The look in his eyes was filled with worry and desperation.
But I calmly extended my hand, revealing the small scratch on its back, and said coldly, "I'm sorry, my hand is injured. It's not convenient for me to perform surgery."
My refusal, swift and without hesitation, left everyone in stunned silence.
The attending doctor was visibly puzzled. "Director Carson, this is just a minor scratch. The skin isn’t even broken—it won’t impact your ability to operate!" His voice grew more urgent. "The patient’s condition is critical. Every minute we delay could cost her life!"
Hearing this, my mother-in-law burst into tears, her voice trembling as she pleaded, "Anna, the doctor said your injury won’t affect the surgery. Hayley’s condition is dire—please save her!"
My father-in-law, his eyes reddened, added, "Anna, Hayley is your daughter—your own flesh and blood. She was willing to sacrifice herself for you. Are you really going to stand by and let her die on the operating table?"
Taylor, my husband, looked at me with growing concern. "Anna, are you hurt somewhere else?"
He moved closer and began inspecting me, as if convinced I must be hiding another injury.
"No need to look," I said coldly. "Because Hayley acted on time, I am perfectly fine."
Taylor’s demeanor shifted immediately. His voice, usually gentle, rose in frustration.
"Then why won’t you save Hayley? Do you even realize how much she loves and admires you?"
"When she received her admission letters, the first thing she said was how happy you’d be. She couldn’t wait to share the news with you."
"She risked her life to save yours, and now you’re abandoning her?!"
Even Taylor, usually calm, couldn’t suppress his anger.
My mother-in-law frowned deeply, her voice filled with confusion and pain as she spoke, "Anna, you are the person Hayley looks up to most in this world. She even chose to apply to Princeton and Harvard because you studied at their medical schools."
"She wants to follow in your footsteps, saving lives just like you. You’ve saved countless strangers—how can you not save your own daughter when she needs you the most?"
My father-in-law, grief-stricken, cried out, "Yes! Hayley sees you as her hero. If she knew her beloved mother, the one she admires most, turned a blind eye to her in this moment, how heartbroken would she be?"
I looked at the three of them, their faces filled with sorrow and desperation. My tone was firm as I replied, "The hospital has strict regulations prohibiting surgeons from operating on their immediate family members. I can’t break those rules."
"I will not perform this surgery."
Without waiting for their reaction, I turned and walked away.
Behind me, the attending doctor called out anxiously, "Director Carson, is adhering to hospital policy more important than your daughter’s life? If you don’t intervene, she has no chance of survival!"
But I didn’t stop.
As I reached the hospital’s entrance, Taylor and my parents-in-law caught up with me. My mother-in-law fell to her knees, her voice breaking as she begged, "Anna, please, I’m begging you! Don’t leave! If you walk away, Hayley will die!"
Her action, kneeling in public, immediately drew the attention of bystanders.
"Isn’t that Director Carson? The renowned medical genius? What’s going on?" one whispered.
"I heard her daughter got into a car accident trying to save her," another replied. "But now Director Carson won’t save her own child, and her family is pleading with her."
The crowd grew increasingly outraged as they pieced together the situation.
"I can’t believe it. Director Carson, who’s so compassionate with her patients, would abandon her own daughter?"
The murmurs of indignation swirled around me, but I kept walking, indifferent to the judgmental stares and accusations.
