[Five Hours Ago, Odanera Hospital]
[KIYOMI]
"Kiki!! Everyone is looking for you!" a worried woman in a doctor's uniform shouted as she frantically walked into the chief surgeon's office. She looked like the world had gone to shit and she had just heard about it herself.
It was already afternoon and Odanera City Hospital, just like every other hospital in the city, was busy with patients. It was something usual for them, but then today, there was something else, something that had eyes on her Kiki.
"It's still morning… go away!!" Kiyomi whined as she covered her head with her duvet in the hope that she could mute the woman. She was a doctor on leave and there was no reason for anyone to be looking for her anyway. That was policy.
"You don't understand me!" the doctor who had barged into the office said as she shut the door behind her, like she was running from something. Well, if it was another pandemic, Kiyomi would deal with it later.
There was nothing more important to her than the sleep he had earned after months and months on the job. Surely she could at least have some peace of mind when on her leave, right?
"I swear to the gods if you don't fucking shut up, Elif, you will be the next patient on my table and I'll be removing your brain cells sister. Leave me the fuck alone," Kiyomi whined as she tossed and turned on the inflatable mattress she always lay on.
Unlike all the other days when doctor Kiyomi Kimura was busy with neurosurgery, today she was taking a break, leave and she was expecting that her best friend could at least let her enjoy her leave.
It had taken a lot of time for Kiyomi to get this leave and now that she finally got it, she wasn't about to sacrifice it. Especially since today was just the second day of her one-week leave.
She was determined to spend the rest of her seven-day leave taking care of herself and grooming herself well so she wouldn't look so haggard when she walked into the operating room next time. She didn't want her patients to go into shock because of her.
"You're in trouble, Kiki. The hospital, the police, everyone is looking for you! Where the hell are you?" Elif asked frantically as she drew the curtains of the doctor's door, after checking that she had locked it for the tenth time in the past minute alone.
She knew this office was the first place to be searched; honestly, she hoped there was a way out of whatever hell had just struck them today. It was all so unexpected and fast, but what else could they do?
"Oh, great they finally knew my worth and are giving me a raise? Oh, you sweet thing. I'll finally buy you that rover you've been staring at in the showrooms. Just give me a month," Kiyomi said as she snuggled under her duvet.
She still needed to sleep and besides, she wasn't surprised that her best friend was in her office like this. Her best friend was a dramatic ass who always over-exaggerated everything, but then she made Kiyomi's life better, so she loved her nonetheless.
"You are not listening to me, Kiki. Someone killed a mob boss in the operating room and they mentioned your name as the operating surgeon," Elif said, her voice so serious and frustrated that all the sleep disappeared from Kiyomi's eyes, making the good doctor sit up.
Surely she didn't hear Elif right, yeah? Kiyomi Kimura had not stepped into the OR for two days now, and all her patients were reassigned, so it was absurd that she would be forced to take the fall for an absurdity like that.
"Hold on. A surgery I did? All my patients are in the general ward now. What do you mean?" Kiyomi asked, struggling to get in touch with her reality, because she had been careful with everything she did in Odanera.
Her career in Odanera had been spotless and clean. She had dotted every i and crossed every t just because mistakes were things she couldn't afford, not when she was here, and certainly not like this.
Mistakes meant Kiyomi was putting lives on the line, but more than anything, mistakes meant her name would bring back the ghosts of the old that she was running away from and had tried to outlive.
Oh, Kiyomi couldn't afford mistakes and yet here she was, hearing that something had happened, something that had caused a storm and somehow, she had found herself in the middle of the madness. There had to be some misunderstanding, right?
"Watch this," Elif sighed as she grabbed the remote off Kyomi's desk and turned the TV in her office on for her.
At first, Kiyomi wasn't sure what to expect, but when she saw the headlines and the fact that there were familiar faces, all the blood drained from her face. There was a medical malpractice in Odanera, someone had died, and Kiyomi Kimura was named.
"Dr. Kiyomi Kimura kills Vladimir Ivankov, the Russian mob boss in what seemed to be a retaliatory surgery."
"Odanera Hospital confirms the death of Vladimir Ivankov in a press conference."
"Killer doctor, Kiyomi Kimura, blamed for the increasing unrest in the city following the press conference by Odanera Hospital."
"Southern Odanera currently thrown into chaos because of Vladimir Ivankov's murder at Odanera by Dr. Kiyomi Kimura."
"No… No," Kiyomi mumbled defeatedly as she hoped that this was just another prank her friend was pulling on her, but it didn't look like it. This was on the mainstream national channel. Something that the entirety of the city could watch and the nation too.
Determined to prove that this was a prank even though she was sure it wasn't, Kiyomi grabbed the remote from her best friend and increased the volume. She needs to hear it all and well. She needed to know it wasn't her, but then she had been named already.
It was all over and the presser was repeating itself over and over. They were scrutinizing her, blaming her, questioning how she really was and what notice she had to kill the Russian mob boss in a city that was ruled by the mafia.
"We have considered all the factors that will affect the hospital and the country following the death of one Mr. Vladmir Ivankov, who died on the operating table due to neglect by the operating surgeon, by doctor Kiyomi Kimura.
"It is unfortunate that we have to name the surgeon like this, but we cannot afford to lose the hospital and subject the patients to the rough treatment following the mistakes of one neurosurgeon.
"The hospital will cooperate with the investigation with the Russian mob and the Odanera City police. Our doctor will also cooperate, so I hope we can maintain a healthy working environment and a hospital that cares for its people.
"We apologize sincerely for the loss of Mr. Ivankov. My condolences to the parties affected and we hope the police can give justice to Mr. Ivankov," Dr. Zeydan, the hospital chief said in the press conference before the questions began swirling around.
As she watched the mess unfold, Kiyomi wasn't sure she had heard the hospital chief well. There was just no way that they were pinning a failed surgery on her when she had not even been there the whole time.
Was her sleep a joke to them and even worse, her life?
"It… It doesn't make any sense. Zeydan knows I'm on leave. She was the first person I told. And the Russian mob boss Ivankov? I warned them that the surgery was risky, and that it couldn't ever happen.
"I wanted them to risk the fatality and told them not to consider doing it anywhere. The man was dying already and had five months to live without that operation. With the operation, he would have zero.
"What the fuck happened out there?" Kiyomi wondered, her eyes still fixed on the TV.
This was the worst thing she could have heard of but the more she watched and listened, the more she was sure this was her hell. The hospital was cruel for this. They had done her dirty and she wasn't ever going to be able to get out of this freely.
"I'm a dead woman," Kiyomi muttered as she plopped on the couch in her office.