Imagine an incision so deep and severe, it cut the will to live. For as long as he can remember, Donald Ratkus is torn between two warring impulses: he wants to triumph over the tragedy that causes him to consider suicide, while wishing desperately to be the perfect surgeon. Educated at Harvard, Donald is a remarkably brilliant, stunningly handsome plastic surgeon who sculpts self-hate into beauty. However, his clients do not know his dark side. He is seeking a career as a fast-track executive of Generation Medical Center, a prominent hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. As he climbs to the highest pinnacle of his success, the fiercest decider of his fate—chemical dependency—overtakes his life. And in a single moment in Operating …show more content…
A black organ blared. A scarlet-robed choir sang an anthem for the Lord. An adolescent named Donald Ratkus sauntered into Saint Paul Cathedral located in Bedford, New Hampshire. He stalked the time on his watch.
Donald objected to today’s church ceremony as a Confirmation candidate. He moved like a panther, confident and fearless in his heart, his shoes glided with silence along a red-carpet aisle over a white marble floor. The cathedral ahead of him stands tall and proud between two rows of massive pillars. His pursuit shifted toward the window shades parting. They moved soundlessly into the shadows that shrouded the Lord’s house. In an instant, the golden sun pierced through many-hued glass panes. Its beams lit up the opulent interior before his eyes.
May he never forget that God, the All-Seeing Eye, kept a constant watch over him. Even winged angels observed him from both sides of a carved crucifix behind a red-colored pulpit.
The pews filled up. Donald advanced to the designated front row. His sponsor would meet him and the brigade of boys he now sat alongside who awaited the ceremony to take place. Boys who awaited their admission into the Catholic community. Their initiation, if you will. Some of the boys burst into giggles at his bright red Confirmation red robe. The resemblance declared an occurrence to them. He wasn’t ordinary by any stretch of the