A/N: I can't believe this, I'm really doing this? I must have been crazy. I'm not really confident at writing Gruvia despite them being my OTP. I don't know, it's just crazy. I hope I don't mess this up. This story is a little bit hard to understand, tell me if where I should improve. Thanks.
Chapter 1
Gray sighed as he read the medical record spread on his table. He's really running out of time, but he still can't do it alone. That much he is very well aware of. But he can barely find good people to help him. Lyon isn't anywhere in Japan, and God knows when he'll ever come back for a visit. The only one he can think of helping him right now is Natsu, his lifetime frenemy. Still, Natsu alone is not enough. He needs someone that can function as Jura or Sherry for Lyon. Gray scrunched at the thought. Why does Lyon gets all the awesome people with him? Gray doesn't want to admit that Lyon is probably a few steps ahead of him. They were both fellow Ul's students. And even though Gray believed Ul trained them equally, he felt as if he had been constantly chasing behind Lyon. Gray ruffled his hair roughly. He shouldn't be thinking of Lyon now. It's not the time for this.
As if in cue, his office door flung open and for a second, he thought his door was going to break. He groaned in frustration. "Can't you knock like a well-mannered professional doctor, Natsu?"
Natsu laughed as he practically jumped on the chair in front of Gray's desk. Behind him, Gray saw a blonde girl wearing a blue and white tank top exposing her cleavage paired with a short tight mini skirt. Gray would feel irritated at the intrusion of the blonde if it wasn't for Natsu promptly pulling the blonde to sit beside him. Gray eyed Natsu questioningly.
"Lucy Heartfilia, my scrub nurse," Natsu said, gesturing to the girl. "I'll lend her to you."
Gray raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "Really now, Natsu? I never knew you were so generous," there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
Natsu snickers. "Trust me, dude. You need her."
Gray saw Lucy's lips curved into a smile. She has a long straight blonde hair tied sideways with a red ribbon adorning her fair face. She's hot, Gray gave her that. Then again, almost all nurses are all about looks. Sherry wasn't any exception. Except that Sherry is quite observant to the surgical field. Gray learnt long ago that nurses focus more on getting doctor's attention than being a useful one on field instead. And he almost couldn't believe that Natsu had stoop that low. Natsu was a very well known vascular surgeon in their hospital. Being trained directly under Igneel, their vascular professor, Natsu has honed his skills and turned into a fine vascular surgeon, famous for being the fastest in the operation field. Any nurses would fight to be by his side, even though Gray would never admit that. Then again, Gray never thought he would really pick a hottie.
Natsu, sensing almost what his frenemy was thinking, leaned forward to Gray's desk in a miffed manner. "Listen, when you asked my help in that special operation of yours, I never even think of handling Lucy to you. I'm being nice here, so don't think you are allowed to insult her."
"Sorry, but unlike you, I don't know her. My first impression isn't really good though," Since she dressed up like a regular nurse screaming for attention. Gray said in a low tone, hoping Lucy wouldn't hear him.
Natsu smirked. "Then you missed a very great girl."
Gray didn't know where Natsu get those confidence. But Lucy's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. That alone, Gray knew she heard the entire conversation. Who was he kidding? They were only in his office for God's sake. Even the smallest sound can be heard. He sighed, feeling bad himself. He was never good at handling woman. Ultear, Ul's daughter had always whacked him for that. Leaning back, Gray looked at Lucy.
"Pardon me but, this surgery Natsu might have been telling you is extremely difficult. And I need the best personals around. I'm not saying you're not good, but allow me to test you," Gray said in the most gentleman tone he could ever muster.
"Test me?" Lucy's head tilted a bit.
"I have a surgery scheduled this noon," Gray took a new file from the side of his desk, handing it to Lucy which she eagerly took. "It's a simple sinus venous ASD. I will observe how good of a nurse you are in this."
Lucy scanned the document carefully, reading every single details of the patient. Her mind picturing a baby's heart beating in front of her. She could almost imagine how the small heart being opened, and she started to consider all the complications. Natsu scooted closer to her, peeking at the document when Gray looked back at his frenemy.
"Well, of course you aren't joining," Gray smirked.
Natsu's face dropped. "Why not?"
"Of course not! I'm observing her, not you. And I don't want her to be all over you during the surgery," Gray laughed a bit.
"What? No! It's not like that at all!" Lucy almost stuttered at Gray's remark, flailing her hands, almost dropping the file. Natsu blushed furiously. These two... Gray rolled his eyes.
The preparation for the ASD was complete. Lucy already put aside the sterile instruments needed. She asked for some sutures of different sizes from the circulating nurse before starting to drape the sleeping baby.
"Ano," Lucy heard a girl calling. She looked down to a cute blue haired girl with her hair tied up in a bun inside the surgical cap. Lucy smiled warmly.
"I'm Wendy Marvell," she introduced herself, to which Lucy bowed a bit politely since she can't shake her hands in her sterile costume.
"I'm an intern. Please take care of me," she continued, looking down timidly.
"Gray's intern? You aren't scrubbing?" Lucy thought she would at least become an assistant.
Wendy slowly shook her head. "Not today. I'll be helping around because it is Romeo's turn to scrub in."
"Oh, pleased to meet you, Wendy. I'm Lucy, the scrub nurse for today," Lucy said. "And maybe only for today," there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She wasn't sure if Gray would like her to stay. But to be completely honest, she never really mind if Gray didn't like her. Right now, Gray isn't her big concern.
Before Wendy could say more, Gray walked into the operation room, and Wendy reflexively stepped back. Gray gave a sign to the anesthetist that he was going to start. Nodding at him, Gray took his position.
"We will now start the closure of sinus venosus ASD," Gray announced to the team in the room. He was about to turn to Lucy asking for scalpel when he felt something cold being placed on his palm. He stared at the scalpel in his hand. When did that... Gray turned to Lucy. She was already preparing the roller gauze and forceps, placing the forceps into his left hand.
Gray took a while to really take in the situation. Lucy looked up at him when she felt him staring. And she smiled behind her surgical mask. Gray took a deep breath. Okay, maybe she's not just a hottie. At least that gave a better impression for her.
Gray started the surgery not long after. And he finally understood what Natsu meant. Lucy had a very fast reflex. She had a very precise image of what was going on in a surgery, thus making her sure of what to prepare. Gray saved a lot of time with her, almost as if she could read his mind on what he wanted. Maybe he does need her in the operation he had been preparing for.
It was going well after they connected the heart into the cardiac-lung machine and started to repair the ASD. Gray's surgery was pretty fast with Lucy by his side, and he was just about to finish patching the hole. But things just won't let him sail safely that day. Wendy was mobilizing around the room helping out when she accidentally trip on the tubes of the cardiac-lung machine, and instantly disconnected it, making the blood spurted out of the circulation. Gray's head snapped to the direction of the cardiac-lung machine as the medical engineer desperately clamping some tubes to control the disaster, pumping back on to the baby's own heart. The machine was beeping frantically showing the baby's body temperature coming down. This is not good.
Wendy's face paled visibly, her heart raced to the point that she thought she was going to faint. The ruckus happened due to her mistake. A big one too. She stood frozen as some nurses running around trying to control the mess. The cardiac monitor started to beep, indicating there was a bradycardia and hypotension of the patient. She shivered. She saw Gray looked at her direction, and for once she felt Gray's eyes shimmered with wrath.
"Wendy!" Gray called her. "Activate the red code please! I cannot do anything from here!"
As if woken up from trance, Wendy picked up the phone hanging on the side of the wall, pushing a few digits to initiate what she was ordered to. A few seconds later, they heard a red code announcement echoing throughout the hospital. Gray glanced at the cardiac monitor, beeping rapidly as they tried to recover the heart beat. He saw the anesthetist injecting some emergency drugs, trying his best to bring back the regular beat and temperature. Gray saw the baby's heart, beating weakly as if screaming for help. At that time, Gray didn't actually pay attention to who actually came into the room answering the red code. He was at lost.
It was seconds later that the monitor beeped louder, showing a damn straight line indicating the baby's heart had stop beating. Gray's hand grabbed the small heart, slowly performing direct cardiac massaging trying to revive it. He saw a few people coming in from the corner of his eyes but he could care less. Desperately feeling the movement on the tip of his fingers, he sighed in relief when he felt the heart started to beat again.
"Gray," he heard his name being called. Looking up, he finally saw Levy sitting at the cardiac-lung machine, taking over the place of the previous medical engineer.
"Levy!" Gray's face broke into a huge smile. She must have came by the red code call during the commotion, but Gray was relieved to see her there. She's a pure genius in medical engineering field, almost any cardiac surgeon would want to have her. Too bad she already teamed up with the anesthetist Gajeel Redfox.
"Look how desperate you are," Levy laughed which made Gray groaned in annoyance. "Too bad, the ruckus is greater than expected. The blood spilled too much, it exceeds the required level to disconnect the heart from the machine."
"What?" Gray's face dropped. Which means even if he succeeds his surgery, the patient cannot be left beating by himself.
Levy chuckled. "Don't make that look. Why do you think I'm here?" It was then that Levy ordered a few fluids from the circulating nurse, which the nurse quickly abide. "I'll definitely bring your patient back, Gray. So focus on your surgery."
Gray nodded, turning back to Lucy as a sign to continue. Lucy handed him another tool needed. But before he could do anything, the monitor beeped again. His eyes widened. What the hell? The heart beat is too fast! It doesn't make sense, it just stopped moments ago!
Gray turned to the anesthetist who was looking around wondering what was wrong, then it hit them. The anesthetist accidentally injected way too much of Adrenaline in the commotion, causing the opposite effect than needed. Gray cursed under his breath. Wait, Levy is here, then that means...
"Levy! Where's Gajeel?" Gray asked desperately. That guy, despite being a jerk, is a very reliable anesthetist. Gray needs someone like him.
Levy was about to answer when another voice interrupted. "Gajeel-kun isn't around in the hospital right now."
Gray registered the wavy blue haired girl making her way to the patient's head. He recognized her – Juvia Lockser. She was Gajeel's friend if Gray would recall. But he doesn't know much about her.
Juvia was looking at the two huge monitors at the patient's head. "Juvia will take over. Get back," she said to the anesthetist before her hand reached the buttons on the machines then turned back to Gray. "Ten minutes."
"What?" Gray blinked in confusion.
"Juvia gives you ten minutes. Finish your surgery before that," Juvia smiled almost too sweetly.
"What the hell," Gray spat. "There's no way in hell I can do a fast surgery in this situation! Besides, a fast surgery needs one hell of a surgery team-"
"Gray-sama," Juvia interrupted him. Gray blinked at that. He was one of Ul's student, the famous cardiothoracic surgeon in Japan, Gray was used to him being worshipped. Heck, most of the girls are throwing themselves to him anyway. But the name she just called made him felt insulted instead. And what's with her third person speech?
"This patient had overdosed adrenaline," Juvia pointed to the heartbeat monitor. "Carbon dioxide retention," her fingers shifted to the other huge machine. "Massive blood loss that needed blood dilution," she pointed next towards Levy who was sitting by the cardiac-lung machine. "You have a death line, this is the best we could offer. By right, Juvia is supposed to stop the surgery, but Juvia has faith in your skill. Or," her voiced trailed playfully. "Is it that you cannot do it? Gray-sama?"
Gray's eyes twitched in annoyance. This woman is challenging him. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he mocked.
He saw Juvia smiled. "Ten minutes then. Levy, take care of the circulation. Make sure the proportion is appropriate. Timer!" Juvia ordered. Levy nodded, getting back to her own machine as the circulating nurse started the timer.
"Lucy, catch up with me," Gray was partly relieved that Natsu lent Lucy to him. Her fast reflexes would help in accelerating the surgery.
In that ten minutes, Gray noticed Lucy could be even faster if she wanted to. Gray had never seen such scrub nurse since Sherry. Now Gray knew just how Natsu gained his fame as the fastest vessel surgeon. Igneel's training is one thing, having Lucy as his X-factor is another. Natsu sure is lucky. And in that ten minutes too, Gray had experienced the proof of the so-called genius medical engineer named Levy McGarden. It was actually the first time Gray could do a surgery without worrying about the cardiac-lung machine. Levy knows exactly how to manipulate the blood concentration, when to back up and when to let the flow down. She was perfect. No wonder Gajeel wanted her.
But most of anything, Gray was infatuated with Juvia's skill. She was an unknown anesthetist. The only thing Gray knew about her was that she is Gajeel's friend. It had always confused him how a jerk like Gajeel could have a friend. Levy was probably the only one who could stand him. But this Juvia girl is another thing. She had brought the labile heartbeat to a stable one in a few minutes, washed out the toxicity inside the patient's body, and provided Gray the best cardiac vision in that impossible situation.
It was the ten minutes of his life.
It was the surgery that solved Gray's dilemma for the past few weeks.
Making his way towards the vice-professor of cardiac department, Gray entered without bothering to knock. Erza was doing some paper work Gray noticed, but he didn't care.
"Gray, don't you know how to knock?" Erza's voice almost dreadful. Oh yes, maybe he shouldn't be scolding Natsu for not knocking after all.
"I want her," Gray ignored the scolding. "Juvia Lockser. I want her."
Erza blinked. "Yes, when is the wedding?"
"What?" Gray grimaced. "No, not that! I mean, for my surgery on my pregnancy-induced cardiac myopathy. Didn't I told you that I needed the best team?"
It was then that Erza came to understand Gray's demand. "What? Are you insane? Juvia Lockser belongs to the ED department. There's no way we can have her."
"Do something!" Gray urged. "You're the leader!"
"Gray," Erza sighed. "Unless you convince her to join, I cannot take her."
"Why not?"
"The ED department vice-professor is..." Erza trailed a bit at the thought of Jellal. "Very protective of his subordinates."
Gray frowned at that, prompting her to continue.
"Jellal is picky with his staffs. Like how he picked Gajeel and Levy, he wanted the best for the ED team. Unless Juvia wanted it herself, Jellal would never hand her out. They are his treasure," Erza explained further.
Gray was left quiet for a few seconds. So, all this time Jellal had known Juvia's skill? Where did she come from? Gray was sure he never heard of Juvia's name before.
"I get it," Gray finally said. "If she is willing to, Jellal won't oppose right?"
Erza looked up at Gray.
"I'll make her come willingly."
Erza stared dumbly as she watched Gray grinning while trudging his way out. Gray had never showed any interest in any personal before. If anything, he was known as a cold hearted guy who loved taking control of every details. It was how he gained his fame. But then it is true that one of the success factor for a cardiac surgeon is the anesthetist. Cardiac surgery, unlike other fields, needed anesthetist control of the heart; when to make if slow, when to make it fast, or when and how long to make it totally stop. Erza smirked. This Juvia girl must be really something.
A/N: I was trying really hard to make this story understandable. I'm sorry if it's still confusing, tell me if I need to tone down more. English isn't really my first language, and it's even harder to write in one with this kind of plot. And sorry for the long chapter. Because this one is kinda like prologue, so I had to do it this way. Please tell me if there's any mistake. Constructive criticisms are always welcomed.