flatline [m.s]

lxxiii.

- - -
we teach residents when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. it means that the most obvious answer is usually right. it keeps doctors from heading down the wrong path. it helps us stick to the truth. it helps us save lives. it's part of what makes me a good surgeon.
- - -

"you've found a seven point five centimeter triple-a on your eighty five year old patient," lia tells meredith as the two of them are walking through the park. "go."

"get an angio, assess his pulmonary and cardiac function, and see if he's a candidate for an endovascular repair," meredith confidently answers.

"nope," lia says, popping the 'p'.

"why not?" meredith raises a brow.

"because the patient's dead," lia informs her. "you killed him. he's dead."

"i didn't kill him," meredith shakes her head. "i did a stent graft and now he's living without the threat of a rupture, which is not dead."

"mm," lia hums, unconvinced. "i think you should buy him flowers, 'cause he dead."

"he is not dead. i saved him the complications of an open procedure with a minimally invasive technique. he's... not dead," meredith insists, as lia stops walking. "why are we stopping?"

"because we're done," lia turns to her and smiles.

"because i killed him?" meredith asks, confused. "i told you, i did not kill him."

"i know, and so do you, even when i try to psych you out of it, which means... you're ready for the boards," lia nods. "the webber method is inside you. so i'm gonna go and visit my mom because i am sick of walking around this park every morning at the butt crack of dawn. and i- uh, you're free, mer. go do whatever it is you do."

"uh-oh. ooh, okay," meredith furrows her brow, but chuckles slightly as lia leaves.

■ ■ ■

"here we go," richard smiles, returning to where lia and adele are sat. "i snagged the last croissant, and i only had to elbow one orderly out of the way to get it."

"i got a secret," adele giggles like a school girl to lia, clearly mistaking her for a friend rather than her daughter.

"oh, really?" lia raises a brow.

"if i tell you, you can't tell anybody," adele warns her. "you promise?"

"i promise," lia nods.

"i'm in love," adele reveals.

"okay," lia simply responds, uncertain of how to react.

"with, uh... with whom?" richard interjects.

adele giggles, and points to a man sat across the room who waves at her, and she waves back as lia sits there with wide eyes.

■ ■ ■

"no distractions," alex frowns as he's stood with april, jackson and meredith at the nurses station, attempting to study. "kepner, hit me again."