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

61 | A Storm is Coming

They hit you out of nowhere. When bad things come, they come suddenly, without warning. We rarely get to see the catastrophe coming... no matter how well we try to prepare for it.


As I walked into work that morning and headed out to the ambulance bay where a loud noise was emitting, I ran into April and Owen. "What is all this?" I asked as I looked around at all the men and machines.

"Weather report says a massive storm is coming." Owen answered, "Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain. They say it's three days out."

April turned back to look at the truckload of sandbags, "So we have time to prepare, then."

"Exactly." Owen smiled and handed April and I a booklet, "So, for the E.R., we're gonna need to overstock supplies and blood products. Let's get ready for double capacity intakes. That means extra beds and gurneys in the hallways."

As we walked back into the building, we all gathered in the main lobby for Owen's speech to the staff. "This storm will bring in a lot of casualties." Owen announced, "We're gonna need to make room for them, so let's discharge all patients that can be. Post-op and long term patients are gonna be transferred to Seattle Pres further inland. We're gonna bring in supplementals...water, food, meds, lighting. Uh, we're gonna be checking and refueling the backup generators. As for you surgeons, push, postpone, or cancel all elective procedures until after this storm..."

"So we're cancelling surgeries now?" Meredith turned to Derek and me.

"Well, you can afford to slow down a little bit," Derek told her.

Meredith scoffed, "I'm pregnant. I'm not sick."

"You're very pregnant." Derek reminded her, "You're three weeks away from your due date."

"Shepherd." Alex came up behind us.

Derek turned to him, "Yeah."

"I need your help." Alex said, "Come with me."

"There will be a list of available surgeons..." Owen continued as Derek left with Alex, "Most importantly, we're gonna need to print hard copies of all computerized patient charts in case of a power loss."

"All of them?" Jackson was skeptical, "Do we have time to-"

"I'll do that." I heard Bailey's voice from somewhere near the back of the crowd.

Owen looked to her, "Bailey, it's good to have you back. I'll put you on the O.R. rotation."

"Uh, I mean I'll do the charts," Bailey told Owen before she left the crowd of people.

Owen nodded, "Folks, they're saying that this is going to be a bad one, but we have three days to prepare. So let's do it and be ready when the storm hits. Thank you."

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"Clear the hallways for cots." April told Leah as we walked out to meet an ambulance, "People will come looking for shelter."

"How bad is this supposed to be?" Leah asked.

April shrugged, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right?"

"What do we got?" I asked the paramedic.

"Thirty-nine-year-old construction worker." he replied as he and his partner got the gurney out of the rig, "Wind blew him off a building. Fell four stories to impale himself on three bars of standing rebar. Vitals are stable. Minimal blood loss on the scene. Maintaining airway."

"Okay. Let's go." April nodded as we headed inside.

"Let his name be Bob." Leah whispered, "Please let his name be Bob."

April looked to her, "Why?"

"Shishka-bob." Leah replied.

"My name's Leon." the patient said out of nowhere.

The paramedic glared at Leah, "The patient's awake and responsive."

"Oh, my God." Leah gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"It's bad, huh?" Leon asked as we entered the E.R., "This is really bad. Am I gonna die?"

April looked down at him, "The fact that we're talking right now, Leon, means it's not as bad as it could be."

"I guess so." Leon breathed out, "If these bars hadn't caught me, I'd be a stain on the pavement right now."

"That's the attitude, Leon." I smiled, "Just keep that up, okay? Let's get him to the O.R. and we'll take X-Rays there. Page Grey and Torres."

"Kepner, Kepner," Owen called.

April turned to him, "What?"

"I'll take this," he said.

April raised an eyebrow, "Why? Why? I caught it."

"It's a big case and I need you on-"

"Yes, it is a big case." April argued, "It's my big case. Hey, I-I am about to take my oral boards again, and this is exactly the kind of case that I want them to see that I can handle. Because I am going to crush them this year."

"I need you on storm prep," Owen told her.

"And you once told me that I should stop being an administrator and start being a surgeon." April went on, "And that's my human shish kebab."

Owen sighed and nodded, "Okay. All right. I hear you. Go."

"Thank you." April jumped up and grabbed my arm before she dragged me off.

"Now I will check in on you." Owen called after us, "If things get hairy, I'm tagging you out."

"You won't have to!" April shouted back.

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As April, Meredith, Callie, and I stared up at Leon's X-Rays, I sighed. It looked tricky. "This one's sitting right next to the carotid, but it doesn't seem to have damaged it." I said.

"This one's in the right upper quadrant." Meredith looked up at the scans, "And according to the ultrasound...it might have missed the liver.

Callie stepped up, "The ultrasound on this one showed the femoral artery intact, for now."

Meredith nodded, "These bars are rough metal. When we take them out, we risk shredding the vessels. He could bleed out."

"Doctors, he's starting to lose his airway. I need to intubate." Knox informed us as we moved away from the scans and over to the table.

"Okay." April took a breath, "I want to cut down the protruding bars as close as possible to minimize the damage when we pull them out."

"Bone cutter?" Leah walked over with one in her hands.

Callie looked at it, "Maybe. Uh, doubtful."

Leah tried to cut the bars, but it didn't even make a dent. "Nope." April shook her head.

"Half inch rebar." we heard Leon's faint voice, "You're gonna want a four and a half-inch angle grinder with a cutoff wheel."

"Thank you, Leon." Callie smiled under her mask.

"No worries," Leon said back.

Callie looked to Leah, "Okay, run. Do not walk."

Minutes later Leah returned with one of the workers who was helping prepare for the storm. We gave the man a gown and he was just about to cut the metal when Owen and Ben burst into the room. "Whoa! Whoa!" Owen shouted, "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

"Shut it off! Shut it off!" Ben told the worker and he did so.

"You can't grind metal." Owen said.

Ben nodded, "The room is full of oxygen."

"The grinder's gonna give off sparks." Owen continued.

"You'll blow up the room." Ben finished.

April stepped back, "Oh, God. Okay."

"Yeah, good call." Callie exhaled.

"I've, uh, been through something like this before," Meredith said.

Ben looked to her, "And how'd that work out?"

"Not great," Meredith responded.