Stealing My Surgery? Enjoy the Malpractice Suit!

Tags: Hidden Surgery Schedule, Stealing the Lead Surgeon Spot, Scheming Golden Boy, Instant Karma
When the hospital director's mother was admitted in critical condition, my wife intentionally hid the surgery schedule from me just so her golden boy could steal the spotlight.
When I finally rushed over, the director barred me from the OR, screaming that I had no medical ethics.
Seeing right through my wife's petty scheme, I handed the lead surgeon badge to her darling boy without hesitation.
"Since you're so eager to shine, make sure you put on a good show."
The nurses whispered, begging me not to act on impulse, reminding me that this was the golden ticket to impress the top brass.
None of them knew that in the entire country, I was the only cardiothoracic specialist capable of performing this rare valve repair.
Even if that rookie pumped the patient full of emergency stimulants to create a fake rebound, without my diagnosis and surgical technique, the procedure was doomed to fail. A catastrophic malpractice suit was waiting for him.
And my wife's blind loyalty would soon cost her everything.
The hospital director's mother needed emergency open-heart surgery.
Yet thirty minutes before the scheduled time, my wife, Chloe, who was also my surgical assistant, called me. She claimed there was an error in the patient's chart and that the director needed me in his office immediately to discuss sudden complications.
I waited in his office for nearly an hour, but she never showed up.
Growing uneasy, I hurried toward the OR to check on the situation, only to find Director Vance pacing outside, his face dark with fury.
The second he saw me, he stormed over and grabbed me by the collar.
"I trusted you with my mother's life! And this is how you repay me? You're the lead surgeon, yet you show up an hour late like it's nothing! Where the hell is your medical ethics?"
I froze in shock. Just then, the OR doors slid open, and Chloe stepped out.
Our eyes met. Instead of guilt, she put on a look of sheer disbelief and turned on me, her tone dripping with accusation.
"Ethan, where on earth have you been?"
"The scheduled time came, and nobody could find you! We were worried sick! How could you just forget a surgery this critical?"
I stared at her, dumbfounded.
What did she just say? Forget?
Wasn't she the one who sent me to the director's office in the first place?
I opened my mouth to explain, but Chloe cut me off sharply.
"You're careless at home, fine! But mixing up surgery times when nobody's holding your hand? How can you even call yourself a surgeon?"
"Thank God Austin was on standby. He stepped in and took over for you. This procedure couldn't afford a single second of delay, let alone whatever careless mistake you would've made."
I stood there, feeling the cold reality sink in.
All that running around... this was her endgame all along.
Everyone in the hospital knew the patient's identity. Everyone knew saving the director's mother was a one-way ticket to a promotion.
Every surgeon and resident had been fighting tooth and nail for the spot.
Yet Director Vance had personally handpicked me.
I still remembered the day the surgical team was announced. Chloe had sneered at me in disgust.
"Aren't you being selfish? Can't you leave a few opportunities for the new guys?"
"You always claim you don't care about climbing the ladder, yet you grab every chance you get. You're such a hypocrite."
Back then, I didn't realize who she meant by 'the new guy.'
Now, the truth was staring me right in the face.
Chloe had deliberately lied to me about the meeting and made me miss the operation, all so Austin could take my credit and play the hero.
Just then, the double doors swung open, and Austin walked out, pulling off his surgical mask.
Director Vance shot me a venomous glare before rushing over to him. "How is she?"
"The surgery was a complete success, Director. Your mother is out of danger," Austin said with a modest smile. "We'll transfer her to the general ward for a week of observation. If all goes well, she'll be discharged soon."
After giving his update, Austin walked up to me, eyes brimming with false pity.
"Dr. Miller, were you held up by something personal? Still, with a high-stakes case like this, you really shouldn't have been so reckless."
I stared at his smug face in icy silence.
Why hadn't I made it on time? Did he really think I didn't know?
Austin turned back to Director Vance, looking appropriately bashful.
"I only stepped in because it was an emergency and I didn't want the patient to wait. I violated protocol by leading the surgery as a mere resident. Normally, someone with my credentials wouldn't even be allowed in the room."
Chloe stepped beside him, completely disregarding my presence as she gently stroked his arm.
"You did the right thing, Austin. When a life is on the line, ranks don't matter. A dedicated doctor is what makes a true healer."

Watching the two of them put on their little show, I almost laughed out loud.
I was the one who had approved Austin's residency here, intrigued by his overseas medical fellowship.
I had hoped he'd bring fresh surgical insights to our department. Instead, he slacked off constantly—and somehow grew suspiciously close to my wife.
Several times, he had made careless clinical errors that warranted official reprimands, but Chloe had quietly buried the incident reports every single time.
She had even chewed me out for being too rigid.
"Can't you give junior doctors room to make mistakes? Why do you have to be so damn ruthless?"
That was when I started noticing things slipping out of control.
And today, the blinders were completely off.
I nodded calmly. "Since you're so capable, you might as well manage her post-op care. The lead physician title is all yours."
Austin instantly waved his hands in mock panic.
"Oh no, I'm just a resident! Hospital policy doesn't allow me to be the lead attending!"
"Policy can change!" Chloe chimed in without missing a beat, resting a warm hand on Austin's shoulder. "Director Vance saw your success with his own eyes. Your future here is limitless!"
She shot me a dismissive glare, then smiled warmly at Austin. "You are the rising star of this hospital. I have total faith in you."
I unclipped my lead attending badge and shoved it into Austin's chest.
His mouth kept murmuring polite refusals, but his fingers clamped around the badge like a vice, as if terrified I'd snatch it back.
"You just spent hours under intense pressure in the OR. You must be exhausted. Go get some rest," Chloe said softly, nudging him forward and leaving me behind without a second glance.
Watching them walk away shoulder to shoulder, a strange numbness washed over me.
After a few steps, Austin glanced back at me over his shoulder.
His eyes were dripping with pure mockery.
I caught it, but I didn't react.
A momentary success in the OR meant absolutely nothing.
I had studied that patient's scans thoroughly. She had severe, atypical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combined with delicate mitral valve degradation.
While valve issues were common in elderly patients, her specific condition triggered a cascade of rare vascular complications.
It was one of the trickiest heart anomalies known in modern medicine.
In its early stages, it mirrored common cardiovascular distress. An inexperienced doctor would easily misdiagnose it.
Very few specialists nationwide had done extensive research on this exact variant, but my doctoral thesis had focused on it entirely.
I was the only surgeon in this hospital—if not the country—who could successfully reconstruct that valve and prevent immediate relapse.
What Austin achieved in the OR was nothing more than a superficial patch.
The moment the secondary complications kicked in, the patient would crash.
He wanted so desperately to be the hero in front of the director, completely blind to the fact that playing fast and loose with a patient's life came with a deadly price.
After seeing Austin off, Chloe walked back over to me.
Her warm, tender expression instantly vanished, replaced by open disgust.
"I told you from the start that you couldn't handle it, but you insisted on showing off."
"Now that you've embarrassed yourself in front of Director Vance, you can kiss any chance of promotion goodbye."
"Whatever. You're getting old anyway. Just stay in your lane and do your basic rounds."
She was always like this.
Belittling my skills, mocking my ambitions, having no idea that I simply chose not to brag.
Back in the office, Austin was waiting by my desk.
"Dr. Miller, could you hand over all of the patient's prior charts? It'll make it easier for me to manage her targeted post-op regimen."
Several doctors in the lounge peeked over, clearly eavesdropping.
A resident jumping straight to lead attending was unheard of.
And with the director's implicit blessing, no less.
Their looks toward me were filled with pity. To them, I was a finished man who had offended the big boss and ruined his career.
I picked up the thick stack of medical files from my desk.
As Austin reached out with an arrogant smirk, I let go.
The papers scattered violently across the floor.
Austin's smug face instantly froze.

Chloe walked in right at that moment. Seeing the mess, she exploded.
"Ethan! What is wrong with you? Are you seriously pulling workplace harassment now?"
I gave a cold laugh. "Harassment? Hardly."
"I assumed Dr. Austin already mastered the patient's condition. It turns out he didn't even review the full medical charts before slicing her open. What a joke. Did you think this was some high school science project?"
"This is a hospital. Patients come first. Relying on backdoor favors might get you through the door, but it won't keep your license safe."
The entire office fell deathly quiet, followed by hushed murmurs.
Everyone finally realized how Austin had stolen the spot.
Ignoring the sea of whispers, I turned on my heel and walked out.
Chloe chased after me, red-faced and yelling, "You irresponsible jerk! You don't deserve to be a doctor!"
I tuned her out completely, stepping out of the building with a blank face.
Yet deep down, a dull ache throbbed in my chest.
The biggest reason I had chosen medicine in the first place was Chloe.
Her father was an abusive gambler who beat her every time he lost, while her mother suffered from chronic heart disease.
I still remembered the day she declared she wanted to go to med school to save her mom.
So I followed her. I chose medicine, and when it came time to specialize, I chose cardiothoracic surgery without hesitation.
Curing her mother and keeping her safe had been my driving purpose for years.
When Chloe learned of my promise, she had wept in my arms.
She clung to me, whispering that outside of her mother, no one in this world had ever loved her like I did.
She was the one who swore she loved me. She was the one who promised she would marry no one else.
Until Austin showed up.
He publicly criticized my surgical plan for her mother, claiming my procedure was too radical and that conservative medical management was safer.
But Chloe's mother's heart was far too degraded for medication; conservative treatment would only prolong her suffering while draining their life savings.
Her family couldn't afford that kind of financial bleeding.
Besides, Chloe's mother had approached me in private and signed the surgical consent form herself. She wanted to fight for a real chance at life.
Tragically, an unforeseen complication arose during the operation, and she went into arrest on the table. We couldn't bring her back.
Afterward, Austin played the grieving prophet, dumping all the blame onto me.
Drip by drip, he poisoned Chloe's mind until she truly believed I was the one who killed her mother.
That tragedy drove an unbridgeable wedge between us, tearing our marriage apart from the inside out.
Losing her mother broke me. For an entire month, my hands shook so violently I couldn't pick up a scalpel.
It wasn't until months later that I uncovered the truth: Austin had tampered with the saline concentration before the surgery.
Her mother's death was on his hands.
I confronted Chloe with the evidence immediately, but she refused to believe a single word. She accused me of deflecting blame to save my own skin.
Looking back now, maybe she had never trusted me at all.
In her eyes, whatever Austin did was pure and noble, while everything I did was calculated and wrong.
I gave a bitter smile. As I headed to the curb to catch a cab, I spotted a young girl holding a basket of flowers on the sidewalk.
She looked so disheartened that I stopped and walked over.
She told me her grandmother was in the ICU and needed expensive medication.
Young as she was, selling flowers outside the hospital was the only way she could help. But the hurried passersby paid her no mind.
I pulled out my wallet. "How much for all of them? I'll take the whole basket. Go home and be with your grandmother."
The little girl's eyes widened with pure delight. "Really? Thank you so much, mister! You're an angel! Good things will come to you, I promise!"
She handed me the giant bouquet of red roses, clutching the cash as she skipped happily toward the bus stop.
Watching her walk away, I felt a strange pang.
Do good things really happen to good people?
Just as I turned around, I ran into Chloe, Austin, and a few colleagues heading out for dinner.
Austin glanced at the roses in my arms and chuckled smoothly.
"Look at Dr. Miller, so romantic! Buying roses for Chloe to make amends."
He turned to Chloe, putting on his gentle peacemaker act. "Chloe, don't be mad at him anymore. He probably just acted out earlier because he was stressed. It's really fine. Please don't let me ruin your marriage!"
Listening to his sickeningly sweet manipulation, I didn't even bother to clarify.
Chloe scoffed loudly.
"A bunch of cheap flowers? As if I care. He's so spoiled and insecure. Just because you're a resident doesn't mean he can treat you like dirt!"
She shot me a haughty glare and held out her hand.
"What are you standing there for? Come here and apologize to Austin right now, and maybe I'll let this slide."
I didn't say a word.
Ignoring her outstretched hand, I brushed right past her.