A/N I am still shocked to see the response this story has gotten. Thank you!
A Chance
None of the four parents could believe what they were hearing. They couldn't believe that Addison was telling them that their one pound, one ounce baby daughter needed surgery on her heart. She was only a week old and she was still stable, but the fact of the matter was she was tiny. The four of them stood around Sofia's incubator while Addison talked to them. As doctors they knew that over half of micro preemies like Sofia developed a PDA or a Patent Ductus Arteriosis which was a persistent connection between the large vessels of the heart. As parents though, they were all scared.
They knew that a PDA had been diagnosed just two days after she was born, but they had been hoping that the medications that she was being given would help. Five days later and they hadn't helped. The PDA was still there. They had all been hoping desperately to avoid surgery, but it didn't look like that was going to be possible now. Sofia needed the surgery to give her a shot at beating the odds.
Addison could see the emotion on everyone's face. She was doing her best to not get involved. But the fact of the matter was that this was Callie's baby. Callie had been an invaluable comfort to her during her final year in Seattle. Not only that, but Mark was a very old friend of hers and they had a long complex history between them Then Lexie asked the question that all four parents wanted to know but were too afraid to ask.
"Is she strong enough to withstand the surgery?"
Addison hated this question. Because truth be told she would have rather waited another few weeks before putting the baby through surgery. She ran through Sofia's vitals as professionally as possible, trying to avoid the question.
"Addie…"Mark choked out. He just wanted her to answer Lexie's question with honesty. He had been there every day all day. He know Sofia's vitals like the back of his hand. He didn't want to hear Addison recite them.
"I don't know. She's been stable this week. Stable in her case is a good thing. She's not getting any worse, but on the flip side I wish she was a little bigger." Addison finally told the group honestly.
"What are her chances Addison?" Arizona asked. She had tears in her eyes and she was doing her best not to let them fall.
"I really don't know Arizona. It could go either way. It could go smoothly and it could help her or it could go horribly wrong and she could end up being vent dependent." Addison told her. Mark was already shaking his head. Callie had been oddly silent throughout this whole conference, letting herself absorb what Addison was saying. Finally she let a few tears fall. Arizona gripped her fiancée's hand tightly.
"No, no. Not happening." Mark told the group firmly. For him, the risks were too great. He loved his baby girl more than anything and he wanted to keep her from feeling pain. He did not want to put his baby through heart surgery.
"Mark…it could help." Callie whispered tentatively.
"Could being the operative word. There's no guarantee." Mark pointed out.
"There's never a guarantee when a surgery is being done." Arizona reminded him.
"You aren't subjecting my daughter to more pain. No way." Mark insisted.
"She's not just yours Mark. You can't make this decision on your own. She's a part of all of us." Arizona snapped.
Arizona turned to Addison and bit her lip. She wasn't sure what Addison would say to her next question.
"You could do it, right? Even if Mark doesn't agree?" Arizona asked.
"You aren't going over my head Arizona. You…You aren't legally anything to Sofia. It's Callie's decision. And mine." Mark hissed. He was trying to keep his voice low, but he was getting angry. Lexie placed her hand on his arm, desperately hoping to calm him down. She knew he could lose his temper in an instant. She knew that he'd regret it later if he went off on Arizona. Arizona felt fresh tears pool in her eyes when she heard Mark's words. She knew he had apologized the day Sofia was born, but hearing him repeat those hurtful words was painful.
"You all have to be in agreement on this. I wouldn't feel right doing the surgery if Mark was against it." Addison told them.
"But legally you could, right?" Arizona pressed.
"Yes legally I could. All I would need is Callie's signature." Addison confirmed with a nod in Arizona's direction.
"Sign the consent forms Calliope." Arizona pleaded. Callie turned to Lexie who had been strangely silent after her initial question.
"What do you think Lexie?" Callie asked. Lexie was startled that her opinion was being requested. She still felt a bit like an outsider to this family. Lexie looked sideways at Mark before she spoke.
"We need to go for it. We need to give her every chance to beat the odds." Lexie saw Mark's jaw tighten at her words. Lexie knew Mark had expected her to side with him, but she couldn't do that. Sofia deserved the chance to fight for life. Callie nodded and then she looked at Mark. She needed to talk to him alone. She needed him to see that this was Sofia's chance.
"Can I have a few minutes alone with Mark?" Callie finally asked. The other three women nodded and they left the NICU to allow the legal and biological parents time to figure this out.
"What Callie? I'm not giving you permission to allow Addison and Teddy to open up our tiny daughter and perform heart surgery on her. She's not ready." Was the first thing out of Mark's mouth.
"We've all been calling her a fighter since she was born. How can we allow her to stop fighting if we don't consent to surgery?" Callie asked softly.
"How do we know when enough is enough Callie?" Mark asked. Mark had been struggling with this more than anyone knew. Of course he wanted Sofia to live, but at what cost?
"I want her to live Mark. She's my baby girl and I want to give her the best chance possible." Callie whispered.
"Can you live with it, if it doesn't work?" Mark asked.
"Yes, because at least I'll know that we did everything we could for her." Callie told him. Mark wished he had that same feeling but he didn't. He knew that if he consented to the heart surgery, and they lost Sofia on the table, he would always wonder if she would have lived if Mark had stuck to his guns and refused to consent.
"I'm scared too Mark." Callie finally whispered. She knew him better than anyone else even Lexie. She was his best friend and she knew his emotions and facial expressions very well. She knew he was terrified right now. He was a terrified father to a micro preemie that had a 50 to 60 percent chance of living.
"If you really believe that this is her best chance, then I'll consent." Mark finally whispered. Of course he was still scared to death of losing her, but he wanted her to be able to fight. He wanted to give her the best chance of beating the odds. Heart problems wasn't anything to be messed with. Callie was surprised that he finally gave in. She had expected him to continue to resist.
"Really?" Callie asked, just to make sure.
"Yeah. I want her to be able to fight. I don't want to take it away from her." Mark told Callie quietly. Callie hugged him and Mark hugged her back, being gentle because of her stitches.
They walked out of the NICU to where Addison, Arizona and Lexie stood waiting to hear the verdict. Arizona and Lexie prayed that Callie had been able to talk Mark into taking the risk and giving his consent for Sofia to have the surgery. Addison didn't know if that was possible. After all Mark was a very stubborn man.
"Let's go for it." Mark told Addison with a nod. Arizona and Lexie were both stunned. They had no idea what had changed Mark's mind about this. He had been so against it just ten minutes ago.
"Really?" Addison asked with a slight raise of her eyebrow. Addison was extremely surprised that Mark was giving his consent.
"Yes. I want her to be able to keep fighting." Mark confirmed. Addison passed Callie the consent forms and then Callie passed them to Mark. Mark's hand shook as he scrawled his name on the form.
"She'll go in this afternoon. I don't think Dr. Altman has any other patients." Addison told the group. She went to go find Teddy and let her know that the surgery was a go while the four parents went into the NICU to see Sofia.
That afternoon, the four parents were stuck waiting. They weren't even allowed to watch the surgery. Both Addison and Teddy had forbidden it. They were stuck in the waiting area. Callie's head was bowed in prayer, Arizona kept tapping her fingers on the armrests, Lexie was staring out the window and Mark was pacing. He couldn't sit still. He had to keep moving or he'd go crazy. He needed answers. He was letting Callie do the praying for all of them. Maybe she had better clout with God than anyone else did. Lexie kept looking over at Mark. She was worried about him. She knew he loved Sofia with all of his heart and she knew he was scared.
"This is fucking bullshit." Mark muttered mostly under his breath. Mark didn't wait well. He wanted to be watching the surgery and instead he was in the waiting area. Even farther away from his baby girl.
"How long did they say it should take?" Arizona finally asked. Her throat was dry so her words came out raspy.
"Four to six hours depending on how she does." Lexie replied absently. She was watching the sky on the first cloudless day Seattle had had in a really long time. She was hoping her mom was watching over Sofia. God she missed her mom. She wished her mom was here. Susan would know what to say and do in this situation.
"How long-"Callie started before Mark cut her off.
"She's been in there three hours already." Mark answered shortly.
"Does anyone want anything to eat?" Lexie offered. Lexie desperately needed something to do. This waiting thing was driving her insane.
"No." Callie replied flatly.
"No thanks Lexie." Arizona told her.
"No." Mark told her shortly. Lexie knew that they all had to eat something, but she couldn't force any of them to eat.
"Why haven't we been updated?" Callie asked no one in particular. This waiting stuff was hard on her but she was better at handling it than Mark was.
"I'm sure they are busy Callie." Lexie murmured. Lexie was concerned too and she wished Teddy or Addison would update them, but she understood that they were busy.
"I want to know how my baby daughter is doing." Callie insisted.
"Our baby daughter Calliope." Arizona corrected her gently. Callie nodded absently and then she bowed her head again.
"Do you want me to call your parents and your sister?" Mark offered. He knew that the Torres family had no idea that Sofia was having surgery right now. Arizona held up her hand. She didn't want Callie to have to answer any more questions. Sure Mark could go from brooding to chatty in about five seconds when he was anxious or nervous, but right now Callie didn't need to be answering any more questions.
"Later." Arizona mouthed to a still pacing Mark. Mark nodded, knowing that it was pointless to call now. They'd call later when Sofia was out and they had an idea of how surgery went.
The hours seemed to drag on. With that came the increased nervousness of all four parents. Callie had finally stopped praying and she and Arizona sat together, their hands clasped together. Lexie had gone to get something to eat and had brought back something for everyone. She was a nurturing sort and she knew that they all had to continue to take care of each other. Mark tried to sit and read a magazine, but after less than five minutes he was pacing again.
"It's been five hours. Surely they know something by now." Arizona murmured. God she hated this so much. She wanted to see their daughter.
"It's still within the range they gave us." Lexie pointed out.
"You…You don't think anything is wrong, do you?" Callie asked anxiously.
"They would have come to tell us if something had gone wrong." Lexie reminded her. Callie accepted that explanation. Probably because she wanted to.
Finally after six and a half hours, Teddy and Addison walked to the waiting area. They weren't sure what to say or how to start. It was days like this that they wished that they didn't have to do this. Arizona saw them first and she nudged Callie. Callie stood up as did Lexie. Mark came to a stop as he turned to face the two surgeons who had operated on Sofia. They looked so solemn and there wasn't even a hint of a smile on their faces. Callie swallowed hard and prayed that Mark's gut instinct hadn't been right. Nervously the four parents exchanged glances and waited for either Addison or Teddy to speak. They had to know good or bad and the suspense was killing them.