The waiting room was spacious ...

The waiting room was spacious, and empty. Five long rows of white plastic chairs, screwed to the floor, remained unused. The cold electric light radiated from a few fluorescent tubes gave emptiness a profound meaning. The walls were tiled in dark-brown and white and had the usual no smoking signs and warnings to turn off cell phones. A lonely fire extinguisher hung in the far corner. The thick translucent glass of two rectangular windows succeeded in increasing the discomfort of the deserted place. A metallic voice was calling out names at intervals, to which nobody reacted. He sat in the back row, his head low facing the dull floor. The familiarity of his name when it was announced through the speakers surprised him. It took him a few seconds to fully grasp he was being called. The monotone, weary voice commanded him to get into cubicle number eight. No soon had he closed the door of the cubicle that he heard the mute hum of lively conversations reaching him from the waiting room. The sound died off when perplexity motioned him to open the door. A different anonymous voice instructed him to take off his clothes leaving his underwear on. Next thing he was lying chest up on a cold silvery surface as his body was about to being X-rayed. The same voice which had instructed him to undress ordered him to join the tip of his feet and lie still, to turn on his side and bend his legs and lie still. The X-ray camera hovered above his body looking for the section to photograph in short, robotic movements, buzzing and beeping all along. The procedure was over fairly quickly and he was soon in the cubicle again, getting dressed. Outside, the waiting room remained empty. He sat on a different plastic chair and waited for further instructions. He noticed a crack on a tile in the wall, read a few times the same message warning unknowing pregnants not to undergo the examination, and approved of the composition of the various signs on display in the room. The same metallic voice kept calling out names at intervals. His was announced after a ten-minute stretch. A big envelope waited for him at the entrance, no one in sight behind the counter. The muzak played an instrumental version of 'Hello, Ma Baby' as he headed for the exit door.