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

23 | The Moment of Truth

I woke up alone the next morning. Not uncommon for me, but a little confusing when I knew for a fact what had happened the night before. I looked down and sure enough, I was naked. Naked in an on-call room single sized bed. How classy.

Groaning, I stared up at the ceiling. Picking up my phone, I took note of the time and the fact that the boards would be starting in about five hours. 'I could make it to San Francisco in five hours.' I thought to myself, but then I really thought about it. "I can make it to San Francisco in five hours." I sat up and started gathering my clothes.

About three minutes later I was dressed. Exiting the on-call room, I headed towards my mother's room where I had left my bags. However, when I got there, my bags were outside in the hallway and another patient was in my mom's room. Looking around for answers, I spotted Owen, "Chief Hunt, where is my mother?"

Owen turned to me, wide-eyed, "You-you're still here? We all thought you went back to San Francisco."

"No." I shook my head, "I went to sleep in an on-call room. Chief Hunt, where is my mother? Where is my family?"

Owen took a deep breath as he stepped towards me, "Last night when we took your mother into the O.R., her heart was failing faster than we expected. After trying to repair the heart, she flat-lined on the table. Despite our efforts to get her back, your mother was too far gone. I'm sorry Ellie, but, she's dead. Marissa Forrest is dead."

"No..." I started to cry, "No! No, no, no, no. She-she can't be dead!"

Owen pulled me in for a hug, "Your sister and father went home a few hours ago. Would you like me to call them for you and let them know you're still here?"

Shaking my dead, I made the tough decision and started to walk away. "Forrest, where are you going?" Owen called.

"To become a surgeon!" I replied as I rushed towards the elevator with my things.

══════════════════

After hailing a taxi, I arrived at the airport and was lucky that since a lot of flights were leaving for San Francisco for the boards, I could buy a ticket and pretty much hop on a plane right after. I had no clue if Alex had made it or not, or even tried to make it back, but I had to worry about me right now.

Quickly, I changed into my dress shirt and blouse before boarding the plane, because I knew that I would be going straight to the boards once my plane landed. Minutes later, the plane took off and we were in the air. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as I not only worried about my boards, but also the fact that my mother had just died.

If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even have a board exam to take right now. She encouraged me to become a surgeon, and now here I was. I had to do this for her.

It seemed like only an hour had passed before the plane landed. Jumping up, I grabbed my bags and rushed off the plane. I grabbed my suitcase, hailed a taxi, and before long was literally sprinting into the hotel in my heels. Throwing my bags at some bell boy, I told him my room number before taking the stairs up to the boards' floor.

Upon arriving, I stared in horror at the empty hallway. Chairs lined up against the walls indicated that people had once been sat there, but I had missed it. Turning to leave, I was just about to press the elevator button when I heard a door open behind me. "Ellie Forrest." a woman's voice called out.

Turning to face her, I couldn't believe it. "Y-yes. Here." I walked towards her and shook her hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

She nodded, "Please follow me inside."

Taking a deep breath, I walked inside where another examiner was waiting for me. I heard the door close behind me as I sat down in the chair opposite two others. The other examiner, a man, looked up at me, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be," I replied.

"Welcome to the American Medical Board of Surgery certifying examination." the woman began, "We'll give you four separate scenarios in three, thirty-minute sessions, ten-minute breaks in between. To pass the test, you must pass two of the three sessions. Now, you can fail a session and still pass, but examiners are not permitted to indicate whether you passed or failed each session. You'll be rated on your ability to diagnose, manage treatment, handle the unexpected...basically, the strength of your constitution in crisis. When we move on to the next scenario, there is no doubling back on the previous scenario. Meaning, once a question is asked you can't go back."

Trying to stay calm, I waited for the first question to be asked. This was it. The moment of truth.