Chapter 1

At 2:17 a.m., I walked out of my third emergency spleen surgery that night.

My scrubs were drenched, cold against my skin.

I stood in the locker room, scrolling through my phone to check tomorrow's schedule.

Then a notification popped up.

Mentions of my name had gone from single digits to thousands.

I tapped it.

Trending locally. Number three.

#HospitalExploitsInterns#

The attached image was a security shot outside the OR. The timestamp read 02:13:47.

Three young doctors in scrubs sat on the floor against the wall. One was asleep with their arms around their knees. Another had their head tipped back against the wall.

The account that posted it was called [RainDoesntWant2Work]. Her bio said she was an intern at our hospital.

Her post read:

[This is what a "top hospital" looks like at 2 a.m. btw. We're still stuck outside the OR being used as slave labor. One text from an attending and you have to show up or they'll trash your rotation eval and suddenly your residency paperwork "can't be approved." And they call this a "flexible schedule" like we're not basically on call 24/7. No overtime. No comp days. Half the time we can't even leave to grab coffee.]

The comments were already blowing up.

[Interns are basically hospital slaves.]

[Is the hospital even doing anything about this? If not, I'll report them myself.]

[Screenshotted already. Don't even try deleting it now.]

I kept scrolling.

Then one comment made my hand freeze.

[The Chief of Emergency Medicine there is Dr. Amelia Altman, right? Heard nobody under her gets a full night of sleep. Total tyrant.]

My phone buzzed.

It was Dr. Bishop, one of the chief residents.

"Dr. Altman, have you checked social media?"

"I have."

"Rainee Poole posted a screenshot from the ER group chat too. The message you sent Friday night. 'Multiple trauma tonight. Anyone who can come in, please do.'"

"She cropped the context out?"

"She did." His voice dropped lower. "The line before it said, 'Voluntary, no pressure.' The one after said, 'Once we have enough coverage, go get some rest. Don't overdo it.' She cut both and left only 'Anyone who can come in.' Timestamp still shows 1 a.m."

I stayed quiet for a second. "Did you pull her attendance records for this month?"

"I did." He sighed. "Rainee was scheduled for twelve night shifts. She called out of nine, saying she wasn't feeling well. Other interns covered every one of them. Her clinical hours are barely a third of the minimum requirement."

"So the people in that photo, passed out at two in the morning—"

"Were covering her shifts. Two are interns from her class. The other's an ICU resident."

I set my phone on the metal locker and stared up at the buzzing fluorescent light.

Rainee didn't want night shifts, so she dumped them on everyone else. Then she posted a shot of the same exhausted coworkers covering her shifts, like she was the victim.

She even made sure the timestamp showed.

My phone buzzed again.

Dr. Bishop sent another screenshot.

One comment under Rainee's post had shot to the top:

[Sent this to the Oversight Office. Hope hospital leadership enjoys the fallout.]

***

By daylight, the whole thing had blown up.

When I stepped out of the OR, a crowd was already outside the ER. Phones up. Cameras rolling. Tripods everywhere.

One livestreamer stood in front of his camera looking like he was about to cry.

"Everyone, this is the reality of healthcare in our city. Young interns treated like animals, still trapped in the OR at two in the morning—"

I stood behind the ER glass doors and watched him.

Every word out of his mouth was wrong.

Seven thousand people were watching his stream.

My phone buzzed again. This time, Medical Affairs.

"Dr. Altman, the Oversight Office called. They want a corrective action report within three days. Also... Dr. Keller needs to see you immediately."

I buttoned my white coat and pushed through the ER doors.

Every camera swung toward me at once.

"Dr. Altman! Is what Rainee said true?"

"Dr. Altman, how do you respond to people calling you a tyrant?"

"Dr. Altman, is it true interns don't get overtime?"

I kept walking without slowing down. Didn't even look back.

Someone yelled after me, "Dr. Altman, are you scared of an investigation?"

As I stepped into the administration building, I answered once.

"Let them investigate."