flatline [m.s]

xvii.

"alivia, sit down," he scolds. "let me tell you a story. thirty eight years ago when i was a young intern..."

"i'm sorry," lia cuts him off again. "is this gonna be a story about how you were a struggling black med student who wanted to be a surgeon, and no one would give you a chance, and walter tapley gave you that chance? he mentored you, and without him, you wouldn't be in this hospital today? 'cause i've heard it before, dad."

"yes," richard frowns.

"i'm still not gonna operate on him," lia insists.

■ ■ ■

"walter tapley needs a double valve replacement, and my daughter refuses to give it to him," richard sighs, approaching mark and derek who are in mid conversation.

"what's her problem?" mark asks.

"she thinks she's gonna kill him," richard explains.

"lightweight," mark scoffs.

"since when do surgeons turn me down?" richard queries. "since when does my daughter turn me down?"

"it's her choice," derek argues. "she's the one opening him up."

"yeah. yeah. yeah," richard rolls his eyes, earning a chuckle from mark.

■ ■ ■

"avery," richard says as he enters walter tapley's room. "start dr. tapley on a dose of amiodarone, followed by a continuous infusion."

"yes, sir," jackson nods.

"why the hell would he start me on amiodarone?" tapley almost bellows. "avery, would you give amiodarone to a man who's about to have an open-heart procedure?"

"jackson, would you wait outside, please?" richard requests, and jackson nods before exiting the room.

"if you can't get the head of cardio thoracics- your daughter, to do a valve replacement, then you're not the chief i thought you were, and this is not the facility i thought it was," tapley says, getting out of the patient bed. "would you get these lines off me?"

"would you get back in that bed?" richard instructs. "i'll talk to her again."

■ ■ ■

"two o'clock work for you?" richard asks his daughter after spending the past hour trying to convince her to do the surgery.

"yeah, okay," she sighs. "if this man dies under my knife, dad, so help me, i will tell every reporter in the land that you insisted we do this. you will look like an idiot."

"relax, i'll be fine," tapley chuckles at how dramatic lia is acting.

"she has impeccable judgement," richard ensures.

"and this may be the dumbest thing i've ever done," she rolls her eyes at the two men, before exiting the room.

"ted ginsburg would've done this," tapley turns to richard. "but i wanted a friend. in case i went into the o.r. and didn't come back. i wanted an old friend to say goodbye."

"i'm honoured," richard nods.

"don't be," tapley shakes his head. "i shoulda had a wife... and a bunch of kids. i wouldn't have had to track you down to get someone to be at my deathbed."

■ ■ ■

"there's a leak. go back on bypass now. bailey, take the clamps off of the aortic and venous lines," lia instructs during surgery. "okay, grey, take off the sucon."

"the whole left atrium is torn where the clot was adhered," bailey points out.

"metzenbaum scissors," lia requests. "oh, god. this was a mistake. it was irresponsible and stupid, and i cannot believe that i let you talk me into it. my reputation's gonna be in the toilet at the end of this day."

"alivia..." richard says.

"don't 'alivia' me, dad," she scowls. "it's not your good name we're gonna destroy here today, much as i wish it was."

"dr. webber, it's done," richard informs her. "no leak."

"the repair is holding," she smiles behind her surgical mask.

"you were saying?" richard smugly asks.

- - -
we can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there trembling not moving, assuming the worst that can happen.
- - -

"so, how did it go with walter tapley?" mark asks, standing next to lia who's currently stood at the bar in joe's.

"it went... good... i guess. i didn't kill him," she shrugs, turning her head to look at him. "look, mark... things don't have to be awkward between us. we tried. we tried, and just because we failed as a couple, it doesn't mean..."

"i know," he sighs.

"so we're still friends?" she smiles.

"with benefits?" he smirks, earning a giggle from lia.

"don't push it."

- - -
or we step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant.
- - -