The General's Replacement Doctor Wife

Chapter Six

“CODE RED. CODE RED. DR. HILTON TO EMERGENCY.”

Olivia's butt barely touched her office chair when the loud voice boomed through the ceiling speakers. "Not now," she whispered, pushing herself up, regret in her blue and green eyes as she eyed her Starluxe coffee.

Today was particularly grueling. This morning, she had spent countless hours assisting Dr. Wilson, the expert neurosurgeon, who performed three separate surgeries, one of which was a complex spinal tumor removal that lasted five hours. Her feet ached in her sensible shoes, and all she wanted was five minutes to sit down and drink the coffee that was now going cold on her desk.

The emergency department was two floors down, and even though the elevator would be faster, she took the stairs. Too many times she'd been stuck in a slow elevator during an emergency.

She practically sprinted through the hallway in an unladylike manner that would make Mrs. Hilton faint in horror if she saw her.

Slightly out of breath, the familiar chaos in the ER greeted her.

"What do we have?" she called out to Nurse Jessy, whose face lit up in an instant at the sight of her.

“Male patient. Estimated to be 20-25 years old. Motorcycle crash. He wasn't wearing a helmet when the accident happened and received a blow to the head.”

“May I see the CT scan results?”

Nurse Jessy handed her the clipboard. Olivia's expression shifted to intense concentration. Her eyes briefly scanned the patient on the bed before shifting them back to the file in her hand. She flipped through the pages and shook her head. The results showed a fractured skull, with a portion of the skull pushed inward.

"Prep OR 1," she commanded, surprising herself with how steady her voice sounded, considering this would be her first solo operation. Sure, the head neurosurgeon would be there, but she would be leading.

Her hands started to shake a little, but she stilled them. This young man's life depended on her now.

“I’ll get the team ready,” Nurse Jessy rushed to the door.

Less than ten minutes later, Olivia had scrubbed in. She was standing at the operating table. Dr. Wilson, the expert neurosurgeon, was behind her, ensuring the operation flowed smoothly.

“Stay focused. Remember, you're in control.” She repeated Dr. Wilson's words in her head like a mantra.

Olivia took a deep breath.

She could hear everything—the sounds of the operating room, the beeping of monitors, and even her own heartbeat. She was hyper-aware of every detail.

She was ready.

“Let’s begin.”

“Scalpel.”

The scrub nurse handed the instrument to her outstretched hand. This was it—the moment she had trained for.

Olivia made the initial incision. She took a good look at the damaged area, and before she knew it, her hands moved like they had minds of their own. She forgot everything in the world; all that mattered to her was saving the patient.

—

Olivia felt as if a massive thorn had been removed from her chest when she heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

The surgery was done. She had managed to save the man's life. Her shoulders sagged with relief as she stepped back from the operating table, letting the nurses begin their post-operation procedures.