Chapter 13

Danica's POV

“You have just eight minutes to find the broken vein, stop the bleeding and fix the cracked bone. You won't get through with that process in eight minutes” I yelled over the loud beeping noise of the patient monitor and the nervous yells of the woman that shoved me aside minutes ago. She was the doctor in charge of the surgery but even she couldn't deny the fact that the process would be futile. The patient would bleed to death.

“And you think you can?” Her sarcastic question resounded through the mask that covered her face and I nodded once.

“I can fix it within five minutes— with a different method” I told her but she simply glared at me before facing the incision she made again.

She dipped her fingers into the left area and I took another step closer, eyes wide with fear as I tried to stop her. I knew what she was about to do and in this case, it would only complicate things.

“No! You can't touch that area. His vitals will drop and seven minutes will become a thinner thread” I warned but she simply ignored me, doing exactly what I just told her not to do and immediately, the patient’s already insufficient blood splashed all over her face and the entire assisting nurses soon had a similar blood bath.

The monitor beeping noise became more rapid but the darn woman wasn't ready to accept defeat even at the expense of a person's life.

Without holding back, I grabbed the spare glove that laid at the corner of the room, took a disinfectant and sprayed the scalpel I always have stacked in my thigh strap. I grabbed two fistfuls of gauze before strolling towards the patient bed.

I stood opposite the relentless doctor, pushing the gauze through the bleeding spot.

“Who the hell do you think you are to butt into the pack's royal surgical room?!!! If anything goes wrong, are you going to be responsible?!” the woman yelled and I faced her squarely, my palm applying a reasonable amount of pressure on the gauze as I signalled for an assisting nurse to get me some more.

The nurse moved without thinking too, despite the killing glare on her boss's face. I guess I wasn't the only one who fears losing a patient when there's something we can do to help no matter how little the chances are.

“Yes. I AM going to be responsible. I don't mind losing my head if I'm wrong. I was bound to lose it a long time ago anyway” I told her casually, my tone holding a determination that she knew she couldn't beat.

The voices around me soon faded as I got lost in my own world, ears picking up even the slightest thump of the patient's arteries. Not even the threats fazed me. Saving a life, no matter how insignificant other people think the life was, has always been my priority— for the past three years. If I ended up making a mistake and I got killed for it, I wouldn't regret dying because then, it would be safe to say I deserved it for my blind confidence.

I was done with the fixing and suturing in exactly five minutes. The bleeding stopped too— I had patched up where the doctor fractured due to her own blind resilience and arrogance. I understood she hated to be told what to do by someone she had never even met before— A ‘rat’ who had barged into the clinic like a stray human. But she knew I was right. A random wolf wouldn't know anything about the time frame needed for a surgery they were doing in secret! She knew that yet she endangered the patient's life… that wasn't commendable.

She was nervous as well, I saw it in the way her hands moved unsteadily and I was glad I could help.

I slowly stepped back from the bedside after confirming the patient's monitor for the success rate of the surgery. The nurses took over cleaning up and I pulled off my gloves before doing a deep bow of respect at the older doctor.

The moment I stood up straight, her palm instantly collided with my cheek… hard.

It. Fucking. Stings.

A sharp intake of breath escaped me, stopping the words I was about to say in my lungs.

My eyes met hers, devoid of all the emotions I'd felt seconds ago, but she wasn't done.

A second slap landed on the same spot, harder than the first and I winced painfully, feeling the metallic taste of blood in my mouth instantly.

My hands shoot out to hold the chin as tears sprang to my eye lids, threatening to fall in any second.

“Your arrogance really is beyond me. You dare to walk into my clinic and take charge of things like you belong? You're nobody, just an attention seeking slut! It was enough that you made a complete fuss at mating night. Mind you, I'm nothing like Finn and Anabel. They may indulge your fake righteousness that only got lucky but I would never!” She yelled furiously, her eyes bloodshot with hatred and disgust that threatened to consume me.

Even if my help wasn't invited, I hoped it would be appreciated but clearly— it wasn't.

“I… I'm sorry I tried to help, Doctor… Renee” I trailed off, catching a glimpse of her name on her tag. “But I don't regret any single moment as long as the patient lives. Like I said, I don't mind losing my head at all, and I definitely don't mind being a nobody or a complete attention seeking sl…” my words were instantly interrupted with another scorching slap. One that threw my unprepared body right to the ground… earning several gasps from the nurses that watched the scene.

“Seems like you don't understand what you've just done! If that METHOD of yours had gone awry, do you think your pathetic life is enough to be responsible?” The question definitely hit a nerve… or maybe it was the hit that did— I had no idea, but I felt a tear slip out of my eyes, instantly blurring my sight. “Everyone in here, including myself would have suffered for the crime of a worthless worm like you…” she continued, her words slicing what I thought was left of my self worth.

I should be used to those words. I've been called worthless literally all my life but hearing it from a different mouth, a woman who had a passion for saving lives like me… made it hurt more.

She bent to my level, glaring at me mockingly as she pulled me up by my hair. “Your success rate still lies at a whopping 50 percent until he wakes up and still knows which pack he is, young woman. You had better pray to your gods, pray that he wakes up in the next one hour because if he doesn't…”

“I assure you will not only lose those filthy hands of yours, Renee Ivan. You'll also lose your fucking tongue!” A familiar deep, authoritative voice completed from the entrance and she instantly let go of my hair, letting me stagger on my feet as her own eyes paled with horror.