Chapter 1

Lauren Berger, always eager to show how helpful she was, kicked open the operating room door when the film crew arrived at the hospital, all so the shoot would look super authentic.

"Come on in and film right here! Nothing's more real than the actual scene," Lauren insisted.

I was in the middle of surgery when she barged in, and I flinched. My hand slipped, the operation failed, and the patient started bleeding out. He died right there on the table.

Afterward, Lauren dove into Leon's arms and started bawling.

"Come on, I was just trying to help... It's not my fault, right?" she sniffled.

I got blamed for the medical accident, but all my colleagues did was crowd around Lauren, comforting her.

"You meant well," one of them said.

"She just messed up the surgery herself, it's not on you," another chimed in.

I was absolutely furious.

"This is a hospital, not a movie set! Why the hell would you kick the door open while I'm performing surgery? What were you even trying to do?" I snapped.

Lauren was so ashamed she couldn't even face anyone, crying her eyes out and saying she'd rather die to make up for it.

Leon, to cover for her, wiped the footage of her busting in. When the press came calling, he told them I was the one who botched the surgery.

I got fired from the hospital, everyone in the medical world shunned me, and the patient's family hunted me down. I ended up dead because of it.

After I traveled through time, I found myself right back on the day Lauren kicked open the operating room door.

"Can you quiet down? Stop crying like someone's died already," Lauren said, sounding annoyed.

"You're messing up the shoot for the film crew!" she complained.

Just like in my previous life, Lauren kicked open the operating room door with a bang.

Luckily, this time I was ready. I held my scalpel steady, swiftly and cleanly cut out the cancer, making sure to avoid the big arteries.

I took charge and kept the operation running smoothly, directing everyone without missing a beat.

Cut, stopped the bleeding, stitched up, and handled the cleanup. Every step was under control.

My scrubs were drenched in blood, like I'd just crawled out of a sea of it, but I kept my cool, totally unfazed.

Everyone looked at me in utter disbelief, their eyes wide with shock.

When the door slammed open, one of the nurses was so freaked out that she dropped her clamp. Nobody could believe that I, the lead surgeon, didn't even flinch. My hands stayed rock steady the whole time.

After the surgery, I hadn't even had a chance to change out of my blood-soaked scrubs.

Lauren stormed over, ready to chew me out.

"Bethany, you're in the frame, all bloody! Great, now the whole scene's trashed!" she snapped.

"They're paying 15 thousand dollars a day for all this equipment. Could you, for once, think about someone else?" she added.

Didn't bother to answer her. Once the surgery was over, I gave Lauren a hard slap across the face.

I said, "If you've got issues, go get yourself checked in the psych ward upstairs! Don't go nuts in the operating room!"

Lauren's eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched her face, looking so vulnerable.

"Bethany, why would you hit me?" she sobbed.

Her sobbing got everyone around looking her way.

Seeing people come over, Lauren cried even harder.

"I just wanted to make things easier for the crew. They're working so hard," she sobbed.

I frowned and gave her another hard slap on the other cheek.

Lauren's cheek puffed up instantly, and she was so shocked she couldn't even cry anymore.

I pointed at her, shouting furiously,

"You're a doctor, but instead of stopping random people from messing around, you're the one leading the charge, kicking the door in, and storming into the operating room! Are you stupid, or just plain malicious?!"

Lauren covered her face, sobbing.

"I just wanted to help..." she whimpered.

"If you think I did something wrong, Bethany, I'll say sorry, okay?" she sniffled.

I sneered, "You should be apologizing to the patient you nearly killed!"

I couldn't stand how she always plays the victim after causing a mess.

But some people just eat it up.

Leon Wright chimed in, "Come on, the patient's fine. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

Leon, my fellow intern, stepped up to defend her.

"Leon, are you gonna take the heat for her? If the patient had died, would you be the one doing time in jail for her?" I shot back.

I cut him off, glaring at him. "Stay out of this."

"How about me? Do I get a turn to speak?" Chad, the most senior male doctor in our department and my senior colleague, cut in.

Chad Craig, the most senior male doctor in our department and my senior colleague, chimed in.

I wasn't about to play nice with anyone.

"You shut up too!" I snapped.

"You..." Chad stammered, but I cut him off.

My face darkened.

"This is a hospital! Patient safety is always the top priority here!" I snapped.

"Instead of holding her responsible for kicking in the door and storming into the OR, you're all just pretending nothing's wrong. Why are you all covering for her?" I shot back.

"If I'd flinched for even a second during that surgery because of her, you wouldn't even be here arguing with me now, would you?" I snapped.

"Lauren is my intern, and when it comes to her evaluation, I've got just one thing to say. She's not fit to be a doctor!" I declared.

"I'll be filing an honest report and recommending the hospital discipline her," I added.

Right then, my scrubs were drenched in blood, and my expression was icy and grim, like something out of a nightmare.

My colleagues were frozen in fear, not one of them dared to say a word.

I confronted Lauren, standing right in front of her.

"You insulted the patient's family, kicked in the OR door, and the patient almost died because of you!" I shouted.