The distance
season 11 ep 14
🎵Sad Beautiful Tragic-Taylor Swift🎵
"distance,timing,breakdown,fighting"
~~~~~
"Word's getting around" Madelyn says walking up to Amelia "You're gonna have a full gallery. Everybody wants to see the show. You feeling good, confident?"
"Ahh i'll be fine" Amelia replies
"You okay? Do you need anything?" Madelyn asks again
Amelia shakes her head "I'm fine. I'm great. I just... Prep alone, so... I will see you on the other side"
"Okay. You got this" Madelyn says giving her sister a quick hug
~~~~~
Jo approaches Madelyn in the ER "Hey, Mads, any chance you could lose me tonight?" she asks
"What? No" Madelyn replies
"Oh, I just thought that it's kind of quiet down here, and now Dr. Herman's surgery is happening. Every other resident is watching that surgery" Jo says
"I'm sorry you pulled the short straw, but I need someone down here" Madelyn replies
"Oh, so, wait. I'm gonna be the only resident who's down here?" she asks
Madelyn nods "Just you. I'm counting on you to hold down the fort. Can I do that?"
Jo smiles widely "Yes. Absolutely. I'm your girl"
"Perfect"
~~~~~
Madelyn and April enter Amelia's gallery hand in hand taking a seat
April goes to get back up "Yeah, maybe I should..."
"You're fine sweetheart, it's okay" Madelyn says leaning over to kiss her cheek
"April" Richard says acknowledging the redhead
"I-I'm not working. I'm... I'm just... I'm not ready to work yet" April replies instantly
"No, no, no, it's fine. I'm just... I'm glad to see you" Richard says
"I'm just gonna sit. Dr. Herman was with me on my worst day. I just wanted to be with her for hers" April says
"How's this going?" Madelyn asks Richard
"Uh, she's trying to dissect around the fornix. But she still has a long way to go" Richard answers
"So, why are they not operating?" Madelyn questions
~~~~~
A while later Madelyn finds herself standing in the scrub room with Richard "All she has to do now is place her radioactive seeds. They'll kill whatever tumor cells are left behind and keep them from coming back"
"Well, I'm happy to help. I'm just saying, "why me?" Madelyn replies
"She needs an assist who she doesn't have to worry about. Besides she's your sister, and I believe that all Shepherds have a talent for neuro even the ones who didn't choose it"
"Well, I haven't done neuro in a very long time" Madelyn says
Richard sighs "She just needs to feel you're there. She'll do the rest"
-
"Damn it! Damn it!" Amelia yells just as Madelyn walks in
"I just got here. I haven't had a chance to screw anything up yet" the younger Shepherd says
Amelia sighs "I need to be able to place these seeds precisely if I'm gonna prevent the tumor from recurring. I had a pre-op map to help identify my landmarks"
"But with a tumor this big, everything will move after you resect, like a mudslide or an earthquake" Madelyn says
"Yeah" Amelia sighs "I didn't count on this much intracranial shift. I'm gonna have to use the ultrasound to map out the shift and then morph it back into the pre-op plan"
"Okay, so you're pretty much eyeballing it" Madelyn says
Amelia slowly nods "Yeah, pretty much"
"Sounds like a plan. Let's do it"
-
"I need to move faster. These gloves are so thick, I can't feel what I'm doing" Amelia says
"You're doing fine. It's not a race" Madelyn says
"Except that it is" Amelia replies talking off one her gloves exposing herself to direct radiation
"Amelia, what are you doing?" Madelyn says
Owen uses the intercom to say "Shepherd, what are you doing?"
"It's so much easier like this" Amelia replies
"You're exposing yourself to direct radiation" Madelyn says
"You need to put that glove back on right now" Owen replies
"It's fine. I got it. I got it"
"Amelia" Madelyn pleads
-
"Little Shep, stop her. She needs to put that glove back on right now" Owen yells
Madelyn sighs "She's almost done. She has a 20-minute window. It's only been 15"
"Without the glove, she's cutting her exposure time in half" Owen says " She's over her limit. Shepherd!"
"Hunt, if I don't place these seeds, the tumor recurs, and everything I have done for her counts for nothing" Amelia replies
"You're gonna make yourself sick" Owen says
"Amelia, he's right. The tumor could recur anyway" Madelyn says
"But it won't be because of me" Amelia replies
"Shepherd, put on the glove!" Owen yells
"Amelia"
"Done" Amelia finally says "I'm done. Get this gear out of here, bring back the troops. It's time to close"
"That was..."
"Really dumb?" Amelia says
Madelyn smiles at her sister "No, badass"
-
"Pickups. Juice. Thank you" Amelia says
"How are you doing?" Madelyn asks
"Just need to get the dura closed with a watertight seal" Amelia says
"This is the easy part. Which anyone else can do, so why don't you let someone else take this?" Madelyn suggests
Stephanie comes running in "Dr. Shepherd, I'm here. I'm... I-I-I'm back. I'm good to go. Just please tell me it's not too late"
Amelia looks over at the resident "No, Edwards. You're just in time. You can finish closing"
"Really?"
Amelia nods "You started this with me. You should finish it" she says turning to Madelyn "Don't let Edwards screw up the stitch, okay? I don't want Herman seeing a big ugly scar every time she looks in the mirror"
"Not a problem" Madelyn replies
~~~~~
"Hey beautiful" Madelyn says walking over to April who's taken a seat in the ER "Are you ready to go home?"
"I think i'm ready to come back to work" the redhead says
"You are?" Madelyn asks
April stands up so she can wrap her arms around Madelyn's neck "Yeah"
"That's great" Madelyn replies "Also, I know I said we'd have this weekend to ourselves..."
"But you're working" April says "Right" she replies taking a step back
"I just have a lot to catch up on, i'm drowning in paperwork" the brunette says "I'm sorry"
April sighs "I just feel like it's not the same"
"Because it's not" Madelyn says "We lost our baby"
"I mean- I mean with us" April replies "It's like something is missing"
"What?" Madelyn questions
"I don't- I don't know" April sighs "Maybe, maybe we just need time"
"You mean you need time, because nothing has changed on my end" Madelyn says
"I'm not saying-" April takes a deep breath "I still love you. I just- it's just-"
"God. It's God right" Madelyn interrupts "Whatever April, you're right, take sometime, really think, because I am not going to be your second choice"
"You're not-"
"Yeah but I am. God comes first. Whatever. Let me know when God thinks it's okay for you to love me" Madelyn replies walking off