Actions Have Consequences

The mother of the hospital director, Mr. Burr, needed an emergency heart surgery. However, just thirty minutes before the operation, my wife, Sydney, who was supposed to be assisting me in the operating room, called and told me to head to the director’s office.

She claimed there was a mistake in the patient's medical records and said the condition had suddenly worsened. So, I went and waited in that office for nearly an hour, but she never showed up.

Growing suspicious, I made my way to the operating room to see what was going on. That was when I saw Mr. Burr standing outside, absolutely fuming.

The moment he spotted me, he stormed over and grabbed me by the collar.

“I trusted you!” he snapped. “That’s why I chose you as the lead surgeon. But look at what you’ve done! You show up late to your own surgery. Do you even understand what medical ethics are?”

I stood there frozen.

Just then, Sydney walked out of the operating room, and our eyes met. She looked shocked and rushed over, her voice laced with blame.

“Aaron, where the hell have you been? The surgery started on time, and nobody could find you. We were freaking out. How could you forget something so important?”

I stared at her, stunned.

What was she saying? Wasn’t she the one who told me to go to Mr. Burr’s office to discuss the patient’s condition?

I opened my mouth to explain, but she cut me off again.

“It’s one thing to be scatterbrained at home, but now you can’t even keep track of surgery times unless someone reminds you? How can you call yourself a responsible doctor?

“Thank goodness, Cedric was available. He’s already in there doing the surgery in your place. This operation couldn’t afford even a moment of delay. We couldn’t risk another mistake from you.”

I just stood there, speechless. Suddenly, it all made sense. All that roundabout maneuvering was her plan from the start.

Everyone knew who the patient was. Everyone knew it was a golden opportunity to impress Mr. Burr. Every doctor and nurse had been trying to snag the surgery. However, Mr. Burr had specifically chosen me as the lead in the end.

I still remember the day the surgical team was announced. Sydney had questioned it right away.

“That’s selfish of you,” she said. “Why not give the opportunity to someone new for once? You keep saying you’re happy where you are, but the second a chance shows up, you jump at it. How ambitious.”

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t even know who she meant by “someone new,” but now it was obvious. Her plan all along was to send me away so I’d miss the surgery, just so Cedric could take the spotlight.

Right then, the doors to the operating room swung open, and Cedric stepped out.

The director shot me one last furious glare before hurrying over to him.

“How did it go?”

“Very well,” Cedric replied. “The patient is stable. We’ll move her to the general ward for observation. If there are no complications, she can be discharged in about a week.”

After that, he walked up to me, all smiles.

“Dr. Hamilton,” he said, “did something come up earlier? You really dropped the ball on this one. I mean… this was a major surgery.”

I stared at him, my expression cold.

Did he seriously not know why I hadn’t shown up? Or was he just playing dumb?

Cedric then turned to the director with an apologetic grin.

“I know I broke protocol by stepping in for Dr. Hamilton, and I’m only an intern… but I didn’t want to risk delaying the surgery.”

Sydney stood beside him, not even sparing me a glance.

“You did great,” she said. “There’s no such thing as ‘just an intern’ in an emergency. A real doctor is someone who steps up when it counts.”