Short sketch - The Heart of the Machine

Dr.Johnson had a reputation among us medicos (medical students)-- He was called the Machine. His thick brows were always knit in an angry frown; his eagle eyes detected any small slip we made with merciless accuracy. His speech was clipped; his comments, sharp and cutting. On rounds with him, I often wondered at his remarkably emotionless tone while explaining many of the patients' conditions; often terminal. "Spine damage. Probably will never regain complete use of either of his legs." "Blinded for life." "No chance of survival" He pronounced his verdict calmly. I wondered how a doctor, reputedly the best neurologist in the country, could be so heartless.

"Come with me". His frown deepened as he banged the phone and gave me a curt nod. He walked briskly out of the room without waiting for me. I ran behind him, barely catching up.

Emergency case. Even as we approached, I could hear the hysterical wails coming from the Trauma section. It was a child, barely four or five.” Fell out the window”, a nurse whispered to me. Two nurses were trying to restrain the mother who seemed to have gone out of her mind in shock. She shrieked as the nurses tried to wheel the child to the OT.

"Get her out. NOW!". Dr. Johnson's voice was like a gunshot in that room. He was gone before the nurses could react. "A-s-s" the nurse mouthed as she tried to comfort the mother. I rushed to the OT.

For the next three hours, I watched the most skilled fingers in the country as the Doc silently operated on the child. Except for some barked out commands that I obeyed without a word, I watched fascinated. The tightly clenched jaws of the doc told me the kid was in trouble long before the monitors in the room began to beep frantically. The doc shook his head. "I've lost her" he said shortly, his tone as emotionless as ever. He turned to the basin to wash his hands.

But not before I had seen the anguished tears in his eyes. As the nurses and I walked out of the theatre, I turned to see the doc pass his hand thru the child's hair tenderly. I saw his lips move. ""I'm sorry." I turned away, tears pricking my own eyes.