Chapter 1Second Chance: Surgeon’s Revenge

I was reborn. The moment of my return was the second before I was about to explain the pre-operative instructions to my boyfriend’s childhood sweetheart.

In my last life, I was doing my rounds when I saw the patient drinking a smoothie. I stopped her immediately and informed my boyfriend, the attending surgeon, that the patient hadn’t fasted. For her own safety, the surgery had to be postponed.

The patient then blasted the story all over the internet, blaming me for not reminding her.

My professionalism was torn to shreds. I tried desperately to explain, to clear my name, but no one believed me. Then, my own boyfriend, Leo, started a rumor that my nursing degree was fake, that I’d gotten my job through shady connections.

The internet turned on me. I was doxxed. An enraged stranger threw acid in my face.

It wasn't until after I was run down by a car and killed that my soul, hovering above, saw the truth: the patient was Leo’s childhood sweetheart. It had all been a setup.

…

They say nurses are angels in white, saving lives.

I gave the patient her pre-op instructions. But when I checked on her, I found her sipping a smoothie.

Guided by my professional ethics and a concern for her safety, I told my boyfriend, the surgeon, that we had to postpone.

The patient, Mia, accused me of never telling her.

By that afternoon, I was trending. Another patient in the same room had filmed the confrontation and posted it online.

The internet mob questioned my competence.

I posted my degrees, my awards, my commendations from university and my career. It did nothing.

Then Leo, my Leo, posted a video with his own name attached, claiming I was a fraud who had used connections to get my job.

The harassment escalated. Sulfuric acid scarred my face forever. Finally, a so-called "vigilante" ran me over with his car.

After I died, I watched as Leo and Mia built their careers on the ashes of my life, profiting handsomely from my public execution. Floating in the air, I watched them embrace, and my ethereal hands clenched into fists. Only then did I understand. It was all a trap they had laid for me.

“Brandy? Oh, you’re here! Does this mean it’s almost time for my surgery?”

A familiar, nauseatingly sweet voice echoed in my ear.

I looked up, and my vision was filled with a deceptively innocent face.

A tearing, ripping pain spread from my heart through every inch of my body. It was only when my lungs filled with the sharp, cold, antiseptic air of the hospital that I realized I was alive again.

Reborn. In the exact moment before I was to give pre-op instructions to Mia, Leo’s childhood sweetheart.

“I’ve been waiting for so long, I’m so excited for the surgery,” she said, her voice raspy. “I even took a whole week off work for this, and I’m still in my probationary period! You’ll take good care of me, won’t you, Brandy?”

She touched her neck as she spoke, as if it were a great effort.

Last time, I’d felt sorry for her. A fresh graduate, all alone in the hospital. I’d given her extra attention, soothed her anxiety when she fretted, especially when the other patients chimed in on her behalf. Before leaving, I had explicitly told her: no food or water before the surgery.

And yet, the next morning, I found her drinking a smoothie.

I had told her with genuine regret that we’d have to postpone, that eating before anesthesia was dangerous.

Mia had burst into tears. “Why didn’t you remind me properly? Are you trying to get me fired? I’m never coming to this hospital again!”