The Surgeon's Shadow Chapter 1

My husband, Dr. Adrian Pierce, insisted on bringing his childhood sweetheart—a mere intern—into the OR as an assistant surgeon during a critical heart transplant.

All I did was reprimand her for wearing rhinestone-encrusted acrylic nails in a sterile environment.

Adrian abandoned the patient, chest cavity wide open, and stormed out of the operating room to comfort her.

I begged him to come back and finish the surgery. He snapped at me:

"Bella is upset right now. Can you not start drama with me at a time like this? Pause the surgery. Nothing is more important than Bella's feelings."

The patient was left exposed on the table for forty minutes and died in agony.

Later, we found out the patient was the beloved Mayor of our city.

Adrian and his "little sister" Bella pinned the medical malpractice on me:

"If you hadn't gone crazy in the OR and chased us out, the Mayor wouldn't have bled to death! This is all your fault!"

I couldn't prove my innocence. I was sentenced to life in prison, where I suffered until I died.

Meanwhile, my husband and Bella walked down the aisle.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the day the Mayor was lying on our operating table.

* * *

"Maya, Adrian is the attending surgeon. He said I could keep my nails. What right do you, a lowly resident, have to lecture me?"

Hearing the familiar, arrogant voice, I snapped my eyes open. Standing before me was Bella, looking down her nose at me with a smirk.

I scanned the room. We were mid-heart transplant. Everyone was scrubbed in, covered head to toe in sterile gear.

Everyone except Bella. Not only were her long acrylics studded with rhinestones, but she wasn't even wearing a mask.

That’s when I knew. I had been reborn. I was back to the day the Mayor died in our hospital.

In my past life, Adrian insisted on having Bella assist. She was clumsy, handed him the wrong scalpels, broke sterile field protocol repeatedly, and almost dropped a rhinestone into the patient's open chest.

I scolded her about the nails.

She took it as a personal attack and stormed off.

Adrian abandoned the patient to chase after her.

"Bella is upset right now. Can you not start drama with me at a time like this? Pause the surgery. Nothing is more important than Bella's feelings."

The patient died.

They blamed me.

"If you hadn't gone crazy in the OR and chased us out, the Mayor wouldn't have bled to death! This is all your fault!"

I died in prison. They got married and became the youngest Chief of Surgery and Vice Chief in the hospital's history.

I snapped back to reality just as Adrian frowned and scolded me.

"Maya, this is an operating table, not a place for your jealousy. I approved her nails. Apologize to Bella."

Looking at Bella's triumphant face, I swallowed my rage.

"Why should I? Hospital policy forbids artificial nails in the OR. I did nothing wrong."

Seeing I wouldn't budge, Bella's face darkened.

"Maya, admit it, you're just targeting me. Fine, I'll leave."

She tossed a scalpel onto the tray carelessly. It bounced and nearly sliced the patient's aorta.

Panic and anger surged through me. I grabbed the scalpel just as Adrian moved to chase Bella.

I lowered my voice, urgent and cold. "Adrian, the patient's chest is open. We need to proceed with the transplant immediately or he will die."

"You are a doctor. Are you going to watch him die?"

Adrian looked at the door where Bella vanished, then at the patient. He gritted his teeth and picked up the scalpel.

Just as I let out a breath of relief, Adrian's phone rang.

It was Bella.