Chapter 2: The Miracle Doctor

JASMINE POV

Eight Years Later…

Beep. Beep. Beep-beep Beeeeeeeeep.

"Code blue!"

I couldn’t breathe. Blood spurted from the open stomach of this old woman with a kind smile. Her only mistake was that she had been on my surgical table tonight.

"Dr. Ross! The patient is having a cardiac arrest. Her vitals are dropping below dangerzone!" The nurses screamed at me while I froze, hands shaking in the air.

For two years, I've lived as a famous and highly successful doctor in New York City, and believe me when I say there has never been any death on my record. I went into surgery rooms confident, too confident.

And today that had worked against me. 

There was about to be a death on my record. 60 year old Carmen with a kind smile. Her family waited outside for her to come back to them.

Carmen's smile haunted me now as I watched her shake wrongly on my surgical table. 

The machine lines flattened, and her pulse dropped as fast as a countdown. 

55/30...20/10...

A hand shook my shoulder. "She will die! Dr. Ross! If you remain still, this would be murder!"

I blinked sideways, coming out of my daze. Blood still rushed to my ears. Hot flashes made me see double.

I had to stop the bleeding first...

I placed my palms on her chest, counting each pump breathlessly, "1, 2, 3, 4..."

"Two breaths only!" I ordered the nurse next to the ventilator when I reached 30 compressions. 

She did it. The lines in the machine still ran flat. Her heart had no rhythm. Sweat soaked my lower back and neck.

I pumped her heart again. "1, 2, 3, 4..." I shouted at the nurse. "Two breaths!"

The flat lines in the machine mocked me. I was having a panic attack in this surgery room. Although difficult, I sucked in a shaky breath.

Somehow, I pumped her heart again. I repeated the process the fourth time, and her heart picked up a slight rhythm.

Bless you, moon goddess...

"Administer adrenaline. Now!" I reached for the defibrillator as the nurses moved the drug from the tiny bottle to the vial.

They injected Carmen.

I charged the defibrillator. "Nurse Carol, administer 1 unit of blood. Slow transfusion. First 15 minutes."

I placed the machine on her chest. Her torso jerked from the shock. I charged again, repeating orders.

Her vitals stabilised. Blood transfusion had begun. I shut my eyes for a split second in relief.

I moved over. The head nurse applied pressure over the internal wound to pause the bleeding while I resuscitated Carmen.

Nurse Carol handed me an artery forcep. I began careful ligation, sewing up the torn artery that caused the issue.

I concluded the surgery and left my assistant in charge of closing up the patient.

An hour later. The chairman of the board and a few other prominent doctors marched into the director’s office, which was mine.

"To what do I owe this? Jenkins? Banerji?" I fit on my lab coat and faced them.

The chairman smacked a set of papers in my face. A white rain fell on me for a second. 

"Lawsuits!" He screamed at me, comportment vanished, "I put my faith in you, you bitch! Now, look at how you've repaid me."

I made eye contact with Banerji, willing to understand what the hell was going on. 

The Chairman had just disrespected his star staff. I was the youngest director this hospital had ever seen, both in age and in practice.

But I was a celebrity within these walls. This position was tailor-made for me.

"Security! Take out her things. From this moment onwards, Jasmine Ross will no longer be my hospital's director!"

Alarmed, I watched the hospital guards pack my things into a brown cardboard box.

"What's going on, sir?!" I begged, stopping his guards as much as I could.

"There's a video going around on social media of the miracle doctor who froze at the sight of blood during a surgery!" He thrashed his hands, yelling.

My face paled.

People called me the miracle doctor. They worshipped me like they worshipped their idols and influencers.

"That's—That's not possible. Sir, I can stop it. Let me—"

He chuckled bitterly. "How? When it has 1 million views already in just an hour, you think you can control it? You are finished, Dr. Ross."

I rushed for my phone. It almost fell from my shaking hands as I searched for the video. He didn't lie. My face was all over the internet.

"How can a doctor be so useless?"

"Look at her hands shaking. She's a curse. Not a miracle!"

"I wish that was her child on that surgery table!"

"She should just die!"

The comment section overwhelmed me. I supported myself on my desk with a hand, thinking back to the surgery room. Who could have done this to me?

Banerji placed a hand on my shoulder. "I already called Asher. He's on his way. You'll get through this, Ross."

The train of doctors left after the guards carted my things away. My throat burned with tears as I paced the almost empty office.

I raked a frustrated hand through my long black hair. The chairman was right. I am finished. 

Fifteen minutes later. I got a call from Asher, and I rushed out to meet him at the lobby.

People gossiped loudly as I passed. I almost ran mad, but a second later, the warm arms of Asher wrapped me in a hug.

I sighed against his hard chest.

"It's okay, Jes. I'm here." He kissed my forehead, and I melted into him, letting him take all my worry.

I gripped his shirt like it was my life-support. "Take me home. Please."

He intertwined our fingers and bodyguarded me past the throng of paparazzi at the entrance. 

People in this city had screws loose in their brains. How had I gone from most loved to most hated in just an hour?

At home. Asher cooked dinner while I helped Emily style her raven black hair. 

Giddy, she sat on the bathroom's vanity chair, swinging her tiny legs.

"Did you lose a tooth, sweetie?" I asked, plaiting her hair into two cornrows.

She beamed, bobbing her head and showing me the empty top front row. "I hid it under my pillow, momma. When the tooth fairy comes, I'll be rich!"

I gasped, causing my daughter to giggle. "You'll have to buy Asher and I a gift. Pretty please, Em." I faked a pout, and she did the same, eyes on mine through the mirror.

"No!" She giggled when I reached for her to tickle here until she said yes.

I chased after her. "Emily! Don't you dare run away!" 

I entered the kitchen and found her clinging to Asher's legs while he chopped vegetables. 

"Emily," he warned in an amused voice, "What did I say about playing around sharp things?"

"But mommy wants revenge!" 

Asher left the knife, washed his hands, and scooped my daughter into his arms. She screamed, laughing as he tickled the sense out of her.

Her identical brothers, Ethan and Ezra, sat on the kitchen island, playing with their train set. I watched my children while a content smile formed on my face. They were the best things that had ever happened to me.

After dinner, Asher and I sat on the sofa. His hand went around my shoulder, and my head lay on his chest. It was my favourite spot in the world.

"I love you, Jes. I swear that I do."

Smiling sadly, I kissed his lips. "Thank you for being here for me."

"Mommy, are you sad?" 

I jumped, looking over my shoulder. My triplets stood there and pouted.

I shook my head. 

"Mommy just wants a hug. Come here."

They came over, climbing on top of both of us and crushing Asher and I in a hug. For kids, they had too strong hands. 

One day, they would be stronger werewolves than I ever was.

The next day.

I walked into the hospital's conference room. After that degrading display yesterday, it was time to make my demotion official. My video beca0me the most viewed on all social media platforms.

But at least, the hospital had ordered their guards to control the reporters at the entrance. 

It's not like I lost my job. This would pass.

"We've found Dr. Ross a worthy replacement!" The chairman delightedly said.

I bit my bottom lip and scoffed, "Yeah, right. Good for you, Brady."

"What? Did you say something, Dr. Ross?" 

I offered the annoying backstabber a sweet smile and silence. Brady continued.

"Mr. Carter's a longtime business partner. Although he's not officially in our line, he knows just enough about management and medicine to fit right in, interim."

That last name. My heart raced as I sat up in my chair, gaping at the door of the conference room.

It opened.

I gulped in shock.