Latex gloves have a thin layer of what feels like dust coating them. There are six pairs of hands in this scrub sink digging any trace of dirt out from under their nails and perhaps even removing a little skin to prepare for those gloves. Tension is high. The patient on the table stands between them and the lives of a lot of people.
Dr. Miranda Bailey is the first one to step away from the lever that switches the water on. The first one through the swinging door. The first one to allow the nurse to stretch the blue safety gear over her fingers. She's got an arch in her brow, a confidence to her step, and a calm about her the rest of them wish they could muster.
She is the chief and this is her, 'hawspital'.
Dr. Parker, Dr. Helm, head of General surgery; Dr. Mitchel, head of Cardio Dr. Maggie Pierce, and esteemed colleague Dr. Callie Torres (Orthopedic surgeon) all follow in behind her. The attendings take their respected places around the patient before them. The residents stand quietly nearby awaiting instructions.
Dr. Parker has his head high, confident in his decision to go rogue. Prepared for the backlash he'll get from the military officials he works with later but determined to get through the operation with the man on the table still alive. The only reason they let him and Helm in here is because they saw what was on the live stream. It could very well save his life.
"We'll start with a bilateral dissection." Says Dr. Bailey, "Dr. Torres will crack the chest, Margret will asses the damage of the tissue inside. We'll call in our head of trauma once that's over and they will assist Dr. Mitchell in his task of procuring the central nervous system and the circulatory system will be a group effort. I will make the first and last cut. Dr. Torres?"
She looks across the table at the big boned woman who's just as serious behind her mask as the chief, "Yes?"
"Would you allow Dr. Parker a chance to assist you?" She asks sternly.
Beside Dr. Callie Torres is Maggie who chooses to slide out of the way and allow the resident her spot. Dr. Parker silently thanks her with a nod of his head and takes his spot up close to the torso with Callie.
The procedure begins. He looks up to the gallery where several authoritative figures sit in waiting; eager to get a glimpse of what they're about to do. He's not nervous. He has no reason to be. Dr. Bailey is calm and so he will be.
The mans bare chest is supple. The pecks are firm, the nipples about the size of a quarter, absolutely hairless. It's kind of sexy up until the scalpel makes it's incision just below his collar bone. Like a poets pen the blade glides down leaving a thin trail of red that spills over the tight muscles along the stomach and down to the thin sheet beneath him.
"Dr. Parker, do you recognize the patient?" Asks the chief.
He clears his throat, "I'm not entirely sure I should answer that without a lawyer present.
Her eyes roll up to look at him so smoothly he feels a tingle down his spine.
"Dr. Parker you took an oath to save this man's life. Any information you may have could weigh in heavily towards a positive outcome. I'm certain you're not worried about some repercussions when so much is at steak. I'm going to ask you again; do you know this man?" She steps back from the table and drops her tool into the water basin nurse Bokie has outstretched for her.
He swallows hard, "Yes. I've seen him in the live stream I gained access too earlier this morning. I managed to hijack the main frame, shut down the operation taking place beneath Las Encinas and secure him and the other patients who just arrived through means of a few friends of mine from New York.
Dr. Callie Torres steps up and guides his hands where they need to go. He feels the bones of a rib-cage beneath his palms and finger tips and listens to her intently as she describes what's about to happen. With a strong force and quick reaction they separate the left from the right leaving all of his insides out for everyone to see.
"Friends from New York, huh?" The Chief continues, "Explain."
He doesn't see what this has to do with the surgery but continues anyway, "I was stationed out in Texas for a while under the order of J.W. Prescot. His daughter Jessie came to visit when she was a nanny for a rich family out there. I made friends with the lot of them. Occasionally I go visit the Ross kids and bring presents from the adventures I go on. Young Zuri Ross answered my call quicker than any police officer could have. She doesn't leave a paper trail either, so finding her is nearly impossible but she's great at search and rescue."
He, Callie, and the chief step out of the way allowing Dr. Margret Pierce a clear visual of the heart. Dr. Owen Hunt gets paged and Dr. Logan Mitchell prepares the field for the next part of the operation. The beeping of the monitor seems to be getting louder. The drip of the IV, the blood moving through the central line, and the hum of the over head lights blur the lines between what's happening now and the memories of the past.
The chief further questions her young resident, "What did you see on the live stream?"
The doors swing open and Owen Hunt steps into the OR with a deep rage over his features. As he accepts the blue latex gloves from the scrub nurse he looks over at Dr. Parker, "Yes, I too am very interested in hearing what happened to this young man and the fellow I just saved in OR 3? What kind of chaos has me pulling an old tape player out of someone's stomach? What Hellacious 'game' the other patients keep talking about? And, further more, why I'm in this OR right now with a resident who broke protocol, ignored orders from an outranking officer, and got to put his hands on the patient?"
"I am your chief, Owen Hunt. I outrank you and your sister. Now calm down and join us over here. You're the best man I got for trauma and I don't want to have to escort you out because your temper got the better of you. Dr. Parker, please proceed." She's as steady as the falling snow that shows no signs of stopping all around the city beyond the walls of this OR.
Dr. Parker nods, "If anyone is squeamish or easily unnerved you should leave the OR."
"If anyone is squeamish or easily unnerved they shouldn't have their hands in a patient." Says Hunt who begins his segment of the surgery with Dr. Logan Mitchell.
Flashback!
Fabian carried Nina out into the corridor. She pressed into him as she felt her world spin. An upheaval of distortion in her cognitive dissonance.
The walls are rusty here. The tunnels only seem to go deeper. Inside the room behind them is only more pain. The speakers flood their ears with the violin interpretation of Sia's Everyday is Christmas. No words. Only memories. Only psychosis.
Cat Valentine kneels down beside the burn carcass of Freddie Benson. She's far away enough to avoid the acids but close enough to see the popped collar on his button up. It isn't fair. She knows this man; he works behind the scenes on a lot of her productions. What is he even doing here? He doesn't belong in this mess. He's so kind and funny and now he's dead and she hates it.
Detective Garcia, quietly, squats down beside her.
"Carlos..." She whispers as she takes his hand into her own, "Do you think..."
He has nothing to reply. He knows what's on her mind but he has no idea how to even begin piecing that puzzle together.
When she knows she's not going to get anything out of him she says, "I stink; you're bleeding so much you could hemorrhage at any moment; those two are wounded like they just walked through a mine filed; you have that same look in your eye that you did the day Kendall's sister got hit by that car. Someone is mad at us and they have a lot of power."
"We should keep moving." He tells her.
She nods.
Together they leave the room and the memory of Freddie Benson behind. A small inclination of fear that, just like most things here, he'd be forgotten about. Of course, they were definitely mistaken. As for in this time, an ocean away, Dr. Parker and his adversaries had tapped into the feed. There was no way, so far, for audio to be transmitted but Casey had already established power over a lot of the gimmicks set in place. He only hesitated out of the fear that he'd mess something up so he continued watching as Dr. Helm documented all she could in real time; the both of them waiting for further instructions.
Where was Dr. Schmidt?
A small little voice echos in Fabian's mind as he lifts Nina's unconscious body and the three of them make their way around the bend, 'you're the gift that keeps giving, my angel for life.'
He looks down at his pregnant wife and there's a soft peace about her. She's sleeping which means, in a way, she's safe from the chaos.
Carlos takes a misstep and goes gliding down the corridor landing on his back and a hard crunch echoes through the air. He makes a rough sound and gasps for air. His eyes look up into the ugly yellow lights dangling from the ceiling that sway casting his shadow back and forth. When he looks down he sees the puddle of water that has frozen over. An ugly cut is opening on the back of his leg and a hearty amount of blood is seeping out.
Cat is at his side in a flash. The two of them look like Hunger Games finalist through the perception of the camera lens; dehydrated, matted with dried sweat and blood, bruised and confused. She helps him stand and three of our four survivors look to the red number '5'. It looks like the end of the line. This dead end is the deepest level in the building.
End flashback!
"Number five?" Asks Callie Torres, "What does that mean?"
Dr. Parker, who's now elbow deep in the bloody mess of the patient across from Dr. Hunt, looks over at her with a sad look on his face. He takes just a moment to explain that Detective Garcia had been playing this game for a while before Casey had found him. That this dreadful experience was nearing the end and the five represented the next game in the list. Fabian, Cat, and Nina were all survivors of games Carlos Garcia was forced to play. Rarely anyone makes it out of a jigsaw trap and this many victories is rare.
"I need your hand here!" Insists Dr. Owen Hunt and Dr. Parker obeys.
Chief Bailey approaches them both and says, in an almost cruel atonement, "Get to the important part, Dr. Parker. This man's life is in your actual hands."
Flashback!
The door swings open; the lights flash on; the scene rests before them.
Four individuals dangle from the ceiling. Only one of them is awake and she's recognized by two/thirds of present company. Liv Roonie is a celebrity up there with Cat Valentine. Her sister Maddie dangles beside her. The two boys in this scenerio have but one thing in common with them; they're also a set of twins.
Unlike the other survivors she chooses to speak, "You'd better have a good explanation as to what's going on here, detective Garcia or so help me God... when I'm released from this I will have your head."
"We've all been invited to play a game, Rooney. Unfortunately we all share an enemy." He answered her without hesitation.
There's a shift in the binds and our other players finally wake up. Just beyond them, high upon the wall, we find something more unnerving. The bold number '6' so kindly reminds them that this isn't over.