The Hospital Gossip
306 Words
Hospitals thrive on three things:
Caffeine.
Adrenaline.
And gossip.
Within days, everyone had an opinion.
“I saw them leaving the hospital together!”
“Adrian is definitely in love.”
“She rejected him but she’s secretly obsessed with him.”
“He’s going to break his heart.”
“No, she is.”
Their friends didn’t help.
Ramos slapped Adrian’s back during break. “So, she shut you down. Ouch.”
Priya smacked Ramos. “Don’t be a jerk. She’s scared.”
“Of what?” Adrian asked, exasperated.
Priya softened. “Of losing someone she loves.”
His breath caught.
Loves?
No — surely not.
Meanwhile, Jade cornered Liana after rounds.
“Why did you run?”
“I didn’t run.”
“You sprinted emotionally.”
“I just… can’t.”
“You can,” Jade insisted. “You’re terrified. But he’s real. And he cares.”
Liana didn’t sleep that night.
Because Jade was right.One afternoon, a young teenage boy came in with sepsis. He deteriorated rapidly.
Despite everything Liana did — every calculation, every antibiotic, every fluid — he died.
Three hours later, she was on the rooftop, hugging her knees, shaking uncontrollably.
Adrian found her.
“Liana,” he whispered, kneeling.
“It’s my fault,” she choked.
“It isn’t.”
“I should have done more!”
“You did everything. You’re human.”
She lifted her tear-stained face.
“That’s why I can’t… can’t do this. Can’t care. Because I lose things I love.”
He inhaled sharply — the truth hitting him fully for the first time.
“Liana,” he said softly, “I’m not a patient you could lose. I’m a person who’s choosing you.”
She pressed her face into her hands.
And for the first time…
She let him hold her.
- Writer
