"Good morning po doc" Dr. Leonor Romero greeted as she entered the chief surgeon's office, it was still unclear for her why Dr. Victor Cha suddenly asked for her presence .
"Dr. Romero, have a seat", Cha, the chief surgeon motioned her to settle her self. Leonor followed as she sat opposite to where Victor was seated, there was an awkward silence between them, as Dr. Victor was still scanning the papers he was holding,
"Uhm Doc", Leonor started, breaking the silence between them, "May I ask kung ano pobang kailangan nyo sa akin?", she hesitantly asked.
Dr. Cha shifted his attention from his papers to her, "Just wait a moment, may hinihintay pa tayo", He said as he went back on reading and flipping the documents.
Leonor just nodded and waited, the office was filled with quietness, the sound of the papers flipping was filling the gaps of awkwardness, until, someone opened the door, revealing a good looking, tall man, wearing a white coat. Leonor frowned the moment she saw him,
"You're finally here doctor" Victor said to Dr. Michael Noblefranca while putting the papers on his table, "You just wasted almost 10 minutes of our time" He said sarcastically as he tried to fix his self.
"Apologies doc, kakatapos ko lang po ng rounds ko" He answered as he gave Leonor a wink and sat beside her,
"Ang kapal", Leonor said at the back of her head.
"Alright" Cha crossed his legs "Let's get this straight to the point", He said, giving both doctors a glare, and by that, they already knew what this meeting was all about.
"Withdraw your protests", he indeed got straight to the point, "The board cannot proceed with the temporary relocation if may pending protests from the doctors" Cha added with a calm face,
"Sorry doc, but we believe we can't" Michael shrugged and answered confidently.
The board of directors was planning to relocate some of the doctors temporarily and send them to the different branches of the hospital. Working at the main branch was such an honour for the doctors, their hospital is one of the best in the country, and doctors tend to strive and compete just to work there,making none of them agree on the relocation. Noblefranca's straight answer seemed to trigger the already tressed Cha, his calm expression turned into an agitated one, instantly changing the room's atmosphere.
"We are already short-staffed doc, and if we push the relocation, mas lalo tayong mahihirapan nyan" Romero added fuel to the fire,
"Yes" Michael nodded in agreement, "And also doc, most of our doctors are residing in Manila with their families" He added,
"We won't withdraw our protest doc" Leonor clarified, "We will stand our ground this time, even if it will lead into an uprising" She threatened.
Michael was surprised with Leonor's bold statement , he looked at her with wide eyes and read Leonor's face ready to argue. Dr. Cha on the other hand, expected them to refuse, but Leonor's threat got him off guard, pushing his patience into its limits. He took a deep breath and sat straight,
"Are you really going that far?" He asked with an irritated voice and looked at Romero straight in the eyes,
"Yes, if its necessary" Leonor responded calmly. Dr. Cha chucked,
"Do you know the situations sa mga branch natin? People are coming here in Manila just to get the best treatment from us!" His voice echoed in the room as he raised it, "We are just giving them a convenient access to excellent doctors by sending them there! Mahirap ba yung intindihin?" He added while still raising his voice against them,
"For all due respect doc" Michael replied gazing at him, " It's not our job to fulfill the gaps sa mga branches, its the board's job to find new and competent doctors to work there, its not in our agenda to go there knowing that kahit dito nahihirapan din kami dahil sa dami ng pasyente, besides, alam naming may iba pa kayong pakay bakit pinipilit nyo 'tong relocation na 'to", Michael countered spilling the tea. Dr. Cha stood up and walked towards him,
"Ibang pakay?" He asked, hinting for a clarification.
Michael looked up to him and also stood up, "It's an order from the higher ups right?" He responded with a bit of smile on his lip, igniting Cha's inner fire,
"You dare to doubt the board doctor?" He replied to Noblefranca with a threatening voice,
"Bakit doc? Totoo naman diba?" Leonor said adding more seasoning to Cha's anger, "Sending doctors from our main branch to attract patients, thus making higher profits for our branches and bringing a lot of benefits to the higher ups, also raising the fees here due to limited staffs? In other words its your new marketing strategy right?" Romero elaborated sounding so confident, Michael scoffed,
"See doc? Basang basa namin yung mga galawan nyo", He supported Leonor's statement dropping the last ingredient to Cha's anger.
"Another thing", Leonor stood up and faced Victor,"Paano nyo na laman na kami yung authors ng protest? Eh diba dapat "confidential" yun?" She asked cornering Cha. Victor could not respond for a moment, he was thinking for an alibi but he could not come up with a single one, he just stood there annoyed, clenching his fist. Michael secretly gave Leonor a thumbs up, she just nodded in response, she was about to say something to completely stir things up but was halted when the door suddenly burst open, they all looked at the person, putting an end to the growing tension among them.
"Pasensya na po doc", a med student said while holding the door knob seemingly catching his breath desperately,
"Anong nangyari?" Leonor asked with a worried voice while approaching him,
"VIP patient-room 54-cardiac arrest-" he cannot elaborate properly, as he was pressured and out of breath, despite the unclear statement, Leonor bolted, leaving Cha's office in a flash, the med student then followed her running.
YOU ARE READING
Always And Forever
Romance"I will love you, always and forever", he said to her while he hugged the woman that he dearly loved, despite the pain that he needed to endure, by letting her go. A story of Doctors who fell in great intoxication at the most unexpected time and mom...
