After The Storm (Sequel)

Crisis Mode

"What?" I frowned. Meredith, you worked so hard for that award. You earned it, you shouldn't give it away because of Harper."

"Having that award isn't a badge of honor anymore, not now that I know what it's associated with." She shook her head before walking off.

Somehow Harper Avery was still managing to ruin lives from the grave. Letting out a sigh, I went to the lounge to get a bottle of water and sit down for a minute.

I was exhausted and I had a migraine from a lack of sleep and stress from dealing with this situation.

"I need your help." Jackson said as he entered the lounge.

"I'm not helping you with anything." I scoffed.

"But I think you will once you hear what it is." He smirked.

"What is it Jackson?" I asked curiously.

"I need your help with a craniofacial dysplasia excision. What do you say?"

"Oh please, that has pr stunt written all over it. Jackson Avery and his wife perform some astonishing surgery that takes attention from the crisis surrounding the hospital. No thanks." I rolled my eyes before standing up and walking out of the lounge.

"Whoa." I said under my breath as looked up to see a teenage boy being rolled down the hallway with the largest facial tumor I've ever seen.

"I think that is our patient. You still wanna say no? He asked.

"What? Is there something on my face." The boy joked making us chuckle nervously as his guardians stopped the wheelchair so that they were now directly in front of us. 

Seeing the patient I definitely couldn't turn him away, so I of course agreed to stay on the case.

We took him for scans so that we could get an updated look at the tumor.

"His parents are loving people. They took him for a surgery in Caracas, but no one would touch it. And it kept growing." One of his guardians explained. The patient was flown into the US for this surgery, so he was accompanied by two guardians to the hospital. "He's a great kid. Do you think you can help?

"We certainly hope so." Jackson nodded as the scans appeared on the screen

"Will you excuse me?" The male guardian asked as his phone began ringing.

"Yeah, of course." Jackson nodded before the man walked out of the room.

"In the old scans, it's extending into the orbit and putting pressure on his optic nerve." I said as I focused on the screen.

"Yeah. That's definitely a concern. I'm also worried about his airway." Jackson said looking at the screen as well. "Helm, his head is tilted a little bit. Can you get in there and readjust please?"

"Copy that." She nodded before going into the room to readjust the patient. Once she got him adjusted we ran another scan.

"It's growing deep into the retropharynx." I sighed.

"Which is why I'm worried about him losing his ability to speak, asphyxiating in his sleep. I mean, look at this. It would be impossible to excise that entire thing. I'm gonna have to just contour it down to get the best cosmetic outcome possible, preserving his breathing and his sight."

"No. We have to do a total resection, pull the whole thing out." I frowned. "Your way avoids a bad outcome, but it doesn't solve our problem."

"Yeah, well, neither does killing him." He scoffed. "I mean sure you're right, he's gonna have to come back for further resection."