Chapter 1
I was interning at a women's health hospital.
That day, I had just stepped through the hospital doors when Andre Montrose, my supervising doctor, hit me with a sudden announcement.
"Yolanda D'Averne, we've got a patient who came in this morning with her water broken way before her due date. I'm about to perform an induction for her, so come with me to observe and learn!"
I moved to follow right behind him by pure instinct. Then, out of nowhere, a line of bright, livestream-style on-screen comments popped up right in front of my face.
A: [He's about to ask Yolanda to join him in this surgery, and make her administer the oxytocin to the pregnant woman.]
I jolted to a stop mid-step, and sure enough, I heard Andre give a cold, deadpan order.
"Once we get into the operating room, you'll start by giving her the oxytocin as I instruct. For the rest of the surgery, I'll walk you through doing it on your own."
The on-screen comments blew up, zipping by so fast they turned into a blur.
B: [Don't be a dumbass, do NOT go into that OR with him.]
C: [Her preterm labor didn't just happen, he dosed her with too much oxytocin last night. The fetus is already dead, and the mother just died on the operating table too.]
D: [If you go in there with him, he's gonna pin both of those deaths on you.]
My feet slammed to a halt right at the delivery room entrance. I stared at Andre, his face dark with a cold, unreadable scowl, and took a deliberate step backward.
"Hospital policy says high-risk induction procedures need to be evaluated and monitored by two senior doctors.
"Sorry, but I'm only an intern. I need to go get the on-duty head physician, Irene, downstairs to join us." I kept my voice steady, already edging toward the stairwell.
Andre froze.
He clearly hadn't expected me to use that as an excuse to refuse to step into the delivery room.
"Yolanda, didn't your professor drill it into you that saving lives comes first? What are you doing wasting time on red tape when every second counts?!" His voice dropped to a dangerous growl, and his gaze turned so icy it could have turned blood to frost.
"I'm a senior physician myself. Isn't that qualified enough to operate with a specialty resident trainee under my supervision?" His expression was thunderous, and the hostile energy pouring off him was thick enough to cut with a knife.
If I'd had no clue what was really going on behind that door, I probably would have clutched my medical license and followed him in like a total fool.
At that thought, I swallowed hard without meaning to.
"That's not what I'm saying, but this is a complex surgery. Having only one senior physician on staff for it is straight-up against hospital policy."
Andre ground his jaw. "So, you're saying we should just leave the pregnant woman to fend for herself while you run around following your stupid red tape?"
"I never said we'd leave her unattended. You can head in and start the surgery. I'll run downstairs to get Dr. Irene. It'll take just a minute."
Andre cut in immediately. "I can just call her. Dr. Irene is in the outpatient clinic at this time of day, so she probably won't check her phone. Besides, you're already in sterile surgical scrubs, touching your phone would contaminate your gear."
Andre froze for a second, stumped.
"I can put on a new set... wait, didn't you just say the patient's on the operating table right now and every second counts?"
Andre's face went completely stiff.
He looked like he was about to blow a fuse, and he grabbed my arm roughly.
"Yolanda, I don't have time to argue with you about this nonsense. Go change into scrubs right now and come in with me. We can talk about everything else once the patient's out of danger."
I craned my neck to peek past him into the operating room. Other than Andre and me, there wasn't even a single assisting nurse inside.
I jerked back immediately, darting several steps away, and whipped out my phone to log into the hospital's encrypted system. I typed in the operating room number, but I could not find a signed informed consent form for the oxytocin induction.
My heart skipped a beat.
"Why hasn't the patient's family signed the induction consent form?"
Andre averted his eyes. "He had already told me in person that he agreed. He'll go sign it with the nurses later."
"That's against protocol!"
"When someone's life is on the line, who cares about protocol?!"
Andre adopted a classic look of exasperation, like he was furious I was wasting time on trivial rules when lives were at stake.
Our shouting match quickly drew a crowd of onlookers, other patients' family members and hospital nurses alike.
One of the young nurses I was friendly with frowned and walked over.
"Yolanda, why are you and Dr. Andre tussling like this out here?"
Andre looked like he'd just spotted his lifeline, and immediately jumped in to accuse.
"The pregnant woman's lying in there, ready to give birth any second. But she's out here nitpicking, saying this isn't up to code, that didn't follow procedure."
The young nurse's face immediately hardened, her gaze sharp with disapproval when she looked at me.
"Yolanda, when someone's life is on the line, why are you getting hung up on this stuff? Look, you go in first, I'll go get the rest of the team, it'll be quick."
I said, "I'm just following the rules. If something goes wrong, I'm the one who'll take the fall for it."
The nurse sighed. "Our hospital doesn't stick that rigidly to the rulebook. We don't put red tape above people's lives. Dr. Andre's your preceptor. If you keep making a fuss against him, do you even want to keep your job here?"
As soon as she finished, the nearby families of pregnant patients nodded along in agreement, muttering among themselves and pointing judgmentally at me.
That chorus of support seemed to give Andre all the confidence he needed. He bared his teeth a little and lunged forward again to grab my arm.
My gaze turned icy, and fresh comments flashed across the floating text in front of my eyes.
A: [Don't give in! If you step in there, your medical career is over! You might even end up in jail.]
B: [The fetus and the mom are already dead. Anyone with half a brain can tell that. If you have no other option, bring the nurse in with you!]
I didn't hesitate for a second, latching onto the nurse's wrist. "If that's the case, you come into the OR with us for the surgery."
Andre's face dropped so fast it looked like it had been slapped, all color draining from his features.
"No!"
