Hell's Angel

Chapter 51

It's the evening of a very long day and Arizona is on the phone to a patients parents in the ER "ok, well what about the eyes?" Arizona asks clicking on her pen "good. We'll..... we'll be waiting." She says after getting an answer to her previous question. She sets down the phone and starts preparing a chart, I turn and say to Jackson who is slowly coming towards my nurses station "oh, hey, Avery. We got a kid with half his face torn off by a dog, so can you get Sloan and meet us outside?"

Arizona adds swiftly "and see if Shepherd is around, we may need him." Jackson nods his head, placing a pen his top pocket "sure." He peels away further into the building while Arizona and I make for the ambulance bay. "Dr Tearney." A nurse calls cutting us short , he holds out the phone "you are popular tonight." I glance at Arizona and she gives me a look.

"Take it, I'll wait for the ambulance." I say and she goes over to the nurse. As I wait outside in the ambulance bay, Alex appears from no where "I'm meeting Cristina and Meredith at Joe's." He says kissing my cheek "ok." I muse "have fun."

Alex looks around, up and down the bay "what you got coming in?" He asks as I place on some gloves "kid had his face torn to pieces by a dog." His eyebrows raise in shock and he scratches the back of his head. "Sounds like a big case." He muses "want me to stay?" I shake my head as sirens start to sound "no its ok, go have fun with your friends."

-

Turns out the call was about a baby and I agree with Robbins to let her pull Alex in for it. "So you need to go pick up the baby, bring her back, and then hopefully we're done with the kid that's on his way I by the time you're back." Arizona explains as we debrief Alex before we send him on his way. "You need to reconfigure the ambulance for intensive neonatal transport." I add "and I think you should get someone else to go..." We round the corner and I spot someone "Grey, ride with Karev. He's on a baby run."

We don't even stop as we pass her, "well, I have to talk to Derek." She calls and Arizona snaps, harsher then I expected "well, newborn life hanging in the balance. Make it fast." Alex stops in the hall as Arizona and I continue walking toward the ER.

Once the ambulance rolls in the paramedic starts telling us "ten year old male, dog bite to the face. Vital signs stable in the field." We have our aprons and proper equipment on. I order "all right, trauma 3." The paramedic hands me the chart as she passes and I share it with Arizona as we make for the trauma room.

"Alright, where's Jackson?" I ask once the patient is on the bed, I haven't seen him since we got that first call. "I don't know." An intern says and I groan before shaking my head and looking down at the patient. The patient starts screaming signalling the end of his pain medication is we shoot him with some more before going over his injuries.

Onces assessed Arizona shouts "page CT." We start rolling him from the room "and Sloan!" I call out before we race for the elevator.

-

I let Arizona take the patient into the OR after we have a full understanding of his injuries which gives me the opportunity to be on the phone with Alex. "How's it going?" I ask sitting up in the empty OR gallery. "The kid's septic." Alex answers "she's got pneumonia." I bring my legs up to my chest. "Was she intubated when you got there?" I ask.

A few seconds pass before he replies "yeah, well, they don't have any neonatal stuff here at all. We intubated, we started an umbilical line to hang D10 normal saline and antibiotics. But her SATs aren't coming up, and all the oxygen's going into her stomach." I rub my forehead at all of the information I was just given.

"You're gonna need to put in an amplatz umbrella." I say going through the motions in my head only for me to be told by Alex "they don't have a 3-0 ET tube. You think they're gonna have an amplatz?" I roll my eyes and stretch my legs out again. "All right. Elevate her head." I order, trying a different approach "do they have a forgarty catheter?" I ask and after he says yes I continue.

"Your gonna have to thread the Fogarty down her trachea, pretty far down, then blow up the balloon and pull up until you get traction. That'll occlude the fistula and get the air flowing in the lungs. You're gonna have to keep the blind pouch clear on your way back. And I'm not sure you have anything in your box that's gonna do that."

I bite my lip nervously before Alex replies "uh, how about a 8 French suction catheter?" and I perk up a little, sitting straighter in my chair "yeah, that'll work." I confirm. I hear some rustling and then he says "we're gonna call you when we get to rig, you are a goddess." I laugh and shake my head. "I love you."

-

It has been a while and Grey and Karev haven't come back yet. This makes me slightly worried considering the weather outside and the roads I know they have to drive down. I try calling him but it keeps going to voicemail. "Shit." I mutter and Jackson comes bursting into the OR I am in with Arizona, Mark and Derek, over seeing the work.

"Ambulance broke down, like, in the middle of the road." He says holding the phone to his ear "they can't move. They can't get out." I sit up straight, heart hammering in my chest. "Did they send a backup?" I ask and he holds up his hand for a second "it's- it's coming but it's slow."

Derek nods his head for a second "put her on speaker phone." Jackson does as he is told. "Alex?" I call and he speaks almost immediately "we cant't move." He says "we are figgin' sitting ducks." There is loads of static and I frown. Mark and I share a look that gives me a little bit of comfort "I cant- I cant hear you. Say that again." I say and this time it is a little clearer.

"We gotta take the baby out of here, but the two of us can't move the damned incubator and all this crap on a highway." Alex tells us and Derek almost instantly asks "did you set up the flares?" more static and I groan nervously. "Ok." Derek says softly "leave the phone. See if you can get a helicopter up there." Jackson puts the phone down and races from the room.

I sigh nervously and my leg starts moving up and down. Mark glances over at me "he is going to be fine Tearney." He says "Karev is hard to get rid of." I let our a breathy laugh, not at all convinced.

-

"Secure the umbilical line with extra tape." I order ow having taken the phone out of the OR and nervously pacing the corridor "you need the D10. Put the oxygen tank in the holster, and take the paramedic kit. Swaddle her so she stays warm." There is crackling on the other line "we can't regulate...." Is all I manage to get of Alex speaking "we can't regulate her temp without the incubator. "

Mark, who is standing with me wipes a hand over his mouth "they may have to leave the kid." He says and Meredith bites back "we are not leaving this baby." I rub my forehead, nose to tears. "At least one of you should get out of the rig." Sloan argues back and I shake my head "what are they gonna do, flip a coin?"

Sloan looks down at me "they're sitting in a powder keg." Suddenly there is a loud bang and the phone goes dead.