Code Blue

~ Chapter 76 ~

Chapter 76
Thursday December 14th
Harry's POV

"Good morning Dr. Styles"

"Morning" I muttered as I raced into the Chief's office bright and early. I was unaware of the premise of this meeting, I don't believe that I've done anything out of line recently that she would know about, but for some reason I was called to the principal's office. Unless she was finally getting around to scolding me for 'stealing' Dr. Plack's surgery, I really didn't know what this was for. Regardless, I just wanted to get it over with. I had a plan in mind to visit Mallory before I had to go into surgery, and this was just going to cut into the already small amount of time that I had. "What's this for?"

"Take a seat" Chief West motioned with an open palm to one of the available visitor chairs, and I had no choice but to do as she said. Slowing down, I headed across the room towards her desk and pulled out the empty chair.

"What did I do now?" I asked in genuine confusion as I sat down, glancing at the time on the wall.

"You're not in trouble" The Chief clarified with a tsk as she cleared out some tabs on her computer. A second later she looked at me with a knowing glance, as she added. "This time"

"I'm usually only called here when I'm being scolded or you want something from me" I stated in an attempt to speed this up and get to the point. Each second that passed by on the clock was one that I wasn't spending with Mallory, and I'd rather be checking on her than sitting here right now. "So what do you want?"

"How is Ava doing?" She asked me, folding her hands on the mahogony. The mention of one of my most difficult cases brought me back to a past time that I was sitting in this chair. Now it felt like forever ago, despite only being a short few weeks, that she was 'requesting' one of the interns be apart of the surgery.

"She's doing great" I answered honestly, maybe if I just went along then whatever this is for can be finished faster. "She's been stable since surgery, PT and OT are happy, her odds are favorable"

"That's amazing to hear" She gave a pleasant smile. "I know we have our moments, but you truly amaze me with your surgical skills Dr. Styles"

"Thank you" I licked my lips, impatiently noticing the time again. "Was that all? You just wanted an update?"

"No, since you've done that surgery I've been flooded with reporters and journals wanting to know everything" She started.

"I'm not interested in anymore of those" I declined.

"I understand, but I received a message from the Hawthorne foundation and they want to speak with you" She stated proudly, finally revealing the true reason that I've been invited to her office on a Thursday morning. Of course, I immediately recognized the name, anyone in our field would be able to. The Hawthorne foundation of Medical Advancement has been around for forever, long before I even became a surgeon, and they're constantly interested in ways to push the boundaries of surgical skills.

"Ah I see" I leaned back in my chair. "I'm not interested"

"Dr. Styles, they want to speak with you about a potential nomination. This gives you an opportunity to win a Peregrine prize" She spoke highly, and for good reason. The award that she's talking about is the most prestigious and esteemed one in our scope of work. Surgeons will spend their entire career chasing new ways and curating new ideas for just the hope of securing a nomination. The consideration in itself is something that doctors long for and try to achieve before they leave the operating room, and many of them fail to be noticed. It was a huge deal for your work to be picked out by the committee, and although I am honored, I wasn't interested.