Cameron was a little tired after the rib plating she just finished.
After explaining the positive situation to the patient's family, she went to the nurses' station and sat down. Guzzling down half of the water bottle a nurse passed to her, she took a minute to catch her breath and calm down from the intense surgery.
"Dr. Parker, you are really amazing. A lot of the doctors deliberately refused to take your last case because they were afraid that the patient would die on the operating table. Those ribs were practically shattered." The nurse who spoke looked at Cameron with admiration in her eyes.
"I'm just trying my best. I can't let the patient lie there and wait for death." Cameron's professional tone didn't prevent the nurse from continuing to worship her. Widely known around the hospital as a cold person, Cameron was also famous for her commitment and unwavering patience with her patients.
"This patient was only 19 years old," she added.
"Yes, children are even more desperate when fighting." The nurse shook her head, then turned to search for a file on the desk.
Cameron turned to look in the direction of the operating room. Nineteen years old, what a good age. She remembered when she was nineteen...
"Dr. Parker, please come to the emergency room immediately. Dr. Parker, you are needed in the emergency room immediately." The urgent summons over the Public Address System effectively stopped her trip down memory lane. Ignoring her fatigue, Cameron stood up, downed her water and discarded the bottle, waving to the nurse before rushing to the ER.
In the emergency room, a man lay covered in blood. Blood was still gushing out of his mouth and nose, despite the constant swabs by the nurses. There was also a circle of doctors around him, but they looked helpless and fearful.
"What's going on?," She hurried forward.
"Sunshine Group's CEO, Mr. Charles Stillmann." Joelle, who was in the same department, whispered, "I heard that he was flirting with a model while driving. He bumped into a huge truck, and lost control. Car flipped over and landed half-off the bridge. " Lowering her voice more, she said "With shattered ribs, and a punctured lung, he's lucky to be alive but it looks quite bad, Doctor Parker. No one wants to take the case."
Cameron felt as if her head had exploded. Charles, the CEO of Sunshine Group of Companies, was her husband whom she had only seen once when she got married five years ago. Now, he lay in front of her, unrecognizable. If it wasn't for Joelle, she probably wouldn't have recognized him.
She took a deep breath. No wonder no one wanted to take it his case. If he died on the operating table, the whole hospital would be crushed by the Stillmann family.
"Director, let us transfer Mr. Stillmann to another hospital," the deputy director whispered in the director's ear. "There are many private hospitals in Vancouver, and they can surely care for him..."
Cutting him off, the director replied, "His ribs are fractured and one of the ribs has punctured the lung. He also seems to have some pressure in the brain, which I will look into. A two-part operation needs to be carried out immediately." The director ignored his associate's words and turned to Cameron.
"Doctor Parker, prepare to surgically stabilize the ribs and perform a thoracotomy immediately."
Cameron was stunned for a moment. Obviously, she didn't expect that the director would directly name her, but it was a matter of life and death, so she didn't have time to refuse.
"Okay, sir."
Joelle watched as the hospital technicians and other nurses rushed towards the operating room. Shaking her head, she looked at the nurse next to her and said, "Dr. Parker is in so much trouble. The director must have deliberately asked her to take this case."
"What can we do? She is the backbone of the department. The director knows very well that although she is the best thoracic surgeon in this hospital, despite being younger than most of them." Sue also lowered her voice.
"I think the director wants to take this opportunity to drive Dr. Parker away, but if the operation succeeds, Dr. Parker will definitely have more clout."
"I'm afraid that Mr. Stillmann is in danger. It's a pity that he is the most eligible bachelor in Vancouver. Many women will weep if he dies."
Cameron held the scalpel and took a deep breath. She literally had a chance to see what was in Charles's head.
"He was flirting with a female model while driving on the highway? He deserves it..."
"Dr. Parker, there is a lot of pressure in the brain. I'll carry out a mechanical thrombectomy first." She put away her thoughts and looked up at the director.
"Okay, sir." The dean nodded and turned to look at his first assistant. "Stent."
"Yes, sir."
The operation was tense but orderly. Done with his part in ninety minutes, the director looked at Cameron's neat technique and nodded slightly. Although she was young, her technique was well-practiced. Even more surprising, she was calm in the face of incredible pressure. The director himself couldn't suppress his nervousness while he was removing the blood clot from the patient's brain, yet she stayed calm through an intense bon grafting, internal fixation, and lung surgery.
Eight hours later, the surgery finally ended. Looking at Charles being pushed out of the operating room, Cameron would have fallen to the ground if she hadn't leaned against the wall.
The director wanted to pat her on the shoulder to comfort and encourage her, but when he saw the blood on his gloves, he withdrew his hand. "Are you scared, Dr. Parker?"
Cameron shook her head and said, "Director, I have to go home and rest. I have performed three surgeries today and I have been standing for over sixteen hours. I'm totally wiped out. I'll check on the patient later."
The director frowned. He didn't know about Cameron's operation arrangement, but he was sure that the director of the department knew. In this case, if she had made a slight mistake out of tiredness, the whole operation could have failed. It was simply irresponsible! "Well, go back and have a good rest. Mr. Stillmann is still in danger and needs you to return to work as soon as possible." After that, the director went out of the operating room first.
Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. She leaned against the wall to rest a bit more before straightening. She was about to start trudging out when she heard the attendants who were cleaning up the operating room whispering, "Doctor Parker is really awesome. If I were to operate on such an important person, I would probably be so excited that I wouldn't even be able to hold my scalpel."
"Is she dating anyone?" another voice asks.
"Which man would dare to date such a powerful woman?"
"Maybe she doesn't like men..."
Cameron frowned and went out of the operating room to change out of her scrubs. Listening to idle gossip was a waste of her time.
Checking her phone as she walked out of the hospital, she found thirty missed calls and twelve text messages on her mobile phone, which was on silent during the operation.
The calls were from her parents. She was too tired to speak and didn't want to call back, so she opened the messages first. Almost all the messages were sent by the two of them.
"Charles is seriously injured and hospitalized. Don't do his surgery."
"Tell them you're his wife and won't be objective enough to do the surgery."
"If Charles dies, you are his legal wife. You can inherit everything from him."
"Cam, did you get mum's messages? If you can inherit everything from Charles, the Parkers will no longer have to rely on others. You can also marry anyone you actually want!"
Cameron closed her eyes. The last bit of strength in her body had been drained. She did not reply to the messages, and she was definitely not going to call her parents or brother back. She also couldn't turn the phone off because she was afraid that there would be an emergency in the hospital, so she put the phone back into her pocket.
As she tiredly drove home, and even after she had showered and fallen into bed, her thoughts refused to settle. Could she truly become free from Charles, and marry someone else?