Season08x19
It a new day for some new drama. Jackson is present at the staff meeting, handing out sheets to the attendings. While I am sitting down eating one of the amazing pastries that the chief has set out for us. "'Excellence is not an act, but a habit, ' Aristotle" Avery, what is Aristotle doing in our staff meeting, and why are you even in here handing these out?" Bailey questions Jackson.
"You mean when I could be practicing medicine or studying for my boards? Yeah, I've asked myself that same question." I giggle at the older man's attitude. He gives me a glare.
I send him a wink when he walks up to me. "Don't look at me like that this is our husbands fault." I whisper to him and take the papers from his hands. He rolls his eyes at my comment but still smiles as he walks behind me, but not before stealing the piece of bread from my hand and shoves it into his mouth with a proud grin. I jab him on his side and laugh as he doubles over.
"Mmm. Mmm. This is delicious. When did hunt bump up the doughnut budget?" Arizona ask as she savors the donut and with that incomes the chief with a dramatic entrance.
"As chief, I'm a firm believer that a nice variety of baked goods is the right way to start any meeting." Mark sends me a wink as he walks towards me to sit at the head of the table. And with that a storm a questions.
"As chief?" "What are you talking about?" "Seriously?" "Seriously?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What happened?" Dereks shock rings louder than everyone else and that made me chuckle.
"Okay, calm down, everyone. Dr. Hunt is down with the flu. I'll be acting chief in his absence. Could be a day. Could be a week. What do we got for today?"
Their is a long pause before Bailey speaks up again."Let me get this straight. Dr. Hunt asked you to fill in as chief ... You, Mark Sloan, by name?"
"Yes, he did. Any other questions?" He says as we both smile towards all the doctors with our Sloan smiles.
~~~~~~
I am currently overseeing a cardio catheter procedure being done by Lexie for Mr. Arnold. "The trick is to envision the artery like a spaghetti noodle...pliable, but not too fragile. You see that?"
"It's a blockage, left main coronary artery. It's totally closed off." She tells with a sad tone.
"There's no way I'm getting a stent in there. We're gonna have to open him up." and in that moment the monitor's alarm goes off.
"B.P.'S dropping to 58 over 20."
"His heart's racing and his temp's rising. Muscles are rigid. All right, let's bring him off anesthesia and start him on 100% o-2. He's got malignant hypothermia."
"So he's allergic to the anesthesia?" Lexie questions
"He'll never be able to endure the cabg."
"So what are our options?" She looks at me.
"I don't know." I look down at Mr. Arnold.
We are in Mr.Arnold's room after he wakes up. We had just explained to him everything that happened. "That's just, uh...I mean, it sounds like you're telling me...you're not actually telling me I'm... I'm gonna die?" He asked us with sad eyes it honestly hurts knowing that there's nothing for me to do. Especially with some one who is so full of life and has goals. He really wants to see that Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.
"The blockage we found in your heart needs surgery, extensive surgery. Angioplasty won't work. And since you're allergic to the anesthesia..."
Mr. Arnold cuts me off. "So I'll just, uh...I'll be like this. I'll be sick...and exhausted...and like this...until one day when I'll...just, uh...die. It would've been wonderful...to see that bird. It would've been wonderful." He gives me a sad smile and there's nothing I could do but smile back.
~~~~~~
"When you're the chief, you gotta make the hard decisions. Webber knows that. It comes with the job. Who's our first appointment, Avery?" I am currently in the cafeteria with the plastic posse... god I can't believe I just said that, waiting for anyone to come and talk to the chief or as Mark calls it "Beef with the Chief."
"No one on the schedule, chief." He tells him without looking up from his studies.
"That's why you shoulda called it "Beef with the Chief." People would've shown up for that. You got a beef? Amor?" Mark looks at him then me as I shake my head at him.
"Actually, I would really love to go study for my boards." He tells him as he flashes that Avery Sparkle as Mark likes to call it. I swear he is going to leave me for Avery when I least expect it.
"No."
"Amor let him go he needs to study." I pout.
"Yeah amor he needs to study." Avery repeats as he puts his cheek on mines and matches my pout.
Right as he's about to break Derek comes over. "I know, I don't have an appointment, but do you have a moment to talk about Jason Cooper's jaw reconstruction?"
Jackson was quick to speak up. "That's fine. He's wide open. Have a seat. There you go." Jackson offers him his seat and quickly packs up gives me a kiss on the head and leaves. There goes my sister wife.
"I think I can carve out of foam a cradle that holds the patient's head and neck during surgery, reducing the chance of respiratory complication."
"That's a good idea. But you can do better."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, foam's fine if nothing goes wrong, but it won't be flexible enough if we have to adjust him mid-surgery. It's a good idea, but..."
"Are you aware..."
"I'm aware... of what..."
"That that surgery is taking place at 3:00, and Jason Cooper's airway needs to be secured."
"So rise, Shepherd. Rise." Derek looks at me as I shrug and he rolls his eyes and leaves. I laugh at Mark content face.
"Amor you are really going to be milking this while you can huh?" He just smirks and winks.
~~~~~~
I am at the nurses station filling out some paperwork when I hear my name being shouted out loud."Dr. De La Rosa, I know how you can do the surgery on the patient who is allergic to anesthesia." Lexie says as she runs up to me.
"Well, no anesthesia means no ventilator. No ventilator means no cabg. Not a whole lot of wiggle room there."
"You can operate on him while he's awake." She tells me all doe eyed
"Grey..." I say rubbing my face. I am so exhausted.
"You can use a high thoracic epidural to numb him from the chest down. Let him breathe on his own the entire time. I mean, they pulled it off in India last month, and then again in..." She stops her rambling as an intern walks up to me.
"Dr. De La Rosa, you wanted to sign the discharge papers for Mr. Arnold?"
"Not quite yet."
~~~~~~
We walk to Mr. Arnold's room and explain our plan "Wide awake? You want me to let you slice open my chest while I'm wide awake?"
"It is your best option."
"Uh, how...how long would I have to be lying there, uh, on the table with my chest open, uh, like that?"
"The surgery can take up to five or six hours. Maybe more Mr. Arnold." I tell him softly.
"Uh, six hours...awake...with you operating on my heart. I..."
"The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker."
"What?"
"The Ivory-Billed woodpecker. Mr. Arnold, you want to live to see it, don't you? This is your only chance."
"Ivory-Billed Woodpecker." He nods and smiles.
"Excellent. Dr. Grey, we will scrub in as soon as an OR is free."
"Yes Dr. De La Rosa." She smiles and walks away.
~~~~~~
We are in Mr. Arnolds OR prepping for the surgery. "Uh, I can't feel anything from the neck down. It's almost like the rest of me just...doesn't exist."
"Okay, the sound you're about to hear, that's the saw Mr. Arnold"
"That...that's not a pretty sound."
"Dr. Grey brought you some music."
"Just listen to this and tune it all out Mr. Arnold." Lexie tells him.
"And...and...and that smell. That...that smell is not..."
I watch as the nurse lifts the headphones and Lexie conforts him. "That's the cautery. I...I know it's hard, but you'll get used to it. In a moment or two, you won't even notice it. I promise."
"You're, uh...you're, uh you're looking at my heart? You're looking at my... actual heart?"
"Better than that, Mr. Arnold, we're fixing it."
"And, uh, all...all those people, uh, up there in the observation deck, they're...they're, uh, looking at it, too?"
"They are."
"People watching me. People watching me instead of, uh...it's...it's so weird, uh, to be the one being watched. It...it's so weird."
"How you doing there, Mr. Arnold? You need anything?"
"Uh, uh, it's...it's cold, uh, co-cold in here. Uh, I...I need to cover up. Uh, uh, c-cover me up. Uh, okay? Um, cov-cover me up. C-cov-cover me up."
"Yeah, we're gonna...we're...we're gonna cover your legs with more blankets right now." Lexie orders the nurses
"Oh, c-cov-cover me up. Okay? Okay, cover...cover me up."
"His heart rate's up to 168. Damn it. Mr. Arnold?"
"You know, uh, ev-everybody's watching, uh, and...and, uh, I...I need to be covered up. I...I need...I...I can't stay like this. I can't stay like this. You need...need...I...I can' I can't. No, stop right now. Just...just stop the surgery. Stop! Stop it! Stop! Stop! Okay, I...I mean it. Get your hands out of me. Please stop!"
"Mr. Arnold, I need you to calm down so that your heart can calm down." I look at Lexie. "Dr. Grey please get him to relax talk about birdwatching." I whisper the last part to her.
"Okay, hey, Mr. Arnold. Mr. Arnold, oh. Look at me. Good. Okay. Now I want you to focus on... on the observation deck, okay? Pretend that it's a tree line or a shoreline or something...something with birds. Those aren't people up there watching you, those are birds...your birds...and you're watching them. So tell me, Mr. Arnold, about the birds. Tell me. Tell me about the birds."
"I...I can't."
"You can. How about her? That woman in...in the far left? What kind of bird would she be?"
"Okay, okay, uh, uh, I guess, um, uh, she...she has a long neck. Uh, so she'd...she'd be an ibis, some kind of ibis." I giggle at the fact told.
"Okay, good. Great. Great. Who's next?"
"Uh, okay. That one" I quickly look up seeing that he is referring to Cristina. "uh, doing...doing that little, uh, dance with her fingers. Um, she's a...she...she's the purple sandpiper. Uh, yeah, those are tough little birds. Those are survivors. And, um, and him, uh, with the, uh, the...the sad eyes, uh-huh, he would...he's a, uh, a thrush, a black-headed nightingale thrush. And...and the tall one standing there," I look up again seeing Mark looking down at me with a smile and I can't help but to smile back at him. "uh, watching over everything, over, uh, everyone...uh uh, he doesn't miss a thing. He's a...a great blue heron. No question."
~~~~~~
The surgery was a success and Mr. Arnold is recovering nicely in the ICU. While Mark is still busy with all of his chiefly duties and the babies are with Callie I decided that I should go over to my favorite gringo and make him some caldo. I know that Cristina will be too busy with studies at Meredith's. After a fun stop at the market I head up to the fire house and knock on the door. When it slowly opens I can see Owen paler then Voldemort, and that is saying something, he looks horrible.
"Bella what are you doing here you can get sick." Owen tries and close the door on me, but I stop it with my boot.
"Chulo, one thing you need to know about me I don't get sick it's the Guatemalan, it scares the virus. I also came her to take care of you, I'm making caldo and tea, oh and here." I hand him a container of Vaparu.
"Vick's?" He looks at me. I shake my head at him.
"No, Vaparu. Say it with me, Vaparu."
"Vaparu." He says it slowly.
"Good boy, now put some on your chest and on your throat it will help." He nods his head and puts it on as I make him caldo and cinnamon tea. As I start to boil the waters I start to cut the vegetables then the chicken. It takes about thirty minutes and we spend that time talking and catching up from our last talk. As I serve him a plate and some tea. I walk back to the bag and pull out the final touches. "Ok before you start I have this that you have to eat you have no choice or as my mom says "te lo pongo de mascarilla." and you do not want to find out what that means." He nods and I quickly cut up some jalapeño and lemon and mix them together and put it in the caldo.
"Bella that's a lot of jalapeños." He tells me worriedly.
"Bubs don't be a wuss it's half of a small jalapeño. Just eat it you'll feel so much better tomorrow." I giggle as I watch him eat it as his face start to sweat and turn red from the spice. White people are so fun to watch eat spicy foods. Mark full on cried when I first gave him Aqua Chile. But at least they ate a lot. Derek on the other hand, he couldn't get through the first bite before we was sweating and begging for water. Owen finishes everything as well as his cup of tea. I check his temperature, walk him to his bed, and tuck him in. "For my final step to my treatment I will now preform a ritual from the ancient times." I say in a serious and deep tone. He chuckles and I try not to break character. I start to move my hands over his body in a magical fashion. "Sana, sana, colita de rana. Si no sana hoy, Sana mañana." I put down my hands and look at Owens face. He looks at me speechless.
"Uh I don't want to disrespect you or anything but what did you do and what did that mean?"
"No disrespect it translates to "Heal, heal, frogs ass. If it doesn't heal today it'll heal tomorrow." I say seriously. He keeps eye contact with me and he tries so hard to not laugh. But I couldn't hold the facade any longer and I bust out laughing and so does he.
"Is that really what you said?" I nod at him still laughing. "I mean why though."
"I don't know its just a saying that most latinos say. It's like a superstition for healing. You know how you guys say 'let me kiss it to make it better'?" He nods. "It's like that we now it doesn't work but the thought that it could makes us feel better." I check my watch. "Ok chulo I should be getting home ok I'll come and check on you tomorrow ok?"
"You don't have to I'll be ok. Just make sure you get home safely text me when you get there even if it's really late and I might fall asleep the moment you walk out of the house." He smiles up to me.
"Ok I promise I will." I kiss him on the forehead. "Feel better Bubs goodnight." I smile
"Night Bella." He says sleepily.