𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐌𝐀, mark sloan

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

but what we remember at the end of most days are the losses, what we lie awake at night replaying is the pain we caused, the ills we couldn't cure, the lives we ruined or failed to save. the end of the day, the reality is nothing like we hope. the reality is, at the end of the day, more often than not, turned inside out and upside down.

- - - - - -

lexie quickly snapped back into reality as she grabbed gauze and pressed it to nick's neck, applying pressure in hopes to stop the bleeding as he groaned out in pain.

"aah!" nick groaned and began squirming around in the bed.

"stop!" lexie yelled as more blood seeped out with every movement he made. "stop! stop! just hold still! okay."

"okay, that's it." she praised. "i got- i got it. it stopped. i got it."

"holy crap." nick said in disbelief. "my artery blew."

"your artery blew." lexie breathed as she continued to apply pressure.

"i didn't think that would really happen." he admitted. "i mean, i thought it was something that the doctors say might happen because they have to, but i didn't think that it would really happen."

"me either." lexie told him with panic laced in her voice.

"okay. um... nick, can, uh, can you reach your call button?"

"i think so." he told her and began moving his arm to try reaching it and more blood seeped out.

"no, no, no, no. don't move that much." she panicked as she tried to apply even more pressure.

she looked around the room trying to figure out what she could do as she was physically unable to move her hands off his neck. "okay, um, uh... can- can you reach your phone... without moving very much?"

"i think so. i think so." he repeated as he slowly tried to grab the phone on his beside table. "i got it."

"okay, good. good, good, good." she repeated. "okay, um, dial- dial eight, okay?"

"okay. okay." he reaches up once again, slowly and pressed the eight button. "is that- is that eight?"

"okay." lexie breathed as she heard the telephone ringing. "put it to my ear, okay?"

"yeah." nick nodded and slowly put the phone up to the intern's ear, making sure not to move a lot.

"hello, nurses' station." lexie heard a woman speak from the other line on the phone.

"hi. hi, uh, this is dr. grey. um, yeah, mr. hanscomb's carotid just blew. uh, c-can you page dr. sloan for me, please? a-and also dr. shepherd?" she stuttered down the phone to the woman. "and- uh, i'm gonna go ahead and call this a code blue. yes, code blue. can you announce that, please?"

"right away." the woman on the other line spoke.

"thank you." lexie thanked her and looked at nick. "okay, you can put it down now."

"code blue." he repeated. "that means i'm dead, right? i mean, that's what they call when people go, like, flatline?"

"no." she reassured him. "i figure we can use all the help we can get."

☤☤☤

ana was still in the o.r. gallery watching hahn and sloan's surgery although hahn had to leave, leaving mark to finish. she felt a vibration in her pocket followed by the beeping sound of her pager. she took it out of her pocket, her eyes widening when she saw it was a nine-one-one from lexie. the resident quickly got to her feet and ran out of the gallery and started running fast towards nick's room.