Love Trap Chapter 1
"Suction... more suction! I said more suction! Damn, I can't find the breeders. Clamp, please? Another clamp... right here. Okay, get me another two units of blood, run to the lab and see if the test results are ready. If they're not, tell them to hurry the fuck up. I'm not ready to lose this patient. Go!"
The nurse legged it out the door and down the corridor as if her life depended on it. And literally it did. Nobody wanted to be in Calliope Torres's bad book. Her reputation was not just a rumour, it was real, the truth and nothing but the truth so help you god kind of real. Ortho goddess with muscles and composure made of steel and a strong determined head on her shoulders that made nobody wanting to cross her. She was it.
"More suction, damn it! He's crashing. Get the defibrillator. Charge to one twenty. Clear." Beep. "Again, one twenty. Clear." Beep. "Charge to two hundred. Clear." Beep. "Two sixty."
"Dr Torres?"
"Not now. Charge to two sixty. Clear." Beep.
"Dr Torres?"
"I said, not now, charge again." Nobody moved or made an attempt to follow her orders. They all knew that the patient was already dead and nothing but a miracle could bring him back. Even Callie knew this but refused to believe it. She was a surgeon. She saves peoples lifes, not killing them and this was simply not good enough. She had failed today. Failed to save this man's life, failed to be able to bring his family good news and the biggerst failure of all, she had failed herself.
Sighing she knew it was time for the inevitable. Looking at the klock above the door she spoke tiredly. "Time of death 6.47 pm." she signed the chart and gave it to a nurse. Tossing her bloody gown and gloves into a nearby trashcan, she stormed out of the OR, anger and disappointment oozing.
"Torres! Just the woman I was looking for."
"Not now, Mark." the tone of her voice made the tall handsome plastic surgeon stop and frown.
"Oh, you don't sound too happy. Wanna have a quickie in an on call room to make you feel better?" he offered with a smug smile.
Callie rolled her eyes at her best friend. "I don't do men, Sloan. No offence, it's not you, just your penis."
"Come on," he said throwing his arms up in the air, "that's not what you said a couple of weeks ago. If I remember right, you were quite... eager and satisfied. Words like, 'oh yeah', 'oh my god' and 'don't stop' came out in a steady flow, Torres. And talking about flow and coming... well," he chuckled, "you were coming like a..."
"Mark! Shut it!" Callie hissed before he could finish the sentence and she wouldn't have to be the 'talk of the week' kind of thing. Or month, she wryly thought to herself. "That was different. That was... practice and you know it."
Pouting like a small school boy he then smiled cheekily. "Well, do you wanna practice then?"
Callie sighed and groaned in frustration. "Thanks but no thanks. Don't you have like fifteen nurses you can try your luck with, or are they all coming to their senses and realizing that you're nothing but a manwhore?"
Mark clutched at his chest with his hands in devastation. "Oh, Torres! Your despicable words went straight to my febrile heart. I think you just broke it." he stated seriously.
The Latina rolled her eyes for the second time and smirked. "Maybe I could help you find a nurse who can mend it?"
"I don't need help, Torres." he answered. His voice full of confidence and smugness. "I am very much capable of finding a nurse,... or nurses, on my own." just as the skilled plastic surgeon turned to head off on his mission, both their pagers went off.
Groaning, they both quickly checked it before taking off running down the corridor towards the emergency bay. "Owen! Where do you need me?" Callie instantly went into surgical mode and watched as patient after patient was rolled in with various injuries to their bodies.
Dr Owen Hunt, chief of trauma, turned around with a serious face. "Multiple car pile up. They are bringing half of them here and the other half to Mercy West. As far as I know there are still two people trapped inside their cars and the rescue team is having a difficult time getting them out and they're afraid of further injuries. I need you two to go to the scene and help stabilize the patients. Meredith, Christina and April are outside waiting for an ambulance to take them there. Go now."
No more words were said, no questions asked and no further explanation was needed. They both quickly grabbed a set each of safety clothes, that they had to wear in situations like these, arrived just as the ambulance pulled up and decided to get dressed on the way. Every second was crucial.
Christina tilted her head to the side and watched as Callie and Mark struggled to dress as the car was moving from side to side. "Isn't it usually the opposite? I mean, don't you usually get undressed instead of dressed in front of each other? I'm just saying, you know, cause it looks kind of funny."
Meredith smirked at her best friend's comment whereas April looked quite uncomfortable.
Mark grinned and gave Callie a sexy grin. "She knows us so well, Torres."
"Shut it, Mark and keep your eyes to yourself." she grunted and pulled the zipper of her jacket up all the way to her chin to keep the cold out.
It was bitter outside. The rain had kept coming for three days now and the sky looked gray and daunting. There were always an increase in accidents in weather like this and even though it was down to a drizzle, everything was soaking wet, including the roads. People who didn't pay attention to the wet surface usually ended up in a challenging situation and this was one of those situations.
The sirens from the police and fire brigade could be heard from a distance. They were rapidly getting louder and stronger the closer they were getting and Callie could feel worry and dread building in her stomach. Cases like these were the hardest. People screaming in fear and pain, trapped inside their vehicles, begging for help, begging to get out of there alive, and some people, even begging to die.
The ambulance pulled to a full stop and, even though no one said anything, Callie knew that her fellow surgeons were feeling the exact same thing as her. Dread. She could see it in their eyes as they quickly jumped out from the back of the van, holding a bag each of supplies, ready to tend to any injuries and complications. They were surgeons. They always had to be prepared for the worst case scenario, always focused, always ready to do whatever was necessary to save lifes, to hopefully give their loved ones good news and return home safely themselves after a gruesome and exhausting shift.
This was it. All their senses were buzzing with sensitivity, every cell in their body was on high alert and ready to face whatever was about to come. Callie took a couple of seconds to take in the chaotic scene that played before her, assessing the situation, trying to make a quick and efficient decision as to where she was needed the most. All she saw was people running, shattered glass covering most of the ground, smoke coming from a car that had previously been on fire but was now only a smoky shell of what it had been. She only hoped that the person or people inside had gotten out in time. Then the screams suddenly kicked in, filling her ears with their high pitch and she flinched, quickly coming back from her thoughts and headed towards a man lying on the side of the road wih a deep cut to his head, blood pouring from between his fingers as he desperately tried to put some pressure on it but failing miserably.
"Hey, I'm dr Torres." Callie kneeled down next to the obvious disoriented man and opened her bag of supplies. "I'm just gonna have a quick look at your cut. Can I do that?" she asked him gently, keeping her voice soft and comforting so she wouldn't frighten or upset the man further. Everything she learnt in med school automatically kicked in as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her, and in a way it was. "What's your name? Can you tell me your name?"
"J... Jeff." he stuttered, obviously in shock. "Jeff Ha... Harding."
Callie pulled out a packed of thick gauze, a bandage and a pupilar light. "Okay Jeff. I'm gonna take a little peek, put some pressure on the wound, wrap it tightly and check your eyes, okay?" she was calm, trying not to move too fast, keep her hands steady and her voice soothing to avoid causing the patient further stress. He nodded shakily, his pale and perspirating features was beginning to worry Callie.
She gently removed his hand, ready with the gauze in her other. It was almst impossible to determine the severity of the cut due to the steady flow of blood. Since she was struggling to see the depth of the laceration, she knew it must be deep and therefore more likely to cause brain damage. She placed the gauze over the pumping hole on his head and wrapped it tightly. His pupils were not responding the way she would've liked them to, which was a great concern. "Okay, Jeff. Just sit tight, don't move, I'll be right back."
She left the pale and shaking man as she desperately searched for a couple of paramedics. "Here! Over here! Help, please! Please, help her! Somebody!" the shouting distracted her and she spotted a middle-aged man screaming and waving his arms in the air, trying to get someone's attention. "Over here!" he yelled, louder this time.
A paramedic just passed by and Callie was quick to grab a hold of his shoulder and pointed towards where the man was slumped on the ground, leaning up against the sidewalk. "Serious head injury. He needs emergency care as soon as possible. Possible brain damage. Go now!" she demanded and the medic scurried off.
Callie immediately ran, bag in hand, towards the hysterically waving man and thankfully found at least him unharmed. "You've gotta help her, she's trapped. Her legs are pinned and she's bleeding from a deep cut on her stomach. I... I don't know what to do, I... I didn't see her coming. I didn't see her coming. I... I looked down for one second and... and she... she just came out of nowhere, I... I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." he repeated over and over, running his fingers through his hair roughly.
Callie grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "Listen to me. You're in shock and you need medical attention. See the ambulance over there?" she pointed towards the flashing lights. "I want you to go straight there and someone will take care of you, alright? There's nothing more you can do here." he already caused enough damage, she thought but didn't say it out loud. She gently pushed him in the right direction before turning back to the severely damaged car and bent down to see how the trapped woman was doing.
Her heart stopped for a second before returning to it's normal beat. The woman, trapped and pinned underneath the dashboard, was the most pecious thing Callie had ever seen. Her blonde softly curled hair fell freely down her shoulders, her clear complexion looked almost angelic and the eyes! Those pale blue eyes looked straight through into her sole and they were filled with such pain, fear and agony that it broke Callie's heart.
"Hi there. What's your name, honey?" the endearment slipped through her lips before she could stop it. "My name is dr Torres but you can call me Callie." she gently grabbed one of the blonde's wrists and checked her pulse. It was steady but weak.
"Ar... Arizona Robbins." the blonde responded, never letting her eyes travel from Callie's deep brown.