Connor remembers it now. He has seen this before.
They were operating on her mentor, an "awake" operation for he didn't do well with anaesthesia, and he was dictating what to do, out of habit he said. Dr Jaffrey had scolded her; she was doing what he didn't teach her. She was at a loss for words, stuttering even. He hadn't seen her like that. She always had a snarky comeback, brows meeting in the middle. That was her. But that day, as the lead operating on her mentor, her eyes were down and she was silent. She was having a panic attack as he noticed she was breathing fast. Jaffrey decided she wasn't competent so he gave lead to him. He and Dr Latham decided to sedate him...with anaesthesia. Afterwards, in the recovery room and the sedation lessened, her mentor told her that he was disappointed in her. Her face - she was crestfallen and realised she is not perfect. Another panic attack was beginning to show...until he jumped to her defence. He told the esteemed surgeon from Cape Town that she is a first rate surgeon. That calmed her down.
Ava is having one now again. She was lead in this operation but left him in the OR sometime ago to close Bruce's open chest and he got mad at her. But when he sees her crying and her breathing fast in the surgery floor's Doctors' Lounge, he knows. She is having a panic attack because they carelessly left a suction catheter tip inside their patient's heart. Her suction catheter. He calls her Avey for the first time. He knows she is a perfectionist and that mistake is huge for her and enough to send her spiraling. He tells her words of comfort and he hugs her. Her breathing slows but she's still crying.
"Avey," he says. "No one is perfect. Even you."
She raises her head and looks at him, her hazel eyes meets his blue. She is questioning him silently. Berating him, more like. That's the Ava he knows.
"Bruce..." she begins.
"Nothing is going to happen to him," he assures her. "The surgery went well. His vitals are stable."
She returns her head on his chest.
"Ava," he says. "Anyone can make that mistake because you know what?"
"What?" she murmurs.
"It's okay to make a mistake," he tells her. "You learn from your mistakes."
He feels her hand on his chest. She sighs and he feels her smile (and biting her lip).
"Thank you," she whispers.
He kisses the top of her head, as a welcome. He continues the embrace until he is assured that her breathing is back to normal and that her tears are dry. Until they are ready to face Latham.