"Convict Me, Attorney." (Law Series #2)

PART FIVE: 'DEFEND ME, ATTORNEY'

“This is beautiful…” the nurse muttered.

"I'd like to call it a curse," the other one said.

“Doc," another nurse said. “Doctor Sam is calling."

He suddenly got bewildered. Doc Sam is his superior.

Without getting distracted, he instructed the nurse.

"Answer it."

The moment they answered, everyone inside the operating room closed their eyes as the caller started yelling.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” the man on the other line exclaimed soon as he answered. The nurse was holding the phone for him while Traise was doing the surgery.

“I know what I am doing Doc,” he said. “I’m in the middle of an operation.”

“Get out of there! I’ll take over!”

“You’re drunk, sir,” Traise replied calmly.

“I AM NOT!”

“You are,” Traise insisted. “And even if you are not, you're way too far. The patient might die the moment we waste more time. Don’t worry, I can handle this."

“CAN YOU HANDLE THE LAWSUIT AFTER IT?!”

Beat.

He felt his heart suddenly started sinking.

That was the only concern that he was worrying about.

Eight years of his life were wasted in jail. Can he afford to lose more years?

He cleared his throat.

“This is my operation, sir. And she’s my patient,” Traise said. “I will face the consequences after. I need to save her first."

“DOC!” the anaesthesiologist said. “The patient’s vitals are dropping!”

"WHAT DID I HEAR?!" his superior. "WHAT VITALS—"

"I'm hanging up."

Traise ended the call abruptly.

“Let’s connect her to the heart-lung bypass machine,” Traise said while his hands were getting numb.

Did something go wrong?

In their horror, the heart suddenly stopped pumping.

Traise bit his lip.

He's doomed.

“Is she…dead?” the nurse asked, panicking.

"Please...tell me she isn't—"

Until it beats again

“The machine works!” the nurse then exclaimed.

They all felt the relief.

“Bypass machine took over the heart's pumping action and removed blood from the heart via tubes. The machine then removed carbon dioxide from the blood, adds oxygen, and returns the blood to the body through the process of on pump. So it was normal,” Traise told the team.

“What’s next?” the assistant asked who seemed amused with Traise's knowledge and skill.

“We will now remove the roots,” Teaise said, determined.

“Doc,” the nurse once again said. “Someone’s calling.”

"Tell Doc Sam I'm busy!" Traise started to lose his cool.

"It's not him," the nurse said.

“Who?”

“Wifey, it says."

His heart took a sudden a leap.

If there's someone who's dead worried, he knew it would be her.

It would be Courtney Spencer with no doubt.

“Answer it,” he said and gulped.

“TRAISE STEVENS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” it shouted.

He smiled.

Somehow, hearing her voice can calm him down.

“Courtney,” he said. “Hear me out—"

“NO HEARING YOU OUT! GO OUT HERE AND STOP THIS!”

He smiled again.

He was fascinated on how her voice alone can melt down all the panic and worries in him.

“I won’t and I can’t, Courtney," he said, assuring her.

“WHAT?! Don’t you care about me anymore?!”

“I do," he said. “But this case is something I cannot just leave—"

“BUT YOU’RE NOT A SURGEON YET, YOU’RE A RESIDENT! Alam mo ba mangyayari sa 'yo, ha? Puwede ka nilang kasuhan, Traise!"

“I’m not scared,” he said. “You’re there. You’ll defend me, won’t you?”

“That’s—"

“I love you."

He halted him.

Everyone in the operating room giggled.

“Traise it’s not—"

“I love you ulit,” he said.

“TRAISE, I’M SCARED—"

“And I love you, again, more than ever."

“Traise I’m worried—"

“Don’t be,” he said. “I’ll do well. I'll be the Traise that you are proud of."

“But what if something bad happens? What if they sue you, what if… what if they put you in jail then—"

“If that happens…” he said and he smiled weakly.

“Defend Me, Attorney…”