When I woke up after the CT scan, the first thing I saw was the white ceiling of the emergency room.
My head was heavy.
My right leg hurt.
But the first thought that came to my mind was not my injury.
It was Duong Nghenh Tuyet.
I opened my eyes slowly.
The nurse beside me noticed immediately.
—Doctor To, you’re awake.
I didn’t answer.
I just asked:
—What time is it?
The nurse checked her watch.
—Almost midnight.
Almost midnight.
That meant the surgery had already ended.
The accident had already happened.
And the person who wanted me to take the blame had already started dealing with the consequences.
At that moment, the door opened.
Truong Khai walked in.
His expression was complicated.
Relief.
Confusion.
And something else.
Fear.
—Doctor To…
He stopped.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
I looked at him.
—Tell me.
—What happened in the operating room?
His face changed.
Because he understood.
I already knew something.
He sat down slowly.
—The patient from the Bentley accident…
He hesitated.
—The surgery failed.
Although I had already expected it, hearing those words still made my heart sink.
—When?
—Forty minutes after entering the operating room.
—Cause?
Truong Khai looked at me.
—Complications during the emergency procedure.
I closed my eyes.
Then I asked:
—Who was the main surgeon?
Silence.
A long silence.
Then he answered:
—Duong Nghenh Tuyet.
Everything became clear.
The comments were right.
Duong Nghenh Tuyet had caused the mistake.
But she didn’t want to admit it.
She wanted me to walk into that operating room.
She wanted my name on the surgical record.
She wanted everyone to believe that I was the one who made the mistake.
Because I was more famous.
More experienced.
More trusted.
If something happened…
everyone would believe it was my responsibility.
I looked at my injured hands.
The same hands that had saved countless patients.
Almost became the reason someone else’s mistake destroyed my life.
The next morning, the hospital director came to visit me.
Duong Nghenh Tuyet’s father.
Yang Ming.
He walked in wearing a worried expression.
—Doctor To.
—I heard about your accident.
I looked at him.
—Thank you for your concern.
He sat beside the bed.
—But there is something else we need to discuss.
Of course.
Not my injury.
Not my recovery.
Something else.
—The Bentley patient…
He paused.
—The family is asking for an explanation.
I remained silent.
He continued:
—The hospital needs to understand what happened that night.
I looked at him calmly.
—Shouldn’t you ask your daughter?
His expression froze.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
A father’s instinct to protect his child.
—Doctor To, be careful with your words.
—I’m just asking questions.
I smiled slightly.
—So am I.
—Why did your daughter call me back after my shift ended?
—Why did she insist that I enter the operating room?
—And why was my name already prepared on the surgical record before I even arrived?
His face changed.
Because he didn’t expect me to know.
At that moment, the door suddenly opened.
Duong Nghenh Tuyet walked in.
Her eyes were red.
She looked like she hadn’t slept.
—Canh Di…
She looked at me.
—Why are you doing this?
I stared at her.
The woman who had been my closest friend for eight years.
The woman who shared my dorm room.
The woman who cried with me after my first failed surgery.
Now stood in front of me pretending to be hurt.
—Doing what?
My voice was calm.
She bit her lip.
—Making everyone think I wanted to harm you.
I almost laughed.
—Didn’t you?
Her face became pale.
—Canh Di!
She lowered her voice.
—You know how serious this is.
—My father will lose everything.
—My career will be destroyed.
I looked at her.
—And mine?
She froze.
—What about mine?
—If I entered that operating room…
—What would happen to me?
No answer.
Because she knew.
She knew exactly.
Then my phone rang.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
But the content made my expression change.
A video.
The title:
“Operating room entrance camera.”
I opened it.
The footage showed Duong Nghenh Tuyet standing outside the operating room.
Talking to a nurse.
The audio was not clear.
But one sentence was unmistakable.
“Let Doctor To come in first.”
“Once something happens, the responsibility will naturally belong to her.”
The room became silent.
Duong Nghenh Tuyet’s face lost all color.
Yang Ming immediately stood up.
—Where did you get this?
I looked at him.
—Does it matter?
—The truth is already here.
For years, I thought friendship meant trust.
I thought protecting someone meant standing beside them.
But I was wrong.
Sometimes the person standing closest to you…
is the person holding the knife.
That afternoon, the hospital officially launched an investigation.
The surgical records were reviewed.
The surveillance footage was collected.
The account of every medical staff member was taken.
And for the first time…
Duong Nghenh Tuyet could no longer hide behind her father’s position.
Before leaving the hospital, she stopped me.
Her eyes were full of resentment.
—Canh Di.
—Do you really have to destroy me?
I looked at her.
Then answered quietly:
—You were the one who tried to destroy me first.
She lowered her head.
I turned away.
Because from that moment on…
she was no longer my friend.
She was only the person who tried to make me pay for a mistake that wasn’t mine.
And she still didn’t know…
the patient she thought had died because of her mistake…
had just woken up.
And the first person that patient named…
was not me.
It was Duong Nghenh Tuyet.
