Author Notes: Next scene is in the surgery of Mark Saunders, we will get back to Terri – I assure you. I hope to get across that, as I write, each chapter is emphasised on the main character(s) involved with that chapter, and is written from that characters perspective. Example: first half of chapter one is Terri's perspective; second half is written from Nelson's where as the third chapter here, is written from Vincent's. Which accounts for the distinctive difference of opinion and tone of character. For example: Vincent's dislike for our new character, where as other may see him in a different light to him.

Also, big thanks to reviewers – much appreciated. Feel free for criticism though, I don't give a stuff either way, I like to read feedback of any kind on my work. It helps me see where I'm going wrong and what I'm doing right. I hope you enjoy the third instalment.

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An All Saints Fan Fiction by Xroix

Chapter 3

Hazed Existence

The gentle hum of machinery and the rise and fall of noise emulating from them, imitated the familiar sounds of the operating theatre. The patient; Mark Saunders, lay on the table with various machinery all relaying vital statistics to the team of medical staff. His skin was cool and his complexion pallor and clammy. The patient's lips had a slight blue taint to them as the nurses tried to keep him as warm as possible.

"His BP is down, Doctor; 83 over 50" one of the nurses explained,

"And steadily dropping" the other added, keeping a constant eye on his stats while waiting for instruction from the surgeon.

"I'm aware of that," Vincent replied "As soon as we've explored the abdominal cavity and made sure everything is in tact we can close up and get him out of here" He said happily to the nurse standing next to him, his mask muffling the deep clarity in his voice.

Vincent moved the instruments around the young patient's body carefully, looking for any significant internal injuries or debris.

"I need some more suction," he stated, his concentration showing.

Systematically, the nurses set about siphoning the red fluid from the surgeon's view.

"Looks like the large intestine has been perforated – must have been some explosion"

Dr. Redfield explained, observing Vincent's skills; his voice steady, before piping up again, "You did hear didn't you?" his jade eyes reflecting against the glasses, "Apparently a couple of incompetent ambulance officers didn't detect the gas leak" He mused and let out an exaggerated mock, "inept fools at the best of times"
Although engaging in conversation, his focus remained on the patient constantly – aiding Dr. Hughes with the tools and keeping his eye out for small bleeds.

"I agree it was a stupid mistake, Dr. Redfield, but calling them inept is going a bit far don't you think?" Vincent retorted –but not aggressively, only looking up briefly before returning his focus to his patient; his dark eyes hazed by the surgery glasses.

"I don't think its going too far if this guy dies, Hughes" He calmly returned to Vincent

"The only reason that might happen, is if you continue to interrupt this laparotomy"

"Can we please get on with this children?" Dr. Bowler interrupted, carefully observing the quarrel between Vincent and the new surgeon, Grant.

Grant Redfield was a 33-year-old surgeon with exceptional skills. He was tall and solidly built and always dressed sharply. The surgery nurses thought he was gorgeous. Vincent had noticed them whispering about him while he was scrubbing up, talking about his untamed black hair, his extreme confidence and not surprisingly, his pay cheque as well. But all Vincent saw when he looked at him was: crisp, expensive suits, a fancy 'all over the place' haircut and an arrogance that would make Colin Blackburn keel over. As far as Vincent was concerned, his surgery skills were the only thing going for him.

They'd only been working together occasionally during surgery since Grant arrived at All Saints three weeks ago, and all ready it was becoming evident that they weren't going to be best mates.
The other surgeon present was one that Vincent had asked to assist, Dr. Bowler, who had then asked Grant to sit in as well. Something Vincent immediately regretted.

Dr. Bowler was almost the complete opposite to Grant Redfield: medium height, in his early fifties; roundish body, receding hairline and those little gold-rimmed glasses that sat on the end of his nose. Vincent, although finding the way he still treated Vincent like an intern, irritating, respected him at the worst of times. He wasn't arrogant but somehow more assertive than most, which only added to his skills and decades of experience. Vincent was also told by some of the older surgeons that he also liked to hit the drink and often at the Christmas Ball's, he took a bit too much of a liking to it and needed to be escorted home. Vincent marvelled at the thought, looking over at the usually quiet middle-aged surgeon.

It hadn't crossed Vincent's mind at the time that Cate or Mac might have stuffed up the situation at the M.V.A but now it puzzled him…what had actually happened?
All though he had wondered himself, he didn't need other people telling him their own theories. Vincent was not in the mood for gossip today – especially from someone who should know better than to spread rumours around hospital walls.

Matters like this always get blown out of proportion: hospital officials were constantly worried about legal action, bad promotion – loss of people's faith in the medical system…it wasn't like they cared about the victims health or that they wanted to help speed their recovery, it's all merely a political money game to them.

In any case, what happened at the M.V.A scene was irrelevant to him now; his main focus was getting this man through the surgery and into I.C.U where he can fully recover. He didn't appreciate being distracted while trying to do that, the fact that it was Grant only added to the fact. It was quite obvious from the unusual argument during the procedure that they didn't work particularly well together.

"There is a fair amount of debris in here, possibly shrapnel from the blast"

Vincent stated, carefully eliminating the foreign material from the cavity.

"Only get what you can, Dr. Hughes; if it's lodged anywhere difficult it might just prove to complicate things more"

Vincent only nodded understandingly to Dr. Bowler in response. He didn't like having some old sap over his shoulder instructing him, but he knew it was advantageous to have someone with greater experience present during the operation.

"Some faecal material from the large intestine has leaked from the perforation – this guy's a total mess inside" Vincent grimaced, "I'll need help removing it"
Dr. Bowler moved in beside Vincent, and in a non-intimidating way he carefully instructed him, making sure not too leave anything unwanted behind to stop the heightened risk of infection.

"We'll need to eliminate all waste and as much of the foreign material as possible, now – if you can, Dr. Hughes" Grant began, "Once the material has been removed, stitch up the perforation, make sure everything's in tact and close"

Vincent cursed in his thoughts, as Grant condescendingly stated those words. But keeping his composure, he only nodded and removed the waste as instructed.

Much to Vincent's dismay, Grant pinpointed a tiny bleed in the abdomen, not far from Vincent's sight. Small, yes, but Vincent should have picked up on it. He started to think that maybeCharlotte had been right aboutone thing: his mind had been off the job since Grace's death…

A few minutes later:

"BP is continuing to drop, Doctor; 75 over 38"

"We're right to close, give him a small dose of adrenalin to increase heartbeat and produce a stronger blood flow" Vincent replied, "You can start transfusing that O Neg now, make sure to keep an eye on his BP" He added, content ith the surgery's prognosis so far. Only after all three were satisfied with the state of the patient, they set about closing.

Outside the operating theatre, the three surgeons were contemplating the patient's recovery while scrubbing down.

"They'll take him to I.C.U and do a Swan-Ganz catheterisation, to confirm shock as the diagnosis and keep a close eye on the heart's pumping action" Dr. Bowler stated, "he'll be in there for one – maybe two days and if everything goes accordingly, he'll be transferred to a recovery ward."

"Do you think the prognosis is good?"

Vincent asked, feeling the cool water run over his hands.

"Well what do you think, Dr. Hughes?

"Well, with severe shock there is always the possibility of brain damage—"

"Not what can happen, Dr. Hughes, tell me what you know"

Vincent paused, feeling as though he was an intern again. Ever since Grace's death and his return to work, the older surgeons had been treating him as though he needed to be 'weened' back into surgery. It was getting on his nerves. It had been a while since Grace, after all. Anyway, what was it to them?

"His blood circulation is low, he's lost a lot but that can be transfused and replaced" Vincent explained, "His BP has increased slightly and his pulse slowed, and apart from the delayed treatment at the scene we've done everything we possibly can to promote a full recovery" He finished with a pleased look on his face.

Dr Bowler looked up in satisfaction at Vincent, flashing him apleased smile as he prepared to leave the washroom.

"We've done all we can now, Dr. Hughes – the rest is up to fate…"

Dr. Bowler left the washroom, the slate blue door swinging closed behind him.

Vincent looked over at Grant, who was just finishing a conversation with one of the nurses, before saying a quick goodbye and walking to the basin where Vincent was washing his hands.

"Seems you'll be seeing more of me, Hughes"

Vincent looked up, puzzled.

"I start in Emergency tomorrow" Grant revealed, "Dr. Campion told me to stroll in about eight"

"I didn't realise you were interested in working in Emergency"

"Well I wasn't up until a while ago"

"Are you sure – I mean Emergency is probably a lot different to what you're used to"

"Are you trying to tell me I can't hack it, Hughes?"

"No, of course not – I was just"

The conversation was halted abruptly by a beep from Vincent's pager

He dried his hands quickly before fumbling with his pager.

"What is it?" Grant asked inquisitively.

"Trauma patients, I'm on stand-by" he exclaimed after reading the message,

"You better get down there soon, I heard Dr. Campion is being an arse today"

"Where'd you hear that?"

"He was harassing the ward clerk in the burns unit earlier"

"Did you actually hear it yourself?"

"No, but the whole burns unit did"

Vincent smirked. He tried to halt the conversation and get away from Grant, but before he could even try, Grant continued.

"Anyway, I must remember to thank him"

"For the job in Emergency?" Vincent replied, apathetically. Shifting his feet.

"No, for the ward clerk's phone number"

Vincent let out a laugh for the first time around Grant; he hadn't expected it to come out of his mouth, it just did.
Maybe he was just being too harsh on him…but there was just something about him he didn't like. His superciliousness was just intolerable where Vincent was concerned, however, his surgery skills were to be admired. Even Vincent couldn't deny him that.

Vincent excused himself from the room, feeling his behaviour was a bit uncouth, yet at the same time, feeling it was justified.

According to the page, there were two trauma patients that had just come in to the E.D that they needed assistance with. Vincent assumed they were from the same M.V.A as Mark Saunders.
He walked down one of the corridors that lead to the elevator's, having to stop once or twice and move to the side so that surgery patients could be wheeled in on their stretchers. He nodded a hello to some familiar surgeons while passing.

The silver doors opened and before stepping in, he noticed a familiar face.

Her blonde hair was worn loosely and she was wearing a combination of a white shirt with a taupe blazer and matching skirt, she stood with her hands resting on the elevator railings, slouching a little. Her expression was effervescent.

"Good morning, Charlotte" he said happily.

"Good morning, Vinnie" She smiled.

"Hey, that's doctor Vinnie to you" he replied in mock angry tone, "You know I hate it when you call me that"

She tilted her head to the side with a teasing smile, before replying

"Going down, doctor Vinnie?"

Her eyes sparkled, laughing in an electricity of hazed blue.

"I hope your not suggesting anything vulgar, Charlotte"

He commented on her 'going down' remark and stepped in, standing beside her.

"C'mon Vincent, what sort of a girl do you think I am?" She said in a feigned horrified tone,
"Anyway," She began and turned to face him, "It's far too late in the afternoon for that"

Vincent barely suppressed a laugh as she leaned forward and pushed the button.
With a resonating tone, the silver doors closed.

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I hope you enjoyed, and don't worry the 4th chapter will see us get back to Terri
and what's unfolding back in the E.D. Suspense, it's a necessary torture.

I wanted to follow the patients' stories, so it was imperative to that format for me
to do his surgery, unfortunately –I had to give Tez a skip till next chapter to do that.
Plus, it was a terrific opportunity to introduce Grant, where I knew Vincent was
going to be present and a way to bring Charlotte in as well.

Don't worry, fourth chapter's a' comin' (:

Xroix xx