Scene 1 – SKR Hospitals, Outpatient Wing
Dr. Arjun Rao leans against a wall, rubbing his temple portion of head . The clock above the nurse's station works five minutes slower. Patients crowd the hallway — crying babies, shouting relatives, and the faint smell of disinfectants.
Arjun is a junior resident, overworked and underpaid. He's been on duty for 32 hours. His shirt is untucked, his ID card is hanging.
He signs discharge papers without reading. His handwriting looks like a dying ECG trace.
Nurse (softly): "Sir, OP ticket number seventy-four is still waiting."
Arjun (without looking up): "Tell seventy-four I'll see them after seventy-three dies."
The nurse doesn't laugh.
Scene 2 – The Break Room
Arjun microwaves leftover biryani while two senior doctors — Dr. Prakash and Dr. Meena — discuss a new heart transplant case.
SKR Hospitals, one of the city's biggest private hospitals, is famous for two things: excellent surgeons and invisible corruption. The management squeezes every rupee from patients, pushing "packages," unnecessary scans, and "VIP" surgeries.
Arjun, meanwhile, makes ₹600 per 24-hour shift. He sleeps in a storeroom next to the biomedical waste bins.
When Dr. Meena mentions that the new liver transplant patient paid 30 lakhs in advance, Arjun's spoon freezes midair.
Arjun: "Thirty? For one surgery?"
Prakash: "You think livers grow on trees, junior?"
Meena: "This place runs on that money. Be thankful you've got scrubs."
Arjun forces a smile, but something inside him burns — the injustice, the waste, the greed.
Hospital Cafeteria, Noon
Dr. Kavya Menon sits alone, reviewing surgical notes. Her posture is perfect, her tone quiet but firm. Arjun slides into the chair opposite her, carrying a steel tumbler of watery coffee.
Arjun: "Morning, Doctor Menon. Still pretending this place runs on ethics?"
Kavya (without looking up): "Still pretending sarcasm pays rent?"
She looks up now — faint smile. They've known each other since medical college. She joined SKR through a merit scholarship; he barely got in .
Kavya: "You know, if you just focused, you'd get a residency at a government hospital. Better pay, fewer sharks."
Arjun: "And miss all this drama? Not a chance."
A silence hangs between them — familiar, tense, but caring.
Kavya: "You joke, but one day you'll cross a line you can't uncross."
Arjun: oh ok. Let's see what happens
She looks at him — searching, unsure what he means. He then walks off, leaving his empty tumbler behind.
Scene 3 – The Parking Lot
A dented car( his grandfathers) suzuki esteem with few cracks on the windshield . Arjun opens his wallet — ₹280 left. He stares at the SKR Hospitals glass facade glowing in the dark, the slogan underneath:
"Care Beyond Compare."
He mutters, "Care, my ass."
A loud crash interrupts him — a car screeches, two young men jump out, one bleeding badly from his shoulder. Gangsters, clearly. They yell for help.
Arjun's instinct takes over. He pulls a first-aid kit from his scooter, tears open a gauze, stops the bleeding. The injured guy mutters something about "the police," "a deal gone wrong."
Arjun doesn't ask questions. He stabilizes the man, scribbles a fake OP number on paper, and sends them away.
They leave — but not before the uninjured one presses a bundle of notes into his hand.
₹10,000.
Arjun hesitates, but keeps it.
Scene 4 – Night Duty
Back inside SKR, Arjun finds a new admission — a VIP's son with mild gastritis. The duty consultant orders a full panel: MRI, endoscopy, overnight stay.
Arjun can't take it anymore.
Arjun: "Sir, it's just acid reflux. We can treat it with omeprazole."
Consultant (smirking): "At SKR, reflux pays the bills. Do your job, doctor."
He does. Quietly.
Later, he goes to the stairwell, counts the ₹10,000 again. It feels dirty. It also feels like survival.
Scene 5 – Outside the Hospital
The two gangsters' car is back. The uninjured one — Ravi — steps out, smiling.
Ravi: "Doc, you saved my brother's life. My boss wants to meet you."
Arjun: "I'm not that kind of doctor."
Ravi: "No, you're exactly that kind. You help people quietly. You don't ask questions."
Ravi hands him a new phone number on a piece of paper.
Ravi: "In case you ever want to earn what you deserve."
Arjun pockets it without a word.
Scene 6 – SKR Hospitals, Morning
Arjun returns to duty. Same crowd, same chaos.
Only difference — this time, there's a folded piece of paper in his pocket with a name and number on it.
He touches it once, then gets back to work.
The chapter ends on his face — tired, angry, and quietly alive with new purpose.