flatline [m.s]

cxci.

- - -
uncontrollable bleeding. acidosis. cold. we all know what the combination means. we call it the triad of death. the point of no return.
- - -

maggie groans, pushing her sleeping back off her as she looks around the tent to find it empty. she begins to hear the buzzing of insects, and begins flapping around to swat them away.

"hey," jackson greets as he re-enters the tent, using one hand to clutch two mugs. he puts them to one side, before kneeling down and crawling on top of maggie. "how're you feeling?"

"i think i'm, um- what's the word?" maggie groans.

"rested," jackson dips his head down, bringing his lips to maggie's and she giggles into the kiss. "you know you can say it- you can say, 'jackson, this camping is...'"

"is not hell," maggie finishes for him.

"i'll take that," jackson smirks, leaning back in to reattach their lips.

"mm. ow! ow! ow!" maggie winces, pulling away from him.

"what is it?" jackson furrows his brow. "root or rock?"

"ahh, unclear," maggie tells him.

"mm. i can take care of that," jackson puts his hand on her lower back and rolls them over so that maggie is now on top of him.

- - -
it's the moment in the o.r where you turn to damage control. you stop. you step back.
- - -

jackson and maggie are lying in the tent, jackson's arm hooked around her waist, as she wiggles her body closer to him.

"you know..." jackson exhales deeply, and maggie cranes her neck to look at him. "i was thinking, we... could go hiking. up the waterfalls."

"or you could go hiking, and i could stay here and read," maggie suggests, cuddling into his arms.

"mmm, yeah. but there's a spot i wanna show you. i found the last time i was here," jackson tells her, and maggie masks the frown that threatens to form when her mind automatically goes to wondering whether or not lia was with him.

"okay. let's do it," maggie forces an enthusiastic response, as she pushes her thoughts to the back of her head.

"really?" jackson raises his brow.

"yeah. really," maggie moves out of his grasp to sit up and find her shirt. "hey, look, if i'm going camping. i am going camping."

- - -
you let the body rest and see if you find a solution to the chaos that's happening inside. once the chaos subsides, we have to go back. take another look.
- - -

"i don't understand why you're upset," carina tells dr. kate lachman, as they argue at the ob nurses station.

"because this is my ob department, which means you work for me and..." kate begins to argue

"ooh, dr. lachman," lia calls as she exits a patient's room, and approaches them. "you paged me?"

"yeah. yes. yes," kate nods. "dr. deluca here is asking for all of my ob records. she says you're launching some kind of investigation."