You Can’t Afford Me
953 Words
All the doctors stood tense, eyes flicking between the flatlining monitor and the unconscious Mr. Sinclair.
If the family signed the consent form, they could operate without hesitation. Even if the patient died on the table, the hospital would be legally safe.
But looking at Mr. Sinclair’s condition now—he wouldn’t make it ten more minutes.
“Professor Zhang, shouldn’t we wait for the family?” asked Dr. Qiu, a young associate surgeon with excellent credentials. “If we act without authorization…”
They all knew what that meant—Declan Sinclair wouldn’t forgive them if something went wrong.
And it would.
Everyone here could see it.
“I say we give him a shot of Stabiliol and Comfortex,” Qiu continued. “It might keep him alive until the family arrives.”
It wasn’t a real solution. Just a delay.
Still, none of the other doctors had a better idea. They all looked to Professor Zhang.
When he said nothing, Qiu took the lead.
“Nurse, prep the meds.”
But before the nurse could move, a lazy voice came from the door.
“If you inject him now, he’ll die within half an hour.”
Eliana.
The entire room turned to look at the teenage girl leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, posture relaxed.
The tension rose.
Those drugs—designed to stabilize the heart—would, in Sinclair’s current state, overload his system. His body was too weak to handle them. It would be a brief high, then a swift crash. A medical death sentence.
Qiu scowled. “Who let this kid in? This is a hospital, not a classroom. Go play somewhere else.”
Eliana raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She turned to leave, unwilling to waste breath.
But Qiu snapped. “Hold it! What did you just say?”
“She called me a quack!” Qiu fumed, her face flushing with rage. “You think I’ll let that slide?”
“She’s just a child,” the male doctor tried to calm her. “Let it go. Focus on saving the patient.”
But Qiu wasn’t backing down. “I’ve trained at the top hospitals, won national medical awards, and been named one of the youngest associate surgeons in the country. Who the hell is she to call me incompetent?”
“She doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“She just called me a disgrace to the profession!”
Eliana finally turned around, her lips curling into a slight smile. “You want an answer? Fine. I meant you.”
“You little—!”
“Now’s not the time, Qiu,” the lead doctor sighed.
Eliana stood calmly, voice indifferent.
“His condition won’t improve unless you operate.”
“You think surgery is that simple?” Qiu scoffed. “This man has had five open-heart surgeries. His heart looks like a battlefield. You think any surgeon would dare touch it again?”
“No hospital in the country—no doctor in the world—would take that risk!”
“Then that’s their limitation,” Eliana replied coolly.
“You think you can do it?” Qiu laughed so hard she choked. “Please! Be my guest!”
Eliana stepped closer to the bed, a sharp glint in her eye. “You can’t afford me.”
Gasps rippled across the room.
Qiu’s jaw dropped. “Do you know who this man is? If you save him, money won’t be an issue! Hell, if you do it, I’ll get on my knees and call you Grandma!”
“Deal,” Eliana said with a smirk.
“Oh, please.” Qiu waved her off. “You probably don’t even know where the heart is located. What are you, a high school dropout? You think surgery is like slicing steak? You’re out of your mind.”
Eliana glanced at Qiu’s ID badge and sneered. “An associate cardiac surgeon who doesn’t even know how to manage valve replacements. You’re the joke.”
“You—!”
“That was me being polite,” Eliana added, unfazed. “Calling you a quack is a compliment.”
“Listen to her!” Qiu shrieked. “She’s insulting the entire medical profession!”
One of the older female doctors muttered, “She… knows what a valve replacement is?”
The room stilled again.
Even the male doctor turned to Eliana, eyes full of surprise. “She really… knows this stuff?”
“She might have a solution,” he whispered to Qiu. “We should at least hear her out.”
“You’re kidding, right? She’s a kid!”
Another doctor leaned in and whispered, “If something goes wrong… we can blame her.”
“She’s not licensed. She’s not even a staff member,” Qiu whispered back. “If something happens, Declan will burn us all to the ground. You think tossing a teenage girl under the bus will save you?”
She glared at Eliana, full of scorn.
“If she was really a genius, we would’ve heard of her by now,” Qiu snapped. “She’d be running this department—not us!”
The head doctor ran a hand down his face, clearly torn. “We’re running out of options…”
A brave female doctor suggested, “Should we call Dr. Tang?”
Ethan Tang. The hospital’s golden boy. Talented. Respected. Arrogant.
“He won’t come,” Qiu said firmly. “He only sees his own patients. If we disturb him for this, he’ll throw a tantrum and kick us out.”
“Then what now?” someone asked, helpless.
More voices murmured outside the room. The crowd was growing.
- Writer
