Beep–
The heart monitor flatlined with its shrill alarm, and I felt my soul lifting away from my body.
I watched nurses frantically calling for the attending while rushing a crash cart toward my room. I felt a pang of guilt.
Sorry, guys.
I know death reports are a real pain to fill out. Now you have to write another one because of me.
I drifted upward, floating into the operating room.
Elias had just scrubbed in and was putting on his surgical gloves.
After all those fights we’d had, I finally got a chance to take a fresh look at this guy I’d been with for seven years.
Honestly, Elias was still absolutely gorgeous.
Back in med school, it was the way he looked–so focused, so sharp–when he made that first cut during dissection. I
guess that was when I decided to pursue him.
Who knew he had a childhood sweetheart waiting in the wings?
I floated behind him and poked his shoulder blade.
“You know, I had plenty of people chasing after me too. If you’d just told me about her from the start, I wouldn’t
have insisted on being with you.”
Elias couldn’t hear me. He finished putting on his surgical gloves and walked right through my soul, making me
jump.
I was about to snap at him, then deflated.
Whatever. He can’t hear me anyway.
The OR doors swung open as a circulating nurse entered with a phone.
“Dr. Shaw, your department called about a code blue. Do you need to go check it out?”
Elias didn’t even pause while gowning up.
“They can handle it themselves. Can’t you see I’m already scrubbed in?”
20:22
My Orthopedic Boyfriend Chose His Childhood Sweetheart on the Operating Table
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Chapter
I sighed. That was Elias–surgery trumped everything.
Though today, I’d really recommend you check it out. After all, the one they’re coding is me–your girlfriend.
I turned and caught a glimpse of Zora’s face beneath the surgical frame, and suddenly, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Between the dead me and the living her, who mattered more to Elias… really wasn’t so easy to say.
Zora’s fracture was tricky, and my resuscitation wasn’t going well either.
As Elias frowned while piecing together bone fragments, the OR doors opened again.
“Dr. Shaw, they’re asking if Dr. Adrian Cole can come down to intubate the patient they’re working on.”
The OR runs on favors and connections too. A surgeon as skilled as Elias naturally got paired with the best anesthesiologist.
From my ghostly perspective, I figured I was probably a goner–that’s why they were specifically asking for Dr. Cole, the best in anesthesiology.
But Elias refused firmly.
“I never switch anesthesiologists mid–operation.”
Fine, fine. Zora’s surgery was top priority–more important than my life.
I was getting pissed off and made a face at him.
When the doors opened for the third time, Zora’s surgery was nearly complete.
Dr. Shaw, they’ve been doing CPR for thirty minutes. They’re asking if you want them to continue?”
Elias slammed his drill onto the instrument tray and finally lost it.
‘Do you people have any common sense? Call her parents and ask them! If you want my medical opinion, I’d call it!
I nodded in agreement.
Only family can authorize stopping resuscitation–asking Elias was pretty pointless
After thirty minutes of CPR, from a medical standpoint, my chances were basically zero.
After all, no one’s willing to exhaust every option chasing a miracle–except for the people who truly love you.
Me Orthonda Bakfriand
