Chapter 1 The shot

This begins at the end of S2 except for this time cristina got on the helicopter together with Burke and Alex to do the heart transplant, see what happens next! very AU

English is not my first language, so please put up with my grammar mistakes, and I know nothing about medicine, all the conversations regarding med information are from wikipedia or the show, if there are mistakes please ignore them, thank you!

Disclaimer: GA and all characters belong to Shonda and ABC

Cristina's POV

" There are two donors?" Burke asked the transplant coordinator as we were walking down the corridor, slightly surprised.

" Two brothers tried to pass a semi on a double yellow and came out on the losing end of a head-on. Both are a match for your guy. " He explained as a matter of fact.

" So we just wait for UNOS to decide which one we get? " I chipped in.

" They should decided by now." Burke answered.

" So who's retrieving the other heart? " I asked curiously.

" Took you long enough, Preston." A woman in red scrub and black scrub cap with cherries on it was getting ready to scrub in when she truned to face our direction and interrupted.

Who is this woman? They're on a first name basis? A surgeon at seattle presbyterian? I was slightly taken back by the sudden voice. Burke looked like he was annoyed by the woman as well.

" Why are juniors here? Your ego get too big for one man to carry? " She continued her sarcasm.

Oh, I'm starting to like her a bit, she definitely know him well and they don't seem to get along. I secretly laughed at my own comment.

" Dr. Yang , Dr. Karev: Dr. Hahn here graduated second in our class at john hopkins. Ask her who graduated first. " Burke chuckled and introduced her to us in a very Burke way.

" God. " Alex signed in disbelief.

God, big man's arrogance. I chuckled at his words without teasing him.

When we got into the OR, the monitor already flat-lined, a doctor was doing CPR non-stop, a nurse at his side was preparing for defibrillator. There was a large bruise on donor's chest.

" What the hell happened to my donor? " Burke asked as he stepped into the OR and wearing his mask.

" He went into v-fib. " The nurse answered.

" I can see that. Give me the paddles. Yang, take over compressions. You gave epi? " Burke quickly took the paddles and started to give orders.

This is not good. Whenever he's having that voice, something's going on. This is Denny's heart, we have to get that heart or he won't make it. If he doesn't make it, Izzie won't make it as well. WE HAVE TO GET THAT HEART. I silently pray that we can get the heart.

" Three rounds, and we shocked him twice." The nurse replied.

" I'm gonna hit him again at 360. Clear." Burke commanded.

The monitor still didn't change.

" He's asystolic." Burke signed.

" I don't get it. The guy's already dead." Alex was confused.

" And now his heart has joined the rest of him. " Damn it, we can't use his heart anymore.

" So we can't use it? " Alex still couldn't believe it.

" No, Karev, we cannot use it. The muscle is dead, the heart is useless. " Burke replied frustrated.

It suddenly occured to me. " Burke, the other heart! " I reminded him. He rushed out of the OR .

" Stop right now! " We rushed into the other OR and managed to stop it at the last moment.

" Don't move the scalpel, not even a single slice." Burke warned Hahn when she stared at us in shock.

" What happened? Preston, what are you doing now barging into MY OR with two interns and stop MY transplant? " Hahn was clearly offended.

" My donor's heart died. Now I have to take yours."

" Your donor's heart died doesn't mean I have to give you mine! " Hahn snapped at Burke.

" Is your patient higher on the transplant list? Is he higher on the transplant list?"

" I have no idea." She finally replied.

" Well. neither do I. " Burke snapped back at her." Karev, get UNOS on the phone, now! "

" Oh, give me a break! " Hahn ignored us and continued to grab the scalpal.

" Hey, Hey! " Burke stepped forward and tried to stop her.

" What, are you gonna beat me up? "

" If I have to. " " Okay I will hold on. It's pathetic, Preston. Really pathetic." She put back the scalpels and stormed out of the OR. We followed her into a conference room where Karev was already on the phone.

" Your patient is on IVAD, he's probably up and walking around. My guy still needs his dobutamine drip." Hahn tried to persuade Burke.

" That's the best you can do? " Burke wouldn't give in. " He can climb mount shasta on a dobutamine drip."

" As of this morning, Dr. Hahn's patient was 22 hundredths of a point ahead." UNOS officer on the phone stated.

" Well, that's basically a tie."

" Except that patient was admitted into the transplant program before ."

" How long before? "

" 17 seconds." "17 seconds?!" Just at the time Burke's cell phone rang, he pushed it to me.

" Hello." " Where's Dr. Burke? " " Izzie, what do you want? "

" I want to know how the heart recovery is going. "

" He's working on it." " So he's operating now? "

" There were two donors, Izzie. Our guy's heart flat-lined and now he's trying to get the other guy's."

" But there's a list."

" Yes. The higher guy on the list gets the heart." There's a long pause.

" Denny's getting worse by the second. His, uh his sats are in the 80s,70s. His sats are now in the 70s and dropping. "

" Izzie, Izzie listen to me. Burke is fighting tooth and nails for the heart, we are going to do everything we can to get it. But lying about his sats is not an option."

" Cristina he has flash pulmonary edema, you have to believe me. Please, do this for me. What if it's Burke that need the heart? " I will do everything I can to get him the heart, no matter what.

" Fine. What's his blood pressure? " " 82 over 40." " Okay. Don't hang up."

I returned to the room and whispered the news to Burke. We are gonna fight for this heart, we are gonna fight for Izzie.

" According to Dr. Stevens, Denny Duquette now qualifies as a 1a candidate for that heart. That puts him ahead of Dr. Hahn's patient. " Burke announced it to UNOS on the phone.

" Dr. Burke, if you want to do echo and ABNP to fully ascertain the status of your patient, we'll allow it."

" That'll take an hour." Hahn projected.

" Is the donor stable? "

" Yes, the donor is currently stable."

" In that case, Dr. Burke, you've got an hour to get those tests. "

I picked up the phone again and told Izzie, " Izzie did you hear that? Get the lab results, NOW." before I hanged up.

Hahn glared at us in anger and left the room.

" Burke, something's going on, we need to talk." I dragged him to the staircase.

" What happened?"

"Burke, she's gonna do EVERYTHING for him to get the heart, EVERYTHING." I looked at him with pleading eyes.

A look combined with confusion, compassion and rage appeared on his face, and I knew he knew what I was talking about.

"What...? You knew she lied and you helped her? What's wrong with you interns? This is crime!" Burke yelled at me

"Burke, I would do the same if it were you that need the heart. Izzie won't make it if Denny died, I don't know what to do now, I can't tell right from wrong now, before this I can, but now? now I can't. I'm gonna go back to the hospital and check on her before she get the labs, Okay?" I grabbed his hand and clung myself to him, tears striking down my face.

" Okay, I will go with you, Karev can stay here and keep an eye on the heart."

he pulled me back and gently wiped the tears off my face, stroking my curly waves.

" Just promise me one thing..." I didn't let him go

" What? "

" Don't ever die on me, if you do I won't forgive you for the rest of my live and I won't make it." Even just imagining his lifeless body lying on the gurney make my heart sting, I couldn't live without him because I'm so in love with him. I couldn't live without him cleaning my mass all around the floor, I couldn't live without having dinner with him, I couldn't live without the coffee and breakfast he made for me even though he knew I wouldn't eat it, I couldn't live without him by my side hugging me. The idea of living without him suffocate me, I couldn't even breathe. He put one hand at my back and started rubbing it. He buried his head into my hair and whispered, "Shh...Shh...I promised you okay, I will not leave you alone. I will do my best." I melted myself into him and wish this moment could last forever.

When we got off the helicopter, a middle-aged man with a gun in his shaking hand was staring at us. God, he must be the man shooting at the restaurant this morning. Bang, Before anyone could react, he shot right in the forehead of the nurse waiting for us at the entrance. Immediately, Burke dragged me behind him and tried to calm down the carzy guy.

"Sir, I know this is not what you want, you want justice and you won't hurt innocent people, right? " Burke tried to stop him while making me step backwards with him until there's no way to back off.

"Shut up! you guys think you are god, you think you know everything you think you can decide my fate, no, no you can't! " he pointed his gun at us with desperate tone and shaky hands. Before I knew it, I pushed Burke aside to the ground. Then I heard the gunshot and I felt the burning pain in my heart. My whole world started to fade away. I could feel myself fell on the cold cement. I heard Burke screaming my name and right after another gunshot, I heard Burke mourning in pain. Is he hurt? Is he still alive? I tried to call his name but I can't believe the weakness of my own voice, "Burke, Burke...". He seemed to hear me and crawled to my side. "Are you ok?...where...did u...?" I couldn't finish my sentence because blood started to spill out of my mouth. I could feel his hand pressing on my chest desperately trying to stop the bleeding of the hole in my heart, I could feel his tears streaming down on my face. I gathered my last strength, reached for his other hand and squeezed it hard, wanting to know where did he got hurt. I heard his shattered voice, " Cristina don't worry about me, it's a through and through GSW to my arm, I'm fine..." he choked on his tears, "Cristina save your strength to breathe, stay with me, PLEASE we are outside the hospital hold on for me..." That's all I heard before I blacked out. I wanted to tell him that I will try my best to fight, I wanted to tell him that everything is gonna be alright. But I can't, I'm too tired, I have to drift to sleep.