Aryan

There are two things that made me happy in my life. Firstly dogs and secondly a good boxing session where I could knock the hell out of my coach or my best friend. Rahul already had an ugly bruise forming on the corner of his eye after the jab I gave him straight to his face.

"I'm going to get you for that." Rahul said as he positioned his arms in front of his face again.

"Bring it on." I signalled him to come forward towards me using my boxing gloves.

For the next hour I poured all my frustration from a rather overworked shift at the hospital. Rahul was no match for the steady rhythm of my punches. I was quick, fast and always monitored my opponents movement. By the end of the fight, Rahul was pretty banged up and annoyed at me.

I helped him get out of the ring and only earned a string of curses directed towards me.

"You fucked me up big time. For fucks sake Aryan, I can't attend to patients like this." He growled.

"Well you could always wear some makeup and walk in with bright pink lipstick. I'm sure the kids would love it." I laughed at him but he was impressed at all.

Rahul and I were 4th year residents at Queens Court. Rahul was enroute to becoming a paediatric surgeon while I was in cardiology. I loved being a doctor because I loved helping people and I know that sounds very cliche. It always brought me a sense of peace and happiness knowing that I could make a difference in someone's life.

Besides being around people stopped me from feeling lonely. I was an orphan so I grew up alone and lived on my own. The only thing I knew about my family was that my mom dumped me on the doorsteps of Woodlands orphanage with a tiny note of my name attached to my blanket and then she dashed. She wanted nothing to do with me and to be honest after years of being upset about it I wanted nothing to do with her as well.

A huge part of me always wondered what a mother's love felt like and desperately wanted to know how it felt to have someone call you every time, cared about what you did, nagged at you for the tiniest things and above all loved you through thick and thin. I guess I wasn't blessed enough in this life to know what that feels like. I brushed off my rather depressing thoughts and started to pack my things and leave the gym. I had a long day ahead.

After the heated session with Rahul I went home to get ready for my 12 hour shift at the hospital. It was only 11am and I had a bunch of things to do before I left for work. The walk from the gym back to my apartment only took me only 10 minutes, however I felt like I ran a long marathon from how I was sweating.

It's scorching today and I felt like the sun was trying to burn my organs as well. I walked into my apartment and ran inside the elevators hoping the cool air could help me chill down. I wiped the tiny sweat beads forming on my forehead and when the metal doors opened, I sauntered down the decent looking corridor until I reached my door. I placed my keys and twisted the knob, revealing a comfy and spacious living room. The warm colours off the wall and the tiny balcony at the end of the hall always gave it a cozy feeling.

I stayed in a two bedroom apartment in the nicer part of the city. The rent was a little pricey but I didn't mind because this place was close to the train station and I only had to take one train to get to work.

I placed my duffel bag on the grey couch and quickly pulled out my phone to see what was on my planned schedule for Monday. My notes app read laundry and meal prep so I immediately started working on it. By the time I was done, it was already 12.30pm so I got into the shower and took a quick one and once I was done I got dressed into my usual scrubs, placed my white coat on top and placed my stethoscope around my neck and went into the kitchen to make myself a quick snack.

I ran through my emails while eating to check and see if there were any important emails, aside from the usual work ones. 30 minutes later I was done with my snack, I cleaned up and left to work. I walked towards the Westfield train station to catch my train towards the hospital.

The train was packed as usual but I managed to find myself a seat next to this lovely looking older couple. They must probably be in their 70's and they looked so in love with each other. The old lady was smiling at whatever the old guy was saying. She was also holding a bouquet of roses, he probably must have bought it for her. She noticed me smiling at them and plucked one flower and gave it to me.

"Here take this."

"Thank you." I smiled back at her. I looked down at the single stem of rose in my hand and pondered over my own love life. I had a terrible love life, I have dated many girls and had my wild nights with them but I have never fallen in love with any of them. As Kim Kardashian would say 'tragic'.

Love truly is a beautiful feeling, though I have never loved any girl in my life before and I doubt I would ever know what that feels like. I had a very chaotic career, so I never had time to properly date any girls. I only had time to eat, sleep, work and workout. Maybe once in a while if I am lucky I would have a one night stand and that was about it.

Sometimes I crave to know what it feels like to have someone to come home to, laugh at your silly jokes and love them through all the ups and downs. I guess I'm just probably not destined for it.

I placed my airpods in and listened to some songs to get myself out of the rather upsetting mood I was in. 10 minutes later I arrived at the hospital and I was instantly greeted with the smell of blood and saline when I entered. Ah home sweet home.

"Dr. Aryan, good morning! We've got a busy day ahead. Mr. Tan in Room 302 is insisting his heart monitor is playing jazz music. Also, Dr. Patel wants to see you immediately in his office." Nurse Emma greeted me.

"Good morning, Nurse Emma. Jazz music, huh? Sounds like my kind of heart monitor." I chuckled.

"If only. Now you better get going before Dr. Patel gets all cranky." She shook her head.

I walked over to Dr. Patel's room and knocked on it and entered.

"Aryan, you are late." He regarded me with an annoyed tone.

"It's only 1.32p.m. sir." I checked my watch. man is he for real right now?

"Exactly. I need you to handle the new admissions today. Also, we're down two nurses in the cardiology wing, so expect delays. And there's a case study presentation tomorrow—you're leading it."

"Ofcourse Dr. Patel. Who needs sleep anyways." I tried to keep a straight face.

"That is the spirit, now get going." His smile was so fake.

I started my rounds with the interns trailing behind him, looking nervous. I stopped by Mr. Tan's room first. I placed my gloves on my hands and pulled up my mask and knocked on the door before entering.

"Doc, you've gotta hear this. My heart monitor is playing some smooth jazz. It's like having my own personal concert!" Mr Tan grinned widely at me.

I listened to beeping on the monitors and smiled at him. "Mr. Tan, that's just your regular heartbeat. No Frederic Chopin here, I'm afraid."

" Should we adjust his medication, Dr. Aryan?" My intern whispered to me.

"No, just his sense of humour. Let's move on, we have a long day ahead.

I was done with my rounds 2 hours later and as I was walking back to the ED my second intern I think his name was Kyle approached me with a panicked look plastered on his face.

"Dr. Aryan, I think I lost a patient."

"What?! How did you lose a patient?" I shook on his shoulders. Fuck this way bad. Death of a patient was a crucial thing to deal with.

"I mean, he ran away. I think he's in the cafeteria?" He casually answered me. Is this guy fucking with me right now?

"For fucks sake Kyle, you could have started with that." I facepalmed. "Find him. Patients aren't Pokémon; you can't just let them roam free."

"Okay Dr. Aryan." He started running in the opposite direction.

It was almost 5 by the time I was done assisting with a heart surgery. I really need a coffee break or I am going to lose it. I messaged Rahul and we both headed off to the cafe together.

I walked down the familiar hallways filled with doctors and patients walking around, talking animatedly with each other. Rahul was walking next to me with a rather annoyed expression plastered on his face and not to mention the ugly bruise forming near his eyes. God that looked nasty. I have to learn to stop messing his face up real bad or he will stop being my friend anymore.

"Cheer up man, at least the mask is hiding it." I said, resting my arms around his shoulder and he brushed it off.

"Easy for you to say you're not the ugly ogre dealing with kids. Man I almost cried when a mean kid insulted me."He said with a pang of hurt in his eyes.

I couldn't help but laugh. The lady who rolled herself on a wheelchair next to us stared at me with an annoyed expression.

"Okay okay I'm sorry next time I promise not to hurt your pretty little face instead I'll go for the stomach."

As Rahul was about to argue with me I heard a familiar voice coming from in front of me. I wasn't fond of that voice, that voice meant trouble from every angle. Fuck.

"Hey Aryan." Sarah said while smiling like a creep. Sarah was the daughter of the CEO of the Queens Court Hospital.  We had a minor affair many years ago when I was still young, wild and extremely stupid. I dated and slept with many girls and she was one of them but it died as soon as it started.

5 years later I was over it but clearly she wasn't and I avoided her like a plague ever since and it wasn't because I hated her or anything back then, it was just that she started getting annoying and went around lying to people that we are together and when I found out I had to cut ties with her and keep my distance. I even considered moving to a different hospital but Queens Court was one the best for cardiology aside from IHA. Plus, I had many patients here that needed me. I did my best to avoid her most of the time but there were days I couldn't

"Hey Sarah." I said with the most flat tone I could muster.

" I haven't seen you in a while." She pouted.

" I'm a doctor, Sarah. I'm always busy. Now is there something I can help you with because I have a long day ahead." I told her and checked my watch. I'm so done with her bullshit.

'"Oh okay. I thought we could catch up this week, you know it's been too long." She tried to put her hands around my arms and I instantly moved away from her.

" Can't, I have a report to write."

" We never get to hang out." Sarah pouted and gave me a sad look. Like as if I would care if she was upset. I would rather mop the ocean than to spend time with her.

" Yeah, because I have things to do." I told and walked away before I could hear any one of her silly protests. I don't have in me to deal with someone as annoying as her especially on a busy day like this. She should learn to take a hint by now but unfortunately for me Sarah wanted to get back with me big time because her last boyfriend dumped her and now she is lonely.

The walk to the cafe was short and I ordered a black coffee with no sugar while Rahul got himself a cappuccino. I needed the caffeine and after the encounter with Sarah I didn't know how long I could put up with that shit. I should have never slept with her, it was the worst mistake I ever made. I preferred my women less clingy, and more mature. Sarah was never one of them. I always told her it was never that serious between us and she just didn't get the memo.

I was deep in my own thoughts when my pager went off, it was an emergency. I dumped the coffee cup into the bin and then I dashed from the cafe to the emergency room, when I rushed in the MO gave me all the information I needed

Mia

27

Tarchicardiac, pulse 140

BP 70 over 40

Administered 500cc saline en route, no significant improvement.

EMS brought her in after she collapsed at work.

I saw the girl lying down in front of me. She had a small frame, her curly black and light brown highlighted hair was in a mess and her face looked pale. I quickly put on my gloves and instructed the team of nurses on what to do.

"Let's get her on monitors. Start another IV, wide open with normal saline. Draw blood for CBC, BMP, and cardiac enzymes. And get a 12-lead ECG, stat."

The nurses nodded at my instructions and immediately started on the IV and set up the EKG.

"IV going in."Nurse Emma informs me.

I checked her pulse and listened to her heartbeat with my stethoscope and her heart rate was still high.

"Let's prepare adenosine," I instructed the nurses. "We'll start with 6 mg IV push. If it doesn't work, we'll repeat with 12 mg. Also, keep the defibrillator ready in case we need it."

"Keep a close eye on her vitals. We need to get her stabilised before we can do more diagnostics."

The EKG machine printed out her results and I examined the strip quickly.

Sinus tachycardia... no signs of ischemia. I thought to myself.

"Let's push another 500 cc of saline. If her BP doesn't come up, prepare to start a norepinephrine drip."

The team worked around Mia efficiently, stabilising her condition step by step. As her heart rate began to slow down and her BP increased slightly, I exchanged a brief hopeful glance at Nurse Emma.

'"She is responding to the treatment, but let's keep a close eye on her." Nurse Emma spoke up.

20 minutes later her breathing and heartbeat was back to normal and she seemed more relaxed. I walked outside of her room, I wanted to speak with the person who followed her to the hospital so I walked out and greeted the tall young man in a half bun standing outside of her room with a panicked look plastered on his face and asked him for more details about her.

"Hi I am Doctor Aryan. Can you please explain to me what happened?"