- - -
when life forces us to do something impossible an explosion happens inside the body.
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lia is leaving the hospital for the day, walking through the parking lot towards her car, when she hears a loud bang behind her. .
following this bang, she instantly freezes before turning back around to face the hospital. when she looks up, she sees an explosion in the south wing, followed by the sound of screams.
- - -
a rush of hormones blasts through us, making us stronger, making us faster.
- - -
jackson and maggie are sat on a gurney that has been placed against the nurses station when they hear a loud bang, and feel the room shake, followed by the fire alarm blaring.
"okay, so, either this is a drill or it's a real fire," maggie says as jackson stands from the gurney to see what's going on. "and if it's a real fire, then it probably has something to do with the guy, so i vote drill."
"despite that large boom you just heard?" jackson raises his brow. "really?"
"alright, fine. it's the guy," maggie sighs. "the bad, escaped-rapist guy. why? why?!"
"oh! the door's unlocked," jackson announces as he pushes the door slightly open.
"well, yeah, fire would override a lockdown," maggie shrugs.
"i got to go find stephanie," jackson tells her.
"just be careful," maggie warns, and he looks at her for a moment before running off.
- - -
biology overrides fear and that makes the impossible possible.
- - -
lia rubs towards the hospital entrance, but she is stopped by the three police officers that are stood outside.
"the entryway is closed, ma'am," officer o'neil holds his hand up.
"i just watched an explosion up there!" lia stresses.
"and i already reported it," o'neil assures her. "the hospital's on a lockdown."
"whoa. did you see that?" arizona asks as she and callie also run up to the entrance.
"something exploded up there," callie points.
"this entrance will remain closed," o'neil insists.
"east, south. possibly in the south wing," callie tells the officers. "four or five floors up."
"that's right near the nicu," lia points out.
"and the ccu," arizona adds.
"we have to get in there!" lia argues.
"yeah, we need to get in there," arizona reinforces as bailey opens the door behind the officers and steps out.
"there was an explosion!" callie shouts over the officers to bailey.
"they won't let us in!" arizona points to the officers.
"they're clear to come in. i need their help," bailey tells the officers and waves the doctors towards them.
"there's a lockdown!" o'neil protests as he and the two other officers raise their arms to prevent the doctors from getting past.
"i ordered the damn lockdown!" bailey argues. "fire in the hospital trumps rapist on the loose. they are cleared!"
"there's a rapist on the loose?" lia's eyes widen as the officers reluctantly let them past.
"where have you been?" bailey raises her brow.
■ ■ ■
"we have a multiple-alarm fire on floors five and six, from the service elevators east," firefighter carroll informs the staff gathered in front of her, whilst she stands on the main staircase with bailey and richard on either side of her, and lia just behind. "and we are concerned about the structural damage on that floor."
"we're diverting all incoming traumas," richard tells them.
"patients in immediate or impending danger need to be evacuated first," bailey instructs. "unaffected areas- the e.r, radiology, nursery, daycare- they stay put. we have to prioritise."
"firefighter carroll here will be directing you to the most urgent areas," richard gestures to carroll.
"yeah, and, uh, the woman with her arm in the air over there is dr. kepner," bailey points out april in the crowd. "she is setting up a holding area..?"
"outside by parking lot one," april reveals.
"by parking lot one," bailey reiterates. "take evacuated patients to her. she is in charge."
"and if you're patients can walk, they can transport themselves," lia adds.
"okay, thank you dr. webber," richard nods. "don't be a hero. okay? if they can walk, let them walk. carry the rest. the elevators are not working. do not try and use them."
"work fast but safe," bailey encourages, and the staff in front of her nod before dispersing.
"and our man's still at large, so we're maintaining security at the exits, and we're keeping active sweeps," o'neil tells bailey.
"hmm. because just one hospital emergency wasn't enough..." bailey groans, looking up at the ceiling. "lord, don't make me have to tell catherine avery i burned her hospital to the ground."
■ ■ ■
"derek," lia calls as she's pushing a medicine cart down the hallway, which she then turns and gives to one of the nurses. "hey, take this to kepner outside. right away."
"i've been texting you," lia says as she then walks over to derek. "are you okay?"
"they're trying to contain it near the ccu," derek sighs. "but i heard it spread to the o.r floor. i just figured i'd help with evac."
derek then walks off to help someone, which is when lia notices gary struggling to get through past the security.
"i'm legit, i swear!" gary argues.
"high alert in progress, sir," the officer informs him. "i need to see some i.d."
"i don't have it. my wife has my wallet," gary stresses. "our baby's upstairs for observation. please!"
"is there a problem?" lia asks the officer as she approaches them.
"y- you got to help me!" gary turns to lia. "i've looked everywhere. i went- i checked the- the cafeteria, the gift shop, i- i tried looking outside and looking there-"
"what are you looking for?" lia cuts him off.
"my daughter. erin," he elaborates. "she's missing again."
■ ■ ■
"erin! erin!" lia shouts as she attempts to look around the organised chaos taking place in parking lot one. "where is-"
"what is going on?" alex asks, running up to her, still wearing his own clothes so evidently only just arriving.
"oh! what- we don't know," lia shakes her head. "a fire, explosion..."
"there's no kids out here," alex looks around. "how are our peds patients or the nicu?"
"listen, the fire is on the south side, about four floors up. the kids should all be okay," lia explains. "okay. so, i'm looking for this little girl. she's right, she's super-smart, she keeps ditching her parents. look for her."
"alright," alex nods as lia runs off again where she finds maggie examining a patient.
"hey, uh, you didn't happen to see jackson in there, did you?" lia asks her.
"yeah," maggie nods. "right when the alarms went off, and then he took off, running after edwards like he was fireproof. he's not back yet?"
"no! of course not," lia shakes her head. "typical."
"typical?" maggie's brows knit together.
"he's the kind of guy that runs into a fire, apparently," lia sighs.
"i'm sure he's fine," maggie tries to mask her worry.
"yeah," lia agrees. "me too."
■ ■ ■
"steph! edwards! stephanie!" jackson shouts, holding a mask up to cover his nose and mouth, whilst he rushes around the corridor looking for steph. but he stops when he notices a patient, keeled over a gurney, coughing. "ma'am, can i help you? let me help you walk."
"i don't need any help!" the woman attempts to push him away from her. "aah! aah!"
"ma'am, did you just have surgery?" jackson asks.
"for god's sake, i'm not a 'ma'am'," she groans. "my name is cheryl, and surgery would be better than this. being sliced up and gutted would be better than this. it's just kidney stones!"
"okay. look, no, we gotta get you out of this hallway," jackson tells her. "there's way too much smoke, alright? i'm gonna pick you up. is that okay?"
"no way! i'm perfectly capable of- aah!- of walking and- aah!" cheryl screams in pain with each step she attempts to make.
"i'm sure you are," jackson pulls one of her arms around his shoulders, and reaches his other hand under her legs to pick her up.
"aah! aah! it's just kidney stones," chery insists. "aah!"
■ ■ ■
"alright," jackson coughs as he places cheryl down on a gurney outside the hospital. "let's get her on a morphine drip. alright, you're gonna be alright."
"we have been looking everywhere for you!" maggie stresses as she approaches jackson.
"you scared the crap out of me!" lia grabs his arm as she runs over to the other side of him.
"oh, i need some o2," jackson continues to cough.
"yeah, of course you do," lia pulls him over to where the supplies.
"that's what happens when you don't listen and- and instead you inhale an entire hospital full of smoke! stupid heroics!" maggie shakes her head as lia shoves an oxygen mask up to his face.
"ow. watch it," jackson frowns as he takes the oxygen mask from her. "i was trying to help her."
"you are a surgeon, not a firefighter!" lia argues.
"i wasn't trying to fight a fire, alright?!" jackson turns and shouts at her, and maggie's eyes widen. "i was trying to save edwards!"
"don't yell at her," maggie scolds. "she is the mother of your child!"
"okay-" jackson begins.
"what would i have told darci?!" lia cuts him off when she whacks his arm.
"i'm fine, lia!" jackson protests.
"breathe," maggie places her hand over his to push the oxygen mask back to his face.
- - -
nobody wakes up thinking: 'my world will explode today. my world will change'. nobody thinks that.
- - -
"they were on the roof! the patient coded," ben announces as he and one of the firefighters wheel in a gurney with a erin on, as steph straddles her in order to perform chest compressions.
"she needs as much o neg as possible and get her typed and crossed!" steph shouts.
"okay, okay," bailey nods. "get her to trauma one. edwards, we got this. you can get down."
"no, ma'am!" steph shakes her head. "she needs to go straight to the o.r."
"no, the o.r floor is inaccessible," bailey informs her. "the fire-"
"she's not gonna make it," steph cuts her off. "she needs to be treated here, now. she needs blood and a defibrillator now! i deep-fried a rapist. i- i dove through a wall of fire. i did not do all of that so that this little girl could die, okay? she- i saves her. i saved her. i saved her. i saved her, dr. bailey. we need to save her right now."
"you heard her, this e.r is now an o.r. someone find alivia webber. now!" bailey orders.
- - -
but, sometimes, it happens. sometimes, we wake up, we face our fears.
- - -
lia and bailey are operating on erin in the trauma room as steph sits beside her head, using one hand to hold erin's, and the other to hold an oxygen mask up to her face.
"she's back in sinus. pressure's holding at seventy," lia says.
"yeah, this leg is still cyanotic," bailey sighs. "should we amputate?"
"no, save the leg," steph interjects. "we save the leg. that son of a bitch does not get to cost this little girl her leg. dr. bailey, please."
"we'll need to do a graft," lia tells her.
"okay. let's throw a shunt in and give this leg a chance," bailey nods and two of them continue to work on the leg.
the trauma room is virtually silent, for several minutes, the only sounds are that of erin's monitor beeping, and the surgical tools.
"alright. how is she?" jackson asks, pulling a scrub mask on as he enters the trauma room.
"we're prepping to do a graft to save her leg," bailey informs him.
"you need to be lying down, stephanie," jackson's eyes widen when he notices the burns on her arms. "let me take a look at these burns."
"no, not yet, not yet," steph pulls her arms away from him.
"okay, look, you need to at least be hydrated, okay?" jackson raises his brow. "will you just stay there? let me just take care of this."
"did you get the proximal end?" lia asks.
"oh, yeah, i got it, i got it," bailey assures. "you need to isolate the distal."
"how's she doing?" april asks as she walks in.
"her b.p's steady, sats are ninety seven," ben reveals.
"which means she's finally stable," lia looks up.
"mm-hmm," ben nods.
"she's gonna make it through and keep this leg," lia smiles from behind her scrub mask.
"oh, my god," steph sighs in relief.
"you got her back, edwards."
- - -
we take them by the hand. And we stand there waiting, hoping, ready for anything.
- - -