You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

25┃trust-ed

S4 EP9&10

[TW: blood]

"HEY, WHY ARE ALMOST everyone directed to Sloan today?" Timothy asked as he walked next to Norah.

"Wait, we're all with Sloan today?" Norah raised a brow at him, "All of us?"

"You didn't know?" he narrowed his eyes at her as they took on the corridor heading to where they were getting paged to. "Huh, thought that you'd know, considering the fact that he woke up in your fucking bed this morning."

Norah rolled his eyes and nudged him in the stomach hard, and he scowled at her. "Shut your bloody snout," she warned before entering the patient's room, where Mark was already inside. The rest of the interns and residents, as well as some nurses, soon arrived. The staff gathered at the entrance of the room curiously.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, this is Nick Hanscomb," the attending introduced.

"Hi," Nick greeted the many medical personnel awkwardly.

"Nick was lucky enough to have me remove a large carotid body tumor from his neck," Mark stated while removing the piece of dressing covering the side of Nick's neck. A long incision scar sat on his neck; some interns started whispering to one another.

"The fact that I was able to get clean boundaries is pretty darn impressive, even for me," Mark smirked; Norah fought back a snort of laughter. As much as she hated it, that scar on Nick's neck really interested her.

"Now, despite the fact that it was a wildly successful surgery, we had to dissect out deep lymph nodes in his neck. There is now only a delicate flap of skin between his carotid artery and the outside world," Mark informed. "That said, what am I worried about?"

"The artery could blow," Norah replied instantly, "Given the friability of the skin, it's the greatest possibility."

Distressed looks started to show on the doctors and nurses' faces, and Nick stiffened a smile back at them. "Oh, don't worry. I've... I've heard this before," he assured.

"If that happens, whoever's in the room, I don't care if it's a doctor, a nurse, an orderly, your job is to stop the bleeding then page me, in that order. Are we clear?" Mark asked, and everyone nodded. "Any questions?"

They shook their head slightly, still eyeing the patient's neck. "They look scared," Nick pointed out grimly.

"They're medical professionals, Nick," Mark stated, "A healthy level of fear is encouraged."

"Okay, then," Nick nodded, glancing at them again. "Uh... if I do die, it will have been lovely meeting you all."

Mark chuckled softly. "I need someone to stay with Nick at all times and monitor him closely. Any volunteers?" Lexie's arm shot up, as well as Timothy's. "Okay, Grey and... Lawrence," he narrowed his eyes and turned to Norah, who was trying to hide away from sight, "She-Lawrence, you stay and babysit the interns. You know I don't trust interns."

Norah let out a low swear and sighed heavily. Timothy snorted and lowered his head to his sister, asking with a whisper, "Bad sex?"

She flicked a hand to the top of her head, hitting him right in the face. He let out a sharp yelp, holding his nose in pain while the rest of the group dispersed.

❦ ❦ ❦

LEXIE WAS CHECKING ON Nick's vitals while Timothy read the charts beside the hospital bed. Norah sat at the corner of the room, nearly bored out of her mind.

"You're a pretty girl," Nick spoke up, and Lexie quirked a brow at him. "I hope you don't think that's rude. I'm just... I haven't been allowed to notice that kind of thing for a while, and now I'm allowed."