Warning: This is the chapter where the words get less.. ethical. I don't normally use foul names in my stories, but in this case, they make things more realistic

Chapter 6

Another month into his job, Dr. Manning was as busy as ever in the hospital, checking on his old patients, treating new ones and settling endless appointments for surgery. It was sometime during the one of the hospital’s busiest days that a girl was brought in on a stretcher, her body shaking uncontrollably from spasms. Dr. Manning happened to walk by, and knowing how all the doctors and nurses were all tied up with endless duties, he decided to tend to the girl.

Following behind the nurses rolling the stretcher along the corridors was a familiar-looking fellow, the one whom Dr. Manning referred to as Cody. He had a distressed expression on his face but Dr. Manning ignored him. He questioned the nurses about the cause of the girl’s condition, but they said they were still clueless on the subject. So Dr. Manning turned to Cody and asked him the same question. Cody explained that she had taken a few shots of heroin and a half hour later, she was having seizures.

“How much heroin did she take?” Dr. Manning asked.

“I don’t know, she took enough!” Cody answered.

“Enough could’ve been an overdose, Cody, I need to know how much she took!”

Cody hesitated, looking frustrated. “Three full syringes.”

“Three?”

The nurses shoved the trembling girl into an operating room and Dr. Manning ordered Cody to stay out. Dr. Manning then got right to work, filling a syringe with naltrexone, a drug that counters the effects of an overdose of heroin in the blood. He injected the drug into the girl’s veins as the nurses tried their best to stabilize her.

“Her blood pressure’s still going up, doctor,” the nurses informed.

No, the naltrexone’s not working, Dr. Manning thought.

The heart rate monitor drew a straight horizontal line and emitted an eternal monotone beep. Dr. Manning knew immediately that they were losing the girl. For the new few minutes, he and the nurses anxiously attempted to revive the patient’s heart, and eventually they gave up.

Dr. Manning sighed in exasperation – the drugged girl was his second patient who had died on him for the day. As it turned out, he was not the only upset one. Cody came bursting in almost immediately after the girl died, yelling at his elder sibling.

“You fucking bastard!” Cody shouted, grabbing Dr. Manning by his collar. “You killed her, you bastard!”

Cody pushed the unsuspecting Robert roughly against the operating room’s counter, knowing over some expensive equipment. He swung fists at Dr. Manning’s face, yelling at him, while fighting off the nurses who tried to stop him. It was not until a couple of other doctors and security guards came running in to restrain Cody did Dr. Manning have the chance to lift his hands to his throbbing jaw. He opened his eyes and looked at Cody, who continued to yell at him.

“Motherfucker, you’ll pay for that, I swear it!” Cody cursed.

Dr. Manning could not help but feel a little intimidated by Cody and his threat. His heart raced even as Cody was being dragged out. Jack Hudson, one among the two doctors who had run in, turned to Dr. Manning in uttermost concern and asked if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” Dr. Manning said sarcastically, not really in the mood to talk to anyone. “I just lost my second patient for the day and got punched out for it, how do you think I feel?”

Dr. Hudson hushed. Dr. Manning, in anticipation to leave the room, failed to notice his concerned and slightly offended face. He walked straight to the men’s room and glanced into the mirror. Cody’s punches had given him a bruised jaw and a bleeding nose. Throwing the end of his stethoscope and tie across his shoulder, he leaned over and began to wash his face…

Bobby stood before Mr and Mrs Harrison’s graves. He stared at the tombstones for a very long time, not quite knowing what to think, not knowing where to turn.

“Stop your moping, you wuss,” Cody snapped, slapping Bobby’s head.

Bobby ignored the first slap. But when the second one made contact, he shoved his brother away and glared. “You’re such a heartless ass, Cody.”

Cody held Bobby by the collar. “Who’s an ass?”

“Mr and Mrs Harrison cared for you…”

“No, Bobby, they cared for you!” Cody said. “Reality check, they sent you to school, they spent time with you, they left all their money and belongings to you!”

“They sent you to school too, but you played truant. They tried to spend time with you, but you ran away. I’m the only one reliable enough to make good use of their
things, of course they willed them to me!” Bobby stated.

“I don’t need to take this crap from you,” Cody scoffed and turned away.

“Oh, you’d rather take it from Lopez?” Bobby asked.

Cody turned back to Bobby and said, “Don’t you ever mention that asshole’s name around me again.”

“What’s wrong, Cody, is he still too tough for you? Or maybe you’re still afraid of him?” Bobby challenged.

“I’ll show you who’s afraid,” Cody growled and swung his fist.

The restroom door creaked open but Dr. Manning did not look up. He already knew who it was.

“You know, Bobby, you can’t always save everyone’s life,” Dr. Hudson said. “You’re a doctor, not a miracle-worker. It’s okay if you can’t rescue every patient - God’s not going to condemn you for that.”

Dr. Manning sighed and turned off the water tap. “I know, Jack,” he said in a much quieter tone than before. “It just gets very frustrating.”

“That guy had no right to hit you…”

“I know him.”

Dr. Hudson stopped short. “Excuse me?”

“I know the guy,” Dr. Manning repeated. “He’s my “long lost” sibling. I hadn’t seen him for years until a month ago when I was working at the out-patient post. The girl I was trying to save must’ve been a girlfriend of some sort and he was furious that I couldn’t keep her alive.”

“My concern now is the threat he threw at me,” Dr. Manning continued. “He’s probably pretty high on drugs and, judging from the way he grew up, he may have been serious.”

Dr. Hudson frowned slightly. “How did he grow up, Bobby?”

“I’d rather not talk about it, Jack. All you need to know is my brother and I don’t get along.”

Dr. Hudson nodded understandingly. “You’re not on good terms, huh?”

“Never have been.”