𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 ─ (𝗦𝟰 𝗘𝟭𝟬)
𝖼𝗋𝖺𝗌𝗁 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖾 (𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝟤 𝗈𝖿 𝟤)
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡
𝗄𝗂𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗉𝗎𝗉𝗉𝗒
𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗫𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗦 long forgotten as she sat in a pile of glass, paying zero mind to the small pieces that imbedded her skin through the pants of her scrubs. Less than twelve hours earlier, Gabriella was on the verge of falling asleep in her car, now she felt the adrenaline rush through her veins like a wildfire in the Amazon forest.
Stan was free and being operated on as they moved and Ray was puffing out small pants of air, "We're losing him, Chief!" she called out as he returned with a portable ultrasound machine, which she used to check for the pericardiocentesis after cutting his shirt open.
"Hurry this up, Dr Cas," Chief Webber yelled as he pulled open the ultrasound monitor in his hand that held the digital screening Gabriella supplied him.
"See anything?" she yelled.
"Uh, I see the diaphragm moving. Move it up a little more," he instructed. The intern did as told, breathing deeply to remain calm as Ray's eyes fluttered open and shut on their own accord, "Dr Cas, stop. Stop right there. I want to freeze that frame," Webber called.
"Stay with me Ray," she whispered to the man.
"Don't get all soft on me now, I still need to see you beat Stan's ass," Ray scolded her lightly as she held the wand in place on his chest, waiting for further instruction from her superiors.
"You're not dying today, ya hear me?"
"I'm not dying today," the paramedic repeated, reaffirming her.
"Yeah, his pericardium's full of blood," Richard Webber called out.
"That's not good. That's not good at all," Ray whimpered out.
"Oxygen, IV start kits, monitor," the pair could hear the Chief spewing orders outside of the vehicle, "You, pericardiocentesis kit," he instructed someone, "His anatomy's all screwed up because he's hanging upside down. Get someone from cardio! Go!"
"Chief!" Gabriella called, eyes focused on Ray's closing eyes.
Webber laid down by the door on the side Stan once was, passing Gabriella some caples, "How are you going, Dr Cas?" he queried.
"We're losing him," she admitted, "And I don't have a plan," she stammered, "I-I usually always have a plan so I think I'm a little scared because I'm waiting around and no one is really telling us anything down here so I think I have a right to be scared, right?"
"You have been nothing short of brilliant since the day you started," he complimented, "And today alone you fought for a man's life when I was ready to call it."
"I'm not getting in trouble for arguing with you, right?" she joked, fingers over Ray's pulse as she kept track of his rhythm, "Because I think I might cry if I get in trouble today. Can you send me to detention tomorrow?"
"No detention," Dr Webber mused, "It's been a long day, but I've got firefighters out here complimenting your courage. A few even remember you from the search and rescue," he added, "You have made me and this hospital extremely proud today, and we're not losing him yet."
"Okay," Gabby took the cables and put them on the paramedic, "I got this," she assured herself, lightly tapping Ray's face to keep him awake.
Less than five minutes later, Dr Hahn and Dr Stevens were in the ambulance bay, talking with Dr Webber close enough to the vehicle so the intern inside could hear too. Gabby had since put more cables on Ray and an oxygen mask over his mouth.
"We're about to start the pericardiocentesis, but with the position of his body, the blood won't be pooled to the base of the heart–"
The Cardiothorathic Attending cut the Chief off, "I'd still use the subxiphoid rather than the parasternal," Dr Hahn advised.
"Right. Okay. Dr Cas, did you hear that?" Richard called.
"Yes, sir!" Gabby called back, "Is the kit ready yet?"
"Yeah, we're getting it ready for you now," he replied.
"How you doing, Ray?" she questioned, "Still good enough to dance at a disco?"
"You bet," he coughed out.
Gabriella silently caught her breath as she prepared to go solo for the nth time since starting her internship five months prior. She wished Lexie was with her, knowing the Grey girl knew the best ways to calm her down, but she'd suffice until she saw her best friend again, hopefully during their break that would be coming up in the next hour or so.
"Cas," Hahn crouched by the door and Gabby looked over her shoulder at the blonde woman, "You've done really well today, but you've got to be careful with this technique. If you aim the needle incorrectly, you could nick the very thin-walled right atrium."
"Which could cause a cardiac rupture," Izzie noted from beside Dr Hahn, simply trying her best to impress the attending.
"A cardiac rupture, a tension pneumothorax," Dr Hahn added, "Basically, there's about six different ways she could kill him."
"We can hear you," Gabriella called back in irritation, seeing fear on Ray's face as he pulled the mask off.
"Are they talking about me?" he asked.
"Nah, I think they're judging my inability to take a situation seriously," she joked before turning around, "Dr Hahn," she whisper-yelled, "Respectfully, shut up. My patient can hear you."
The cardio attending seemed to understand as she talked to Ray, "Sir, you're gonna be fine," she assured before turning to the resident beside her, "Stevens, go get me an eighteen-gauge needle before this man's heart explodes in his chest."
Isobel Stevens rushed away, leaving the intern with the cardio attending and the Chief, "See, they were judging me," she teased, watching the man's eyes flutter again.
When Isobel returned, a pager beeped and Hahn stood, turning away from the ambulance, "Come on! Are you kidding me?" she yelled in irritation.
"What?" Gabriella called out.
"I have a patient on the table," she explained, moving further away, "I've got to go."
"Erica!" the Chief shouted after her.
"Stevens, page the cardio fellow, then book an OR. Have it waiting when they get him free," she instructed Izzie before running away and the Chief nodded to the resident for her to do as asked.
"Hey, Chief," Gabriella shouted to the man who came running, "Please tell me you have that needle because it's now or never," she explained when she met his eyes.
"You're going solo," Chief announced, "I'll try to help but there's no cardio team here so we're on our own and you're going solo," he stated firmly.
"Okay," she breathed out, "What do I do first?"
"You need to find the xiphoid process. You feel it?"
"Yes, sir," she replied, finger in place on Ray's bare skin.
Richard sighed in exasperation as he watched the ER doors in the hopes of a cardio team, "Now go two fingerbreadths to the left of the xiphoid."
"Got it!"
"Here," he passed through the eighteen-gauge needle, which she grabbed while her other hand stayed in place.
"Eighteen-gauge?" Ray panicked.
"Afraid so," Gabby replied.
"That is a very big needle," the paramedic complained, causing Gabriella to laugh.
"Don't whine to me now, I already got an earful about the uniform I cut," she mused lightly, drawing a small laugh from the man.
"You're going to angle the needle toward the left shoulder. Don't stab," the Chief instructed as Gabby held the needle to the left of the xiphoid as she was instructed to, "You don't want to hit the ventricle, and you don't want to drop the lung. That wouldn't help matters either."
"On three, Ray," she readied herself, getting to two before being cut off.
"Wait! Stan needs to live, okay? And if he dies, I need you to tell Sara I'm sorry about Stan," he rambled.
"You'll see them both yourself after we get through this," Gabriella stated firmly, needle in position, "One, two–" she was cut off once more.
"Wait!"
"What's taking so long?" the Chief asked the intern.
Gabby looked over toward him and slumped slightly, "He's not ready."
"I'm scared. I'm trying not to be sacred. I don't want to die scared," the paramedic stammered out in short breaths.
"Ray, it's okay to be scared. It means you still have something to lose," Dr Webber soothed.
Ray looked towards Gabby after hearing the sentiment, nodding in preparation, "Are you scared?"
Gabby sighed, "All the time," she replied truthfully. This time, she simply pushed the needle into the skin without a countdown, knowing that time was a big factor.
She held the needle in the right spot, listening to Webber's instructions on which direction to slide the needle before looking at Ray as the needle filled with excess blood, "Ray?" she asked.
"That feels good. I can breathe," he sighed in relief and Gabby smiled as she held the needle in place.
"Okay! He's almost stable! Get ready to cut him out!" Dr Webber instructed the firefighters.
"Alright," Gabby removed the syringe, "We're gonna get you out of here. We're getting you out of here right now," she assured the paramedic, "Keep fighting."
She crawled out of the ambulance for the first time in nearly two hours, Chief Webber helping her stand and brush glass from her legs and trauma gown, "You're bleeding," the Chief held the girl, dragging her toward the ER.
"It's Ray's," she answered, sniffling lightly, and ignoring the actual cut on her arm that she'd got in the rig, "How's Stan?"
"He's in the ICU as of ten minutes ago," Chief Webber informed her, watching the intern smile successfully, "I was ready to let him die and you said no," he spoke, "I've never been more grateful to be wrong."
Gabriella laughed in relief, smiling up at her superior as they watched the doors come off the ambulance, the Chief inspecting the small spots of blood on Gabby's legs and a slightly larger source of bleeding on her right gown sleeve.
"It could use a couple of stitches," he told her, "But you stayed calm and focused and efficient in a very stressful situation," he praised, applying antiseptic to the cut on her arm as she felt the adrenaline leave her body, "That's impressive. Especially for an intern."
"I suck at admitting my emotions," Gabriella stated, "But I think I was really scared," she revealed, laughing.
"You did it anyway. Like I said, impressive," he urged.
Gabriella stayed outside and watched them extract Ray, the pair sharing a large grin before Gabby was led inside for stitches and Ray was carried by firefighters on a stretcher to the next available OR.
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Lexie Grey excitedly pulled a freshly showered and changed Gabriella to Nick Hanscomb's room, the two girls smiling upon entry. Gabriella was told she'd be updated throughout Ray's surgery and Sara had already hugged the daylights out of the girl who saved her husband.
"Hi," the two interns chorused.
"Hi," Nick mumbled, looking between the two before his eyes settled on Lexie, "You, uh, checking in on me again?"
"Yep," the Grey girl replied, "And I bought Dr Castellanos with me."
"Dr Cas is fine," Gabriella grinned at the vulnerable man who'd been hitting on Lexie all day while the Castellanos girl had been stuck in an upside-down ambulance.
"You're pretty too," he commented, smiling at the newest face.
"Hear that, Lex," Gabby mused as she put some gloves on, pushing her wet braid over her shoulder so it was out of her way, "I'm pretty, too."
Lexie laughed at her best friend, "Shut up," she retorted, throwing her a packet of dressing for the wounds while she put her gloves on.
"Will one of you call me strong and stable again?" the patient mused.
"Only if you are," Gabriella shrugged as she placed the dressing on the tray table and moved to check his vitals, Lexie by her side and putting on her gloves.
"Let's hope," Lexie mumbled, still in a downtrodden mood since finding the ever-famous Rebecca/Ava in the OR watching Alex, who was only kissing the Grey girl that morning.
While Gabriella checked his breathing, Nick nodded toward Lexie and Gabby motioned a tear running down her face to indicate the girl in question was sad. Nick nodded in understanding, now knowing why the intern bought a friend for a simple check-up.
"What's wrong with you?" the patient asked carefully, voice soft and light.
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Lexie deflected.
"The kicked puppy look," Gabriella whispered, earning a nudge from Lexie who stifled a laugh, knowing Dr Bailey said the Castellanous girl looked like a kicked puppy on Halloween.
"Well, your cheeks are all flushed, which they weren't earlier," Nick added, "Is it creeping you out how observant I am?" he questioned lightly, "I'm sorry. It's the– It's the boredom, I'm telling you," Gabriella smiled at the patient as she jotted down his vitals in his chart, placing it down on the tray table and taking a package of wound dressings instead.
Lexie released a long sigh, "Remember your girlfriend who just turned out to be a vapid narcissist?" she queried.
"Your boyfriend turned out to be just a jerk," Nick concluded.
"Jerk. Ass. And many dirtier words that are inappropriate for me to use in front of a patient," Lexie slapped Gabriella when she saw her bemusement.
Dr Castellanos gave Nick a look, "Shoot your shot," she joked, "Pretend I'm not here."
"I'm sorry," Nick apologised, giving his condolences for the ended relationship.
"Yeah, me too," Lexie mumbled, removing the old dressing from the wound as Gabriella opened the new packet.
"Well, you want me to help you plot your revenge?" he offered, lightening the mood.
"Okay," Lexie agreed, smiling while Gabby grabbed the gauze and lifted it.
"Okay," Nick echoed happily, "Here's what I'm thinking. You go out with me. Just like that, bam. New boyfriend," he plotted as Gabriella readied the piece of tape on the dressing and moved it towards the skin.
"Damn, Lex, can't say no to that," Gabby mused.
Nick continued the game plan, making Lexie and Gabby laugh, "He'll be all, 'What's he got that I don't have?' and you'll be all, 'Carotid artery. Exposed! Top that, loser'," he rolled his eyes, "And he'll be all, 'I can't. I can't top that. I'm a loser'," he mocked the defeat and all.
"No," Lexie agreed, the three laughing until they weren't.
Nick groaned in pain as his wound opened. Blood poured over Gabriella first by his side, then Lexie as he sat up with the pain. The crimson red painted their white labcoats like paint-filled balloons had been pegged in their direction, the two girls in shock before they reached for the wound.
"Lex, get help," Gabs urged once she stopped the bleeding with her gloved hands and the prepared gauze that she held, "Lex!" she called out to the shocked girl, "Lex, listen to me, you're doing a great job but now I need you to pick up that phone and call a code blue."
Nick moved to grab the phone for her but stopped when Lex jumped to life and pushed him down, blood sprouting out of the wound like a sprinkler as the two girls held the man still.
"Holy crap. My artery blew," Nick mumbled as Lexi held him down and Gabby stopped the bleeding with the pressure of her gloved hands.
"Your artery blew," the two interns repeated back in fear as they stayed extremely still, gauging Nick's reaction.
"I didn't think that would really happen," he muttered, "I mean, I thought it was something the doctors say might happen because they have to," he rambled, "But I didn't think that it'd really happen."
"Me neither," Lexie huffed out breathily.
"Well it did," Gabby breathed out, wondering how she was covered in blood again less than an hour after showering.
"Ok. Um..." Lexie looked around.
"Lex, the phone behind you, dial eight," Gabby instructed, keeping a firm hold of the burst artery.
"What do I say?" she questioned, dialling the number.
"We need all the help we can get," Gabriella responded, causing Lexie to nod in response as the person on the other end of the phone answered.
"Hello, Nurse's Station."
"Hi," Lexie spoke unevenly, still holding Nick down with one arm, "Hi, this is Dr Grey. Um, Mr Hanscomb's carotid just blew, and... C-can you page Dr Sloan for me, please? And also Dr Yang," Lexie stuttered, pausing to take in the patient when blood spluttered out between Gabby's fingers causing him to groan as she fixed her grip, "I'm gonna go ahead and call this a code blue."
"A code blue?"
"Yes. Code blue," she responded a little firmer, "Can you announce that, please?"
"Yes. Right away."
"Thank you," Lexie put the phone back on the receiver and looked toward her best friend.
"Code blue. That means I'm dead, right?" Nick questioned, "I mean, that's what they call when people go, like, flatline."
"I figure we can use all the help we can get," Lexie soothed.
"Pass me more gauze, please," Gabby whispered between them, taking the offered material and pressing it on top of the dressing already there.
Nurses ran into the room behind the interns and the girls sagged a little in relief at the sight of Tyler, "It is not your day," Tyler deadpanned to the Castellanos girl who was covered in blood.
"Tell me about it," she sighed, smiling gratefully when Lexie pressed her hands over the top of her own to apply more pressure.
"How you doing, Dr Grey? Dr Cas?" Nick queried quietly as the two girls pressed down on different sections of the long cut, holding steady pressure.
"Gabby," the brunette replied, knowing formalities were stupid at this point.
"Lexie. I'm okay. Are you okay?" she asked the patient.
"I'm a little freaked out if I'm being honest," he responded, "Mostly because you two look like Carrie's version of 'The Shining' twins at prom," he mused.
"Love the honesty," Gabriella quipped.
Nick sighed, "But seriously, you guys are wearing like half my blood," he shared his concerns.
"Which is why we're hanging some more right now," Lexie soothed.
"I'm having trouble getting a vein," Tyler announced, glancing at Gabby who moved her hands, allowing Lexie to step towards Tyler, only to rush back when the blood fountained through Gabby's fingers at the loss of pressure.
"Why?" Gabriella questioned, looking toward Tyler once the bleeding settled down a little.
"He's hypovolemic. His veins are flaccid," the male nurse explained.
"That's not a nice thing to say," Nick still joked, "That's not a nice thing to say at all."
He groaned in pain, moving when the needle was pushed in and blood gushed again. Lexie pushed him back down as Gabby fixed her hold again, Lexie immediately did the same once a nurse held him down for them.
"Son of a bitch," Nick shouted.
"It's okay!" Lexie shouted.
Gabriella stared him straight in the eyes, smiling at him, "You're okay," she spoke, "But if you keep moving before Dr Sloan gets here then we'll have some trouble."
Nick settled, leaning back as Dr Yang jogged into the room, "Stop the bleeding!"
"We're trying," Gabby whispered, hands moving as the blood made her hands slippery.
"My hand slipped," Lexie admitted, taking the bandages and gauze from Yang and sliding them into Gabby's grasp.
"That can't happen anymore," Nick mumbled in fear, staring at Lexie, "That can't happen anymore, okay?"
"Apply steady, firm pressure," Dr Yang advised, giving the two interns more gauze.
"I called for Sloan," Lexie's voice wavered, "Should we just take him to an OR?" she asked.
"No, there's no OR. I was just down there," Cristina spoke louder, drawing attention with her authority as the interns looked to her for what to do next.
"Uh, Lexie, we're gonna need more," Gabriella grumbled as she nodded towards the piling blood between their hands.
"Tyler?" Lexie called, "You should run and get some more blood. Just in case, okay?"
Tyler immediately left to do so, Yang pulling off her dirty gloves too, "Apply pressure. I'm going to get Sloan."
"You're leaving?" the two girls chorused again, fear biting one more than the other as they looked toward the departing silhouette of the resident.
"I'll be right back. You can do this. You're doing this!" she called back, running off.
Lexie and Gabriella shared a look before letting out their share of shaky breaths, the pair focusing on making Nick calm until Tyler got back with the blood they needed for their patient. When the male nurse returned, they shared a brief smile.
Everyone was working around them when Lexie spoke up, "Tyler, could you get me more gauze, please?"
"Sure," he responded, moving to do so while Gabriella kept her eyes firmly on the burst carotid artery that she held shut beneath her hands and dressings.
"Why do you need more gauze? 'Cause I'm bleeding? I'm still bleeding?" the patient stuttered out.
"We have blood going in, too, Nick," Lexi replied reassuringly.
"Is it going in as fast as it's going out?" Nick questioned, "I'm asking because I'm starting to feel, like, queasy. And weak," he elaborated, "Maybe like a person who's losing a lot of blood."
"Ok, we're transferring now, Nick," Gabriella spoke up.
"You ready?" Lexi asked the patient, nurse and her fellow intern who all gave small signals.
"Yeah," Nick mumbled, and in one quick movement, Lexi and Gabby changed the gauze and held fresh ones in place on their separate sections of the incision.
"Lexie? Should I be calling people?" he asked the doctor who had checked on him all day, "Should I be calling my family or somebody?"
"I think the bleeding's stopped," Gabriella announced so that Lexie wouldn't have to give Nick false hope.
"Thank, God," Lexie muttered out.
Dr Sloan and Dr Yang entered the room, the former speaking up, "How you doing, Nick?"
"Oh, Dr Sloan. It's Dr Sloan," Nick praised.
"We think the bleeding stopped," Lexie told the attending as she moved out of the way, leaving Gabriella holding the gauze.
"You okay" Dr Sloan asked his patient, glancing between the three blood-soaked people in the room.
"Do I look okay?" the patient retorted.
"Actually, you do," Mark responded, tapping Gabriella so she'd move and the attending examined the incision, "Dr Grey, Ella, it looks like you've got the bleeding under control," he lightly praised the interns.
"Why would it stop?" Lexie queried.
"Could have been the herald bleed," Gabby shrugged, pulling off her lab coat and throwing it onto the stool beside Tyler.
"Which means there's a possibility of it bleeding again," Cristina added, nodding in approval as she observed the cardio magnet in her element.
Mark denied, "But it won't because I'm gonna get it closed up before it does," he refuted.
"There's no OR," Lexie, Nick and Gabriella all replied in sync.
"There will be in ten minutes," Dr Sloan argued lightly, "Dr Grey, get a pressure dressing on this wound. Dr Cas, get him prepped for the transfer. Dr Yang, bring them straight to OR three," he instructed, "I'm going to make sure it's cleared out. You did good work, girls," he praised the interns once more before exiting.
Gabby began prepping as Lexie got the pressure dressing, Nick staring at the latter, "Hey! I'm in love with you now. I've forgotten entirely about my ex," he joked before looking at Dr Castellanos, "You're gonna be my best man at the wedding."
"You bet," Gabriella agreed with a cheeky smile as she pushed relaxers into his IV after reading the chart.
"We're best friends for life now," Nick added.
Gabriella grinned, "I'm honoured."
The group of medical professionals all worked together, transferring Nick to a different bed and hooking him up to monitors. Lexie had shed her coat too, the two interns side by side in bloodied scrubs.
"This was never my plan," Nick broke the echoing silence, "To die this way."
"You're not dying, Nick," Lexie refuted.
"You're going to the OR," Dr Castellanos supplied.
"I know. That's what I'm saying," he mused, "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?"
Lexie simply smiled shortly in return.
"I don't feel good. I feel..."
Trailing off, the two interns noticed the bleeding again. Lexie put pressure over the new dressings she'd just placed on, Gabriella moving to one side of the bed to grab a railing for transport.
"Nick, can you squeeze my hand?" Cristina asked, getting no response.
"Oh, my God! What happened?" Lexi was on the verge of tears.
Cristina examined the man, torch held above as she examined his pupils, "The blood to the right side of his brain is... A stroke. It looks like he had a stroke. Okay, let's go."
"Carefully," Gabby called, slowly unlocking the wheels of the bed.
"Let's go," Cristina repeated, staring intently at her intern, "You can't cry, Lexie. This isn't over. You can't cry."
"Hold on a little longer" Gabby pat her arm before they moved again, Lexie holding steady pressure.
When they arrived at the OR floor, the group watched Cristina enter room three, "Dr Sloan, his artery blew again and he appears to be having a left-sided CVA."
"Where is he?" the plastics attending questioned.
"Here. You told me to bring him here," she gestured to the bed in the doorway with the dying patient onboard.
"Hahn, you close?" Mark panicked.
"No."
Mark sighed, "Yang, get him to a sterile procedure room. Run!"
The group ran down the hall to a sterile procedure room, Lexie still on the verge of tears as Gabriella soothed her and the patient with words. Gabriella tried to ignore the ache in her legs as she ran, exhaustion a heavy weight on her shoulders as she ran. She was convinced that after this surgery, she was going to hide away and sleep until her pager went off.
In the room, they watched Mark and Callie enter the room before Lexie and Gabriella stepped back.
"I need more light. Can I get more light?" Mark demanded, and Gabby stepped forward, adjusting the overhead lighting as they stood in unsterile clothes performing an emergent surgery.
When he coded, Gabriella's eyes glossed over when she looked toward Lexie, who pleaded for his life.
"Live, please live. Please," she heard Lexie mutter, over and over.
Dr Yang and Dr Cas shared a look, the pair worried about the Grey girl who helped do the impossible earlier that day. Gabriella wrapped an arm around Lexie's shoulder as the flatline persisted, pulling the Grey girl into her side.
Lexie sat on a chair in the procedure room after the others left, Gabriella helping the nurses mop the floor with her bloodied scrubs still on. The Grey girl had taken to silently staring as Tyler covered Nick's body in a white sheet.
"Are his parents coming?" Lexie broke her solemn silence.
"They're on a plane from California. You gonna wait?" Tyler replied, looking to the sad girl as Gabby stopped mopping, passing it to another nurse who entered.
"Yeah," Lexie muttered.
"We're gonna wait," Gabriella spoke up, watching Tyler leave the room with the charts as Lexie looked at her in confusion, "Together, because I'm not going anywhere while you look like a kicked puppy."
Sleep could wait for another day. Lexie needed her now.
The Castellanos girl forced Lexie to the locker room showers and showered after her while the coroners took the body from the procedure room. She washed blood from her skin for the second time that day, careful of the stitches on her arm.
When Gabriella found Lexie next, she was in a deep conversation with Dr Yang. Soon, a message popped up on her phone saying she was going home with her resident, so Gabby stayed and waited for the Hanscombs' arrival from California.
She stayed in the waiting room in her clean scrubs and watched the world turn around her, waiting to deliver the worst news of a parent's life.
Gabriella saved two people that day; Ray and Stan, but Nick died, and she couldn't help the guilt that maybe she could've done better.
"Get up," a voice spoke from her side, she looked to see Bailey standing by her chair.
"What?" the Castellanos girl mumbled.
"Get up," Bailey demanded and the intern did, growing confused when the Chief Resident wrapped her arms around the girl, "I needed a hug today, and you needed someone to snap you into reality."
"Happy to help?" Gabby sort of questioned.
"No, I mean, the hug is for me," Bailey stated, "This speech is for you," she took in a breath, "You went solo today, twice. You saved two men in impossible situations and you have the Chief raving about your success. You lost a patient, I know that, but you also did something a lot of people in my resident year would crumble at the thought of. You're filled with miracles and happiness and seeing you sit here like a kicked puppy isn't right. So, after you inform the family, you're gonna go home and sleep off your bad day, because I know damn well that you have a hell of a lot more fight left in you."
Gabriella pulled Bailey in for another hug, "I think I just needed a hug too," she responded lightly, smiling as Bailey squeezed her back.
"Good work today," the Resident praised before turning away and walking towards the exit.
The Castellanos girl smiled through the exhaustion.