INTRICATE

CHAPTER 03

S A M A I R A   Y A D A V

"There's a patient whose middle finger is cut off."

Alright, context. There were some weird cases that Samaira had heard of during the tedious process of earning her medical degree, but she hadn't seen them in person. She thought it would take her a while to get there. Unfortunately, that assumption shattered right before her eyes when she stepped into the emergency room and saw the patient holding out his bleeding hand. She blinked twice. Still there. Okay then.

Samaira put on the latex gloves, moving forward to inspect the injury. She looked up at the man. "Can you tell me what happened, sir?"

He didn't look too old. Late thirties or early forties maybe. "You don't want to know, doctor. It's embarrassing."

"It might be, but I need to know before I can decide how to proceed with the surgery. You do want your finger back, don't you?"

He nodded reluctantly. 

"What's your name?"

"Rajesh."

"Okay, Rajesh. You don't have to worry about anything. Our priority is to get your finger back in your hand, so tell me what happened." 

"I was at the zoo with my kids. My younger daughter likes animals a lot, so we were just walking around. When we came across the sloth, it wasn't moving at all. It just kept sleeping. My daughter started to cry because she wanted to see the sloth move. I tried tapping on the cage, but nothing happened. I tapped louder and it still didn't move."

Samaira could make out how it was going to end and she didn't necessarily like it. She let the man continue anyway. 

"Since the big one wasn't waking up, I tapped the cage near the little one and before I could even blink, the big one had carved its nail through my hand! That wretched thing cut off my finger!"

What else was he expecting the mother to do? Wait until he had harmed her kid? She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. In the medical profession, patience was the best virtue one could have. They would go crazy otherwise. "Okay, we're going to go to the operating room. We've preserved your finger as best as we can, but the faster we do the surgery, the better it's going to be for you in the long run."

He nodded and the nurses moved him there. His legs were fine, but there were protocols that they needed to follow. Once the surgery was over, they moved him back to one of the hospital rooms, keeping him there until the sedative that he was administered wore off. Samaira smiled when the door closed. The surgery had gone really well. One couldn't even tell that a koala had cut his finger off in the first place. 

"Samaira!" a familiar voice commanded. Dr. Chowdhury. Of course. Samaira faced him with a pleasant smile. "Yes, doctor?"

"Why wasn't I informed of the surgery beforehand?"

She blinked. "You were in surgery, sir."

"That's a convenient excuse." he stated, eyes blazing. "I'm your attending physician! I need to know everything that happens here before it happens, got it? I know that you're the best resident here, but that doesn't mean you've grown horns on your head! There are rules!"

What? Where did that even come from? "I understand, sir, but I was just doing my job. That patient was my responsibility. I had to start."

"Oh, your responsibility, huh? Well, you are my responsibility. I'm your superior! Get that into your head! I don't want a repeat of this. If there is, then there will be consequences. Got that clear, Yadav?"

She clenched her palms behind her back. "Yes, sir."

He flashed her a haughty smile before he left, making Samaira curse under her breath. Why did she have to endure him? Getting Dr. Chowdhury assigned to her was as unlucky as she could get. Things couldn't get worse than that, so at least the worst was behind her.