The Girl With the Blue Streaks (Book 2)

How to Save a Life

I rushed inside the hospital doors with Adrian behind me. Nurses and doctors greeted me but I ignored them.

"Where's my mom," I asked the nurse at the front desk.

"Luna," I turn around to find a doctor behind me.

"Where's my mom? What's going on?" I asked, crying.

The doctor placed his hand on my shoulder, "Your mom's in surgery. She has a brain bleed and there is glass near her trachea and aorta. We have our best surgeons working on her right now," he said.

"Aorta! If the glass cuts it, she bleeds out and dies in three seconds!" I yelled.

Your mother isn't the only skilled surgeon we have. We will do our best to remove the glass. For now, you must wait. Please have a seat." The doctor led me over to the waiting area. "Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"No," I said. Adrian sat down by me and wrapped an arm around me.

"I've got her," he whispered. The doctor nodded and walked away.

"Luna, can you please tell me what happened? I hate seeing you like this." He rubbed my back.

"She was in a car accident. She's the one that's supposed the be operating in an OR. Not the one on the table," I cried even harder.

"Shh, it's okay. As the doctor said, they have the best surgeons working on her," He said.

"That's a lie. My mom's the best surgeon. She's the best general surgeon there is. And they better have a good cardio department because I don't need some stupid surgeon removing the glass only to slice open her aorta," I whimpered.

"Do you want to tell me memories of her? It helped me when my father passed away," Adrian said.

"I remember when I was young and I couldn't stay home alone, she would bring me to the hospital every day. I would walk around and everyone was so nice to me. I remember sitting in the gallery of some of the surgeries. I would be mind blown by what they were doing. That's when I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. Just like my mom. At that time, she was only a resident so I did see her much. So she was either saving someone's life or asleep. But she still loved me. She still tried to make time for me. When I became a volunteer here, I was able to scrub in on her surgeries. I was only allowed to stand at the back but I was happier than ever," Adrian continued to rub my back while one of his hands reached up to wipe away a tear.

"You know, at least, you have parents who love you. My parents were so focused on making money and trying to be a part of the royal court, they literally forgot I existed. I had to take care of myself and the home. I paid for everything and I worked to save up money. I could've just left them but they were still my parents. So I stuck around. It wasn't until one day my father was caught stealing gold from another kingdom and was sentenced to death did my mother speak a word to me. She yelled at me and told me how everything was my fault. How it was my fault he got killed. She told me she wished she never got pregnant with me. That was when I knew it was enough. I waited until my mom fell asleep that night and I left. I went to your grandparents and your father took me in as his personal assistant. I now basically live at the castle and your father treats me very well."

I cuddled into his chest, "I guess we all have crappy lives." His arms wrapped around me and kissed my forehead. We sat there breathing each other in.

Apparently, we had fallen asleep because we were woken up by the doctor.

"Luna?" She whispered. She had a look on her face. I knew that look. That's the look that surgeons make after saying 'we did everything we could'. I started to cry.

"We did eve-" I cut her off with a yell.

"Don't say that. Do you think I don't know the rest of the sentence? I've been in enough OR's to know that face and that line. Which one of you screwed up? What happened in there? I want every detail," I demanded.

"Love," Adrian took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles.

"Follow me," The doctor said. We walked down the familiar hall to an OR. Inside, I saw my mom, laying on the table. Her now pale face glowed from the lights.

Emotions ran through me and I burst into tears. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be the awkward parent who clapped at the wrong time during graduation. We were supposed to go to Europe after my graduation.

I cried from what felt like hours when I finally got the strength to leave the OR. I sat back down with Adrian, his strong arms cradling me, like my mom used to do.

I felt like the life was sucked out of me. I didn't want to live. I didn't want to believe she was dead. Gone from this world. She was the one person that I could count on. I grew up knowing that she would always be there. It's always been just the two of us, facing the world. Now, I was all alone. My mother who pushed me and told me women can be just as amazing a doctor as a guy can be. She always told me to be the best but not to let my ambition take over me.

This was the point, as I cried into Adrian's shoulder, that I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. But not because my mom was one. I don't want to live in her shadow and be known as Sheila's daughter.

I eventually stopped crying and fell asleep with Adrian's arms around me. I was woken up by the doctor tapping on my shoulder.

"Good morning. You two looked so cute together we didn't want to wake you. We're about to go on rounds. If it makes you feel any better, would you like to come with us?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, my voice hoarse. I grabbed Adrian's hands and we followed the doctor.

"So what are rounds," Adrian whispered in my ear.

"We go check in on patients every morning to see how they're doing. It's really fun because you have all of these interesting cases," I said.

We were walking by the ER when the trauma team came rushing in.

"Car accident on Highway 34. Severe head trauma, we need to order a CT. Low breath sounds and possibly internal bleeding. We need to page cardio now!" I froze as I looked at the John Doe. My head started to spin and my breathing was short. I quickly ran out of the hospital and jumped in my car. I rested my head on the steering wheel and let out shaky breaths.

I couldn't be in the hospital. It was too much.

"You okay, love?" Adrian got in the passenger seat.

"Yeah. Let's just go home." I said.

"Okay, let me take you home," He said.

"You can't drive," I mumbled and started to ignition. We drove home in silence. Occasionally, he would put his hand on my knee, staring into my eyes. I focused on the road.

Once we got home, I ran up to my room. Adrian brought me ice cream and I finally let the grief and sadness wash over me. I spent the rest of the day in bed, wallowing.