She Wore My Wedding Dress

Chapter 3

Sabina had barely taken over the patient enrolled in my research project when something went wrong. At 3:00 that afternoon, warning lights flashed wildly in the intensive care unit, and a piercing alarm rang through the corridor.

"We need help! The patient's blood pressure has dropped to 50!" a nurse shouted.

I kicked open the door and rushed inside. The patient's body was convulsing, and his face had turned blue. He was in anaphylactic shock complicated by acute heart failure.

Sabina stood beside the bed, pale and shaking, with an empty syringe still in her hand. "I... I didn't know this would happen. I only increased the infusion rate a little."

I shoved her aside and climbed directly onto the bed. "1 milligram of epinephrine, IV push! Prepare the defibrillator and charge to 200 joules! Open an intubation kit!"

I performed one emergency procedure after another and dragged the patient back from the brink of death. Before I could catch my breath, shouting erupted outside.

The patient's family had arrived with a crowd of independent media streamers. Claiming they were exposing a corrupt hospital that treated lives as disposable, they began broadcasting live and packed the department corridor until no one could pass.

"A reckless doctor used the wrong medication and almost killed my child! Come out here, get on your knees, and apologize!"

Angry voices rose outside. Sabina burst into tears and threw herself into Cedric's arms the moment he arrived.

"Cedric, save me. I really didn't mean to do it!"

He held her protectively and patted her back. "Don't be afraid. I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you."

Sabina picked up the resuscitation record and wrote my name in the field identifying the physician primarily responsible.

Cedric seized my wrist and dragged me into a fire stairwell without security cameras. "Odette, you saw what's happening out there. Sabina was just promoted to attending physician. She can't have a medical violation this serious on her record. If this becomes public, her entire career will be ruined. Please help her."

I stared at the man before me. He seemed like a monstrous stranger. I tried to wrench my wrist free and shook my head repeatedly.

"I'm begging you," he continued. "The family is emotional, and the broadcast is still running. Sabina can't withstand that kind of pressure. Go out, apologize, and admit that you administered the wrong medication. I'll make it up to you later."

The entitlement in his voice extinguished the last trace of warmth in my heart.

I remembered the day I had collapsed in my office from low blood sugar. Cedric had carried me into the break room, crouched in front of me, and fed me glucose.

He had said, "You focus on saving lives. I'll carry everything else for you."

Now he was pushing me in front of the cameras so I could take the blame for his female best friend.

I picked up the internal disciplinary warning notice and signed under responsibility pending verification.

"I'll cooperate with the internal process. I won't kneel or take the blame for her."

Cedric blocked my way. "Odette Fenton, can't you consider the greater good?"

I removed my hospital badge and slapped it against his chest. "The hospital's greater good is not your selfish agenda, and it isn't Sabina's shield."

I walked out of the stairwell. The livestream continued beyond the door, where reporters surrounded Cedric and Sabina. At the stairwell entrance, I stopped and opened my phone. I submitted the system-generated request for footage of the resuscitation directly to the hospital.