(A/N: words italicized are memories of Dr. Kirk)
Dr. Kirk, a heart surgeon, walked briskly in the halls of the hospital. He just received a call from a nurse that a child needs an emergency heart operation. Around him, nurses and technicians are all walking around to prepare the operating room for the upcoming operation. Outside the OR doors, the father of the child is seating in the hospital benches with his head on his hands.
“Sir? Are you the father?” a voice startled the child’s dad. He looked up and saw Dr. Kirk’s tired face.
“Yes, I am”, the father responded.
The doctor smiled to him. “Please do pray for your son’s operation”, then Dr. Kirk walked into the OR.
The operation is very fatal. One wrong cut, the child could die. Dr. Kirk kept his focus onto the child. Outside, he may feel very cool and composed but deep inside his heart is hammering. The life of this child is currently in his hands.
“Dad? Can I play with you?’” a little boy asked his dad, Dr. Kirk.
“Not now. I’m busy”, his dad replied.
Dr. Kirk’s head instantly shot up from what his doing when the boy’s heart rate started to go flat line. He looked at the boy who’s struggling to breathe. The nurses around him were starting to go in motion and found way to stabilize the rate of the boy.
“Dad, I’m tired”, the little boy whined.
“Okay. Go to sleep now”, Dr. Kirk said as he covered his son with the blanket. He kissed the boy’s forehead before going out of the door.
After moments of tension, the boy’s rate started to stabilize. Everyone in the room started to give out a sigh of relief aside from Dr. Kirk. The operation is still not yet done. The life of the boy is still at stake. Beads of sweat started to trickle down his forehead as he meticulously cut some muscles.
“Daddy, is heaven real?” the little boy asked him one day.
“Yes. Why do you ask?” Dr. Kirk asked.
“Because I think, I will be there soon”, the little boy declared while smiling He looked at his dad and said, “but don’t worry, I’ll be watching you”.
After 6 hours, the operation is now done. Dr. Kirk has made the final stitching and the boy is now cleared to go back to his room in a few minutes. He went out of the OR and walked to the father of the child who just had an operation.
“We’ve done everything that we can do, for now, all we can hope is that the operation has gone well”, Dr. Kirk told the father.
“WHAT? You’ve been in there for hours, operating my child and you tell me that we can just HOPE?” the father yelled. “You are the doctor! You should be able to save my child!”
“I’m sorry sir, but I’m not God. I can’t tell if your son … or someone is going to live or die”, Dr. Kirk said sadly while looking at the floor. “I – I need to go now”. Then Dr. Kirk went out of the hospital as briskly as he came in.
When the doctor was out of his sight, the father asked a nearby nurse, “Why is he like that? Leaving a patient after an operation?”
The nurse looked at the father and said, “When your child needed an operation, we instantly called him”, the nurse hesitated but then added, “while he was still at the funeral home”.
“Funeral home?”
“Yeah. His son died ... of heart complications. He can’t do anything about it. Too fatal to be operated”.
The man remembered the words of Dr. Kirk, “I’m not God. I can’t tell if your son … or someone is going to live or die”.
“Daddy, don’t save me anymore. I understand. No one knows when you are going to live or die”, the little boy said as Dr. Kirk tried his best to squeeze out the littlest bit of life from his son. “I love you daddy”.
