What goes around, comes around Finish the Story Week 31 Entry

in #finishthestory6 years ago (edited)

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Hello all it is time again for the finish the story contest If you haven't giving this a try yet do it. Can be a lot of fun. Thank you to @f3nix for his intro this week it is different. But without too much more delay lets get to the story. Oh if you happen to like mine vote for it in the comments please.

What goes around, comes around

by @f3nix

Barnard Hall, in the heart of the west wing of the medical school, the Asclepius sancta sanctorum. The light of the sunset dripped from the dusty double-glazed windows and mixed with the cedar scent of the wooden stalls, arranged in steep theatre. A visitor who had passed the heavy double door would have undoubtedly caught the note of animal musk mixing with the wood essence. Smell of anxiety. Smell of hunted prey. Smell of university student exhausted during a long, endless session of exams.
"I strongly advise you to think carefully about your next words," Prof. Angelus said to the student.

Spread over several rows, set in the narrow space between the back and the table top, the remaining students were crossed by the icy scalpel blade of that voice.

"Here we are," Luke thought in a flash of conscious resignation.

It was the sixth time he had to repeat that exam: after five fails in a row his whole life have been interrupted and swallowed up in that black hole. By now he knew every detail of "At Heart of Cardiology", the three volumes treatise written by Prof. Angelus, a widely recognised eminence of cardiology.

For an eternal moment his thoughts dissociated from the scene and flew to that day three years earlier when, at the head of a handful of fifteen other students, Luke had decided to protest the decisions of the seventy-year-old professor.
"Do you mind if I ask you.. do you really intend to graduate in this university?" A stunned secretary had told him at some point, after the insistent protests of the student committee showed no sign of blurring.
And at what levels could the power of an old ordinary professor, close to retirement, ever come? The answer did not wait and, just two months later, Prof. Angelus was acclaimed by the unanimous council as dean of the faculty. Luke was instantly fire-branded and he would never graduate from that university.

"Well?" The assistant, the professor's guard dog, broke the silence.

"The... the... commissurotomy can only be performed if the flaps are not calcified and the subvalvular apparatus is preserved. With a left anterior thoracotomy, the chest is accessed through the resection space of rib 5. Once the pericardium is opened through the left auricle, a diverter is introduced into the mitral ostium which, opening, forces the valvular flaps to separate the merged commissures." Luke answered almost without breathing, tense like a Vietcong in his tunnel paved of sleepless study nights.

The professor's nose had disgusting bright red veins, Luke did not know if he was breathing - or alive at all. He looked down at the white, protruding knuckles of his left hand, clinging to the arm of his chair, and waited for his fate.

"Twenty-six, do you accept?". A note of irony in that electric scalpel voice.
"Yes. Sorry, I'll take the transcripts." Luke stumbled into his bag, looking through the notebooks for the grade transcripts. He had not even brought the booklet with him since there was so little hope of passing the exam.

The professor absent-mindedly drew a twenty-four and a signature in cuneiform spelling.

The cold light of the Pentaled surgical light-head outlined the instruments neatly aligned as efficient soldiers ready to execute his orders. It was almost pleasant to the watchful eyes of Dr. Luke Richards, a promising cardio-surgeon and head of the famous Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, London.

"Doctor, we have verified that a serious heart attack is going on. The frequency is 207 bpm. We administered 50 mg of protamine sulfate, the patient did not react. Furthermore, his wife informed us of a complication deriving from senile cardiac amyloidosis."

"A very normal case that could be safely entrusted to the Mako-bot" Dr. Richards determined instantly by glancing quickly at the operating table, automated and managed by the hospital central A.I.
He snorted slightly. Evidently the patient had enough influence not only to obtain a human operation, but also to have the Chief Cardiac Surgeon out of bed at three o'clock in the night.

"Who do we have here, doctor?"

"This is a certain Prof. Daniel Angelus".

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The name brought a memory. He had lead a protest against that man. He had challenged him and lost. He had learned back than that being right wasn’t always what matter. That power always played a part. It was a lesson he never forgot and had helped him work his way up the ladder to head of the famous Royal Brompton Hospital. He knew why Prof. Daniel Angelus had tried to stay in that role so long after he was capable of teaching. Power was hard to let go of and post had to have it taken away from them. Luke had become a master of playing at the politics of the medical world and even though he still had resented Prof. Angelus he also thanked him a bit. He was very aware that skill was never the only thing that mattered.

He watched the screen as the Mako-bot started the surgery. As he finished up getting ready to enter if needed he saw something on the screen. He looked again and thought to himself should I save him? He couldn’t stop himself from trying he would show Prof. Angelus how wrong about him he was.

“Stop the Mako-bot right now it missed something. Tell it to check again all the flaps and look for the blockage. I am going in to take over I am sure I saw it. Mako-bot will support me change it to support mode” said Luke.

With that he entered the operating room. He had seen that the flaps looked to be calcified and the Mako-bot had thought so. But he had this fight long ago and knew that this could be wrong. He quickly started to perform the commissurotomy like he had many times before. He hands knew how do this with easy. Moments later the heart of Proj Angelus started to beat again like normal.
“Tell the Mako-bot to switch to primary mode. I am going to let it close him up” said Luke.

They next morning for the first time Luke met the Prof’s wife. She had a lot of spirit for a older woman and had thanked him over and over. New had got around he had pulled of an amazing surgery and without his stopping the A.I. things would have ended bad. Luke enter the room and saw the old man lying there resting. He approached the bed.

“You know that if you had just come to me alone we could have worked it all out. But your were just a stubborn as me and had to go and start a protest. I was almost done but I couldn’t bring myself to walk away in shame. So I let them make me the Dean and slowed stepped away from the classroom. I am sorry that I never stopped them from blocking you. Clearly you were capable of passing my class” said Prof Angelus in an weak tone.

Luke was stunned and couldn't speak. He looked over at the Prof. that was now looking back at him. He had never thought of going to him alone. He had figured he would need back up. He had got so pulled into leading the protest that he never did go talk to him alone.

“It all worked out in the end though didn’t it?” said Prof. Angelus with a smile on his face

“Why yes it did didn’t it?” Luke said thinking of how all that had lead him into that room last night to save this man.

“Maybe I did teach you something after all?” said Prof. Angelus

“More than you know” said Luke

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This post was submitted for curation by: @theironfelix
This post was given a rating of: 0.9955064061911555
This post was voted: 79.15%

You turned this into a positive story--redemption instead of vengeance. Very well organized piece. Tied in also nicely with the first part. Interesting the men were almost mirror images of each other, in their obstinacy.
Satisfying conclusion to a complex theme.

Thanks for reading it. yes I feel that we butt heads with people that are just like us often

:) You're welcome.

This is your best story in my opinion. There's an unexpected sense of reconciliation and peace. I enjoyed how Dr. Richards spots a critical action in the Mako-bot routine and decides to intervene. Bravo!

thank you a lot it was a fun one to write.

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Breaking news: a legendary discovery has been made! The first ever post where the Prof self-crits himself. Thank you @stevet82 for making this discovery. Upvot’d and resteem’d.
C8EBE6B1-64B0-49E0-AE23-86ADFF8CDE5C.gif

...Out of desperation (or was it intuition?), Luke argued for an immediate Aortic Levophed Nano-Bot IV Push - at least a 750ml bolus!

With nothing to lose and the possibility of finally getting rid of the young upstart, the prof. agreed; making sure that the video captured his doubting, shaking head gestures.

Everyone viewing the procedures - both within the surgical theater and the millions of people watching via the internet simulcast - held their breath as the microscopic machines were infused.

It was a bold, non-standard move that was rarely successful.

"This is it. Make or break it," Luke thought, as a drip of sweat stung his left eye and another one ran down his back and into the crack of his ass.

Miraculously, it worked!

Luke finally exhaled...

(Nice post, my friend.)

JaiChai

Thanks for that sorry just go around to coming back to read all of these.

Public banana-service announcement: results are moved tomorrow and edition #32 will be out on Thursday. Good luck brave storyteller!

Thank you for letting me know.

I do enjoy a happy ending!
I thought your idea to have the Mako bot misdiagnose was a clever. The realization of their shared stubborn dispositions gave the Professor and Luke more depth to their personalities, great touch!
My favorite is that Luke acknowledged that there was something good that came from his clashing with the Professor. That our struggles can teach us more than our successes. :)

Ya looking back I have learned a lot more from my battles than the victories.

Congratulations on your win, @stever82. I'm really happy for you!

Nice resolve of the past.

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