Do No Harm Chapter 3


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, SEGA and Archie comics does. Sorry for the long update. Thank you so much guys for the support all throughout the chapters. You guys rock!


(Shadow's POV)


When my uncle finished his rounds at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), he caught my eye just as he was about to make his way towards the nurse's station.

"Hey Shadster," my uncle greeted in his usual cheerful expression the moment he noticed my presence and walked over towards me. "Shift's finally over?"

I merely nodded and heaved a heavy sigh as I did my best to avoid his gaze.

"Well now, you seem distraught and your eyes are quite red. Did something happen?" he asked that made my ears perk in response at his query.

I could see him from the corner of my eye untying his mask and pushing his glasses upward like it became sort of a mannerism to him already.

"I don't want to talk about it…" I calmly said as I crossed my arms with a downcast look evident enough for him to notice then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Seeing his gesture, he wasn't convinced with my response.

"It's almost my break. What do you say we get some sandwiches and maybe a cup of coffee to go along with it? My treat," he urged and being left with no other choice, I just agreed with his offer.

Besides, I really need some sort of diversion right now.


At Mobius General Hospital's Cafeteria.


(Shadow's POV)


The cafeteria wasn't as lively as it was during mornings and the majority of the people I see here are mostly medical staffs on break.

I felt like I've completely spaced out as I continued munching on my clubhouse sandwich that I've grown to love just to fill my grumbling stomach that's almost close into chewing my stomach walls.

'Damn, this was the best thing I've ever had for this day.'

In fact, I haven't realized how hungry I was until now after all of the stress back in the Emergency Department.

Another one of the most common first world problems for us doctors besides getting a good night's sleep is getting a nice and scrumptious meal during lunch breaks. These are one of the rarest moments while on duty. Even taking a bite from a sandwich has always been a challenge because you'll never know when you're going to get paged.

Right now, I bet my Uncle is treasuring this short 'sandwich and coffee break' to the fullest before he gets back to his duties again. Being someone in charge of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,

I could still recall when I was just completing my residency in this hospital. I had pasta for my lunch but before I could even savor every bite on that tasty meal, I got paged in one of the wards to attend a patient that's having a seizure. I had no choice but to leave that meal behind just so I could resume with my duties.

Once the situation was handled, my stomach already forgot it was hungry which is why I grew a certain fascination in studying medically-related subjects. It's really amazing how the organs inside our system work together as a team to find ways to control a certain imbalance inside our bodies.

Like for instance, controlling a drop in blood glucose or in a medical perspective, blood sugar, whenever we miss a meal. It's a well-known fact that our brains are critically dependent on glucose and just a sudden drop of blood glucose levels in the blood stream could make us lose our concentration, irritable, dizzy, and even to the point where we would entirely lose our consciousness.

But the brain is indeed a smart organ as it would quickly send signals to several organs of the body; informing them that the body is in dire need of energy, and thus, glucose counter-regulatory hormones are released in order to compensate for that decreased glucose level.

That's why our hunger becomes temporarily satiated after not being able to take a meal for a long period of time.

Anatomy and Physiology is truly an amazing subject to tackle and it's surprising as well how our body works the same way as we handle things during an emergency situations.

"My brother interfered again, didn't he?" my uncle spoke that broke my trail of thought as though he already knew what happened just a while ago.

I simply nodded in response as I finished my sandwich before gulping the nice warm latte that completely refreshed my throat.

"Figures…That's really typical of him," he added that somewhat pulled my attention back at him. "You know your father, he's always been called the 'beast' in the Cardiology department because of his fierceness. I'm really sorry that you had to go through that."

"It's not mainly about him, though." I took a deep breath to compose myself then those memories began to resurface in my mind.

"I…I just killed a man today…" I was hesitant but the words still made their way out of me like it just slipped through my lips. "My patient had undergone Cardiac Arrest and I wasn't able to save him. I swear I could have saved him but I was foolish for letting him go the moment father interrupted. I should have fought harder."

Pain and regret filled me again that it's starting to become uncomfortable enough for me to bear and yet here I am still trying my best to be strong in all of these.

I saw my uncle looking at me with a very surprised look on his face but it didn't last long when his expression began to soften like he finally understood my grief.

"I see," he leaned forward just to take a good look in my eyes that are now starting to get glossy from the tears that are fighting to be shed. "It must have been a tough decision to make."

"Yes, it truly was…the toughest decision I've ever made. To be honest, I was foolish as well to make a promise that I'd bring my patient back alive…Now I can't get them out of my mind. It's haunting me."

My uncle's once bright aura suddenly became a bit gloomy hearing my words.

"Sometimes, in order to save a life, we have to take one," he calmly spoke as he took his glasses and began wiping it with a cloth that he had been keeping in his pocket.

"I remember a few years ago when I was on duty in the delivery room. A pregnant woman was rushed in after meeting a Motor-Vehicular accident and is in a critical condition. However, due to the large volume of blood lost, both the mother and the baby had no chance of surviving unless we sacrifice one of them. That time, the mother was unconscious and there were no relatives of the patient present so the critical decision was left to us…Who would we save, the mother or the baby? Reminds you so much of TV dramas, huh?" he chuckled but I could hint that he only did that to conceal his grief. Perhaps he still hasn't forgotten the choice he made during that time.

"I never knew. I'm sorry that you had to go through that, too." His story struck me in the chest off-guarded. In fact, I didn't expect that my uncle, who appears to be problem-free, carried a burden as great as mine all along and yet, he still chose to smile like every day is a good day.

How he is able to do that is way beyond me.

"If you don't mind my asking…How did you choose between them?" I suddenly felt the urge to ask despite the guilt.

My uncle fell silent for a few moments before he found the strength to speak again.

"The principle of ethics states that the baby never takes precedence over the mother. The mother's life is always a priority so…it wasn't an option to begin with and I am truly against it especially since it involves letting go of an innocent life like that. However, if I've allowed my feelings to govern the situation, I won't be able to save any of them at all…so in the end, I've accepted the harsh reality and saved the mother by terminating her pregnancy. The moment she woke up and recovered, she was really enraged with the decision while her husband thanked me for saving his wife. It was a loss and a gain at the same time but it was the gravest decision I've ever made. I wasn't able to sleep for months after that since the memory always haunts me. That's why…I learned that we should never allow our feelings to take over us during emergency situations."

Upon hearing my uncle's story, I felt some burdens in my chest lightening up a bit. Right now, I'm beginning to understand why we should never involve our emotions in emergency situations.

My uncle took a deep breath and wore his eyeglasses back. This time, his expression is filled with optimism.

"But look on the bright side: things always happen for a reason no matter how dire it is. That same woman came back to me a few months later and guess what? She gave birth to a very healthy baby boy and she has forgiven me for what I did and even thanked me for giving her a second chance in life. You see, sometimes, things happen in our lives to teach us a valuable lesson about living. Experience is the best teacher, after all."

I saw him giving me an encouraging smile. "People expect a lot from doctors while forgetting to realize that they're mere mortals who also make mistakes…We may know diseases, drugs, medical procedures and microbes by the book but despite all of that knowledge we possess, there will always be room for failures and errors. We can't avoid it."

He took his sandwich from his plate and finished in just a few bites like he already got used to eating his meals as fast as he could.

"Keep this in mind: Just because you failed, that does not mean that you have entirely lost the battle. You came to the battlefield completely prepared and armed inside here," he tapped a finger at the side of my head as though pertaining to my brain. "You're a soldier and this hospital is a battlefield. In order to survive, you have to keep on fighting."

With that, he finished his cup of latte and stood from his seat. "For now, I want you to go home and get some sleep. You seem really exhausted physically and mentally."

He patted me gently on the shoulder and made his way out of the cafeteria, leaving me once again all by myself.

I sighed at his words of advice and began to ponder with my own personal feelings. Right now, I couldn't deny that my chest still ached like it was bruised coupled with some sharp and stinging pain every time I was reminded of my patient's death. Not only that, the thought only made me sink further into the ground as I was reminded of the sorrowful look on that bat girl's face and the disappointed look in my father's eyes when I struggled to keep my patient alive.

Despite some people around doing their best to console me in my most vulnerable state, I couldn't help but still feel like I am at odds with myself whether I would take their advice or leave it but the former seem more promising than the latter. Besides, who am I to turn down an advice from the ones that I've always looked up to my whole life?

Truth to be told, I've always been impressed with the way my Uncle handles things in his department more than my father. However, I am still not certain with what kind of specialty I would pursue later on but I'm quite sure that my father would urge me to consider Cardiology as my first option.

There's no doubt about it.

Following my uncle's advice, I finally decided to make my way out of the hospital grounds while doing my best to forget that horrid memory.

As soon as I made my way out, I felt somehow refreshed in an odd kind of way the moment I inhaled the fresh, cold evening breeze. I guess the smell of the disinfectant they use on the hospital grounds really got into my system too much that only contributed to my stressors.

Looking up, I noticed that the sky appeared cloudy as usual and the stars were barely visible. I also couldn't help but take notice of the leaves already turning brown. I guess autumn is on its way and the wind is starting to become chilly compared before. It amazes me how time really flies whenever I'm inside the hospital. Last time I was aware of the season, I could have sworn it was still summer.

Just as I was about to reach the hospital's parking lot, I caught a glimpse of a familiar snow-furred bat girl sitting all alone on one of the benches outside the hospital

Strangely enough, I could have sworn that a male brown bat was with her when she walked out from the Emergency Department.

Where was that bat anyway?

Her solitude only made me more curious.

Taking a few steps forward to get a good glimpse at her, I noticed that her eyes were still brimming with tears and not only that, she also had a strange red mark on her muzzles that wasn't there before she approached me a few moments ago.

Curious at her current state while still feeling a bit guilty after what happened during that code, I am at odds whether I should approach her or not but it didn't take too long for me to decide when I found myself blindly going towards her direction. It seems that the instinct to be there when someone's in need, be it physically, psychologically or emotionally, has literally kicked in.

I guess this is one of the perks of being a doctor after all. We could literally sense someone's distress in all forms.

I decided to call her attention through verbal means. "Miss?" I calmly spoke and to my surprise, it caught her attention immediately. As soon as her gaze met mine, she quickly wiped her tears with the back of her palm and seeing that I was also distracted at the mark, she quickly placed a hand on it so as to cover it from my sight.

'Strange…I wonder what happened to her.'

Seeing that as a cue, I took a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her.

"Here, take this," I insisted and she just looked at me like I just told her something crazy. "It's the least I could do…" I added.

"I don't need it…" Her voice was calm but I could sense her bitterness seeping from her words as she slightly fidgets from her seat. That's when I noticed that her right knee was badly scraped with minimum amounts of blood mixed with some dirt and gravel in it.

From her gesture alone, I could tell she's having an uncomfortable stinging pain on her wounded knee that needs medical attention before it gets infected.

I was about to speak when she halted me by giving me a piercing glare. "Look, if you're going to use your 'therapeutic skills' to comfort me after what happened then sad to say, it won't work, so please just leave me alone."

"Your knee," I said, changing the subject. "What happened?"

To my surprise, she just stood without answering and started to walk away from me but I quickly stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Wait," I called out and all I got was a piercing glare from her.

"Aren't you in pain?" I pointed at her knee. Her eyes widened in surprise but that didn't last long when it immediately got replaced with her piercing glare as she shook her hand off of my grasp.

"It's nothing and I don't need your help," she responded while avoiding my gaze as though hiding something from me.

I sighed at her stubborn remark but I didn't let that stop me from trying to get past through her barriers. To top it all that, the red mark on her face and her wounded knee has completely caught my attention and it's not something that should just be ignored.

"I completely understand if you still haven't forgiven me after what happened but at least let me take care of that wound," I responded. "Otherwise, it might get infected."

She crossed her arms at me as her frown never left her face. "Well, what are the odds of that? It was just a scrape. How could that be infected?" she said in a matter-of-fact tone; probably wishing that we would end this conversation right here, right now.

"Risk factors of wound infections are highly depended on the environment, the immune system and of course, the depth of the wound. You clearly have a contaminated wound that would create a perfect opportunity for microorganisms to colonize and the wound that you have acquired appears to be deeper than a mere scrape. Not only that, being in the stage of grief, your body releases more stress hormones than usual and those hormones could alter the functionality of your immune system. So yes, you are obviously susceptible to infection."

Her expression hinted confusion at my explanation from the way her brows raised as her mouth gaped in response. I guess I overdid my explanation a bit.

Chaos, I have to be aware of the medical jargons coming out of my mouth.

"You're kidding, right?" she gave me a doubtful gaze.

Truth to be told, I did exaggerated a little bit about the immune system. I didn't know why I did it but I guess it was my instinct talking and not me. True, our immunity is slightly compromised when stress hormones are released but not to the point that we would be highly at risk with wound infections unless, of course, if we're immunocompromised or taking immunosuppressant drugs.

I immediately shook my head to conceal that bluff but she didn't seem to take it lightly when I noticed her brows furrowing in response to my gesture.

"Who cares?! Just leave me be! Besides, you couldn't even save my father. What makes you think I'd trust you enough to let you treat my wounds?"

Her words left me speechless and petrified like it had struck the 'shut down' button inside my brain. I felt my blood leaving my head completely that if I haven't snapped back into reality, I would have already fallen down by now.

"That is why…" I swallowed hard, "I wanted to atone for that grave mistake I did."

She had a pained expression drawn all over her face upon hearing me say that. I could hint that she's becoming more frustrated at my attempts in convincing her to warm up to me.

"Apologies and treating my wounds won't bring my father back, doctor."

Using all of her strength, she harshly shoved me out of her way and quickly walked away without turning back; leaving me baffled in solitude.

Obviously, she's still blaming me for what happened and it only drove my defense mechanism wild as though my brain sensed her gesture threatening my pride.

I suddenly had the strong urge to explain myself to her once more but I did my best to control it. Convincing myself that doing so would only lead to nothing but adding more insult to the injury.

I couldn't blame her for hating me. I did promised her that I'd save her father only to break it in the end.

Like my uncle said, experience is truly a best teacher.

My gaze followed her as she made her way back inside the hospital.

Seeing that there was nothing else that I could do, I just walked in an opposite direction and made my way towards my car.

Deep down, I'm feeling a sense of guilt haunting me despite Head Nurse Lara Le and my Uncle's encouraging words. I guess the burden of being responsible for someone's death is really something that would cling to you for the rest of your life.

The pros and cons of being a doctor. People would respect you for your medical degree and title, at the same time, people would despise you for not meeting their expectations.

Living is truly a wonderful and complicated experience.

I rode my car, started the engine and drove my way home as fast as I could like the world didn't matter anymore and as soon as I got home, the first thing that came into my mind is lying down on my bed to get some sleep but not before checking my voicemail to see who called me while I'm away.

It's not like I got a lot of messages especially with my very few circle of friends. Even joining the social media is truly a waste of time for me.

Truth to be told, being in a large group of people is exhausting for me that's why I would always find time to recharge myself in solitude. I guess living alone gave me such an opportunity to enjoy that privilege.

I wasn't the dating type, to be honest.

In fact, I have been introduced by my seniors to some of their female friends at work, their daughters and even to some acquaintances they met through the internet but none of them really interested me, to be honest.

I guess I'm going to live alone for the rest of my life if I value this solitude too much but I have no complaints. I'm actually pleased with it.

'You have 2 messages' the machine beeped and allowed the messages to run in the background as I got ready for bed.

"Hey buddy, it's Sonic. Listen, if you're free this Sunday, how about a little get-together with the guys? I already invited my brother, Manic, Knuckles and Tails to come along. The more the merrier, right? If you're up to it, give me a call, okay?"

Heh, typical Sonic. I'm quite sure he already found out what happened and I'm going to have to blame how paper-thin the hospital walls are for that news to spread so easily.

Sonic and I have been best friends ever since we were only in pre-school. We've always done things together and have been in similar schools when we were in elementary school, high school, college, and even after getting both our Medical Degrees.

We were troublemakers but still managed to survive the academic life without tainting much of our records and it seems that the constant detention we always get got scratched away in our records thanks to our parents.

Like me, Sonic just finished his residency and is currently in a dilemma on which specialty to pursue but I have a strong feeling that he might consider being a general practitioner for the meantime without picking any specialty at all.

Besides, he had always been an open-minded and free-spirited hedgehog and being restricted with a specific specialty would possibly exhaust him.

Sonic and I had this strange and incredible bond of friendship that no matter where we go, we always find each other doing the same thing as a team.

It won't be long before we start teaming up and developing our own medical team like both of our fathers did.

Dr. Jules, Sonic's father, who is also my father's best friend, have been working together in a team performing successful cardiothoracic operations in Mobius General Hospital for years along with Knuckles' father, Dr. Locke, and the clinical perfusion scientist, Mrs. Rosemary Prower, Tails' mother.

Dr. Jules specializes in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, a subspecialty in anesthesiology responsible for cardiothoracic perioperative care, development of an anesthetic plan when a patient undergoes a cardiothoracic surgical procedure, and the administration of anesthetics.

Dr. Locke specializes in Internal Medicine, a specialization that covers a wide range of medical conditions and is also responsible for the prevention, diagnosis and management of diseases, particularly in adults.

Mrs. Prower is a clinical perfusion scientist who is responsible in managing the physiological and metabolic demands of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Her expertise mainly includes handling highly technical machines and devices to ensure that the patient's oxygen supply is not disrupted during the surgical procedure.

They're an incredible and legendary open heart surgery team that drastically increased the hospital's popularity tenfold and someday, we would follow in their footsteps.

The machine beeped again.

"Shadow honey, it's your mother. How are you doing? Are you taking care of yourself? Have you been eating well? I know how stressful it must have been working in a hospital and well, the reason that I called is to remind you about our family dinner this coming Friday. Oh, remind your father, too. See you there, honey."

The message ended with another beep.

'You have no more messages'

Two invitations in one day. I guess I won't be able to cherish my off days from work after all.

After drinking a nice glass of water and putting on some relaxing music, I went straight to bed, completely forgetting what happened today.

It's what they all say: Tomorrow is another day.


8:30 am at Mobius General Hospital


(Shadow's POV)


"You can't be serious, father!" My body shook in shock as soon as I heard that I have been assigned to perform a cardiac surgery today.

Specifically, a Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery or oftentimes referred to as CABG by senior doctors.

A Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery is a surgical procedure where we create a new pathway around a blocked blood vessel in order to establish an adequate blood flow to the heart muscle. It's quite a tough procedure but not as complicated as a transplant surgery. In fact, it is a common surgical procedure done by Cardiac surgeons.

My father, being the head of that department and working with a team that specializes in cardiac surgery, has already got his hands on a lot of people enough for him to do the procedure literally with his eyes closed. That's why, working under his supervision is no doubt truly an exhausting and stressful experience.

"I am serious. This time, you would demonstrate your surgical prowess to me. I want to know how much you've learned. Now, scrub up," he said as he simply commanded in his usual scowl and prepared for surgery.

I stood there petrified on the ground not because of being assigned to do a surgical procedure since this wasn't the first, but because of the team that I would be performing that surgery with: My father's Open Heart Surgery Team.

This, I could say, is my first time working with my father's team and it's already killing me inside from the unimaginable stress that's currently suffocating me inside and out.

To make things more complicated, he assigned me to become his 'First Surgical Assistant.'

Being First Surgical Assistant, my role is to work closely with the head surgeon and assisting him/her all throughout the procedure. I am responsible for positioning, maintaining the surgeon's field of view, harvesting surgical grafts, making sure the patient is having an adequate blood supply, closing the incisions and dressing up the surgical wounds.

To put it simply, I'm working under my father's direct supervision.

Chaos, this is going to be one tough surgery to perform.

I did my best to shrug off my worries and tried focusing myself on the matter before me and that is, obeying my father's orders and scrubbing up for surgery.

As I was performing the surgical hand scrubbing procedure, my heart furiously pounded inside my chest.

What if the procedure won't go well? What if my father humiliates me in front of his surgical team? What if the patient died during the procedure? Oh chaos, I can't do this…Chaos, Chaos, Chaos…

"It's nice to know that you'd be operating with us, Shadow. Good luck," said Dr. Jules as he walked past me and made his way towards the operating theatre.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Dr. Locke's.

"Good luck," he simply said and I just acknowledged his words with a nod.

As soon as I'm done with the hand scrubbing, I went inside and allowed the scrub nurses to assist me in gowning and gloving.

Being in the operating theatre, the rule of sterility is quite strict.

We must keep our hands above the waist level at all times, we must not touch unsterile objects and the gowning and the gloving must be done with assistance, mainly by the scrub nurses on duty.

As soon as I'm finished with my preparation, my father came afterwards, already prepared with a fierce look on my direction.

"Grace under pressure, boy," he strictly said as he walked towards the operating table.

Being on the short side, I was often given a standing set in order to perform surgical operations with ease. Truth to be told, the operating table is indeed quite a bit high for me.

Walking a few steps towards the operating table, I felt myself becoming more pale than usual when I saw that my standing set is on the opposite side of where my father stood.

"Good luck," were the words that I often hear from my father's medical team as soon as I got close on that table and I could only nod in response.

Chaos, this is it…Break a leg, Shadow.


(Shadow's POV)

Minutes have passed since the patient's chest cavity was cut opened and fully exposed by a rib spreader and here I am still tensing at the thought that I am performing this bypass surgery before my father.

I held the scalpel firmly as I make another incision in the heart's outer layer while my hands trembled at the fur-raising ocean-mimicking eyes staring daggers at me. My knees buckled that even my standing set began to shake.

"Shadow, keep your hands still or you might accidentally cut a vessel," he calmly called out to me sternly and I just responded by nodding my head as I did my best to fully incise the outer layer of the heart until it was clearly visible.

It's always fascinating to see an actual beating heart during a surgical procedure. The miracle of life truly is a marvelous thing.

"Starting to connect the patient's heart to the heart-lung bypass machine," father said as he asked for a specific equipment necessary to do the procedure.

The Heart-Lung bypass machine, which is mainly controlled and monitored by the clinical perfusion scientist, temporarily circulates the blood in the body when the heart is stopped since during cardiac surgeries, the hearts are usually stopped in order to perform the procedure efficiently.

As my father began connecting the tubes to the heart, I quickly did my best to maintain his field of vision clear by flushing some solution here and there at the same time, cauterizing some blood vessels and suctioning the blood that may pool around the chest cavity.

He wasn't complaining with my actions which made me feel a sense of relief. I guess things are going smoothly than I expected, which is really a good thing in my case.

I was astounded when my father had successfully connected the patient's heart to the heart-lung bypass machine in less than 20 minutes.

"As expected," Dr. Jules said as he chuckled while constantly monitoring the patient's vitals. "I knew you were always a beast, Darius. Both in the cardiac field and in the bedroom as your ex-girlfriend jokingly implied before."

As always, Dr. Jules love teasing my father every once in a while similar to how Sonic sometimes makes fun of me. I wouldn't doubt anymore that Sonic got his mischievous and humorous side from his father.

Although, his joke did make me feel a bit awkward inside especially when he referred to my father's intimate activities. It's not the issue of sex that bothered me, though, rather, it's the thought of my own father being the subject of it.

"Damn it, Jules. Why do you keep on betraying me like that?" he calmly said as though subtly riding along with Dr. Jules' jokes that only earned some more chuckles and giggles from the rest of the surgical team and as usual, my father maintained his calm and serious demeanor.

"I'm just speaking about the truth," he said in amusement that made my father roll his eyes at him.

"Watch your words. There's a minor here, doctor," joked one of the scrub nurses and I could easily hint that she was pertaining to me.

"Oh chaos, pretend that you didn't hear that, Shad," said Dr. Jules as he continued pressing some buttons and turning some knobs on the anesthesia machine.

"The damage has been done, Jules. Now my son is going to be scarred for life, all thanks to you," my father responded in his usual calm voice as he asked one of the nurses to hand him a Cardioplegic solution to temporarily stop the patient's heart, thus, reducing cell damage to the heart muscles.

"What are you all bickering about? Shadow is already old enough to start his own family," said Mrs. Prower as she laughed which also made me chuckle a bit in response.

"And….she wins again," said Dr. Jules in defeat.

"Why am I not surprised?" my father uttered.

Right now, I am utterly confused at what I'm feeling right now. It seems that I have misjudged my father's team a lot. At first, I have the impression that they are such a serious group to work with. I was wrong with my assumptions all along.

"Plegia please," said my father and as soon as he injected the cardioplegic solution to the heart, it gradually slowed down until its beats became weaker and next thing we know, the monitors started to show a flat line reading.

"Let's cool it some more," he commanded and the scrub nurse handed him a container filled with a very cold solution and poured it on the chest cavity until therapeutic hypothermia is established.

The lingering sound of the flat line instantly reminded me of the patient that just died yesterday and I could have sworn that I felt my own breath quickening at that horrid memory.

My chest began to pound vehemently and my hands started to shake vigorously.

"Shadow," I heard my father's voice calling out to me and it immediately brought me back to reality. "Focus, boy! We need to move fast, time's running."

The moment he said that, I quickly shook my head and focused on the matter at hand by suctioning the area to maintain my father's field of vision.

I guess I'll just have to keep that memory away from me until the end of this procedure. Otherwise, I might lose it.

"Okay, pump on," he added and the patient's circulation was temporarily restored by having the heart-lung machine activated.

"Now that temporary circulation has been established, I want you to harvest a vein graft on the left internal thoracic artery, Shadow," he commanded.

I nodded in reply and quickly obeyed his orders in obtaining a vein graft using the section of the patient's own vein.

It took me a long time to harvest that specific vein. It wasn't simple but I was able to do so after a few minutes of trying.

I clamped the vein that I just harvested and presented it to my father for which he responded with widened eyes.

"Shadow," he called out my name.

"What is it, father? Is there something wrong?" I wondered seeing him surprised at the vein I just obtained made me tense up.

What the hell have I done now? Have I obtained a wrong vein?


A/N: And….we have a cliffhanger! Ahahha! Sorry for the super duper late update. It took me a long time to write this scene because I had to review the ethical issues involved on Terios' experience and I admit, writing a surgery scene is really challenging but I'm glad I was able to work it out. Hahah! Thank you guys so much for reading!

On a side note: Shadow's "standing set" was inspired with something SonadowStories and I have talked and joked about before regarding Shadow's height. Ahahha! So basically, Shadow can't perform surgery without it. XD