AT CHUCKS ROOM
Roxie walked into Chuck's room to find Dr Shepherd examining the patient.
"Hey here's my angel" said Chuck noticing Roxie at the door
"How you doing Chuck?" she asked
"Pretty rough but apparently that's normal"
"Yeah it is. Can I ask why neuro is here?"
"Mr Rivera was complaining of blurred vision"
"So you're sending him for a CT?" she asked
"We will but for now while he's still so weak we'll just be keeping an eye on it. There may be no need for a CT"
"Ok"
"So Rox how am I doing really?"
"You're doing good. I'm proud of you"
"So he's going to be fine?" asked Rochelle
"Lets just take things one day at a time but he's looking good. He's a strong guy he can handle this"
"Thank you" said Rochelle
Dr Shepherd left and Roxie followed.
"So the vision thing" she began
"It may be nothing we'll see how he is for the next few days and we will only send him for a CT as a last resort but it won't be done until he's a little stronger"
"Ok thanks"
"I'm Derek by the way. You're the idiot biker who tells off attendings"
"Yeah that's me but people call me Roxie. And I'm no longer an idiot biker"
"He forgave you?" asked Derek already knowing what Mark had planned
"He asked me out on a date so yeah I'm pretty sure I'm forgiven"
"Dr Shepherd, Millie Carter's speech is slurred and she's complaining of headache" interrupted a resident
"Did we get the scans back?" he asked the resident
"Not yet no" The resident looked at Roxie and smiled "Hi you're the surgeon who shouted at Dr Hahn"
"Is this what I'm going to be known as?" she asked looking at Derek
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"
"No don't worry about it I was kidding. Yeah that was me…Roxie" she said extending her hand
"Meredith" she said shaking her hand
"Ok Dr Grey rush the scans we need to see what there is there and is CT still backed up?"
"Yeah"
"Well try and get her in for CT using your charms"
"Ok" with that Meredith took the chart "It was nice meeting you" she said before leaving
"Trouble in paradise?" asked Roxie
"Excuse me?"
"You're obviously angry at her for something what happened?"
"I…I don't think I should be talking to you about this"
"Hey I'm contemplating going on a date with your friend so we're practically family. Plus if I don't choose to go on the date I'm leaving soon so anything you say will go with me"
Derek looked at Roxie and smiled he then sighed "She's just hard to handle sometimes"
"Handle?"
"Ok…understand. She says one thing and does another. Sometimes I have to be angry at her"
"I don't think I want to know the details"
Derek laughed "Probably not" Derek then got paged "I have to go" he said excusing himself
LATER AT JOES
Roxie walked into the bar unsure of why she was there it was hard to deny that Mark was attractive but she wasn't looking for anything, not even a one night stand but still she was there at Joe's. She spotted Mark over at the bar and stood staring at him.
"Don't do it" said a voice
She turned around to see a blonde stood with a drink in her hand pointing at Mark.
"Why not?"
"You'd be one of many notches and after what I heard you pulled off this week you shouldn't end your time here as a Mark Sloan conquest"
"He's a dog then?" she asked
"He beds co-workers and non co-workers like its an Olympic sport…and it if were he'd take home the gold. You're not interested are you?"
"I'm new to Seattle and he's about the only person who I'm sociable with"
"You're talking to me aren't you?"
"I don't even know who you are. Although I'm assuming a Mark Sloan conquest"
"My name is Skyler McKenzie I'm the head of Ortho and no I'm not a conquest about the only one though"
"Ok so I don't go over there tonight. What do I do?"
"Well we could go somewhere else. I think I want to party with the girl who puts Erica Hahn in her place"
Roxie laughed "Apparently I did a good thing there"
"Oh yeah Hahn needed knocking down a peg or two"
"Ok Skyler lets go"
"Skye…and come on"
The two women left the bar and headed to the nearest establishment where Mark Sloan wasn't. Back in Joe's Mark sat at the bar waiting anxiously for the arrival of Roxie. He was disappointed when he turned to see Derek sitting down beside him.
"She stood you up?" he smirked
"Not yet"
"She stood you up! Face facts the girl was too smart to fall for the Mark Sloan 'charm'. You should have expected this she's different from the usual girls you go after"
"The bars still open she hasn't stood me up we didn't agree to a time"
"Yeah ok so we'll wait then" said Derek smirking at his friend
"I'm here till closing" said Mark sure Roxie would turn up.
THE NEXT DAY
Mark was stood at the nurse's station reading through charts when a weary Roxie approached with a huge coffee in her hand. She sipped at her coffee placed it down and dumped her handbag on the side. Mark stood and stared at her over his chart but Roxie didn't notice. He then moved around the station and placed the chart down beside her. She turned to look and smiled as she saw Mark before her.
"You stood me up" he exclaimed
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did"
"No I didn't"
"Yes you did" Mark said persistently
"To stand you up I would have had to agree to a date with you and I didn't I said I would turn up if I felt the flow. I didn't, sorry"
Mark smirked as Roxie cunningly got out of it with a plausible excuse.
"Ok so if you didn't come to see me last night then where did you go?"
Before Roxie could reply Skye approached the station looking as fatigued as Roxie. Skye reached out and took a drink of Roxie's coffee.
"Ok anyone who can party like that and still turn up ready to work and looking as sickeningly gorgeous as that gets my approval"
Mark looked at Skye and then back at Roxie. "You stood me up to go out on a date with her"
"I didn't stand you up!" she proclaimed with a smile
"I'm going to leave now before my self esteem is truly crushed" he said with a smile as he walked away
Roxie watched him walk away with a smile on her face and she then turned to a very unsteady looking Skye.
"Are you going to be ok?" she asked
"Yeah I'm just going to get some water and food to soak up all the alcohol. It was fun though much better than being sleazed on by Sloan wouldn't you agree?"
"I'd have to be sleazed on by Sloan to make a fully informed decision wouldn't I?"
"Steer clear of him" she said walking away.
Roxie picked up Chuck's chart and headed to his room.
"Hey Chuck how are you feeling?" she asked walking in and placing her things down on the floor
"I have a headache" he stated
"Ok" said Roxie checking his pupils "How's the vision?"
"Still blurred"
"Better or worse than yesterday?"
"Worse"
"Ok"
"What does that mean?" asked Rochelle anxiously
"I'm not neuro but it could mean a number of things it could be something minor or could be something…"
"Serious" said Rochelle finishing her sentence for her
"Rochelle don't worry about it…I'm a…" suddenly Chuck stopped talking and began to seize.
"Chuck" shouted Roxie watching her friend she hit the button and immediately the room filled with aids.
"What happened?" asked a nurse
"He was talking then he just started seizing he complained of a headache as well as deterioration of vision. Someone page Dr Shepherd" she said as the team rolled Chuck on his side.
MOMENTS LATER
The seizure had stopped and Dr Shepherd arrived requesting information which a resident supplied.
"Blurred vision, headache, seizure…Derek" said Roxie worried for her friends health
Derek looked at Roxie and wanted to help her and Chuck's family.
"Mrs Rivera during any of your husbands attacks has he ever taken a bump to the head that showed no external sign of injury"
"Err…I don't know it's possible he collapses and sometimes…Why?"
"Rochelle these symptoms are common with a subdural haematoma" began Roxie
"What is that?" she asked
"Its bleeding in the brain"
"And he got this through falling?"
"Mrs Rivera I have to take your husband to the OR. I'm going to leave you in the capable hands of Roxie to explain things to you but right now I have to take your husband" Rochelle stood nodding her head not quite sure what was happening "Roxie you'll scrub in when you've spoken to her"
Roxie nodded and Derek left the room with Chuck and Roxie sat Rochelle down and explained the situation to her.
"Subdural haematoma is an after effect of a head injury. There doesn't have to be any external damage for a haematoma to appear. It's where a vein is torn and blood gathers. With brain surgery there is always a risk but trust me Chuck is in the best hands and he needs to be in the OR"
"Are you trying to tell me my husband is going to die?"
"No. Rochelle the treatment of a subdural hematoma depends on its size and rate of growth. Small subdural hematomas can be managed by careful monitoring until the body heals itself. Large or symptomatic hematomas require a craniotomy, which is whats happening to Chuck. This is where the surgeon Dr Shepherd opens the skull. Then he will open the dura, remove the blood clot with suction or irrigation, and he will identify and control bleeding. I'm not going to pretend this is cut and dry and that Chuck will be back here in a matter of hours better than ever but if he weren't in the OR he'd be dead in a couple of hours. He is in the best place and best possible hands"
"You're going in there right?"
"Yeah"
"You have to hold his hand. He gets scared he won't ever admit it but when he is he holds my hand. He's got no ones hand to hold"
"I'll hold his hand and I'll come and update as often as I can"
IN THE OR
Roxie walked into the OR and looked at her friend and then at Derek.
"How is he?" she asked
"Come and look at this"
Roxie feared what she may be looking at but as Derek stepped out of place she looked and saw a small bleed. Roxie sighed with relief.
"Thank God. This is manageable right?"
"Yes if we get through the surgery of which I'm optimistic he should make a full recovery and with the top job you did on his heart he should be fine"
Roxie stepped away and took hold of Chuck's hand.
"He's a good guy he doesn't deserve all of this"
"You served together?" asked Derek
"He err… we were deployed together. I was a field medic. I earned by stripes and credentials as I went along when I removed the shrapnel from his heart it was the first time I'd ever seen a human heart"
"That was a little dangerous don't you think?" asked Karev who stood beside Shepherd
"When you're out there and everyone around you getting hurt is someone you know you don't think about them you think about their families. They're all sat home waiting for that day to come when they're told their loved ones won't be returning home. Every time you look at a soldier and his or her injury you just…go with the flow…you do things you've never done before, things you've only ever read about and you're there you're hands are shaking and you can't remember the literature. Yet somehow you remember the important parts and you slowly do the procedure bit by bit until it's done, dealing with the complications as they arise not worrying about the impending complications because you need your focus one hundred percent on the casualty. I did everything you could possibly imagine out there. I did more amputations than I want to remember but that doesn't mean I'm specialised to do so. It just means I needed to do them. So yes Dr Karev it was dangerous but leaving him to die just because it wasn't my speciality would have been wrong. If there wasn't an available neurosurgeon right now to help Chuck does that mean you'd leave him to die?"
"No but I wouldn't crack his head unsupervised either"
"I wasn't unsupervised when I operated on his heart. I had a team of guys surrounding me and one of the army's best cardio guys walking me through it over the radio. Just like I had Dr Patrick in there with me when I did the valve replacement. I don't put people's lives at risk just because I think I can do a surgery but I don't back away just because I've never done the surgery. You'll never get the experience unless you pick up a scalpel"
"Dr Karev if you have finished interrogating and belittling our guest maybe you'd like to take her advice and get some experience because even though I'm opening up a skull most days no two cases are the same"
Karev shot a looked at Roxie and then concentrated on Derek.
LATER
Roxie stood in the doorway of Chuck's room holding her cap in her hand and watching Derek talk to the family. Rochelle began to cry and suddenly she threw her arms around Derek and thanked him excessively. Roxie smiled as she watched Rochelle walk to Chucks side and take hold of his hand. Derek approached the door and Roxie left with him.
"Thank you for taking care of him" she said
"It's my job"
"And you do it well"
"Well thank you" he said with a huge smile on his face "Chuck will be fine I'm sure. I have to go now"
"Ok thanks again" she said watching Derek leave
"Who does she think she is?" said Karev looking over at Roxie directing his question to the collected group of residents. "She's been here only a few days and she's already taken over Hahn's case, told Hahn off and scrubbed in a subdural haematoma case. She doesn't even work here" continued Karev
"I heard she's not even practicing medicine" added Yang
"She was requested to the Rivera case so she's not actually doing anything wrong she hasn't interfered with any other cases. She's just concerned about her friend and from what I heard about Hahn she deserved to be told off. Hahn was upset with being shunned by Mr Rivera and she left Roxie to deal with it. She admits she's inexperienced in both fields. I don't think she's here to try and take over or push anyone out. She'll be leaving when Mr Rivera does anyway" said Meredith defending Roxie
"She's bad news" added Karev
"I agree she says she's inexperienced but she pulled off the valve replacement perfectly and with very little assistance from Dr Patrick. You don't do that with very little experience" added Yang
"Why are you all so worried about her?" asked Stevens "She's not employed here, she's not staying and even if she were how would she be interfering with any of us"
"She's got to be a resident she's too knowledgeable for an intern and if she's a resident then that means she's the competition and with the valve replacement she has got to be in good standing with the chief plus he knows her" said Yang
"You're just worried that if she does come to Seattle Grace that you'll be knocked off the cardio pedestal" stated Stevens
"Even if she did come here she has no chance Hahn hates her" said Yang
"She's not your number one fan either" added Meredith
"She likes me she's just testing me and my love for cardio. I understand that"
"Ok I have to go find Sloan" said Meredith
"Yeah I have to go as well back to OBGYN for Izzie" said Izzie walking away leaving Karev and Yang staring holes into Roxie.
LATER
Roxie was walking through the hospital when she was accompanied by Mark.
"So you stiff my surgery but you have no problem scrubbing in for Dereks?"
"That's right" she smiled "I wouldn't have been in there if it weren't for Chuck"
"I'm offended"
"Well if you were operating on Chuck I'd scrub in but I don't think Chuck's looking for breast implants"
"Is that all you think I do?" asked Mark
"No…face lifts, tummy tucks any other vain obsessions a patient may come to you with"
"Plastics isn't just about vanity"
"Said by a guy who probably takes longer to get ready in a morning than he takes on a surgery"
"I don't just make people beautiful I make their souls beautiful. I heal their souls"
"Their souls are you serious? A woman who wants a double d cup is not in need of a soul healing, maybe a psyche consult"
"Ok today you're on my service"
"I don't work here"
"Stop being so facetious and just do as you're told"
"Again I don't work here. I'm here for Chuck that's all"
"And you're here all day so you have plenty of time on your hands you can leave any time to deal with Chuck but just humour me ok"
Roxie looked at Mark and could see she'd touched a nerve and he was desperate to prove something to her.
"Ok" she agreed
Mark smiled and lead Roxie to his patients room.
