Time check, half past five in the afternoon. J takes note as she looks at the wall clock on the tiled wall.
She has been standing beside the OR table for almost five hours now. No water, no food, no bathroom break. Every now and then she's lifting her foot one after another to prevent her from having leg cramps.
Inside the cold OR Theatre where she can only hear the continuous beeping coming from the anesthesia machine and once in a while the sound of the suction machine, everyone is feeling tensed and exhausted.
She is the Scrub Nurse of Dr. Carlos Gonzales, one of the best Cardiothoracic Surgeons in the country. She works closely with Dr. Gonzales and other surgical staff during surgeries. That is her role to fulfill during surgery. And she is considered the best in that role.
Every time Dr. Gonzales is having surgery at Camila Lopez Parker Hospital, he always requests for J to be his assistant. She is considered one of the most outstanding nurses in this hospital and most trusted by the surgeons. Dr. Gonzales and his wife are so fascinated with her that they even wanted her for their son and be their daughter-in-law.
Finally, by the time the clock strikes six, the surgery ended. It was a successful surgery and everyone in the OR Theatre sighed in relief.
"Congratulations Dr. Gonzales for a successful surgery," J said to Dr. Gonzales, smiling behind her face mask.
"Thanks to you Nurse J," he replied as he took off his surgical gloves.
He then turns around to address the surgical team. "Thank you, everyone, for your hard work." He said then he exited the OR Theatre followed by everyone after the patient was transferred to the recovery room.
It was a long and tiring day for J. Her duty usually starts at seven in the morning and ends at three in the afternoon, however since the surgery started at one later that afternoon and takes up to five hours, she has to work overtime. She had no choice. But she loves her job. This is her passion.
Upon exiting the hospital, she heard someone call her name.
"Nurse J!" When she turned around she saw Diana running towards her carrying a couple of patients' charts.
"Did you just get off your shift?" she asked in between catching her breath.
"Yeah," she responded half irritated since she wanted to go home as soon as possible and lay down on her bed.
"I heard that you and Dr. Gonzales had another successful CABG. You two are a really great tandem!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
As one of the best Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Dr. Gonzales often performs Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to his patients who have severe coronary heart disease. And during those surgeries, J is the one to assist him. Their tandem has been known in the entire hospital.
J just smiled and said her goodbyes.
Diana is her best friend. She is one of the few people who can tolerate and ignore her coldness and aloofness. J is an introvert and comfortable being alone. She will never approach you unless you do and never befriend you if she doesn't want to. She is confident and knows who she wanted to spend time with.
Upon exiting the hospital, she walked to her apartment which is just a hundred meters away from the hospital with her earphones on her ears.
Ah...it feels good to be home. She thought to herself upon entering her home.
Her apartment is a fifty sqm floor area unit on the fifth floor or Jade's Apartment. She just takes a quick warm shower, drinks a glass of milk then laid down on her bed.
Due to her tiredness, she falls asleep in just a couple of seconds.
….
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now arriving at Lotus City International Airport. Local time is 21:00...
Jacob Parker was awakened by the flight attendants' announcement. He stretched out his legs and neck that had become stiff from sleeping almost the entire flight that took him eight hours.
He looked around seeing everyone getting ready with their baggage then he noticed a girl looking in his direction. She is a beautiful girl with the looks of a supermodel. She smiled at him and by the way, she smiles, it was obvious that she was flirting with him. He had seen those kinds of smiles and became familiar with them. He doesn't have the heart to disappoint her so he smiled back at her making her blush.
Yes, he's a playboy. With his looks, tall, dark and handsome every girl would swoon at the mere glance at him.
Every girl would want to be his girlfriend, some even wanted to be his wife. Unfortunately, that's not possible.
He hates commitment, he never had any serious relationships and never plans to get married. He carefully chooses the girls he wants to spend his time with but they don't usually last a week. And barely a few of them he takes to bed.
At the arrival, he frowned when he noticed a familiar figure holding a placard with the name Dr. Jacob Parker written on it. He shook his head while approaching him.
"James, do you really need that?" He asked while pointing at the placard in a displeased tone. As much as he was delighted to see his old friend, the fact that he was sent by his parents annoyed him.
"Dr. Jacob, without this there is a possibility that you may not notice me or purposely ignore me," James said smiling at him.
Jacob, who had a look of annoyance on his face, suddenly laughed at his friend's remark. "Do you think I would do that?" He asked, making James raise a brow at him and indifferently replied with 'Yeah'.
James is probably the closest among his line of friends. . They grew up together so it's no wonder he knew Jacob more than anybody else. James' father used to be the Executive Assistant of Jacob's father. Now he's Jacobs Executive Assistant.
"It's been a while. If it wasn't for Madam's instruction to pick you up and bring you to the mansion, I would never have known that you are coming back." James said he is now smiling at him. They were already walking towards the parking lot where James's car is.
Jacob has been overseas working in one of the top hospitals in the world for five years as a General Surgeon.
Five years ago, he decided to work overseas to gain experience. Now he's one of the top surgeons in that hospital.
His parents didn't stop him. They believe that his experience overseas will make him more capable once he takes over the position as the CEO and President of the CLP Group of Hospitals that his grandfather founded over five decades years ago.
Jacob rolled his eyes internally, "Can't I have a peaceful homecoming?" He murmured to himself but it was still loud enough for James to hear.
Jacob was disappointed that he was not going to his own home yet. He had hoped to rest for a while in his own villa before he meets with his parents. Unfortunately, it seems that that won't happen as his parents made sure that he will go straight to his parent's mansion as soon as he landed by sending James to pick him up.
James laughed, knowing Jacob's mother, she will definitely chastise Jacob about not going home for five years, not having a serious relationship yet, about when he's going to get married, or when he's going to give them a grandchild. And he is sure that that is what his friend is trying to avoid.
At Parker's Mansion, it was just as James predicted. Jacob received his mother's hugs with scolding, nagging, and questions. This is too much for him to handle so he just gave his parents a quick hug and a goodnight kiss.
He eventually went straight ahead to his room and locked the door. 'Finally, a moment of silence.' Jacob thought to himself while undressing before taking a quick shower.
Before going to bed Jacob called James and asked him if he could manage to give him a major surgery the following day.
Lying in his bed, he suddenly felt the excitement building up in the pit of his stomach. Though he was uncertain why he suddenly felt excited, he convinced himself that it was probably because James would make sure that he will get a good case tomorrow.