His eyes were bloodshot as he stalked toward me, step by step.
"Dr. Delgado, we're talking about a human life here. What kind of doctor doesn't keep their phone on twenty-four hours a day?"
"You knew there was an open-chest surgery scheduled last night, and you're the most capable surgeon in the cardiac department."
"Shutting off your phone at a time like this — Thomas, what the hell were you thinking?"
Crack.
My palm connected with his face before he could react.
I looked down at him.
"Chad, have you lost your mind?"
Colleagues from other departments heard the commotion and came rushing over.
I didn't hold back.
"The duty roster made it perfectly clear — the surgeon assigned to last night's operation was you, not me!"
"Yes, I didn't notice my phone had died. But the person who should be held responsible for that surgery is the doctor who signed the duty roster — and that's you, Dr. Armstrong!"
The color drained from Chad's face.
"When someone's life is on the line, who cares about duty rosters? You always keep your phone on. Always. Except last night."
He let out a bitter laugh. "Go ahead and target me all you want, Thomas, but you don't get to gamble with a patient's life."
He delivered every word dripping with righteous indignation.
Some patients who didn't know the full story had already started whispering — speculating that I'd deliberately made myself unreachable, dumping the mess on Chad, the new guy. All so I could sit back and watch him fail.
But before I could open my mouth, a colleague had already had enough.
"Chad Armstrong, shut your mouth! Do you have any idea that Dr. Delgado performed three major surgeries back to back yesterday? He had two bites of bread and a sip of glucose water the entire time!"
"Exactly! You sit around in the office with the AC blasting. You can't even be bothered to do your own rounds — you make us cover for you. You have no idea how hard Dr. Delgado works!"
"He didn't get home until midnight. His phone hadn't been charged all day. He collapsed into bed the second he walked through the door. Is it really so shocking he forgot to plug it in?"
The families of the patients I'd saved the day before chimed in too.
"Besides, Dr. Delgado fulfilled every one of his responsibilities during his shift. Last night wasn't even his shift!"
Realization swept through the crowd of onlookers.
Even the colleagues who'd been in the operating room with Chad couldn't stay silent anymore.
"That's enough, Dr. Armstrong. Last night genuinely wasn't Dr. Delgado's responsibility. If anyone's unlucky here, it's us."
Chad staggered backward and crumpled to the floor.
His lips had gone white.
"What is everyone standing around for?"
The dean's sharp voice cut through the corridor.
Behind her, Nellie followed with a cold expression, striding forward.
I was about to speak.
But Nellie walked right past me without a glance.
She went straight to Chad's side and gently helped him to his feet.
"It's going to be okay. I'll figure something out. You're not going to take the fall for this."
Under the dean's authority, the crowd dispersed quickly.
I was called into the dean's office.
The moment the door clicked shut, every trace of that stern composure vanished from her face.
Panic replaced it.
"Thomas! I know this wasn't your fault, but you have to save this patient!"
"He's Edna Henson's brother. If he actually dies in our hospital, everyone — from the top of the chain all the way down to you — will have nowhere to hide!"
I let out a long breath.
The truth was, the only reason I'd dared let my phone stay dead was because I knew my colleagues were skilled enough to keep the patient alive.
Even if I didn't show up until after I'd slept, the patient could still be saved.
And that meant everything that came next was still on the table for negotiation.
I looked at the dean.
"What happened today — the responsibility doesn't fall on Chad Armstrong alone. It falls on Nellie Sullivan too."
The dean blinked.
I slid a signed document across her desk.
"Chad performing a single-handed thoracotomy? That was personally approved by Nellie."
