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

24 | Passed

"An 80-year-old man with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 is admitted to the intensive care unit three hours following a fall from ground level. Bilateral proximal humerus fractures have been splinted. CT scans of the brain and cervical spine show a 1cm left frontal lobe intracerebral contusion and chronic degenerative changes to the cervical spine without acute fracture. Neurological assessment show good motor strength and reflexes in the lower extremities. Motor strength in the upper extremities is difficult to fully assess due to the fractures, but the patient appears to have bilateral loss of fine motor movement in the fingers and weakness with wrist flexion and extension." the examiner gave me my final scenario of session one.

Taking a deep breath, I thought about my answer before saying anything, "These findings are most constant with central cord syndrome which is commonly associated with falls in the elderly. The injury affects motor strength in the upper extremities more severely than the lower extremities. Once I am sure the patient has been worked over, I would talk to them about their treatment options, which is mostly therapy. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy."

The woman nodded and wrote something down, "Is that your final answer?"

"Yes." I was confident thanks to Callie.

The woman closed her book, "That concludes the first session. You have a ten-minute break. Please be back here on time and ready to continue with session two."

Nodding, I stood up and exited the room. "That first session was so easy." I heard Cristina say as Meredith threw up in maid's cart garbage.

"I want to punch your face." Meredith looked up at her before throwing up again.

Cristina saw me and smiled, "You made it! Now I don't have to kill you."

I sighed, "I'm trying not to freak out right now. I'm trying to use the Torres method, but sometimes I just can't help but second guess myself."

Before I knew it, my ten minutes were up and I had to head back into the room of hell. Calming myself down, I walked in, closed the door, and sat down again. "Perfect timing, Dr. Forrest." the man opened his folder, "Shall we continue?"

"We shall," I replied, happy that I at least got some decent examiners.

"You have a forty-year-old man who complains of rectal pain and burning with defecation and occasionally some blood in the bowel movement." the man read.

"I would do a rigid sigmoidoscopy to make sure there were no lesions in the rectum." I went over the steps in my head, "If there were lesions in the rectum I would do an incisional biopsy and begin to fulgurate..."

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"Are all your questions gross?" Meredith asked as Cristina and I entered the bathroom for our second break.

Cristina took off her jacket and sat on the counter, "Gross? What do you mean, gross?"

"Uh, they keep asking me about bowels and bloody stools." Meredith, who was sitting on the toilet with the lid down and trying not to throw up, said.

"It's general surgery. What do you expect?" Cristina asked.

"They keep asking me non-trauma questions." I sighed, "I hope they know I'm a trauma surgeon."

Meredith huffed, "You're not helping, at all."

"My guy is a freakin' fossil." Cristina told us, "The last time he was in the O.R., it was lit by candles."

"Maybe I'll just live in here, in this stall, in my filth..." Meredith grumbled, "Till I die."

Just then, there was a knock on the door because Cristina had locked it. "Sick woman in here." Cristina called, "Go away."

"Uh, I-I really need to get in there." we heard April.

"Uh, sorry. Closed for maintenance." Cristina refused to let her in.

April sounded like she was about to cry, "Please let me in."

"Come back later!" Cristina shouted at her.

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Walking back into the room for my third and final session, I sat, confidently, as they asked me the last set of questions. "A 24-year-old man presents after being struck on the left side by a pickup truck while crossing a street. Initial vital signs are blood pressure 130/78, pulse rate 110, and respiratory rate 18. He is alert and oriented and had no loss of consciousness at the scene. Paramedics have established two large-bore peripheral lines and are infusing normal saline; he has received less than 500 mL on arrival. Abdominal examination reveals tenderness in the left upper quadrant and suprapubic region. Plain radiographs reveal a pelvic fracture. What would be the best diagnostic test in this scenario to definitively diagnose the etiology of the patient's abdominal pain?"

Smiling, I sat back and nodded. I had this one in the bag. "An abdominal C.T." I started.

Once the boards were finally over, we all sat on the curb with our bags outside of the hotel. "That was hell." Meredith huffed, "Actual physical hell."

"I think I went a tad overboard." Cristina said, "A lot overboard."

"They took something from me." Meredith accused.

Jackson nodded, "Yeah, that wasn't an exam. That was an interrogation."

"Like, way...way overboard." Cristina's face grew worried.

"I may have been too confident." I admitted, "Too much Torres method."

"The mind games," Meredith said.

"Trick questions," April added.

"It felt like Al Qaeda in there," Jackson grumbled.

Meredith sighed, "Next test is June."

"June's not bad." Cristina seemed a little happier.

"2013." Meredith crushed Cristina's happiness. The next test was next year.

Jackson looked to us, "What's done is done. Let's just not even talk about it anymore."

"Anyone know how Alex did?" Meredith asked.

April scoffed, "Anyone know if Alex made it?"

"Made it?" Cristina asked.

"What do you mean, made it?" Meredith questioned.

"Alex and I flew back to Seattle yesterday." I explained, "My mother died and he went to check up on the intern Morgan's baby. I took a flight here this morning, but Alex wasn't with me."

Minutes later, Alex walked out of the hotel and joined us. "You made it." I smiled, forgetting all about what had happened the night before. That was to never be spoken of again.

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"Gotta pee. Gotta pee. Gotta pee." April chanted as she ran off the of the bus and into the hospital. The rest of us stood outside, refreshing our phones to see if we passed or not. "What time you got?" Jackson asked.

"12:04." Cristina told him.

"Oh, it's supposed to come online at midnight." Jackson huffed.

Meredith ran her fingers through her hair, "I mean, it's four minutes late. Come on, people."

"Crazy doctors, they crashed the system," Alex said.

Meredith sighed, "I already know I failed, so I don't know why I keep hitting the refresh button."

"Okay, if anyone failed, it was me, because my guy had a vendetta," Cristina admitted

Alex scoffed, "Please. I've got the odds on failure."

"Are any of you on call? I've got a trauma?" a nurse ran outside and asked us.

We all turned to her, "No!"

"Wait. Wait. Wait." Jackson stared at his phone, "I passed. I passed."

"I passed! I passed! I passed! Yes!" Cristina looked at her phone.

I smiled wide as I looked to mine, "YES! I passed!"

"I passed! I passed!" Meredith screeched.

"Alex?" we all looked to him.

"It's not coming up." Alex groaned.

Jackson handed Alex his phone, "Here. Here. Use mine."

Alex stared down at the device before relief washed over his face and he stared up at the sky. We all instantly hugged each other and started to laugh. "Yes!" I screamed as Cristina and Jackson started to dance.

"Wait. Wait. Where is April?" Jackson looked for her.

Turning around, we saw April walk out of the hospital, a devastated expression on her face as she looked at her phone. She then glanced up at us slowly and we immediately knew what had happened. One of us had not passed...and that one was April.