Chapter - 77 - Regret

"Gianna!!!" shouted Mr.Salvatore and grabbed the phone from his wife. "I am going to stop drinking from today on wards. I promise you." "Don't believe him, Gianna. He is just faking it to secure his properties." Gianna chuckled and said, "Mom, let's give him a last chance." "Whatever you say! What about Gian's report?" "He is made out of steel." Mrs.Salvatore laughed and bid her good night before leaving the father and daughter to continue their conversation.

"Don't put these thoughts into your mom, Gianna," said Mr.Salvatore in a pleading tone. Gianna chuckled and asked, "Do you want your properties so desperately, dad? "Who cares about that? I am worried your mom will leave me!" Gianna laughed and called him crazy. "It's true that she looks a lot younger now! What if some young lad courts her and takes her away from me?" asked Mr.Salvatore with determination.

"I don't know about you, but mom will never leave you even if the world splits into half! She will keep clinging to you, but she might leave you, if you keep hitting the bottle!"

"I promise you, and you know dad never breaks his promise!" "I trust you, Dad!" said Gianna and bid good night to her dad.

Gianna looked at the clock again and saw it was 10 minutes past seven. 'Oh, man! I didn't notice the time! Why didn't the guys call me? Didn't they go for rounds!' She immediately dashed out of her office and went to the department room. There was no one in the room, so Gianna dialled Victor's number. "Good evening, Dr.G." "Where are you guys?" "Dr.Henry told us not to disturb you, and he is accompanying us with the rounds," said Victor in a low voice. "What?! Okay, continue with the rounds!"

Gianna sat in the department room waiting for the team while Dr.Henry and the team checked on all the patients. "Oh! You were here?" asked Dr.Henry as he stepped inside the room. Gianna smiled and asked, "I am not badly injured, so why did you go for the rounds, Dr.Henry?" "I just felt like going but now I regret going for the rounds," said Dr.Henry with a disappointed tone. "Regret! Why?" "No one gave a proper response to Dr.Henry, instead they all kept asking about you!" whispered Alice. Dr.Henry cleared his throat and glared at Alice.

Gianna smiled and said, "Thank you for doing the rounds, Dr.Henry!" "You have taken good care of your patients, and I am proud of you, Gianna. Good work!" said Dr.Henry with a smile and left the room.The residents looked at her and waited for her to speak first. "You should have at least texted me!" said Gianna, glaring at them.

"Dr.Henry came suddenly and told us not to disturb you, Dr.G," said Victor. "Fine. Start with the briefing," said Gianna as she signaled everyone to take their seats. "It's nine pm, let's go have dinner in the cafeteria," said Gianna as the discussion was over. They put their notes aside, and Gianna's phone started to ring as they headed to the door.

'Who is calling me now?' thought Gianna as she answered the call. "Dr. Gianna, are you still in the hospital?" asked Mason. Gianna heard sirens wailing in the background and asked, "Yes. What happened?" "There is an emergency! I will be there in another 5 minutes. The patient is a 17 years old high school student. She has been sexually assaulted, and her head is bleeding heavily!" "I will arrange everything here. Give light pressure on the head to stop the bleeding." Gianna hung up the call and informed the team about the emergency. They all dashed to the ER department.

Gianna saw Dr.Zane attending a patient and went up to him immediately. "Dr.Zane," called out Gianna. Zane looked over his shoulders and saw Gianna standing behind him. From her facial expression, he understood there was something urgent. He asked the resident to take care of the patient and went over to Gianna. Gianna explained the situation to Zane. Zane immediately called his team and made arrangements to receive the patient.

They all heard the siren and rushed toward the ambulance to receive the patient. "She should have been bleeding for at least 25 minutes now. It looks like a nail puncture wound. Her blood oxygen level is 93% and she was unconscious when we arrived at the spot." informed the paramedics to Dr.Zane. "Get her inside the ER soon!" shouted Gianna. The team worked swiftly to take the scan. Gianna and Zane examined the patient together.

"She is slightly bleeding from the genital region, and there are bruises all over her body," said the nurse after the examination. "She has to undergo surgery immediately as her blood oxygen level is alarmingly depleting. The puncture wound should be at least 7 mm deep in the brain, and there are three punctures," said Gianna as she looked at the scan. "Let's do the surgery first, and then you can do the forensic examination after the consent is obtained," informed Gianna to the nurse and Zane. They both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Stanley, prepare the operating room. Victor, you will be assisting me. Ralph, if there are any emergencies in the ICU, contact Dr.Jason or Dr.Henry." Gianna gave orders and left the emergency room. "Wait!" shouted Zane and stopped Gianna from entering the elevator. "Come with me!" said Dr.Zane as he pulled her to an empty bed in the ER. Gianna was stunned by his sudden action and saw the nurses looking at her with a mysterious smile. Zane came running and said, "Take a shot of painkillers as I won't be able to stop you from performing the surgery."

Gianna nodded and rolled her sleeve to get the shot. "Thank you," said Gianna and left the ER. Gianna quickly changed into her scrub and entered the operating room. All the staff greeted her, and Victor showed her the recently taken scan. "The blood oxygen level is depleting, so everyone should stay alert. I will start the surgery now," announced Gianna as she prepared to operate.

Dr.Henry was baffled hearing that Gianna was performing surgery and dashed into the observation cabin to observe the process. He knew Gianna would complete the surgery but was also worried about her health at the same time.