On Call | Grey's Anatomy // Book 3 // COMPLETED

38 | Nothing's Impossible

"We need four units of o-neg." I ordered as a crowd started gathering outside around April and I, "Bring that bench over here. They went to cut off the door, and all I could think was he's gonna bleed out. We need more time. I was pissed, but then I thought, 'no, we need less distance to the O.R., so-"

"So you brought the whole damn car." Maggie smiled.

Meredith started walking towards the flatbed. "How is he?"

"He's hanging on, barely." April removed her sweater and tied her hair up.

"Hey, Keith, it's Meredith." Meredith got up beside the car.

"Thanks for having me over." Keith smiled, "How's Joan? What's the word on my baby?"

Meredith sighed. "We'll find out for you. We got you."

"There's been a lot of talking, but not a lot of getting me out of the car." Keith kept talking to us, which was good, "That's still the plan, right...get Keith out of the car?"

"That's the plan," I assured him.

Keith exhaled loudly. "When Joanie called and told me she was pregnant, you know what my first thought was? Run like hell. We'd only had the one date. And she agrees, it kind of sucked. I think we had sex just to stop the awkward silence. And then boom...insta-family, like sea monkeys. It was scary. Now I can't believe I ever felt like that. Now all I want to do is see them."

"Grey, Forrest, we're ready to cut the roof." Owen walked over, using the bench as a step stool.

"Okay, Keith, it's gonna get real loud and then it's gonna get scary, and then we're gonna get you out, okay?" Meredith explained.

Keith nodded. "Loud, scary, free."

Placing a firefighter's jacket over Keith just to protect him, Meredith and I hopped down from the flatbed. Orange sparks flew as the saw started up and the jaws of life started grabbing onto pieces of the car.

"Ellie." Owen walked over to me and pulled me in for a hug, "I can't lie...I was a little worried when you didn't come back with the others."

I smirked, "Just because you're the big, brave army medic...doesn't mean you're the only hero here. Because I don't mean to brag, but it was pretty intense out there."

"Roof coming off!" a firefighter called and I rushed back over to the car, "Okay, guys, you're clear."

"We need a trauma panel and type and cross for eight," April ordered.

Owen nodded, "Got it. Drawing labs."

"No blood in the pericardium," Maggie announced.

Owen groaned, "Penetrating thoraco-abdominal injury. Ultrasound, please."

"Keith, talk to me." I looked down at him, "How do you feel?"

"Uh...popular," he answered, his voice quiet and weak.

"Funny." Meredith told him, "That's funny."

The same firefighter that had been talking to us all day walked over. "Okay, guys, when you clear, we're gonna cut away the piece of the door here that's impaling him, then you can get him inside, okay?"

"I don't want to listen to another word about it!" Webber yelled over the loud saw, but...he yelled a little too loud and everyone heard him. Pausing, I looked towards where he was standing in the crowd with Catherine. The saw blade came to a stop as all eyes were on the soon-to-be-married couple.

"Let's get back to it!" a worker shouted as people slowly resumed what they had been doing. However, I saw out of the corner of my eye as Catherine removed her engagement ring from her finger, placed it in Webber's hand, and walked off.

"I-I can't." Keith wheezed, "I'm-"

Meredith got down beside Kieth and smiled. "Hey, Keith. Stay with me. I have some news for you. Joan's okay. She's headed into surgery, and you have a baby boy."

A huge smile spread onto Keith's face. "A...boy? A boy? I have a son."

Keith whimpered as the workers started sawing away bits of the door that were impaling him. Then, out of nowhere, he started screaming. "Okay, stop!" Meredith yelled as the workers backed off.

"What is it, Grey?" Owen asked.

"We can't do this. Not like this." Meredith looked up at Owen, "It's gonna tear him apart."

As a group of us gathered to discuss options, I took a deep breath. Keith was running out of time and we needed to act fast. "We're gonna open him up out here?" Jo asked.

Meredith nodded, "It's the only way. We start an ex-lap."

"Clamp everything we can." Owen added, "It'll buy us time till we get him upstairs."

"Only five or six minutes till he bleeds out." Maggie reminded us.

April folded her arms, "That's plenty of time."

"Guys, guys, all O.R.s are full." Ben told us as we gave him a look, "Tunnel collapse victims."

"No, no, we have a plastics O.R. available," Jackson spoke up.

I huffed, "That's all the way at the other end of the building."

"That's impossible." Jo was ready to give up. I could see it in her eyes.

"Nothing's impossible." Jackson disagreed, "We just...all right, we clear a path to the east elevator. Move everything out of the way, stop all foot traffic, lock down the elevator."

"Can he make it that far?" Maggie questioned.

"No, but he will." Jackson said, being very confusing at the moment, "He doesn't have a choice, right?"

Maggie nodded, "So, we run. All out like Olympians."

"It's plenty of time." Meredith agreed with the plan, "It's plenty of time."

"Let's prep him for an ex-lap out here," Owen ordered. Agreeing, we broke up our little circle and got to work right away. Like I said...we didn't have any time to waste.

As the sun started to set, we got ready to do this thing. Meredith had brought Keith's baby boy out for him to see before we started, just in case he didn't make it. Once the baby was back inside and everything that could be was covered in a blue surgery tarp, April made the first cut.

Blood was everywhere as we did the ex-lap right there in the car. "Laps!" called as blood spilled out everywhere. Reaching in, Owen placed the last clamps before we were ready to go. "If this guy's not on the table in five minutes, this was all for nothing." Owen said, "I'm starting the clock. Let's all be careful, okay? And go."

As soon as Owen said go, the firefighters removed the piece of the door that was impaling Keith before we moved a back stabilizer underneath him. As soon as he was on the gurney, Owen, April and I took off into the hospital.

"Incoming!" Owen yelled as we ran through the first set of doors that were being held by interns. At least they came in handy for something today.

As soon as we got into the elevator, Keith coded. April, thinking quick, jumped on top of his and started chest compressions.

"What happened?" Jackson asked as we rolled into the O.R.

"He coded in the elevator!" April answered as she jumped off of the gurney. As soon as Keith was on the operating table, the surgery began.

Owen and I, who weren't needed for the actual surgery, stepped out of the O.R. For the first time that day I felt like I could just take a step back and breathe.