flatline [m.s]

lxx.

- - -
'there's nothing else we can do for you.' these are the last words a surgeon wants to tell a patient. giving up doesn't come easy to us, so we do everything in our power not to.
- - -

"i've been chief for five minutes, and i've already got a huge lawsuit on my hands," derek sighs as he is sat in mark's kitchen. "the joys of being chief, hey."

"this is why i should have been chief," mark nods.

"i'm sure it will work itself out," julia smiles, ignoring mark's remark, as she stands up. "i've got a surgery in an hour so i better get going. i'll see you later?"

"yes," mark confirms.

"love you," she says, giving him a kiss before heading towards the front door.

"see ya," mark replies as she's leaving.

"'see ya'?" derek repeats with a chuckle once julia has left. "'i love you, too' is the appropriate response to 'i love you'. why wouldn't you-"

"we've been dating three months," mark protests. "it's way too early for that."

"oh, no. no, no, no, no, no, no. this is classic mark," derek scoffs. "you found out lia and jackson broke up, and now you're suddenly getting cold feet about julia. you and lia are over, okay? that ship has sailed... and sank."

"this has nothing to do with, lia," mark insists.

"uh-huh," derek nods, unconvinced.

■ ■ ■

"hey. i was paged here. i already ordered the c.t," dr. mcqueen informs lia as they stand on either side of a patient, with alex stood next to him. "he's my patient."

"this isn't finders keepers," lia argues. "i'm taking over the patient."

"whoa. what do we got?" cristina asks, entering the trauma room with derek behind her. 

"back off, yang," alex snaps. "i met the ambulance."

"everyone, take a breath. what happened?" derek asks.

"a thirty two year old ran his bike into a wrought iron fence," dr. mcqueen informs them.

"yeah, and this is the fence going directly into his heart," lia points out, continuing to work on the patient. "i know how to deal with these injuries."

"he's my patient," dr. mcqueen argues. "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," lia emphasises.

"plenty of people use the vats technique to remove impaled objects," alex adds.

"oh, now you're the expert?" cristina challenges.

"you don't get every cardio case, yang," alex almost yells.

"enough, all of you," derek orders. "mcqueen is the doctor on call. he can handle it. karev, you will assist. lia, i believe today is your day off. go get some rest."