The Lawsuit
訴えられて
Three months later, a thick arrived that would reshape the course of Kenji's life.
Inside lay a formal , in which the family accused him of fatal .
For the first time, the doctor found himself standing where his patients usually stood.
He had been accused of missing a danger that, they claimed, any careful doctor would see.
The words on the page felt colder than any he had ever delivered.
The hospital's lawyer, whose calm never seemed to , explained the road ahead.
Kenji's decisions, made in seconds, would now be examined for months by strangers.
Every note he had written that night had been copied, numbered, and studied.
The family, who had lost a father and a husband, wanted someone to .
Kenji understood their , which did nothing to lighten the weight upon him.
He had been trained to save lives, not to defend them in a courtroom.
The lawyer warned that his judgment, however sound, would be questioned at every turn.
"In law," she said, "a good decision and a bad outcome can look identical."
Kenji, who had never doubted his purpose, now felt the ground shift beneath him.
Colleagues offered quiet support, though some, he noticed, began to keep their distance.
A doctor who has been sued carries a mark that others learn to fear.
He read the again, hunting for the error of which he stood accused.
Had he truly missed something, or had the body simply failed beyond his reach?
The line between and , he realized, was thinner than he had believed.
His nights, once filled with the work of healing, now filled with endless review.
He gathered his records, whose every word could soon become a weapon or a .
The trial, which was still months away, already lived inside his sleepless mind.
Kenji promised himself one thing: he would face the truth, whatever shape it took.
If he had erred, he would rather know it than hide behind a clever .
The patient deserved that honesty, even now, even from the man being blamed.
And so the doctor prepared to have his darkest night examined in the light.