Not Your Doormat Anymore

"Can I go into your room, Dr. Ranford?" Kourtney looked up, her face lit with surprise.

I didn't have time to talk, so I just nodded quickly. "Do whatever you think works."

I quickly grabbed the sandwich and the milk from the table and rushed out the door.

Moments earlier, Nora had messaged me about two emergency patients who needed immediate surgery. I had to get there fast.

When I arrived, I realized I was the first surgeon to show up. Nora had clearly been waiting for me.

"The other lead surgeon is out of town and can't make it back in time," she explained. "We're trying to get someone from another hospital, but it's going to take a while.

"One of the patients is in critical condition and has to be operated on within the hour. The other one's not as urgent, but they still need surgery today."

Without hesitation, I replied, "We'll start with the one in critical condition."

Nora grabbed my arm and lowered her voice. "Dr. Ranford, the other patient is Dr. Crowell's father-in-law. He gave strict instructions-he wants him operated on first."

"But he's not in immediate danger, right? If we do his surgery first, the critical patient might not make it. If we prioritize the urgent one, Dr. Crowell's father-in-law still has a chance later."

I did not understand. What difference did it make that the patient was connected to the hospital director? This should be about who needed help the most.

"Dr. Crowell doesn't want to risk anything going wrong while there's no other lead surgeon available," Nora whispered. "And that other patient... he's an elderly man with no family. His neighbor brought him in. He has no kids, so there's no one to sign the surgery consent... Even if..."

"Stop talking." I cut her off, glaring. "We're doctors. It's not our place to decide who matters more. Power should never outweigh a human life. Get the operating room prepped for the old man-now!"

"But..."

"No 'buts.' Move! I'll scrub in right away!"

Nora did not argue again. Head down, she went to prep the room.

The elderly man had suffered a sudden arterial rupture. It was life-threatening, and at his age, surgery carried enormous risks. But without it, he didn't stand a chance.

There was no choice to be made. I took a deep breath, put on my sterile gown, and entered the operating room.

Over the years, I had performed

thousands of surgeries, many of them more risky than this one. But the mental and physical toll of high-stakes operations like this was always intense.

The operation lasted eight hours, from early morning into the afternoon.

When the elderly man's vital signs finally began to stabilize, I exhaled a breath did not realize I was holding. The rest of the surgical team also broke into relieved smiles.

Fighting death was not easy, and everyone had worked hard today.

I waved for the team to transfer the patient to recovery, then changed into my

white coat and left the operating room, utterly exhausted.

As soon as I got back to my office, the director's secretary, Elise Tanners, was already waiting. "Dr. Ranford, Dr. Crowell would like to see you."

A sinking feeling hit me. I nodded and followed her.noveldrama

I arrived at Dr. Crowell's office, but he didn't say a word. He just buried his head in

some paperwork and made me stand there for 30 minutes.

"If there's nothing else, Dr. Crowell, I'd like to leave now," I said, finally losing patience,

He slowly looked up. His expression was not regretful-just angry.

"Well, Dr. Ranford. You must have a saint's medical ethics!" Dr. Crowell snapped, "That old man had no family and no one to sign a consent form. Yet, you still dared to operate. If anything had gone wrong, who would've taken responsibility-you or the hospital?"

He slammed the papers in his hand onto the floor and glared at me like I had committed a crime.