Brilliant heart surgeon, Naseem Hamed, performs his wife's heart transplant in an emergency and is sued by her father when she dies.
A broker for black market organs then approaches Naseem to perform an illegal heart transplant- by harvesting an in...
The elevator doors opened as Naseem, Amalia, and the surgical team pushed the donor through the lobby of the Surgical ICU. Down the initial hallway—an endless line of nurses in different-colored scrubs, doctors in white lab coats, janitors holding bins, and hospital staff in casual clothing were divided on either side of the hallway. Their hands folded in front of them, standing respectfully, and heads all turned to them. They were honoring the anonymous person whose body would save lives.
Ventilator, blood, and IV support were pushed along with the donor's bed. Naseem was at the head of it with the entire team wearing scrubs and were prepared for the OR.
*
Naseem was in Operating Theater 1 after the donor had undergone median sternotomy, a procedure that opened her chest cavity. Amalia stood opposite him of the OR table, a surgical nurse beside him, a general surgeon operating beside Amalia, and two surgical technologists for the two surgeons.
He closed his eyes and titled his head up to the OR lights—yawning. The clock by the stat monitor read, 1:24 a.m.The donor's chest was exposed as Naseem stepped away from the surgical site. He kept his elbows tucked in and gloved hands, stained with blood, pointed up. Amalia dug her hands inside the chest cavity and took out the donor's heart, as the disconnected vessels left gaping holes to spill drops of blood.
Amalia turned to a sterile tray behind her and placed the donor heart inside a stainless-steel case reading, HUMAN ORGAN FOR DONATION.
*
Naseem stood by the nurses' station signing off on the donor's surgical notes. Dark bags sat underneath his eyes, and he rested an elbow on the station counter holding up his head.
A nurse approached him, "Doctor Hamed, I have two messages. First, the donor's lymph node has confirmed a match for Faryal, we're prepping her now."
Naseem leaned off the counter, tipped his head up to the ceiling, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes! Boom!"
They high-fived in excitement.
The nurse modestly repeated, "Boom," with a slight nod and smile that matched his thankfulness. "And second, Dr. Atif, the cardiac surgeon on shift was called into the OR for an emergency aortic dissection. They're experiencing sensitive complications, and their ETC borders the donor heart's survival time. And so, you're now the designated surgeon for Faryal's transplant."
Naseem felt heat rise along the sides of his back and his nerves tingled around his spine.
"... Of course, let's get the team in a meeting room. Current baseline tests, x-rays sent up as soon as possible, thank you."
"Inshallah, Doctor."
"Inshallah."
The nurse walked away as Naseem stood still beside the nurses' station. Frozen for a moment.
End of Chapter 8.
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