Home Hunting

Chapter 9: My House

"Bowers, stop!" Dr. Grey ordered, as Evelyn continued with compressions. "Bowers," she said softer, now looking into the young doctor's eyes, "It's okay. We need to call it."

"No, if she dies it's my fault!" she pleaded.

"Bowers, it's no one's fault," Meredith replied, stepping over to remove Evelyn's hands from the patient's chest. "This is no one's fault."

"Time of death, 9:25 p.m."

****

14 Hours Earlier

Addison's POV:

I started my morning off as I usually do: spending time with the NICU babies. This part of my job is the reason why I got into the specialty in the first place. No matter how long I've been doing this job, the strength of these tiny humans never ceases to amaze me.

This morning, my attention was going to Charlie. Charlie is a 32 weeker with a heart defect, so he'll be here until he's big enough for us to perform surgery. However, he is a snuggle monster!

I was about 10 minutes into my Charlie snuggles when I saw Evelyn come into view from the side window. I smiled at her as we made eye contact, watching her as she came inside.

I always like the days when she comes in in the mornings. Seeing her gives me comfort, you know? It assures me that she got to work safe and her spirits are up. She's so young. It shouldn't matter, but it does. She's a bright girl, in both mind and spirit. She needs someone to watch out for her, even if no one has before.

"Morning, Evelyn," I greeted.

"Good morning," she smiled. That smile. Good morning to you too, Charlie!"

"Lola is waiting for you," I added. "She's probably getting out of here this week, so spend some time with her while you can."

"Oh I'm going to miss you!" She said, as she happily picked up Lola.

"Do you know what cases you're on today?" I asked.

"I'm on Grey's service today. We have an appi this morning, but after that the day is free as of now," she replied. "How about you?"

"I have a fetal surgery at 10:00 this morning. Spina bifida," I said briefly, trying not to let on that I was a bit nervous about the case. It was a high risk procedure, but the outcomes would be significantly worse without intervention.

"Are you nervous?" she asked, being able to read me quite well in the short, but meaningful time we've spent together over the past few months.

"A little," I answered honestly.

"You're the best," she replied simply. "If anyone can do it, it's you."

Immediately following her statement, her pager started to beep from her pocket.

"It's Grey," she said. "911 to Trauma 1."

"See you later!"

***

Evelyn's POV:

"68 year-old car accident victim," Dr. Grey said as I quickly entered the room and threw on a yellow gown. "She's got a minor head contusion and multiple rib fractures, but she has extensive abdominal injuries. We'll need to get scans to be sure, but it's definitely looking like internal bleeding of some capacity."

"Where do you need me?" I asked, sensing the urgency of the situation.

"We're gonna head up to CT now. Can you take these labs down and meet us up there? Put a rush on them," she said, helping the nurses to unlock the wheels of the gurney.