- - -
the painful irony for doctors is that we often have to make you sicker in order to heal you. if a bone is healed unevenly, we have to re-break it. if a scar is too thick, we have to scrape it off and create a new wound.
- - -
"okay. um, alright, everyone! listen up, please!" bailey shouts in order to get everyone's attention as they chat amongst themselves, whilst she, lia, jackson, richard, and ben gather on the main staircase. "uh, first, i want to thank you all for keeping your heads during the events of last nights. thanks to you, there were very minimal injuries, and the firefighters were able to contain the blaze quickly. there was some damage, however, that will need to be repaired. uh, the neuro i.c.u, the cath lab, and the pulmonary clinic..."
"stephanie's gone," jo informs alex in a lowered voice as she approaches him in the crowd. "she was airlifted to a burn centre in texas."
"so until further notice, o.r's three through six are nonfunctional," bailey warns them all as owen and amelia arrive at the top of the staircase, stopping next to richard.
"hunt, your sister's here?" richard turns to him.
"yeah, she's just being taken to ct," owen nods. "uh, i am gonna need to take some leave."
"understood," richard assures, and lia turns around, looking past richard to see amelia walking away. "i'll update bailey. uh, your sister will be our first priority as soon as we're done here."
"okay. thank," owen smiles.
"to recap, we are to avoid o.r's three through six and the entire neuro wing, as they are unstable," bailey reminds everyone, as there is a loud clatter at the back of the nurses station.
everyone's heads turn to see that a part of the ceiling had caved in and collapsed. there is an array of indistinct screaming and shouting as everyone jumps back.
"and also avoid the fourth-floor nurses station until further notice," bailey adds.
■ ■ ■
"is this megan hunt?" lia asks, entering the radiology room that bailey and richard are examining a set of scans in.
"yeah," bailey nods. "nastiest abdominal wound i've ever seen."
"massive hernia, giant fistula," richard adds. "the abdominal layers have scarred and fused to each other. her small bowel and colon are just-"
"one big blob," bailey sighs. "and there's not enough healthy skin to properly close the wound."
"i think we just optimise her nutrition, vac the wound, and wait," richard recommends. "i mean, it'll close eventually."
"she wants us to reverse the colostomy," bailey points out.
"i can't see a way to make that happen," richard shakes his head.
"well, i can," lia takes her eyes off the scans to look at her father. "and you taught it to me."
■ ■ ■
"so, i would like to reapproximate the abdominal wall a little bit at a time," lia explains to megan and her family, whilst demonstrating on the monitor beside her. "put in tissue expanders to stretch the skin and then pull the abdomen back together slowly. and then we'll go back in, take down the fistula, reverse the colostomy, and i'll close with a component separation surgery."
"which means what?" evelyn, her mother, furrows her brow.
"which means she's my new favourite person," megan interjects. "who are you?"
"i'm alivia webber," lia introduces. "thank you for your service, dr. hunt."
"well, i admit i've been out of the o.r for a while, but this sounds like a risky surgery," evelyn voices her concerns.
"it most definitely is," bailey confirms. "and there's no guarantee that it'll work."
"yeah, which is why the general surgeons, dr. bailey and i would recommend a more conservative approach," richard side eyes his daughter and she sighs, rolling her eyes.
"thank you, but i just came back from being presumed dead. i'm not about to play it safe," megan shakes her head. "if your surgery works, i'll have a functioning bowel?"
"that's the plan," lia nods.
"then that's what we're doing," megan tells them all.
■ ■ ■
richard, and a group of potential new interns, file into the o.r gallery as megan lies on the table, being prepped for her first surgery.
"hi," lia walks over to her head.
"hi," megan smiles.
"do you have any questions before we get started?" lia asks.
"can i see the explainers?" megan raises her brow.
"of course. bokhee?" lia nods, turning to the scrub nurse who then holds one up.
"wow!" megan's eyes widen. "that is- wow. that is big."
"we'll deflate them to put them in, and then we'll slowly reinflate them with saline," lia explains. "we're gonna need as much space as we can get."
"let's do this thing, dr. webber," megan gives an encouraging nod.
"let's do it."
■ ■ ■
lia is just putting lily to bed when she feels her phone vibrating in her pocket. she makes sure lily is settled down, before she steps out of her bedroom and pulls her phone out, bringing it to her ear before she even gets the chance to look at the caller i.d.
"hello," lia answers in a hushed voice.
"hey," mark's voice sounds out through her speakers.
"hi," she instantly smiles as she makes her way to her own bedroom.
"is now a bad time?" mark asks.
"no, no, no," lia assures. "i was just putting lily down. i've only just got back from the hospital. uh, they found owen's sister."
"oh, my god," mark's eyes widen. "really?"
"yeah, but, uh, she a nasty abdominal wound," lia tells him. "i came up with a plan, and she's on board, but my dad is skeptical because i'm not a general surgeon."
"if you came up with it, i'm sure it's gonna work," mark attempts to reassure her.
"thank you. i think-" lia begins.
"look, i'm still at the lab so i gotta go," mark cuts her off. "is darci asleep? i wanted to say goodnight."
"uh, no, she's at jackson's tonight," lia informs him.
"okay, well... i love you," mark says.
"i love you too," lia smiles.
"you're gonna smash that surgery," mark encourages.
■ ■ ■
"okay, just one more time. we'll start by laying the adhesions to free up the bowel," lia goes over megan's next surgery as she stands, scrubbing in, between bailey and richard. "and then take down the ec fistula."
"after which, we'll reverse the colostomy," richard adds.
"phew!" lia exhales sharply. "more nervous than i expected."
"well, that's not a bad thing," richard assures. "just means you care."
■ ■ ■
"excuse me. excuse me," april pushes her way through the crowd gathered in the o.r gallery until she reaches owen and takes a seat beside him, and hands him a coffee.
"thanks," owen smiles.
"she's gonna do great," april puts her hand on his back and gives it a gentle rub.
"ten blade," lia turns to bokhee as the three of them begin the surgery.
- - -
we break you down to rebuild you. we go to medical school because we want to learn how to fix what's broken, but we quickly learn that we often have to make things worse before we can make them better.
- - -
after hours and hours of performing megan's surgery, the gallery had thinned out, and the only thing left was to close.
however, owen notices that rather than closing, lia is simply eyeing her abdomen, so he moves over to the gallery intercom.
"what's going on?" owen asks, but the three surgeons in the o.r remain silent. "lia!"
"there isn't enough tissue. i can't close," lia tells him, and owen's eyes widen. "damn it!"
- - -
it's risky, and it's frightening for surgeons and for patients, but usually, it's worth it. you get a second chance at life, and we get to be the architects of your second chance. it's win-win, when it works.
- - -