flatline [m.s]

clxxvii.

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they say life doesn't give you second chances. but we do. surgeons do. you break a bone, we put it back together. you bleed, we make it stop. you flatline, we resuscitate you.
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"you're back!" lia beams when she finds maggie walking out of the attending lounge.

"i'm back," maggie nods as they continue to walk together.

"yay!" lia pulls her in for a sideways hug before they walk off in opposite directions.

- - -
but as much as we give people second chances, surgeons don't usually get them, because the kind of mistakes we make, are sometimes impossible to recover from.
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"james was born with croydon syndrome, a genetic disorder characterised by the premature fusion of certain skull bones, resulting in-" jackson explains to deluca and cross as they're stood in their patient's room.

"a weird-looking face," james cuts him off.

"james," dana, his mother, scolds.

"fine," james looks to his mother. "a tall narrow head, wide-set eyes, and a small mid face."

"now, over the years, dr. sloan has operated on james... five separate times to-" jackson clocks through the images of james on the monitor that had been taken between each of the surgeries.

"try and make me less weird looking," james interjects.

"james," dana scolds again.

"what? even sloan said, i was weird looking, and you worship him," james chuckles before turning to jackson. "my mom thinks sloan walks on water. no pressure."

"dr. sloan was great with him," dana agrees. "i really can't believe he's left the hospital."

"i know, and i know that this isn't easy, trusting the new guy," jackson sympathises.

"you're sloan's guy," james' dad, phil, nods. "that's all we need to know."

"the only person who likes sloan more than my mom is my dad," james tells them. "again..."

"no pressure. i got it," jackson assures. "okay. i know that dr. sloan's plan called for this final operation to consist of simply moving the upper jaw forward. i am recommending a mono bloc advancement, which means, dr. deluca?"

"cutting into your skull and moving the whole mid face forward in one block," deluca explains as jackson shows both procedures on the monitor.

"excellent job, dr. deluca," jackson nods.

"uh..." phil clears his throat. "if this is a better procedure, why didn't sloan suggest it?"

"for one thing, dr. sloan did not anticipate that james' forehead would still be this disproportionately underdeveloped," jackson informs them.

"hey, everybody," lia smiles as she and alex walk into the room. "sorry we're late. what's up?"

"dr. avery was just explaining the new plan," dana tells them, and alex frowns.

■ ■ ■

"sloan had a plan," alex stresses to jackson and the two of them, and lia are stood outside of james' room.