on the phone.” She added.
I stood right at the entrance door of the apartment waiting for cops to arrive while I described the entire ordeal to her over the phone.
Three minutes later, I heard loud sirens and flashing lights increasing in intensity as the vehicles appeared to rush towards my apartment. The entire vicinity was illuminated with red and blue emergency lights on the vehicles. I was overwhelmed by the sight that looked like coming straight from a Hollywood movie.
Two cop cars, an ambulance, and a fire brigade came to a screeching halt just a few feet away from me. The cops rushed towards me, their hands firm on the gun holsters, along with the paramedics and detectives.
“Where is the body?” One of the cops asked.
“There!” I pointed inside the room from right where I was standing.
They entered the room at once, paramedics opened their medical equipment, detectives snapped the white gloves on and pulled out a camera to take pictures while cops gave them cover as I watched the drama unfolding standing at the door.
My breath almost stopped when the detective pulled the blanket in a snap of a finger. Everyone froze for a few moments.
“Pillows!” One of them yelled.
Everyone turned around, all eyes staring at me.
“Thank God!” I fell on my knees and almost cried in joy and relief, yet feeling embarrassed and stupid at the same time, a topsy-turvy spectrum of emotions.
The detective sensed from my reaction that it was a legitimate misunderstanding.
“It’s okay, it happens!” He said as he took his gloves off.
I thanked them and when they left, I called my roommate again. This time she picked up the phone.
“Where are you? I had called you earlier, but you did not pick up. I was so worried that I called 911 thinking that you’re dead!” I told her over the phone in one breath.
“You called 911??? Why the hell would you do that? I was just taking a walk!” She was furious.
No amount of explanation helped to calm her down. I am still unsure to this day why she was mad at me rather than being grateful for my concern for her. She did not speak to me for days after this incident.
