I Saved Her Mid-Flight Only To Be Cyberbullied Chapter 1

On a long-haul flight, I used professional emergency medical techniques to save a pregnant woman suffering from anaphylactic shock.

Shortly after, her family filed a formal complaint against me for "excessive physical contact" and "inappropriate touching," claiming I was a pervert taking advantage of the situation.

I was suspended from the hospital pending an investigation.

The pregnant woman even went on Instagram Live, crying to her followers. "Girls, please be careful of the creeps hiding in white coats."

A week later, she collapsed in a luxury shopping mall from another severe allergic reaction.

Her husband tried to guilt-trip me into saving her again.

I took three full steps back.

"You brought this on yourselves again. How much money are you planning to extort from me this time?"

The cabin lights were dimmed at thirty thousand feet, with most of the passengers fast asleep on the international flight.

My name is Lennie, an attending OB/GYN at a prestigious medical center in Seattle. I was on my way to Europe for a perinatal medicine symposium.

Suddenly, a piercing scream erupted from the front rows.

The head flight attendant's voice immediately shattered the silence over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a pregnant passenger experiencing a severe medical emergency. Any medical professionals on board, please come to first class immediately!"

Driven by pure professional instinct, I unbuckled my seatbelt and sprinted toward the front.

In the aisle of the first-class cabin, a woman who looked about seven months pregnant was slumped awkwardly in her wide seat.

Her name was Sophie. Her face was turning a terrifying shade of bluish-purple, and her hands were desperately clawing at her own throat.

A horrific wheezing sound tore from her windpipe like a broken bellows, and her eyes were already rolling back into her head.

She was wearing a cream-colored, tightly knit maternity dress that fell past her knees. Angry red hives were rapidly spreading across her neck and wrists.

"I am an OB/GYN, move out of the way!"

I shoved past a panicked flight attendant.

I pressed my index and middle fingers hard against Sophie's carotid artery while keeping my eyes glued to her chest.

Five seconds.

No pulse.

No breathing.

"Her heart has stopped!"

"The anaphylaxis has progressed to cardiac arrest!"

My voice cut through the chaos, commanding the room.

"Flight attendant! Get the emergency medical kit, a 0.5mg epinephrine auto-injector, the AED, an oxygen tank, and two pairs of trauma shears right now!"

Her husband, Derek, had bleached blond hair and a flashy Rolex on his wrist. Right now, he was curled up in the adjacent seat, shaking like a leaf.

He had his head buried in his knees, lacking even the basic courage to look at his dying wife.

"You, get over here and help!" I pointed right at him.

Derek flinched violently, shaking his head in a panic.

"I cannot do it. I pass out when I see blood. I am scared I will hurt the baby!"

A chill of absolute disgust washed over me. I had no time to waste on this coward.

I turned to the flight attendant standing next to me. "Ma'am, I need an extra pair of hands."

When my eyes fell back on Sophie, I hesitated for a fraction of a second.

As a male doctor specializing in women's health, I knew exactly what it meant to forcefully remove a woman's clothing in a public setting.

One wrong move, and my entire career could be destroyed.

But her gray, lifeless face left absolutely no room for hesitation.

I took the shears and sliced her knit dress all the way down to her pubic bone in one swift motion.

"Did he really have to cut it open that much?" a passenger whispered loudly from behind.

I ignored them entirely. I grabbed the AED pads and shouted my warning.

"Shock advised. The defibrillator is charging. Clear the patient!"

The second the electric current tore through her body, Sophie's chest violently arched off the seat and slammed back down. Almost instantly, her chest began to rise and fall on its own.

A weak, ragged cough escaped her throat.

The terrifying purple hue began to recede from her face.

"She is back! We have a pulse!"

A collective gasp of relief swept through the first-class cabin.

I let out a massive breath. My dress shirt was entirely soaked with cold sweat.

"Get the oxygen mask on her. Maximum flow."

Before I could even finish my sentence, a brutal force slammed into my side.

Caught completely off guard, I was thrown against the armrest of the opposite seat. A blinding pain shot through my shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

"You absolute sicko!"

Derek, the same man who was too terrified to even look at his wife a minute ago, lunged at me like a rabid dog, punching me squarely in the collarbone.

Stars exploded in my vision. Before I could even find my footing, he was pointing a trembling finger in my face, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Look at this guy, everybody!"

"This bastard used saving a life as an excuse to assault my wife!"

"He stripped her half naked in front of a crowd!"

"He felt her up and took advantage of a pregnant woman!"

The entire first-class cabin fell dead silent.

Every single pair of eyes locked onto the half-exposed pregnant woman and me, still kneeling on the floor.

I gripped my throbbing shoulder and forced myself to stand, swallowing the rising fury in my throat.

"Sir, you need to calm down."

"Your wife was in ventricular fibrillation."

"If I had not cut her clothes open to apply the defibrillator pads directly to her skin, she and your unborn child would be dead right now."

"Screw your medical excuses!"

Derek roughly snatched a fleece blanket from a flight attendant and threw it over his wife, who was still gasping weakly for air.

He whipped around and roared at me hysterically.

"You are just a twisted pervert!"

"You saw my wife is gorgeous, you recognized she is a famous influencer, and you wanted to get a feel!"

"Who the hell strips a woman naked for first aid?"

"You are a male doctor. Do you not know anything about boundaries?"

"You did this on purpose!"

As he screamed, he pulled out his phone and shoved the camera lens inches from my face.

"Look at this disgusting creep, guys!"

"A supposed respectable doctor, publicly assaulting a seven-month pregnant woman on a flight!"

The head flight attendant rushed forward to block his phone.

"Sir, please put the camera away."

"The situation was critical. This doctor saved her life, and all the crew members here can testify to that."

"Testify my ass!"

Derek shoved the flight attendant away violently.

His eyes darted around the cabin before he raised his voice, his tone dripping with blatant extortion.

"Let me make this clear."

"My wife is a premium first-class passenger and a public figure!"

"Unless I see a hundred grand in emotional damages for this trauma, I am going to ruin you. I will make sure you never practice medicine again!"

Looking at his greedy, opportunistic face, a freezing wave washed over my heart.

In my ten years of practicing medicine, I had snatched countless lives back from the jaws of death.

But this level of ungrateful, parasitic behavior was a first even for me.

I stared coldly straight into his camera lens and adjusted my wrinkled collar. My voice was eerily calm.

"Since you clearly lack even basic medical knowledge, we will let the authorities explain it to you."

"I am more than happy to cooperate with a police investigation."

Three hours later, the plane touched down smoothly at our destination airport.

The moment the cabin doors opened, the heavy thud of boots echoed down the jet bridge.

Four armed airport police officers marched directly into the first-class cabin.

Seeing the uniforms, Derek instantly plastered on a mask of agonizing grief.

He played the victim beautifully, rushing up to the officers and pointing straight at my face. His voice was loud enough for the entire front half of the plane to hear.

"Officers, this is the sick pervert!"

"He stripped my wife in public and assaulted her while she was unconscious."

"He was so aggressive he almost killed my unborn son in the process!"

The lead officer held up his badge.

"Both parties are coming with us to the precinct for a statement. The flight crew will accompany us as witnesses."

"We will pull the cabin security footage and the medical logs, and this will be handled strictly by the book."