The Other Side-Grey's Anatomy AU-Book 3

Chapter Sixteen

*TRIGGER WARNING* this episode contains suicide references. read with caution. your mental health comes before you reading this! love y'all

"Like I said, disappearances happen. Pains go phantom. Blood stops running and people, people fade away. There's more I have to say, so much more, but... I've disappeared" 

"'cause she's just like the weather, can't hold her together"

Lucy surfaced for a brief moment but went back under right away. She came back up gasping for air. "Meredith!" she yelled. "Meredith! Where are you?!" She fought for a few more seconds before freezing and staring blankly ahead. She then gave up and let herself sink.

Rick was still seizing. "I don't know what to do if search and rescue don't come in time", Holly said. "I feel really out of my depth here". "You did good stopping the bleeding", Vince said. "I believe Rick can make it. You have to believe you can do this". Holly took a deep breath. "Does anyone have a cellphone?" she asked.

Meredith and Lucy continued to sink down into the water.

Richard was watching Jane Doe's surgery from the gallery when his phone began to ring. "Dr Webber", Holly greeted sounding panicked. "I have a patient under a car. I suspect a depressed skull fracture and intracranial bleed". "Is there signs of increased pressure?" Richard asked. She listed the signs. "I can't get him out from under the car", Holly said. "I need to know what I can do".

"You could do burr holes. I'll go look up something in a book, as I'm not a neurosurgeon. I'll call you back"

Holly listened to Richard and Mark on the phone. "I need a drill", she said to Rick's friends. "I have a drill in my truck", Vince said.

Meredith and Lucy were motionless as they sank into the water.

Holly prepared to drill into Rick's skull. "Dr Kepner, remember, the drill won't automatically stop like a neurological drill, so you have to stop as soon as you feel the release of pressure", Richard said. "Trust your instincts", Mark said. "I want to clean the drill again", Holly said, panicking. "You've done that enough", Richard said. "It's time to act now. Find the right point and make a scalp incision down to the skull".

"There's a lot of blood"

"Don't worry about it because it's just superficial", Mark reassured. Holly took the drill and turned it on. "Remember, the temporale bone's only a couple of millimeters thick", Mark reminded. Holly drilled. "The dura's still intact", Holly said.

"You're going to have to drill again above the frontal lobe. The skull is five times thicker there"

Holly drilled again. "I see blood, Sloan", she said. "Drill around the hole to relieve the pressure", Richard said. She did so as Vincent looked on in horror. She drilled until the hole was 2 centimetres around. "I definitely see blood", she said. She had to use her finger and gauze to evacuate as much of the clot as she could. "It's not arterial", she sighed in relief. "The dura looks like it's pulsating regularly with the heart, which is a good sign for the brain's perfusion and oxygenation. I just have to fill up the wound with gauze to minimize the bleeding". "Well done, Dr Kepner", Richard said. Rick began to open his eyes.

Derek gasped. He emerged from the water as he struggled to carry the unconscious Lucy and Meredith in his arms.

Holly and Rick arrived at the ER. She approached Richard. "He's still tachycardic and has a GCS of 8. They should probably use a lot of antibiotics because I ran out of sterile material to work with", she explained. "You saved Rick's life today", Richard said. "Get cleaned up and join me in the OR. You're gonna make a great surgeon, Dr Kepner".

Mark approached Holly. "We have agreed to let you do the honours", he said. "You have to drill a few more burr holes before we start the craniotomy, this time with a high-speed pneumatic neurosurgical drill". Holly squealed in excitement. "Drill, please", she said, smiling.

The ambulance holding Meredith and Lucy arrived in the ambulance bay. Bailey opened the doors. "Two Jane Does, fell off the pier into the water", the paramedic said. "They're not Jane Does", Derek said. "It's Lucy and Meredith". "How long have they been down?" Bailey said.

"They're alive, they have to be!"

Holly, Mark and a neurosurgeon were working on Rick. Holly's pager went off. "You'll want to look at this one", the nurse said.

Mark sat down with Derek and patted his shoulder. "That's the woman I love and my sister in there", Derek said. "If Lucy dies, I'll never be able to forgive myself for the shit I put her through. They just have to live".

Izzie, Holly, George and Cristina stood watching Derek and Mark through the double doors. Alex arrived. "They have to let me in there, she can't die", Alex yelled. "I'm an asshole without her. She can't die". "They're gonna get through this", Holly insisted. "They have to get through this". George put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. Holly's eyes began to water. Cristina approached her and engulfed her in a hug.

Lucy coughed and opened her eyes. "Am I dead?" she asked. "Damn right you are", a voice said. She looked over to see Denny. "Holy-", Lucy said. 

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