S4 EP9&10

[TW: blood]

"HEY, WHY ARE ALMOST everyone directed to Sloan today?" Timothy asked as he walked next to Norah.

"Wait, we're all with Sloan today?" Norah raised a brow at him, "All of us?"

"You didn't know?" he narrowed his eyes at her as they took on the corridor heading to where they were getting paged to. "Huh, thought that you'd know, considering the fact that he woke up in your fucking bed this morning."

Norah rolled his eyes and nudged him in the stomach hard, and he scowled at her. "Shut your bloody snout," she warned before entering the patient's room, where Mark was already inside. The rest of the interns and residents, as well as some nurses, soon arrived. The staff gathered at the entrance of the room curiously.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, this is Nick Hanscomb," the attending introduced.

"Hi," Nick greeted the many medical personnel awkwardly.

"Nick was lucky enough to have me remove a large carotid body tumor from his neck," Mark stated while removing the piece of dressing covering the side of Nick's neck. A long incision scar sat on his neck; some interns started whispering to one another.

"The fact that I was able to get clean boundaries is pretty darn impressive, even for me," Mark smirked; Norah fought back a snort of laughter. As much as she hated it, that scar on Nick's neck really interested her.

"Now, despite the fact that it was a wildly successful surgery, we had to dissect out deep lymph nodes in his neck. There is now only a delicate flap of skin between his carotid artery and the outside world," Mark informed. "That said, what am I worried about?"

"The artery could blow," Norah replied instantly, "Given the friability of the skin, it's the greatest possibility."

Distressed looks started to show on the doctors and nurses' faces, and Nick stiffened a smile back at them. "Oh, don't worry. I've... I've heard this before," he assured.

"If that happens, whoever's in the room, I don't care if it's a doctor, a nurse, an orderly, your job is to stop the bleeding then page me, in that order. Are we clear?" Mark asked, and everyone nodded. "Any questions?"

They shook their head slightly, still eyeing the patient's neck. "They look scared," Nick pointed out grimly.

"They're medical professionals, Nick," Mark stated, "A healthy level of fear is encouraged."

"Okay, then," Nick nodded, glancing at them again. "Uh... if I do die, it will have been lovely meeting you all."

Mark chuckled softly. "I need someone to stay with Nick at all times and monitor him closely. Any volunteers?" Lexie's arm shot up, as well as Timothy's. "Okay, Grey and... Lawrence," he narrowed his eyes and turned to Norah, who was trying to hide away from sight, "She-Lawrence, you stay and babysit the interns. You know I don't trust interns."

Norah let out a low swear and sighed heavily. Timothy snorted and lowered his head to his sister, asking with a whisper, "Bad sex?"

She flicked a hand to the top of her head, hitting him right in the face. He let out a sharp yelp, holding his nose in pain while the rest of the group dispersed.

❦ ❦ ❦

LEXIE WAS CHECKING ON Nick's vitals while Timothy read the charts beside the hospital bed. Norah sat at the corner of the room, nearly bored out of her mind.

"You're a pretty girl," Nick spoke up, and Lexie quirked a brow at him. "I hope you don't think that's rude. I'm just... I haven't been allowed to notice that kind of thing for a while, and now I'm allowed."

"You're not allowed to notice prettiness?" Timothy queried.

"Well, I'm allowed to notice, uh, other women... women other than my girlfriend," Nick explained, "My now, uh, ex-girlfriend... Yeah, giant neck tumors weren't her thing."

Lexie raised a brow at him. "She left you because of the tumor?"

"Of course not," he smiled, "She left me because, uh, I didn't make her laugh anymore, and, uh, she had just lost that loving feeling."

"My guy, she totally left you because of the tumor," Norah spoke with a half-smile.

The two interns nodded in agreement. "You seeing anyone?" Nick asked out of nowhere, causing the interns to turn their heads to him while Norah watched from the corner of the room. "I'm just making conversation... My artery's exposed, you know, which kind of limits my game."

Lexie chuckled softly, "Uh, yes. Well, kind of, I am."

"Oh, is it him?" Nick asked, looking at Timothy, "Because I think you two look cute together."

Both Timothy and Lexie's ears went pink while the latter denied hastily. Norah stood up from her seat and flattened her coat, eager to get out of the awkwardness. "I'm off to the ER for a moment," she told the interns, "Page me if anything happens, though I do hope not."

The resident walked down to the ER, where many people rushed in and out of the entrance. Out of curiosity, she walked out to the ambulance bay-the sight made her eyes widen twice their sizes.

Two ambulances had crashed into each other, and one of them flipped. Two paramedics were stuck inside, and Meredith was assessing their injuries. When Webber called her over, Norah enthusiastically rushed over to assist.

Why did I got stuck with an exposed artery?

❦ ❦ ❦

"WELL, YOU WANT ME TO help you plot your revenge?" Nick asked Lexie while the intern removed the dressing on his neck. She then handed it to Timothy, who stood on her opposite side.

"Okay," she nodded with a shrug.

"Okay. Here's what I'm thinking," Nick grinned, "You go out with me. Just like that. Bam! New boyfriend."

Timothy frowned at the thought of that.

"And he'll be all, 'What's he got that I don't have?' And you'll be all, 'Carotid artery-exposed. Top that, Loser.' And he'll be all, 'I can't. I can't top that. No. I am a loser.'"

Nick and Lexie laughed; Timothy smiled lightly, too, though he was not entirely fond of the idea. Or joke, whichever he decided to categorise it as.

And without any warning, Nick's artery blew.

Lexie froze on the spot for a moment while shock coursed through her entire body, staring at the blood all over her scrubs and white coat. Timothy wasted no time covering the blown artery with the new dressing that he had been holding.

"Holy fuck-Lexie! I-I can't stop the bleeding from here," he shouted, "You have to apply pressure from there!"

Lexie nodded and quickly held onto the thick gauze as Nick stared at her in horror, freaking out at the sight of all the blood on the intern's clothes.

"Holy crap... My artery blew," Nick gasped, "I didn't think that would really happen. I-I mean, I thought it was something that the doctors say might happen because they have to, but I didn't think that it would really happen..."

"Me neither," Lexie gulped before lifting her head to the other intern, who had his bloodied hands on his pager. "Timothy?"

"I'm paging-for fuck's sake-bloody hands-fucking pager-"

❦ ❦ ❦

"LEE, PASS DR GREY MORE gauze," Norah instructed, and Nina did as told, crouching right outside of the flipped ambulance. "Rook, step away from there," she told the intern, but Kirian did not move.

"But I get a better view from here-"

"I said, step away, Rook," she snapped, "You're not helping, so move away and allow space."

"But-"

"Are you a doctor, or are you a nosy journalist?!"

Kirian finally stepped back with a sour look on his face. "Thompson, go get the people to move back from the scene," Norah spoke again.

Jace nodded uncertainly and shuffled over to the crowd of people, who were gradually closing in as they gaped at the crash scene. The intern tried asking them to back up, but his voice barely got heard in the large crowd.

"Everyone!" Kirian's voice bellowed, "Please, kindly, take three steps back from the scene. The doctors need space to work-now!" As the crowd backed up with glaring looks, he patted Jace on the back; the latter sighed and shook his head.

"Lawrence, can you get a portable ultrasound here?" Webber requested.

"Sure, Chief, I-"

Her pager cut off her words before she could complete her sentence.

911 - 4009 - HANSCOMB, N.

Her eyes widened with fear. "Crap-George, take over. I must go-"

Norah immediately took off from the ambulance bay and ran towards Nick's room, zooming through doctors and nurses, who stared at her curiously. There was a chill down her neck that she was not fond of.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I am in grave trouble if-

The corner of her eye twitched at the sight of Lexie pressing her hands at the side of Nick's neck; both interns' scrubs got stained with red and more blood were pooling on the floor.

-something like this happened.

"His artery blew," Timothy stated the obvious when he saw the resident standing at the doorway. "I've paged Sloan, but-his artery actually blew."

"Yes, I can see that," Norah deadpanned, snapping on a pair of gloves, "Grey, can you-"

She stared at the intern's clothes soaked in the patient's blood.

Bloody scrubs. Bloody scrubs. Bloody scrubs.

Red.

No-Paint.

"Okay, Tim, hand her more gauze," Norah instructed, and he handed the remaining of the box to her. "Grey, I want you to remain calm and apply firm pressure on his neck, okay?" she asked, and Lexie nodded.

The resident took a deep breath, finally observing the situation in the room. Nick's artery blew-that was obvious. Lexie and Timothy were both soaking in red-they looked panicked, unsure of what to do next.

"Okay, Tim, I want you to go look for Dr Sloan if he's in the OR. Run!" she instructed, "Lexie, just... don't go anywhere and don't move. Okay?"

Norah stared at Nick, who was turning paler than before. "And I'm gonna a code blue... now."

❦ ❦ ❦

"TYLER, COULD YOU GET Dr Grey more gauze, please?" Norah requested, "And we should get more blood, too, for standby."

"W-Why do you need more blood?" Nick asked shakily, "Because I'm... I'm still bleeding?"

"We have blood going in, too, Nick," she replied, trying to reassure the patient. The amount of blood lost had covered nearly half of Nick's bed; the crimson-coloured sheets made her hair stand.

"Is it going in as fast as it's going out?" he asked again. "I'm asking because I'm starting to feel, like, queasy... and weak... maybe like... a person who's losing a lot of blood."

"You're gonna be okay, Nick," said Lexie.

He turned his gaze to the intern whose hands were on his neck, noticing her eyebrows furrowing. "Lexie... should I be calling people?" he asked, "Should I be calling my family or somebody?"

"I think... I think the bleeding's stopped," Lexie exhaled deeply and looked at the resident. Norah checked the side of his neck and nodded.

Too much red-

Mark walked in just in time, with Timothy behind him; the attending frowned at the situation. "How you doing, Nick?" he asked while the nurse helped him put on a pair of gloves.

"Oh, Dr Sloan," Nick greeted in relief, "It's Dr Sloan..."

"I think the bleeding stopped," Lexie informed.

"Do I... Do I look okay?" Nick asked.

"Actually, you do," Mark informed as he inspected the wound, though there was still a crease on his forehead. "Dr Grey, looks like you got the bleeding under control."

"Why would it stop?" Timothy queried.

"It could've been the herald bleed," Norah replied, "Also means that uh, there's a possibility of it bleeding again..."

"But it won't," Mark stated, his eyes fixed on the resident, "Because I'm gonna get it closed up before it does."

"There's no OR."

"There will be in ten minutes," Mark noted, "Dr Grey, get a pressure dressing on this wound. You did a great work." The intern thanked him, and he turned to the resident in the room.

"Dr Lawrence, Norah, get him prepped for transfer and straight to OR 3. I'm gonna make sure it's cleared out," he stated, "And I'll be waiting for an explanation as to why an intern was applying pressure on the wound instead of you."

Grave trouble at its finest.

Sometimes, she hated her mind for cracking out 'jokes' in a deadly serious situation.

Everyone in the room worked together to dress and bandage Nick's wound cautiously. The nurse handed Lexie more gauze and bandages as she carefully dressed the wound on the side of his neck, with Timothy giving her a hand. Norah took Nick's final vitals before they were prepared to transport him to the OR.

"This was never my plan, to... to die this way," Nick choked out.

"You're not dying, Nick," Lexie stated.

"You're going to the OR," Timothy added with a nod.

"I know. That's what I'm saying. I mean, I think we kind of have some say, or at least, a feeling. But I never had that feeling, so I can't die, right?" Nick asked positively, and Lexie looked back at him with a smile.

He suddenly frowned, his body stiffening, and he became paler than before. "I don't feel good," he spoke up, "I feel..."

The monitor started rapidly beeping as he passed out, his neck surging out blood once again; Norah jumped in immediately to do a quick neuro check on his motor function and pupils.

"The blood to the right side of his brain is... a stroke," the resident stated alarmingly, "It looks like he had a stroke. Okay, we gotta go. Let's move him carefully."

Lexie stood there in disbelieve, her eyes slowly tearing up. "You can't cry, Lexie," Timothy stated, "Not now, not when there's still a chance." He then lifted his head to his sister, "Nor, you okay?"

"I'm fine." Norah stared at the spatter of blood on her clothes, the stain of blood on the sheets, the pool of blood on the floor; blood was making her sick as she fought the jittery feeling in her stomach.

I am fine. It is not my blood. I am perfectly fine.

Paint.

Yeah, she got a hold of this.

❦ ❦ ❦

NICK DID NOT MAKE IT.

Norah and Timothy walked next to each other as they took in their patient's death. "Was Nick your first death?" Norah asked.

"Second, actually," Timothy replied with a long sigh. "I'm alright. Don't worry." She nodded as they continued walking down the corridor.

A figure in a room caught his eye, and he stopped, looking into the room through the window. "Hey, I'll head back in a bit," he stated, nudging his head at the room. "You go on."

Norah glanced into the room when Timothy opened the door, and she saw Lexie sitting alone in silence. After he stepped into the room, he gently closed the door behind him. Lexie lifted her head from her palms, letting out a shaky exhale.

He stood in front of her for a long while; neither spoke. "What you did today was not easy, you know?" he managed out after a while, breaking the silence between them. "It was brave, Lexie."

"We killed him," Lexie shook her head, looking at him with teary eyes. "The hospital, Sloan, us... We were not prepared."

"Preparation is never perfect," Timothy muttered with a sad smile, "It just... happens."

"Do you have any idea how backwards that is?" Lexie shook her head.

"Yeah... I have an idea or two," he sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he stared at the vacant seat on the bench. "Can I...?"

Lexie nodded and moved aside, allowing him to take the seat next to her. She tried hard to stop her tears from falling, gulping down the need to break down in the cold room. He noticed but was unsure of how to comfort her.

When she broke out the first sob, she quickly wiped the bottom of her eye and cleared her throat hoarsely. She was shaking as she sobbed quietly; he moved closer to her and nudged her shoulder. "Do you, er... Do you need a shoulder?" he offered with a smile.

She thought for a moment, her tears seemingly started to fall uncontrollably, and she accepted his offer.

"You have... a strong... shoulder," she spoke through on her tears. The both of them chuckled lightly, the sorrow in the air easing almost at once.

❦

NORAH STOOD WITH HER back against the wall of the quiet hallway. The exhaustion and frustration of that day were finally getting the better of her. As if tiredness was not enough, her mind was keen to play a sick game with her by replaying the bloody scenario in her head.

It made her feel like shit, even though she tried to convince herself that she did not kill Nick.

A door opened, and she lifted her head upon hearing a set of footsteps approaching her. Mark was looking at her with his eyebrows knitted close; she pushed herself off the wall, turning to face him with a sigh-he had a look of grief while she had a look of guilt.

"I need a drink."

"I owe you an explanation."

They both paused wordlessly after blurting out the first thing on their mind. The long day already made him forget about the words he spoke earlier on; she had her head hung low, not wanting to meet his eyes.

He would have let her off this once, but there was nothing going on between them-romantically-and so, he decided to play his part as her boss. Placing his hands on his hips, he waited for her to go on even though the distressed and fatigue look on her face made him uneasy.

"I admit, I didn't enjoy that I got put on plastics today," the resident admitted, "So I went off to the ER and helped out on the flipped ambulance during the afternoon, and I-"

"Didn't enjoy?" Mark quirked a brow at her, "Lawrence, I am your attending, and you are a resident. So when I put you on a case, you stay on the case." He scoffed lightly, "You are in your residency, which means you have to learn in every specialty. There's no avoiding. There's no dropping. This is not school."

She drew in a sharp breath; the last thing she needed was more lecturing-as if she had not done that to herself for the entire evening already. Her exhaustion made her feel like dropping, yet she still kept a neutral face as she looked back at the attending. "Yes, understood, Dr Sloan."

Mark frowned slightly at how she addressed him; the tone under her words made him worry. "I put you on the case because I trusted you the most out of everyone," he claimed, frowning the distressed and fatigue look on her face. "Are you okay?"

Trust... -ed?

Mark seemed to have read her mind as he retraced his sentence. "Trust-trust. Norah-"

"Stop-it doesn't matter, anyway," she cut him off, "And you're right. I shouldn't have left the interns alone with the patient, and I shouldn't have gone off. I'm the resident in charge, it's my fault, and I'm apologising. I'm very sorry for what I did today."

He felt an odd sting in his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked again with a softer voice, taking a step closer to her, "With the um... everything."

"I was, and then I'm not," her eyes met his, and she shrugged nonchalantly, "But I will be, yeah."

She was about to turn and leave when he reached for her arm, stopping her. "Can I... Can I get you home?"

"No," her response was quick and uncomplicated, yet it stung him more than she realised. "I'm stronger than you think, Dr Sloan," she stated, "You don't have to check up on me every time. Paint, right?"

His hand slipped away from her arm when she walked away, and he dropped his head with a heavy sigh. A set of footsteps stopped behind him; Callie had just walked out of the lounge, raising a brow at the look on his face.

"Her?" Callie questioned in