After an earthquake, my boyfriend chooses to save a manipulative woman who's closest to the door. I'm pinned to the floor by a cupboard, but he forgets all about me.

I pass out from the pain. When I wake up, I discover that my right hand is now useless. My boyfriend apologizes to me. He tells me he was only thinking about saving a life.

Later, my boyfriend is diagnosed with a terminal illness. I'm the only person in the world who can save him. He weeps and begs me for help, but I can't hold a scalpel anymore.

The earthquake struck suddenly, and everything around shook violently as if the entire world had lost its balance. I steadied myself and held onto the wall.

Then, I ran toward the door.

But Flora Blanche stood in front of me, blocking my way. Her face was pale, and she stood frozen in place as if she was scared out of her wits.

I gritted my teeth and pulled Flora along, intending to take her with me.

However, her expression suddenly changed. She broke free from my grasp and threw herself to the side. I didn't have time to process why she did that.

The next second, an immensely heavy object slammed into my back with great force. My vision went black, and I was instantly crushed by the cupboard behind me.

The cupboard was made of solid wood, and it weighed over 130 pounds. It was unbearably heavy. I very nearly suffocated under its weight as intense pain shot up from the right side of my body and my right hand.

With much difficulty, I lifted my head. The only thing I saw was Flora's indifferent gaze. She watched my struggle with a detached look as if she were watching a play.

"Flora, help me," I pleaded through the pain, looking to her for assistance.

Flora shook her head with a mocking smile. "Nancy, this cupboard is so darn heavy. How could I possibly lift it?"

Her usual demure and delicate demeanor was gone. In its place was a gaze filled with jealousy and malice. "Besides, I wish you'd just die already. Why would I ever help you?"

My eyes widened in disbelief.

Flora's lips curled into a mocking smile as she seemed about to say more when Shaun Gabler hurried in from outside.

Her expression changed instantly, and she reverted to her innocent and delicate persona while calling out helplessly, "Shaun…"

By then, the first wave of the earthquake had ended. What was once a clean and orderly office was now a chaotic mess.

Debris was scattered everywhere on the floor, and the hanging lights on the ceiling swayed precariously, mirroring the unease in everyone's hearts during the quake.

Shaun scanned the room and saw me trapped under the heavy cupboard.

"Nancy, are you okay?" His gaze flickered, but he didn't step forward to help.

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and my face grew paler. My right hand was pinned under the solid wooded cupboard. If I didn't get help soon, I might never be able to hold a scalpel again.

"Shaun, save me…" I mustered my remaining strength and looked at Shaun—my boyfriend of three years. "My hand is trapped. Help me out…"

He was a doctor like me. So, he was fully aware of how crucial a hand was for a surgeon.

Shaun was about to step forward when Flora suddenly clung to his arm. "Shaun! The aftershocks are coming soon. It's too dangerous here. Let's leave first and get professional rescuers to help Nancy later!"

Earthquakes weren't one-off. Aftershocks could happen at any moment. No one knew when danger might strike again.

Flora spoke with apparent sincerity, so Shaun listened to her. He stood at the doorway, looking at my despair-filled eyes from afar.

"I-I'll take Flora out first. Don't worry, Nancy. Once I'm out, I'll find someone to come and save you."

I watched helplessly as their figures disappeared from my view. In the next second, I couldn't hold on any longer and passed out from the pain.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital. The smell of dirt and blood that lingered before I passed out was gone. It was replaced by the familiar and comforting scent of disinfectant.

My body was wrapped in bandages, especially my right hand. It was completely bundled up from my upper arm right down to my fingertips. I resembled a mummy.

I had no idea how long I'd been trapped under that cupboard. I only felt an inexplicable sense of fear creeping over me. I was terrified of the aftermath should my hand be permanently damaged.

There was some movement at the door, and a doctor in a white coat walked in.

Noticing that I had opened my eyes slightly, he seemed visibly excited and quickly walked over to me. "You're finally awake, Dr. Smith. How are you feeling?"

I looked up at him, forcing myself to stay calm. Then, I asked, "Will my right hand recover fully back to what it once was?"

His expression froze, and his expression became noticeably grim.

I had a bad feeling about what I was going to hear.

The doctor hesitated for a while and sighed heavily.

"Dr. Smith, your right hand was under pressure for too long. The nerve damage is severe. Even with the combined efforts of our entire hospital last night, we barely managed to save your hand… It's unlikely for you to return to the operating table."

I let out a bitter laugh and closed my eyes in despair. As a doctor myself, how could I not understand the gravity of the situation?

With all color drained from my face, I continued, "How did I get out? Was it Shaun Gabler who called for help?"

The doctor paused before replying, "Dr. Zahn said you were providing pro bono medical services at Trinity Hospital in Covale. When he couldn't reach you after the earthquake, he contacted the mayors of both Covale and the neighboring Dalspire.

"They sent a team to search for you all afternoon before rescuing you from the rubble and transporting you here for treatment. We haven't heard of the name you just mentioned."

My mentor, Nigel Zahn, was an internationally renowned cancer specialist. He had dedicated his life to cancer research and made some remarkable breakthroughs in his later years.

However, his advanced age meant he could no longer perform surgeries.

Throughout his career, he had trained countless doctors, but I was the only one capable of carrying on his legacy.

He'd once said that I had the necessary calmness and steadiness. On top of that, he'd praised me for pursuing medicine solely to save lives without any ulterior motives.

Because of this, he taught me everything he knew and placed his hopes of curing cancer entirely on me. I was the only doctor in the country with a chance of saving cancer patients.

But now, my hand was ruined.

It wasn't just my promising career as a doctor that was destroyed. As I thought of those terminally ill patients, their gaunt faces filled with hope as they asked me if there was still a chance, my heart broke into pieces.

…

On the third day of my hospital stay, Shaun finally showed up.

He brought a thermal container with him and acted as if nothing had happened when he came to visit me.

"How are you feeling now, Nancy?" he asked, his eyes shifting around. "I heard that your hand is seriously injured. Can it still be treated?"

The moment he arrived, he went straight for my sore spot.

Anger surged within me, and I looked at him with a cold smile. "Shaun, you said you'd get someone to save me. But where were you?"

His mouth opened and closed. It took him a while to form a sentence. "Flora fainted. I had to take her to a safe place quickly—"

"So you just left me there to die?" I cut him off, my eyes brimming with tears.

"If it weren't for Dr. Zahn alerting the mayors of Covale and Dalspire about my role in the area of cancer, there wouldn't have been a rescue team sent just for me. I wouldn't just have lost my hand—I would've lost my life!"

Upon hearing this, tears welled up in Shaun's eyes. He held my hand, looking extremely aggrieved.

"Nancy, I didn't want this either! You know how dangerous it was at the time. If I'd been alone, I would have come to save you first. But Flora was there too! How could I just let her die and leave her in danger as well?" Shaun tried to justify his actions.

He couldn't leave Flora to die but had no problem abandoning me. To think that I was his girlfriend of three years, whom he was planning to marry.

I chuckled derisively.

Shaun continued, "Later, Flora fainted. It was utter chaos back then. Everyone was busy saving lives, and I had to take care of Flora while helping others with the rescue efforts. Nancy, I was just focused on saving others and didn't have time to think about you.

"Besides, you've always been highly valued by Dr. Zahn. I didn't come to save you, but it didn't matter because at the end of the day, he managed to get a rescue team to search for you, right?"

He spoke as if the whole incident had nothing to do with him, completely shirking his responsibility.

I bit my lip, staring in disbelief at the man I had loved for years.

"Do you know how long I was trapped under that wooden cupboard that was over 130 pounds? The entire afternoon! The office I was stuck in only collapsed after multiple aftershocks in the evening. If you had called for help when you left at noon, my hand wouldn't have ended up like this!"

Trinity Hospital was enormous and spanned a large area. According to the doctor from earlier, the team sent to rescue me didn't know my exact location. They searched building by building for me.

Aside from Nigel, my skills in cancer surgery were the most advanced in the country. That was why the higher-ups placed significant importance on finding me. They issued orders that I must be found even if I was dead.

However, the earthquake had caused widespread devastation. Most rescue efforts were directed toward areas with more severe damage.

The search team sent for me was small, and they were afraid of missing any traces of me, so they combed through the area meticulously. This slowed down the process considerably.

"Are you blaming me for this? I was busy rescuing others. Was I wrong to do that?" Shaun seemed even angrier and more offended than I was.

He started rambling, "Is your life the only one that matters? Do other people's lives not count? You just injured your right hand! Do you know how many people died in the earthquake? And you call yourself a doctor!

"So what if you can't perform surgeries anymore? There are plenty of talented doctors in this country. Do you think the hospital can't function without you?"

His self-righteous attempt to guilt-trip me destroyed any lingering feelings I had for him.

It was true that other people's lives mattered too, and I was indeed lucky to have only injured my hand in the earthquake. But if Shaun had helped move the cupboard or called for help without delay, I could have been rescued sooner.

My right hand wouldn't have been damaged so severely until I could no longer perform surgeries. This was something that could have been entirely avoided.

My life might not be more valuable than anyone else's.

But the knowledge I possessed, along with my surgical skills that could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of cancer patients, made my hands especially important and irreplaceable.

As I looked at Shaun, I felt like I was meeting him for the first time—everything about him felt so unfamiliar.

"Let's break up," I muttered with finality.

Shaun's face darkened, and he stood up angrily. "You're breaking up with me, huh? Your hand is ruined now. The hospital won't want you anymore. Your career is done for! Who else would want you but me?"

I took a deep breath and slapped him with my left hand. Then, I knocked over the thermal container he had placed on the bedside table.

Shaun was stunned. He couldn't believe that his usually calm and gentle girlfriend would lose her temper.

I glared at him, my finger trembling as I pointed at him furiously.