First of all, on the off chance you HAVEN'T heard yet, yes, there is a new Trauma Center coming out for the DS - Under the Knife 2. Its on Atlus's official website, so go check it out!
(If this one doesn't have Derek and Angie getting together so help me God...)
Anyway, back to the story.
This chapter has got to be the STUPIDEST thing I've EVER written... and that says a lot.
Be forewarned - there is hardly any plot at all here. I have no idea where this idea came from, but it was inspired by a certain song from the early 80's (I believe), which will be revealed somewhere in the story. Half of the things in this chapter are no plausible at all and I know that, so bear with me. Oh, and please forgive me for this horrible horrible random crappy story. :D
Um... enjoy.
"Oh, Nurse Th--… Stiles. There you are."
With a smile, Angie looked up from the newspaper she was reading at Sidney Kasal, who was standing in the doorway to her office.
"You're never going to get used to the name change, are you?" she asked, eliciting a small smile from Sidney.
"I'm getting there…" he replied, sticking his hands into his pockets. "I'm better than I used to be."
Angie giggled, thinking of after her and Derek had first tied the knot. Sidney had been so confused on what to call her, he simply called her "Angie" for months.
"Today is the first day of Nurse Se--… Chase's maternity leave, of which I'm sure you're aware…" he continued, correcting himself again as Angie nodded.
"Well, Dr. Chase was just scheduled for an appendectomy and he needs an assistant… can you be ready for surgery in four hours?"
Angie leaned back in her chair, realizing that it was the first time she had ever been with Tyler in surgery.
"Not a problem. Just come get me for the briefing." she replied, smiling all the way.
"Great, I'll let him know. See you then."
"Bye!" Angie replied as Sidney walked from the room, bumping into Derek on his way out. The gentlemen excused themselves and Derek walked into his office, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey you." he quipped with a smile, leaning over to kiss Angie's cheek before retreating to their couch. He plopped down and grabbed the section of the newspaper she was already finished with, opening it up and giving it a once-over.
"Oh, sweet! You didn't do the crossword this week!" he exclaimed, grabbing a pen out of his front pocket. Angie had this habit of getting to the crossword before him every week, leaving him quite upset.
Angie spun around in her chair to face him, propping her feet up on her desk with a smile.
"No, I did it – just, not this one…" she said with a smile, just as a knock was heard on their door – one of a very urgent nature.
"Yeah…?" Derek shouted, never taking his eyes off the paper.
The person on the other side of the door twisted the knob furiously and threw the door open, slamming against the back wall. Not surprisingly, Tyler Chase was now standing in their doorway, angry pout on his lips, and a newspaper crunched in his fist. Both Angie and Derek looked on at him, waiting to see what he was there to yell about, though Angie already knew.
Eyes narrowed, Tyler gripped the now crumpled paper in his fist, raising it up and shaking it furiously at the two of them.
"Which one of you guys… did, MY crossword…?" he snarled, raising both of his eyebrows in question.
Unable to help himself Derek let out a small chortle, quickly covering his mouth with his hand. Still chuckling quietly Derek watched as Angie bit her lip, scanning over her own paper to avoid Tyler's stare.
"Well?!" Tyler shouted again, wildly waving his 'tainted' paper in the air threateningly.
"Ugh, fine – it was me!" Angie admitted, only fueling Derek's laughter as Tyler threw a fit in the doorway.
"Duuudeee… Angie! I have to do the crossword before surgery – it's one of my rituals!" he complained, throwing the paper in his hand in the trash. "…and you shouldn't be one to ruin that – you ARE assisting me today…"
"Alright, geez…" she replied, reaching behind her. She ripped the paper out of Derek's hands and leaned forward, handing it to Tyler with a smile.
"Hey!" Derek whined, throwing his hands up in the air. "Come on Ang…!"
"You did the right thing Angie… except for you know, the part where you did my crossword in the first place…" Tyler said, sly smile crossing his lips. "Later."
And with that, the blonde retreated from their office, leaving Derek to glare at Angie unhappily. Avoiding his stare at first, eventually Angie looked over at him, dropping her paper with a big sigh.
"Whaaaat?!" she groaned. "You think I'm going to interrupt his 'ritual' on the day I have to assist him?"
At her acclamation Derek's eyes shot open and he nearly fell off the couch laughing, holding his sides and writhing around.
"What is so funny?!" she shrieked, unable to resist laughing with him, though she was still unsure as to what had started his hysterics.
"YOU'RE… yo—hahAHA… You're… ohshit… going to assist TYLER?! HAHAAA!"
Angie just continued to stare at Derek blankly.
"Are you going to settle down and tell me what the heck you're talking about?" she asked, slightly irritated now.
"O-ho ho…" Derek chuckled, wiping his eyes as he settled down. "Oh man, this is like the best thing… ever."
Fed up and impatient, Angie stood from her chair and walked over to Derek, pinching him really hard in his upper arm.
"…OW!" he yelped, rubbing the site. "What the heck was that for?!"
"Will you tell me what on Earth is so funny?" she asked, plopping down next to him.
Derek smiled, readjusting himself comfortably on the couch. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and chuckled once more, before beginning.
"You've never seen Tyler in surgery… have you?"
Angie shook her head.
"Well, he is… a very… superstitious surgeon, you might say."
"What do you mean superstitious?"
"Don't get me wrong, he does amazing work… he's calm and collected when the situation warrants him to be. But, when it's a routine procedure…" he continued, beginning to laugh again. "…when it's a routine procedure, he has a lot of those little 'rituals' you just saw. He likes to have a good time while he's operating."
"Wait…" Angie said, cutting him off. "What do you mean he 'likes to have a good time'?"
Derek just smiled in return, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm going to let you find out for yourself firsthand." he replied bluntly, annoying her further.
"Derek…!"
"Angie, just relax… everything will go fine, just… try not to flip out on him, alright?" he pleaded, ruffling her hair gently as he rose to his feet and walked toward the door.
"Don't worry Ang, really… you'll be alright. Just, humor him, okay please?"
Angie sighed, her worry growing. It was at that time, she had a feeling she was in over her head.
--
Closing the door to the boardroom behind her gently, Angie walked forward and took a seat opposite of the chief, who just nodded her way.
A few minutes passed and Tyler was still not in the briefing room, leaving Angie to check her watch suspiciously. It was 3:02 now, and the surgeon was late. Funny thing about it though, was that Sidney really didn't seem to care – at all.
Just as she was about to speak up, Tyler walked in the room, still talking on the phone.
"Okay, thanks sweetie – I love you…!" he said. "Talk to you after!"
Being wished good luck by Leslie was another routine of Tyler's. Since his extremely pregnant wife could not be there to do it in person they had done it over phone call, leaving Tyler to be slightly later than usual. Ending the call, Tyler sat down at the table next to Angie, giving her a nudge and a smile.
"Hey operatin' buddy…" he said, plopping the newspaper from earlier down on the table. In one hand he held a pen, trying to finish the crossword – but in the other he held his Blackberry, looking up the answers.
"You know using your Blackberry is cheating, right?" Angie asked quietly.
Tyler didn't pick up his head after her comment, instead motioning to Sidney. "Tell her, chief."
Sidney sighed, rolling his eyes and crossing his hands on the table. "Dr. Chase will not start surgery until he finishes the day's crossword puzzle, no matter how much cheating it entails. And usually, it is quite a vicious amount."
Angie giggled, unable to believe his actions were actually flying. "Well if it's going to be that way, why don't you just use the one I did earlier today?"
Tyler laughed. "Yeah, can't. I'll cheat, but I've gotta put legwork into it."
"Alright, I'm going to begin the briefing…" Sidney said, collecting his papers. "Today's patient is a 45 year old male with an appendix on the verge of bursting. It's a pretty routine procedure, except of course you have to work fast to prevent the worst from happening."
"Right, right…" Tyler said, nose still buried in the puzzle. "Appendectomy, got it."
Angie raised an eyebrow to Sidney, who just shrugged his shoulders back at her, shaking his head. He leaned back in his chair, checking his watch while she sat speechless, unable to believe the difference in professionalism between Tyler and Derek's pre-op meetings.
"…how many more do you have, Chase?" Sidney asked.
"Just one. Three letter word for 'intercourse'."
Angie and Sidney both stared at each other, turning their shocked expressions to Tyler shortly after.
"…Are you… serious?" Sidney asked, seeing Tyler look up at him inquisitively. They resumed their staring match for a few seconds – Sidney with one eyebrow raised, Tyler with confusion.
And then suddenly, Tyler's expression dropped.
"Let's go operate…" he said shamefully, scratching in the last answer before removing himself from the table. Angie just shook her head and followed him, hoping that this was the last of the weird things he did.
--
Used to suiting up quickly, Angie was ready for surgery before Tyler had even washed up. Hands held up in the air she glared at him from behind her mask as he walked in, a giant smile on his face.
"Alright Ang, up top!" he said, raising his hand for a high five.
The blonde just stared at him blankly. "Tyler, I'm sterile…"
With a laugh, Tyler stayed put, his hand still raised in the air. "Sorry, it's a routine – I gotta have high fives from everyone on staff for good luck!"
Angie sighed, pausing before she slapped him high five, unable to stop a small smile from forming on her face as she saw his excitement. She stood and watched him turn on the sink, whistling a song as he washed up. He grabbed the disposable scrub brush and pumped three full pumps of soap into it, pressing his body against the water turn on switch as he began to count his scrubs and rinse time meticulously. Angie just stared at him in awe, unable to believe how perfectly routine everything he did was. It forced her to think that maybe they weren't so different after all – she had always seen him as slightly immature, but maybe he really was detail-oriented… something that few people seemed to be these days.
Just as she started to wonder how he made time for all of this during emergency surgery, Tyler turned off the water and turned towards her, eyebrow raised as the other scrub tech helped dress him.
"Ang, you need to wash up. You just slapped me five and I wasn't sterile." he said with an uncharacteristically serious tone, leaving the nurse dumbfounded and slightly angry. Instead of fighting him she just tore off her garments, starting over from the beginning with an exasperated sigh.
--
Minutes later Angie entered the OR to see Tyler kicking around a hacky sack, the patient still not in the room.
"Are you seriously kicking around a hacky sack?!" she exclaimed, causing him to lose his concentration and drop it.
"Aw man!" he groaned, starting over again, counting his way to 21 – his lucky number.
Angie just shook her head in disbelief as the scrub tech stepped to her side. "Don't worry Nurse Stiles – it's sterile. He just has to get 21 before he can start."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "How many of these rituals does he have?!" she exclaimed under her breath, hearing the scrub tech giggle.
"Just one more big one… the rest are barely noticeable."
"Great." Angie said, biting her lip. Turning around she saw the patient arrive by transport at the door, walking quickly over and opening the double doors to help them get in.
"TWENTY ONE!" Tyler exclaimed, kicking the sack over into the corner and helping pull the patient inside. Locking the bed with his foot, Tyler pulled back the sheet on the man's chest, signaling to the CRNA in the corner to start anesthesia.
"You ready for the magic show Ang?" Tyler joked, broad smile evident even from behind his mask.
Angie just chuckled nervously, wondering what she was getting into. "Yep, sure am…"
"Hey…" he said with more of a serious tone, catching her attention. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine… alright?"
She allowed herself to smile slightly, nerves still racking her body – half wondering what other tricks Tyler had up his sleeve.
"And besides…" he continued, "…looks like your fanclub just arrived." he said, pointing behind her.
Turning around slowly a genuinely happy smile graced Angie's face as she saw Derek wave at her from the observation deck, the smile she fell in love with plastered on his face. Feeling instantly better she turned back to Tyler, who was still staring up at Derek, big smile on his face.
"Dude – did you come to cheer me on too, or is this just for your wife's benefit?"
With a laugh and a broad smile, Derek leaned forward, pressing the call button.
"It's for both of you, definitely… but also a little bit for myself. I wouldn't miss 'the show' for the world." he said, chuckling.
Angie's smile dropped straight off her face, as seen by everyone in the room.
"Oh, just so you know, I call my operations 'the show'…" Tyler added to Angie quietly.
"I got it…" she replied, turning her attention to the half-conscious man on the table in front of him.
"Alright Mr. Phillips, count backwards from 100 for me…" she said, hearing the man get to about 96 before he passed out.
"Smile honey – you're about to witness greatness." Derek said, voice echoing through the O.R. The rest of the staff giggled, waiting for Dr. Chase's cue.
"Hell yeah you are!" Tyler shouted, earning a round of laughs through the room, including Angie.
"Switch with me Ang – I work on your side." he said, trading places with the nurse. When in position Angie looked up at Derek with slight nervousness in her eyes, feeling it dissipate when he gave her a gentle nod and smile. Elbows resting on his knees he was leaning forward, staring down into the OR intently, waiting for something that everyone but Angie was ready for.
"Gel." he said, feeling the tiny bottle be placed into his outstretched hand. He smeared a liberal amount on the incision site and then paused, watching his assistant for the day grow nervous.
"Alright…let's rock!" he said, looking up into the ceiling. Curious, Angie turned her gaze up as well, wondering what the heck he was staring at.
All of a sudden she saw him bounce up and down in excitement, leaving her to wonder still just what was going on.
Furthering her confusion was a low rumble resonating through the OR. She looked around at the others in the room, failing to get any answers as they all looked perfectly normal – unfazed by whatever it was that was happening.
And just as her curiosity hit it's peak, a synthesized rhythm blasted through the speakers, making Angie jump nearly two feet in the air with a loud 'eek!' that just made Tyler laugh. As soon as she settled down she listened to the music, dumbfounded when she finally placed a title with the extremely familiar synthesized sequence. She felt her shoulders and eyebrows drop, unable to believe what was happening.
"Oh my God… Final Countdown? Are you serious?!" she asked, watching Tyler grow ever more excited.
"Yeah buddy!" he exclaimed, grabbing the scalpel and beginning his incision. Angie was unable to believe that the crappy one-hit wonder was blaring through the OR's speakers during surgery, as present by the absolutely bewildered stare on her face. She looked up at Derek who was just laughing at her, internally glad that he had made the time to watch this magic unfold. They were two completely different people when it came to work, and watching Angie's reactions to each of Tyler's little quirks was something that brought Derek great joy.
"Angie…?"
Snapping out of her thoughts was Tyler's voice, his hand outstretched.
"Drain, please?" he asked, still humming along to the music.
"Uh, yeah… sorry." she said, handing him the drain just as he had asked.
"Ties, please…"
Still looking around, Angie placed the ties into his hand, noting that Derek was still laughing up in the observation deck. Through all the distraction everyone else in the room seemed completely unrattled, leaving Angie to be the only one who was struggling to assimilate into this new routine.
Going through the motions of the procedure, Angie still was thinking it over, growing slightly frustrated when the song repeated itself for the fourth time, the synthesized melody boring itself into the back of her head – sure to stay there for the remainder of the day, and possibly week if she wasn't careful.
"…Will things ever be the same agaaaiinnn!?" Tyler suddenly belted out, startling Angie slightly. Here he was, singing "Final Countdown" at the top of his lungs as he was pulling an inflamed appendix out of a patient, still as careful as ever. Though she couldn't look up at the moment, Angie knew that Derek was probably doubled over up in the deck at the situation, leaving her to giggle slightly herself.
As soon as the appendix was in the tray Tyler stuck the drain into the patient's body, waiting patiently as extra fluid was sucked out.
"…It's the FIN-AL COUNT.DOWN!!"
A faint cackle was heard through the OR, and once Angie had disposed of the appendix she looked up to see Derek with his hand over his face, body shaking with laughter. As he removed his hand and collected himself, he noticed that his wife was staring at him shaking her head, which caused him to begin to laugh again. All he could do was continue his cackle and give her a thumbs up, knowing that this was one of his new favorite moments in life.
"Here are the stitches Dr. Chase…" Angie said, extending her hand.
"Hang on one sec…" he interjected, positioning the drain to stand on its own. "INSTRUMENTAL SOLO!"
"You've GOT to be kidding me…"
The harsh reality was, he wasn't kidding. He started off with a bit of an air guitar solo, leaving Angie to facepalm herself, her head shaking back and forth in disbelief. Dropping her arms to her sides she looked around at everyone else who was just giggling at a very exuberant Dr. Chase, who was now suturing the open wound closed as he danced back and forth, humming along with the music break.
Once again Angie's eyes strayed up to Derek in her sheer terror at the situation, who she noticed was not even sitting in his seat anymore. He was laying down on the floor laughing, the only part of him visible was the arm holding onto the bench which he had previously occupied. She had to giggle at the situation momentarily, before unfortunate events struck.
Tyler had tied the wound off, now checking everything over as his hands began to perform an extended air drum solo, occupying himself while he waited to see the body's response to the procedure. In his excitement he struck the base of the scalpel in front of him, smacking it downward. The blade of it had been positioned underneath the base of the antibiotic gel's bottle, and upon him striking it the scalpel flipped and flew backwards, springing the bottle up into the air as well.
With a few profane words Tyler managed to dodge the flying projectile, laughing at the situation until he looked forward, watching the gel fly from the container and directly at Angie, spraying directly into her eyes.
His laughs instantly ceased as she screamed bloody murder, the solution instantly beginning to burn her eyes. Picking himself off of the floor Derek looked down, watching Angie scream in pain as the back of her hands came to rest over her eyes, doing nothing to quell the burning. In a flash he was out of the deck, sprinting towards the OR.
"Angie! Angie listen to me!" Tyler yelled, unable to touch her with the risk of compromising the sterile field. "Take two shoulder width steps to your left and walk forward until I say stop…!"
She heard his instructions loud and clear and followed them through the intense burning, feeling herself cry as she feared that the solution would cause her to become blind. As she paced forward slowly Tyler turned around, noting that Derek had already made his way to the entrance to the OR, holding a disposable mask over his face as he swung open the door.
"Stop!" Tyler exclaimed, watching Derek reach forward and grab her, pulling her into the prep room.
"Derek…?!" she asked between sobs, the burning growing worse by the second.
"It's alright honey, just don't move…" he replied. Within seconds he had her mask, goggles, and head covering off, peeling off her gloves shortly after.
"Hang onto me, come on…" he said, hooking an arm around her back as he rushed her over into the corner. Sweeping the hair out of her face and back behind her head Derek pressed his foot down on the switch that controlled the emergency eye-wash station, shoving her head down until the water was running into her eyes.
"Ang, I know it burns, but keep your eyes open!" he instructed, bending over to make sure she was complying. With a few painful blinks her green eyes popped open, instantly cooled by the running water. Derek watched as her body grew visibly less tense, eventually hearing her sigh in relief after nearly a straight minute and a half of continuous running water.
"Okay… okay, I'm fine…" she said, pulling her head back. Derek clicked off the switch to the sink, helping her stand up straight. She held her eyes closed for a brief moment as he stripped her of her operative clothes, throwing them into the nearest bio-hazard bin.
"Can you open them?" he asked, watching as she timidly blinked her eyes open. The whites of them were nearly red after the ordeal, but she seemed to be doing alright.
"They feel better – still burn a little bit actually…" she said, walking back over to the sink and allowing the water to run into her eyes for another brief moment.
"Thanks honey…" she said timidly, still keeping her eyes closed.
"No problem – I guess it was lucky I was up there, huh?" he replied, seeing her nod.
"Open your eyes for a quick sec, Ang…"
She did as she was told and was greeted by the tiny light that Derek carried in his pocket, shining into each individual eye. When he was done she turned around and scrubbed herself off.
"They look alright – you're definitely going to be putting in drops for a few days… I'll have Dr. Clarks take a look at you when we're upstairs." he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders after she finished.
As she sank into his hug, Angie felt herself grow angry as "Final Countdown" started over in the OR. She whirled around to see that the patient was long gone, Tyler was talking to the tech and the anesthesiologist.
"When the hell did he finish?" she asked, completely confused.
"He finished before you even left the room." Derek said, seeing Angie whip around.
"No… no way, you're totally lying. With his extended solos and whatever – he could NOT have been done that quick! YOU don't even get done that quick!"
"That's cause I'm more nitpicky… and because I'm afraid you'll yell at me." Derek admitted, chuckling. "Tyler's routine works for him, no matter how crazy it may be. He honestly works better when there's a lot going on – and because he's never screwed up because of it, nobody says anything about his rituals."
Angie just stared into the OR, still speechless until Derek wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her from the prep room and towards their office.
"By the way, your reaction to that was probably one of my new favorite moments EVER…" he admitted, starting to crack up again.
Angie rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, I noticed when I looked up and you were on the floor..."
Derek just laughed harder, planting a kiss on the side of her head. "Priceless."
--
"Come in."
With Angie's cue, Tyler walked into hers and Derek's office to see the surgeon seated with Angie's head on a pillow in his lap, a cold compress situated over her eyes, her body stretched out over the rest of the couch.
"Is that Tyler?" she asked Derek. The blonde surgeon shifted the weight on his feet nervously as Derek smiled, drawing a finger across his own throat to show Tyler his impending doom.
"Yep, sure is. I'll leave you guys alone to talk, alright?" he said, gently moving out from underneath the pillow, allowing Angie to lay on the couch by herself. Seconds later he was out the door, closing it behind him.
"Are you alright Ang? I'm so sorry about today… that was SO my bad…"
Angie sat up gently, removing the compress from her eyes.
"Yeah Ty, it WAS your bad… You were reckless, inappropriate, and just overall weren't paying attention. Thanks to you now I've got to wear patches when I sleep for a week, not to mention put drops in my eyes three times a day."
"I know Ang, I'm so sorry…" he said. "I promise, I never meant for something like that to happen."
Angie sighed, unable to still be mad at him.
"All things aside Dr. Chase, you are an exceptional surgeon. Besides this, it was an unexpected pleasure to work with you. Not to mention interesting…" she said.
Tyler raised an inquisitive eyebrow, surprised at her comment. "I appreciate it Ang…"
"Anytime." she replied, small smile trickling over her lips as she held out her fist to him. She hit the top of his, he returned the action, and then they bumped knuckles together with a smile and a laugh.
"…same time tomorrow?" she asked, watching as he became excited, nodding his head furiously.
"It'd be my pleasure…" he replied.
"And no more drum solos?"
"No more drum solos… but Final Countdown stays."
"Fine, you can have your precious 80's crap-rock."
"…Final Countdown is NOT crap! It's LEGENDARY."
"Whatever. I don't care what you do as long as it doesn't end up with me having bodily harm again."
Tyler chuckled, moving toward the door as Angie laid back down, replacing the pack on her eyes.
"Sorry again Angie – thanks for being a great assistant though." he said, opening the door. Truth be told he was unable to believe he was getting off this easy – when he entered the room he was fully preparing to have a limb ripped from his body.
"No problem… thanks for entertaining me today." she replied from the couch, adjusting her compress.
"See ya…"
"Wait."
Tyler stopped, turning to look back at her. "Yeah?"
From her position on the couch Tyler watched her smile drop into a vindictive stare.
"If I don't have a smoked salmon sushi roll on my desk in half an hour, I am going to talk to your wife, and so help me God you won't be getting any form of the three letter word for intercourse for months."
Tyler nodded, biting his lip.
"And, there it is…" he said, closing the door behind him.
Tyler Chase and Angie Thompson -- Antibiotic Gel
O.M.G.
By the way, if you haven't heard the song "Final Countdown" by Europe, go friggin find it on like, Youtube or something and listen to it, and then read this again. Seriously, I'm not even kidding you. Do it.
And if you HAVE heard the song, play it while you're reading this. I have no idea why, but I was CRYING laughing so hard. That song is just... ridiculous.
big gasp TCGeek has a sequel to the Ninja chapter planned... uh oh. :D