Chapter Two: The Thing With Feathers
Author's Note: Hi everyone. Here's the continuation of the last chapter. Hopefully you don't hate me too much. As always, I don't own Glee, The Night Shift or any of their characters.
"Kurt!" Syd kept yelling as he rolled over and looked at the blood on his surgical gloves. "Are you okay?"
"I'm shot. I'm shot!" Sharbat's husband said, looking at the blood coming from his shoulder.
"GSW to the left shoulder," Kurt said as he stood up.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, the gun just went off, Syd."
There was a commotion at the door as guards came in. "He shot me. Arrest him. He shot me!"
"Yeah, and now he's going to fix you up," Syd said. "So that way I can save your wife and baby. You check him out. If his vitals are stable, you get him straight to CT," Syd said, directing Kurt. "Can you at least do that?"
Kurt looked slightly shell shocked as he left the room.
Syd shook her head and turned back to Sharbat. "I need someone to clean up this blood, stat. Okay, where were we?"
Back in San Antonio, the helicopter was getting ready to take off to bring Frankie back to the hospital. "Okay, let's go. Come on," Finn said once him and Rachel climbed into the chopper.
"The pilot says the wind's gusting too much," one of the paramedics said. "It's not safe to fly."
"Come on, Frankie," Rachel said. "He looks cyanotic. His abdomen's rigid and he's bleeding internally. We need to warm him up now or his blood won't clot. I can warm him from the inside. Frankie, honey, this is going to sting a little bit," she said, injecting something into him. He started groaning and Rachel sighed. "It's okay, honey. We're going to take care of you. Scalpel," Rachel said, holding out her hand as Finn placed it in there. "Alright, sweetie, here we go," she said, cutting into him. "Chest tube," she said, holding out her hand again.
"Come on," Finn said anxiously.
"I'm in."
"Okay."
"Saline."
"We've been cleared for takeoff," the paramedic said.
"He's waking up. Good job, Rach."
"Thanks. You too." Rachel looked over at Finn and saw the look on his face. "You okay?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah."
The helicopter lifted off and started flying back to the hospital.
Back at the hospital, Brody was prepping Artie for the rest of the shift. "I'm gonna be swamped so I need you to cover the ER for me. Remember, you represent the surgical department down there, so—"
"No reindeer games. I got it."
"Don't fight with that girl, Kitty. She'll kill you." The two of them stopped outside of the victim's room. "How's Joan doing?"
"She was oxygenating for awhile so I took her off the vent. Still seems a bit confused though. She's acting nervous and asking a lot of questions about Frankie."
"She's worried about her son. I think I can help with that." Brody opened the door and walked into the room. "Joan, Francis, I've got some good news. They found your boy."
"Frankie? He's here?" Joan asked, sitting up in bed.
"Thank god, is he okay?" Francis asked.
"Joan, you're tearing your sutures," Brody said, noticing the blood coming from her neck. "You should relax. Push morphine, please."
"What's happening?"
"She tore her sutures," Artie said. "We've got to get her to the OR before she bleeds out."
"Dr. Puckerman will fill you in on your son," Brody said as they started taking her back to the OR.
Things weren't any calmer in Afghanistan. After Sharbat's surgery, Syd was on the phone with the general. "Yes, Akmal's vitals are stable. Yes, sir. We're waiting on the CT results to determine the location of the bullet."
"I told you to get them off the base and I meant it," General Rozenfeld's voice rang out over the phone. Syd held it away from her ear so Kurt, who would just come up beside her, could hear what he was saying. "This is the last we're discussing the matter."
"Yes, sir. Yes, I will handle it. I will. I will handle it." She hung up the phone and sighed. "We are so screwed. It was bad enough you lied to the general."
"He brought a gun into the OR. What did you want me to do?" Kurt asked, following Syd as she started walking.
"Let the MPs handle it. You know how this looks, Kurt? You didn't want Sharbat to go. That's on record. Now you're involved with Akmal's shooting? You could be facing an Article 15."
"It was self-defense. You want me to wait for backup to get there? Akmal could have killed us all. You do realize that, right? You have nine days left, Major. You want your daughter to be motherless because—"
"Don't. Don't ever, ever say that."
"I'm just pointing out the fact…"
"This is over. This is the Army, Kurt. This is not a democracy. We have orders to follow and follow them we will."
"Okay so just to hell with the Hippocratic oath. Just throw that out the window."
"So here's how this is going to happen, alright? When Sharbat and Akmal are stable, they leave. We do not interfere with local medical decisions. That comes straight from the Pentagon."
"Okay, but if I may—"
"No, you may not, Captain. I have given a year of my life to this dump. In 14 days, my daughter Riley turns 13 and I am going home. I am not missing that because you forgot the chain of command. Are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am," Kurt said as Syd started to walk away.
Back at the hospital, Rachel, Finn and the paramedic were bringing Frankie into the hospital. "Rachel, you wanna take Frankie up?"
"No, go on up. I'll stay on the floor."
Finn nodded as they wheeled the gurney over to where Brody was standing. "We got the temp up. HE's in hypoglycemic shock, injury to the bowel that filled the belly with blood."
"We've got to open him up to stop the bleeding. Hang O-neg and put him on the cell saver," Brody said. "I'm scrubbing in." He turned to face Finn. "Artie's closing on Frankie's mom right now."
"I thought she was out of surgery," Finn said, following Brody as he walked to the scrub room.
"She was despondent post-op and ripped her sutures. We ran her back in."
"I was only with her two hours ago," Finn said, sighing. "If I'd seen her maybe in the recovery room…"
"Hey, you saved a dying woman. You can't be in two places at once."
"Yeah, but try telling him that," Finn said, tilting his head towards Francis.
In Afghanistan, Kurt was coming up to Syd to give her an update. "If it's bad news, keep walking."
"We got lucky," Kurt said. "Akmal just had a through and through in the shoulder. I repaired it and sent him to recovery. How's Sharbat?"
"Critical. But her cardiac output is good."
"Her family sold her to that dirtbag when she was just 13, Major."
Syd gave him a look as they heard commotion outside the room. "Sounds like Sharbat's brother finally tracked her down."
"Son of a bitch. Now her drug dealing brother's here?"
"She asked to see him, Kurt."
"I don't care. He's not coming in here."
"Marquez, have the MPs bring him in," Syd said. "Make sure he's been patted down."
Marquez nodded and went over to the door. "Okay. Bring him in, Sergeant."
The guards started walking towards the room and revealed a boy who looked younger than Sharbat. "My name is Omed Gilzhai. I demand to see my sister."
"Scary drug dealer, huh? How do you feel about him now?" Syd asked.
"Don't even," Kurt responded.
Back at the hospital, the paramedic who flew in with Finn and Rachel walked over to where Rachel was standing. "Badass save out there, doc."
"We got lucky," Rachel said, juggling with what she was holding.
"So, any chance you reconsidered what I asked?"
"Still not a good time, Kenny," she said quickly.
"It's not you, it's me. Got it. After three times, quit asking."
Rachel watched him walk off and slightly rolled her eyes and Kitty came up next to her. "You just went Dr. No on the hot fireman?"
"What?"
"Your nickname at the clinic. After all the dudes you shot down."
"Who are you, Dr. Yes?" Rachel asked as they started walking.
"With him? Dr. Hell Yes."
"Oh, Kitty. Do not date guys from work. It's not worth it. Trust me."
"Yeah, Finn and Dr. Weston? That must have been interesting."
"Shut it."
"Sorry. Filter malfunction. Anyway, I just got a new case. Frat brother doing a Jackass gag. He wrestled in a ring of thumb tacks. I'm working him up but I need you to sign off on my discharge first." They went to a different exam room and pulled the curtain. "Ranchero with a cold wants to go. Reminds me of my grandpa who used to run cattle on the res."
"Presenting symptoms?" Rachel asked, holding her hand out for the clipboard.
"Weakness, chills, sounded viral. I told him to go home and sleep it off."
Rachel looked over the clipboard and handed it back to Kitty. "Okay, just give us a minute," she said to the patient. She pulled Kitty aside. "You missed something. Positive belt buckle sign."
"You're joking, right?"
"No. Stoic Hispanic men like him only see a doctor if there is something massively wrong."
"But his exam is normal?"
"Did your grandfather go to the hospital?"
"Only if he thought he was dying. I'll see you in curtain one."
Across from where they were standing, Puck was working on a patient when Sam came up to him. "Yo, Puck. So, I was thinking about you getting back out there."
"I don't have time for your gym."
"No, you don't have to. We can do it here. I'll be your life coach."
"That's a good one," Puck said as he started laughing.
"Okay. Fine. I tried. It's your life. Whatever's left of it," he said as he walked away.
"Here's the labs you requested for the little boy in the OR," Mollie said, handing Puck a file.
"Thanks," he said absentmindedly. "Sam! Sorry, I snapped at you," Puck said, catching up to where Sam was. "If we were to do this – and I do mean if – how would it work?"
"For starters, we change your bad habits. Stand while you chart. Hit the stairs. I mean, have you even heard of an apple? That's like your third bag of chips in the last hour."
"Look, I wanna get out and do more badass field stuff. But more than that, I don't want to be the old dad at soccer who can't play with his kid. So as long as that gets me there."
"Absolutely," Sam said. "I mean, you won't look like this," he said, gesturing to his body, "but you won't look like that."
"Okay coach."
"Okay!" Sam said. "Let me track your heart rate, calories burned and steps for my phone. I use it with all my clients."
"That's a little creepy, but okay. I'm gonna see the kid," Puck said, pushing the up button on the elevator.
"Surgery's on the third floor."
"I know."
"Hit the stairs," Sam said, holding open the door.
"Great idea," Puck said flatly.
Across the hospital, Finn was telling Francis about what happened to Frankie. "So, Frankie injured his small bowel when he was thrown. Our surgeon is removing the damaged tissues now, so…"
"We adopted Frankie."
"Yeah?"
"We couldn't get pregnant. We got him and now…he's a part of us. If we lost him, Joan would never forgive herself. She grew up Pentecostal. She thinks this is God punishing her."
"I know how hard this is. But he's going to make it. I promise."
"Do me a favor, doc," Francis said. "If you have bad news, you tell me, not Joan. She can get a little hysterical."
"Of course, Francis." He looked down the hallway and saw Puck walking towards him. "Would you excuse me for a minute?" he asked.
"I just got Frankie's labs," Puck whispered. "His platelets and white blood cells are way down. Does Brody know?"
"It's doubtful. He's too busy putting him back together." Finn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I just told Frankie's dad he was gonna make it."
"Why'd you do that?"
"I don't know. It just sort of came out. I guess I better go help Brody," Finn said as he walked away.
Back in the exam room, Rachel and Kitty were looking over Mr. Martinez's chart. "Okay, sir, this might just be the flu but we want to make sure it's nothing more serious, so we're going to run a few more tests."
"No tests," he said. "I just have a susto."
"A fright illness?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow. "Okay." She asked him something in Spanish and he looked horrified at her.
"I'm not scared of nothing."
"Okay. Well, I like your bracelets. Are they helping with your arthritis?"
"Si. My curandera gave them to me."
"Your healer. Okay. Did she give you anything for your susto?" Rachel asked. He started digging around for something and pulled it out, handing it to Rachel. "Well, I don't get it. If you have a cure, why are you here?"
"My patron won't let me work without a doctor's note. I break horses."
"My gramps did that. He put them on a long rope, let them run, then bring it in a little at a time," Kitty said. "They're like people. They hate being told what to do."
"I like this girl. She's smart."
"I'll tell you what," Rachel said. "Why don't you let us do our jobs so we can get you back to yours."
In Afghanistan, Omed was looking at Sharbat's unconscious form. "He beat her while she was pregnant?" Kurt asked. "And that's not against the law."
"Akmal is the law. We shamed him by trying to leave. After the baby comes, he will kill us both. Unless I can get us to Australia."
"It's the Stone Ages. I get it, but our hands are tied," Syd said. The heart rate monitor started beeping and Syd pulled back Sharbat's hospital gown. "The baby is having recurrent decelerations." She did an ultra sound and sighed. "Damn. The uterine lac has extended."
"My baby?" Sharbat asked as she started waking up. "How's my baby?"
"Everyone is fine. You have a visitor," Syd said, smiling.
"Omed?" Sharbat asked, looking out to see her brother. "You didn't go?"
"Without you? Never."
Kurt and Syd let the two of them catch up as they walked out of earshot to start talking. "The uterine lac is rapidly expanding. How many C-sections have you done?"
"Two," Kurt said.
"Great. That's one more than me. You're hired."
Back at the hospital, Finn put on a mask and walked into the OR. "How's he doing?"
"I removed the injured bowel but he's oozing everywhere," Brody said.
"It's because he has no platelets. He needs them to clot. These should help."
"Temp's up to 104. He went from freezing to burning up."
"His white blood cell count is down too," Finn said. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Traumatic bone marrow failure. Without working bone marrow, he can't make new blood cells, which means he can't clot or fight infection. He needs a transplant. Go test the parents for a match."
"Won't help. He's adopted."
"Well, try and track down his birth mother. That's his best shot. We can start him on antibiotics and slow the infection but without a transplant…"
"I'm on it," Finn said, leaving the OR.
"Find me a match or he's not gonna make it."
In Afghanistan, Kurt was getting ready to perform the C-section on Sharbat. "Are you sure you don't want us to put you under?" Syd asked. "You could wake up and your son would be right here."
"No, not with Akmal around. I have to be awake to protect my son."
"I would do the same thing," Syd said.
"You have kids, doctor?"
"I do," Syd said, starting to smile. "I have a daughter named Riley in Texas. She's going to be 13 in two weeks."
"I married Akaml at 13."
"Yeah? Well, Riley's going to have a slumber party for her birthday. It's going to be no boys allowed."
"Your daughter's lucky to have such a strong role model," Kurt said. "The Army's tough on women. Especially moms."
"Yeah, well, if you don't push for change, it never happens."
"You got that right."
"Well, it still sucks. My ex has this girly girlfriend, Lexi. She's got fake nails, hair, boobs, the whole thing. She wants Riley to do beauty pageants."
The monitor started beeping and Kurt frantically looked at it. "Baby wants out," he said.
"Is he okay?" Sharbat asked.
"He's going to be fine," Syd said. "We just have to start the surgery now. I want you to breathe like I showed you. In through your nose, out through your mouth."
"Starting low transverse incision," Kurt said.
"Tell me more about her. Riley."
"Well, she's tall, like her daddy, and she can beat up any boy in her class. I guess she gets that from me." Syd smiled to herself. "We got this, Sharbat."
Back at the hospital, Artie jogged towards Puck. "Hey, Puck, you called for a surgical consult?"
"I did. Where's Brody?"
"In surgery. I'm covering the ER for him."
Puck thought to himself for a second. "That's alright. I'm good. I had a bowel obstruction I wanted a consult on. I was 99 percent sure it wasn't acutely surgical so I sent him up."
"Oh. Okay. Uh, if you change your mind…"
"Hey, I'm sorry. It's hard to headline in your hometown."
Artie thought to himself for a second. "But I'm from Philly."
"It's an expression. You started as an intern so everybody sees you as their little brother. You want to be taken seriously, present with authority. You are a surgeon. Own it."
"Copy," Artie said, walking away as Rachel and Kitty walked up.
"His sodium levels are good, which rules out hypernatremia," Kitty said.
"Did you check his herbs?"
"Rosemary and basil. All benign."
"Excuse me," someone said, walking up to the nurses' station. "I'm looking for Augusto Martinez. I'm his daughter, Carly."
"One moment, please," the nurse said as Rachel and Kitty stopped walking.
"Excuse me, Miss Martinez?" Rachel said. "I'm Dr. Berry and this is Dr. Wilde. We're helping your dad."
"Is he okay? I was at my office. I didn't get the message."
"At one in the morning?" Kitty asked.
"I'm in the middle of a big case."
"He's lethargic and claims that his spirit was frightened from his body," Rachel said.
"That stupid witch doctor," Carly scoffed.
"Did anything happen to him recently? Was he in an accident?"
"Not that I know of," Carly said as her phone started ringing. "Sorry, it's my client. We have court in the morning. I'll find you." She answered the call and walked off.
"Rachel," Jocelyn said, coming up to her. "Mr. Martinez's BP is dropping in curtain one. He just passed out."
Across the hospital, Finn knocked on Joan's recovery room door, hoping he'd be able to talk to Francis without worrying Joan more than she needed to. "How's she doing?" he asked when Francis met him in the hallway.
"Still sleepy. How's my son?"
"He has an infection in his blood. We're keeping it in check with antibiotics but his bone marrow has gone into failure. He can't make white cells to fight the infection. He's going to need a transplant."
"A transplant?"
"Yeah. We need to find his birth mother. Are you still in contact with her?" Finn asked. He noticed the uncomfortable look on his face. "Francis?"
"She was a drug addict," he said. "It was a closed adoption. We never met. Test me, maybe I'm a match."
"The chances of a random match are very slim."
"Doc, I want to do everything I can for my son. Please. Even if it's one in a billion." He looked back into the recovery room. "I'll go tell her."
Finn watched the two of them talk before he shook his head and walked away.
In Mr. Martinez's room, things weren't going well for him. "Okay, Mr. Martinez, your heart rate and your temperature are abnormally low, which is why you passed out," Rachel said.
"What's causing it?" Carly asked, barely looking up from her phone.
"Hard to say," Kitty said. "So far his tests are all normal but we'd like to check a few more things."
"No more tests. I can't afford them."
"You don't have to worry, papi."
"I don't want your money, Carolina."
"Why not? Because I'm not cleaning houses like Ernesto's daughter? Or selling sugar pills like your witch doctor?"
"Okay, everybody. Let's just focus, here," Rachel said.
"Don't you look down your nose at me."
"Not you. The con artists."
"Folk cures are placebos. Studies show hope helps patients get well," Kitty said.
"The only thing healthy here is her bank account," Carly said with a laugh. "She's robbed him blind."
"At least she listens to him. You didn't even know he was sick."
"Excuse me?"
"Okay," Rachel said, cutting the two of them off before they could start fighting. "Dr. Wilde, a word? Outside."
Across the hospital, Puck was getting a soda from the vending machines before turning around and almost running into Sam. "Oh. Sam. I, uh, didn't see you there."
"Dude. This thing has 50 grams of sugar."
"Look. It has one percent daily riboflavin. It's basically medicine," Puck said, taking the drink back from Sam. "How did you find me, anyway?"
"Ta da!" Sam said, holding up his phone.
"This tracker, you'd make a great stalker, Sam. You should consider a career change.
"You should think about stepping it up, man. My grandma moves more than you."
"She should take it easy then." He waited until Sam was gone then looked around for someone. "Ray. Perfect. Hey, when you're moving around patients, can you wear this?" Puck took the tracker off and handed it to him.
"I've already got one, Dr. P," he said, holding up his wrist.
"Now you have two. And look, it comes with this," Puck said, handing him money. "If anyone asks, you didn't get it from me. Thanks Ray," Puck said, walking away.
Rachel went up to Kitty at the nurses' station desk. "So, what the hell was that?" she asked. "You do not take sides in a family argument. Do you hear me?"
"She's bullying him. My mom did that to my grandpa. His voice was like a dog whistle to her."
"Kitty, you cannot bring emotion into this job. It clouds your judgment and it can hurt your patient."
"So be a robot?"
"Be professional. I gave you a lot of leeway at the reservation clinic but it's not going to fly here."
"It won't happen again."
"Yeah. You're damn straight it won't," Rachel said as she started walking away.
"Rachel!" she heard a familiar voice call from behind her, causing her to freeze.
Please not Annie. Please not right now, she thought to herself. "Annie…" she said, trying to muster as much enthusiasm as she could. "I heard a rumor you were back."
"I'm sober. Five months now."
"Yeah, Finn didn't mention that."
"Well, you guys have a lot of stuff to not talk about besides me. I'm sorry about everything that happened with—"
"Nope, that's not necessary," Rachel said, cutting her off.
"I know. I just gotta say this." She ran a hand down Rachel's arm reassuringly. She spotted Puck and waved. "Hi Puck."
"Hey," he said, turning around slightly in his chair so he could eavesdrop.
"Anyway, you always tried to help me and I repaid you by being a total bitch. I'm really sorry. And I'm not asking for forgiveness, Rachel. I'm just trying not to make the same mistakes again."
"How's that going for you?"
"It sucks. But in a good way. So, I'm volunteering at a halfway house and I'll be here from time to time. I'll see you!" Annie said, bouncing off.
Rachel turned to Puck and gave him a horrified look. "What?"
"Crazy, right? She showed up a month ago, gave Finn 47 bucks and is determined to pay him back. I hope it works out, right? Time will tell."
Rachel ran a hand through her hair. "I did not see that one coming."
"Dr. Berry!" Carly said. "My dad, he won't wake up. Just fix him. Do something," she said as Rachel ran in there.
Finn came up to the nurses' station desk and stood next to Puck. "Hey, Puck, I need Frankie's adoption records ASAP so I can contact his birth mother. Does your cousin still clerk for the state?"
"Yeah, I'll call him right now. But dude, it's a needle in a haystack the size of Texas."
"I know," Finn said as he started walking off.
Puck shook his head as he turned his attention to a folder. "Oh my god!" he heard Santana yell.
"Santana? You okay?"
"Yeah. Have you seen Sam?"
"I'm dodging him but he ran a patient up to radiology. Be back in 10."
Santana nodded. "Copy that," she said into her walkie talkie. "I gotta go."
"You want me to leave him a message?" Puck asked as she started to leave.
"No, no. I'll catch him after the shift. Thanks, Puck!"
"Happy to help."
Back in Afghanistan, Sharbat's C-section went fine. "He's beautiful, Sharbat. You did great," Syd said. "Cutting the umbilical cord. Let's clean him up," she said.
"He's not breathing," Kurt said as the monitor started beeping.
"Please help him," Sharbat said as she started panicking.
"We will. We just need you to stay calm," Syd said.
"I lost his pulse."
"Please, save my baby. Please help him."
"Come on, buddy. Come on," Syd said.
"Please save my baby. Please save him," Sharbat said.
"We need to push epi. We don't have a line so we'll have to go through the umbilical cord," Kurt said.
"Pushing the catheter," Syd said.
"What's happening? Please save him."
"Tie it off, doctor," Syd said, trying to block out Sharbat's cries.
"Okay, I'm in," Kurt said. "Come on."
Syd turned around to Sharbat. "Try to stay calm. We've got this."
"Push the epi," Kurt said.
"Epi in." The two of them watched for a second. "Come on, buddy."
They breathed a sigh of relief when they heard him start crying. "He's got a good set of lungs on him," Syd said.
Back at the hospital, Rachel and Kitty were trying to figure out what was happening to Mr. Martinez. "No pneumonia or tumors. What are all these bony abnormalities on the chest x-ray."
"Scarring from old fractures. These guys, they get thrown off of horses, kicked. I told you, they're tough."
"Yeah, they are," Kitty said as the heart rate monitor started beeping.
"Okay, his heart rate keeps dropping. Let's give him 0.5 of atropine."
Kitty injected it into the IV in his arm. "It's not doing anything."
"Alright, let's put him on pacer pads. We might need to pace him externally."
Carly walked into the room and started talking immediately. "I just talked to the Chief of Internal Medicine at Northwest. And she said that this is a beta blocker overdose and he needs glucagon right now."
"Okay, that's an interesting theory, but he's not on beta blockers," Rachel said.
"Then what's wrong with him?"
"I don't have an answer."
"Well you better find one. Because if you don't, I'm going to sue you and this lousy excuse for a hospital for malpractice."
Rachel sighed. "Is that how you handle everything? By bullying people? You know, maybe if you spent a little less time on that phone of yours and more time with him, he wouldn't be here."
Carly gave Rachel a shocked look and stormed out of the exam room.
"Do as I say, not as I do, right?" Kitty asked.
"Kitty, right now I need smart. Smart ass is a waste of my time. We've obviously missed something so let's run his labs again."
Back in Afghanistan, Sharbat was holding her baby as Kurt and Syd talked in the hallway. "General Rozenfeld called. Marquez told him both patients are in recovery," Syd said.
"I talked to Omed. They can still make it to Australia."
"No, it's too late. Akmal's going to wake up any minute."
"Actually, I miscalculated his weight during anesthesia. I thought he was 220 but it turns out he's 180. The post-op morphine might have been too much."
"You dosed him? On who's orders?"
"My patient, my call," Kurt said as Syd scoffed. "We can get them back on track, Major. We can do this. We've come this far."
"Dr. Syd," Sharbat said, "Do you want to hold Umayd?"
Syd smiled and walked back into her room, taking the baby boy from her hands. "Umayd. That's a beautiful name."
"It means hope."
Syd sighed and turned to look at Kurt. "What did you have in mind?"
Back at the hospital, Artie walked up to where Kitty was standing at the nurses' station. "Dr. Wilde."
"Not now, Artie, I'm charting."
"It's Dr. Abrams."
Sam laughed. "Dr. Abrams. Somebody put on his big boy pants."
"Try it sometime, Nurse Evans." Artie pulled back the curtains to one of the rooms. "Darren Cardiff."
"Thumb tack man," Kitty said, turning around to look. "I started removing the tacks, then got pulled into a critical case. I handed it off to a nurse."
"And why did you not call for a trauma consult?"
"The wounds are all shallow. I'm sealing it with surgical glue."
"On whose authority? You are an intern. Did you even check a chest x-ray for a pneumo?"
"Dude didn't want stitches, doctor," Sam chimed in. "So I suggested another way."
"The ER uses consultations for a reason, Dr. Wilde. 41 puncture wounds is a trauma. Next time, call me instead of asking a nurse or I will note it in your resident file."
Across the hospital, Brody and Finn were talking about Frankie. "His bleeding has stopped by his BP is still dropping. He's in shock. We need that match. Any luck finding the birth mother?"
"No. Francis said he didn't know," Finn said. "He's fuzzy on the whole thing. Couldn't remember her name or the adoption agency."
"How do you forget where your kid came from? My parents can still tell you the address of their adoption lawyer."
"Exactly. So I spoke to Puck's cousin and the state has no adoption records for Frankie. He doesn't exist."
"That's impossible. The courts keep records on everything. I've seen my own adoption records."
"You know what else is weird? He made me promise not to talk to his wife and didn't want to upset her."
"Well, she completely freaked out when we told her you found Frankie. She tore her stitches."
"That's a pretty extreme reaction," Finn said, thinking to himself.
"Yeah it is," Brody said, looking at Finn. "What are you thinking? This isn't passing the sniff test?"
"Something stinks for sure. My gut's telling me to keep asking questions."
"I'd start with the mother," Brody said as he walked away.
Finn started walking to Joan's recovery room. When he got there, he looked around to make sure Francis wasn't around the room so he could talk to her on his own. "Joan," he said, walking over to bed. "It's Dr. Hudson. Frankie needs your help."
"Is Frankie going to die?"
"He's very sick. He needs a bone marrow transplant. We need to find his birth family. But there's no record of his adoption anywhere. Can you tell me why?"
"I'm so sorry."
"We all make mistakes. Usually, it's just we have to deal with them but I don't care what you did back there. I just care what you do now."
"I'd trade my life for his."
"Then tell me about Frankie, Joan."
"I was always meant to be a mother but God wouldn't give me a baby. And then one day, we were coming out of the movie theater and there was Frankie in a stroller. And he smiled at me. And I just knew in my heart he was mine."
"Where did god give Frankie to you?"
"In a mall. In Austin."
Finn stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
A little while later, he walked over to the nurses' station where he saw Brody and Rachel talking.
"I mean, I thought it was Finn just being Finn but he was right and he found the truth."
Finn coughed slightly and Rachel and Brody turned to look at him. "Chicago PD contacted the birth parents. Rick and Lisa Moran. They moved to Chicago last year and the son's case went cold."
"Well, with memories of the loss everywhere, who could blame them?" Rachel said.
"They're on a plane right now from O'Hare."
"That's three hours away. He won't make it that long."
"Fetal cord blood. We were going to save it, remember?" Rachel said. "Maybe Frankie's birth parents saved his."
"They're on a plane right now. We can't reach them."
"We don't have to," Brody said. "There's a cryo bank in Austin where Frankie was stolen. I'll call." Brody walked off and Finn took his spot.
"Fetal cord blood. Good call, Rachel."
"Yeah, well, we said it would come in handy. Looks like it did," Rachel said, giving him a cautious smile.
"Yeah," Finn said, returning the smile.
"I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." She looked up and saw Carly pacing the hallway. "I've gotta check on a patient," she said, walking away as she felt her heart ache a little. "Ms. Martinez, I owe you an apology," she said once they got into her father's room. "I had no right to talk to you like that."
"No, you're right. My dad and I would never talk. My mom died when I was little. It was just me and my dad. He worked so hard so I could have everything I needed."
"And you worked hard so he could stop."
"I made partner and bought a home in Alamo Heights. I asked him to move in but he wouldn't give up that ratty trailer at that ranch. No matter what I do, he still cares about his horses more than me."
"I don't think that's true," Rachel said, sighing. "I'm a lot like your dad. I work so I can avoid things and to feel like I'm in control. That's why he won't leave the ranch. And why you're in the office until 1 a.m." Rachel heard the monitor start beeping.
"What's happening?" Carly asked, rushing to her father's side.
"His heart rate's in his 30s."
"Please be careful," Carly said as Kitty came in.
"We tried pacing him but we're not getting much capture. What do his labs say?" Rachel asked Kitty.
"I reviewed everything. Those fractures were the only abnormality."
Rachel thought to herself for a second. "I got it. Okay, uh," she said, looking at his x-ray. "There it is. A healed fracture of the hyoid bone."
"His throat injury, plus bradycardia, plus hypothermia adds up to hypothyroidism. He's in a myxedema coma."
"Let's give him 500 micrograms of synthroid IV. We're going to jump start his thyroid." Rachel watched the heart monitor as Kitty injected the drug into his IV. "He's lost his pulse. Let's start CPR. Come on, Mr. Martinez," she said, not taking her eyes off the monitor.
Out in the hallway, Ray the orderly was coming up to Sam. "Hey, Sam? Admin papers for trauma two."
"Great," Sam said, reaching out to take them. He noticed the fitness tracker on his wrist. "Yo, you got the T900? That thing's banging, right?"
"I just got it. I like my old one better," he said, showing Sam the one on his other wrist.
"You just got it? From Puck? You've got to be kidding me," he said, running off.
Puck walked outside and saw someone smoking. "Tough night," he said, walking over to her. "Mind if I bum one?" She held out the pack and he took it. "Thanks. You got a light?" He looked up when he heard thunder crashing and saw Sam.
"You know, sneaking soda, Ray the orderly…I get it. We're playing. But smoking? Come on, man. It's just wrong."
"I'm going to save you the speech, okay? I made a promise. I'm just cheating myself. I got small children, remember?"
"So that means you can act like one?"
"I don't need a drill sergeant. I was a Ranger. I ran 12 miles with a 60 pound pack in three hours."
"Where's that guy now?"
"He's gone. He's eaten up by long hours, small children, a wife who's pissed because my mom's visiting for a month. All that will kill me long before this does," Puck said, holding up the unlit cigarette."
"You're a grown man. If you wanna quit, then quit. I don't need you giving me crap." He got up and watched one of the ambulances leave. "That's the kid's fetal cord blood. They flew it in from Austin."
"Finn found it?"
"No quit in him. Enjoy your butt," Sam said as he walked back into the hospital.
"Smoke it," the lady next to him said. "What does he know?"
Back in Afghanistan, Syd was giving Omed and Sharbat supplies to get them safely to Australia. "She should be able to walk in about a week or so. I need you to give the antibiotics to her three times a day when you change the dressing. You remember how?"
"Yes," Omed said as Kurt came up behind Syd. "I am like a doctor now."
"Whoa, pump the break there, Omed," Kurt said with a slight laugh. "Just…take care of her. She needs you now more than ever."
"As-salamu alayki, Sharbat," Syd said."
"Wa'alikum asalaam. Thank you both."
Kurt shut the doors to the truck and watched it pull out. "So, they found a safe house in Kabul?"
"Then they gotta walk across the Pakistan border, take a bus to Karachi, fly to Jakarta and sail to Christmas Island."
"Wow," Syd said. "Think they'll make it?"
"They have a chance. They didn't before. What made you change your mind?"
"Riley. I thought about what would happen if she were in trouble like Sharbat. I would want someone to help her. Someone who did it because it was the right thing to do."
They heard a truck pull up and it stopped right beside them. "Major. Captain. General Rozenfeld wants to see you."
"We just got out of surgery. We need to change and shower," Syd said.
"Sorry, he said now."
A short drive later, they were at the offices where the general was. "You were given strict orders not to meddle in local medical matters. Her husband wanted to take her to a midwife. Instead, you performed a C-section."
"Sir, in the captain's defense, we were doing our job."
"That job has changed, Major. You of all people should know that."
"With all due respect, sir, our partner nearly killed his wife and baby simply because he didn't want to be embarrassed," Kurt said.
The general looked out the window and saw Akmal getting out of a car. "Shit. Look, I know this place is jacked. Hell, I even respect what you did. But the Afghanis want your head on a stick. I have no choice. Captain Hummel, your tour is over."
"Sir, I have three months left on my tour."
"You had three months. You'll be stateside next week. As for you, Major. With the captain gone, we're grossly understaffed. Which means while he's back in Texas enjoying barbecue, your tour is extended another three months. Dismissed."
Back at the hospital, Artie walked up to where Sam was standing at the nurses' station. "You paged me for a consult?"
"Oh, right this way," Sam said. "We have a patient with massive cranial swelling."
"Cerebral thrombosis," Artie said.
"Well, we checked that. This guy's head literally blew up for no reason," Sam said, pulling back the curtain.
Artie looked up and saw a balloon with a picture of his face taped on it.
"Can you explain it, Dr. Abrams? Because we lowly nurses sure as hell can't."
"Hilarious, Sam."
In Mr. Martinez's room, things were looking up for him. "Pulse and blood pressure are up," Kitty said.
"Thank you, Dr. Berry. And…I'm sorry I took out my issues on you."
"Heat of the battle," Rachel said.
Carly gasped as her father started waking up. "Welcome back, papi," she said tearfully.
"Carolina? You're here."
"I am. And so are you. Thanks to them."
"How are you feeling, Mr. Martinez?"
"Tired. But my susta is gone."
"Well, if you want it to stay that way, you're going to need some strong medicine. And you might not like it," Rachel said.
"Whatever you say, curandera."
"Move in with your daughter. Let her take care of you, see you eat right, take your synthroid. Add years to your life. Because if you don't, your susta might just come back." Rachel smiled as she left the room, Kitty following her.
"Okay, you went from Dr. No to Dr. Phil. What happened?"
"I stopped taking my own advice."
"Can I do that too?"
"No. In fact, you and I need to chat about some ground rules. Over tequila. Later."
"Okay, well, I'm down with that."
"Good. Now get out of here and go do something."
Across the hospital, Brody was talking to Frankie's birth parents. "How long have you been in Chicago?"
"We moved last year," his mother said. "When the case went cold. I mean, it was so hard to go."
"And harder to stay."
"I can't imagine what you both have been through," Finn said. "But you kept paying to store the cord blood. Good call."
"We had to. It was all we had left of him besides Fufu," Mrs. Moran said, holding the stuffed bunny rabbit closer.
The four of them walked into Frankie's recovery room. "It's still very early but the transfusion has been bringing his fever down," Brody whispered. "Hey, Frankie. My name is Dr. Brody. You were in an accident, but you're okay now."
"I want my mommy," Frankie said as tears started falling from Mrs. Moran's eyes. Frankie looked at her and then the bunny in her hands. "Fufu?"
"He's missed you so much," she said, handing it to him. Frankie took it and squeezed it.
"I missed you, Fufu."
Finn blinked back tears, feeling happy for the family for being reunited but heartbroken over what could have been.
Rachel and Puck watched from the doorway and she didn't bother to hide her tears. She smiled at Puck and walked away.
Finn heard movement and saw Rachel walking faster than normal down the hallway. "Excuse me," he said, leaving Frankie's room. He followed Rachel into one of the staff bathrooms and saw her hovering over a sink, crying. "Hey," he said gently.
"Of course you're here right now," she said, looking at Finn in the mirror. "I'm glad everything worked out in the end."
Finn walked over to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her as they both started crying.
A little while later and across the hospital, Francis was being led out in handcuffs. Rachel and Brody saw it as they were leaving the staff only room of the hospital. "What about Joan?" she asked.
"She's still in the ICU. I guess they were so desperate to have kids that they stole one. So twisted, huh?"
"Yeah," Rachel said, sighing.
"How'd your myxedema case of yours turn out?"
"We got him back and the daughter's not suing."
"How'd you pull that off?"
"She's not a bitch or anything. She was just trying to take control of a situation that she felt was out of her hands, which I get. I spent my whole life trying to plan every little thing. Saying no to anything that I couldn't control, not letting myself make any mistakes. After the baby and everything, I've been even more like that."
"Well, you're just keeping your eyes on the prize."
"What prize? More work?"
"Feeling like yourself again. You'll get there."
"I know one thing. I'm done with no. I want to see where yes gets me."
"You know where yes got me. AA. If l leave now, I can still make a meeting before all the donuts are gone," Brody said, hugging Rachel.
"Live and learn, Dr. Weston."
"That's how I roll."
Finn walked over to where Puck was standing. "Long night," he commented. "Now I need a drink. But I can't with Annie around."
"How about a run to blow off some steam?"
"A run? You?"
"I don't know. It's the new me. Annie was the old. I'm thinking of a 5K this year. You wanna be my training partner?" Puck asked.
"You mean kick your ass in a race?"
"Those are betting words, pal," Puck said as they walked out of the hospital.
"We okay, Dr. Abrams?" Sam asked as they were leaving the hospital.
"You tell me."
"Look, we're family here. We may mess with you sometimes, but we'll always have your back. Just don't be an ass."
"Lesson learned." Artie slapped Sam on the back and tapped a "Kick Me" sign to his back. Sam scoffed and pulled it off.
"Amateur," he said, walking out of the hospital.
"Hey!" Santana said. "Just the man I need to see."
"I like the sound of that."
"I got into Georgetown. They just emailed me. Somebody dropped out and I'm off the wait list."
"You got into Georgetown?"
"Yes! I got into Georgetown!"
"Yes! That's amazing!" he said, hugging his girlfriend. "We're going to celebrate all summer. Where you wanna go?"
"I gotta talk to you about that. I have to leave tomorrow."
"What?"
In Afghanistan, Kurt was Skyping with Blaine to tell him the news. "Yeah, I'll tell you a little more about it when I get back. I'll see you on Thursday."
At the computer next to him, Syd was Skyping with Riley. "I'm sorry I won't be able to be there for your birthday."
"I didn't think you'd make it anyway," Riley said, trying not to sound disappointed. "It's okay."
"Syd," Kurt said. "Is that Riley?"
"Honey, this is Kurt, who I was telling you about."
"I just wanted to tell you that your mom did amazing today. She was awesome. You would have been really proud of her. I was."
Riley smiled. "Hey, Mom, I gotta go. Lexie and I are trying on bridesmaid dresses."
"Bridesmaids? Who's getting married?" Syd asked, crinkling her nose.
"Lexie and dad."
"What?"
"They got engaged a few weeks ago. He didn't tell you?"
"Oh. Oh. Right."
"Anyway, I gotta go. Bye."
"Wait, 24," she said, trying to get it in before the connection died.
"She's beautiful, Syd," Kurt said from where he was standing.
"Thanks. I, uh, I got her a soccer ball sewn at a girls school in Kabul. It was a birthday present. Since you're going back, can you take it to her?"
"Sure. I'd be more than happy to take it to her. Syd, I don't even know—"
"Kurt, stop apologizing. This is what I signed up for. It may not be what Riley signed up for, but hey, what can I do about that?"
"Get hammered on near beer? I'm buying."
"Tempting. Rain check?"
"Yeah, of course. Good night, Major."
"Good night, Captain."
As they were running, Finn and Puck started talking. "So, the staring at Brody and Rachel earlier, was that wistful memories or painful future?"
"I don't know. After everything we've been through, nothing's easy anymore."
"Never is with you two. Meantime, if I were you, I'd start building up those chicken legs before someone tries to barbecue them. Get some sun on them. It's summertime."
"Enough talking. Let's go old man," Finn said as he started running faster.
"I'll catch up," Puck said, watching him run.
Across town, Rachel and Kitty were having breakfast. "Okay, Kitty, you don't have all the answers, okay? You're still an intern and you're going to make mistakes but it's how you learn. So every once in a while, maybe stop talking and listen a little bit more."
"I'll tell you what, you help me work on my work game and I'll help you work on your off-duty game."
"I don't know. I'm not good at that stuff. I'm not really big on hooking up. Oh, wow. Kenny's here," she said, looking over her shoulder.
"The station's two blocks away. They usually sit at the counter, but making mistakes is how you learn, right?" She smiled at Rachel and waved at him.
"Don't call him over here," Rachel said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to kill you."
"Jonah! Kenny!"
"Oh my god."
"At least I'll have two firemen to rescue me. Hey guys, what's up?" she asked, smiling up at them.
"Uh, breakfast. You want some company?" Kenny asked.
Rachel took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Yes."
"We're going to need another round," Kitty said to the waitress.
"Yeah, we're thirsty," Kenny said.
"Can I get a shot of tequila?" Rachel asked.
"Four shots of tequila," Kenny said.
Across town, Brody walked into a church where an AA meeting was about to happen. He reached for one of the last donuts and bumped hands with someone. "Oh. Sorry."
"Go for it," a laughing voice said.
Brody looked at her. "It's Annie, right?"
"Yeah, good memory," she said.
"Brody."
"Brody. Right."
"So that was you that I saw earlier at the hospital."
"Yeah," she said. "You should have said hi."
"Next time I will."
Back at the hospital, Santana and Sam were talking things over. "Why don't you take a few days off and come with me?" she asked. "I'll show you the best crab shack in Maryland. We can drive down to Ocean City, see Assateague Island."
"I've got my gym opening this week. I've got my life savings in that thing. You know that."
"Yeah, I know. We knew this was gonna be hard if I got in."
"Well, a few hours ago, I thought that would be next year. Not right now."
"So fly out after things settle down with the gym."
"If things settle down, I'm going belly up. I mean, it's just me doing it all right now. Maybe you could come back."
"I don't know," Santana said. "I gotta come out of the gates strong or I'm gonna get buried."
"The long distance thing never works out, huh? So that's it? We're just gonna rip the Band-Aid off?"
Santana leaned in and kissed him. "I'll see you later, Sam Evans." She got in her car and drove off, giving him one last smile.
"Goodbye, Santana," he said, standing in the middle of the parking lot.
Santana drove to Rachel's house and threw open the door. "Rach?" she called out, hoping her best friend was there.
"Ow," she heard Rachel say. She rounded the corner and smiled at Santana. "Hi! I saw your message! Congratulations, I knew you could do it!" Rachel walked over to Santana and threw her arms around her. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered.
"Rachel Berry, are you drunk?"
"A little tipsy. I had tequila earlier."
Santana smiled at her best friend. "So, I have some news. Besides me getting into Georgetown, I have to leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Rachel asked, the smile fading from her face. "You're leaving?" she asked, feeling tears come to her eyes. "Everyone's leaving me."
"Not everyone's leaving you."
"My baby died, then Finn left and now you're leaving," Rachel said as she started crying. "I'm not going to have anyone."