"People say that the best moments of your life will come when you do not expect them because unexpected things bring the best surprises. But this was so not one of those! This wasn't a surprise but rather a shock!" ~ Dr. Sang Tian
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A few days passed after her last awkward interaction with Li Si Han in the elevator. These were some of the most normal days that she had experienced in a while. It was as if she was setting back into her normal routine, professionally and personally as well. The only difference was that now she was single again.
In the past few days that have gone by, Sang Tian found herself befriending Gu Nan Zhou. Her earlier reservations about the man seemed to vanish the more she interacted with him. In her eyes, Gu Nan Zhou shared similarities with her dear friend Chen Qiang. The only difference is that Chen Qiang was a man of few words, he only spoke when he deemed it necessary which was not the case with Gu Nan Zhou.
Her new friend was quite verbal and Sang Tian truly enjoyed his company which she had been doing a lot in the past few days. Due to their working hours and the fact that he was still in his first year of residency, as he was an intern, they never actually got to interact much. They knew of each other but they did not know each other until that fateful day.
They were still pretty much busy with their schedules like before but now, whenever they had free time they would meet to chat and discuss their patients, surgeries, academics, and sometimes random stuff.
After Sang Tian had told him that she wouldn't be discussing her relationship with Fang Haoran without his agreement, Gu Nan Zhou never asked about it again. It was quite nice of him.
Things were going good except for a few disturbances now and then, here and there. One of them being Fang Haoran's grandfather himself. He had come to meet her at the hospital unannounced and had taken her by surprise. He too asked the same questions as Gu Nan Zhou and she gave him the same answers.
And the sole cause of the said disturbances was always Li Si Han. That man still has not stopped bothering her. There were times that he had her cornered because he wanted to talk to her, he wanted her to give him a second chance.
It was annoying but so far it has been harmless and Sang Tian had it handled. She had warned him multiple times and the last time that he did it, Sang Tian did not hesitate to slap Li Si Han hard on his cheek.
It's been 3 days since then and Li Si Han had not repeated his action so Sang Tian did not think about it much. Except, Li Si Han was not done yet.
That late evening, Sang Tian had to stay at the hospital for a few more hours after her shift ended. They had encountered an anomaly with the conjoined twins case. The vitals of one of the baby girls had gone out of the normal range and it projected a huge risk to the case.
They had to run some tests again and introduce new medication to stabilize the little girl. Fortunately, the baby girl's vitals stabilized and they were able to overcome the anomaly without delaying the operation.
Sang Tian stayed at the hospital until the child's vitals were in normal range. Relieved, she only began packing up when she was sure that everything was alright. She was alone in the lounge gathering her belongings when Li Si Han approached her again.
Hearing the footsteps Sang Tian turned around to see who it was and found herself staring into Li Si Han's reddened eyes. Ignoring him, Sang Tian quickly put the remaining of her stuff in her bag and moved to walk away but Li Si Han was quick to lock the door and came to stand in her way.
"I want to talk to you." he said in a firm voice.
"And I don't." replied Sang Tian in a polite but firm manner. As she tried to move past him, Li Si Han grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her back to face him.
"Ah!" Sang Tian winced because of the tight grip that Li Si Han had on her arm, "What are you doing?" she asked appalled at Li Si Han's actions.
"I am only asking for a second chance, Sang Tian. Just one last chance. How hard is it to do that?" asked Li Si Han in a loud voice, "I know I made a mistake, a huge mistake! But I am only human and all I wanted was a better life for us that would have been ensured if I had become the head of the department. I would have had a higher salary and all the privileges that come along."
Sang Tian tried to remove her arm from Li Si Han's grasp, "Just because you asked for it and are perhaps guilty about it, it doesn't mean that I have to give you another bloody chance!" twisting and pulling her arm away from his grasp, Sang Tian created some distance between them.
"Whatever your intentions may be, nothing can justify cheating! We weren't the first couple in the world to face such hardships Li Si Han and we won't be the last but they don't go around cheating with other people to have a better life for their partner!" Sang Tian was seething at this point.
"Also, who knows what you will do if some other woman comes in and asks you to have physical relation with her in return for making you the chief of surgery, or maybe get you a seat at the board!" she yelled out loud, angry tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I won't repeat that mistake, Sang Tan. I promise." he tried to cradle her face in his hands but she stepped away.
Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, Sang Tin spoke in a much calmer tone, "You made your choice, Li Si Han. And I have made mine."
She had just unlocked the door when she was yanked back again forcefully, "And that choice is Gu Nan Zhou isn't it?"
Sang Tian was shocked by Li Si Han's behavior and was horrified by the menacing gleam in his eyes. Getting no response from her except the visible shock on her face, Li Si Han grew angrier, "You talk about how you don't care about money, struggles, and everything else but then you go and hook up with that Gu Nan Zhou, the eldest son of the multi-millionaire businessman. Scored yourself quite a catch, hhmm."
Li Si Han pulled her closer, his grip on her arms tightening to the point of bruising, "Leave me!" exclaimed Sang Tian, anger lacing her tone.
"Do you think that I am bling Sang Tian, that I don't see how close the two of you have become." during the entire duration of their relationship, Sang Tian had never seen Li Si Han behave like that.
"Life is very hard to live Sang Tian. We have to be practical about it and make objective choices." he didn't lose his grip on her and continued, "You may not like my choice but you don't seem to be much different than me. Why else would you start showing interest in that rich boy so early after our break-up when you didn't even let me kiss you until 6 months into our relationship."
"How dare you?!" Sang Tian was disgusted at what Li Si Han was implying, "He is just a friend and I am not with him for his money!"
"Do you think of me as a fool?" Li Si Han pinched her chin hard to make her look up at him in the eyes, "Then why is he paying for your food, taking you to fancy places for dinner. I saw you two in that high-end jewelry shop too. Saw him put that expensive bracelet around your wrist and clasp that huge diamond necklace around your neck!"
Sang Tian narrowed her eyes and spat, "You are stalking me?"
She and Gu Nan Zhou were friends, of course, they went to dine together. As for the jewelry shop, Gu Nan Zhou had requested her to help buy a gift for his younger sister. And when they were there, Sang Tian wanted to buy a few pieces for herself as well. Gu Nan Zhou had only helped her put them on. She was the one who paid for the jewelry that she bought.
"It was a coincidence." he remarked.
"What a good coincidence." Sang Tian placed her hands on his chest and put all her strength to push him away, "I don't need anybody to buy me anything. You don't even know who I am."
At one point, after her break-up, Sang Tian regretted not telling Li SI Han about her true identity. She wondered if he would have made the same choice if she had told him that she came from a wealthy family. But seeing him like that she wonders if she ever actually knew his true self.
"I think I have a pretty good idea about that." Li Si Han looked at her as if she disgusted him. "You know what? Good riddance!" and with that he pushed past her and walked out of the lounge leaving behind a horror-struck Sang Tian who could not believe that Li Si Han had such an opinion of her.
Her arms hurt and so did her heart but Sang Tian refrained from crying. She would not cry for a man who thinks so low of her. Sang Tian gave herself a few minutes to gather herself before walking out of the lounge.
Sang Tian spent the night deleting hers and Li Si Han's pictures from her cell phone, burning the photographs, notes, and cards that he had given her. She had already returned to him the pendant necklace that he had gifted her along with the other gifts that he had gifted her during their relationship.
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Three days after that hurtful interaction with Li Si Han, Sang Tian went to the operation theatre with 15 surgeons to surgically separate the conjoined twins. The operation went on for 11 hours and it was late in the night when they successfully separated the two baby girls.
The surgery was tiring and Sang Tian learnt a great deal by observing the senior surgeons create a miracle in that operation theatre. It was breathtaking and overwhelming, an experience that could not be described in words.
The cherry on top was the parents' reaction to finally being able to hold each of their girls separately. It brought tears to everyone's eyes. The surgeons and specialists who operated on the girls were given a day off the next day and Sang Tian had already decided that she was going to spend the whole day sleeping.
But fate had some other plans for her.
At about 3 A.M. Sang Tian finally received a message from Fang Haoran that read:
Can we meet for dinner? Same place, same time?
I am going to ask you for that favor now.
When Sang Tian saw that message her immediate reaction was to frown in confusion wondering what favor Fang Haoran needed from her. The curiosity overcame the surprise that she had finally received a reply from him.
From the moment she received the message till the moment she met up with Fang Haoran for dinner, Sang Tian thought of a variety of theories, of situations he needed her help with, of things he wanted to ask her a favor for. But he didn't ask for any of that and what he did ask for was unexpected.
"Marry me." he said rendering her speechless.