Reborn to Save Him: The Doctor's Vengeance

The surgery went smoothly. When Mona Larson was wheeled into recovery, her face was pale, her breathing steady. A nurse stayed beside her, taking her blood pressure on schedule. Lowell glanced at the chart, then left for his next case. He walked out fast. In my last life, he'd left at exactly this time too. But afterward, Mona said he'd stayed by her side the whole time. She said when she woke, the lights were harsh, her head was swimming, and there was one man standing by her bed. Just him. People online cut those few sentences into countless short clips. Under every one of them, someone was calling him scum. This time, I stood outside the recovery room. I didn't go in. I watched the on-duty nurse tuck the blanket around Mona, watched the ID band on her wrist, watched her eyelids flutter once. Ten minutes later, Mona woke. The first thing she said was: "Where's Dr. Delgado?" "Dr. Delgado went to his next surgery." Mona closed her eyes for a moment. "He didn't wait for me to wake up?" The nurse gave a small smile. "Doctors work on a schedule. They don't sit alone with a single patient." Mona said nothing. She turned her face toward the recovery room doorway. Out there was the corridor, a camera, and nurses coming and going. She seemed disappointed. After a while, she suddenly lifted a hand to her own neck. The nurse asked her: "Does something hurt?" Mona's eyes went red at once. "It hurts." The nurse checked immediately. "There's a little redness here. Is it from your necklace pressing before the surgery? Don't scratch it, I'll get a doctor to look." Mona didn't answer. She grabbed the nurse's hand, her voice trembling. "Before I woke up, did anyone come in?" The nurse froze. "No." "I was right here the whole time." Mona's tears spilled over. "Really?" The nurse's face changed too. "Miss Larson, what are you trying to say?" Mona didn't speak. She only cried. It was exactly the kind of crying that makes people imagine the worst. A few family members on visiting duty passed the doorway and stopped to look. "What's wrong?" Mona buried her face in the blanket. The nurse quickly pulled the curtain. Merlin rushed in, phone already up the second he came through the door. "Mona, why are you crying?" Mona shook her head. The more she shook her head, the more frantic Merlin got. "Don't be scared." "Tell me." "I'm here. Nobody can hurt you." The nurse blocked him at once. "No filming in recovery." Merlin lowered the lens, but he didn't turn it off. Mona clutched the blanket, her voice so small it seemed about to break. "I don't know." "When I woke up, it felt like someone had touched me." The air went dead. The nurse's face drained white. I pushed the door open and walked in. The moment Merlin saw me, he swung the phone toward me. "Director Simmons, you're just in time." "Mona says something wasn't right when she woke up." "Doesn't your hospital owe us an explanation?" Mona lifted her head to look at me, her eyes rimmed red. "Ms. Simmons, I'm not trying to make a scene." "But I'm a woman." "I'm really scared." In my last life, she'd said it the same way. Never naming who. Never naming what was done. Only that she was scared. And everyone else filled in the filthiest guess for her. I asked the nurse: "Who was in recovery just now?" The nurse was so upset she was near tears. "I was here, Nurse Lee was here too. No one had contact with her alone the entire time." Merlin sneered. "You all work for the hospital. Of course you speak for the hospital." Mona shrank into the blanket, her shoulders shuddering. Merlin crouched down at once. "Mona, if someone wronged you, you can't just take it." "You're a public figure. You have to protect yourself all the more." I looked at him. "You can't film here." Merlin stood up. "Director Simmons, right now the thing you care about most is that we can't film?" "Not that a patient is saying she may have been assaulted?" The crowd at the door grew. Someone raised a phone. Someone muttered: "That's terrifying." "You're out under anesthesia, you don't know a thing. If something really happened, you couldn't even fight back." "I always said having a male doctor is a problem." The hospital director arrived quickly. He looked at Mona first, then at the phone in Merlin's hand, and there was already sweat on his forehead. "Miss Larson, please, don't get upset." "The hospital will absolutely investigate." Merlin said: "Investigate all you want, but the doctor involved has to be suspended first." The director turned to me. "Where's Lowell?" "In the OR doing another surgery." The director dropped his voice. "Get him out here first." "This can't wait." "He's putting a patient under anesthesia." "You want him to walk out right now?" The director choked on it, his face ugly. In that same stretch of time, Merlin had already posted the clip he'd cut. The headline popped up fast: 【Influencer with Ten Million Followers Sobs on Waking: I Don't Know What Happened While I Was Under】 There was nothing solid in the video. Only Mona's white face, her shaking voice, and me standing cold beside the bed. The comments passed ten thousand in minutes. 【She's this scared and you still want proof?】 【The hospital's attitude is ice-cold.】 【Guess I was blind. The good-looking ones are the worst animals!】 【The male doctor has to come out and explain.】 【Somebody should look into this Dr. Delgado.】 I closed the page. My fingers didn't shake. In my last life, when I saw comments like these, I panicked completely. I rushed to explain, rushed to clear things up, rushed to beg people to be reasonable. The more I explained, the more it looked like guilt. This time, I didn't say a word. Once Mona finished crying, she was taken back to her room. The director locked the department group chat and told everyone that no one was to speak to outsiders. But Merlin stayed in the corridor, still posting videos. At ten that night, the hospital's official account was overrun. Lowell's name hit the local trending list. At eleven, someone dug up our home address. In the small hours, Lowell's mother called me. Her voice was trembling. "Evelyn, someone splashed red paint on the door." "They're saying Lowell is an animal." Lowell had just come out of surgery. He stood next to me, and the color drained from his face bit by bit. Before I could say anything, my phone buzzed again. It was a photo from an unknown number. At the entrance to our daughter's school, someone had put up a sheet of paper. On it was written: 【The animal's daughter should get out of the school.】

Before dawn, the crowd had already choked the hospital entrance. Some held up phones, livestreaming. Others carried signs, black letters on white board. 【Justice for the woman.】 【Get the anesthesiologist out of this hospital.】 【Protect women. Don't stay silent.】 Every line sounded like justice. Every line landed on Lowell Delgado. He sat in his office, having gone the whole night without sleep. His white coat hung over the back of the chair, the cuffs still smelling of disinfectant. He looked at his phone and said nothing for a long time. On the screen was a video posted by a patient he'd once saved. The man had bled out in a car crash, and Lowell had stood at the operating table for six hours to keep him alive. The day he was discharged, he'd gripped Lowell's hand and called him the father who gave him a second life. Now he sat in front of a camera and let out a sigh. "Dr. Delgado was always good to me." "But I never thought he'd be involved in something like this." "If it's true, I hope he has the courage to own up to it." The comments were all praising how clear-eyed he was. 【Even someone he saved talks like this. There must be something to it.】 【Even people who know him won't dare speak up for him.】 【The doctor's halo just shattered.】 Lowell finished watching and shut off the phone. I knew it hurt him. It hurt more than any stranger's insults. People he'd saved, people who'd been grateful, were the first to jump out and ride the trend before there was a shred of evidence. In the last life, it was exactly these "neutral statements" that crushed him. Everyone said if it's true. But no one stopped to ask, what if it's false? Eight in the morning, the director called a meeting. The conference room was packed. Medical Affairs, Public Relations, Legal, the head of Anesthesiology, and Mona Larson with Merlin Donaldson. Mona wore a face mask, her eyes swollen. She'd left off her makeup, which made her look even more fragile. Merlin slapped down a stack of printed comment screenshots on the table. "This isn't us making trouble." "It's the public wanting an explanation." The head of Public Relations said quietly, "The official account's DMs have blown up." Medical Affairs added, "We've got patients asking to cancel their surgeries." The head of Anesthesiology glanced at Lowell, his lips moved, but he said nothing. The director rubbed his brow wearily. "Lowell, take a suspension for now." Lowell looked up. "On what grounds?" The director's tone hardened. "On the grounds that we can't hold back the public right now." "Step back for the moment. We'll talk once the investigation is clear." I let out a small laugh. "So you really do say the same thing." The director didn't catch it. "What did you say?" "I said, step back for now, and then what?" "Make him apologize?" "Make him write a self-criticism?" "Make him admit he mismanaged the situation?" The director avoided my eyes. Merlin jumped in at once. "Our Mona isn't trying to destroy anyone." "She just wants some show of accountability." Mona kept her head down as the tears came again. "I don't want to relive the details." "It was too filthy." Someone in the room drew a sharp breath. That was exactly where she was dangerous. The less she spelled out, the more everyone else filled in for her. The director's face went completely dark. "Lowell, sign the suspension notice first." "Then put out an apology statement." Lowell didn't move. The director pushed the paper in front of him. "You have to think about the hospital." I picked up the paper and glanced at it. It read: 【Due to personal conduct causing an adverse social impact, Lowell Delgado is suspended from all medical duties.】 Personal conduct. Adverse impact. Every word convicted him in advance. I set the paper back on the table. "He's not signing." Mona suddenly lifted her head and looked at me. "Ms. Simmons, I know you're his wife." "But you're a woman too." "Why can't you stand on my side?" Merlin recorded the line instantly. "Director Simmons, the way you're acting will break a lot of women's hearts." I looked at his phone. "You've got a good eye for filming." Merlin smiled. "I'm only documenting." The next second, the conference room door was shoved open. A few patients' family members burst in. Security hadn't stopped them. A middle-aged woman pointed at Lowell and started shouting: "That's him, isn't it?" "We're canceling our afternoon surgery!" "Who knows if something happens after the anesthesia!" Another man slammed his medical file onto the table. "To think I actually booked an appointment with him before." "Playing the decent man!" Someone even spat at me. "The wife's covering up for him too." "Your daughter's going to run into a man like this someday!" Lowell shot to his feet. I pressed my hand down on his. He couldn't move. One push, one touch, and by tomorrow the video's headline would become: 【Accused doctor, shamed into a rage, attacks patient's family in public.】 In the last life, this was exactly how they pushed him past his limit. He'd only blocked a water cup thrown at me. But the video left nothing except the frame of his raised hand. This time, I wouldn't let them cut it a second time. I stood up, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the spit off my face. Merlin's lens was practically shoved into my face. "Director Simmons, still not going to apologize?" I turned to Mona. "You say that after yesterday's surgery, Lowell assaulted you." Her tears stopped. Merlin frowned at once. "Director Simmons, don't force the victim to relive her pain." I ignored him. "The location was Operating Room Three?" Mona bit her lip. "Yes." "And the time was two seventeen in the afternoon?" Her eyes wavered. Merlin gripped her shoulder. "Mona, don't be afraid." Mona drew a breath. "Yes." I went on: "And it was just you and Lowell at the time?" She closed her eyes, tears spilling down. "Yes." "I couldn't wake up." "I couldn't fight back." The shouting in the room grew louder. The director's face had gone livid. He slammed the suspension notice down on the table. "Lowell Delgado, sign it!" I took out my phone and dialed 911. "No need to sign." "Let the police come." Mona's eyes flew open. And in that instant, the smile on Merlin's face froze.

The police reached the hospital while the livestream was still running downstairs. Mona sat in the conference room, a wad of tissues clenched in her hand. She was crying harder now than before. Merlin kept his phone trained on the side of her face. "We believe in the law." "And we hope the hospital won't use its power to crush an ordinary girl." He finished, then glanced at me, as if waiting for me to blow up. I didn't. I just shut the door. The police started by getting the basics. Mona spoke in broken fragments. She said the anesthesia had left her groggy. Said she woke up with a sore neck and her clothes in disarray. Said she couldn't remember all the details, but she was sure Lowell had been there. Every sentence left herself an out. Every sentence was filthy enough to stick. An officer asked: "You're certain it was Lowell Delgado?" Mona's voice trembled. "I only remember his eyes." "And his voice." Merlin jumped in at once: "She was in terrible shape when she came to. There's no way she made this up." The hospital director sat off to the side, his face grim. He'd already told the Public Relations Department to draft a statement. I could see the lines on the computer screen: 【Our hospital takes the online allegations very seriously. We have suspended the doctor in question and offer our apologies to the patient.】 Apologies. Apologies again. In my last life, it was exactly this statement that convinced everyone Lowell was guilty. No matter that no evidence ever surfaced, no matter how many times he explained, the public only remembered one thing: the hospital apologized first. I walked over and closed the laptop. The head of the Public Relations Department froze. "Ms. Simmons?" "Nothing's been investigated yet. No one confesses on his behalf." The director finally lost his patience. "Evelyn Simmons, how long are you going to keep making a scene?" "The most important thing right now is damage control!" I looked at him. "Whose damage?" "The hospital's, or an innocent doctor's?" The question left him without an answer. Mona suddenly broke into sobs. "So you're still going to protect him." "I knew it." She stood up, swaying as if she couldn't hold herself steady. Merlin caught her at once. The lens swept across her bloodless face, then across Lowell's silence. The internet exploded again in seconds. 【The doctor's wife is a real bully.】 【The victim's crying her eyes out and she's still going in for the kill.】 【With a wife like that, no wonder the doctor thinks he can get away with anything.】 【Somebody should investigate this whole hospital.】 The officer frowned and told Merlin to stop filming. Merlin lowered his phone, unwilling. I waited until the screen was off before I spoke. "Mona, let me confirm this one last time." She looked at me, a flicker of nerves behind her eyes. I asked it word by word: "You're certain it was yesterday afternoon, two seventeen." "Operating Room Three." "Lowell was at your side." "And it was only the two of you?" The room went quiet. Mona didn't answer right away. Merlin lightly touched her arm. She lifted her head, as if she'd finally made up her mind. "I'm certain." "I wouldn't lie about something like this." As the words landed, Lowell closed his eyes. I knew it wasn't fear. It was disgust. Being pinned by a charge that filthy, no one could stomach it. I walked to the conference room computer. The director watched me warily. "What are you doing?" I inserted my staff card. "Pulling yesterday's records for Operating Room Three." Mona's face went white in an instant. Merlin said immediately: "Operating rooms aren't allowed to have cameras, are they?" "Did I say anything about cameras?" That shut him up. I logged into the system, and the screen lit up. A row of records appeared. Door access, medications, nurse signatures, recovery room entries and exits. Every time stamp, crystal clear. The director stared. "What is this?" I said: "Surgical-area tracking." "Just went into pilot use." "You signed off on the approval." Mona's fingers slowly tightened. I opened the first record. Two oh-nine PM, Operating Room Three access log, Lowell badged out. No one in the room spoke. I opened the second. Two twelve PM, circulating nurse entered the recovery area. The third. Two seventeen PM, footage from the recovery room's public area came up. The camera didn't capture the beds, only the doorway and the corridor. Lowell never appeared. Mona did. She slowly sat up on the bed and glanced left and right. Lowered her head, raised her hand, and dug her fingers hard into her own neck. Once. Twice. The red marks surfaced fast. A sharp intake of breath ran through the room. Mona shot to her feet. "No!" "That isn't me!" I didn't stop. I opened a voice message backup. Two nineteen PM. Mona had sent Merlin a voice clip. Her voice was low, but perfectly clear. "Are the red marks obvious enough?" "What do I say later?" Two seconds after, Merlin replied to her: "Don't nail it down too hard." "Just say something felt off after you woke from the anesthesia." "The netizens will fill in the rest for you." The screen glowed cold white. It threw Mona's face into a bloodless mask. Merlin reached out to grab the mouse. The officer pinned his hand down on the spot. I turned around and looked at Mona. "You said no one could vouch for what happened under anesthesia." "Well, now the door, the drugs, the nurse, the machines are all vouching for my husband." Mona's lips trembled, and not a single word came out. I opened the last record. The pre-op consent form. On the signature page, her name, crystal clear. And below it, one more line: 【Acknowledges that the entire surgical-area process is tracked and logged.】 I looked at her. "It's not that you didn't know." "You just bet no one would ever pull it up."