PROLOGUE

   "PAGING, Dra. Kelsea Altamirano! Please proceed to the operating room!"

I was doing chess compression to the patient who got SCA or Sudden cardiac arrest when I heard my name get page.

Damn it! Lumingon ako sa gilid ko at nakita ko ang intern na pinapanood ang kanina ko pang ginagawa.

"Intern, change position!" I called him, and he frantically replaced my position. I searched around the ER and spotted one of the Emergency doctors. "Dr. Jonas, supervise the intern! I'm going to the OR," I ordered.

He startles, but he jogs towards me. "Copy, Dra!"

Tinapunan ko pa nang tingin ang intern bago lumabas sa Emergency room. Halos maglakad-takbo ako papunta sa operating room pero nang makita sa nurse station si Nurse Eva, tumigil ako.

"Nurse Eva, come with me to the OR!" I ordered, making her startles. She immediately moves her ass away from her place.

I entered the operating room wearing my complete scrub suit. Nurse Eva already went inside after disenfecting herself. This surgery will be my third surgical operation for today. . . Hindi pa man nagsisimula, parang gusto ko nang matapos.

I'm too exhausted after my last surgery, which was two hours ago. It was a kid who swallowed six of his magnetic toys. The surgery was too risky because we needed to remove some of his organs in order to get all the toys. Yeah, right. Being a doctor is definitely a challenging job.

I can't wait to go home and soak my body with milk and fresh lavender bath bombs.

"Retractor, please." I told my assistant, and she carefully handed me the equipment I needed. I put the given tool to move the split sternum apart.

I am performing a septal myectomy surgery on a sixteen years old teen who's suffering from Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This operation is an open-heart surgery. It might be recommended if medications don't improve the symptoms of cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or HCM is a condition affecting the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart. The walls of the left ventricle become thick and stiff. Over time, the heart couldn't pump out enough blood during each heartbeat to supply the body's needs.

The most common cardiomyopathy is in adults. It is rare in children but can occur in children and infants with congenital heart disease, a heart infection called myocarditis, a protein abnormality in the heart muscle, chemotherapy drugs, metabolic disorders, or muscle disorders.

Being a surgeon takes a lot of courage, bravery, and hard work. It requires long hours, heavy reading, plenty of practice, and a ton of mental energy. Being a doctor is not easy. It is a challenging job, like a battlefield of life versus death. A doctor gives up his life in order to save someone's life.

We set up the heart-lung machine and connected it to the veins and arteries near the heart. This machine will provide oxygen and pump blood to the body during the surgery.

As the patient's body connected to the heart-lung machine, I started cutting the excess muscle from the thickened septum. This allows the blood to empty from the ventricle more easily.

"Let's start disconnecting the heart-lung machine," I stated.

After successfully disconnected the heart-lung machine, I glanced at the monitor, checking his heart rate. I bit my lips and shut my eyes in relief when I saw the patient's heartbeat comeback to its normal rhythm.

I sighed in relief and smiled against my surgical mask. "Let's now close up the chest," I declared.

I first put the breastbone back together before I started to close the incision using an absorbable suture with the help of my assistant. "Cut," I ordered.

I breathed when I managed to suture and close the incision in the right place and time. Finally, the operation was successfully done! It took six hours of preparation and the procedure.

"Nurse Eva, transfer the patient to the intensive care unit," I ordered. "Carefully monitor the patient's vital signs, especially the heart rate. I'll just have a word with his parents."

She nodded. "Copy, dra!"

But before I officially leave the OR, I glanced at them. Lahat sila ay nagtataka kung bakit ako huminto sa pagbukas ng pinto. I want to giggled but I stop myself.

"Job well done, everyone!" I congratulated all of them with a cheerful voice, enough to make them feel that I was so proud of them.

I'm inside my office, getting ready to hit the home when I heard a knock on the door. Binaba ko ang hawak na chart at pumunta sa pinto para buksan 'yon.  From there, I saw Nurse Eva holding a large bouquet of red roses.

"Dra, bago po kayo umuwi, may nagpapabigay nga po pala sa inyo!" She muttered, giggling and was about to let the bouquet closer to me when I step back.

"Nurse Evangeline! Have you forgotten?! I'm allergic to pollen!" My voice echoed from the four corners of my office and in just a few seconds, a loud sneeze came out of me.

"Hala, sorry po dra! Nakalimutan ko!"

Pumasok ako sa loob ng office at hinanap ang inhaler ko dahil medyo nagsisimula na akong mahirapan huminga. Nang mahanap, I inhaled two pumps of metered-dose before I faced Nurse Eva.

"Take that flowers away from me, Eva! From now on, all the flowers that are for me are yours, okay?" I muttered.

"O-Opo. Dra. Sorry po talaga," she muttered apologetically.

I hate my allergies! As someone who secretly likes flowers, my allergies prohibit me from having fun on normal days, especially on Valentine's. God, kakampi ko lang talaga ang inhaler sa allergy ko.

As I entered my condo unit at Silvermoon Tower after finishing a nerve-wracking duty at the hospital, finally, I can relax now because tomorrow could be another battlefield for me.

I went straight to my kitchen to grab distilled water, and after, I headed to my bedroom to prepare my bath. I put fresh lavender bath bombs and milk that I'll use for bathing my body.

I shut my eyes as my body relaxed on the bathtub. I smiled when I smelled the mint chocolate candle that I personally made. I went to a candle making workshop in New York because I'm interested in learning how to make a candle.

I was already wearing my white robe and a towel on my hair when the doorbell rang. I frowned. Am I expecting someone today?

I finished drinking my Chardonnay wine before I fixed myself. I removed the towel from my head and quickly brushed my hair, not minding the robe since I was already wearing underwear and a bra.

I opened the door with a welcoming smile, but my smile quickly vanished when a pair of mystifying Amber eyes met my gaze. I blinked when I felt my heartbeat frenzied.

"W-Who are you?" I asked calmly as I secretly examined the man in front of me.

There are plenty of CCTV cameras in the hallway, and my unit has a CCTV, so I'm not scared if he does something to me. Well, sort of.

I cleared my throat when I caught him examining me from head to toe. I arched my brows. "I think you rang the wrong unit," I said and smiled apologetically, and was about to close my door when he suddenly halted his calloused hands on the door.

My mouth was agape.

"Kelsea," Just one word from him, but it sends shivers down my spine. Definitely because of his baritone and husky voice, but how does he know me? How?! Is he a stalker or something?

"You know me? Who are you, Mister?" My eyes narrowed at him, and my eyebrows almost knitted.

"I'm Reeve," he trailed off, and I caught him licking the lower part of his lips before his gaze met mine. "How have you been, my wife?"

Wife?!

My sight immediately spun like a time machine, and plenty of vivid images flashback in my brain as the word wife triggered my precuneus.

Me and my college friends at the bar for my despedida party. I got drunk. I went to the dance floor and let my inner Shakira takes over me. A blurred face guy suddenly dances with me. Then, the next day, I woke up with a diamond ring on my finger and a marriage certificate with my signature!

Napatingin ako sa lalaking nasa harapan ko ngayon at nahigit ko ata ang hininga ko nang magtama ang paningin naming dalawa. I don't see any emotions on his face except when his lips rose up, as if he was amused by my reactions.

This man named, Reeve. . .

Is he really the man I accidentally married that night eleven years ago?!