Code Blue | Grey's Anatomy // Book 2 // COMPLETED

4 | Still Thinking

I woke up that morning with the sunlight flooding through my window and heating up my face. Rolling away from the window, I almost fell back asleep, when a commotion downstairs assured I was awake. That was the one downside of living with a bunch of people. If one person was up, it wasn't long until everyone was up.

Groaning, I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, where I found Meredith, Jackson, and some woman I didn't know all gathered doing whatever in the kitchen. "Oh, damn it. I screwed it up." Meredith huffed as she tried to decorate a cake for Zola.

"'Gag Zola'," Jackson read the cake, "Really?"

I couldn't help but laugh as I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down beside him at the table, "Harsh words mom. You're lucky Zola can't read yet."

"Those aren't G's." Meredith told us, "Those are Y's for 'Yay'. Yay Zola."

"See, a normal person would've just written 'Happy Birthday'." Jackson said.

"Well, I couldn't fit all those letters on the cake." Meredith countered.

"Okay, who used up the last of my deodorant?" April sighed as she entered the kitchen in her pink housecoat.

The strange woman who was currently going through the fridge turned to her, "Oh, that might have been me. Sorry. Kinda had a workout last night."

April gave Jackson a look. "Not mine," Jackson assured us.

"Coffee." Alex groaned as he joined.

"Fresh out, Chief." I told him, "I took the last of it. Sorry. You snooze, you lose."

April looked up, "Wait. N-no. That's impossible. I just bought some three days ago."

"You're out of O.J., too." the strange woman added.

Alex turned to the woman, "Hey, you're still here?"

"Oh, yeah. I was on my way out, and then I saw these cute cheeks." she walked over to Zola, "So cute."

"Oh!" Meredith turned and stopped her by picking Zola up, "We don't touch the baby because we don't know where those hands have been."

"Alex does." April giggled.

"Okay, so, um, I have a meeting with Owen, so I'm off." Meredith told us, "Party is at eight. Don't be late."

Alex walked up behind his girlfriend/one-night stand, "I got twenty minutes before work. You wanna, you know?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Good." he nodded, "Come on."

"Round two." Jackson took a bite of his cereal.

April made a disgusting face, "Oh, we need to move."

"Do we?" Jackson picked up the paper and looked to me, "So, have you been, uh, thinking about what I said?"

I almost choked on my coffee, not expecting him to bring it up with April in the room. "Oh." my eyes widened before I regained my composure, "Yeah. Lot's of thinking. Tons of thinking going on."

He smiled, "And, have you decided yet?"

"Uh, nope." I stood up and headed for the front door to head to work, "Still weighing the, uh, pros and cons. Could be a little while so don't get excited just yet!"

As soon as I got to the hospital, I changed into my scrubs and coat and headed off to find a surgery. On my way down to the pit, I ran into Owen. "Oh, Forrest." he greeted me.

"Hello, Chief Hunt." I gave him a nod.

"I just had a meeting with Meredith about what specialty she is going into." he told me, "And it got me thinking about what you said a few weeks ago. Are you still interested in Trauma?"

I nodded, "Oh, yes, Sir."

"Good." he smiled, "Then follow me because I just got word of a trauma coming in."

"I was paged here." one of the other trauma surgeons argued about his patient, who had a metal rod sticking out of his chest, "I already ordered the C.T. He's my patient."

"This isn't finders keepers." Teddy told him, "I'm taking over the patient."

"Whoa, what do we got?" Cristina asked.

"Back off, Yang." Alex warned, "I met the ambulance."

Owen sighed, "Everyone, take a breath. What happened?"

"A thirty-two-year-old ran his bike into a wrought iron fence." the trauma surgeon answered.

Teddy finished up by saying, "Yeah, and this is the fence going directly into his heart. I know how to deal with these injuries."

"He's my patient." the man fought Teddy for the patient, "I can remove it thoracoscopically."

"Yeah, and that's when the poor guy dies because if you do that, you won't have a direct visual," Teddy told him.

"Plenty of people use the VATS technique to remove impaled objects," Alex mentioned.

Cristina gave him a look, "Oh, now you're the expert?"

"You don't get every Cardio case, Yang," Alex shouted.

"Enough. All of you." Owen asserted, "McQueen in the doctor on call. He can handle it. Karev, you will assist. Altman,
I believe today is your day off. Go get some rest."

Teddy ignored Owen and continued to use the ultrasound to check out the patient's abdomen. Cristina turned to Owen, her husband, "Dr. Altman has way more experience, and this is gonna be a complicated procedure."

"Well, both of you have been up for the past forty-eight hours straight." Owen reminded her, "This is a liability issue. Hands off the patient. Dr. Altman?"

"Ugh. Fine." Teddy gave up.

Alex smirked, "Enjoy your nap."

"Sorry, kid." Owen turned to me, "Looks like no Trauma today. You better go and find yourself a case before your stuck in the pit all day."

Just as I got out of the trauma room, I got paged up to help out with Dr. Webber's ten-thousandth surgery. Even though it was just a liver transplant, anything was better than the pit. As I made my way up, I ran into Bailey. "Forrest." she gave me a greeting head nod, "Where are you off to?"

"Dr. Webber's liver transplant." I told her.

She nodded, "I am as well. So is Grey I believe."

"Hey, Dr. Bailey." Meredith joined us from out of nowhere.

"Hmm?" Bailey kept walking.

"Chief Hunt says I need to declare a specialty." Meredith said, "He suggested General."

Bailey hummed, "Good for you. Mini Ellis Grey."

"No. I'm still on the fence about it because there are a lot of specialties out there-" Meredith pointed out.

"Don't be an idiot. It's in your genes, Grey." Bailey told her, "It makes perfect sense."

I turned to Meredith, "Don't worry about it. I literally just told Hunt two weeks ago that I wanted to go into Trauma. You'll figure it out."

Meredith sighed as we entered the room we had been paged to. Webber turned to us, "Oh, uh, Karen and Marcy, I'd like you to meet Dr. Bailey, Dr. Grey, and Dr. Forrest. They'll be performing the liver transplant with me today."

"Nice to meet you." the sicker looking one of the sisters nodded.

The other one groaned, "Ugh. This I.V. really hurts. You think it could be infected? I mean, I'm already missing my family vacation for this. I'd-I'd hate to die of staph."

"You're not gonna die, Marcy." Karen huffed as Meredith went to check on Marcy's I.V., "I am the one in liver failure."

"It doesn't look infected." Meredith told Marcy, "A little discomfort is normal."

Marcy smiled, "Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm just nervous. I've never had a major surgery before. But when your sister calls you to come and save her life, I mean, you take that call."

"How lucky I am to have just that sister." Karen faked a smile.

Marcy chuckled, "Yes, you are."

Webber removed his glasses, "Well, the labs look good. We're ready for transplant. In the meantime, why don't we relax?"

"Relax in a hospital?" Marcy asked, "I'd be a lot easier on a white, sandy beach."

"I'm gonna reimburse you for this trip." Karen told her sister, "I promise."

Marcy looked to Karen, "I just hope I don't die in there. I mean, it would be hard to reimburse me for my life."

Karen sighed an exhausted sigh, "Thank you, Marcy. I just can't thank you enough."

"Oh, well, you're welcome." Marcy waved her hand.

"What about Ortho?" Cristina asked Meredith as we stood in the lobby, "Callie would be a great mentor."

Meredith made a face, "Bones?"

"Oncology," Cristina suggested.

"Depressing."

"Trauma."

"I've had enough trauma for one lifetime." Meredith refused, "Plus, Ellie is on Trauma."

I nodded, "Yup. Picked it two weeks ago and regret still hasn't kicked in yet. I'm feeling good about it."

"Well, just pick something." Cristina threw her arms to her sides, "This decision is important."

"Check it." Alex came over and held up scans, "Fence guy...heart's the size of a football."

Meredith looked at the scans, "From hitting a fence?"

"From being impaled on a fence." Cristina corrected her.

"Don't worry, Yang." Alex looked to Cristina as he walked away, "I'll send you pics from the surgery."

Meredith watched him leave, "Hey, is it too late for me to pick Cardio?"

"Yes. Cardio's mine." Cristina took off.

Later that day, Meredith and I checked on Karen as Marcy talked on the phone with someone. "You swam with the dolphins?" Marcy asked into the phone before turning to Karen, "Kaylee swam with the dolphins. Okay, honey. Mommy needs to go save aunt Karen's life now. Oh, bye-bye, sweetie. I love you, too."

Marcy hung up her cell phone and turned to Karen again, "I am risking my life here. It's not like a ride to the airport."

"Oh, believe me, after this, I will never ask you for a ride to the airport." Karen scoffed, "I will never ask you for anything again."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Marcy asked.

"Just need a little blood here." Meredith interrupted.

Karen sighed, "Because I am never gonna hear the end of it. You're gonna lord this stupid piece of liver over me until we're both dead, just like everything else."

"One more tube and we'll be out of your hair," Meredith told them.

Marcy sat up, "Everything else, like all the checks I sent...or the jobs I lined up? You managed to get yourself fired from most of those. And I have never asked you for anything in return."

"Oh, no, just my lips glued to your ass 24/7." Karen exasperated, "You know what? Keep your damn liver."

"Oh, here we go." Marcy huffed.

Karen winced as Meredith pulled the needle out, "You know, I have no job, no husband, no kids. You won, okay? So just, hey, forget the transplant. Just, you're-you're off the hook. You're off the hook. Catch your plane to Maui, swim with your precious dolphins."

Karen groaned in pain. "Karen, what hurts?" I asked.

"Don't worry." Marcy told us, "I'm winning the fight, she doesn't feel good."

"I'm in liver failure." Karen reminded her sister.

Marcy scoffed, "Classic drama queen."

Then, all of a sudden, Karen lurched forwards and coughed up blood. I moved a bucket to her as Meredith called out, "I need some F.F.P. and octreotide in here!"