When I Left, the Hospital Went Under

"If Eunice really has Parkinson's, she can't lead Mr. Lane's surgery, right?" Right there at the nurses' station, Ivy Sterling deliberately raised her voice, loud enough for every one of the interns standing around to hear her clearly. "She's not that young anymore, and she pulls all-nighters nonstop. It makes total sense that something would go wrong with her nervous system." "But the Lane family are the richest people in the city. If her hands start shaking mid-surgery, our whole department will get stuck cleaning up her medical disaster, won't we?" I stood still right outside the locker room, my eyes glued to the date blinking on my phone screen. It was November 14th, and less than twenty-four hours remained until Mr. Lane's abdominal aortic aneurysm resection surgery. I had traveled back in time to the day before Ivy's lies forced me out of the first assistant position, the day before the entire surgery imploded, one day before everything fell apart. Everything was exactly the same as it had been in my last life. Thirty minutes later, department head Felix Harbor had the head nurse call me into his office. From behind his desk, Felix pushed a file across to me. It was a Confirmation of Personnel Adjustment for Major Surgery. "Eunice, you've been pulling back-to-back shifts lately. You aren't exactly in the best shape," he said, tapping his knuckle against the desk, all stiff, all business. "Mr. Lane's surgery is the biggest case our hospital has this year. We can't afford even the tiniest mistake." "We'll let Ivy take the first assistant position for some practice. You've trained her for almost a year now, and it's time for her to step up and carry her own weight." I dropped my gaze, staring at the three letters of Ivy's name printed on the paper. In my last life, I had fought him tooth and nail right here, desperate to hold onto this core surgery I had spent three months preparing for. In the end, he forced me out anyway, using "refusal to follow department arrangements" as his excuse. But this time around, I didn't waste a single breath on useless arguments. "Once first assistant rights are transferred over, will Ivy be listed as the person in charge of pre-op assessments, instrument checks, and emergency contingency plans for the surgery?" I asked. Dead silence hung in the office for a few long seconds. Felix clearly never expected me to agree so easily. A flicker of suspicion flashed across his eyes. Ivy, who had been sitting on the sofa this whole time, shot to her feet immediately to cut in. "Don't worry, Eunice! I've shadowed you for ages. I could draw the abdominal aortic aneurysm anatomy with my eyes closed!" she exclaimed. She practically shoved a pen into my hand, her movements frantic, afraid I would change my mind at the last second. "I promise I'll watch every single detail like a hawk. You won't have to lift a finger or worry about a thing," she added. Staring at her greedy, overeager face, I could barely believe how ridiculous this whole situation was. "Fine by me," I said. I took the pen and scrawled my signature straight across the confirmation form. "Since you're so confident, the entire surgery is all yours," I continued. When Felix saw how cooperative I was, the rigid line of his jaw finally softened. "Young people need more opportunities to practice and grow. Stepping back this time is perfect for you, Eunice. You get a much-needed break," he said. He paused for a beat, then shifted his tone entirely. "But since you're not participating as either lead surgeon or first assistant anymore, that million-dollar bonus the Lane family promised has to be redistributed based on actual contribution to the surgery," he added. And just like that, his real agenda was out in the open. This had been his end goal all along. Steal my share of the bonus and stuff it straight into his own pocket, all with a perfectly legitimate excuse. I pulled the sick leave note I had already prepared out of my white coat pocket and tapped it lightly on his desk. "Since all core responsibilities and authority are transferred, I won't be coming to work tomorrow," I said. Felix froze. "What do you mean by this?" he demanded. "Exactly what I said," I replied. I held his gaze, unflinching. "Everyone's already spreading rumors that my hands are shaking. I need to take three days off to get a full neurological workup to check what's going on." "I won't be here for tomorrow's surgery," I stated. Felix's brows drew together into a tight scowl. "Eunice Chappell, are you trying to blackmail the department by calling in sick?" he asked. "You really think this major surgery can't go forward without you?" he continued. "I'd never dare think that," I said. I played right into his hands. "With Dr. Sterling, our brilliant prodigy intern, holding down the fort, the department's reputation is going to shine even brighter," I replied. That "Dr. Sterling" had Ivy over the moon. She flipped through the pre-op assessment I had left behind, putting on a humble act to smooth things over. "Don't be angry, Mr. Harbor. If Eunice wants to go get checked out, we should just let her go," she said. "I've already looked this assessment over. There's nothing major to worry about here," she added. I watched her flip to the page for the vascular variation, then tossed out a casual warning. "Mr. Lane has an unusually complex retroperitoneal vascular pathway. Don't try blind dissection through a standard incision," I told her. "Make sure you keep a size two atraumatic hemostat on standby the entire time during the procedure, and you'd better not change the order of instruments on your own authority," I continued. Ivy's eyes lit up. She immediately grabbed a pen and scribbled down "size two hemostat", a smug grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. "Thanks for the tip, Eunice. Just stay home and rest that hand of yours, okay?" she said. "Wait for my good news after tomorrow's big day!" she added cheerfully.