Chapter 2

Serena's screams pulled me back to reality.

I quickly assessed her condition.

Severe lacerations down there, with a nasty infection already setting in. There were even signs of tissue necrosis. This was way trickier than I'd anticipated.

She was convulsing from the pain but still swearing.

"Idiots! All of you are useless! You can't even handle a little scratch like this? I'll have this hospital shut down by tomorrow, I swear!"

"And those damn men! None of them are any good! They get their fun and bolt, leaving me here to suffer! Once I get out of here, I'm going to rip them apart!"

I put on my sterile gloves, my face expressionless. "Ms. Serena, you need immediate surgical debridement."

As soon as she heard "surgery," she ignored her pain and continued to curse.

"Surgery? Who gave you permission to use a knife? I'm warning you, if you dare leave even one scar on me, you'll regret it! I'm supposed to wear a designer gown! I'm marrying into a rich family!"

She glared at me, her eyes vicious. "Are you doing this on purpose? Trying to ruin me, are you? I'll have you know, my fiancé is practically a billionaire! He could have all of you fired with a single phone call!"

I cut her off. "It's too early to worry about that. If we don't operate immediately, the infection will spread. Forget getting married, you could lose your ability to have kids permanently. Hell, you could even die."

I was simply stating the facts objectively.

For patients like her, sympathy was useless.

The nurse beside me handed over the consent form, and Serena snatched it, tearing it into tiny pieces.

She shrieked hysterically, "Sign what?! No! I'm not signing anything! You quacks are trying to ruin me! I'll sue you all! I'll make sure you lose your licenses and your careers!"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, her eyes turned venomous, glaring at me.

"Who the hell are you? You think you're good enough to operate on me? Get your chief of surgery in here, now! Or my fiancé will tear this whole damn hospital down!"

If my job wasn't to save lives, I wouldn't bother with her.

I wasn't in the mood to waste time talking. "Honey, I'm probably the only doctor in this whole hospital qualified to be your lead surgeon. Now, where's your family? Someone needs to sign this."

At the mention of family, Serena clearly panicked. "Family? I don't need family. I can make my own decisions."

"Just do the surgery! If you delay my recovery, can you bear the consequences?"

I reminded her again. "By protocol, surgery requires a family member's signature. Where is your fiancé?"

Serena's face twisted. "You'd all better keep your mouths shut. If a single word about this gets out, I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your miserable lives!"

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't press further.

I'd seen this kind of thing too many times in the hospital.

I simply placed the consent form in front of her. "Think fast, make a decision soon. Time's ticking. After I'm done saving your life, I still need to go back and finish my wedding..."

My words were cut off by a man's voice suddenly coming from behind me.

"Married? Who are you marrying? You're getting married just three months after our divorce?!"