Chapter - 4
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"Los Angeles has done wonderful things to me, Los Angeles has been my home. It's where I found her and I found my life, but like all good things sometimes change is good. Seattle's different, Seattle's real, the weather doesn't mask itself behind a fake smile but actually changes with the season to let you know that the cycle continues and that you're growing. I think a lot now ever since I first landed in Seattle about my life and how Addison used to always go on about missed opportunities. Maybe this is it, maybe this is the opportunity that could change our lives."
"Lauren, I know how delicate this situation is for you…" Addison told to her patient.
"Shut up, you don't know anything at all… You came here showing off your perfectly healthy pregnancy and rubbing it in everybody's faces!"
"This is not about me, this is about you, and the only reason I'm here is to give you and your baby a chance, if you want to listen to me, I'm here and I will take good care of you, if not, there's the door, I will walk out of and you will never ever see or hear from me again… it's your decision, Lauren!"
"I'm sorry, I was rude… Please, Dr Montgomery… I need you, and want you to help me and my baby!" her words were sincere this time and Addison knew she was just a scary mother.
"Listen, Lauren, I have the obligation to inform you that there is no cure for the condition that your baby has, only a temporary treatment that will improve her quality of life, so in some cases parents have chosen to terminate the pregnancy. If the pregnancy is carried to term, the newborn needs an operation a few days later, so the spinal cord can be pushed back into the spinal column", Lauren was listening Addison's words with grave concern for the health of her child "…but we have a third option" said Addison "and this is why I'm here, I could operate on your baby while it's still in utero. The studies performed have indicated that children who had their spinal surgery in utero have had a higher percentage of leg function, compared with those who had the surgery after birth. Forty-two percent of the children who had been operated on in the womb could walk without crutches compared with 21% in the postnatal surgery group… But I can't deny that this is a risky procedure for both fetus and mother!"
"What kind of risks?" Lauren asked putting a protective hand on her womb.
"Premature birth for the baby, uterus rupture for the mother. This risk carries over to future pregnancies, which is why any woman who has this surgery during her pregnancy will need to deliver her next babies by cesarean section before the labor starts."
"I don't know what to think, Dr Montgomery…"
"It is normal, Lauren, you have to process all of this new information and to decide what is best for you and the baby", Lauren nodded, "If you want, I'll be there for you whatever you decide to do."
"I'm sorry for what I said to you before, I had no reason to judge you!"
"You're scared, I get that all expectant mothers are, regardless of whether they have healthy pregnancies or not, I know from experience professionally and personally. Everyday I panic at the thought that something might go wrong with this baby and I've seen it all which only adds to my stress, but I don't let it overcome me. I reassure myself that every thing I do for this child is for the best and I know that at the end of the day all of my worries will disappear when I hold it in my arms for the first time. I will be back tomorrow, Lauren, If you decide to take undergo the surgery I will operate on you with the help of a neurosurgeon, Dr. Amelia Shepherd. Try to rest and be free to decide what is the best for you!"
It was 1:30pm when Addison finally made it to the cafeteria where she found a less than impressed Amelia.
"I'm so sorry Amelia, my consult ran longer than expected. How long have you been waiting here?"
"Well I finished up early and thought that you would too, so by the looks of it, I've been here for about an hour."
"Ok I'm really sorry but I have something to make it up to you." Addison then pulled out two gourmet sandwiches from the popular deli down the street and a thick and sweet cupcake from the bakery next door to it. "Does this make up for my tardiness?"
"YES!" Amelia's eyes widened at the food in front of her. She couldn't remember the last time she ate that day and the sandwiches were a sight for sore eyes when she thought that they were going to have to eat the hospital food.
"So what was this gossip that you were dying to tell me this morning?"
"Oh Derek called the other day, it seems that Meredith is going to have a C-section next week and get this Nancy's doing it! Apparently all my family is in Seattle for the event of the century!"
"Oh god, Nancy really agreed to that? I mean I'm no fan or Meredith but Nancy was far worse than I was to her."
"I know but Derek kind of guilted her into it remember when you delivered all of their kids and supposedly took time away from Derek? Well this was just returning the gesture."
"Well I mean I'm happy for him, for them. He's always wanted a family and she's giving him that." Addison begins to tear up at the thought of Derek being happy without her and the possibility of him not loving this child.
"You haven't told him, have you?" Amelia suddenly became concerned when Addison's face dropped.
Addison became defensive after that comment because she was not ready to face the reality and decided to go back into professional mode to quickly change the subject. "It doesn't concern you Amelia, anyway in regards to Lauren, we have to approach this situation very delicately. She's already exhibiting signs of high blood pressure and I don't want to place extra stress on her body."
Amelia was a little shocked with her quick dismissal and decided to leave it, but she knew that it will come up again sooner or later and Addie will be more receptive but for now it was back to the patient. "Uhh yeah sure Addie um whatever your preference is," she said as she continued to eat her sandwich.
The two of them talked of another hour about how they were doing to approach Lauren's surgery, each of them accounting for the high potential for complications brought on by a number of different factors that weren't in Lauren's favor. After discussing every possibility and scenario the two of them agreed on their approach and went to schedule the surgery for 2 days time.
It was 9pm that night when Addison heard the phone ring from her lounge room. She was alone and was quietly enjoying a book by the fireplace as the rain lashed against her windows.
Addison walked over to the kitchen bench and reached for the phone on its cradle and answered it. "Hello?" She answered the phone completely oblivious to who could be on the other side.
"It's' so good to hear your voice, but it would be better to have you here and hold you in my arms," the deep and soothing voice said into the receiver.
"Jake!" The red head squealed into the phone. "I miss you so much, you have no idea how lonely this house is without you, Chicco and I are trying to amuse ourselves but have so far been unsuccessful."
"Oh, so Amelia hasn't been coming around?" Jake asked his wife with concern.
"So you're the one who set Amelia up to babysit me? You know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Addison replied to her husband.
"Well to be honest, it was her idea and I just happened to agree with it, she's just looking for a friend Addie. She misses you and feels like the two of you are drifting apart and you're starting to become distant with her."
"Oh gosh, I didn't even realize with everything lately I've just been focused with my work you know."
"I know honey, in our line of work it's perfectly ok to do that every now and then."
"Yeah but it's not fair on her. Anyway, how have you been? How's the conference?"
"The conference is going fantastically, I've met so many talented surgeons here and one of them has even offered me a job at their hospital after my lecture on improved embryo transfers to ensure higher success rates. He has a hospital in Washington and even offered me my own department with the finest staff and supplies on the west coast. You would love him Addie, such a gentleman."
"That's great, but you're not going to take it right?"
"The offer's temping Addie, I'll give him that but honestly I think that I'm considering it."
"You can't be serious Jake. We have a life here, a practice and a house!"
"Just hear me out, Addison. This could be the fresh start that we need, Washington is a good state and has a lot of great places to raise a child." Jake knew that Addison was hesitant towards moving, especially now that she was pregnant but he knew that she would eventually cave in if he just persisted enough. "Plus he said that the hours are flexible and, eventually, with your skills there would be a position for you on the staff."
"I just, I don't know Jake. This is a lot of information to take in tonight. I'll call you tomorrow ok honey, I'm just really tired. I love you." Addison wasn't really tired but she knew that this was a conversation that should be dealt with in person and not over the phone.
"I love you too honey, I promise I'll be home before you know it. Say hi to little Chicco for me too, goodnight sweetheart." Jake hung up the phone and turned the light off. Moving to Seattle was going to be a big deal for Addison but he knew that this was what she needed. Over the next few days his friend Richard was going to show him around the hospital and he was going to look around at the real estate. Their first wedding anniversary was soon approaching and this was going to be the perfect gift for their growing family.
The day had finally come for Lauren's surgery and Addison Montgomery was more prepared than ever. Surgery was a place where Addison could clear her head and focus on the thing that she loved. There she didn't have to worry about Jake or the baby or the possibility of moving to Seattle again, no in surgery Addison was composed and confident, fearless even. Everyone that had ever had the pleasure to work with her, they always commented on her professionalism and flawless work.
"You look pale" Amelia noticed as Addison was preparing Lauren's belly before inserting the instruments for the surgery "Are you sure to feel well?"
"I'm perfectly fine, Amelia, I'm just concerned about the surgery", she took a deep breath to relax before starting.
They were in the middle of the surgery, when Amelia noticed Addison's forehead bathed in sweat, "Dr Shepherd, you should be more concerned about the surgery you're performing or the patient's conditions rather than mine" Addison replied at the continuous Amelia's glimpses, "You're sweating, you look pale… and you're pregnant! I promised Jake to take care of you…"
"Amelia, it's 30°C in this OR, it's perfectly normal sweating, now, please, focus on the surgery!"
Addison had finally hit the halfway point of the surgery, all of the hard work was almost, when all of a sudden she felt her abdomen tense up and begin to cramp. The pain was so sharp and severe that it caused Addison to drop her instruments and cringe in agony. She knew that people were watching her but she had to keep going, she was badass and Addison never left a surgery half done, no matter what.
"Addie! Addison are you ok?" Amelia said as her eyes were stuck on the sight of her fellow surgeon bent over.
"I'm fine Amelia, it's just some bad side effects from the salad I ate before the surgery. It'll pass on soon enough." Addison went to stand up again and went to continue the surgery as if nothing had ever happened.
"Addison you don't look fine, people that are fine don't just cringe in pain in the middle of a surgery."
"Amelia, focus on the surgery, please"
About 2 hours later, Addison was ready to end the surgery, she was finally ready to remove the laparoscopic instruments from Lauren's belly and tidy up "Thank you every one for the help, if we are lucky this kid will have a normal life!"
The OR was finally closing down for the end of the surgery. Lauren was being wheeled out, the scrub nurses were discarding the trash and cleaning down the equipment, when Addison walked into the scrub room to scrub out. All of a sudden the cramping started up again and her lower abdomen cringed this time more violently then before. Tears were flowing out of her eyes as her hands instantly reached down to her little bump in the hopes of protecting her child.
"What is happening?" She whispered to herself. "Please be ok."
As Addison raised her gaze from her stomach to the window, she room started to spin and instantly faded to black. Before she knew it Addison had passed out cold on the ground.
Amelia was still in the O.R. writing up the final post op notes from the surgery and looked over to the scrub room window. She could have swore that she saw Addison go in there a minute ago but she simply dismissed the thought because she knew that Addison wasn't feeling well and probably wanted to get away from her. When she had signed the bottom of the chart, Amelia headed to the scrub room in the hopes of maybe trying to catch up with Addison in the hallway to see if she was ok. After all Jake had told her to take care of Addie and god knows that if anything had happened to her she would feel so guilty. Her hands pushed the door open as she made her way into room and pushed the on button for the faucet, Amelia sensed that something wasn't right. She looked down and gasped at the sight of her best friend unconscious on the ground.
"Addie! Addie! Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery Reilly, you wake up now oh so god help me! I need a nurse! Someone help me!"
Meanwhile in Seattle
The conference in Vancouver had gone rather better than expected and Jake had suddenly found himself in Seattle.
"Jake, I really appreciated your decision to turn upside-down your plans for being here!" his new friend Richard and possible future mentor told him, while he was showing the hallways of the hospital "I admit I'm not an expert of your field, but your report impressed me, and I immediately knew you were the perfect man to run the maternal-infant department of our hospital! I already talked with the rest of the board, and I presented them your credential and curriculum, we all think you are our golden boy!"
"Richard, I really thank you, you are offering me a very important role in one of the biggest hospitals of the country, this is really a huge opportunity for me!"
"Do you talk with your wife? You told me she wasn't really sure about moving here in Seattle…"
"It isn't easy, we are our lives and our practices in LA… and we are going to have a baby, but I can't deny your offer is really tempting me!"
"I'm sure she will love Seattle, it's a great city!"
"I think it's a little too 'wet' for her, she loves LA, it's her safe place… It's our safe place!"
"But I guess sometimes change is good" Richard said with a genuinely smile "You have no idea how may lives I've seen change over my time at this hospital"… Why don't you take a look at the estates and surprise her with a new house and an annual 2 million dollars check!"
"This is what I have in mind, I have an appointment with Ms Sander at 2 pm to see a house!"
"I'm so grateful that you're taking us up on our offer, Dr. Reilly! Where's the new house at?"
"Queen Ann" Jake replied "I need something to surprise my wife, especially if I want to move here and take the job… a 3 level contemporary house, with panoramic views of the city, water and mountains, 3 bedrooms and swimming pool, it's stunning and maybe can help her changing idea!"
"Does she work?" Richard asked
"Yes, we work together, we run together our own practice in LA. She's an ob/gyn and many other things… She's really good at her job, she's one of the smartest women I've ever known"
"If she's so good as you said I thing we could easily offer a job at her too…"
"That would be great Richard!"
A breathless intern ran into Richard and Jake "Dr Webber…"
"What's going on son? Spit it out is there something bad enough for you to interrupt me in my meeting with Dr. Reilly here?"
"It's Dr Grey" the intern said panting.
Richard understood immediately that something was wrong, "Dr Webber, we need help in the OR 3... Dr Nancy Shepherd needs help for the C-section of Meredith, she has an hemorrhage, she's losing a lot of blood… We performed a blood transfusion..."
"How is the baby?" Richard asked concerned
"He is born… but…"
"But what?" he raised his voice, but he was more worry than angry.
"Dr Webber, we ran into the OR after noticing the decrease of the fetal heart rate…"
"I perfectly know the reason of the C-section… What I'm asking for are the conditions of the baby!"
"The delivery was complicated by meconium. He suffered asphyxia, Dr Webber, he had a low Apgar score after birth, but they already carried him in the NICU, he will be fine, the problem now is Meredith, she's losing blood and the uterus is not contracting properly…"
"Can I do something for you, Richard?" Jake asked.
"Jake, I know that you haven't officially started working here and you're new and all but if I grant you privileges can you please scrub in and help Dr. Nancy Shepherd-Parker operate on Meredith. I normally wouldn't ask you for something like this or place you in an uncomfortable situation but the young woman on the table Dr. Grey, Meredith, she's like my daughter and I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost her."
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