Ch. 6

Cristina wasn't sure if the manuscript she was reading deserved a rejection letter from the journal reviewer. The fact that she was struggling through it had more to do with what was on her mind than the quality of the work.

"Are you going to bed soon?" Preston was growing impatient. It was almost mid-night and Cristina was still at her work desk. If people saw them, they would have thought that she was the Chief, not him.

"Yes." Feeling guilty, Cristina turned off her desk lamp and slipped into bed swiftly.

Preston felt that the kiss on his forehead was only lukewarm. "Cristina, is everything ok?"

"Yes." The sensitivity in her husband's voice unnerved her.

"It's been a long day for both of us."

"Yes."

Preston couldn't take it anymore. "Why, Cristina, don't you have anything else to say apart from yes?"

"Sorry. I'm tired." Cristina's hand began drawing circles on his chest, trying to pacify him.

"I know," Preston looked deeply into her eyes and took her hand to his lips.

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The somber and soul-searching tones of Eugene Foote's violin music filled every vapor in the OR. Preston Burke was humming along, his fingers running through the arteries like an expert pianist.

"Suction."

"Okay, people. Let's begin shutting down the bypass. Release the clamps."

Everyone in the OR held their breath. Blood began coursing anew through shunted arteries, and the four chambers swelled with it, losing their dark cast for a brighter hue. Then slowly it picked up the regular rhythm that everyone knew since the day one was conceived in the mother's womb.

"Good job, everyone." Preston grinned under his mask. After his appointment as the Chief, he was spending less time in the OR. He missed the days when he could scrub in and out with Cristina side by side. Plunging his hands into strong current of hot water, Preston thought about how good it felt to be mending the broken hearts, to fill the human cavity with a vibrant beat.

But when the heart was beating steadily, we took it for granted and thought it never existed. Preston's hand unconsciously rose up to where his heart was. For a split second, it felt empty. All the happiness and success he had in life, yet he felt empty. Maybe that's what they called mid-life crisis.

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