Dr Sofia
Once I heard the knock on my door, a few hours after Anderson left, I guessed it was one of the nurses.
I opened the door to see nurse Angela standing by the door, looking worried.
"Good morning, ma'am." She greeted, with a quivering voice. From the quivering in her voice, I could tell she was afraid but I didn't know why.
"I was attending to the other patients, that is why I arrived at the operating room after Dr Anderson did." She offered, before I could respond to her greeting. Somehow, I knew her lateness to the operating room had everything to do with the fear which now overshadowed her.
"Angela dear, could you stand in for my secretary today, she reported sick." I pleaded, even though I knew she would not object. Being a senior doctor comes with some privileges.
I headed back into the office while she took her seat at the desk, where my secretary usually sat.
I had expected her to put up some resistance, using Stuart's surgery as an excuse, but she did not, she wouldn't want to offend the senior doctor. No one would.
Since I ordered my secretary earlier today to assist Anderson in the theater, even though she was not trained as a nurse which was the whole point. A nurse could grow suspicious after observing the procedures for a while but Sonia, my secretary wouldn't know as she would only follow Anderson's instructions.
Just as I sat down on one of my sofas, my phone beeped, indicating a new message from an unsaved number. I opened the message reluctantly, certain that it was a wrong message.
"My man is at the hospital already, but your man is giving him a tough time."
Without much thought, I sprang up from the sofa and headed towards the door. I saw the surprise on nurse Angela's face as I hurried past her to the operating room.
I met the "man" referred to in the message on his way to my office, probably to report his restricted access to the room. He was a young man, a few years younger than Anderson. His swift looks coupled with his inability to meet my gaze showed just how nervous he felt. Without a single exchange of words, we headed back to the operating room where Anderson and Sonia currently were.
I tapped on the door gently and in no time, the door was opened halfway to allow Anderson stick just his head out.
"I said fuck…" he started to say angrily but trailed off when his eyes caught mine.
"Dr Sofia, you could have called". He said politely, stepping out of the room fully.
"Dr Gilbert from MEDCORP". I said pointing at the young man beside me.
"He will be assisting you with Stuart's surgery." I added, hoping Anderson would understand.
"You mean he is to monitor me on Stuart's surgery." Stuart commented, visibly pissed.
"ASSIST. Anderson. ASSIST." I stressed, eyeing Anderson in irritation, but he didn't flinch. Instead he pushed the door opened and prodded Dr Gilbert into the room. From the fully opened door, I sighted Sonia, sitting at a corner of the ward in utter confusion but I cared less. We needed her to be as clueless as she was right now.
"Dr Sofia…" Anderson started to say but stopped when he noticed my absent mindedness. When I looked up at him he continued.
"The nurse whom I sent to my office may return anytime soon. So I am guessing you would want to do something about that." He stepped into the ward immediately, and shut the door before I could say anything.
After a few minutes during which I contemplated on returning to my office or tapping on the door again, I headed towards Anderson's office in search of nurse Maureen.
After taking about three steps away from the door, I immediately went back to the door and began to knock.
The door pulled open after the fourth knock, to reveal Anderson's eyes which were squinted in anger.
"You can send Sonia away if you want to."
Dr Anderson's POV
"You can send Sonia away if you want to." Dr Sofia said and walked away while I stared long and hard after her, angry that I was to be monitored and she consented to it. Angry that I was being used by her to inflict pain on people.
Even though Sonia was completely clueless if not dumb, sending her away would be disrespectful. She couldn't be blamed for her cluelessness since she never trained as a nurse.
The sound of loud clattering forced me back into the room, Sonia had somehow managed to unsteady the mayo stand, sending every prearranged surgical instrument to the floor with loud clattering.
"Fuck! I cussed underneath my breath.
Is it possible for someone to be clueless as well as clumsy? I thought.
"No, no, don't touch …" I tried to stop her from handling the scalpel as recklessly as she had handled the others but it was too late.
The swiftness with which she dropped the scalpel forced me to stop talking, and when she began nursing the hand she had carried it with, I knew for certain that she had been cut.
First I saw a drop of red liquid on the white-tiled floor. Then two, then more.
Dr Gilbert watched on in surprise, not making any move to comfort the figure squatting low in more embarrassment than in pain. He was probably thinking like me right now. Poor clumsy Sonia.
"Sonia dear." I said, lifting her up gently from her squatting position. I hoped my voice had no trace of the irritation I felt.
"Clean the wound up and …" Realizing that she might not know how to do that I opted to clean it up for her instead.
With the help of Dr Gilbert, I lifted the mayo stand, wondering for the umpteenth time how she had managed to fall it in the first place. I rearranged the instruments properly on the tray after sterilizing them, wondering if my refusal to send Sonia away wasn't a bad idea after all.
I glanced at the wall clock and it was now 11:15 am. Over an hour had ticked by since the "surgery" commenced but nothing had been done to Stuart. All thanks to Sonia who now sits, face red with embarrassment. Only a few minutes ago, she had managed to scream down the building when I applied methylated spirit on her cut. Her scream had been so loud that Dr Gilbert and I had rebuked her at the same time. In humiliation, she had sucked on every other pain she felt.
"Why haven't we started yet?" Dr Gilbert asked. He was running out of patience and I don't fucking care. Although he was following orders just like I am, that didn't stop me from being on the defensive.
He walked towards me, and came to a stop just a few feet beside me.
"Look, Dr Anderson, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here, but I have to because I was ordered to. For the record, I am not here to supervise you but to render assistance to you".
"I know all that already. Ok?" I said, hoping he would go back to his position, but he didn't. Instead he asked again.
"When will the surgery commence?"
"I don't know, but definitely not today." I said, loosening up somewhat. At once, I looked up at Sonia, hoping she hadn't heard what I said but she was deeply asleep. I didn't notice when she climbed on the spare bed in the ward.
"When then?" His parents are waiting outside, what would you tell them?" Dr Gilbert pressed further, confused.
"Did Mr Crawford himself send you here?" I was forced to ask.
"Yes, he did…" was Dr Gilbert's response.
"Did he not tell you what is going on?" I asked again, but he only shook his head in response.
"Then I can't tell you either." I responded, finally understanding the reason for his uneasiness.