Fallen Angel // Alex Karev

Chapter 8

I am sitting in an X-ray room with Burke, Bailey and Derek, my feet are up on the desk and I am studying one of the scan results, "it's infiltrated her spinal canal in three places. We should start there" Derek says wiping a hand over his face tiredly "it'll take 4 hours to get around those nerves" I continue staring at the results and offer "I would suggest starting at the front. You never know what vessels are involved" Burke turns to face us and I place the films in my lap.

"I'm going to get a head start" he says and Derek shakes his head mouthing no before saying "if I miss a step, she's paralysed" me and Bailey share the same look, just men. "I'd I don't release the pressure on her lungs, she will be dead" Burke argues and even though Derek is my best friend I do agree with Preston, I'm sure she would prefer to be paralysed and alive then dead but then again I'm not the patient.

Bailey moves over and stands behind my chair "do you think she really wants to live?" She asks the two men she clicks her tongue before she continues "come on, she's been housebound. She's been living under this thing, watching it grow for how long?" I sit up straighter bringing my feet off the desk feeling almost guilty "she doesn't seem stupid" I tell them "doesn't even seem that scared. Why would anyone wait so long unless they wanted to die?" The room goes silent, both men getting a reality check.

"People do things they know will kill them. Doesn't mean they want to die" Derek says I want to hit him for that comment but I choose not to, to be the bigger person. Bailey looks over at me, her arms crossed "what are her chances of surviving the surgery?" She asks I bite my lip thinking on it for a second but coming up with not very good chances "slightly better then if we do nothing" is the only answer I can give, Bailey frowns seemingly deep in thought "so is it worth it?" She asks more to herself then us.

We all look at her expectantly she scoffs at our looks "come on, you were already thinking it. I was just saying" I would never admit it out loud but we were, well at least I was and I feel awful about it. There is a silence for a few heartbeats before Preston says "she is 43. It's worth a try" Derek shakes his head and I walk out with him. In the hall Meredith is waiting and I assume it's for Bailey so me and Derek walk past her until she says "Doctor Shepherd" and we both stop.

"Mr Levangie, the Parkinson's patient, is he a good candidate for DBS?" She asks, I meet eyes with doctor Bailey who is standing behind Meredith Grey and she watching the interacting which let me know she saw them make out in the car too. "Yes but he's not interested" Derek tells her feeling the pressure of Bailey and I, "ok but i think it's worth talking to him again. Pushing him again" Grey says totally oblivious to the fact that two of her bosses know she is sleeping with a superior.

Shepherd looks at Bailey for a second "we're talking about a brain surgery" he tells the intern "performed while the patient is awake, risking paralysis or death. The patient doesn't want it. It's not my job to push him and it definitely isn't yours" I am surprised at how harsh he is being with her until I see the look on Baileys face and understand. The girl looks slightly hurt but covers it well "ok" she says calmly, Derek moves closer to me "you're clearly not comfortable with my decision, so don't scrub in" he tells her and starts walking away. I give the younger girl a sympathetic look before rushing after him.

"I thought you liked her?" I ask as soon as we are out of hearing distance, he gives me a look as he holds open the door for me "don't start Andy let's just go to work" he says clearly upset, I place a hand on his arm and give it a squeeze, I smile at him and head over to the peds ward.

———-

"Oh come on!" Reeta says throwing her hands up in the air, Reeta is a 16 year old girl with bright pink hair and she been here for almost 3 days. She fell of her horse on her horse riding lesson and got trampled on, she has a broken leg, pelvis and arm. We are keeping her in for observation in case anything else happens. Doctor Burke was afraid she might have internal bleeding.

I stand up from my chair beside her bed "where are you going?" She asks picking up her plastic cup and placing it at her lips, I brush my hair up into a ponytail and adjust my scrub cap onto my head "I have a surgery, big one but I promise I'll be back to play another game" she gives me a cocky look "yeah and I'll win" she says and I laugh moving for the door "more like I'll beat your ass"

——-

I head up into Annie's room where Bailey, Burke and Karev are standing. I stand next to Karev who doesn't even look at me, keeps his eyes on the patient as Preston starts tell her about the surgery. "I won't lie to you. The surgery is going to be difficult, but we have an extremely capable surgical team..."there is a woman tucking the blankets in at the bottom of the bed, her mother I realise. Annie cuts off Burke with a question "am I going to die?" We all hesitate none of us sure what to say so I step forward "there's always that risk, but if we don't do the surgery..." I trail off looking down at my trainers and fussing with my hands, "then I'll definitely die" she finishes for me simply and I nod.

She looks up to the cardio surgeon "soon?" She asks, he looks at me briefly, I'm not helping him here "yes" he says softly. There is silence before Annie looks towards her mother "mum, the rooms clean" the short woman sighs and finishes tucking in the blankets "ok honey" she says with the voice of a mum, a voice I've never heard from my own. The elder woman looks to us "she'll have the surgery" the patients eyes go wide "mum!" I move back and I feel Alex standing behind me and I try not to go pink.

"No Annie" the woman bites "she will have the surgery" we look to the patient apart from Karev who looks at the mum. "I guess I'll have the surgery" she sighs giving in, I smile gently trying to reassure her "I think that is a very wise decision" I say and she nods "on one condition" I raise an eyebrow "I don't want him there" and she points to Alex.

He looks confused and steps closer, closer to me "I'm sorry Annie" he says "did I upset you in some way?" I think I know what she is talking about but I leave it for her to say, then we can deal a punishment. She doesn't answer him however but looks up at the ceiling "if he's in the surgery I'm not having it" Jesus this is bad, "that's how I live with myself" I almost gasp, she had heard him speaking about her in CT. I warned him about this, stupid boy. "Ok Miss Connors" Burke says, Alex realises what he does and pulls a face, "Doctor Karev" he says quietly and we all leave the room.

"What the hell did you do?" Preston asks him as we stalk down the corridors, I stand the other side of Alex, like we are escorting him somewhere. "I don't know" he answers before he realises "man. The Mike must have been on" and I slow clap "finally you realised what you did wrong" I say and Alex glares at me, a look I return. Burke stops us "if anything goes wrong. You are 60 percent more likely to be sued if you offend the patient" he tells him, they are almost squaring up to each other and I roll my eyes at the level of testosterone right now.

"I wouldn't have said it. The Mike shouldn't have been on" he says, it's like he is trying to pass the blame "I didn't realise she could hear me"I shake my head and step in for Burke who looks like he is about to say something nasty "now you won't realise your chance to scrub in" Alex looks over at me, looking confused so I cross my arms and explain "you are banned from the OR for a week"

Doctor Yang comes down then and I take that as my cue to leave. As I move away Karev rushes after me "you can't do that! I'll fal behind I need to be in the OR" I turn to him sharply "you should have thought about that before you said those nasty things about the patient. Leave, now Alex" he growls in frustration but leaves anyway.