Her Heartbreak to Happily Ever After

Screams. Blood. The metallic stench of death was clinging to the air. This was the ER—a battleground where every second counted, and hesitation could mean the difference between life and death. The doors burst open with a violent crash, and the paramedics rushed in, shouting over the deafening noise of beeping monitors and panicked voices barely audible. The scent of burnt flesh and gasoline was still clinging to the victims. “Multi-car pileup on Route 14! Eight dead on the scene—four critical incoming!” Miel’s hands clenched for half a second. ‘Four critical? That meant barely alive.’ She didn’t hesitate. “Get me their vitals!” Her team—Jonas, Rina, Kim, and the fresh-faced intern, Vera—moved like a perfectly programmed robot, each knowing their role. Miel, as their team leader, was supervising and giving instructions with a calm tone. The first patient was already being arrived—a man in his mid-thirties, covered in glass, massive blunt trauma to the chest, gasping for breath. “Pneumothorax,” Miel snapped. “He’s suffocating—Rina, chest tube, now!” Rina tossed her the scalpel. In one fluid motion, Miel made an incision between the ribs, sliding the tube into place. A sharp hiss filled the room as trapped air escaped. The man gasped—his first real breath in minutes. “Breathing stabilized!” Jonas confirmed as he began to handle the aftermath. Miel was already moving to the second patient—a woman, in her mid-twenties, unconscious, bleeding out. “BP crashing—78 over 45!” Vera’s voice cracked. Miel’s fingers pressed against the woman’s abdomen—hard, swollen. ‘Damn, It must be Internal hemorrhage. She's dying.’ Vera swallowed hard as she was still trying to find out the cause of another sharp BP drop. “Do we rush her to the OR?” Miel shook her head. “She won’t make it in time.” “Scalpel.” She glanced at Vera. “We do it here.” Vera hesitated. “Here?! In the ER?!” “Yes, Vera, here! Unless you want her dead!” That snapped Vera into motion. She handed Miel the scalpel with trembling hands. The incision was deep and precise. Blood surged out like a dark tide. “Clamp!” Miel’s voice cut through the noise, steady despite the life slipping away in front of her. She reached in, fingers finding the source of the bleed. A severed artery. Miel pinched it shut with her bare hands. Seconds passed by. Then— “BP stabilizing!” Vera said excitedly. Relief crashed over the room. The moment the bleeding stopped, she nodded to the nurses. “Prep her for OR. Go, go!” The last patient was on the edge of cardiac arrest. Miel’s team surrounded him like a unit of soldiers, battling against death itself. “Charge to 200!” “Clear!” A single shock. No response. “Again!” Another jolt. Silence. Then—beep… beep… beep… A weak but steady rhythm. As the last patient was secured, the beeping of monitors finally steadied. The battlefield fell silent. Miel exhaled. Another round was won. Another life was stolen back from the edge of death. By the time Miel peeled off her bloodstained gloves, exhaustion clung to her bones. But she could feel the weight of eyes on her. Her team—Kim, Rina, Jonas, and the newest member, Vera, were all looked tired after completing a long shift. After they handed over, Vera stared at Miel as if her eyes would make a hole into her. “You…” Vera whispered, chest still rising and falling rapidly. “That was insane.” “That was just Miel being Miel,” Jonas said with a smirk, wiping his sweat-covered forehead. Rina chuckled. “Seriously. You’ll get used to seeing miracles.” Vera turned to Kim, looking for confirmation. The senior doctor only chuckled. “You’re looking at the best trauma surgeon in this entire region,” he said. “Scratch that. Probably the entire country.” “She’s wasting her time here,” Rina muttered. “Dreamlight Hospital still has an open position for her, you know.” Vera’s eyes widened. “Wait. Dreamlight? The Dreamlight Hospital? The best in the country? Why are you still here?!” Miel chuckled, running a hand through her messy ponytail. “Because if we’re this overworked here, imagine how much worse it’d be over there. I’d be dead in a week.” “Yeah, right,” Jonas scoffed. “It’s not the workload stopping you, is it?” Miel arched a brow. “What do you mean?” Jonas smirked. “You’re waiting for your fiancé to come back so that you can dump being a doctor, right?” The air became heavy with sudden tension. Miel hesitated for half a second. “Maybe,” she admitted as a sudden sadness squeezed her heart. “But I don’t think I can ever walk away from this job so easily.” Rina groaned, stretching her arms. “Alright, enough of this depressing talk. Vera, it’s your first shift, so we’re celebrating. Rossi’s. 9 PM. Miel, you in?” Miel opened her mouth to answer— Then— Buzz… A vibration from her pocket. She pulled out her phone. One message. ETHAN. Her heart skipped a beat. She clicked it to see the content of the message. Her heart, which had been light from the post-shift banter, suddenly felt... heavier. Dinner at Ambrose. 8 PM. Be on time. She felt sad at first with the short message. However, her face lit up as she remembered something after seeing Ambrose. Ethan must be back to fulfill their promise. ‘Maybe this time, he won’t miss it?’ Miel tried to push the unsettling feelings back of her mind. “Are you okay?” Kim asked. Miel forced a smile. “Yeah… just another appointment.” “You’re skipping our dinner party?” Rina groaned. “Unacceptable.” “I’ll make it up to you guys,” Miel promised, before turning to Vera. “You did well today. First shifts in the ER are hell, but you handled it.” Vera straightened. “Thanks, Dr. Miel.” With that, they parted ways. Miel walked toward her room, her mind clouded with thoughts of Ethan. Ethan’s return was sudden, but God knew no one wanted him to return more than her. She clenched her phone, her heart a strange mix of anticipation and unease. Her thoughts were getting messy. ‘How long had it been?’ ‘How long had they had a nice and long heart-to-heart chat?’ ‘And now, just like that—he was back? Would everything be okay?’ She pushed open the door to her room, tossing her phone onto the desk. Before she could process anything— Arms wrapped around her from behind. Soft arms. Familiar scent. A presence she hadn’t felt in months. Miel didn’t even need to turn around. She knew. A real, genuine smile tugged at her lips for the first time that night. “Amy,” she whispered. “You’re back.”