Sutures and Secrets || Mark Sloan

10 | Train Wreck

02x06

That same night, I joined the other interns at Joe's. Every time someone entered the bar, we all turned around, hoping that it was Derek. I knew he would eventually show up. Or - at least I hoped. Meredith sighed. „He's not coming. You don't think he's coming." „He might come.", Izzie said. „Yeah. You never know.", Cristina added. „He's definitely coming.", George said, before I kicked his leg under the bar. „What? You want her doing tequila shots all night? I'll be the one cleaning up the vomit." I rolled my eyes and turned back to face Meredith. „Look, Mer. I know Derek and he'd be a fool if he didn't show up, so don't worry. I'm almost sure he'll come." I knew that my words didn't sound really encouraging, but I didn't want to get her hopes up too much.

We waited and waited. But there was no sign of Derek. After a few minutes of silence, Meredith spoke up. „I actually said „Pick me", right? I did? „Pick me"?" „I think it's romantic. Derek digs stuff like that.", I said, trying to make her feel better. „It's not romantic, Charlie. It's horrifying. Horror movie horrifying. Carrie at the prom with the pig's blood horrifying." „Okay, fine, it's horrifying. But Carrie took out an entire senior class as revenge. Guys like that in a girl." „Charlie, you don't understand. I said „Pick me"!" I sighed, not really knowing what else to tell her, so I joined Izzie, Cristina and George playing darts, deciding to give Meredith some space.

„When you tell someone „I'll meet you later at a bar tonight", how long exactly does that mean you are supposed to wait?", Cristina asked, clearly annoyed. „Do you think he's really not coming?", George asked. „It is getting a little hard to watch.", I replied. „It was hard to watch an hour ago. Now it's just pathetic." Meredith turned around, clearly overhearing our conversation. „Who's pathetic? You, who pretend to be my friends, are calling me pathetic behind my back in front of my face. Why don't you just dump the pig's blood on me now and get it over with?" Izzie, Cristina and George looked at me in confusion. „Don't ask.", I said. Suddenly all of our pagers went off. „Joe, turn up the TV.", a man yelled across the room. It was a train wreck. „911.", Cristina said, looking at her pager. „We just worked a 30-hour-shift.", Izzie said, sighing. We packed up our stuff and made our way to the hospital.

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In the ER, hell was going on. We had dozens of patients with all kinds of injuries. George and I were assigned to help with two patients, who were both stuck on the same pole. I've seen all kinds of injuries by now, but that was crazy. „Shepherd, O'Malley? Get them to X-ray, but move them extremely carefully.", Bailey said, before walking away with Alex and a pretty drunk Meredith. We then, really slowly, made our way to the X-ray. „Well, is there anyone you'd like us to call?", George asked them. „No, they called my wife from the ambulance.", the man replied. „And my fiance. They're flying down from Vancouver together.", the other patient, a young woman, said. „Normally, Amanda would be a tad upset to find me pressed up against another woman. But in this case, I think I'll get a pass." I was surprised that they were still talking and even joking, since their injuries looked pretty bad. „You two weren't travelling together?", I asked. „No. We just met.", the woman explained. „Bit of an awkward introduction." „You have very nice pores." The man laughed. „Hurts to laugh.", he said.

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Later, we checked our patient's X-rays and Burke, Bailey and Meredith joined us. „Is it going straight through her spine?", George asked. „It is. T8's completely crushed.", Bailey replied. Derek then came in and I could immediately sense the tension. Earlier, we learned that Derek actually showed up at Joe's after we were already gone, but I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet, and neither did Meredith. „Look at this. These people are still alive?", he asked, while checking the X-rays. „They're still making small talk.", I explained. „Pole's tamponading the wounds as far as we can see.", Bailey said. „It's hitting the aorta.", Derek added. Burke then joined the conversation. „And look at him. It's right in line with his inferior vena cava." „Is there any way to operate without separating them?", I asked. „No.", Derek replied. „But if we move the pole then -" Bailey interrupted me. „They'll both bleed out." „What if we don't move the pole? What if we move one of the patients off the pole to get the saw in there? Then we can hold the pole steady in the other one. Move it very slowly and repair the damage as we go.", Burke explained. „Who? Which would you move?", George asked. „With her aortic injuries, her chances of survival are extremely slim no matter what we do. But if we move her, we have a real shot at saving him." „Well, I could argue, since her injuries are more extensive, we should move him. Give her the best shot we can.", Derek said, while not taking his eyes off Meredith. „So basically whoever you move doesn't stand a chance? So how do you choose? How do you decide who gets to live?", I asked, waiting for a response, but the room stayed quiet.