You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

34┃solo surgery

"He'll kill me," Holly whined, "He'll take away everything!"

"How long have her eyes been like that?" Norah questioned the intern, who had no idea what she was talking about. "Page Dr Shepherd," she instructed as Alex hurried over, "And tell him she might have a basilar skull fracture. Alex, get her up to CT now!"

"I didn't see... I'm sorry," Sadie spoke, but Alex shut her off.

"You can do scut," he ordered, "I'll call you when she needs another pep talk."

On the other side of the curtains, Emma perked her head up when she saw her sister getting wheeled away. "Where's she going?" she queried.

"Just to run a few tests," Meredith replied.

"Good, get her out of here. Take her away!" Emma yelled at Holly, "I hope you die!"

Norah pulled the curtains away and scowled at the girl on the bed. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she scoffed, "That's your sister over there."

"I don't care! I hate her!" Emma rolled her eyes, and Norah stared at the girl, shaking her head disapprovingly.

If that was Timothy getting wheeled away, she could not guarantee that she would not jump out of bed just to follow him, to keep him close by her side. Clearly, the resident and the patient shared a very different relationship with their siblings.

❦ ❦ ❦

HOLLY HAD CODED WHEN she was getting her CT, and she got immediately rushed to the OR. Derek had managed to stabilise her while both the Neuro and Cardio departments worked on her simultaneously. Norah stood next to the neurosurgeon as she observed the surgery.

"Be objective, Dr Yang. Consider accomplishments, achievements, look for the stand-outs," Derek told the resident, who was still conflicted in choosing a replacement for the solo surgery. "Right now, let's see what kind of stand-out Lawrence here proves herself to be when I ask her to sew the graft."

"Yeah?" Norah's face brightened up instantly. "Yes-! Thank you, Dr Shepherd," she grinned under her mask as the attending stepped aside, and she took over.

"Dr Yang, watch Lawrence to see if her skills are up to par for the solo," Derek suggested.

"A system! Devise a system," Dr Dixon, the new cardiothoracic surgeon, spoke, "Rank everyone accordingly. That's all." Norah looked at Derek, who shared the same confused look on his face.

She frowned at the open brain in front of her eyes. "Dr Shepherd, her brain's changing colour," she pointed out, just as the monitor started beeping rapidly.

"She's haemorrhaging," he stated as they quickly swapped places again, "Push 100 of mannitol."

"D-Did I do something?" Norah asked concernedly, yet she felt only the tiniest bit of comfort when Derek shook his head.

The atmosphere quickly grew thick with nervousness, and the uncertainty only thickened as time went by. Norah stood behind, lifting her chin in an attempt to see the swift movements of the attending while her hands unconsciously copied his actions.

The surgical team spent another ten minutes doing the best they could to save Holly. But when the rapid beeping on the monitor still had not stopped, Norah felt her heart sink to her stomach. She frowned when Derek finally put down the tools in his hands.

"She had a carotid dissection," the neurosurgeon informed, "Nothing we could have done." Norah shook her head and sighed.

"She had a massive CVA. The blood to her brain was cut off and cannot be restored," Dr Dixon explained, "So even though Dr Shepherd was able to fix the hole in her brain that allowed the brain tissue to leak through her nose-"