Surgeon Enters Operating Room and Sees His Mom Who Was Lost 3 Years Ago – Story of the Day

After being called to an emergency operation, Shawn discovered that the patient he had saved was his mother, whom no one had seen in over three years. When she opened her eyes, Linda finally told him the truth she had wanted to hide forever but couldn't.

"Dr. Miller, the patient has a BP of…" the intern rattled off the stats on a patient, a 50-something woman who was rushed to the emergency ward after her appendix ruptured. They called Shawn to the hospital immediately, taking him away from his new date because the on-call doctor was not answering.

Most people may think appendicitis is no big deal, but a ruptured appendix is a whole other ordeal. Shawn knew it could spread infection through the body and become fatal, so he drove almost over the speed limit to reach the hospital.

He had no time to ask for the patient's name or acknowledge the staff as the O.R. nurses dressed him, and they all got to work. The operation lasted several hours, and there were some tricky moments with a blood pressure drop, but they managed to take the organ out, clean as much as possible, and finish up.

"Dr. Miller, how do we know she won't get any infection?" the intern asked.

"That's something you know, Lloyd," Shawn stated jokingly. "We cleaned the abdominal cavity, and the antibiotics will help, but we have to wait for now."

"Sorry. Thank you, sir," the intern replied sheepishly.

"Oh, what's the patient's name?" he wondered as he watched some nurses prepping to take her to an ICU room.

"She's Mrs… oh, she's a Miller, too," the intern stated, nodding. "Her first name is Linda."

Shawn had been turned to the medical waste bin while removing his scrubs, but his whole body turned quickly at mentioning her name. "Are you sure?" he asked, marching back to grab the patient's chart from his intern's hand.

"Yes, Dr. Miller."

"I have to see her face," he demanded from the scrub nurses, who parted like a river for him. There she was. His mother. The woman he had just saved in his O.R.

"What's wrong, Dr. Miller?" the intern interjected, confused.

"This is… my mother," Shawn responded quietly, although he wouldn't usually share such a personal detail with his subordinates. But the feelings coursing through his body were breathtaking.

Anger, relief, shock, delight, and rage mixed into a potent combination that took away his ordinarily cool, aloof, and serious person as an attending surgeon.

Just a month after Shawn's father died three years ago, his mother disappeared suddenly. No one in the family knew where she went or if she was still alive. The police report led to nothing, and Shawn even considered hiring a private investigator until he received a short email one day.

His mother said she was fine but not to look for her or do anything. However, she must have blocked him immediately after sending it because all his replies bounced back. Now, she was on his table, and he had just operated on her. As a doctor, he had done something that was frowned upon: operated on a family member.

"Take her to the ICU immediately and page Dr. Morgan again. I don't care where he is; if he's on-call, he has to answer his pages!" he barked at the intern and followed the hospital bed out of the O.R.

***

They really need to change the chairs in these rooms, Shawn thought as he tried to accommodate again. He had changed his scrubs and sat by his mother's side since she was out of surgery. The chief had already spoken to him, and everything should be fine. Another doctor was now assigned to his mother.

Now, he was just her visitor, waiting for her to wake. Shawn got up to get a cup of coffee but noticed her fluttering eyes.

"Mom," he said tenderly. "Mom."

"Huh?" Linda replied groggily. "What?"

"Mom, you're at the hospital I work at," Shawn continued. "You had a ruptured appendix and needed surgery. Everything's alright now."

"Shawn?" Linda asked when her eyes focused and her mind cleared. "Shawn!"

His mouth got tight at the surprise in her voice. She shouldn't be shocked at seeing him. They were family. Still, he didn't want to show too much anger immediately. "Hey, Mom," he muttered, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh, baby," she said, her mouth puckering and eyes watering. "I missed you."

"Really?" Shawn said back. "It didn't seem like it."

"Shawn, please. You don't understand," Linda said, as two tears rolled from her eyes.

"You're right. I don't," he shrugged, stepping away from her. He was trying not to be mean or to raise his voice, especially because she was just out of dangerous surgery. But it was difficult.

"Shawn. There's a lot I need to say," she continued, watching pace around the room and getting agitated.

"Sure. It must have been eventful to disappear from my life after Dad died," Shawn added sarcastically, but he couldn't hide his pained voice. "It's been three years, Mom. Don't you think I, at least, deserved some kind of explanation? Not some two-sentence email –"

"I'm a lesbian!" Linda blurted and started coughing. The monitors began to beep, so Shawn rushed over to quickly put the oxygen mask on her face.

"Breathe, Mom. Breathe," he said, gentling his tone.

The monitor's stopped their alarms, although she was still breathing rapidly with wide eyes staring straight at Shawn. Her hand came up and took the mask off. "Did you hear what I said? I like women, Shawn."

Shawn looked to the window and ran a hand through his mouth, distracted. He looked back at his mother. "Are you telling me that you disappeared for a woman?"

"No! I disappeared because I was… confused," Linda replied, looking away. "My entire life was very different from how we raised you, how the world has changed. The expectations for me were a lot different. But still, I didn't know anything was wrong or off."

Shawn grabbed the chair and pulled it closer. "Continue, please."

"I loved your father, but when he left, I faced this reality I had avoided all my life. Several men hit on me, and nothing, but some women… well, it was different. It was an awakening, like something in my body was off, and suddenly, it was on," she explained, her eyebrows moving with her words.

"Mom, you're right. You and I were raised very differently," Shawn grabbed her hand. "All the nurses who work in my operating rooms are lesbians. Two of my interns are gay. A few others are non-binary and queer. This wouldn't have been a surprise to me. You could've told me. We would've worked on how to tell the family."

Linda was crying. "Shawn, I know that. I know you would've accepted me. But I," she pointed to her chest. "I wasn't ready to accept myself."

"Oh, Mom," he breathed, realizing what truly went down.

His mother explained that she traveled to places Shawn's father would never have visited. She also saw a therapist, went to church, talked to people, went to rallies, parades, and more, trying to understand her new self.

"After all that soul-searching, I was finally ready to reach out. But you weren't home, so I started walking to the hospital when this intense pain appeared. I think I passed out because I don't remember anything else," Linda finished, tightening her hand on Shawn's.

Shawn shook his head in frustration but relief. He realized she needed that time away, just like younger people do when they need to find out who they are.

"You should've called me," he still chided, forgiving her quickly.

"I wanted to see you."

"I'm glad you're here," he continued, finally losing his cool and shedding some tears. "So, do you have a girlfriend now?"

Linda laughed at his joking question, knowing that she was accepted and loved.

What can we learn from this story?

• Some people need independence to find who they are. Shawn accepted his mother's short explanation because he knew everyone needed space to find themselves.
• Linda should've trusted her family to accept her orientation. Instead of telling the truth, she disappeared, not realizing that her family would've supported her quickly.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a doctor who saved a little boy's life in surgery and later learned her own son died.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.