flatline [m.s]

clxxxv.

"w- was i supposed to say no?" april shrugs.

"she likes me. she will be there for you. but we're not so close that she'll let emotion dictate her decision," amelia explains, and april smiles. "i don't know what's me and what's tumour talking, but, um... in this moment, i love you people tremendously."

■ ■ ■

"and she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the t-bird away," tom sings along to the music as he is in the middle of performing amelia's surgery.

"any issues with edema?" deluca asks.

"well, the girls can't stand her 'cause she walks, talks, and drives like an ace now," tom continues to sing, without acknowledging deluca's quesion.

"also wondering if you're all the way around the dura," deluca says a little louder, but once again, tim just continues to sing.

"she makes the indy five hundred look like a roman chariot race, now," tom bops along to the beat.

"also, why did you choose this particular music?" deluca adds.

"deluca, sing along or shut up," tom warns before joining back in with the music. "goose chase now, you drive like an ace, and she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the t-bird away."

lia, meredith, and derek all shake their heads in the gallery as deluca looks up, shrugging his shoulders, with his brow furrowed, as if to say, 'what is he doing?'

"the beach boys seems like an odd choice," meredith shakes her head. "like, inappropriate."

"well, you knew all along that your dad was gettin' wise to you now. and since he took your set of keys, you were thinking-" tom cuts his singing off.

"he's stopped singing," lia frowns.

"why did he stop singing?" meredith asks as her and lia lean forward in their seats.

"this is the crucial part," derek explains whilst watching the gallery monitor intently. "he has to cut the last vessel. and sometimes it's a feeder to the-"

"what was that?" lia gasps, her eyes also shooting to the monitor when she hears a snap.

"that was the vessel en passant," derek informs them. "it looked like it was going into the meningioma, but in fact it was going straight through to the brain. he didn't have a choice. it's okay."

"is it?" meredith raises her brow, the same time lia asks, "it is?"

"it's probably fine," derek assures. "it could be really bad. i'm sure it's fine."

■ ■ ■

"i'm saying you clipped the vessel," derek argues with tom in amelia's room.

"the tissue went a little dusky," tom points out. "it doesn't mean that that-"

"she's eleven hours post-op," owen cuts him off.

"shouldn't she be awake by now?" lia adds.

"i'm not concerned yet," tom assures. "with that amount of bleeding, recovery time can be-"