Chapter 92 Chapter 92
“Doc. Jade, this isn’t your case! You can’t—”
I shot him another vicious look.
“I said, step aside. I’m not stepping back!”
He still wouldn’t budge, but another nurse suddenly shouted.
“We can’t hold her much longer! She’s going into hypovolemic shock! Every second counts!”
The head of the rescue team had no choice but to let me through. I moved toward the patient, quickly assessing the monitor and the wound.
My chest felt heavy, but there was no room for doubt anymore. If we didn’t act now, we would lose them both.
“Doctor,” a nurse said softly while holding the portable ultrasound, “there are two fetuses. One heartbeat is still present. The other… barely detectable.”
My eyes widened. “She has twins?”
“Yes, Doc. Jade.”
I glanced at the ultrasound screen—and saw the struggling heartbeat myself.
“Then we don’t move her,” I ordered firmly. “Prepare for an emergency C-section. Here. Now.”
Chaos erupted around us.
“IV fluids, wide open! Full monitoring! Blood products ready!”
“General anesthesia—STAT!”
“Suction ready. I need sterile instruments.”
My hands were steady as I set up the field.
“BP’s dropping,” someone reported.
“Scalpel,” I said, forcing my voice not to shake even as my chest pounded violently.
“Yes, Doc.”
I could feel everyone holding their breath. Even for me, this was the first time I was handling a patient not as an assistant surgeon but as the one giving the orders.
I forced myself to calm down. I didn’t want them to see me hesitate.
No. I can do this. I have to.
The room hummed with tension, growing heavier with every sound from the monitor.
“Doc. Jade! She’s losing too much blood—her pulse is fading!”
“Delivering now,” I said firmly.
“Focus on the baby. Suction ready… clamp ready… now.”
Time seemed to stop.
We delivered Twin A—a healthy baby who cried immediately.
But what came next… silence.
My hands trembled as I reached for the second baby.
No cry. No heartbeat.
I didn’t need to say anything. We already knew.
I watched as the nurse carried the first baby away—alive.
And the second—we couldn’t save.
My chest tightened. I couldn’t tell if it was sweat running down my cheeks or tears.
I remembered what the patient had said earlier.
“Please… save my child.”
But the fight wasn’t over. Her… we still had to save her.
“Doc. Jade,” someone reported, their voice shaking. “Her vitals are crashing.”
I turned to the monitor—the line was dropping.
“Epinephrine, now!”
“Manual compressions! Come on!”
My orders came one after another, almost shouting.
“Clear!”
A long tone filled the room.
Flatline.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at the woman’s face. I didn’t want to confirm what I already knew.
“I… I’m sorry, Doc. Jade,” the nurse said softly. “We can’t stabilize her anymore. She’s gone.”
I staggered back. My breathing became uneven as my chest grew heavier. Around me, I saw pity in the nurses’ eyes—pity that hurt more than anger.
“Doc. Jade,” a nurse who had been with us for a long time reminded me, “please announce the time of death.”
My hand trembled as I glanced at the watch I was wearing.
“T-time of death…”
“…8:20 A.M.”
I bit my lip as I closed my eyes. The others closed theirs as well, giving a long moment of silence for the patient who had passed away. Her face kept replaying in my mind.
If I hadn’t gotten out of the car, would this have happened? I wouldn’t have witnessed their deaths… I wouldn’t have been the reason for her loss?
“Doc. Jade, you did everything you could,” the nurse said to me as she carried the only surviving baby to the NCU.
“Yes, Doc. Jade. Don’t blame yourself. If you hadn’t been there, we might not have been able to save even one.”
One by one, they left after patting my shoulder.
I then caught sight of the head of the rescue team, who stayed inside the emergency room just to watch us.
“If only your mother had been the one to operate, they all would’ve been safe,” he said mockingly. I wanted to respond, but I no longer had the strength. “Your mother will not let this go, Doc. Jade. You tainted her name. You’ll definitely be summoned by the higher-ups.”
And he was right, because the moment I stepped out of the emergency room, a slap landed squarely on my cheek.
“Who told you to operate without me, huh?! You really have no respect for me as your mother anymore! Look at what you did! You killed two people! Is this the skill you’re so proud of as a top board passer? It’s clear that grades don’t truly measure how good a person is! And you’re proof that not every topnotcher deserves to be a doctor!”