Sentence me, Doctor

Chapter 6 Previse

"Love is uncontrollable, you do not know when it will come and how it will happen."

Amber POV

"As I said, it was my responsibility. It was my decision." Dr. Alfred Velarde, a resident surgeon, was blatantly admitted.

We are currently at the Mortality and Morbidity Conference here at Matalinhaga Stadium, one fine Wednesday morning. All the attending and resident Doctors and Head Nurses of MGH are here right now listening to the questioning of some doctors who are holding high positions in the hospital regarding the concurrent surgeries that happened, Dr. Velarde being one of those who performed surgery on three patients with different cases last week.

"I understand, but..." Dr. Leonor Legarda, isa sa mga Doctors na taga-tanong. She is next to the position of Dr. Richard Cortez. "What was the cause, Dr. Velarde?"

"I broke protocol, things happened." Dr. Velarde answered.

He was standing on the stage, behind the podium, while we were all sitting below. Dr. Lucas was sitting on my right and Russel on the left. All eyes and ears were on him.

"This is a Mortality and Morbidity Conference, Dr. Velarde." She reminded. "To ensure that an event like this, a horrific and preventable medical error does not happen again."

Medical error is the third leading cause of death. That's a fact.

"The surgeries on these three patients took place concurrently, correct?" Dr. Legarda continued.

"Yes." Dr. Velarde replied. "Concurrent surgeries are not against hospital policy. The critical portion was staggered so the attending could be present." He defended.

We heard Dr. Legarda scoffs. Nagbaling siya ng tingin kay Dr. Cortez na halos kadarating lang.

"Dr. Cortez, you are the Chief of Surgery, aren't you?" The sarcasm in Dr. Legarda's voice was audible. "Could you explain how this catastrophe occurred?" She asked. Dr. Cortez doesn't seem to be listening to her. "You were the architect of these concurrent surgeries, so I'll ask again. How did this error happen?"

A deafening silence suddenly enveloped the entire stadium. We're all waiting for Dr. Cortez's answer to Dr. Legarda's question.

"You like Mozart?" Dr. Cortez asked Dr. Legarda suddenly.

The three of us, Dr. Lucas and Russel looked at each other because of this. Russel shook his head with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Dr. Legarda's confused response.

"Mozart." Dr. Cortez repeated. He stood up and went in front of us all, below where Dr. Velarde was standing. "Are you a fan? It's okay if you're not."

Dr. Legarda snickered at him. "I think we're all very aware of how just serious this -"

"The legendary composer was unrefined, undisciplined until along came Joseph Haydn." Dr. Cortez immediately cut off. "And Haydn challenged Mozart whom we know to possess a brilliant mind. He pushed him to the brink of madness before pulling him back." He added. "Masterfully guiding his young protégé to greatness."

Once again, silence reigned inside the stadium.

"I do the same thing in the name of saving lives." Dr. Cortez continued. "Why? Because it's my duty to train the next generation of elite surgeons." He stated with conviction. "And on this day, the one in question, I pushed Dr. Velarde to exceed my expectations. Sadly, on this day, he simply wasn't ready."