How To Save A Life (Grey's Anatomy)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter 38

Season 6, Episode 7-8

While I still find most of the Mercy West residents insufferable, I would be lying if I said all of them are bad at their jobs. Turns out they do know their ass from the inside of an OR and some of them might even be good competition. 

Now that April is gone, the score is even. With Meredith recovering from her surgery and Izzie leaving, we were outnumbered. Fortunately now, we have our numbers back. Izzie still hasn't called and I'm getting worried. She is still supposed to be receiving treatment to avoid the growth of any new mets, but no one at the hospital has heard from her.

Most of the residents, myself included, were paged down to a skills lab by Derek. He was very vague, so we sit, waiting for him to tell us why we're here. Cristina and I sit beside each other on stools. We were the only ones in our friend group to show up so we're sticking together.

As we wait, I can feel a set of eyes on me, so I turn to see Jackson looking at me from across the room. The moment I meet his eyes, he looks away, starting a conversation with his friend and I can't help but smirk to myself.

"Microsurgery is about precision," Derek says, walking to the front of the room and suddenly, all conversation dies down, eager to hear from the attending. "The microscope changes your perspective radically. The hand-eye coordination required can be learned, but right now, I need naturals."

He explains as he walks over to the machine at the front of the room. It's a large microscope for intricate brain surgery that I've witnessed Derek use before. I've never actually used one myself so I'm eager to test out my skills.

"Each one of you will get a chance to guide this pen through the hole in the cup. The two residents who make a mark closest to the president's nose and doesn't hit the side of the cup gets to scrub in." He explains as he demonstrates with a dollar bill and an upside-down styrofoam cup with a hole in the bottom. He looks into the scope, guiding the pen through the cup until it hits the dollar bill. He holds up the bill and we see a little red pen dot on the president's nose. "Who wants to go first?"

Every single hand in the room shoots up into the air, including mine, but Derek points to the resident at the front of the room, who stands up nervously. He walks over to the scope with shaky hands and I can't help but scoff to myself. We all watch as he places the cup on the bill, but when he starts directing the pen, he can't even get it through the hole, much less the president's nose.

"Do-over?" He asks Derek desperately but he shakes his head.

"No do-overs." He says before calling on the next person. Everyone in the room gets a chance to try their skill but no one gets the pen anywhere near the president's face, some even knocking over the cup with the pen. The entire time, Cristina makes a big show of yawning, clearly very confident with her abilities.

"Seriously, how'd you even get into this program?" She asks someone after they drop the pen while trying to get it through the cup. I laugh at her comment before Derek looks at Jackson. He stands up and walks over to the machine, taking a bill from Derek.

"Oh, here we go," Derek says, already sounding impressed at Jacksons' confidence as he prepares the bill. His hands are steady as he places the cup onto the bill, eyes focusing on the lenses. I marvel over his solid frame as the pen goes through the hole without touching. "Nicely done."

Jackson picks up the bill as Derek compliments him. He holds it up and we see a red dot, right next to the president's nose. The closest anyone has gotten so far. People give him a slight applause as he walks back over to his seat, giving me a wink as he does.