Set Up to Fail

"Dr. Westcott, the patient is in critical condition. She's already been taken into the operating room. You need to operate right away!"

As I listened to the nurse urging me, I couldn't stop thinking about the comments I had just seen.

I had talked to my wife only 20 minutes ago.

She had just finished her yoga class and was getting ready for bed. How could she suddenly be bleeding so badly?

But just as I was about to head to the operating room, the comments appeared again.

"After the male lead finishes the surgery, an empty liquor bottle with his fingerprints will magically appear in his desk drawer. That will frame him for operating while drunk and cause a medical malpractice scandal!"

"He'll be sentenced to 15 years in prison. After he's finally released, his wife will run him over with her car and kill him!"

I froze for a second before walking back to my desk.

When I pulled open the drawer, it was completely empty.

But the nonstop comments were impossible to ignore. I immediately turned on the office security cameras through my computer and made sure they covered every angle of my desk.

"George actually turned on the cameras? Is he trying to prove he's innocent?"

"It won't help. That side dude is about to show up. He'll drag the male lead straight into the operating room, so there won't be time to come back and check the footage!"

The office door suddenly flew open.

Malcolm Scannell rushed inside and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me out.

"Cindy is fighting for her life in the operating room, and you're still sitting here? The nurses have been calling you over and over to get in there. Why aren't you going? She's carrying your baby!"

I stared at Malcolm with a pained look.

The pregnant woman suffering from severe bleeding really was my wife, Cindy Westcott.

Even so, I forced myself to look confused.

"What are you talking about? I just called Cindy. She was already asleep. How could she possibly be in the operating room?"

When Malcolm saw the doubt on my face and realized I had no intention of going, he grew anxious.

"I'm not lying to you. Just go to the operating room and see for yourself. A life is on the line. If you keep wasting time, Cindy may not survive!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab me again, but I quickly stepped aside.

Frowning, I looked at him and asked, "Are you absolutely sure the woman in the operating room is Cindy?"

"Of course I am. I would never joke about something like this."

My face turned cold as I demanded, "Then why did you know my wife was in the hospital before I did? Did something happen to her because of you?"

Malcolm looked flustered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and shouted angrily. "Cindy is dying! How can you still be questioning something like that?"