Lisa didn't get much sleep the night before. With big dark-circles under her eyes, she got up and made some plain congee and two omelet rolls, which she took with her to the Lakeview hospital.
It was a good thing that she worked the night shift today and was therefore free during the day. Although she was tired, she couldn't let Haruto neglect his studies to take care of their mother.
"Mom, I brought you some food."
"Get it out of here. I'm not eating it." Her mother was still throwing a tantrum.
"Even if your appetite isn't that good, you should still have some. It's really good. I made it myself, and I guarantee it's clean. I'll leave it right here."
Leaving the breakfast on the table, Lisa tidied up a bit and walked out of the room.
After Lisa left, her mother scanned the food on the table, and her stomach gave a traitorous growl.
She glanced over at the door. Seeing that Lisa hadn't returned, she immediately picked up the food and dug right in.
In truth, although her mother had a rotten temper, she wasn't a bad person. It wasn't that she really disliked her daughter, either. It was jsut that, she was still not over her late husband's untimely death.
In the doctor's office-
"Doctor, has my mother gotten any better?" Lisa asked anxiously.
"Her conditions have clearly improved. We'll be able to discharge her in a few more days. However, even then, she needs to continue taking her blood-pressure medication."
"Alright, thank you." Hearing that her mother was alright, Lisa was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.
"But the hospitalization fee you paid isn't enough to cover the costs anymore, you need to pay up soon," the doctor reminded her.
Lisa was a little surprised since she paid so much for the hospital fees just the other day. Yet, just a few days later, it was all gone. What was she supposed to do now?
She already maxed out her credit card the other day. Adding that to the living expenses she had given to Haruto, she was pretty much broke.
If this was before she broke up with Kai, she could have just borrowed some money from him. However, with the way things were now, there wasn't much hope for that.
Left with no choice, she called Chaeyoung, who immediately transferred some money from the banking app on her phone.
"Chae, thank you!" A little embarrassed, Lisa messaged her friend.
"Don't say that. If you need more, just tell me. Your mother's health is what's important. Don't worry about the money."
Chaeyoung's reply warmed Lisa to her core. She felt that this friendship was truly one worth keeping.
The truth was when her stepfather got into that accident, the Jeon Family had offered to pay a hefty sum in compensation, but Lisa's mother turned it down.
Instead, they insisted that the driver at fault be given the death penalty in retribution. In the end, however, the driver was only charged with drunk driving and sentenced to five years in jail.
They, on the other hand, didn't receive a single dime in the settlement. Now, seven years later, the responsible party had long been released from prison.
However, her Uncle Watanabe now slumbered beneath North Hill Public Cemetery, never to open his eyes again.
That was why no matter how her mother treated her or hated her, she genuinely accepted it all. During these seven years, she hadn't been able to forgive herself either.
*
"Mom, I'm working the night shift today, and I will be leaving in a minute. Please rest well. I'll arrange for your lunch and dinner to be delivered. Haruto is off school tomorrow, so he'll come to visit you."
"Get lost." Her mother still treated her with the same disdainful attitude.
From there, Lisa took the bus to Asan medical center, the hospital where she worked as an intern nurse.
She checked her watch when she arrived. There were still forty minutes until the start of her shift. Changing into her nurse's uniform, she made her way to the ophthalmology building.
She still wanted to give Kai and her relationship one more try. After all, they had been together for three years. Even if there was no love between them, there was still a faint attachment.
When Lisa arrived, the door was only half closed. Just as she was about to knock, she heard a female voice from inside.
"Doctor Kim, you're the worst. You've made my hair all messy."
"It's fine. I'll fix your hair for you later. Come here and give me a kiss first."
Lisa could tell that the voices belonged to Dahyun and Kai.
No wonder he had moved out in such a hurry. So that was how things were...
The corner of her lips twitched. With a chuckle, she lowered the hand she'd raised to knock and turned around to leave.
She was just in time to see another senior doctor from the Ophthalmology Department approaching the door. "Huh, Lisa, why don't you go inside if you're already here?"
"It's alright. I have other things to do."
By this time, the two inside had clearly heard the conversation. Dahyun immediately leaped up from Kai's lap, smoothing out her collar and hair.
That was when the another ophthalmologist just walked in. Glancing at Dahyun, he told Kai, "I just saw your fiancé."
"Oh really?" Kai's response was rather indifferent.
"You guys… are you guys alright? Weren't you two getting married soon?"
"Not anymore."
"You can't be serious …" that senior doctor was surprised.
"I see no reason to keep a woman like that around." With that, Kai stood up and, buttoning up his white lab coat, left the room.
Dahyun trailed cautiously behind him.
Seeing this, that senior doctor just shook his head, dejected. Young people these days really treated relationships too lightly. What had the world come to?
"Doctor Kim, did you really… break up with Lisa?"
"What do you think?"
"That's fantastic! Now, people won't say that I'm the 'other woman' anymore. When are you going to tell everyone at the hospital that we are together?" Dahyun whined, half-flirting.
Kai glanced at her carelessly, "What's the rush? Isn't it more fun to sneak around?"
"Oh, you're the worst! Really…" Dahyun reached out and pinched Kai's arm lightly as she squealed.
As one of the assistant nurses in the Ophthalmology Department, she had admired Kai for a long time, and for a good reason: Kai was both handsome and smart.
In addition, his surgery performances had been good. So, although he was still an intern, he would soon become an attending physician. By then, his status within the department would be even higher.
Before this, she'd always been looking for opportunities to approach him. However, back then, Kai only had eyes for Lisa.
It made her nearly mad with envy, watching Kai go off to buy midnight snacks for Lisa. So long as it was something Lisa liked to eat, Kai would go and buy it even if he had to sacrifice sleep after finishing a night shift. He was the perfect boyfriend.
Now that she had finally gotten a chance, she wouldn't let it slip away for the world.
Inside the nurse's dressing room-
Lisa sat resting, half-inclined and with a cup of water in her hand. Her mind was elsewhere.
When Dahyun walked in and saw Lisa sitting there alone, she felt a surge of satisfaction well up in her chest.
"Lisa..."
"What is it?" Lisa turned her head towards her, expressionless.
"Doctor Kim and I…"
"I know everything. What, did you want me to congratulate you?" Lisa sneered.
Dahyun stiffened. She felt like the Lisa before her now was somehow different from the gentle girl she usually was.
"That's not what I meant. I just wanted to say that I did nothing wrong. Even if it weren't for me, Doctor Kim wouldn't have stayed with you. He told me himself; it really bothers him that his future wife wasn't a virgin."
"Really? From the way you're talking, you've slept with him already, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have come preaching to me." Turning away from Dahyun, Lisa raised her cup to her lips and took a sip.
Unwilling to back down, Dahyun goaded at her, "Of course, I'm clean. Doctor Kim said that he was going to marry me."
"So what?" Lisa stood up, demanding in an icy tone.
"So nothing. What I wanted to say is this - I won this battle, didn't I? Please stop bothering Doctor Kim. After all, you're not together anymore. A rational woman shouldn't cling to a man shamelessly." Dahyun's words were a warning.
After hearing this, Lisa gave her the sweetest of smiles.
It made the hairs on the back of Dahyun's neck stand up.
"Why are you smiling?"
"My mother once told me that I should give away the toys I didn't like to children that are less fortunate than me because they are pitiful."
"You…" Dahyun was unable to form a complete sentence. She never thought that this seemingly gentle nurse had such a dark and fierce side.
"Excuse me, let me through. I have work to do." Gesturing with her hand, Lisa calmly walked out of the dressing room.
Truth be told, she really wasn't too upset about Kai breaking up with her. The only thing was, Kai had been good to her for the past few years and that was why she wanted to try to patch things up. However, now that it had come to this, she naturally wouldn't try anymore. Shamelessly clinging on? That really wasn't her style.
Outside a delivery room in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department-
"Lisa!" As Lisa was about to go inside to help with a delivery, she was stopped by the head nurse.
"Head nurse, you called me?" Lisa turned around.
"The director wants you in his office," the head nurse said in a clear, crisp tone.
"The director wants to see me?" Lisa was caught by surprise. More than that, she was confused. The director was rumored to be a very busy man who wouldn't show up to the hospital more than a couple times a year, and even the head nurse hadn't had a chance to meet him this year. Why would he suddenly ask for her? What was going on?
It actually took less than ten minutes to walk from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department to the director's office, but Lisa managed to stretch it to fifteen by walking slowly.
Director Jung was a man of over fifty, with a square face, sharp eyes, and an old-fashioned way of doing things.
Of course, as a nurse intern who had been working at the Asan medical center for less than a year, Lisa had yet to have the honor of meeting the director in person.
She had only seen him in photographs on the hospital's official webpage. From what she had heard, the director was an outstanding orthopedics professor in his youth.
In addition, he was a visiting professor in Europe many times in the past.
Without realizing it, she arrived outside the director's office. Standing at the door was a fancy man in a crisp suit and gold-rimmed glasses.
"Are you Miss Lisa?" the man spoke first.
"Yes."
"The director's waiting for you inside. Head on in."
"Okay." Lisa nodded. Then, being slightly anxious, she knocked on the door.
"Come in." A deep, solemn voice rang out from inside.
Lisa walked inside to see the director. As expected, he looked pretty much the same as in his photos, and the white physician's lab coat was extremely bright.
Although the director was not yet sixty years old, his hair was already streaked with white, and there were clear wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
"Are you Lisa?" The director began the conversation.
"I am."
"Come and sit down." The director's attitude was surprisingly amicable. This, however, made Lisa even more uneasy.
"It's alright, I'll just stand." Lisa was still a little withdrawn.
"Don't be afraid. Let's sit down and talk." The director gestured, motioning for Lisa to have a seat.
Lisa thought that if she were to refuse again, she might appear unreasonable. So, she walked over and sat down gently on the black sofa.
"Here's the thing: I called you here today because I have a very important task for you."
Lisa nodded, "Okay, director. Please tell me. As long as it's within the range of my capabilities, I promise I will do my best."
"Yesterday, a higher official from the Seoul bureau suddenly suffered acute cerebral hemorrhaging and was brought into our hospital's most exclusive VIP suite last night. Our medical facilities and equipment aren't really top of the line to begin with. However, the official's condition is dire and he's not stable enough to be transferred to another hospital. With his critical condition, the slightest move can result in severe intracranial hemorrhaging. Therefore, the other executives and I held an emergency meeting and decided to perform the craniotomy here, at this hospital. The surgery will take place three hours from now, and the top neurosurgeons will personally perform the procedure."
After the director had finished, Lisa nodded her head. She understood the situation now; it was dire indeed.
Since the patient was some higher rank official from seoul bureau, he or she must hold a highly important position within the government. No wonder the director was taking this matter so seriously.
"Director, is there anything I can do to help?"
"I would like you to be the scrub nurse for this surgery."
At this, Lisa immediately objected, "Director, how can you ask that of me? I'm just a delivery nurse who works in the OB/GYN Department, and I don't know anything about neurosurgery. You should send someone like the head nurse to assist, not an intern like me. I believe that you must have seen my resume. I'm not a graduate of a famous institution. Rather, I graduated from the advanced nursing program at one of our city's ordinary medical academies."
"I know that," the director replied earnestly.
"If you already know, then why are you giving this task to me? That… that's not a sensible decision," Lisa said calmly.
***
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