November 11 2019
OR 3 – Observation Gallery | 7:11 AM*
AJ Sanchez didn't blink.
She couldn't.
Through the thick glass below, Dr. Eleanor Rivas*
stood still, scalpel poised. The lights above the table reflected like twin moons off the exposed curve of Mateo's skull*
He looked impossibly small beneath the blue drapes.
And AJ? She was a statue. Cold. Carved from control.
Beside her, Dave barely breathed. His knee bounced. His eyes flicked between AJ and the OR.
Behind her, Luke stood silently against the back wall—present, steady, *hers* and make sure that Mateo was okay
---
Inside the OR – 7:14 AM
Dr. Rivas made the incision with calm precision. Her voice echoed faintly through the speakers:
> Rivas- Temporal lobe exposure complete. Bleeder clipped. No major vasculature in the path. Proceeding with craniotomy window.
AJ's fingers clenched the railing in front of her.
She'd done this surgery dozens of times. Taught it. Lectured on it.
But this wasn't a lecture.
This was her son.
---
7:27 AM
The bone flap lifted cleanly. The OR team moved in unison. Rivas was fast—but never rushed.
> Rivas - Navigating to lesion coordinates. Mapping boundaries.
AJ's brain kicked in automatically.
**Coordinates. Angles. Microscopic depths.**l
Her training wanted to *participate*.
Her heart wanted to *run*.
AJ- She's using a subpial approach
AJ whispered to no one.
Aj- Avoiding the language cortex. Smart.
Dave looked at her. "
Dave- Can she get it all?
AJ- If she mapped it right... yes.
Her voice cracked.
AJ- If not...
She couldn't finish.
---
7:46 AM
The cautery buzzed. The screen showed it: that tiny, alien slice of malformed tissue.
Focal Cortical Dysplasia. The cause of the seizures. The thing that stole Mateo's peace.
> Rivas-Lesion isolated. Tissue excised. Beginning resection margin cleanup.
AJ stood, barely breathing.
She whispered,
Aj- It's out.
Dave exhaled like he'd been drowning.
---
But Then—7:48 AM
The EEG monitor began to flicker.
Spikes. Bursts.
**Unstable waveforms.**
> Rivas Unexpected activity near the medial border. Residual epileptogenic field detected. Requesting expanded margin dissection.
AJ's stomach dropped.
Rivas was talking fast now. Adjusting. Changing course.
> Rivas- This wasn't on the pre-op scan
she said over comms.
AJ moved without thinking. Hit the gallery intercom.
AJ- Eleanor, wait.
The entire OR froze.
> rivas- Dr. Sanchez?
Rivas asked.
AJ's voice was calm. Barely above a whisper.
AJ- If you go medial, you're one millimeter from his language loop. You need to triangulate with tractography overlay—pull up Scan Set B, not A. I left the updated fiber map in the system last night. Use it.
Rivas blinked—then nodded once.
> Rivas- Copy that. Pulling overlay now.
---
8:02 AM
The team adjusted course. The cautery resumed.
This time... the EEG went still.
Silent. Clean.
---
8:10 AM – Closure Begins
Dave sat with his face in his hands.
AJ didn't move.
But finally—**finally**—she let herself exhale.
Rivas looked up once toward the gallery, met her eyes through the glass, and gave a slow, subtle nod.
We got it.
---
