In my last life, the influencer Mona Larson woke up from surgery and went straight to a livestream.
She cried into the camera and said my husband had assaulted her while she was under anesthesia.
Half an hour later, the hospital's official social-media account was buried under attacks.
Lowell Delgado's photo was plastered all over our neighborhood.
His mother went out to buy groceries and got a face full of rotten vegetables.
Our daughter was cornered at school, kids demanding:
"Is your dad a bad guy?"
The hospital director made him apologize and suspended him.
Mona built her platform on his ruin and gained three million followers overnight.
After that, Lowell never set foot in an operating room again. He walked to the roof and stepped off.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Mona signed her surgical consent form.
She pulled down her mask, eyes rimmed red.
"Ms. Simmons, last time I had anesthesia, I woke up terrified."
"Could Dr. Delgado do it himself?"
The director looked at my husband.
"Lowell, do her this favor."
Mona lowered her head to sign, then let the pen rest against the paper.
She suddenly asked me:
"If a woman says she was assaulted while under anesthesia."
"Who does your hospital believe?"
...
Mona finished signing but didn't hand the pen back right away.
She looked at Lowell, and her eyes went red around the rims.
"Dr. Delgado, I'm really scared of anesthesia."
"I had surgery once before, and I had nightmares for weeks after I woke up."
The director softened his voice at once.
"Don't worry, Miss Larson. Lowell is the steadiest anesthesiologist we have."
Mona nodded, as if relieved.
Her phone was still livestreaming.
The camera wasn't pointed at us, but it caught half of Lowell's face in frame.
The comments scrolled by fast.
*This doctor is so handsome.*
*Don't be scared, Mona. With a doctor that good-looking beside me, I'd ask for him too.*
*Is the doctor married?*
I pressed her phone down a little.
"No livestreaming in the surgical area."
Mona blinked, then smiled.
"Ms. Simmons, I'm just letting my followers know I'm okay."
"They're all worried about me."
I flipped the pre-op form to the last page.
"Let's confirm. A nurse is present during surgery. Afterward you go to the observation room. Family can't enter the operating room, and no doctor stays alone with a patient."
Her fingertip went still.
"That's a lot of hassle, isn't it?"
"That's the procedure."
The director glanced at me and smoothed it over with a smile.
"Director Simmons handles quality control. She's always strict."
Mona smiled too.
"Strict is good."
"I like professionals. It puts me at ease."
But as she said it, her eyes stayed fixed on Lowell.
Lowell didn't look at her. He kept his head down, checking the anesthesia record.
It had been the same last time.
From the moment she walked in, she cast herself as the frightened, fragile woman who needed looking after.
She livestreamed, showed half her face, and cried that she trusted our hospital.
Back then I actually felt sorry for her. I even poured her a cup of warm water.
Later that cup showed up in her video.
She said:
"Before the surgery, they treated me so well."
"That's why I never imagined something like that could happen."
That one line pushed Lowell onto the trending list.
Looking at her now, all I felt was a cold weight in my stomach.
Mona finished signing, then suddenly pressed a hand to her chest.
"Ms. Simmons, could I have a private word with Dr. Delgado?"
"Just two words."
Before I could speak, the director was already frowning.
"Evelyn Simmons, Miss Larson is upset. Let Lowell calm her down, it's fine."
"No."
The room went quiet.
Mona's eyes welled up instantly.
"I'm only scared."
"Ms. Simmons, have you gotten the wrong idea about me?"
The young nurse beside us looked awkward and kept her head down, not daring to speak.
The director's face darkened too.
"Director Simmons, don't make things this tense."
I tucked the form back into the folder.
"He can reassure her."
"With a nurse present and the door open."
A flash of impatience crossed Mona's eyes.
Then she quickly lowered her head again.
"Never mind, then."
"Maybe I shouldn't be causing everyone trouble."
In the livestream, people were already cursing me.
*This female director is so cold.*
*The patient's scared out of her mind and she's still glaring at her.*
*Probably the doctor's wife. Total jealous-wife energy.*
The director saw the comments too.
He pulled Lowell aside and lowered his voice.
"Keep a close eye on Miss Larson later."
"She has a lot of followers. Don't let anything go wrong."
Lowell looked at me.
I said:
"Follow the procedure."
"Understood."
As Mona lay down on the gurney, she suddenly grabbed Lowell's sleeve.
"Dr. Delgado, when I wake up, will you be there?"
The young nurse tried to pry her hand away.
Mona only gripped tighter.
Her tears spilled over, as if she really were terrified.
A few interns nearby turned to look.
Someone murmured:
"She's kind of pitiful, too."
I walked over and pulled her hand off Lowell's sleeve myself.
"When you wake up, the recovery room nurse will be there."
"Dr. Delgado has another surgery."
Mona looked at me, tears clinging to her lashes.
"Ms. Simmons, you really are afraid of me getting close to him."
I didn't explain.
Last time I explained too many times.
No one listened.
They only listened to Mona cry.
Before she went into the surgical area, she handed her phone to her partner, Merlin Donaldson.
Merlin stood at the door and gave me a smile.
"Director Simmons, no need to be so tense."
"Our Mona's just timid."
I looked at the phone in his hand.
The livestream was off, but the recording light still glowed red.
Merlin followed my gaze, pressed his finger down, and the screen went black.
His smile stayed perfectly polite.
"Force of habit."
The doors to the surgical area closed.
Lowell put on his mask and glanced at me.
I nodded to him.
This time, I wouldn't leave him standing alone in the line of fire.
At the far end of the hallway, Merlin leaned against the wall and spoke into a voice message.
I caught half of it.
"No rush for now."
"Wait until she wakes up, then cry."
