Chapter 5
Three days later, Maya's surgery wrapped up at Harmony General Hospital.
Paul was the one who operated.
The surgery ended up taking four hours, double what they'd planned.
During the transfer, Maya's spleen rupture got worse.
It jumped from grade three to grade four.
They nearly had to take the whole thing out.
In the end, they managed to save it, but had to cut out part of it. She'd be stuck recovering for at least three months, and there was no way she'd be filming anything anytime soon.
For an A-list actress at the peak of her fame, vanishing from the spotlight for three months was basically letting her rivals snatch up all the good gigs.
Sam was freaking out.
Maya's new movie promos, endorsement deals, variety show slots... Her whole lineup toppled like dominoes.
Sam was convinced it all started with Zoe turning him down.
If Zoe had done the surgery right then, there would be none of this trouble, and Maya's spleen wouldn't have gone from bad to worse.
Sam was pissed off.
But he was a seasoned pro. He knew blowing up in public wouldn't do him any good.
What pushed him to act was a phone call from Maya three days later.
"Hey, Sam." Maya's voice came through the phone, weak but clear. "I want Zoe to suffer."
Sam got the message loud and clear.
He knew Maya inside out.
She might look all sweet and innocent, but beneath that innocent exterior was a mind full of schemes.
She didn't climb to the top of showbiz just by acting. Sure, her skills were solid, but her real talent was the way she played people when the cameras weren't rolling.
"What do you want to do?" Sam asked.
"What do you think?" Maya shot back.
Sam paused for a couple seconds. "The usual?"
"Yeah."
Sam hung up and opened Twitbook.
He tapped out a couple lines, deleted them, then tried again. He tried three more lines, but those went out the window too.
In the end, he didn't post anything himself.
Instead, he reached out to a gossip account called BuzzFeed Drama.
Three hours later, at number seven on Twitbook's trending list, was the hashtag [Maya James Car Accident: Attending Doctor Refuses Surgery].
The article read: "According to insiders, top actress Maya James was recently in a serious car accident and rushed to Everwell Hospital.
[But when she got there, the attending doctor on duty actually refused to operate, saying she had 'other surgeries' to do.
[Sources say the doctor had never met Maya before, but witnesses claim her attitude was clearly personal, maybe even crossing the line of medical ethics.
[Because the doctor refused, Maya had no choice but to risk being transferred to another hospital. That made her condition even worse, and in the end, she lost part of her spleen.]
The article rambled on for 2,000 words, never mentioning Zoe by name, but it dropped enough details that anyone who wanted to dig could figure out who she was in half an hour.
The comments section blew up.
[A doctor refused to help someone? Isn't that basically a crime?]
[Wait, are doctors even allowed to refuse surgery?]
[Doesn't matter if they have the right or not. Leaving someone to die is messed up.]
[What happened to the Hippocratic oath? This kind of doctor should have their license revoked.]
[Chill, let the bullets fly for a bit.]
A handful of rational comments got drowned out by a tidal wave of drama and outrage.
Two hours later, Zoe's name and photo were dug up and plastered all over the internet.
The front desk at Everwell Hospital was getting bombarded with calls.
In the Chief of Medical Affairs, John Baker's office, the ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts. Across from him sat the vice director and a few department heads, each of them looking like they'd swallowed a fly.
"The director wants me to ask you," the vice director said, his voice flat. "What really happened?"
"The truth is, Zoe really did have another surgery that day: Henry Stone's heart bypass," John said, stubbing out his cigarette. "There was a conflict between two surgeries.
"Zoe chose to perform the one that was already scheduled. Afterward, she recommended Ethan to take over, but because of some communication issues, Ethan didn't step in."
Everyone in the room knew exactly what "communication issues" really meant.
The story of Ethan storming off, swearing under his breath, had already made the rounds in the inpatient department.
"So, strictly speaking, Zoe didn't break any rules?" the vice president asked.
"No," John replied. "The surgery scheduling records, patient consent forms, and referral recommendations... All the procedures were by the book. And later, she even performed an emergency paracentesis procedure for Maya."
"But public opinion doesn't buy it," the vice president sighed. "All they see are those six words: [doctor refused to save a life.]"
There was a moment of silence in the office.
"Let Zoe explain the situation first." The vice president got to his feet. "Then the PR department will prepare a statement, but don't release it yet. Let's see how public opinion develops."
When Zoe was called into John's office, she was holding a lollipop.
It was a "thank you gift" from Henry's granddaughter.
She sat down and placed the lollipop on the desk.
"Dr. Winters, you know what's going on, right?" John asked.
"I saw it," Zoe replied. "It's number seven on Twitbook's trending list."
Her tone was so calm that it made John feel uneasy.
"Do you have anything to say?" John asked.
"Yes," Zoe replied.
Zoe pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"I've got the whole thing recorded," she said.
John was taken aback.
She said, "From the moment I got the emergency call until I finished the puncture and left the ER, I recorded everything. Including—"
She swiped her phone screen. "Maya's exact words when she refused Ethan.
"As well as the reason she insisted on having me do the surgery. Her exact words were: Ethan wasn't good enough."
John's expression shifted subtly. "You recorded it ahead of time?"
"Yeah," Zoe replied. "It's standard practice these days. With all the lawsuits flying around, keeping a record is self-defense for doctors."
She said it with complete confidence.
To be honest, it wasn't really a habit.
She only did it because she'd returned to the past.
But saying that out loud would sound weird.
John's expression softened.
"This recording is important," he said. "Keep it under wraps for now. I'll talk to the director and figure out our next move."
Zoe nodded, picked up the lollipop, and stood up.
As she reached the door, she paused for a moment.
"Dr. Baker," she called.
"Yeah?" John replied.
"If the hospital can't handle the pressure and plans to make me the scapegoat—"
Zoe turned back, her expression calm and composed. "Give me a heads-up so I have time to talk to the press."
John's hand froze in midair.
He stared at Zoe, the quiet young doctor who never made waves. Under that gentle smile was a kind of unshakable confidence that sent a chill down his spine.
"I won't let my doctors take the fall," John said.
Zoe nodded and walked out.
In the hallway, Grace was waiting for her.
"Zoe, those people on Twitbook are going crazy. They're spewing nonsense. They have no clue what really happened—" Grace's face was flushed with anger.
Zoe popped the lollipop into her mouth and mumbled, "Calm down."
"How can I calm down? Look at those comments. They're calling you a cold-blooded doctor, saying you refused to save a life. You did the paracentesis, didn't you?"
"Getting worked up won't help." She shifted the lollipop from one side of her mouth to the other. "Let them rant. The more they flame, the better."
Grace looked totally baffled.
Zoe didn't bother explaining.
The harsher their words were, the harder the slap when the truth dropped.
In her previous life, she was a victim.
This time, she was calling the shots.