The doctors were scrubbing for the operating room. The nurses moved
quickly to make way for the stretcher which carried the French prime
minister. The leader had been eating dinner when he gripped his chest
and fell forward. Life Flight aired him to the London Cardiac Surgical
Center, and the top medical teams were recruited from all parts of
Europe. Though his vital signs had been stabilized, the angiography
revealed a blocked aorta. His central heart artery might rupture at any
moment. The cardiac specialists were taking no chances. An arterial line
was prepped, and the anesthesiologist held up the oxygen mask as quick
hands placed Jacques Cabot gingerly onto the surgery table.
Prime
Minister Jacques Cabot had been in the French military in Algeria
before his election. His many bloody sieges and major mismanagement of
the Algerian conquests were omitted in his military reports and dossiers
sent back to France. The French people thought him a hero. The rural
town’s people of Nigei, Algeria knew he was a monster. After capturing a
province, he encouraged his bored soldiers to torture children as he
would stand by laughing cynically. Any man who would try to protect his
children would be shot. However, Algeria is far from France, and nothing
was recorded as out of ordinary in the French military dispatches.
Jacques
sat with his top officers. Bottles of Johnny Walker and special cigars
were passed around the table. As the French commander turned to the side
to fill his whisky glass, his profile stood out. A nose with a sharp
eagle beak, his two black eyes curtained with a thick unborn, a huge
scar from his ear to jaw area. The side “gills” of his jaw muscle flexed
into tightly constriction. His eyes were always cold and ruthless.
Marka
had been six at the time of Algerian sieges. But he would never forget
Jacques Cabot. The young child hid in fear and horror as he watched the
soldiers murder his father who was protecting his sister. After this,
his mother would sit for hours starring at the wall of her bedroom.
Marka would make all the beans for his sister and their dinner.
As
he grew Marka showed that he had a quick mind. He loved science and
math and studied diligently at the schoolhouse with the other children.
One day the missionaries came to evaluate young men for the priesthood.
Marka was very happy to be chosen to further his education. Though it
saddened him to leave his dissolute mother and little sister, he seized
the opportunity to go live in the monastery and to read more books. The
senior monks observed Marko’s brilliance and manual dexterity. He could
draw and sculpt a perfect copy of any Holy statue for the sacred days.
He was kind and particularly enjoyed caring for the older, infirm
brothers. He knew instinctually which herbs and poultices would ease
their pain and increase their joint mobility.
The monks
all said Marka had the face of a king. He had the one horizontal,
straight line across his forehead, a line they say which marked the face
of an emperor. His deep blue eyes had a radiant gaze which calmed
others who were in turmoil. A round hairline, high placed large ears and
long earlobes. His teeth were small, and his mouth was wide and easy to
smile. His facial features were those of love and nobility.
When
the bishop came to evaluate the monastery, the older monks took him
aside to point out Marka’s talents and how these might be wasted as a
country priest. After many interviews, tests, and a personal meeting
with the Pope, Marka was selected to train at the French Medical Academy
in Paris. Though he was humble, his ability to sculpt in surgery became
legendary in all of Europe. His hands were delicate with long fingers.
Perfect for a surgeon. His mentors encouraged him to specialize in
Cardiology, an internship that was just gaining recognition.
And
so it happened that when the call went through the medical community
for Prime Minister Cabot’s heart surgery, Dr. Marka was called to
consult on the case. The older French statesman would never remember the
young boy who hid behind the tree away from the soldiers. The French
leader, in pain and vulnerable, had no awareness that his murderous
deeds were being called into account as he was transferred onto the
surgical table.
So, here they were in the same room -
an unconscious heart patient, full of evil deeds and a young, vibrant
cardiologist who was to save his life.
“And for what?”
Marka reflected bitterly. “A man whose hidden deeds reached out far and
wide.” It was only fair that Cabot should ‘accidentally’ die on the
table. Just as his father had ‘accidentally’ died or so the Algerian
dispatches reported.
Twenty news reporters leaned over
the glass encased balcony which separated from them from the operating
room below. Three nurses prepped the patient, laid out delicate
instruments, and counted the sponges. Marka knew exactly where to open
Cabot’s chest. He had assessed the man’s height and weight to a
millimeter. One cut a fourth of an inch off, and the aorta would
rupture. The prime minister would then bleed out on the table – too
quick for surgeons to cauterize the open artery. A life threatening
surgery. Who could tell which way it would go? An ‘accident’ could be
very quick and look completely innocent to the whole surgical team. No
one would doubt.
Marksa’s hand was steady but his
heart was conflicted. Rage poured over his emotions in vicious floods.
It had been years since he had tasted the acid, bitter taste of watching
his father murdered by Cabot’s men. The acid rose too quickly on his
tongue. He felt his body throbbing with a deep desire for revenge.
He
stood still and waited. Slowly and evenly, his breathing returned to
his body. He remembered the Oath he took as a physician “to do no harm.”
Through his mind washed the images of the hundreds of patients he had
surgically changed – cleft palates in children, pacemakers in fragile
older men, physical hearts he had mended so that they might beat again –
strong and true. His spiritual essence, despite all his childhood
trauma, was rising now in his consciousness, calming his heart pounding.
The surgical suite was completely quiet as all waited for Dr.
Marka’ first incision. Both he and world renown Cardiologist, Dr. Philip
Robbins, had worked on many cases together. They were surgical partners
and beyond that, they were friends. Either could lead in an operation.
“Phil,” Marka exhaled deeply, “I want you to open this surgery. I will be your second, back-up surgeon this time.”
And with a nod, Phil nodded moved into position to open and repair Cabot’s heart.
(c) Copyright, October 29, 2012. Barbara Roberts. All rights reserved.
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