After Five Years
"Yes, they are on standby in room three."
In the changing room, I changed my shoes, washed my hands, and put on sterile scrubs. Once my mask covered my face, everything felt calmer. Inside the operating room, there was only one identity: doctor. Not the abandoned wife, not the woman being compared.
The surgery went smoothly. We cleared blockages in three coronary arteries. As the patient’s heartbeat stabilized and his breathing returned to normal, I gazed at the monitor with a warm feeling that had long been absent. Here, I knew who I was. Here, I wasn’t lost.