trauma [m.s]

i.

- - -
after careful consideration and many sleepless nights, here's what i've decided. there's no such thing as a grown-up. we move on, we move out, we move away from our families and form our own.
- - -

"chuck eaton, 54, has stage 3b non-small cell lung cancer with possible invasion of the pleura and a history of c.o.p.d," meredith presents as she and the other interns stand across from chloe and burke, on opposite sides of the patient's bed. "he's had extensive chemo-radiotherapy with minimal regression of the tumour. he's been admitted for a radical en bloc resection."

"i was a smoker," chuck sighs. "the, uh, oncologist... he explained that i have a 25% chance of surviving the, uh, surgery."

"well, unfortunately, that's about right," chloe smiles softly.

"if you should elect not to proceed, we can make you more comfortable," burke adds.

"with all due respect, uh... there's no way you can make a man dying a slow death comfortable," chuck looks over to burke. "i'll roll the dice."

- - -
but the basic insecurities, the basic fears and all those old wounds just grow up with us. we get bigger, we get taller, we get older. but, for the most part, we're still a bunch of kids, running around the playground, trying desperately to fit in.
- - -

"jake burton, 15, has advanced craniodiaphyseal dysplasia," cristina begins rounding on the interns' next patient as they all stand across from chloe and derek.

"mm-hmm," derek nods.

"he was admitted last night after complaining of headaches," cristina informs them.

"and he's not a complainer," mrs. burton interjects.

"he's been having some nausea as well," mr. burton adds.

"may i, please?" chloe steps towards jake's bedside and his parents step back to allow her to do so. "jake, can i get you to sit up, please?"

"sure," jake nods as he obliges.

"all right, okay. now i want you to look right here for me," chloe holds her finger out in front of cristina who is staring at jake from the foot of his bed. "thank you. great, thanks."

"you know, if you pretend i'm a lion, it helps," jake tells her as chloe continues to examine him.

"sorry?" cristina furrows her brow.

"if you pretend i'm a lion instead of a really messed up kid, you get a talking circus animal, which is way easier to look at," jake elaborates, and chloe chuckles before turning to the intern.

"dr. yang, what's our immediate concern?" derek asks.

"uh, that the bony tumours are growing inward and encroaching on his brain," cristina diagnoses and derek nods.

■ ■ ■

chloe is stood at one of the nurses station, looking over chuck's chart on the computer and files sat in front of her when a man in a leather jacket walks over to her.

"'invasive non-small cell with a history of c.o.p.d'?" the stranger points to the monitor as he leans over her shoulder, and she turns her head away from the chart to look up at him. "guy's pretty much a goner, huh?"