Death

Jacob went out of town again for a visit to another hospital under the CLP Group of Hospitals while J was left home. This afternoon will be her last duty before her two days off tomorrow.

The surgical department's schedule board is full until eight in the evening. J scanned the board and found her name in two of the scheduled surgeries. One at four in the afternoon which is a Laminectomy, a surgical procedure that removes a portion of the backbones to treat a condition called spinal stenosis, will be performed by a visiting doctor.

It will take about one to three hours, so J still has time to prepare before her next schedule with Dr. Hook which is an AV Fistula Creation, a procedure in which the artery and vein were connected using a small incision to the arm. It will only take up to thirty minutes.

At the end of each surgery, as usual, she was highly praised by the doctors whom she assisted.

It was already nine in the evening, there was no more surgery to be done so she decided to have dinner at the cafeteria with Diana.

When she returned to the surgery department, she heard Head Nurse Jing's high-pitched voice, "Where is she? Isn't she back yet? Better pick her up at the cafeteria!"

She saw a male nurse who is just new to the department rush in her direction but when he saw her, he suddenly shouted out, "She's here!"

Her forehead creased, it turns out that they have been waiting for her. When she left the station for dinner it was utterly peaceful and quiet but now it turns into chaos. She wondered, did something happen when she was having dinner?

"Great! Come here. We will be having emergency surgery. The patient is on his way. You will be assisting Dr. Aaron. Get ready and prepare." Head nurse Jing said in an urgent tone.

"Oh... Okay. What's the case?" J nonchalantly replied.

It was the new nurse who said, "Gunshot wound."

With that J walked towards the OR theater and put on the surgical gown then waited for the patient to arrive.

J and Dr. Aaron along with another nurse and the anesthesiologist were waiting inside the OR theater when they heard hurried footsteps outside the OR theater and the sounds of the wheel of the stretcher making its way inside.

The door bursts open, Head nurse leads the stretcher with a patient inside. J's eyes widened as she didn't expect the situation to be this severe. The gunshot wound turns out to be multiple gunshot wounds and is a massive trauma.

The patient is a male, he is now wearing a surgical gown while an IV drip is hooked to his left hand. The patient is intubated, while a female nurse is beside him pumping an ambo bag connected to a tube in his mouth to keep the patient alive.

The patient is already pale indicating that he had lost a lot of blood. The patient was now transferred to the operating table and is now hooked to the mechanical ventilator to assist him in his breathing.

While preparing the patient head nurse Jing discussed the situation of the patient. The patient suffered eighteen gunshot wounds, two on the neck, eight in the chest and stomach while the rest were in the arms and thigh. The patient had lost lots of blood and is now having a pneumothorax, a condition where there is an abnormal collection of air in the space between the lungs and the chest wall.

When J heard what head nurse Jing said she went blank. There is a great possibility of the patient not surviving this surgery. But then J snaps out of it, Dr. Aaron is a talented surgeon. They will make sure that they will send the patient out of the surgical department alive.

But as time goes by, the situation is getting worse. They haven't taken out all of the bullets in the patient's chest, the patient has lost a lot of blood already.

After two hours the atmosphere in the OR theater became tense and gloomy. Dr. Aaron, as well as the other nurses, had long been gone except for J who was slumped on the floor of the corner of the OR Theater with her back on the wall. Her eyes fixated on the empty operating table.

The patient was already sent to the morgue. He died due to massive blood loss and inadequate oxygen.

Sadness clouded J's features. It was the first time that her patient died. Now she was having complex emotions. Although she had expected that the patient might not make it, she didn't expect him to die on the operating table in front of her. She and Dr. Aaron tried hard to revive the patient but they failed.

J is an exceptionally talented nurse. Doctors have high regard for her. This is due to her experience and boldness to accept even the most complicated cases and surgeons as well which other nurses would hesitate to take.

But what she hasn't experienced yet is the death of her patient. In the past, her patients and supposed patients with a risky and dangerous case would die before or after the surgery takes place but not during the surgery.

Meanwhile outside the hospital, Jacob's black SUV was parked with James getting out of it.

"Aren't you going to drop by?" James said knowing that J is still inside.

Jacob shakes his head because he prefers to wait for her at home then said, "Don't forget to give Aaron those documents. He's waiting for them." with that, he waved James goodbye and drove towards Jade's Apartment.

When James arrived at the surgical department, he felt awkward. Everyone has a gloomy eye including Dr. Aaron.

"Did someone die?" it was a joke on James' part.

What James didn't think is that his joke turned out to be the real case. He immediately apologized to Dr. Aaron and the rest of the nurses in the station. Mortality is a rare case in the surgical department of Camila Lopez Parker Hospital. So, he felt sympathetic towards them.

But looking around, he noticed that Nurse J is nowhere. He turned to ask Dr. Aaron. "I thought Nurse J is on duty? Isn't she?"

Dr. Aaron let out a depressing sigh before he said, "Among us, she is the most affected. I've done all I can to comfort her but it didn't work. She is still inside the theater."

James immediately excused himself then made a call.

When finally, Jacob answered his call he said, "I think you need to come over..."

And at the speed of light, Jacob reached the hospital. He hurriedly rushed towards the surgical department where James was waiting for him.

When he entered James immediately came to him without the others noticing and said, "She's in theater one. I'll help you cover."

J has been trying to hold back her tears because she thought that she is not supposed to be affected but she felt a tightening of her heart as if someone is holding a tight grip on it and she could barely breathe normally.

When suddenly the door burst open, she looked in the direction of the door and saw Jacob with his apprehensive look.

Jacob scanned the whole room until his eyes met J's eyes. The look on J's eyes is heartbreaking. He felt his heart quiver looking at the state that J is in.

Jacob slowly walked in her direction then he squatted down in front of her.

The tears that J has been fighting back now flooded her eyes as if all the emotions that she is keeping inside her burst out at the sight of Jacob. Suddenly she pounced her body towards Jacob and wrapped her arms around his neck. In Jacob's arms, she broke down and sobbed like a child.

Jacob's heart aches for J, he tightened his embrace as he rubs J's head to comfort her. He let her cry her heart out until she feels better.

Jacob saw the door open and revealed Dr. Aaron.

Dr. Aaron saw his friend, the President hugging the crying Nurse J, his eyes widened in shock but later on replaced with confusion.

Jacob looked at him and gestured to him to keep quiet. Understanding what the President meant, he walked out of the theater and closed the door.

J continued crying in Jacob's shoulder until it gradually subsided.

Jacob felt that J's hug loosened. He cupped her face with both his hands as he wiped her tears with his thumb.

"Let's get you home," Jacob said in a gentle tone.

J looked at his eyes before she nodded her head.

Soon the two of them walked out of the theater with Jacob holding J's hand.

Since she was a child, she only showed her weakness to her grandfather. When her grandfather died, she also lost a shoulder to cry on. She never showed her weakness to anyone since then, not even to Lance or Diana. Until she broke down in front of Jacob.

She discovered that she cannot keep acting strongly in front of Jacob. No matter how hard she conceals it, her weakness will show in front of him.

She felt weak knowing that she wasn't able to prolong that person's life. After this event, she realized that not being able to do anything to keep a person alive has become one of her weaknesses.

Over the years of working in the hospital, her vision has always been to keep her patient healthy and alive.

But the death of their patient tonight has become an eye-opener to her that you cannot control everything over your palm. Because God always has His own plans.

When they reached Jacob's SUV, Jacob opened the door to let J in.

J felt tired and exhausted that as soon as she laid her back in the car seat, she felt her eyelids drop and her consciousness drifted away. She didn't have an idea that Jacob was staring at her worriedly then came closer to kiss her forehead.

While in the nurse's station Dr. Aaron keeps pondering what he saw earlier. It was the CEO, comforting Nurse J in his arms. The aloof and distant Nurse J in the arms of the playboy and easy-going Dr. Jacob? That is not possible. Then he received a text message.

It came from the devil himself.

"Bring Jenny's things in the parking lot."

Jenny? Just how close they are that he called her by her real name? Dr. Aaron thought.

Head Nurse Jing who was sitting in front of him suddenly rose and said, "I'll go check out on Nurse J." Dr. Aaron was alerted.

"No need!" he said panicking.

Everyone looked at him in confusion. He tried to regain calmness then said, "She's in the lobby now. I'll take her things to her." after saying that. He grabbed Nurse J's bag and phone and rushed out of the hospital.

At the parking lot, Dr. Aaron saw Jacob's SUV. He walked towards it and saw Jacob leaning on the door with an open window, inside he saw Nurse J asleep.

He hands over Nurse J's things to Jacob then looks at him questioningly.

Jacob did not falter, instead, he looked at J who is in a deep slumber, and said, "What you saw earlier... I hope you can keep it a secret."

Dr. Aaron narrowed his eyes and said, "What do you plan with her? She is not the kind of girl to play around with."

Jacob smirk and said, "Did you think I didn't know that? I am not playing around. She's my woman now and I don't plan on playing or hurting her."

Dr. Aaron's jaw dropped. Who is this man?