Flatline ~ Jackson Avery

SIX

Kylie

I opened the door to the scrub room and turned on the tap. The door opened behind me, and Lexie came in. "Lexie? What are you doing here?"

"Derek asked me to be his doctor and give him liquids and tell him to rest when he needs it." She smiled brightly.

"That's great! You'll get to watch Avery take an inoperable tumour out!" I purred. Her smile faltered a little.

"Wait, you're not going to operate?" She sounded concerned.

"No, I won't operate unless he needs me, which he probably won't because he's such a great surgeon."

"Maybe he's a great surgeon, but he needs to improve that stupid attitude." Lexie hissed.

"Oh, what did he do?" I asked.

"You know, I'm wearing a diaper." Lexie scrunched up her nose. "It feels horrible, but I don't want to get out of the O.R. so I decided to wear it. Cristina said it was a great idea."

"It is!" I blurted out. "I should have worn one...now that I think about it." I finished scrubbing, and so did Lexie.

We entered the O.R. and looked up at the gallery.

I spotted Cristina in the full gallery. She was on the phone with someone, and I assumed it was Meredith. Then Avery came through the doors.

"Alright, I only have space for one surgeon to work with me to open the dura. You two are going to have to decide. Quickly." My brother stated, snapping on his gloves.

"You can do it, I'll help if you need me to." I stepped back from the microscope.

"Are you sure?" Avery looked down at me. "Because I can watch, it's no big deal."

"No, go ahead, it's going to be your second surgery here, and it's big." I insisted. He thanked me after a moment of hesitation and began working. I stood beside Avery, looking at him work as Lexie stood on his other side. It felt like time flew by. I was so absorbed by looking at the tumor that I didn't even remember that I was supposed to be mad at him.

"What time is it?" Derek asked. A scrub nurse looked at the clock and said,

"One hour and thirteen minutes on the surgical clock, seven thirteen real time."

"Okay, the dura's opened..." Derek removed his scalpel. "Let's take a look at the tumor."

"Wow." Both Avery and I exclaimed at the same time. The tumor didn't look so good.

"That's uhm...wow." Avery furrowed his eyebrows. Lexie leaned over to get a better look.

"The vessels..." I mumbled.

"They're more intricate than the M.R.I. showed us. There's really no way I can get the tumor out without rupturing one and killing the cord."

"So, uh, what do we do?" Avery asked. Derek started talking to himself about several ways to get the tumor out. Avery responded to some of Derek's suggestions, and so did Lexie. "He's not talking to us, is he?"

"Not at all." I whispered back. I took a breath to attempt to make my healing rib cage feel better. Since my brother wasn't going to issue any orders anytimes soon, I began thinking to myself. I shouldn't have signed the discharge paper. It looks like the DNR paper...makes me think I'm going to die soon...I even pretended to feel better when Callie did a check up on the sternum so I could go back out and work. It's only been four days since I broke, or Avery broke my sternum. It obviously hasn't healed, even though I heal much faster than most people...