I had just stepped out of the ER when a woman blocked my path. "You're a doctor, right? My son scraped his knee. Get over here and treat him, now." Before I could even explain, she grabbed the collar of my lab coat and snarled. "Isn't it a doctor's job to save lives? You have time to slack off, but no time to treat my son's wound?" She violently yanked my collar, dragging me toward the wards. "Ma'am, please," I gasped, trying to pull away. "I'm not a..." But she wasn't listening. She swung her arm and slapped me right across the face. "Are you blind? Can't you see my son is bleeding? You'd rather treat those poor losers than help my boy?" "If anything happens to my son, I will ruin you." "On your knees and apologize to him right now. Or I'll file a complaint and have your license revoked." I winced, holding my throbbing cheek. In my five years in this profession, this was the very first time a living person had threatened to report me. "It's not that I don't want to treat him," I muttered. "But I'm a forensic pathologist."
I had just finished reviewing a deceased patient's medical history. All I wanted was to get back to the breakroom and collapse onto the bed. But as I turned the corner of the corridor, a figure lunged at me, grabbing my arm in a death grip. I froze, startled by the sudden shriek. I looked up to see a woman in full glam, dripping in designer labels, standing right in front of me with her arms crossed. "You're a doctor, right? My son scraped his knee, and he's bleeding everywhere. Get over there and fix him up, now." Without waiting for a response, she tried to drag me toward the treatment room. I had pulled an all-nighter doing an autopsy. I was completely exhausted. I just wanted to sleep. Besides, as a forensic pathologist, I didn't treat living patients. I waved my hands, trying to calm her down. "Ma'am, I..." But she cut me off, her voice rising. "You're wearing a white coat, aren't you? That makes you a doctor." "I saw you wandering around the lobby. You're clearly slacking off!" "What, you have time to play on your phone, but no time to bandage my son?" She sneered, tugging hard at my lab coat. "Isn't your whole job about saving people? My son is injured, and you're just going to stand there and do nothing?" My mind went completely blank at her sheer audacity. "Ma'am, I understand you're worried about your son, but his injury needs to be treated by a clinical doctor. I can't do that for you." I thought I was being polite enough, but her eyes flared with rage, and she shoved me hard. Caught off guard, I stumbled back a few steps, my back slamming heavily against the wall. "I don't care! Treat my son right now!" I stabilized myself, a dull pain radiating from my chest. No matter how good my temper was, I was reaching my boiling point. "I cannot do that." I flatly refused, pulling out my phone to contact Dr. Mitchell. My refusal lit a fire under Victoria Sterling. "What did you just say?!" She lunged forward, grabbing my collar and shaking me violently. "You're wearing that coat! It is your duty to treat patients! How dare you pick and choose?!" With a loud rip, the top button of my coat popped off. In the struggle, my phone slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor. Before I could even react, Victoria raised her hand and delivered a stinging slap to my face. Smack! My cheek burned, and my ears rang. I stumbled, momentarily losing my balance. Victoria glared at me, holding my torn collar as she dragged me forward. "You little bitch, how dare you glare at me?!" "I asked you to wrap a simple wound, and you give me this attitude?!" Her screaming immediately caught the attention of the patient's families in the hallway. "If my son's treatment is delayed, can you even afford to compensate us?" "Let me tell you, by refusing to help my son, you have no medical ethics." "A heartless doctor like you should be kicked out of this hospital." Staring at her hysterical face, I touched my swollen cheek. I swallowed the humiliation and the stinging pain, slowly lifting my head. In my five years in this field, this was the first time a living person had filed a complaint against me. The fire I had been suppressing finally exploded. "Every single patient of mine is already dead! How do you want me to treat your son?!" Hearing this, Victoria went absolutely ballistic. "How dare you curse my son!" She grabbed my arm, dragging me forcefully toward the VIP ward. "On your knees and apologize to my boy! Otherwise, I'll make sure you get fired, and you'll never work in this city again!"
"Stop this right now!" A booming voice echoed from behind us, drawing everyone's eyes. A middle-aged man in a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses came rushing down the hall. The moment Dr. Mitchell, the Chief of the Emergency Department, arrived, Victoria acted as if she had found her savior. She let go of me and threw herself toward him. "Dr. Mitchell! Thank God you're here! Your doctor is trying to kill us!" "My son is bleeding all over his leg, and she refused to help him! She even cursed him to die!" Dr. Mitchell gently patted Victoria's back to soothe her. But the moment his gaze shifted to me, all warmth vanished from his eyes. He pulled me to the side, his voice low but dripping with anger. He immediately put all the blame on me. "What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea who Mrs. Sterling is?" "Apologize to her right now! I don't care what happened, you do not upset a patient's family!" I stared at him, finding the entire situation laughable. My slapped cheek was still burning. "I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize?" "For the hospital's reputation!" Dr. Mitchell's voice flared up before he quickly muffled it. "Mrs. Sterling is a major donor to this hospital! Do you think crossing her will do you any good?" "I was just stating a fact. I'm a forensic." To him, my explanation was nothing but backtalk. He cut me off sharply. "Cut the crap! Just go and apologize!" Seeing that I didn't budge, Dr. Mitchell's face turned incredibly dark. He actually reached out, trying to physically force my head down to make me bow to Victoria. "Apologize to Mrs. Sterling, and we can make this go away!" I violently wrenched myself free from his grip and took a step back. The rage in my chest finally snapped my last thread of sanity. I turned to the crowd gathering in the corridor and shouted at the top of my lungs. "I am not a clinical doctor! I have no legal right to perform medical treatment!" My shout instantly drew the attention of every patient and visitor in the hallway. Dr. Mitchell, completely humiliated by my public defiance, pointed a finger at my face and roared. "I don't care what kind of doctor you are! If a patient needs help, you do it!" "What department are you from? What's your ID number? What is your name?!" I let out a cold laugh. "Who made the rule that anyone wearing a white coat works for your hospital?" Seeing the chaos, Victoria immediately started adding fuel to the fire. She covered her face, crying fake tears. "Dr. Mitchell, look at her! I saw her playing on her phone during work hours. But when I asked her to help my boy, she made up a hundred excuses!" "Why is your hospital still keeping a doctor with zero ethics?!" The whispers around us grew louder. "Yeah, I saw her walking around with her phone earlier. She was definitely slacking." "Young doctors these days have no sense of responsibility." "The kid was bleeding. How hard is it to put on a bandage?" The wave of accusations washed over me. Dr. Mitchell's face was practically purple. He felt his authority being challenged like never before. "Fine. Great!" He laughed out of sheer anger and delivered his final threat. "I am reporting this to the board right now! You are fired!" "And I'm not done with you! I will make sure you can never find a job in the entire city of New York!" Victoria stood beside him, a triumphant, smug smirk plastered on her face. Watching their pathetic, self-righteous display, my heart grew cold. The fury and resentment boiled within me, but I forced myself to calm down. Suddenly, I smiled. An apology? That would be way too easy on them. If I didn't blow this up today and make them lose face in front of everyone, I would be doing a disservice to the slap I just took. Under their bewildered stares, I straightened my torn collar and walked toward them step by step. "Fine," I said. My voice wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear. "I'll treat him."
Dr. Mitchell and Victoria froze. The murmurs in the hallway died down instantly. The smug grin on Victoria's face stiffened. She probably hadn't expected me to "submit" so quickly. "Smart move," she scoffed, lifting her chin arrogantly as she led the way. Dr. Mitchell gave me a warning glare, as if saying, See? You should have done this from the start. I was brought into the VIP suite. The crowd of onlookers followed, crowding around the door to watch the drama unfold. The moment I walked in, I saw the "critically injured" child. He was lounging on the bed with his legs crossed, happily playing on his iPad. On his knee was a tiny, cartoon Band-Aid. There wasn't a single trace of pain on his face. Seeing me look at her son, Victoria immediately went back into victim mode. She pointed at the Band-Aid and screamed at me. "Look! Look at how badly hurt my son is!" "He was bleeding so much! You heartless bitch, you almost made us miss the golden window for treatment!" Her voice was so tragic, you'd think her son had lost a leg rather than scraped his skin. Hearing his mother scream, the boy didn't look scared at all. Instead, he jumped off the bed. He ran over to me and kicked my shin as hard as he could. A sharp pain shot up my leg. I frowned. "Bad lady! How dare you make my mommy mad!" he whined. "I'm gonna have my daddy kick you out of here!" Victoria didn't stop him. Instead, she patted his head lovingly, her eyes full of pride. "Good boy. Look at you protecting Mommy." Watching this absurd scene, the light in my eyes grew colder. I crouched down, grabbed the boy's ankle, and said coldly, "Don't move. Let me examine you." Before my hand even brushed his skin, the kid jumped as if he had been electrocuted. He pulled his foot back and burst into a hysterical, earsplitting wail. "She hurt me! Mommy! She hurt me on purpose!" Victoria's anger flared instantly. She rushed over like a madwoman and kicked me squarely in the chest, knocking me to the floor. "You bitch! How dare you take revenge on my son!" The back of my head hit the cold tile floor hard. For a second, my vision went black. The pain made it hard to breathe. Supporting myself against the floor, I slowly stood up and brushed the dust off my lab coat. I looked at the boy, who was still faking his tears, and let out a freezing laugh. "Mrs. Sterling, if I had come any later, I'm afraid your son's wound would have already healed itself." The moment those words left my mouth, Victoria exploded. "What do you mean by that?! You just don't want to treat my son!" Dr. Mitchell's face was as black as coal. He pointed at me, trembling with rage. Victoria pointed at my nose and cried to the crowd outside. "Everyone, look! This is the kind of doctor we have today! She refuses to help a child and makes excuses!" "She's trying to hurt my son!" The crowd was completely swayed by her. They stared at me with pure condemnation. "Oh my god, how can a doctor put her hands on a child?" "Exactly. She made a mistake first, and now she's taking it out on a kid!" Victoria smirked, walking up to me and looking down at me like a queen. "Let me tell you, you are treating him today, whether you like it or not!" "Bandage my son's wound right now! Keep doing it until he is satisfied!" I looked at her triumphant look, and then at the disgusted looks of the crowd. Suddenly, I found the whole thing hilarious. Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my official ID case. Under everyone's stunned gaze, I flipped it open. The black leather cover, the gold state seal, and the bold letters: Harper Vance, Forensic Pathologist, State Medical Examiner's Office. "It's not that I don't want to treat your son," I said. My voice was quiet, but it carried clearly in the silent VIP room. "But I am a forensic pathologist." I paused, my gaze slowly sweeping over Victoria and her fake-crying son. "The only patients I handle are dead bodies." "Are you sure you want me to treat your son?"
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