Set Up to Fail

An ambulance rushed in during my night shift, carrying a pregnant woman in critical condition due to severe bleeding. I was about to head into the operating room when I suddenly saw a stream of comments appearing in front of me. "Don't go in there! That pregnant woman is your wife. She had sex with her side dude in the wilderness, and that's what caused the bleeding!" "Your wife is even planning to fake her death and run away with him. She's also setting you up for medical malpractice so you'll end up in prison!" "That baby isn't even yours. And your in-laws are already on their way with the police to arrest you!" After reading those comments, my expression turned dark. At that same moment, I heard the nurse urgently calling me to hurry. Chapter 1 "Dr. Westcott, the patient is in critical condition. She's already been taken into the operating room. You need to operate right away!" As I listened to the nurse urging me, I couldn't stop thinking about the comments I had just seen. I had talked to my wife only 20 minutes ago. She had just finished her yoga class and was getting ready for bed. How could she suddenly be bleeding so badly? But just as I was about to head to the operating room, the comments appeared again. "After the male lead finishes the surgery, an empty liquor bottle with his fingerprints will magically appear in his desk drawer. That will frame him for operating while drunk and cause a medical malpractice scandal!" "He'll be sentenced to 15 years in prison. After he's finally released, his wife will run him over with her car and kill him!" I froze for a second before walking back to my desk. When I pulled open the drawer, it was completely empty. But the nonstop comments were impossible to ignore. I immediately turned on the office security cameras through my computer and made sure they covered every angle of my desk. "George actually turned on the cameras? Is he trying to prove he's innocent?" "It won't help. That side dude is about to show up. He'll drag the male lead straight into the operating room, so there won't be time to come back and check the footage!" The office door suddenly flew open. Malcolm Scannell rushed inside and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me out. "Cindy is fighting for her life in the operating room, and you're still sitting here? The nurses have been calling you over and over to get in there. Why aren't you going? She's carrying your baby!" I stared at Malcolm with a pained look. The pregnant woman suffering from severe bleeding really was my wife, Cindy Westcott. Even so, I forced myself to look confused. "What are you talking about? I just called Cindy. She was already asleep. How could she possibly be in the operating room?" When Malcolm saw the doubt on my face and realized I had no intention of going, he grew anxious. "I'm not lying to you. Just go to the operating room and see for yourself. A life is on the line. If you keep wasting time, Cindy may not survive!" As he spoke, he reached out to grab me again, but I quickly stepped aside. Frowning, I looked at him and asked, "Are you absolutely sure the woman in the operating room is Cindy?" "Of course I am. I would never joke about something like this." My face turned cold as I demanded, "Then why did you know my wife was in the hospital before I did? Did something happen to her because of you?" Malcolm looked flustered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and shouted angrily. "Cindy is dying! How can you still be questioning something like that?" Chapter 2 "George, she's your wife! You're a doctor! How can you be so heartless? Your wife is eight months pregnant, and you're refusing to save her!" Malcolm's angry shouting caught the attention of the doctors and nurses in the nearby offices, and they all came over to see what was happening. A nurse hurried to my side and quietly said, "Dr. Westcott, the pregnant woman with the severe bleeding really does have the same name as Mrs. Westcott. Do you want to go to the operating room and take a look?" Although she spoke softly, Malcolm still heard her. He quickly turned to me. "You believe me now, don't you? Stop wasting time and go save Cindy!" Malcolm looked anxious, but I also caught the smugness and satisfaction hidden in his eyes. He was so desperate to get me into that operating room because he wanted to frame me. If that was his plan, then I would use it against him. I quietly glanced at the computer that was recording everything before nodding. "Fine. I'll go take a look." After I changed into sterile scrubs and entered the operating room, the doctor leading the emergency treatment looked at me as if I were their only hope. "Dr. Westcott, the patient has lost too much blood. She's already in shock!" The comments exploded with panic. "His wife already took the fake death drug. Of course her heartbeat is weak. Her heart might stop any second!" "I feel so bad for this guy. His wife cheated on him, and now they're going to send him to prison too!" I looked sadly at Cindy's pale face as she lay on the operating table. I had fallen in love with Cindy at first sight. After we got married, I spoiled her and did everything I could to make her happy. I loved her with all my heart. Yet she was willing to fake her own death just to frame me. Thinking about that, I pointed at the heart monitor, where the ECG was almost a flat line. "The patient arrived too late. There's no point continuing the rescue. Let's notify the family and record the time of death." After saying that, I walked out of the operating room. But instead of returning to my office, I went to the doctors' lounge. "He never performed the surgery, so he shouldn't go to prison now, right?" "It won't matter. The trap was already set! Oh my God, I want to tell him the truth so badly, but I can't!" "Malcolm will come to the hospital tomorrow morning and make a huge scene. By then, the truth won't matter anymore. After George's hand is broken, his father-in-law will show up with the police and accuse him of operating while drunk. There's no way he'll escape!" The moment I read that comment, I jumped to my feet. My heart pounded as disbelief filled me. There were security cameras in my office, and I had never performed the surgery. There was no way anyone could prove I had operated while drunk. Becoming a doctor had been my dream ever since I was a child. I had worked for more than 20 years to become a good doctor. I refused to let my dream and everything I had worked for be destroyed by Cindy and Malcolm's scheme. No! I would never let that happen! I clenched my fists and forced myself to calm down. If this was a conspiracy, then there had to be a flaw. I closed my eyes and thought as fast as I could. Everything that had happened over the past few days replayed in my mind. Half an hour later, I opened my eyes and smiled with complete confidence. "So that's it." Then I immediately made several phone calls and put my plan into motion. Chapter 3 "Damn! Has George figured everything out? I think he's about to turn this around!" Then I headed straight to the large staff lounge. Two surgeries had just finished, so many of my coworkers were sitting around, taking a break while waiting for their takeout. Nurses on duty were constantly walking through the room as well. I didn't believe Malcolm would dare attack me in a place like this. I casually found a seat in the corner. Before long, Malcolm's furious voice came from the doorway. "Where's George? Get out here! You selfishly refused to save your own wife. A heartless person like you doesn't deserve to be a doctor!" Malcolm stormed into the lounge with more than a dozen people, throwing the entire room into chaos. "The side dude finally showed up with the death certificate to make a scene!" "But George was prepared. He should be okay, right?" I raised an eyebrow when I saw the comments. A death certificate? I let out a mocking laugh. I had never issued a death certificate. Besides, Malcolm didn't understand how the medical system worked. He had no idea that the piece of paper in his hand meant nothing. The people Malcolm brought didn't even give me a chance to speak. They rushed at me aggressively, trying to break my hand. But I had already prepared for this. I immediately stepped behind the patients' family members who had been called over. When the other doctors saw people causing trouble inside the hospital, they became furious. One of them immediately shouted at Malcolm. "Who are you people? This is the doctors' office. If you keep causing trouble here, we'll call the police!" The doctor called the police as soon as he finished speaking. Malcolm glared at him and shouted. "How can you say we're causing trouble? Dr. Westcott abused his position to deliberately kill his own wife and unborn child! He's pure evil! Move out of the way! We're here to make George answer for what he did. If you insist on getting involved, don't blame us if you get hurt!" Malcolm thought his threats would scare the other doctors into pushing me out to protect themselves. Instead, the more he threatened them, the more doctors stepped in front of me. He looked disappointed. I sneered and asked, "Malcolm, what evidence do you have that I abused my position to kill my own wife?" Malcolm let out a cold laugh. "You want evidence? Fine. I'll give you evidence!" Then he pulled out the death certificate the comments had mentioned. He looked completely confident, but I wasn't worried at all. I carefully examined the death certificate and quickly spotted the problem. Pointing at the issuing institution, I said, "Malcolm, the patient died in this hospital. That means the death certificate should have been issued by our hospital. Even if you didn't trust us, you should have gone to another major hospital or a qualified medical examiner's office. How could you get a death certificate from some random neighborhood clinic? And another thing—the doctor who actually treated the patient last night wasn't me. By the time I entered the operating room, the emergency treatment was already over. The operating room security cameras recorded everything!" As soon as I finished speaking, one of the doctors who had actually participated in the emergency treatment grabbed the death certificate to examine it. After reading it, the doctor's face darkened with anger. "'The patient died because treatment was delayed'? That's complete nonsense!" Chapter 4 "I started treating the patient the moment she arrived last night. I used every possible method to save her, and the operating room cameras recorded the entire procedure! You're not going to slander us!" Malcolm looked as if he had expected this all along, so he wasn't surprised. He ignored the issue and stopped talking about the death certificate. Instead, he pointed at me and shouted. "It doesn't matter! The treatment was delayed because George refused to save the patient when the nurse called him last night! I begged him in his office for a long time, but he still refused to help. The nurse can testify for me! Two people are dead now. Can any of you honestly guarantee that George didn't deliberately refuse to save them?" The doctors in the lounge immediately fell silent. This involved two lives, so no doctor dared to guarantee anything for me. Seeing that, Malcolm smiled smugly. He put on a grieving expression and said to the people behind him, "He killed Cindy! He has to take responsibility! If you don't want to save patients, then you shouldn't be a doctor!" I wasn't afraid at all. Instead, I calmly replied, "Hold on. None of what you just said proves that I'm guilty. The police should be here soon. Once they arrive, I'll request an autopsy as the victim's husband. And while we're at it, I'd like to ask you something. Who gave you permission to take my wife's body away from the hospital last night?" Before Malcolm could answer, an elderly voice came from the back of the crowd. "I did." My father-in-law, Gavin Lovatt, and my mother-in-law, Amelia Lovatt, walked in with the help of two police officers. The moment Gavin saw me, he shook off the officers and rushed over, slapping me hard across the face. A bright red handprint instantly appeared on my cheek. "George, we've always treated you well. How could you do something like this? You didn't join the rescue last night because you were drunk. We put up with your drinking before, but I never imagined you'd abandon Cindy and your unborn child too!" Then he turned to the police with a heartbroken expression and confidently accused me. "Officer, I'd like to report him for performing surgery while drunk. The liquor bottle should be in the drawer of his office desk." When I heard that, I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. I had always treated him like my own father. Yet this was how he repaid me. I slowly relaxed my hands and let out a deep breath. The anxiety inside me faded away. Everything had happened exactly as I expected. Everyone except Malcolm and the people he had brought looked at me in shock. Following Gavin's statement, the police quickly found an empty liquor bottle in my office drawer. The moment they pulled it out, the shocked expressions around me turned into looks of disgust and anger. Even the doctors who had been standing up for me immediately backed away. Malcolm looked even more pleased with himself. "George, the evidence is right here. You can't deny it anymore." But at that moment, I chuckled. I pointed at Gavin, then at Malcolm. "Officer, I'd like to report them for planting evidence to frame me. I have proof too."