Chapter 2 Room 302
She gasped in surprise.
And at the same time—
A phone rang.
She froze.
“That’s… not mine,” she whispered.
The sound was coming from him.
She searched his coat and quickly found a phone in his pocket. The screen was lit with an incoming call. No name. Just a number.
She didn’t think anymore. She answered.
“Boss? Where are you?” a man’s voice said urgently.
“This man is badly hurt!” Olive said loudly. “He needs help now! Call an ambulance! We’re near Clerk Bus Stop—forestside road. Do it now!”
“W-what? Who are you? What happened to—”
She didn’t wait. She hung up.
She dropped the phone, grabbed her scarf again, and pressed it harder against his wound.
“Close your eyes if you need to,” she said softly. “But don’t leave me. Help is coming. Just hold on. Please… hold on.”
A few minutes passed.
Then Olive heard it.
Sirens.
Her heart jumped. She looked toward the road, then toward the bus stop. Red and blue lights flashed through the trees. She saw rescuers stepping out, scanning the area.
“Here!” Olive shouted, waving her arm. “We’re here!”
She pointed toward the bleeding man. The rescuers ran toward them, carrying equipment.
They moved fast. One of them placed an oxygen mask over the man’s face. Another checked his pulse.
One of the rescuers looked at Olive. “Are you his wife? Girlfriend? What happened to him?”
“I’m a nurse,” Olive said quickly. “From Dominic Verci Hospital. I just found him like this. I don’t know what happened—but he’s lost a lot of blood. You need to hurry.”
They lifted him carefully onto a stretcher. His head rolled slightly to the side. His eyes slowly closed.
“He’s losing consciousness,” one rescuer said.
They rushed him into the ambulance.
One of them turned to Olive. “You were with him. Do you want to come?”
Olive hesitated. Her body felt heavy. Twelve hours of work. No rest. No sleep.
But she nodded. “Yes.”
She climbed into the ambulance.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at Dominic Verci Hospital. Nurses and a doctor were already waiting at the emergency entrance. The doors opened fast.
Dr. Mateo froze when he saw Olive stepping out. “Olive? You just clocked out.”
“She was the one with the patient,” one rescuer said.
Dr. Mateo looked at Olive, shocked. Then he quickly focused on the man. “Move him inside.”
As they pushed the bed, Dr. Mateo motioned for Olive to follow. “Call the operating room,” he ordered. “Ask for an available one. This is an emergency surgery. His kidney is damaged.”
“Yes, doctor,” Olive said, already running.
She rushed to the lobby to make the call and inform the reception desk.
While dialing, someone grabbed her arm.
“Olive?” Jaxon said, staring at her. “What are you doing here? I thought you went home.”
He looked down at her hands—covered in blood. His eyes widened. “What happened?! Are you hurt?”
“Jaxon, quiet,” Olive whispered urgently. She pointed at the phone. “I’ll explain later. I need to make this call now.”
After helping with the emergency, Olive was finally guided to the sleeping quarters for on-call nurses. She barely had the strength left to think. She washed the blood from her hands and face, changed into clean clothes, and collapsed onto the narrow bed. Her body gave up before her mind could. Sleep took her almost instantly.
It was already six in the morning when she woke up.
Her body felt heavy, her eyes burned, and her head ached from lack of rest. Her duty would start at eight. She sat up slowly, rubbing her face.
She barely slept… but she had no choice. This was the life she chose. To help people—even when it cost her rest.
By a quarter to eight, she had clocked in. Still half-asleep, she walked to the vending machine near the hospital lobby and bought the strongest coffee it had.
While the machine processed her bill, Olive stared into nothing, her thoughts drifting back to the man from last night.
Did he survive? Was the operation successful?
She jumped when someone suddenly handed her the cup.
“Deep thoughts?” Maxine asked with a small smile.
Olive blinked and smiled awkwardly. “I barely slept.”
Maxine chuckled. “Life of a health worker.”
“Thanks,” Olive said, taking the coffee. “I have rounds in five minutes.”
Not long after, she was already following Dr. Mathilda—the stern, sharp-eyed doctor with an icy presence. Her calm but cutting voice made every nurse tense the moment she spoke.
As they moved from room to room, Olive’s thoughts wandered again—to the man from last night.
Maybe I’ll check on him later, she murmured to herself while staring at the white floor.
Dr. Mathilda stopped walking.
“What did you say?” she asked coldly.
“N-Nothing, doc,” Olive said quickly.
“Then move faster,” Dr. Mathilda said. “We have many patients today.”
By afternoon, Olive finally finished her rounds. She stood at the reception desk and let out a long breath, resting her head against the counter.
“I want to go home,” she muttered.
Adrian, the lobby nurse, looked at her. “You look exhausted. Let me guess—Dr. Mathilda’s rounds again?”
“Bingo,” Olive said, lifting her head.
She only had an eight-hour duty today. While changing in the locker room, she remembered the man.
I should check on him… just once.
Adrian had mentioned earlier that the man who came in late last night and had emergency surgery was in Room 302.
After changing, Olive walked down the hallway. Her steps slowed when she reached the door. She opened it carefully, thinking he might be sleeping—or might have company.
The man was awake.
He was leaning against his bed, eyes open. No one else was in the room. There was still no name on the bed’s sign.
He was already staring at her.
“Oh—sorry,” Olive said quickly. “I was just checking on you. I’ll go now.”
“Wait.”