บท 73: An Interlude

"Doc, what was all this about? Dr. Miller said something about fabricating medical history. Did they try to frame or what? Is that why you came so late?" one of the registrars worriedly bombarded Sia with questions as soon as she entered.

The whole neurosurgical department had been anxious because of her prolonged absence. To top it off, her current disheveled state made matters even worse. They expected her to be back in two hours maximum, but she was absent for more than five hours and, when she finally returned, her shirt was all wrinkled and she was slightly out of breath seemingly because of running.

Moreover, they had found out that there was some conspiracy going on so they were angered at whoever dared to harm their friend and colleague.

Looking at their worried yet slightly furious expressions, Sia chuckled lightly to ease the heavy atmosphere,

"I am completely fine," she shortly lifted her chin up, "Aren't you looking down on me? As if anyone would be able to do anything to this genius. I am late just because something happened afterwards."

Her smugness caused the whole personnel to erupt in laughter: this girl would usually be humble and carefree, but sometimes she would boast so shamelessly that her image would momentarily crack. However, that was exactly what they loved and appreciated about her: whatever she was, she was never fake.

However, her last sentence didn't sit well with them: she wasn't someone to be late because of minor things. As one of the people who spent the most time with her, Jem knew full well that something had to be wrong. So, he became the person to voice everyone's opinion;

"What exactly happened, Siana?"

Sia's straightened her back and immediately started recalling the happenings of the day, not wanting to worry them any more than they already were,

"So, it went like this..."

- 3 hours ago, on the way to the hospital -

As the department was on the southern part of the city, Sia naturally chose to get a cab and started to walk towards the street. It was then that she noticed an elderly woman walking quite unsteadily on the pavement. By the time she got to her, the woman was already clutching her chest in obvious pain and discomfort.

"Do you have any medicine on you?" Sia asked quickly. On the other hand she took out her phone and called for the ambulance giving them their address. The woman seemed to be having an attack and if appropriate measures were not taken on time things would get messy.

The woman, who was now leaning her weight on Sia, answered in a weak and shaky voice,

"B..ba..g."

There weren't many people on the streets, but someone approached them at the moment, seeing the situation. It was a man of about 40 who took Sia's role as a support while Sia started rummaging through the bag for a useful medicine. The medication was mostly prescribed for high blood pressure which could potentially be one of the reason's for the woman's attack. However, it was possible that there was a thrombosis blocking the blood flow from or to the heart. What she needed now was to give her something that could reduce blood clotting and help maintain the blood flow. Her eyes lightened the moment she saw a pack of aspirin tablets. As it was a high-dosage pill, she helped the woman take one pill and then assisted her to drink some water.

Nevertheless, despite their efforts, the elderly woman lost her consciousness. With the help of now another woman that had joined them, Sia started doing emergency chest compressions while the woman did mouth to mouth resuscitation.

In a few minutes the ambulance finally arrived at the place. The two people that were previously helping Sia had to leave, but Sia chose to go with the woman to the Southern hospital A&E department.

The woman was soon taken to an operating theatre as a thrombosis was found in her aorta. It turned out that that single aspirin and the CPR had truly saved her life.

Her name was Lucy Wilson and her family was instantly contacted to come over. Only after they confirmed that the family was on their way to the hospital did Sia leave the hospital with the promise to come later.

She didn't want to miss the surgeries of her own patients in today's list of operations, which was why she literally ran to the hospital as soon as the cab parked.

"So you mean to say that nothing happened to you?"

"That's exactly what I meant to say. I will go change quickly and we can proceed with the planned surgeries. It's my outpatient day tomorrow so I want to finish as many surgeries as possible today. Who is scrubbing in?"

Jem quickly volunteered for the job and they proceeded with the initial plan of the day.

- Meanwhile, Southern hospital of Ribekia -

"How is my grandmother?" a young woman, slightly older than 20, asked worriedly to the surgeon who had just come out of the operating theatre.

The men next to her stood up and similarly focused all their attention on the doctor, who didn't leave them hanging and started with a genuine smile,

"The surgery was a success. More than 90% of Mrs. Lucy's aorta was blocked, however, the timely treatment had truly saved her life."

The girl broke into tears, completely losing her ability to speak, fear had engulfed her previously but now her grandma was well and that was all that mattered. The men were more stable, but they also couldn't control their own shaking hands. They could finally breath again...

"Doctor, thank you so much for saving my mother. I don't know how to express my gratitude."

The doctor smiled helplessly while shaking his head

"No need to thank me. Your mother is truly blessed, as one of our colleagues happened to be nearby and quickly noticed her symptoms. If not for her taking timely measures, I am afraid it might have been too late for me to take any action. The one who truly saved her life was her not me."

The family members were surprised but when they thought of what they were told they felt both fear and relief. They feared all the 'what ifs'... What if that person was not there? What if he or she didn't take timely action?

At the same time, they were relieved that everything had already ended. Grandma had not warned them before leaving and she didn't even take anyone with her, and this kind of an accident just had to happen on such a day. But, as the doctor said, she was truly blessed to have someone knowledgeable in the vicinity.

"Who is that person? We would really like to thank him or her for helping grandma," the young man said eagerly.

The doctor once again shook his head, "I am afraid you cannot meet her now. She had waited until you confirmed that you were on your way and only then did she leave for the Central hospital, where she works. I can contact her or give her details to you if you want to meet her. Though, on that note, I remember that she promised to visit later on."

"Even if she comes, can you still tell me what her name is? And I would really love to buy her something as thanks, so, do you possibly have any idea what I could buy?" Olivia asked excitedly. When she heard that it was a woman who saved her grandma she was really excited to do something for her as a small token of gratitude: it was always easy to buy presents for women as compared to the men.

The doctor was a man, so he couldn't help but chuckle at her question,

"I am afraid you would know better than me what to buy her. She is the youngest neurosurgeon in the history of medicine at the age of only 21 or 22, who is finishing her residency next month, yet is already treated as a full time neurosurgeon . She could even be considered the acting head of neurosurgery in the Central hospital and virtually everyone knows her there.

Her name is Siana, Dr Siana Illes."