Dr. Marissa stood in front of the operating table, the familiar sound of the heart monitor beeping in the background unnaturally calming. She looked across the room taking in the sight of her new team, her tools and finally her patient laying still in front of her ready to have his chest opened . This was her world, the one place where everything seemed to make sense. The familiar chant she heard once every year resounded ever so loudly every time she stood in here ‘we are dust and unto dust we shall return.’ It was ever humbling, reminding her of just how fragile life was. 
Today’s surgery was going to shape the future of her career. What a day to feel so much pressure!-Her birthday. Amid the hum of the operating room, her mind wandered for just a moment, these past 3 decades which had certainly been a ride. She thought back to the celebration of her second, her big twenty marked not by cakes and candles but long nights and pages of humongous textbooks all the while juggling a ‘social’ life. The universe wished her a happy birthday with the queen of all exams; pathology. She remembered how she had nearly tripped on a stone after her paper and had yelled and cursed as though it had been the cause of all her problems. “You’re a fighter, you don’t give up!!” she had chanted at least a hundred times to fight back tears as she saw the day go by. She mentally smiled to herself.
      She reminisced further back into her life, the 1st decade. Back when life was flowery and pink. If she knew 2 decades from then she’ll have a person’s life at her mercy with this much at stake she would’ve eaten much more cake, laughed harder than ever and even danced for 2 centuries. 
With a sharp intake of breath and a little head shake she smiled brightly reassuring herself of her sacrifices and said aloud “Happy birthday to me.” cutting through the silence. As everyone stared at her incredulously suddenly fumbling over themselves to wish her, She steeled her eyes and looked to the nurse, fingers outstretched and said“Scalpel."