No Time | Grey's Anatomy // Book 1 // COMPLETED |

77 | What Makes Your Heart Sing?

Owen ripped open the box of baseball jerseys and began handing them out. "Altman. Sloan, you're on first." Owen talked as people somewhat listened to him, "Oh, Bailey, you're center field."

"We're doing some shuffling." Henry, Altman's husband/trial patient/temporary worker at the hospital because he used to be a pro baseball player, told Bailey.

"What are you doing here?" Bailey asked as she looked up at Henry, confusion on her face.

Henry smiled, "I work here."

Bailey gave him a look before turning to Owen, "Uh, I may not even make the game. I got forty-nine trial patients left to call. I gotta give them the same bad news I gave you."

"Ouch." Henry, who was in for Bailey's trial currently, winced, "That's rough. We need a sub for center field."

Owen nodded, "Yeah. Forrest, you playing tonight?"

I sighed, "As much as I really don't want to, sure. Only because I have nothing better to do though."

Owen smiled, "Uh, Shepherd, pitcher."

"Shepherd's out." Mark announced, "He told me his brain surgery could be a marathon."

"Oh!" Teddy's hand shot up in the air, "Me. Let me pitch."

Owen thought about it for a second, "Okay. All right, Altman, pitcher. Sloan, first."

"Shepherd can be a pinch hitter," Henry suggested.

Owen nodded and turned to Callie, who was now beside me, "Okay, Torres, you're on-"

"I need you to sign for this." Callie handed Owen a clipboard.

Owen looked over the paperwork, "Bone plates and titanium mesh? That's a lot of hardware. I thought you said this guy's hand wasn't salvageable."

Callie nodded, "Yeah, well, I'm gonna try and rebuild it. It's gonna be really cool. April, meet me in the O.R., Ellie, let's go."

Nodding, I followed Callie through the halls, eager to build my first hand.

Once we had Carl under anesthetic, we began the procedure. "Okay, so this will hold his hand in place so I can see the tendon and nerve gaps, and-" Callie started to explain what she was doing to April and me.

"What the Chief doesn't realize is that a lot of the work I do makes it possible for these surgeries to take place."

April cut Callie off, "I mean, all the-all the staffing and scheduling, I-I mean, so maybe...okay, maybe I'm not in the O.R. all the time...but I-"

"April." Callie gave her a glare, "Do you want to be an administrative assistant? Is that what makes your heart sing?"

"No." April replied, "of course not."

"Then stop being a whiner." Callie told her, "Stop hiding behind paperwork. If you love it, do it. Just get in the O.R. Okay? Don't sleep, don't eat. Just do this. Here." Callie handed the drill to April.

"You want me to place the K-wire?" April asked.

"Will it make your heart sing?" Callie questioned.

April smiled under her mask, "Yes. Yeah, right. Okay, placing the wire."

"Okay." Callie nodded, "Oh, you're a little too far to the left."

April corrected herself, "Okay, I got it. Sorry."

"There you go." Callie instructed, "Right there. Good. That's all right."

Just then, the monitors began to beep like crazy. "I didn't do anything." April held the drill back, "I swear."

"Damn it." Callie looked over at Carl, "No, just stop. What's going on?"

"I don't know, but his pressure's tanking." the anesthesiologist answered, "I'm hanging blood."

I looked up at the monitors, "It looks like electrical alternans."

Callie stood up, "He's tamponading. What the hell? Page cardio."

Minutes later Cristina rushed into the E.R. "Freeze it." Cristina ordered as the monitors continued to go off, "Intraluminal flap and pericardial effusion. Damn it. He's got a dissection."

"That's why he fell." Callie said, "It must have started when he was on the truck. He probably passed out."

"Oh, God." Cristina helped Callie and I remove the sheet from Carl's body, "Uh, we need to get Altman."

April looked to us, "Why? Do we need to go-"

Cristina nodded, "Yes, we need to open him right now. Um, Ellie, start the thoracotomy."

"What?" I asked as Cristina walked away, "What are you doing?"

"Getting gowned and gloved." she responded, "Crack his chest."

My eyes widened, "I'm just assisting."

"It's all right. I got this." Callie said, "Go do your thing."

"I've never done an aortic dissection," I said as I moved to the other side of the table.

Cristina turned to me, "Ellie, crack his chest now."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded, "10-blade."

"Here you go, doctor." a scrub nurse handed over the blade.

"Thank you." I felt around Carl's chest before making the incision.

I little while later things had calmed down a bit as Cristina and I worked on the dissection and Callie and April worked on the hand. "Okay, here's the tear," I told Cristina.

"Okay, open the aorta longitudinally." she instructed as I did so, "Now transect proximal to the innominate artery."

"All right. What do we have?" Teddy asked as she walked into the O.R.

Cristina raised her head slightly, "A thoracic aortic dissection. Uh, Forrest excised the defect and he's going to need a graft."

"All right. Let me get scrubbed." I could hear Teddy behind me, "You'll first assist. Torres, can you clear out?"

"Can you work around me?" Callie asked, "Uh, I mean, I'd...I'll move if I have to, but-"

"Torres, I'm trying to-"

"I know," Callie nodded, "but trust me, I'm saving his life, too. Can you work around me?"

Teddy sighed, "Fine. Yang, why didn't you just start the graft?"

"I didn't need to." Cristina said, "Forrest had it."

Smiling, I kept my eyes on my work and paid close attention to what I was doing. Screwing up now would not look or be very good.