The following day at the hospital, Patricia was in the VVIP ward alongside a group of doctors who were checking on the patient. Roman was present, appearing at ease with the rest of the team. It was the first time she had seen him interact so freely with other doctors, which made her wonder who they were. Since she hadn't had time to explore the other departments, she couldn't recognize any of them. But if they were here for the patient, then they were likely surgeons or professors.
"You are in good hands, beautiful lady. You are lucky to be engaged to a doctor," one of the middle-aged female doctors said, prompting Patricia to instinctively raise her head, glancing between Roman and the patient, shocked.
So that was why he had been so protective of her? She was his fiancée? The woman he was supposed to marry in two months? It made sense as she would need time to heal properly under supervision. Still, Patricia felt oddly threatened by her beauty. She knew that if she stayed, she wouldn't be able to enjoy her own married life. It would be worse than living in hell.
"I know I don't deserve him, but I will make it right by him soon," the patient responded, drawing laughter from everyone in the room. The atmosphere felt unexpectedly romantic, and Patricia couldn't shake the feeling that she was intruding.
She decided it was best to leave and observe the surgery from the operating theatre's observation room, which was always available to them. The room was already filled with doctors awaiting the start of the operation.
Minutes later, Dr. Roman entered with the surgical team, and they all moved into position. This wasn't Patricia's first time witnessing a surgery, but it was her first time watching one as a doctor. It felt… Alive. There were sixteen doctors in the theatre, and their presence made the air heavy with tension.
INT. OPERATING THEATRE – 10:30 AM
"Let's start," Roman said after putting on his gloves. The team gave a nod, each standing at their station.
"Scalpel," Roman requested.
"Scalpel," the scrub nurse repeated, handing it over.
"Let's begin."
A few minutes into the operation, the room was silent except for the steady beeping of the monitors. A cool tension hung in the air.
The overhead lights illuminated the patient's chest cavity. Roman, calm and focused, stood at the head of the table, leading the transplant. Nearby, the donor heart lay preserved, ready for implantation.
To his right stood Dr. Callen, the assistant surgeon. He looked visibly tense. It was his first time assisting in a transplant under Dr. Blackthorn, and though he had begged for the opportunity just so he could brag about it, he was beginning to realize this operation might be more than he could handle.
ROMAN
"Clamp the vena cava. Let's isolate."
DR. CALLEN
"Clamping…"
He reached in, slightly off-angle.
ROMAN
"You are too close to the pulmonary artery," Roman warned, but before Callen could adjust…
SPURT OF BLOOD.
"No!" Dr. Callen cried out, his hands shaking.
The monitors scream and the nurses went into a panic mode.
SCRUB NURSE
"Bleeding!"
ROMAN
"Clamp. Now."
DR. CALLEN
"I… I can't see. There's too much…"
ROMAN
"Get out of the way." He ordered. He doesn't shout, but his voice slices through the chaos. He steps in without hesitation, pressing a sponge firmly into the wound to slow the bleeding.
ROMAN
"Page Dr. Lane. Now."
CIRCULATING NURSE
"On it!"
Callen backs away, pale and shaken. Blood pools and smears, but Roman's hands are steady. He works fast, clearing the field.
Outside, Patricia sees the sudden commotion from the observation room. Her stomach tightens. She leaves without a second thought, nearly colliding with a nurse pacing anxiously outside the theatre.
PATRICIA
"What's going on?"
The nurse hesitates, glancing at her ID before answering.
NURSE
"The only available assisting surgeon isn't in the hospital."
Patricia's eyes widened. In a surgery like this, an assistant wasn't optional, it was critical.
PATRICIA
"I can help. I am a surgeon. Get me ready."
The nurse looks her over, clearly skeptical. Patricia didn't get offended knowing she might even be more biased if she were the nurse in this scenario.
PATRICIA
"I won't lie to you. If I mess up, it could cost me everything, buf the patient's life is more important. Let me help."
The nurse still hesitates… until a voice barks from behind.
DR. MISS
"Let her go in! What are you waiting for?"
The nurse stiffens.
DR. MISS
"If anything goes wrong, will you take responsibility?"
The pressure lands, and without another word, the nurse whisks Patricia to the dressing room.
Moments later, Patricia enters the theatre, fully scrubbed in. She approaches Roman.
PATRICIA
"What's the damage?"
ROMAN
"Small nick on the pulmonary artery. Right th…"
He stops mid-sentence, recognizing the voice. His eyes lock onto her face and his expression darkens.
ROMAN
"Who let a rookie into my OR?! Get out! Now!" He barked, causing everyone in the room to flinch, lowering their gazes out of fear. The pressure was already high enough in the room, they feared they might not be able to handle more of it.
PATRICIA
"I am not leaving, not while a patient's life is on the line. This is a place of life and death, and not for preferences. There's no assisting surgeon available."
She doesn't know where the boldness came from, but she meant every one of them.
ROMAN
"You will be fired if anything goes wrong."
His voice is ice. He stares at her, unsure if she's brave or just reckless.
PATRICIA
"As long as the patient survives, that's all that matters."
He hesitates. Just for a moment. Then…
ROMAN
"…Start."
She moves into place beside him.
PATRICIA
"I see it. Hold this, yeah. Got it."
Their hands move in rhythm. Together, they work with precision. The bleeding slows… then stops.
ANESTHESIOLOGIST
"BP rising. Ninety-five over sixty-two and holding."
Roman exhales through his nose. Gives a short nod.
ROMAN
"Let's proceed."
The new heart is brought in. They begin anastomosis.
PATRICIA
"Pulse is coming through."
The monitor beeps, slow at first… then steady.
ROMAN
"She's stable."
The entire room seems to exhale at once.
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
Behind the glass, a few interns and residents sit in stunned silence.
INTERN 1
"That could have gone bad."
INTERN 2
"Callen blew it."
INTERN 1
"Yeah… but that new doctor walked in like she had been there since the start."