Hell's Angel

Chapter 16

I go and visit Derek when I first come into the hospital this morning "Hunt and Webber are fighting for a surgery." He tells me as we sit down on opposite sides of his desk. I raise my eyebrows, shocked "really? I never pegged Richard as a shark like that." I say. Derek makes a face, twisting in his chair "yeah, me neither. Apparently he called Owen Ginger, as an insult." Derek says and I cover my mouth to stifle my laughter but we both end up falling into fits of laughter.

I sit back in the chair and place my hands, interlaced on my stomach "so how are things as chief?" I ask and he shrugs, picking dirt off of his desk "it's alright, not exactly what I expected. I haven't seen the inside of an OR in too long." I nod my head slowly, surveying the room "I do not envy you brother. This is some serious hard work."

Derek shrugs "a high reward though." I nod again. I trace the lines of the desk as I ask next "what does Meredith think of your new position?" He huffs out a laugh and wipes a hand across his face "she definitely wishes I was home more, spending more time with her but she understands why I'm doing this." I raise my brows and take my hand back, placing it at my side "and what's that?" I press. Derek sits up properly in his chair "I'm saving this job for Richard, I'll happily step down once the board gives their approval. I don't think anyone else would."

I am surprised with how honest and selfless he is being and I joke "let's be honest here Shepherd, you only want to give it back because you want more sex with your wife." This makes his laugh, throwing his head back in the gesture. I stand up and brush off my pants "I'll see you later." He nods waving me out, still laughing.

I get paged to the pit and when I get there I see Lexie waiting for me nervously. She meets me half way, talking rapidly "I did page Doctor Robbins first but she's in surgery." I shake her away walking towards our patient "it's fine Grey what have we got?" She runs me through the case and I decide to bring him upstairs.

Upstairs I give him an ultrasound scan to check his side where he is receiving the most pain. "It's ok to give him this much medicine when we don't know what's going on?" The dad asks from beside the boy's bed, the mum stands behind me, watching the scan. "It's ok." I assure "it's not going to hurt him." The mother just scoffs "he needed a painkiller Jim." She snaps and I look back at the screen.

Lexie comes rushing over to me with paper in her hands "upright chest and KUB are negative." She says, I look back at her "go get him set u got a CT with contrast." She nods and leaves the room and silently as she came in. The mum has gone round to sit on the arm of her husband's chair as he asks "how could this have happened?" I look over at them with my most positive facial expression that I use for most parents before looking back at the scan in silence.

"Say it." The mum says "you think I missed something." Her husband sighs heavily sigh a slight pause "honey, I don't." Without even time to blink she shots back "yes you do. Just admit it." I keep my eyes on the screen, biting the inside of my cheek "ok fine. Fine!" He caves "how do you miss a fever this high?" Before they can start arguing completely I step in "guys, this isn't gonna help. Kids get sick. It's no one's fault."

The mum looks like she is about to cry "yes, it is. It's my fault." The dad rolls his eyes and mutters something quietly that I can't hear but she continues "if you'd been with him, I'd be blaming you. I would jL you if you had him and this happened." I finish the scan and turn to face then completely "ok, I need to get him this CT." I inform them "I've also added an IV antibiotic because he's septic and I want to make sure we've covered everything."

I finish prepping to move him and his dad suggests "maybe he ate something off the ground." The mum does a sort of dance, slapping her hands on her knees "I was watching him!" She insists. I finish prepping him and send the boy up for CT.

It's lunch and I'm sitting eating my pasta salad "hoe genius is this?" Arizona asks me and her girlfriend "Mark Sloan and Teddy." A smile spreads across Callie's face "are you serious? I said that." She says and I continue eating my food. "Shut up! Are we so well matched that we have all the same thought?" Arizona says and I fake gag "you two are so adorable its sickening." Before the other two can say anything to that Jackson sneaks up on me and places a kiss on my cheek "dinner tonight?" He asks kissing me again "I'll book our favourite restaurant." I smile as he kisses just below my ear "deal." I say breathily and he walks off.

I turn back to my table and Callie tilts her head at me "who's the cute ones?" She asks and I roll my eyes. Arizona puts her drink down and reverts us to our original conversation "Teddy needs someone to come and clear out the cobwebs, and put a little spring back in her step." Callie takes a bite of her sandwich before saying "yeah, and father her children." I clear my throat and stand up "I've go to go, I'll see you guys later." They nod and I throw my food in the trash.

Lexie follows me back to our patients room after lunch "I think we found our problem." I say to the parents as we enter, Lexie silent behind me "Noah had a cyst on his liver and it ruptured, and that's what's causing so much pain." The parents are standing on the other side of his bed "why would he have cysts?" His dad asks. I let Lexie answer "they can be congenital or infectious. They're usually benign, but they can rupture with pressure." His dad continues looks confused "pressure? What kind of pressure? You mean like a fall?" He turns to his wife "did Noah take a fall today?"

I cut in before another argument can break out "the truth is it doesn't matter what caused the rupture. What matters is that we operate straight away." His mum puts her hands on her head in a crisis "oh my god! Oh my god! We were doing bear hugs." She says "we were..... I...... I hugged him. I hugged him hard. That's when..... that's what did this?" His machine starts beeping rapidly and I check the screen "Grey, get anOR. We're going now." I order moving to listen to his heart beat.

We are in the operating room, the boy is under and we are digging through his body right now "that cyst was huge." I say more to myself then to Lexie "we have to do a cholie 'cause of the intrabiliary pressure." The comforting sounds of beeping from the machines around us fills the air. "Should I update his parents?" Lexie asks "it's gonna take a lot longer than we said." I sigh the pressure of having her around while knowing what I know suddenly weighing on me "yeah, sure. Good idea." I say but she stays for another moment "what do I tell them?" I ask and I shrug, concentrating on Noah lying on the table "doesn't matter." I say.

"I'm sorry?" Lexie says and I look up at her, telling her softly "until you can say he's awake and he's fine. They won't hear a word. They'll just hear white noise and see your mouth moving. But go. It's good for them to see you. Try to keep your voice happy." She leaves the OR and I have a few moments of relaxing.

Once the surgery is done I go out with Lexie to update the parents. They are both slumped on chairs in the waiting area when we arrive "he did great." I say and they both stand up "he's just coming out from under anaesthesia and he is probably gonna be in pain from the surgery, but he's fine." The parents look relieve and for a split moment they are just happy their son is ok until the mum asks "is this gonna happen again?" I bring my face back to neutral as I answer "it's possible that he'll develop cysts in the future. So your have to keep an eye out."

Lexie's soft voice breaks through the air as she asks "would you like to see him?" They both nod. Before Lexie walks away I catch her "good job in there Grey." She smiles brightly and I smile back, I squeeze her arm and then let her take the parents to see their son.

That night I meet Jackson in the entrance "hey gorgeous." He says standing up and taking my hand. I smile and lean in as he kisses my forehead "i can't wait for dinner." I say practically drooling over the thought of all of that gorgeous food I am going to order when we get to the restaurant. Jackson chuckles and we turn ready to go out "Tearney!" I hear someone call and we stop. Behind us Alex comes rushing over "I need your help with something." I shake my head, putting a hand up to stop him and I feel Jackson's arm around my shoulder pulling me into him "I'm off the clock Karev, go talk to Robbins." He seems to deflate and Jackson and I leave Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital.