Callie made a conscious effort to focus on her work, refusing to engage with Abby’s taunts.
At least she had the satisfaction of not giving Abby the reaction she desired.
But fate had a way of throwing unexpected challenges her way.
One day, after finishing her gruelling morning shift, Callie was looking forward to heading home and catching some shut-eye.
Just as she was about to change out of her white coat, she received an urgent notice, summoning her back to duty.
The hospital had received an order from the military, requiring all available doctors to attend to a group of patients.
These were no ordinary patients—they were soldiers wounded in a daring mission, their injuries severe and their lives hanging by a thread.
The army made it clear that every effort must be made to save them.
Callie hurriedly donned a pristine white coat and dashed into the bustling emergency room at Rosedale Hospital.
Inside, she found a total of nine patients being triaged.
Four soldiers were in critical condition and required immediate surgery, while the remaining five faced less severe injuries.
Simon was there, issuing instructions to nurses to wheel two of the four critically wounded soldiers into an operating theatre.
Abby was by his side, seemingly ready to assist.
Simon, already stretched to the limits by taking on two surgeries, couldn’t handle the load alone.
Meanwhile, the other board-certified surgeons were still on their way back to the hospital.
Callie, though just a fifth-year surgical resident, had to step up.
Simon’s voice was grave as he addressed Callie, ‘Dr Hawthorne, you’ll have to do this without an attending surgeon. Can you handle it?’
‘I’ll have to, won’t I?’ Callie was already checking on the third soldier in critical condition, getting him prepped for surgery.
‘I’ll leave it to you, then.’ Simon jogged off towards the suite of operating theatres.
‘What about the fourth one?’ a nurse asked anxiously. ‘He won’t last long out here.’
The soldier was lying on a gurney.
One glance told Callie that he was suffering from penetrating thoracic trauma.
His chest and possibly his lungs were punctured by a sharp object, likely a projectile.
His breathing was becoming increasingly laboured.
‘Just keep him alive for as long as you can,’ Callie said to the nurse. ‘Control external bleeding, if any. Try emergency decompression if you see signs of a collapsed lung. I’ll come and get him after I’m done with my patient, or hopefully one of the other surgeons will have come back by then.’
Abby interjected, ‘Dr Hawthorne, there isn’t enough time to wait for either you or the other surgeons. We have to operate on him right now, or he dies. How about I take him?’
‘You?’ Callie felt her temples throbbing at Abby’s ridiculous request. ‘You are a first-year resident, practically just out of medical school.’
‘So what?’ Abby raised her chin. ‘You are a resident as well.’
‘I’m fifth year, and I’ve performed almost two hundred supervised surgeries. If I remember correctly, that number for you is…what, two, three? All I can recall is it’s a single digit.’
Abby opened her mouth, about to retort, but Callie cut her off. ‘Just stay here and keep an eye on Number Four. Monitor his condition. Stop the bleeding. Administer pain relief if needed. And I hope you still remember how to perform an emergency decompression. Brief the other surgeons once they’ve arrived.’
Then she dashed off into Operating Theatre Two, where patient Number Three was already prepped and waiting.
Abby shot a venomous glare at Callie’s back.
How dare that woman call her incompetent?
And in front of so many other people?
She was the hospital director’s daughter.
So what if she was just a first-year resident?
She practically grew up in a house full of doctors!
She’d show that woman that age and experience meant nothing!
Abby scoffed, turning to the nurse by her side, Wendy, and ordered brusquely, ‘Fetch me a set of scrubs. I’ll perform Number Four’s surgery.’
‘Um, Dr Colman, Dr Hawthorne explicitly said that...’ Wendy, aware of Abby’s position as the director’s daughter, tried to reason with her. ‘You can’t perform the surgery without the permission of a supervising surgeon.’
‘I can’t?’ Abby sneered, her tone laced with derision. ‘Wendy, do you even know what you’re talking about? If I say I’ll do it, then I will. I’ll take full responsibility for the operation. Enough with your nonsense, come and assist me.’
As a seasoned nurse, Wendy understood the impropriety of the situation, but then, she had limited power compared to Abby, who could get her fired with just one phone call to Director Colman.
Reluctantly, she helped Abby change into a set of scrubs, and they entered the third operating theatre together.
Abby confidently took charge of the surgery on the anesthetised soldier.
To her, the emergency thoracotomy wasn’t that challenging.
Though she had not personally performed one before, she had watched plenty of training footage.
With a scalpel, she made a midline incision on the patient’s chest wall, then gained entry into the thoracic cavity with a pair of retractors.
She evaluated the lung injuries, deemed them to be manageable, and confirmed her suspicion that Callie’s denial of her request to perform the surgery stemmed purely from personal bias.
She was doing fine, wasn’t she?
Wendy stood by her side, watching with bated breath, handing her the necessary instruments as they were needed.
The surgery progressed relatively smoothly.
Despite some minor flaws, Abby managed to stop the internal bleeding and repair the lung lacerations.
However, just as Wendy began to relax, bright red blood squirted from the patient’s open chest, splattering onto Abby’s face and hands.
Abby gasped, feeling the warmth of the blood against her skin despite the protection of the mask.
The patient’s face rapidly turned pallid, his breath growing shallow and rasp-filled.
‘Dr Colman!’ Wendy’s voice trembled as she observed the alarming drop in the patient’s vital signs on the monitor. ‘His blood pressure is plummeting! Heart rate’s spiking! He’s in severe tachycardia! We have to stop the bleeding!’
‘Shut up! Shut up! I know!’ Panic washed over Abby as she futilely attempted to staunch the unrelenting flow of blood with surgical sponges, then suction devices.The bright red colour of the blood meant she must have nicked an artery somewhere, but with so much blood flooding his chest cavity, it was hard to identify the exact location of the leak.‘Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!’ Abby’s hands shook violently.Her confidence had misled her into believing this surgery would be a breeze.Disregarding Callie’s warning, she had taken matters into her own hands, operating without proper authorisation.And now, everything had spiralled out of control.Not only had she violated the hospital’s rules, but she had also caused a medical mishap.To make matters worse, the patient lying before her was a soldier.What if he died on the operating table?The weight of the consequences pressed upon her, leaving her paralysed with fear.Her trembling hands failed to halt the bleeding, rendering her helpless.Wendy
Wendy shot out an arm to steady her. ‘Are you all right?’Callie blinked away the black dots. ‘I’m fine. Just needed a sec.’Her entire left arm felt numb, like she had a dead tree branch attached to her body.Enduring the weird sensation, Callie removed her mask with her right hand and walked towards the door. ‘Wendy, let me know if anything changes.’‘Will do, Dr Hawthorne.’Callie beckoned at Abby, who had not made a sound since she entered the operating theatre. ‘You. Come with me.’Abby hesitated, her expression a mix of fear and defiance.But she had no choice but to follow Callie out of the room.Wendy shook her head as she watched the two women leave.Though both were surgical residents, in her mind, only one of them could be called a doctor.As they stepped into an empty hallway, Abby braced herself for a dressing-down. ‘I was only trying to—’Smack!Before she could finish her sentence, Callie’s right hand connected solidly with Abby’s cheek, leaving a fiery mark behind.The
Some distance away, the emergency room buzzed with activity as doctors and nurses hurried past, their scrubs swishing in a flurry of purpose.But the hallway outside the operating theatres was quiet.Callie leaned against the wall, her white coat wrinkled and stained with blood.She tried to compose herself, wiping away the remnants of tears that stained her cheeks.Elias didn’t release his grip on Callie, his eyes penetrating into her soul.‘What happened?’ he asked, his concern seeping through the sternness in his tone. ‘Why were you crying? And what’s with the blood on your arm?’Callie’s guard shot up like a fortress wall.She wiped away her tears, determined not to let a stranger witness her vulnerability.‘It’s none of your business,’ she snapped, her voice tinged with defiance.Elias moved closer, his gaze unwavering.Callie’s breath hitched as she felt his proximity, his presence engulfing her.‘Maybe it is my business,’ he countered, his voice low and commanding. ‘I don’t lik
Callie and Wendy exchanged amazed glances, struggling to process the revelation.Callie couldn’t help but feel a sense of astonishment at Elias being a soldier, as he wasn’t dressed in uniform.But then, it would explain all the bullet wounds and scars on his body.Lieutenant Colonel—a high-ranking position, she assumed, given the young soldier’s respect.There was something undeniably alluring about a man in uniform.Wendy, always the romantic, seized Callie’s hands, her eyes shining with excitement. ‘Oh my gosh, Callie! Are all soldiers that ridiculously attractive?’Callie was about to respond, but a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over her like a rogue wave.Her head spun, the world blurring into a whirlpool of confusion.And then, without warning, her legs buckled beneath her, and she slumped to the ground in a heap.‘Woah, hold up!’ Wendy lunged forward, but before she could catch Callie, a pair of strong arms swooped in and cradled her limp form.‘Callie!’ Wendy reached for Ca
Callie could feel the waves of anger radiating from Elias, like a volcanic eruption about to happen.Why was he angry?What did any of this have to do with him?It was her embarrassment, her pain—it had nothing to do with him.‘Lieutenant Colonel Westwood, this is a hospital!’ Callie’s voice quivered.‘That night, you could have left me on the street. Why did you save me? Why did you take me home?’ Elias’s gaze locked with Callie’s reddened eyes, his own eyes deep and intense‘Because, like I told you, I’m a doctor,’ she replied with utmost seriousness. ‘A doctor’s duty is to save lives and heal wounds. What happened that night, I would have done it for anyone.’Elias’s fingers tightened gradually, conflicting emotions swirling within him.As he looked into Callie’s red-rimmed eyes, he knew she spoke the truth.And yet, the knowledge that she would have done it for anyone agitated him.In the next instant, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.Unlike their previous staged
‘I don’t owe Callie anything,’ Abby retorted defiantly. ‘She only intervened to show off and prove herself better than me. I won’t thank her for that.’Stuart’s frustration deepened, his face reddening with anger. ‘Abby, this is not about your personal vendettas or petty rivalries. This is about patient care and professionalism. You must learn to put your ego aside and acknowledge the assistance you receive, regardless of who it comes from.’Simon, a suave and ambitious surgeon who always had a smooth answer ready, stepped forward to defend his fiancée. ‘Mr Colman, it’s Abby’s first year as a surgical resident. Mistakes happen, especially in high-pressure situations. She was only trying to help. I can assure you that she has learned her lesson.’Stuart glanced at Simon, his expression softened slightly. ‘Simon, as Abby’s future husband, I expect you to take good care of her at work. Ensure that she learns from this incident and improves her practice. We can’t afford any more slip-ups.
Callie’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise, but she maintained her composure.She appreciated Joshua’s straightforwardness, even if his approach seemed a bit cold.She nodded, indicating her willingness to participate.‘How much do you earn per month?’ Joshua asked.‘Well, as a fifth-year surgical resident, I make around five to six thousand dollars a month.’‘Not bad. Now, what about your parents? What do they do for a living?’‘Actually, I don't have parents. I grew up as an orphan.’Joshua scowled. ‘I see. Moving on, do you own any property or are you living in a rental?’‘I currently live in a rented one-bedroom apartment.’‘Fair enough. Last question, are you currently in debt?’‘Well, I do have a student loan of about two hundred fifty thousand dollars.’ Callie shrugged. ‘Medical school loans, you know how it is.’Joshua stood up abruptly and started packing up his belongings. ‘Well, this has been a complete waste of my time. You should know better than to lead people on, Miss Hawth
Despite her tough exterior, Callie was still hurting from the breakup.She had poured her heart and soul into the relationship, only to be betrayed by Simon for the sake of his career.Simon’s face contorted with pain, his voice filled with anguish. ‘Please, Callie, give me another chance. Let me prove to you that we belong together.’He grasped Callie’s wrist, pleading with her. ‘I know you still have feelings for me. I remember the promises I made, that I’d take care of you for the rest of my life. I haven’t forgotten.’Callie’s eyes narrowed, disbelief written across her face.She said mockingly, ‘Take care of me? Really, Simon? With your empty promises and broken trust?’Simon’s voice quivered as he tried to explain himself. ‘You don’t understand, Callie. I’m just a surgeon from an ordinary family. I can’t give you the luxurious lifestyle you deserve. That’s why I had to marry Abby. But it’s only temporary, I promise. Once I have everything I want—the hospital directorship and wea