Chapter 3

The lights in the livestream studio were harsher than any surgical lamp I'd ever worked under. Manager Sneed stood beside me, the corner of his mouth curled into a satisfied smile. On the phone screen in front of us, comments scrolled by in an endless stream.

[Rotten doctor, get out of medicine!]

[Won't even let ten dollars slide, people like this should lose their license!]

[Glad the hospital's dealing with him, good riddance!]

My heart went cold in an instant.

Sneed nudged me with his elbow, his voice low. "Your turn to talk, Dr. Cole. Make it sound sincere."

I lifted my head and looked into the camera. I took a deep breath, and when I spoke, my voice came out hoarse. "Regarding this incident, I admit my mistake. I failed the trust my patients placed in me, and I failed everything this hospital invested in training me."

The comments exploded.

[At least he knows it!]

[Admitting it now? Where was that honesty before?!]

[A doctor like this shouldn't be allowed near patients!]

I looked at the words scrolling past, my mouth twisting into something bitter. Then, slow and clear, word by word, I said, "I am announcing, here and now, that I, Doctor Nathan Cole, am formally resigning my position as attending surgeon in the surgery department of Lyntica General Hospital, effective today."

For a moment, the studio went dead silent. Then the mockery came back even harder.

[Good, now get lost already!]

[At least the hospital's clean again!]

Manager Sneed could no longer hide the smile spreading across his face. This was exactly the outcome he'd wanted.

The broadcast ended. I didn't look back. I walked straight out through the hospital's front doors.

That night, I had a dream. In it, countless hands were pointing at me, countless mouths were cursing me.

"Liar!"

"Butcher!"

I tried desperately to explain that the two bags of glucose had been to save a patient's life. No one listened. The voices grew louder and louder until I jolted awake. It was barely five in the morning.

My wife stirred beside me, woken by my thrashing. She switched on the bedside lamp and looked at me, worried. "Another nightmare?"

She'd seen the broadcast too. These past few days, she hadn't asked me a single question. She'd just quietly stayed by my side.

She took my cold hand in hers and said softly, "Nathan, let's just walk away from all this. As long as we can look ourselves in the mirror, that's worth more than anything. With your skill, you could make a living doing just about anything."

Hearing her comfort me, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I broke down and sobbed.

What had all these years even been for? All that lost sleep, all that killing myself at work, and it had bought me nothing but a ruined reputation and the whole internet spitting on my name?

But a week later, of all things, the director called me himself. I hesitated for a moment before picking up.

"Dr. Cole! My star surgeon!" His voice was almost gleeful. "You've had enough time off by now, haven't you? Come on back to work already!"

I thought I was hearing things.

"The hospital's already lifted your disciplinary action. I'm having accounting cut you your bonus right now—double, in fact!"

I let out a cold laugh. "Why?"

On the other end, the director froze, disbelief creeping into his voice.

"Why? Dr. Cole, have you... have you not been online at all this past week?"