The Lieutenant's Love

Owner of a Lonely Heart

"She has to have a second operation? Dorie sighed.

"Yeah. Uh well, not for a few days," Cristina said after Dr Bailey elbowed her.

"Dr O'Malley," Addison said.

"We put Lucy's brain shunt in yesterday and she's doing very well, but we just have to keep monitoring her to make sure the spinal fluid doesn't back up," George said.

"Stevens," Addison said.

"Dr Burke used a catheter to open Emily's atrial septum last night. Today we're going to go in and try to reconstruct the left chamber of her heart. We're very hopeful," Izzie said.

"Dr Grey," Addison said.

"Charlotte's lungs were a little more underdeveloped than the rest of the quints so we put a special mask on her to help her breathe and we're monitoring her closely," Meredith said.

"And that just leaves Kate," Addison said.

"She seems to be pretty healthy. No major issues have been identified but we're going to keep her in the isolette till she makes it to 4 pounds," Alex said.

"Dr Sloan," Addison said.

"There was no cause for concern overnight. All quints made it through the night without developing any more issues," I said.

"I'll be in my room," Dorie said getting wheeled out by a nurse.

"Dr Bailey, am I able to keep Dr Sloan?" Addison asked.

"Sure," Dr Bailey said.

Timeskip

I was leaning against the nurses' station. Addison walked over.

"Hey," Addison said.

"Hey, Derek and Meredith are in there so I came out here for a little bit," I said.

"That's okay. I got you breakfast. Bacon, cheesy scrambled egg, sausage and avocado toasted sandwich," Addison said.

"Thank you," I said. I started eating. "Did you actually sleep last night?"

"Yes," Addison said.

"Good," I smiled.

"Did you sleep?" Addison asked.

"Nope. But I did beat a personal record for pushups and situps while reading the latest neonatal medical journal," I said. Addison laughed. "This is a really good sandwich,"

"It's from a cafe we drive past every day to come here," Addison said.

"Here try some," I said holding out the sandwich. Addison took a bite.

"That is a nice sandwich," Addison said. I nodded. "I've got to go but you'll page me if anything goes wrong?"

"Yep," I said.

Timeskip

I was in the NICU when Meredith wheeled in Dorie.

"How's that gonna help? If I've learned anything in these last few days is that I need to face reality," Dorie said. Meredith wheeled her over to Kate's incubator.

"Here's Kate. You can reach in and touch her if you like," Meredith said.

"I would like to very much," Dorie said. A heart monitor went off.

"Dr Sloan, Charlotte's not breathing," A nurse said opening the incubator as I made my way over. I pulled out my stethoscope and checked her lungs.

"Okay, I need you to page Addison Shepherd for me please," I said to another nurse. "Mer take Dorie back to her room. She doesn't need to see this," I said. I heard the wheelchair rolling out. I put a breathing mask over Charlotte and started ventilating her. Addison rushed in.

"What happened?" Addison asked.

"She had an apneic episode. She's still not breathing on her own," I said as Addison came in and checked the baby's lungs. I moved to the other side to continue ventilating.

"Let's intubate and give her surfactant. Push 0.1 atropine and 3mg of ketamine," Addison said.

"Meds are in," A nurse said.

"Tube," Addison said. I attached the tube to the intubation. "Okay, place the CO2 detector,"

"She was doing fine with the chest tube," I said.

"That's the thing with RDS cases. We think the baby's getting better. They slip right back," Addison said checking the baby's chest again. "Breath sounds equal. Good,"

"Dorie was in here when this happened. I had Grey take her back to her room," I said.

"Okay," Addison said.

Timeskip

I sat in the NICU writing in charts while Alex was researching how to save a patient that he nearly killed yesterday.

"Are you a part of that girl code hate Alex club?" Alex asked.

"No. I hate girl drama really irritates me. Plus you remind me of my brother which should be concerning but it's kinda comforting," I said.

"I remind you of Dr Shepherd?" Alex asked.

"No, my other brother," I said.

Timeskip

I was still sitting in the NICU. Addison walked in.

"Come on we're going home," Addison said.

"I'm supposed to be on call," I said.

"You're swapping with Stevens. I'll explain in the car," Addison said.

"Okay," I said. I walked to the intern locker room and changed out of my scrubs before meeting Addison in the car. "So what was that about?"

"Izzie Stevens needs to learn a lesson about knowing when to care and when to act on sound medical decisions. Baby Emily's aorta is too narrow to supply blood. I've told Stevens if the baby makes it through the night that Burke will have another go at the Norwood but the baby won't make it," Addison said.

"Okay," I said. "Alex might come over later,"

"How fast can you work?" Addison asked.

"I can work as fast as you need," I said.

Timeskip

Alex and I were sat on the couch eating pizza while I was helping him study for the boards while the basketball game was on in the background. Addison walked out wearing one of my hoodies and sweatpants. Alex looked at me.

"Pizza?" I asked Addison. She took a slice.

"Nice hickey Blondie," Alex laughed. "Nice work," He said to Addison.

"You told him?" Addison asked.

"No. I didn't," I said.

"She didn't have to," Alex said.

"He won't tell anyone," I said. "Everyone hates him so nobody believes him," I said.

"True," Alex said.

"And if you don't study you won't be there long enough to tell people," I said to Alex.

"That was mean," Alex said.

"But true. Now study devil baby," I said.