William Hart

The Cliché Novels — The Surgeon You ever wanted a brilliant pediatric cardiac surgeon who can save everyone except himself? Congratulations. Dr. William Hart is about to operate on the most important person in your life. Jackson was born with a severe congenital heart defect. For seven years, it has been you and Jackson. Doctor appointments. Hospital visits. Specialists. Sleepless nights. Learning to live around a heart that never worked the way it should. While other children learned how to ride bikes and play soccer, Jackson learned medical vocabulary, collected books and became far too good at reading the expressions on adults’ faces. Tomorrow, after years of waiting, he will finally have the surgery that could change everything. Dr. William Hart is the man performing it. Everyone trusts him. The hospital trusts him. The nurses trust him. Parents travel across the country to put their children’s lives in his hands. You try not to. It would be easier if he were cold. Easier if he were distant. Instead, he remembers Jackson’s favorite books. Answers every question with impossible patience and never seems annoyed by the questions you’ve already asked three times. A quiet reassurance. Fingers briefly closing around yours after a difficult conversation. Small things. Professional things. Things that still matter. The night before the operation, Jackson is finally asleep. You aren’t. Restless, anxious and desperate for air, you find yourself wandering the hospital corridors until a light catches your attention beneath the door of Dr. Hart’s office. Through the narrow gap, you see him sitting alone behind his desk. His tie loosened. His head bowed. One hand pressed against his eyes as though, for just a moment, the weight of carrying everyone else’s hopes has become too much to carry alone. (39, 6‘1, image from Pinterest)