Awake

chapter 1

Zhan always hated dayshift. He preferred the night shift because he knew that people who came in at night were not in the mood for small conversations. They were all desperate for assistance as soon as possible, but as a doctor, he knew he didn't have much of a choice.

He has been a surgeon for a long time, but now and then, he loves attending general emergencies if he has time.

Today was no different, from most days. He didn't have major emergencies. He helped stitch up a farmer's hand who had a minor accident with his crop machine. Remove a splitter from a little boy's foot. His ears were still ringing from the young boy's screams.

The mother was no exception to the rule. She was asking all kinds of questions about everything and nothing related to the boy's injury. How old was Zhan? If he is single, when will he settle down, and if she should help him meet someone compatible? Zhan is used to these kinds of questions, so he is always ready with the answer that dismisses all the questions.

"Thank you for your concern but i am always so busy and my job requires me to be flexible, so i dont think it would be fair to anyone for them to have to deal with my absence all the time." Is what he always said as a response to such questions.

Before they left, the boy promised never to slide on wooden floors barefoot ever again.

At lunchtime, as he was getting ready to go eat, a nurse ran into his office with a horrified look on her face.

"Doctor Zhan, the director is looking for you. He said you should come to the operating room immediately. "

"OK, but why do you look so panicked?"

"Have you not heard? Apparently, there was a single passenger plane crash not too long ago. The pilot died, but the passenger is barely holding on to life. I think that's the man the director wants you to attend."

"He is really in a bad shape, I doubt he will live."

"Well, that's not for us to decide now, is it? If you will excuse me."

Zhan quickly left the room running towards the emergency.

On arrival, the first thing Zhan noticed was that there were way fewer people inside the operating room than what is normally required during a major surgery.

The second thing was that the director seemed to be the one leading the surgery. He is an exceptional surgeon but was already in retirement. Not because he lacks skills but because he no longer wasted to do it.

All these factors made it clear to Zhan that there was something mysterious about the man laying on the operating table that brought the director out of retirement.

The only only explanation he got when he got there was "major head injury and minor burns on the extremities."

As the surgery commenced, Zhan was able to see what the director meant by major head injury. The back of this man's heads was nothing but a gapping whole. Blood everywhere. After they cleaned the wound properly, everyone breathed a sigh of relief because his brain didn't look affected or destroyed in any way. The blood around the wound made the injury look worse than it actually was.

The other injuries were also quickly attended with skin grafting on both arms and on the lower part of his legs.

It took the team 12 hours of meticulous work to successfully complete the surgery.

After they were done, the nurses and support team were dismissed, but Zhan was asked to stay behind.

"Dr Xiao, I know you probably have a lot of questions about who the man is and why things were done this way. I would rather you don't ask anything related to this man unless it pertains to his healing. Also, you and I are the only 2 doctors authorized to deal with him. No blood should be drawn from him without my prior knowledge, and no treatment should be done by anyone outside of me and you. Do you understand?"

"Why me? There are so many other doctors in this hospital who are more qualified than me to deal with this kind of situation."

"Because you are not a busy body, and you are here to get your job done and not partake in the gossiping that takes place here. Also, because you need the money that comes with doing what I am asking you to do."

"If I may, I have a couple of questions that will help me decide if this is something I want to get myself involved in. May I ask them?"

"You can, and if I can answer them, I will."

"Is this guy a criminal or affiliated with any criminal activities?"

"I don't know."

"....."

"Will helping you or him ever result in me losing my medical license or ability to practice medicine?"

"That I can assure you won't happen."

"OK. You spoke of money, is that for my silence, or is that for me coming in daily to do my job, and if it is, why pay extra when I would be doing this job anyway?"

"The money is for both. What I mean is that this patient doesn't exist on our system and was never here. Everyone who helped with the surgery is under the impression that he was transferred to another hospital. Only you and I know the truth."

"I don't think it's fair to say you, and I know the truth. Between you and me, you are the only one who knows what's going on. I am not sure that I am comfortable with this whole situation, but I am a doctor, and I am committed to my patients. I will see to his healing and medical needs while he is under my care and anything more than that, I can not promise you. I wouldn't talk about him anyway because of doctor-patient privacy. I don't want to be paid anything more than normal because I don't want to feel owned by you or him. I will do my job and do it well."

"I understand that you are a man of integrity, but unfortunately, this is not up to me. So please understand my position."

"You can keep the money then or donate it to the hospital. If I see even a cent more than what is due to me, I will be greatly disappointed in you."

"OK, Dr. Xiao, I understand. You may take your leave. Before you go, here is the tag to open his room if you need to go in without me. I will look after him during the day and attend to all his needs and you can do the nights. For now, until his life is no longer hanging in the balance, you and I are the only people who will be in charge of his care."

"So, I will be working the night shift every day until he regains consciousness?"

"No, until he is fully healed."

After a short pause, he left the room. Zhan decided that all the remaining questions were not worth asking because he was not going to get an answer. Who was this man? What did he get himself into, and why all the secrecy? His only hope was that whoever this man was would quickly recover and leave so that Zhan's life could go back to normal.

Unfortunately, for Zhan, the night shift started the same night as the surgery. He wasn't allowed to walk out of the room or go back to his office until morning when the director returned.

Nothing eventful happened that night. He tracked the mysterious men's vitals and gave him pain medication as well as fluids all through the night.

Now and then, he would doze off but couldn't really find a comfortable position to sleep. As soon as he fell asleep, he would jerk awake from the beeping mechines.

He couldn't wait for the morning to come. It's not because he wasn't used to working at night. It was due to the circumstances of this particular patient. The mystery, the conditions under which he was doing something he loves. All were just too tiring and bothersome.

Finally, morning came, and as predicted of the director, he arrived not even a second late to relieve him.

Nothing much was said between the two, just a quick update about how the night went. After Zhan handed the director the file, he was on his way home.

He needed to rest. He needed to sort through all the thoughts that were racing in his mind. Can he really do this? From his experiences with head injuries, he could be stuck with this patient for months.

He knew it was too late to back out, but will there be a point where he is freed to attend other patients?  The director clearly said, "Until he is fully healed." Doe that mean until he leaves the hospital?