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"For instance, Ian the youngest, is adept in plastic surgery. Especially facial reconstruction. Then there's Ethan, who is very clumsy and careless, but has a 70% success rate in all his surgeries. No one knows how, and no one bothers to find out," he explained.
"Then what's Ben's?" I asked.
He stopped walking. There were other doctors with us, and they were listening in. They looked at themselves.
"Well, he is more or less a teacher," Dr. Solomon explained. "He's the oldest and can be stern, but he is the kindest. He prides himself on teaching everyone and bringing out our potential even when we don't want it. He does mostly transplants and most of them alone."
"Alone?"
"Yeah," a doctor chuckled nervously. "Most people come to watch him work to learn. People pay top dollar just to watch him work and extra to record his procedures."
"He's that good?" I asked in disbelief.
"There's a transplant surgery going on right now; you can go take a look," Dr. Solomon offered.
"But what about…"
"You're here majorly to learn, so go," he said.
I thanked him and made my way to the observation point. I was almost denied access but allowed through once I showed my ID card. I recognized some of the doctors, watching the surgery. They were all top players and yet here they were, watching one man work.
As I looked through the glass, I saw a different side of the man I knew as Dr. Ben Sullivan. His gentle smile was gone, covered by his mask. I couldn't see his eyes but even at a distance, I could feel his laser focus. It was like watching a maestro at work. His fingers skillfully danced across the patient's open body as he took out the damaged heart.
It was hard to keep track of his movements. It was like watching a one-man orchestra at work. Presto, he moved fast to put the new heart in place. Prestissimo, he went even faster to start the stitching. It was magic. There was someone assisting him, but it took me looking away to notice him. It was the man I saw that night in London. The man whose fingers and hands changed my life. It was the same man, using the same fingers and hands, to save someone's life.
I couldn't look away. How is it possible that he was so calm? Dr. Solomon said he was on his own, but there were clearly people with him. No. it's not like Dr. Solomon was lying. When Ben worked, to everyone who watched, there was no other doctor present-just Ben.
My heart started pounding. He was the kind of medical practitioner I yearned to be like. Kind, benevolent, a hero, someone who could save a life without breaking a sweat.
"He's almost done," one of the doctors said.
"Already?"
"What a monster."
"They're all gods, the Sullivan brothers."
The words of praise that came out from the doctors who watched were mixed, with envy and admiration. I understood their pain. If I had half the talent I was witnessing, maybe I would have been able to save Sophia.
He was done. He took of his face mask and gave a thumbs up to the people who worked with him and they got to work stitching the patient's body back while Ben went to the corner of the room.
"Outstanding work as usual, that Sullivan," one of the doctors sighed.
"You know people like that usually carry a curse," one of them teased.
"Like how the Ethan one is skilled with the blade, but unskilled in handling things in real life," another stated.
"Or the youngest can make anyone more beautiful, but people can't stand to be near him," the person who raised the topic said. "I wonder what Ben's curse is?"
"How about he is there for everyone but not to those who need him?" Someone asked, "I heard that with all his knowledge, connections and power, he couldn't save his wife."
"I was there," the doctor who was the first to praise his work said. "I remember being among the doctors who tried to cure her. But we couldn't find anything. Never have I felt so powerless. I heard he wasn't allowed near her, per her wishes. A broken man like him still remains kind."
I didn't know if standing there and listening was a good idea, but I had already heard enough to back out now. I did a good job of hiding my pain, and so did he. Enduring all these things and still able to be kind. Also trying his best to bond with his daughter?
I was moved.
"We can only wish that he continues to remain kind, if his spirit ever breaks…" one of the doctors sighed. "I don't even want to imagine it."
