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.

"Go away! Get out of here!" I shouted at Shaun.

He snorted coldly and strode toward the door.

Before he left, he added, "Know your place, Nancy. If you end up crippled, it'll be hard for you to get married. For old times' sake, I'll give you a piece of advice. If you're willing to stay home, take care of the family, and raise our kids, I can still treat you like I used to."

His condescending tone made it seem like marrying him was some monumental blessing for me.

My response was to throw all the apples from the bedside table at him. I didn't stop until I had driven him out of the ward completely.

…

After staying in the hospital in Dalspire for a few days, I hurried back to Strathmore as my patients at the hospital were still waiting for me.

They were all late-stage cancer patients, with limited financial means and no way to afford expensive medications and chemotherapy to sustain their lives.

These poor souls were counting the days and living on borrowed time.

I was the one who had given them hope.

They had traveled from far and wide. All of them had come to the hospital because they believed I could perform the surgeries that might save them.

No one wanted to die, not even cancer patients who were already enduring unimaginable pain.

With my right hand still wrapped in bandages, I couldn't stop worrying about my patients and went straight to their ward.

However, I saw Flora and Shaun at the door. Flora was smiling gently as she spoke to my patients.

I immediately recalled the ruthless look in Flora's eyes during the earthquake. I frowned at that vivid memory, and my heart tightened.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

Flora maintained her smile and turned to look at me. "Oh, you're back. How's your right hand? Will you still be able to perform the surgery scheduled for next week?"

She then feigned surprise and covered her mouth. "Why, I almost forgot. Your hand was injured so badly that you can't hold a scalpel anymore."

I knew she was trying to mock me, but I hadn't expected her to bring it up in front of my patients.

Cancer patients, especially those in late stages, live on the brink of life and death. Their emotional well-being was critical, and any sense of despair could be devastating.

What Flora was doing was unimaginably harmful.

Upon seeing the confusion and panic on my patients' faces, I was livid. "Flora, enough already! If you have something to say, discuss it with me in private. Stop speaking nonsense in front of my patients!"

Shaun suddenly stepped in front of Flora protectively.

He said grimly, "What Flora said isn't wrong. Isn't it true that your right hand is useless now and you can't perform surgeries anymore? You're their attending physician. You may be able to hide this for a while, but can you hide it forever?"

Then, he turned to the patients and added, "This is Dr. Blanche, and she studied with Dr. Zahn, just like Dr. Smith. She knows everything Dr. Smith knows. You can trust her with your treatment—"

Before he could finish, I cut him off sternly, "Enough! How can you treat something as serious as saving lives like this? Stop this nonsense immediately!"

Flora smiled and retorted, "Nancy, you're the one being unreasonable."

She then spoke with a tone of feigned sympathy.

"Dr. Zahn fell ill a few days ago. All his notes and research materials are now in my hands. Since you can't perform surgeries anymore, I'll handle the surgery next week for you."