CHAPTER 3
1591 Words
She bolted out of her room into the empty street.
This time, it wasn't the professional walk she had maintained throughout her career, but a flat-out running, down to the hospital five blocks away.
“The surgery was successful, I'm expecting a recovery not another emergency. There is no reason you should crash again” she muttered under her breath.
She bursted in through the emergency door, and collided with the night clerk on duty.
“OR five. Fourth floor. They just took him in” the clerk informed
“Thank you…”
She slammed through the door. Her team is already on standby. Her eyes met Andy lying unconsciously on the table with his chest widely open.
“Report..” her voice tightened. She snapped on her gloves
“ Pressure 50 over palp, Heart rate 170 and falling, the repair site is leaking”
Regina raised her head at the monitor, the rhythm wasn't normal.
“Begin compression immediately”, she ordered. “Get me epinephrine, open the pericardium, I need to see the leak.”
Regina pierced into Andy chest, the small hidden leak was there bleeding
“I see what's wrong, get me the…”
The monitor went flat.
“No… Come back to me now!.”
The word hung in the air,
Come back to me. Not the team. Not to the OR.
“You can't die on me. Never!”
Her eyes filled with terror. Not from losing a patient. Not from losing the promotion. But from losing him.
“Don't you dare die to me” She shouted louder and possessive
The rescue continued.
******
Andy Harrison– board chairman of Harrison Steel finally opened his eyes.
White light everywhere, deep sharp pain in his chest like someone just tore them open without closing.
Tubes. Wires. Something down his throat breathing for him. He tried to move but his body rejected the offer.
“Where am I?” His eyes scanned through the room like he just appeared in a mystical world.
Then he remembered.
The general meeting. The shareholders protesting. The sharp pain in his chest.
Then a woman's face.
“I saw her. Brown eyes. Dark hair. Her voice whispered in the dark.”
You can't die on me. Come back this one more time.
“Who is she?” Andy's eye's brightened
He was still pondering when a nurse appeared from the entrance.
Andy gestured his hand to ask what happened.
The nurse moved closer and spoke.
“Mr Andy Harrinson, you are in the ICU. You undergo heart surgery, and we are glad you made it. You will be fine”
Andy's eyes coloured. “A heart surgery?”
He had never did any in his lifetime
He raised one of his heavy hands, and demonstrated he needed to write.
“You want to write something?” the nurse said
He gestured with his thumb up.
The nurse picked up the note and a pen on the bedside table and steadied them under his palm
“Where is she?” Andy scrabbled on the note.
“She? You mean Dr Regina? She is not here. She will check on you later” the nurse replied
Regina. Dr. Regina.
Andy kept the name solid in his heart, holding it like a lifeline.
******
Regina sat behind her desk in her small, clustered office. Her eyes ran across the room. The photos of her surgical team hanging on the wall. A stack of journals she hadn't gotten time to open.
A page lies on the desk. Post- ops report.
Andy Harrison. Surgery successful.
She exhaled.
“Thank God, he didn't die on me. What an arrogant patient he is? I should check up on him”
Surgeons should always check up on their patient, ask questions, and reassure the patient is stable. It was a standard Protocol, but she found it difficult to pull herself up.
The question dropped like a bombshell. His wide eyes searched into her face.
“Who are you?
“I am your surgeon!!” Regina yelled at the wall.
“Oh my God, this is not me. Why am I losing myself?”
She closed her eyes tightly and muttered under her breath.
“I'm not going. I need to stay away from him.” Her jaw tightened.
She stood up anyways.
The ICU was quiet, just a soul lying down gently. Breathing, but machine doing the work
Regina entered and paused at the door. She almost changed her mind and went out.
“Mr Harrison” her soft voice brightened the room
Andy’s head turned on an auto-rotation. A moment he had been waiting for since hours.
His eyes met the brown charming eyes. Her complexion was fair, dark hair pulled to the back. She had a lip as smooth as an almond. Her heels brought her up for a better view.
Andy was lost in her world of beauty and elegance.
“I'm Dr Regina Bennett” She interrupted the silence.
Andy smiled softly. Regina stared at him, puzzled. She saw no reason for a smile in the middle of a check up.
“I performed your surgery. How are you doing now?” she added sharply
Andy couldn't voice out, the tube had blocked his speech. But his eyes didn’t leave the damsel who just descended from heaven.
Regina turned her face to the monitor. Vitals stable. Heart rhythm improving.
“Thank God you made it. You had a Type A aortic dissection and it has been repaired. You will need time to recover fully”
She moved closer and adjusted his IV drip.
Andy followed her with her smile. Regina noticed but kept her eyes away.
“I will check up later, take time and rest” She said and turn to leave
Then his hands moved and grabbed her fingers firmly.
Regina turned and stared at his smile that hasn't ceased since she came in.
A man smiling at her like she was the reason the earth existed. It was too much, too dangerous.
She pulled his hand back. Not harshly, but gently as a professional surgeon.
Andy didn't protest, he pointed to the book beside the bed. The one he had used earlier to ask of her
“Oh.., you want to write something?”
This time, Andy nodded, pain landed in his chest, but it worth it
Regina took the book and the pen. She could see the first statement written earlier.
Who is she? She smiles faintly.
She handed the book to Andy.
His hand shook as he wrote. The letters were scrawled, barely legible.
Thank you.
Regina nodded with a warm smile.
You are welcome
Andy wrote again.
I heard your voice, calling out to me in the dark. Who are you?
Regina stared at the note. The last sentence got her heart pounding faster.
She gave no response.
She slipped the note inside her pocket and walked out of the room.
Andy watched her disappear like she was the only air that had made her lungs breathe.
“I shouldn't keep this note,” Regina pondered in the hallway. “Maybe for now, until I found out while his words made my heart ache” She smiled softly.
Hun-hmm” Vanessa hummed as Regina almost collided with her.
She dressed elegantly, hair well packed, perfect makeup. Like she was going for a beauty parade.
“ Dr. Regina…” She said with a smile.
“What was that?” Regina frowned.
“Nothing serious. I was just about to check up on Andy. How is he doing now?”
“Eecovering. You can check in as well. Regina replied firmly.
“That's good news, " Vanessa smiled again. Always smiling when she had something to scheme
Regina added no word. She stepped forward to go, but Vanessa held her with her right hand.
“What are you doing?” Regina eyes tightened
Vannesa smiled “ I meant what I said yesterday. You are talented. You just saved a life twice, just like that…”
She moved closer to Regina.
“But there is one thing about Andy you didn't know yet. How I wish you would listen.”
Regina rolled her eyes. Another story she is not interested in. Maybe she just needs to listen in case they turn out to be useful.
Vanessa continued
“That man you see lying weak on that bed is more than you view him. He gets himself attached to people who saved him, people who care about him. He will get over you, pursue you, obsess over you, make you feel like you're precious in his life”
A pause.
“And when he is healed, when he is safe, when he is bored. He ignores you and goes for the next interesting female that catches his eyes. He will put you in a state where you wondered what you did wrong. A state you may never be too healed to forget the scars”
“And what's my business with this?” Regina bursted in terror. “Andy Harrinson is my patient and I have nothing to do with your his past or lifestyle”
“I know but I'm just reminding you to stay away from my husband” Vanessa's voice tightened.
“ Ex-husband… If I may remind you” Regina replied bluntly
Vannesa smiled. “Yeah, maybe for now.” Her voice deepened.
They both walked away, their heels clicking on the tiles sending warning as they parted.
- Writer
