The Scapegoat Cardiothoracic Surgeon Simulator

The cold, antiseptic tang of Metropolitan General’s operating room clings to your scrubs as you yank off your surgical cap, sweat beading at your hairline despite the OR’s frigid temperatures.

The scrub nurse nods at you, already prepping the room for the next case, but your gaze locks on Gregory’s receding back in the hallway beyond the observation glass—he vanished before you could even call out to acknowledge his assist mid-surgery, his shoulders hunched like he’s carrying the weight of the entire cardiothoracic department on his chest.

Your pager buzzes, cutting through the quiet: the Chief of Surgery has requested your presence in the main conference room in 15 minutes for the mandatory morning handover, where the department will review the upcoming quarter’s high-priority cases, including the still-officially-undisclosed VIP surgery that will derail your life in seven days.

As you trudge toward the locker room to swap your blood-flecked scrubs for a crisp white coat, you pass Chloe by the nurses’ station, her intern badge pinned crookedly to her pale blue scrubs.

She grins up at you, all wide-eyed sweetness, but you catch the flicker of sharp calculation in her gaze when she asks if you’ve seen Gregory lately, her tone casual but her fingers twisting the edge of her scrub top so hard her knuckles whiten.

You recognize the act immediately—she’s already planting seeds, just like she did in the original timeline to drive a wedge between you and Gregory.

By the time you reach the conference room, half the department is already seated: Gregory slumps in a back corner, scrolling furiously through his work phone to avoid eye contact, Chloe hovering at his side with a lukewarm coffee she fetched for him, and the Chief of Surgery flipping through a thick stack of patient charts at the head of the long oak table.

You have a handful of minutes before the handover begins to act, the weight of your second chance settling heavy on your shoulders, every choice carrying the power to rewrite your fate or seal it for good.