Not Your Doormat Anymore

Nora lowered her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "These patients... they've all requested a different lead surgeon."

"What? Why?" I frowned. "My surgical suspension ends this weekend. I was planning to resume next Monday and operate straight for two weeks. I'm more than ready."

I could not wrap my head around it. I checked on these patients every day. Sure, I had not done my rounds yet today, but just yesterday, they were telling me how much they were looking forward to their surgeries.

So, what changed, and why all of them, all at once?

"Who's the new surgeon?" Noticing how uneasy Nora looked, I took a deep breath and tried to keep my tone calm.

"It's... Dr. Huxley," Nora said.

Samuel. Of course. Now it made sense why the patients had suddenly changed their minds. He must have done something behind the scenes.

"Get things ready-I'm doing my rounds now."

They were still my patients. Samuel had not worked with them closely, so there was no guarantee that things would not go wrong in the operating room. I had to speak to them myself before I could feel at ease.

When I walked up to the bed of one of the patients, the look in their eyes had completely changed-no longer respectful, but filled with disgust.

"Didn't we already request a different doctor? Why is he still here? Where's Dr. Huxley?"

I frowned. "I was assigned as your attending physician when you were admitted. Why the sudden change?"

The patient's family member shot me a glare. "It's our right to choose our doctors. Even if you're the attending physician, you can't force us to stick with you."

Her tone was harsh, completely different from how she had spoken before.

Nora gently tugged at my sleeve and quickly intervened with a polite smile. "You're absolutely right that it's your choice. It's just that Dr. Huxley already has his own patients, and he can't take on too many new patients at once.

"So, we've spoken to the hospital. Dr. Randord will be your attending physician, but Dr. Huxley will be your lead surgeon."

"Absolutely not!" the patient's family snapped. "We don't want a doctor with questionable ethics treating us! Get us someone else!"

The family member became increasingly agitated and even reached out to shove me. I retreated and avoided contact. The situation escalated too quickly, so I tried to calm things down.

"You must be mistaken," Nora said. "I won't speak for others, but in terms of ethics and responsibility, Dr. Ranford is one of the best. He once went a whole week without rest just to complete surgeries on time.

"He cares deeply about every patient, and there are so many thank-you banners from the grateful families—"

"You're just on his side, aren't you?" the family member shouted, eyes full of anger. "Get out, both of you! We only want Dr. Huxley-no one else!"

The tension in the room was unbearable. With how things had gone down earlier, Nora didn't dare say more. She could only follow me out of the room in silence.

"Dr. Ranford, maybe it's better if you just head back for now. I'll call Dr. Huxley over," Nora said with a bitter smile.

I pressed my lips. "I'll check on the other patients..."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, stopping me. "If the patients file a complaint, I'll get penalized too. Please, Dr. Ranford-just go back and rest, okay?"

Seeing the pleading look on her face, I clenched my fists but didn't say a word. I turned around and headed back to my office.noveldrama

Over half an hour later, Nora finally returned-this time with a big smile on her face.