Ian examined the man first. The rod had pierced through the upper part of his abdomen and had come out of the chest on the left side of the body. It was jutting out of his back, making it impossible for him to lie on his back. So, he was lying on his stomach. The area where the rod had pierced had become bluish-red, with dried blood around it.

Though Aria had tried everything she could to stop the bleeding, it was impossible due to the rod still being attached to his body. Ian then went through the reports and the CT scan. The rod looked to be very close to the heart, it was just a few centimeters away. The man was extremely lucky that none of his organs were ruptured, especially his heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made it till the OT.

The CT scan showed a blood clot on the right side of the chest. Though he was fine right now, he had to be operated at all costs immediately. He was losing time and it would not be long before he had a cardiac failure.

Ian looked at the nurse and started barking orders to her. "Prepare for the surgery right away. We need to operate on him without delaying it any longer. Aria, be my assistant. I am going to do the surgery."

"Okay, Dr. Davis." Aria and the nurse said at the same time. It was certain without Ian's help, the chances of the surgery being a success were meager. After that, the nurse hurried to get everything ready. The medical assistants were already on stand-by, they had to just start the procedure. Ian and Aria were the lead surgeons. There was the surgical technologist, Dr. Lee who was assisting them along with two nurses and an anesthesiologist.

Ten minutes later, the surgery started. The man's blood type was an easily available one, much to the doctors' relief. They knew they needed a large amount of blood. So, the nurse had already prepared more than twenty units. He was already sedated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the pain and was breathing using a ventilator. So, the anesthesiologist induced him with general anesthesia with ketamine. He was given very little amount so that there was no drastic loss of blood pressure.

"We need to perform a thoracotomy. Dr. Aria, make an incision between the two ribs in the chest from front to back on the lungs."

Aria did as she was told and blood started to ooze out immediately. The assisting nurse started cleaning it with cotton. They noticed that the posterior chest wall was punctured. There was a big clot on the aorta and an additional injury to the area of the left corner lope of the lung. The case was more complex than it looked. Nevertheless, they did not lose hope.

Ian slowly eased the rod from its tricky position. He had to be careful, so as to not move it closer to the heart. It took a lot of time for him to remove it, but he did it eventually. Everybody took a sigh of relief immediately. The nurse noted the blood pressure. Though it was high, he was not in an extremely critical condition. She changed the almost empty blood bag with a new one.

Ian then placed a chest tube to make sure that blood or air does not collect in the chest. Later the man was put on nasal prongs with oxygen. There was also a linear tear in the diaphragm which was repaired to prevent any complication.

Aria took over the surgery. She had to deal with the blood clot in the aorta. She took a thin, flexible catheter and threaded it slowly through the blood vessel. It took her a lot of time for her to remove the clot, more than what Ian had taken to remove the rod. As soon as the clot was removed, the man started to bleed profusely. He was heaving a mild heart attack.

"Ian, control the blood flow. Nurse, please monitor his blood pressure. It must not drop below 70 mmHg. Doctor Lee, help me with the sutures." Aria commanded gritting her teeth. She was anxious, but she controlled herself. The man was still fighting to stay alive. So, she had to save him at all costs.

Ian did not say anything to her because he had full faith in Aria and did as she told him to do. She knew what she was doing. However, if she could not save the man then he would not blame her either. It would be a miracle if he survived such a situation.

Aria sutured the man's diaphragm and wounded lung and the bleeding reduced drastically. Layer by layer, she sealed all the wounds and closed the chest. The technologist and the nurse started to clean his wounds.

"Good job everyone," Ian appreciated. But nobody smiled as the man was not out of danger yet. He was going to be kept under observation for thirty-six hours. He had not passed the critical stage yet, there were chances of him getting a heart attack again. However, the doctors had tried their best and now it was up to the patient if he was going to make it or not.

The surgery had lasted for seven hours. Ian's body was still weak to have handled the pressure. He looked pale and worn out. Aria was in a similar condition. She had not eaten anything other than the omelet she had in the morning. The seven-hour operation was taking a toll on her and she was feeling dizzy. She immediately went to the corridor outside the OT and sat on the bench beside Ian, after washing her hands.

It took them a lot of time for them to return to normal. "Are you alright?" Aria had seen Ian go pale right after the surgery. So, she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Yes. You?"

"I am fine. Let me help you." She stood up. But Ian stopped her immediately.

"I will manage. You look tired yourself." He tried assuring her, but in vain. Aria stopped the ward boy who was coming their way.

"Please help Dr. Davis change and escort him till his ward and see to it that he eats something." She requested him politely.

"Aria. I am fine..." Aria gave him a deathly glare which shut him up the next moment. It was the first time he was on the receiving end of her glare and man, she was scary. Having no other choice, he took the ward boy's help to go back to his room.

Aria waited for a long time before she dragged her body to the changing room. Her stomach had been protesting for a long time. It was not her mistake though. She had been busy treating kids since morning that she forgot about having lunch. All she wanted to do was to eat something and sleep for an entire day.

She immediately went to her cabin to pick up her things and pack up for the day. However, she stopped immediately when she remembered that she had brought her car.

'Of all the days, why did I have to drive today?' She scolded herself, crying inwardly. She had no strength to drive her car with all the work she had done. Her legs were aching due to her standing for a long time. So, Aria decided to leave her car at the hospital and hail a cab home.

Aria took out her phone to book a cab when she saw missed calls from Noah and Ivy. There were also messages from her sister.

Aria, where are you? Are you still at work?

Aria call me.

Ari, how long will you be working?

Aria smiled at Ivy's messages. 'Maybe, she wanted to come pick her up.' She pondered and gave her sister a call immediately.

"Aria, thank god you called. Where are you?"

"I am still at the hospital."

"Are you done with your shift?"

"Yes, why?"

"Then, could you please come and pick me up?" Ivy requested, making her sister dumbfounded. She had asked her what Aria wanted of her. How ironic!