The Boy Who Solved Crimes

02: Drowsy Days

Violet

"CT, stat," I ordered the nurse on the other side of the table. He quickly walked over to the table, taking the patient with him and did as he was asked. I left the room momentarily to wash my hands and put my gloves on.

They had brought in a patient with a gunshot wound. Heaven knows how he had gotten it, but I needed to get the bullet out as soon as I could.

I returned to the operating room and examined the organ that was penetrated. His kidney had a bullet wound; whoever had done this might've had their focus set probably a couple organs lower, but they clearly missed the target. Possibly a crime of passion, but that wasn't for me to determine. I was here to save this man's life, not to play judge and jury.

He had come in for surgery from the ER and I was confused when I saw a familiar face. It had been years since I had last seen him.

I quietly completed the task at hand before letting my mind wander to how a bullet had gotten shot into his kidney. There could've been a thousand possibilities, and only he knew how it happened.

I adjusted the light above me as I removed the bullet in absolute silence and closed the incision. I nodded at my fellow doctors and walked out of the room to wash my hands and remove the gloves. The nurses would clean him up; they were always so diligent and helpful.

"Nice work Dr. Veowsalot." Dr. Tony Anderson, one of my colleagues, said as I made my way out of the operating room. "I would've used a smaller syringe to anesthetize him, but aside from that, your procedural technique was spotless."

"Thanks Tony." I smiled warmly as we walked out.

"So, I'll see you tonight?" He made me feel giddy as I melted just looking at him.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I smiled as we turned a corner and he kissed my cheek.

"See you." He winked, walking off the floor and toward the ICU. I continued heading toward my desk.

"Dr. V." A resident nodded in recognition as I smiled. I had just completed my residency and the respect level had risen exponentially from the hospital staff. It was as though this new title somehow made me a queen, and not just a girl with a lot of medical school debt.

I walked around the unit to one of the computers and began typing and searching the records of my patient. I wanted to see him when he woke up. It had been far too long. I wondered what had happened to him.

He had been this elusive person since he moved away halfway through our junior year of high school. I wondered what brought him to my new town and why he was injured. I had moved two states away after graduation and now here I was, about two cities from the town of Rosemond.

My pager started to ring, which meant they needed me. I looked at it, contemplating ignoring the call. They'd just call again if I did.

"Veowsalot." I said as the doctor on the other end told me what I needed to do and what surgical unit I had to go on.

There was a code blue, a medical emergency, and they needed as many people there as possible. I quickly rushed to the elevator and climbed to the eighth floor of the Barrier Medical Hospital. The patient was seemingly having a myocardial infarction while the patient's family had been pushed outside the room. The other medical professionals did their best to save a life.

I stood outside, waiting to see if they needed me; the room was crowded enough as is.

"It'll be okay." I said to the family. The daughters were in tears and the father was hugging them. I was worried for their mother in there; women typically were less likely to have heart attacks, especially those in their early thirties.