A/N: Okay folks! Here's my second stab at putting some thoughts down and it kind of melding into something. I was online last night with a good friend of mine and we both felt inspired to work on our own individual projects and I was trying to get past my current writer's block with Dancing On My Own but it seems that wall will be in place a little longer than I had anticipated (I've got a good chunk of the next part written out but I don't feel it's the best it could be). I don't even recall what time I started writing this, but I didn't stop writing until around 1 PM EST and ended up with about 11 pages before crashing and sleeping all day (oops). I wasn't going to post this until I had completely finished it, but my better judgment won out and I decided I'd rather share it on here than hoard it away until God knows how long it would take for me to finish it! I'm leaving up the rating of M for now as on down the line it will change.
Just a few general reminders! I can't say I have much knowledge within the medical field (yet) and so if I flub things, my apologies as I look things up generally online to get an idea of what I'm talking about and try to work around it as best as I can. Second, the first few installments will purely be based around Addison which will lead up to Meredith being introduced. It might be a long road, but I hope you guys won't get sick of me! Third, I do not own Grey's Anatomy despite wishing it was possible nor do I receive endorsement for writing this. Thanks for stopping by to check it out and please let me know what you think!
Addison should have taken the weather as a sign that her day was not going to go well. Throughout the entire day the weather in Los Angeles had been horrible. There had been storms rolling through the city since the early morning and with all the rain it had reminded Addison of her time in Seattle and the constant battle to stay dry. The storms and constant downpour had carried on into the late evening, which is where Addison currently found herself preparing the umbrella to exit Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It seemed she could hardly recall a day where LA had seen such violent storms pass over the city and leave in its wake a path of destruction and tragedy.
Her morning had started off relatively easy with a few appointments with patients at the practice but it was nothing taxing by any means. Her day quickly changed when she had received a phone call from the chief at Cedars-Sinai requesting her services on a patient who was being brought in and was eight months pregnant and had been in a severe accident. The young girl had been in her car when a lightning strike hit a nearby tree next to her car in the driveway of her home. The tree had fallen on the car and had pinned the young woman who was to be rushed to their hospital when the firemen could extract her from the crushed vehicle. Her presence had been requested immediately and Addison quickly jumped into action to inform Naomi that she was on her way to assist in a case and asked if she could cover the rest of her appointments for the day. Naomi had waved her off once she mentioned it was an emergency and agreed to cover the redhead's patients in the meantime since it was already later into the day and approaching dinner time for most.
Once Addison had reached the hospital she had been surprised that she managed to get there in once piece with how bad the roads had been. The rain had been coming down so hard that she almost had to pull off the road as she could barely see a foot in front of her car let alone the road and traffic that was ahead of her. Before too long she found herself clinging to her umbrella and rushing from the parking lot into the main lobby of Cedars-Sinai. Acclimating herself to her less than normal surroundings, Addison quickly found the right personnel to help her shed her items and gain the proper access she needed within the hospital. She had learned that the crew was still working to successfully pull the woman from the car, which would allow her time to calm herself and be prepared for what might need to be done when the girl was brought in. Finding a suitable place to change Addison quickly stripped down and tossed the loaner scrubs on before haphazardly gathering her clothing and tossing it to an intern to place with her other belongings which she would find once she was finished.
Addison had spent what felt like hours waiting for that ambulance to radio in that they were only a few minutes out from the bay when in reality it had only been a max of thirty minutes. She had taken the instructions from the chief to be ready to enter the OR and get to work and that if there were any complications he would inform her when they reached her. Shutting out any other thoughts than the impending task at hand, Addison had made her way to the OR they had booked and began the tedious process of scrubbing in. She entered the OR and was assisted in getting her gown and gloves on to wait until their patient was brought in.
The young woman was as pale as the sheet beneath her and had a tree limb protruding from the right side of her chest when they finally got her into the operating room. At first glance Addison noted she had a broken arm and leg and wondered what internal injuries the doctors altogether would be facing. Her first concern was for the children she was pregnant with as it was obvious this woman's body was in a state of shock and rapidly failing due to blood loss and possible trauma her abdomen had suffered when the tree trapped her in the car. Transferring her over to the operating table the doctors quickly began working to prepare her for surgery with the anesthesiologist leading the way and putting her under and the others getting the appropriate wires and monitors up and running to get her vitals known to all in the room.
Their attending orthopedic surgeon had made quick work of setting and splinting both the young woman's arm and leg before his work was done. He would tend to fitting a cast later and moved out of the way to be less of a hassle for the doctors left who were working to remove the tree limb from the woman's chest. Addison grabbed for the ultrasound to try and find the twins' heartbeats but was unable to detect either one.
"We need to do an emergency c-section and deliver these two now. Ultrasound didn't detect either heartbeat so we need to get in there," Addison commanded to the resident who was now going to be assisting her with the procedure and delivery. Addison made the initial incision before working as quickly as possible with the other incisions and the resident helping to cauterize the blood vessels to try and prevent as much bleeding as possible. After about ten minutes of working her way through layers of incisions Addison had reached the uterus and worked quickly to get the amniotic fluid suctioned away so she could utilize the forceps to help pull the first child out to get a grasp on them before moving to pull them out and the umbilical cord being cut. Addison registered no noise coming from the first child as the resident rushed the child over to a nearby station to suction them off and figure out what needed to be done. The second baby was quickly delivered and handed off to the resident to also work on the young newborn and assess the situation and take any necessary actions.
"I'm not hearing anything over there. Be my eyes, what's going on?" Addison asked as she worked to repair the woman's uterus and being unable to see what was happening with the twins. Just after she had asked that she heard the monitors start blaring indicating the young woman's blood pressure was dropping quickly and Addison noticed she was starting to hemorrhage and was losing blood at an alarming rate.
"What's happening Dr. Montgomery?" Dr. James Henderson asked as he was working thoroughly to repair the damage done by the tree limb that had impaled their patient. The limb had pierced through her right lung and had also broken two ribs while fracturing a third.
"She's hemorrhaging, Dr. Henderson. If I can't control the bleeding I'm going to need to do a hysterectomy. We need to hang another bag of O neg," Addison said quickly before realizing she had yet to hear an update from the resident assisting her. "I need an update on those babies," she demanded with a stern voice as she fought to control the bleeding but was quickly losing the battle.
"They didn't make it, Dr. Montgomery," the resident solemnly stated knowing that's not the news Addison wanted to hear. Addison figured that the damage sustained in the womb was far too much for the babies to survive let alone go unattended for such a long duration when the firemen were working to safely pull the mother out of the car. Setting those thoughts aside Addison continued to furiously work to control the bleeding but had been unsuccessful and was now working to perform a hysterectomy to diffuse the bleeding altogether. She had already been working on finishing the c-section for only a few minutes when she realized the bleeding couldn't be stopped. The next hour or more would be touch and go as she worked to stop the woman from having any further complications.
The hour went by before Addison knew it and she estimated in her head that she'd need perhaps another hour before she was finished and her job would be complete. Addison didn't have a clue how things were progressing beyond the work she was doing. She knew they were still in deep trying to repair the damage done to her chest and also a neurosurgeon was removing part of her skull to try to allow room for the swelling that had occurred when her head had been hit in the car. Straightening her spine Addison continued to work and do what she could to save this woman's life. It's all she could do and Addison was going to do it to the best of her ability.
After Addison had reached the two and a half hour mark she had finished the woman's hysterectomy and successfully stopped the bleeding which had helped stabilize her already tenuous blood pressure. She slowly moved from her sitting position and lowered the instruments in her hand onto the tray next to her before removing herself from the operating room to scrub out and wait to hear if the patient was all right.
She quickly shed her gown, gloves, and mask before making her way to the sink and thoroughly scrubbing underneath her finger nails, hands, and up her forearms and a little ways up past her elbows. Grabbing a nearby towel she dried herself off before pulling her scrub cap off and moving out of the room to find somewhere that was secluded but still nearby so she could wait for news. Despite the ability to sit and watch in the gallery Addison had no desire to watch the doctors fight to save that woman's life. She didn't need to hear the chaos of the operating room buzzing around her head and feeling like it was suffocating her. To avoid that noise Addison wandered around until she found an empty waiting room near the operating room and sank down into one of the standard issue hospital chairs. No wonder why people hate hospital waiting rooms, Addison thought. These chairs alone would be enough to drive a person mad, she contemplated as she shifted uncomfortably trying to find a position that wouldn't make her feel like she was sitting on a two-by-four but unfortunately found that comfort would be elusive as long as she was sitting there in that waiting room.
Resting her head in her hands she leaned forward to place her elbows on her knees to try and give her a moment to shut herself off from anyone who might come into the waiting room. Feeling the stiffness in her body settle in, Addison moved from her position and ran a hand through her hair and leaned back and settled in for the wait she'd be in for. Addison could only hope that when someone came to find her they wouldn't be delivering the final blow. She would have to take the rest of this day one step at a time.