“He didn’t hesitate for a second.

He knew that a surgeon whose hands could no longer be perfectly trusted had no business holding a scalpel over another human being, no matter how much it cost him to walk away.

He would never, ever have risked a patient’s life to protect his own pride.”

David’s voice broke as he went on.

“But he couldn’t do the other thing, Clara.

He could give up the operating room in a single afternoon, because that was about his patients.