flatline [m.s]

cxxiii.

- - -
when my mother's alzheimer's got bad, i was going through her bills and i found a notepad. written on it were the words 'important. tell alivia not to.' and that was it. she never finished that sentence.
- - -

"what happened? is- is alivia alright?" richard is frantic as he runs into the trauma room, but freezes when his eyes fall on his daughter.

"chief, right now the hypothermia is protecting her vital organs, but i'm not sure how much longer we can go on like this," bailey softly warns him.

"i've seen people last as long as four hours," richard snaps.

"yeah, but you-" bailey begins to protest, gently.

"no, this is not- this is my little girl," richard argues.

"we're all on the same side here, chief," owen tells him as he continues giving lia chest compressions.

"her body temp is at eighty six degrees," richard states as he looks at her vitals monitor. "she is not dead until she is warm and dead. i need to go to the e.r because adele is on her way, but you need to warm her up to ninety eight point six and start her heart."

"wait- adele's on her way here?" bailey furrows her brow.

"yes. she- she's very sick," richard nods, trying to keep himself together for his family. "believe me, i want to stay, but i can't be there for my wife and my daughter right now. alivia has a ton of family here for her, but i'm all adele has right now."

"yes, sir," owen nods, noticing richard's eyes filling with tears.

"don't kill my daughter," he warns before exiting the trauma room.

■ ■ ■

now dry, and changed out of his scrubs and into some regular clothes, mark takes a seat in the family waiting room and exhales deeply.

"who are you here for?" a man who is also sat alone asks him.

"what?" mark looks to him with confusion.

"i'm waiting on my wife. car hit her," the man tells him. "can you believe that, on the ferry? she was run over on the ferry. they haven't said much. hard as hell to get any of these people to talk to you."

"yeah, i'm, uh..." mark is about to tell him that he's actually a doctor at the hospital, but then decides against it. "my fiancé was there, too. and i don't know... i don't know what's gonna happen."

"it's out of our hands," the man says softly. "it's up to the doctors now."

"yeah," mark agrees, chuckling slightly.

"what's her name?" the man asks.

"alivia," mark tells him, smiling as he thinks of lia.

"i'll put her in my prayers," the man says.

"thanks," mark nods.

■ ■ ■

"what about another epi?" owen asks as he continues to perform chest compressions on lia.