flatline [m.s]

cxxiii.

"we've been pushing epi for an hour and a half now," bailey reminds him.

"check another lead," owen requests and bailey exhales deeply as she presses a button on lia's vital monitor that begins emitting a continuous tone when owen stops compressions.

"asystole on three leads," bailey tells him.

"what about her temp?" owen resumes chest compressions.

"down to eighty six degrees," bailey reveals.

"eighty six?" owen snaps slightly, his eyes wide. "it's eighty six now? it was eighty nine."

"after drop phenomenon," she explains, and owen stops chest compressions again. he walks away from the gurney, shaking his head before hitting the wall with frustration.

■ ■ ■

"any word? is she gonna be okay?" callie bombards mark with questions when she finds him walking through the hospital.

"it's my fault," mark shakes his head, ignoring callie's questions. his eyes are bloodshot and brimming with tears.

"don't," callie gently scolds. 

"see, i knew what was going on, and i wasn't there for her," mark continues.

"you were human," callie defends him.

"she was pulling away from me, and i just... i... i just..." mark trails off as he looks down at the ground, rather than at callie.

"y- you think that she went in the water on purpose?" callie furrows her brow, not quite believing what mark is suggesting.

"she knows how to swim," mark swallows the lump that forms in his throat as his tears begin to fall again. "she's a good swimmer."

"mark, you don't know that she's... you don't get to break down," callie tells him. "not when there's still a chance, and there still is a chance, mark, okay?"

"okay," mark exhales deeply and nods as callie's words resonate with him.

■ ■ ■

"how many epi's is that?" owen asks as lia's vitals monitor continues to emit a continuous tone.

"six," bailey informs him.

"what's the external pacer?" owen then asks.

"it's not catching," alex sighs.

"billy, what's her body temp?" owen turns to one of the nurses that's assisting.

"ninety eight," billy tells him.

"so she's warm?" owen asks.

"yes," alex nods, solemnly.

"and dead," owen adds after a pause, remembering what richard had said to them all earlier.

all of the doctors stand in silence, their eyes full with emotion, not knowing how they're going to tell all of the doctors who had been banned from the room due to them being too close to lia. there's then a single beat that's sounded on the monitor, which causes bailey to look.