His Forbidden Obsession

Chapter 7: Green Eyed Little Brat

Roy Ezekiel

Tahimik kong ikinaskas sa aking mga kamay at mga braso ng chlorhexidine gluconate soap o ang sabon na pang-disinfect naming mga surgeons bago at matapos ang surgery. Sa kabila ng malinis na amoy ng sabon ay hindi pa rin mawala sa ilong ko ang amoy ng dugo. No matter how many surgeries, I've done. I felt like the smell of blood always lingers afterward. Habang binabanlawan ko ang aking mga braso sa malalim na lababo ay napatingin ako sa salamin sa aking harapan.

Mula dito ay kita ang operating room, maraming kalat na dugo sa sahig at may mga cloth din na may bahid ng dugo sa surgical table. May mga hospital staff na kasalukuyang nililinis iyon. The surgery that I performed with another good doctor went well. Our case was unusual. Ang orihinal lamang na plano ay manganganak lamang si Mrs. Quitain. She was rushed here kahit na nasa ibang ospital ang kanyang doctor dahil mas malapit ang GSMH at malala na ang hilab ng kanyang tiyan. When her dilation was already wide enough and it was time for her to push, that's when Dr. Jene Sta. Maria discovered that there was no baby in the womb. Ilang beses pa daw niya na sinilip pero walang bata sa amniotic sac. It doesn't make sense because in all of nine months ay may bata sa ultrasound at lumaki ang tiyan ni Mrs. Quitain.

When Dr. Sta. Maria did another ultrasound, there is still a baby inside her, but then she discovered that the baby was in the mother's abdominal cavity, floating with her intestines, liver, and other organs. That's when they paged me 9-1-1 or in layman's term: a fucking emergency. It was a rare case of abdominal pregnancy and the doctor who took care of the mother the whole nine months failed to detect it. When I came in, I carefully made an incision and located the baby. Dr. Sta. Maria took her out and then she ordered to bring her to the NICU asap.

Matapos noon ay naging unstable ang stats ni Mrs. Quitain at lumala ang kanyang pagdurugo. Everyone held their breath as we did our best to control her bleeding, and after three minutes of finding all the sources of bleeding, we controlled and stopped it. Now, Mrs. Quitain is in the ICU. Marami siyang nawalang dugo pero stable na siya. She could regain that lost blood and strength through blood transfusion and a lot of rest time here in the hospital.

All the while, I was in that operating room, I could feel Del Russo watching me from the gallery. For sure, ay isa sa mga med student na nasa operating room ang nag-inform sa mga kaklase niya na may rare case, kaya nagsipuntahan sila sa gallery kahit na naka-assign sila sa ibang doctor. Including Del Russo. When I glanced up for a moment, I saw her in the sea of people. She was six-foot tall dahil nakatayo siya sa isa sa mga upuan na naroon upang makakita siya. She was wearing her usual light blue scrubs under her short white coat. Napansin ko din na nakatali pataas ang kanyang buhok.

I met her bright green eyes for a split second before I look away and focused. Hindi ko alam kung kailan ako naging aware sa tingin niya, pero matapos lahat ng ginawa niya sa mga nakaraang araw sa akin. I became hyperaware of her gaze . . . unfortunately.

When the surgery was over, I didn't glance up since I know that now that there are no important matters in front of me, she will give me that flirty look once again.

"You were brilliant there, Roy," sabi ni Jene nang pumasok siya sa scrub room. She's wearing pink scrubs under her white coat. Nakapasok ang kanyang buhok sa kanyang puti din na scrubcap. Nauna siyang lumabas sa akin upang tingnan ang kalagayan ng bata.

I turned to her and smiled a little after I dried my hands with a disposable towel. "Couldn't have done it without you, Jene." Tipid kong sagot. Look, I am not really a social-type of person. Actually, I do not like interacting with people unless I have to, since I am introverted and an only child. That's why I really never had close-friends from school to the workforce. And that's okay with me, I am fine being alone.