Before the applause could resume, the pressure inside Thomas’s fragile, narcissistic ego violently ruptured. He couldn’t process the reality. He couldn’t accept that the servant he planned to evict was the queen of the room.
He stood up, kicking his chair back so hard it slammed into the knees of the neurosurgeon behind him. He was trapped in a blind, desperate, foaming panic.
“This is a mistake!” Thomas screamed, his voice cracking, pointing a shaking finger up at the stage. “She’s a liar! She’s not a doctor! She’s just a nurse’s assistant! She stole someone’s identity! Security! Arrest her immediately!”
The reaction was instantaneous and violently decisive. The elite medical community did not tolerate disruptions, let alone unhinged attacks on their crown jewel.
Within seconds of Thomas’s screaming outburst, three burly, heavily armed campus security guards materialized from the aisles. They didn’t ask questions. Two of them flanked Thomas, grabbing his flailing arms and pinning them forcefully behind his back, twisting just enough to make him gasp in pain.