Dr. Gerard's POV
I called Colleen to make sure that she didn't forget her check-up for later. Although she was very punctual, I always made myself present in her daily life. I always feel like I want to protect her with everything. She was my patient who was about to die in three years if she didn't manage to have her surgery on time.
She was alone and her parents lived separately with their new families and none of them knew about her condition. I admire her for being strong and good-spirited. I never saw her lose hope when it comes to her situation. She was always positive in her way of thinking and even if she ended up thinking she would die, I never saw her eating sad.
I remember when I offered her my help. "Why don't you accept my help?" I asked her.
"You already waived your professional fee for me. I didn't want you to spend it on my surgery as well." She replied.
"You will have your own family and the amount of my surgery was enough for you to take care of them and give them a comfortable life. I would never take that away from them." She replied.
"But I don't have my own family yet," I tried to reason out.
"When I end up dying, I will bring the guilt to my grave. The fact that I took something from you will make me sad in the afterlife." She replied.
I don't know why she was so hard-headed. I have never seen such a patient as her. Very free-spirited and carefree.
I was having my break and I decided to go to Lin's Cafe later to look after her. I didn't know who she was going to meet and I wouldn't be still if I hadn't made sure she was safe. She had no other friends other than Claire and Ingrid and, of course, me, so I had to see who her new friend was if ever.
I like Colleen very much but she didn't want to be in any intimate relationship with anyone, thinking her life wouldn't take long. She didn't want the person she would love and love her back to get hurt because she would just end up leaving him.
Claire is one of my friend's patients whom Colleen gave her organ to and the operation was successful. That leads to their friendship. Normally, the hospital never let the patient know who her donor was. But because Claire was really wealthy, she managed to get Colleen's information.
Ingrid is Claire's daughter and after finding out about her mom and meeting Colleen, she instantly likes her and vice versa.
Claire wanted Colleen to marry her son, Jared. It appears that his girlfriend was cheating on him from the very beginning, which angered Claire and Ingrid so much. That's why they wanted him to marry Colleen as well.
In return, Colleen was able to get money from Jared for her operation. It was the only option Claire had because Colleen didn't want to accept Claire's help as well.
Ingrid and Claire asked me to look after her as well and I really appreciate how caring they are to Colleen. At least there was someone besides me who really cared for her.
She was determined to seek help only from her family members, but because her parents didn't want anything to do with her, she had no one to rely on.
I didn't expect her to agree, but maybe because she thought she had no feelings for Jared, she didn't have to think of how he would feel about whether he would get sad when she was gone.
I spend the whole time with my other patients as I visit during my rounds. I always see to it that I get to see them and check them out for anything that may cause sudden changes to their condition.
It was 30 minutes before my schedule with Colleen and she had still not arrived. I remembered that she was going to meet someone at Lin's, so I decided to go there.
I was wondering why there was a commotion in the Cafe when I entered and I couldn't believe what I saw. Colleen was getting beaten up by a woman and accusing her of something I knew that she would never do.
As I realized who the woman was, I got mad and warned her and told her about what she was doing. There's no way that I am going to let this thing slide.
"It's OK, Dr. Gerard," Colleen said, that made me look at her. She looked really pitiful and there were bruises all over her.
"Didn't I tell you that you are not allowed to do extreme things?" I scolded her and she laughed.
"I never thought that I would do that as well." She replied.
"Here ma'am Colleen," the waitress said as she put down a glass of water in front of her. "I'm sorry if I didn't stop that woman on time. I was shocked as well." She added.
"It's OK, I am fine. Thank you for the water." Colleen replied, smiling. The waitress left us and got back to her work as I noticed the customers were looking at her.
"I think I need to check on your bruises. They all look serious," I told her.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes, so if you are done here let's go to the hospital now." I told her and stood up. She did the same, with a smile on her face.
"Alright, let's go." She replied and we left the Cafe and headed for the hospital. She was my last patient for the day and I really scheduled her this time so I would have a lot of time to assist her if she needed something medical related.
As we arrived, I let her sit on a chair as I looked into her data on the computer. I called the nurse and asked her to bring an ointment for her bruises.
"All your records show that everything was OK so I will have you do a 2D echo test." I told her and she nodded. I smiled at her, thinking she didn't even complain about the things that needed to be checked on her.
"Before I forget, I want you to have this." I told her and handed her a smart watch.
"You know I don't accept gifts." She said as she gave me back the watch.
"It has an ECG monitoring feature so it will help you know your condition. So just take it, it's important." I told her and did not allow her to object or reject my offer.
The nurse came in and put some ointment on her bruises. "Why do you have all of this? You know you need to take care of yourself."
"I was careless, that's why," She replied, smiling.
After the nurse put on some ointment, we proceeded with conducting the 2d echo and U was glad that everything was fine. She was happy as well and I'm sure that she went home with a happy heart.
When Colleen left, I called Ingrid and informed her about what had happened. After giving her instructions, we ended our call. “I wish I could be him,” I thought.