Understand

Teddy&Cristina

Friendship/Comfort

Post S8 E18

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended by this story. I do not own the plot or the script from the Series Grey's Anatomy.

Summary:It was a hard time for Teddy recovering from her lost of Henry. It came out to be extremely hard when she operated on a patient who had the same problems as Henry…

Guest Star: Henry.

Owen, Meredith, Arizona was mentioned.

I am not a medical student and English is not my mother-tongue. This is my first novel in fanfic, and I am quite nervous. Please let me know if I made any mistakes.

Reviews Please! I'll check my reviews very often, and I'll really appreciate it if you share your opinions.

Side A: Teddy

Teddy was pressing harder and harder at the patient's chest with rib-breaking strength. The patient suffered from a lung tumor, massive hemorrhage, and they had just cracked his chest. Unfortunately, it was too late. The patient's lung was like a sieve. A V-fib took place soon and then they started CPR.

It was incredibly hot inside the OR, not to mention the high temperature in Teddy's airtight scrubs. She could feel sweats streaming down her neck,back and tangled hair, causing an unbearable itch. Her arms and palms were in dull pain. In fact, they seemed to be out of control, doing compression automatically. As frustration, exhaustion and all the physical discomfort struck her together, tears began to well in her eyes, blurring out her vision. She didn't even bother to blink it back; she didn't need a clear field of vision at all. The only thing remained in her mind was compression. She would never stop and let this man die on the operating table, definitely not in the same way as Henry. The sound and color of the surroundings was fading away. Her heart was screaming and pleading soundlessly,"Hang on, please! Please! Stay with us!"

Side B: Cristina

"It has been an hour….He's passed, Dr. Altman." Cristina Yang worriedly watched the blonde attending overexerted herself performing an noneffective CPR. They started compression an hour ago but there was no sign that the heart would be coming back.

"Dr. Altman, the tumor has eroded through the pulmonary artery. We have maxed out on Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Epinephrine. I don't know what else we can do….We could tell his death at the beginning of the surgery. " Jackson Avery was clearly confused with the abnormal behavior of his usually coolheaded superior.

"Avery…." Cristina sighed slightly cutting him off. She knew exactly what all of this was about. The same thing had happened weeks ago, on Henry Burton, Teddy Altman's husband, who didn't survive from it either. Cristina had been there holding the scalpel but couldn't stopped Henry from bleeding out, while her mentor was in another OR saving her own patient, without any idea what was actually going on. It had been a day like hell for both of them. Though Teddy once had forced her to repeat the whole procedure time and again and was able to recite every single detail of Henry's operation, it would be totally different to face it in the OR. To say she was worried about Teddy was an understatement. Watching her mentor and friend on the edge of falling apart almost broke her heart.

"Dr. Altman….! Listen to me. You have done everything you could. Now let him go in peace." Cristina exclaimed in a most stern voice, partially referring to the patient's ribs which undoubtedly would have been broken under such a strong CPR. She understood Teddy's feeling. She had been there too. Rationally, you knew it was it, but emotionally you just believed you could do more.

There was no respond. With a little annoyance, Cristina stepped forward and grabbed Teddy's shoulders. Teddy barely paid attention to her touch. She continued compression. Her muscle was rigid and her body was trembling violently. It didn't take a long time before Cristina realized that Teddy's body wasn't in her own charge any more.

Swallowing the lump formed in her throat, Cristina turned to Avery without hesitation; lowered her voice, "Avery. HELP ME!"

Together, they lifted Teddy by her upper arms, physically released her from the operating table and seated her at the corner of the OR. Teddy struggled against their grips; as CPR had drained of all her energy, she was too weak to succeed.

"Time of death, 7:16 p.m." Cristina casted a hurried glance at the monitor.

Cristina gingerly untied the mask and scrubs and removed the bloody gloves for Teddy. Teddy was a real mess. Her cheeks reddened by the strenuous compression, whereas her lips were as pale as a ghost. A mixture of perspiration and tears coated her face. Her silky blonde hair was now wet and messy. Shaking her head wordlessly, Cristina ran her fingers through Teddy's sweaty hair, combed some of the knots, pushed some strands back from her gaunt face, and tied it back into a ponytail.

Teddy was fighting hard to breathe; allowed as much air into her lung as she could. Apparently, she had almost been smothered by her thick mask. She was shaking uncontrollably from head to toe, with her muscles squeezing tight around the slightest touch. Murmuring some incoherent words, she stared blankly at the operating table.

Cautiously, Cristina stripped off Teddy's light-colored operating suit, exposing the dark blue scrubs inside. She furrowed her brow when she saw the scrubs was also soaked in a pool of sweats, which made its color even darker.

"Umm….Adrenaline rush. Dehydrate. Drinking water and cold towel please." Cristina Yang was the only person who could stick to her typical nonchalant voice at the moment, as if she was just treating a regular patient. She tilted her head to check if someone had obeyed her order and met Jackson's shocked face in the half way.

"Clean up here and tell the family. Is that okay for you?" She was asking but there was no room for rejection in her tone.

"…Yea, sure….Of course…."Jackson was still confused but he knew better than to ask; therefore headed off without another word.

"People, MOVE!" Cristina looked around and urged. Thanks for Teddy's teaching, she finally learned how to work in a team and successfully won trust and respect from her teammates.