It was three in the morning when the loud siren of an incoming ambulance disturbed the tranquility in the emergency triage area of Saint Vinelde Hospital.

A male elderly patient was taken out from the vehicle… his face contorted from pain and his varicose hands tightly clenched his chest, gasping for air. It was then, the medical team, dressed in their white personal protective suits came rushing out of the emergency room and began assessing the newly arrived patient right away.

Yes, Juliana could vividly remember, not even missing a single detail that fateful evening as she stepped outside, hearing the muffled voices of the medical staff. She could hear her name being called out—kind of panic-stricken, as the patient started convulsing on the stretcher.

"Doc! We're losing oxygen levels so fast!"

Juliana looked quickly at the pulse oximeter that was clipped on the patient's thumb and motioned her hand towards the nurse beside her who was holding the dextrose.

"Insert the sterile solution, and let's bring him to the emergency shed. Prepare the endotracheal tube and defibrillator!" She ordered firmly, no moment of hesitation in her tone as she adjusted her respirator mask on her cerise cheeks.

Her staff moved accordingly to what she had instructed. Gone were the awkwardness in their movements and nervous-wreck voices the moment she joined the bustle. A sigh of confidence daubed the temporary shed just by her mere presence.

Perhaps, it was because she was already the chief senior resident of the hospital that she gained their trust and confidence that much… or she was just really skilled at her chosen profession.

Medicine was her life after all.

The sweat running down her face and neck and that pulsating adrenaline rush in her vessels created vigor in her dull lifestyle. Even though she had sacrificed a lot to get here… no social life, just small hobbies to tell a few, nothing could ever make her feel that way. The kind of fruition of saving a person's life. Like the white coat that she had worn multiple times—still perpetuating its dignified emblem.

The symbol of hope.

Juliana's attention was interrupted when a continuous beeping was heard all over the room. Her eyes immediately fixated on the electrocardiography monitor in front of her that was connected to the patient.

She was halfway with the tracheal intubation when the elderly man coughed so hard, trying to push out the tube that she was inserting into his mouth. 'Damn it! A little bit more!'

"Dr. Madrid, the blood pressure is dropping low, what should we do?" Asked the head nurse in an oddly calm manner who was monitoring the ECG, demanding her insight into the situation.

"How low?"

"sixty over thirty doc," the nurse replied referencing the current manometric reading of the patient's blood pressure.

"Just one push… I need more manpower and notify for code blue now!" She uttered, leaving no moment of chance to thrust the ET tube in place despite the struggle of the patient. And at last, she finally succeeded!

"Tent A, code blue! Tent A, code blue!" The PA system echoed all over the hallways of the hospital, informing every person within the facility.

A few moments later, more medical staff appeared on the scene as they tried to keep the condition of the patient stable. Amidst the hassling team, Juliana was trying so hard to revive the patient, pumping the elderly's chest with her stained gloved hands... 'You are not going anywhere!' She mentally demanded as his pulse continued to slow down.

"Connect the Ambu bag quickly!" With her tone raised, blood surged in her brain for the amount of concentration she was putting in causing a fleeting headache in her temple.

The nurses who were there swiftly interlocked the bag valve mask to the tube that was inserted into the patient and began manually compressing the inflated resuscitator in accord with her chest compressions.

No voices could be heard but the weak agonal breathing of the patient mixed with the same tensed exhalation of the doctor battling the scythe of the death bringer. The same tension was felt with the rest of them—the whole room was on pins and needles… because someone's life was literally upon their hands!

"Come on! Fight back! Don't you dare die on me, sir!" She continued the chest pumps… with the insulated baggy protective suit she was wearing, she could feel she was bathing already in her own sweat.

"Doc! Still no improvement with his heart rate!"

"Same with the pulse, Doc!"

"Damn it!" She stopped doing the chest compression and signaled one of the nurses to continue the pumps. With the time ticking fast, they needed to act with haste and mindfulness! She checked the ECG monitor and as they said the heart rate was still in the thirtieth level.

"Give three ampoules of Atropine and increase the dopamine to five cubic centimeter!"

The staff promptly did as they were told and gave the amount of dose she directed. With her eyes closely set at the ECG monitor, waiting for any development as minutes went by… the sinus rhythm gradually climbed up at long last!

"Blood pressure, normal. Heart rate within the normal rhythm… and we're good Doc!" The head nurse exclaimed, her voice quivering a bit from the prior straining situation. It was a suspire of relief. The same could tell for everyone there surrounding the elderly patient on the emergency bed.

"Okay, return of spontaneous circulation… good job team!" Not losing any of her cool, Juliana stated as she glanced at her medical staff. The noticeable exhaustion was seen clearly in their eyes which were the only visible part of their body.

It was understandable. With their skeletal shift, working sixteen to eighteen hours a day with only one day off a week, and the surge of the new strain of virus that was affecting the world at this very moment… they were overworking their asses for little to no compensation at all.

She, for the most part… covered all of her fellow doctors' schedules for this week because they were under quarantine for catching the disease at the first wave of the pneumonia-like virus in the country.

Moving on to the cooling measures, she continued giving instructions to the nurses requesting diagnostic images of the lungs both CT scan and x-ray, his laboratory test, most especially for the polymerase chain reaction for possible 'coronae' virus which was heavily observed at the patient.

"Geez, that was freaking tiring…" she breathed quite sharply… her throbbing temple was way worse than ever before as she walked through the half-empty hallway of the hospital heading to her on-call room.

When she turned right at the end of the passageway, Juliana noticed her misty hands trembling slightly as her vision dimmed slowly like a defective old light bulb. 'What's happening?' A thought that she couldn't say as her fears grew stronger when she rammed the white wall with the weight of her body after she lost her balance.

Something in her head snapped, making her severely dizzy and nauseated, and an unprecedented jolt of involuntary painful muscle spasms all over her body.

"Ahh… shit! There's no way…" A helpless moan coming from her mouth vibrated throughout the corridor. But no one was coming… no one was there as she slumped feebly to the tiled floor.

Her body was shaking… The pain was unbearable to take! And all she could manage to sound was a stifled groan.

'Somebody… please help me… I don't want to die...!' No! She was too young for this! She still had lots to do! Dreams to reach! Places to go… A life to live! She felt an incredible sense of unfairness as she wallowed deep in agony.

Just why of all time?! 'Why me?!' Her mind gravely screamed to whoever Omnipotent Being was listening to her quibble. Yet, she heard no reply… just the eerie silence of the hallway that was soon to be her graveyard.

It was too late… too late now when somebody cried out for help. Juliana was already taken to a state of desolate coldness. A huge hand that carried all the life in the universe had withdrawn her soul away… far far away from that world.

The soul that bore with so many regrets…

The soul that wept for a second chance…

Pleading for the sympathy of that Ethereal Being who was holding her breath of life in the palm of its phosphorescent hand. Would she really be consumed by the abyss below her that was engulfed with eternal darkness?

'Is this the end for me?'

'Will I be truly at peace in death?'

"Lady! Oh my goodness! My lady! She's awake, Countess Boucher!"

'Huh? Whose voice is that?' Juliana could hear an unfamiliar female voice full of enthusiasm and well… in a weird accent. She was not able to flutter her eyes open straight away as her heavy eyelids kept them shut momentarily, she could only make a small whimper.

It was a sniffled of gratitude… Her prayer really worked. She was alive! That was all that mattered at the moment for her! She checked her senses and felt the warm bed where she was lying, she missed that feeling, although it was kind of different from the usual bed in the hospital… it was as soft as a feather.

Perhaps, her coworkers were being considerate of her? Did they prepare this? She wanted to smile at the thought… but it was good to be back!

'How long am I out?'

Hearing several footsteps at her side, she listened to the whispering voices of the people in anticipation of her attending physician's order and updates of her current condition. However, it wasn't what she expected.

"How's my daughter?" A worried, shaky voice of a woman was prominently loud among all the scuffling noises.

'Hold up… something's really strange…' Little by little, Juliana forced her eyes open to see what was going on around her. It was really odd to keep hearing those unfamiliar voices… and what was up with that daughter thing? Her mother died years ago… so that was impossible!

A strong light coming from the half-opened window greeted her sight. She blinked thrice to rid the blurry-like sheaths as she scanned the whole room—a very luxurious, Victorian-style bedroom it was!

'Where on earth am I?! Is this a hospital?' She was so confused at her surrounding. Was this a prank of her medical staff? If it was one of their antics, this was overly extravagant!

"Marie Juliette!" Came that woman's voice again and took her hand that was resting on her side. "Thank heavens! My daughter is finally awake!"

Juliana was surprised at the sudden touch on her skin that she finally gave them a glimpse of who were the people in the room with her, only to be welcomed by a bunch of strangers, dressed in a fashion that was only inclined in the Victorian era and historical western movies she had watched!

Shocked and disoriented, Juliana shrieked without any self-restraint, "OH MY FUCKING GOD! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"