2. "I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it out alive."
"I told you to take his vitals!" Dr. Bailey's voice echoed in the corridor, and I struggled to keep myself from grimacing at her loud volume. My only solace was that there was no one else around to see me get upbraided like a middle school student.
"Dr. Bailey, I couldn't force him. He wasn't letting me.
" I replied calmly. She was the one who kept lecturing us on the extreme significance of taking a patient's consent, and how it was basically a crime to touch a patient without asking them (except in emergencies, of course).
Besides, I did not want to be added to the list of people that guy had murdered.
She frowned at me. "You sound like an incompetent doctor right now. A good doctor knows how to build rapport with their patients. I wonder if I should consider getting you fired."
My eyes widened. Why was she being so dramatic? I had done nothing wrong. "Dr—"
"Save it. Go tend to the patients in the OPD. I'll tend to Mr. Knight."
I nodded readily, starting to walk away from her in long strides. Taking the elevator to the ground floor, I headed to the OPD where I spotted around eight patients sitting in the waiting area.
———
Having been able to finally come home, a good ten hours of uninterrupted sleep later, I felt like a new person the next morning as I walked into the hospital.
I was greeted by my colleagues as I walked to the OPD.
As I looked at the schedule for the day, I received a call from Dr. Bailey. Sighing, I put the phone to my ear. She started talking instantly, without even bothering to say hi or something.
The order she had for me made me freeze in fear.
"Mr. Knight will be staying at the hospital for at least a week.
You're in charge of his wellbeing. Make sure to take his vitals every few hours, and have him take his medicines on time.
Also, keep observing him in case any post-op complication arises.
You know how difficult the surgery was. I will hold you responsible if anything happens to him. He's a very important man."
"M-me?" I could feel my blood pressure dropping. I dropped onto the nearest seat, holding my head in my hands.
"Yes, you," she snapped. "If you mess anything up, I will have you fired. Now go straight up to his room and do as you're told."
You evil woman, what have I ever done to you?
I was stuck between the devil and the she-devil. Why couldn't I be one of those blessed people who had angels in disguise as their seniors?
"Okay." I mumbled. The line went dead as she hung up without responding.
I took a deep breath, rising to my feet and walking like a zombie to the elevator. As the elevator doors opened on the floor Mr. Knight was on, I stumbled out, my head spinning as I approached the room he was admitted in.
I knocked on the door, then entered.
He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Just looking at him sent shivers down my spine. I neared his bed, struggling to keep myself from gawking at his arms again.
He turned his head to me, his eyes cold and his face devoid of emotion. I licked my lips, fighting the urge to look away from his ice cold gaze.
"H-hello, Mr. Knight. How are you doing?" He didn't reply, moving his head away like an upset little kid whose toys had been snatched away from him.
I sighed internally as my nervousness grew.
Grabbing his file on the table, I went through it to look at his reports.
"Um... I'm afraid your vitals from last night aren't looking too good.
.. I'll have to take them again." Asshole.
Didn't let me take his vitals, but succumbed to someone else?
Jerk face. I was almost getting fired last night because of him.
He still didn't respond.
I was growing agitated at his unnecessarily exasperating behaviour. "May I?" I asked. No response.
You stupid, stuck up bitch.
Okay, yes, I had a tendency to easily get annoyed sometimes. And that man was seriously getting on my nerves.
Not getting any response from him, I gently grabbed hold of his wrist to check his pulse rate. The way his eyes snapped at me, glaring as if my fingers had burned him, made me drop his wrist in fear.
What the fuck is wrong with him?
I stood quietly, awaiting any insults he might have considered me worthy of, but he, after having glared daggers through my soul, turned away again.
I bit my lip, squeezing my eyes shut and taking a deep breath. I was very close to losing my calm. The only thing stopping me was that I wished to live. There was a lot I had to do before I died.
"Mr. Knight?"
I heard him inhale an agitated breath. "Do what you're supposed to and then leave." He grumbled, his deep voice making me feel tingly.
I sighed in relief internally, reaching for his wrist again. He didn't react this time. To my surprise, he stayed still and un-reacting as I took all of his vitals.
After finishing, I proceeded to record his vitals that were better than the previous ones but still not satisfactory.
"You're too slow." He uttered, breaking the silence. I looked up at him in surprise.
"Pardon me?"
His frigid gaze directed towards me. "Taking vitals is a simple task that shouldn't take too long. You're too slow. It screams your inexperience."
I couldn't help but frown, feeling offended. "That is not true. I was quick."
He rolled his eyes, looking back at the ceiling. "You look like you just graduated from medical school yesterday."
My frown deepened as I put his file back on the table. "Six months ago, actually."
His cold, dark brown eyes settled on my face again, this time coated with a hint of disbelief. "How old are you?"
"23."
His eyebrows shot up for a second, before coming back down to scrunch up together. "They considered me worthy of a young, inexperienced doctor?"
"What's that even supposed to mean?" I asked, getting more offended.
He looked me up and down judgmentally. "It means, I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it out alive."
My temper told me to grab the nearest object and hurl it at his face; my fearful heart told me to stay calm if I wanted to make it out alive.
"Mr. Knight, I was part of the team that saved your life when you came in here bleeding and barely breathing." I spoke bitterly, the frown staying on my face.
"Safe to say, the rest of the team can be accredited to saving my life. What did you do? Pass them the forceps?" He taunted.
I found myself glaring at him. Stupid, misogynistic jerk.
"Mr. Knight, this may be my first job, but I graduated medical school with excellent grades.
I worked my ass off for five whole years to be able to provide quality healthcare to my patients.
Therefore, I would appreciate if you abstained from making such remarks. "
He licked his lips, unfazed. "Do you always babble like this or is it only with me?"
"I'll go get your medicines." A hint of anger coated my voice as my eyes shot daggers at him.
He didn't reply.
I turned on my heels to leave, slamming the door behind me on purpose.
When I returned with his medicines, he was laying in the same position I had left him in. For a moment I wished to break my Hippocratic oath and put him to death. Besides, that would be a grand service to the public, no? It would save people from being his next victims.
"Can you sit up or do you need help?" I asked, putting the medicines on the side table and pouring him a glass of water.
"I'm fully capable." He replied, propping himself up, but I didn't miss the little wincing sound he made as he attempted to sit upright.
Fully capable, my ass.
I gave him the medicines he was supposed to take, and was relieved when he complied without argument. Then I proceeded to prepare an injection for his last medicine.
I watched him frown from the corner of my eye as I prepared it. "You know what you're doing, right?" He asked emotionlessly.
"Why? Are you afraid of needles?" I hadn't meant to sound as condescending as I ended up being.
He rolled his eyes.
"Okay, I'm going to inject this into your arm. You'll feel a pinch." I said, something I always did before injecting someone. He didn't give a reaction.
I grabbed his forearm and angled the syringe correctly, before injecting him with it. His face remained emotionless as the needle pierced through his skin. He was the first patient I'd had who was so calm and unbothered about a needle going through his skin.
After discarding the needle and syringe, I turned back to him. "Is there anything you need?"
"A better doctor." He replied monotonously.
I glared at him. "Mr. Knight, be assured I'm not too ecstatic to have you as my patient either."
His gaze fixated on my face as the words left my mouth, a menacing smirk slowly forming. A chill ran down my spine, and my flight and fight response told me to run for my life.
He continued to stare without blinking. I could pretty much see him planning my death in his evil head.
"Oh!" I uttered as I suddenly remembered something. He finally blinked, tilting his head slightly to the side. "I completely forgot. Did you pass stool?"
His eyebrows scrunched up as if I had said something extremely offensive. "What?"
I sighed. "Did you go to the bathroom?"
"Is there a reason why my bathroom activities interest you?"
I pressed my lips together, taking a deep breathing. What a stupid, ignorant man.
"It's important for me to know. Not passing stool after a surgery can be cause of concern." I explained briefly, earning an unserious eye roll from him.
"No, I didn't." He replied.
"Okay... I'll have to speak to my senior about that."
"I've been counting seconds until you'd finally leave." He deadpanned.
"Me too." I replied, shooting him a pointed look before leaving.