Longest chapter so far! 13,017 words!
- Two Weeks Later -
"Dr. Bekker, what do we got?" Connor asked as the O.R. nurses gloved him and tied his gown.
He looked at the table to see Ava operating on an older gentleman's chest.
"Meet Mr. Murphy." She introduced the patient who was heavily intubated. "Some genius in the E.D. sent him to the Cath lab with a STEMI." She spoke sarcastically as Connor approached to the table across from her. "Take a look at his aorta." She directed with her eyes.
He looked down at the open chest. "Damn, it's blue." He touched it with is gloved fingers and instrument. "Aortic dissection?" He asked regarding the surgery.
"That's what I'm afraid of." She turned her head to look at him.
"Ah..." He replied staring back.
"Where's that echo, Marty?" She asked the anesthesiologist.
"Coming up now." He turned on the machine.
Both surgeons looked at the screen to see what was going on inside.
"Yep. Type-A proximal aortic dissection." Connor confirmed then turned to face her. "This guy's in big trouble."
Ava slightly shook her head before looking back at Connor. "Diagnosis should've been made an hour ago." She shook her head again looking down at the chest. "Heart's been ischemic for too long." 'Seriously? All of this could have been avoided earlier. Who the hell was the doctor?'
"He's gonna need a Bentall procedure to repair." Connor commented looking down.
"Hope your dance's card free." She looked back at him. "I can't go it alone."
"You're in luck." He looked at her again.
They both looked back down.
"Let's put him in deep hypothermic arrest." Connor ordered.
"Let's take us down to 18 degrees." Ava ordered.
"Put the cooling wrap on his head." Connor ordered.
Marty wrapped the cooling wrap around Mr. Murphy's head.
"See if we can't save this guy's life." Said Connor as he and Ava proceeded to work.
A few hours later, during surgery, a doctor walks into the monitor room to see how things were.
It was Noah Sexton, the new E.D. Emergency Medicine resident and rookie doctor.
"Suction, please." Ava ordered after finishing up her stitches.
Noah nervously looked up at the large monitor screen to see how things were going. His mouth was gapped open then turned to face the mirror and leaned down to turn on the mic to talk.
"Dr. Rhodes, how's he looking?" He asked.
Connor slightly turned his head to the left to glance at Noah.
Ava turned her head to look at the young doctor. "Your patient, Doctor?" She asked.
Noah had a slight regretful look on his face before leaning down to press the mic button again. "Yeah." He spoke softly.
'A resident? That makes sense now How am I not surprised,' Ava mentally rolled her eyes. "Brilliant." She spoke in a soft sarcastic tone and slightly shaking her head before going back to her work.
Connor slightly stared at her, shooting her a soft glare.
'Give the kid a break, he's still new at this.' He thought to himself before focusing back to the surgery.
"Repairs to the heart are complete." Both exchanged instruments with the nurses.
"Let's wean him off pump." Ava ordered.
Noah looked at the monitor screen with a sorrow look.
"Cutting to two liters." Said of the doctors.
"All right..." Said Connor.
Everyone looked at the screens.
"He's tolerating it." Connor nodded.
"Take him off pump." Ava looked down at the heart as she ordered it.
Connor pulled his left hand away from the heart but left his right hand nearby.
"Off pump." Said Marty.
The heart started to move, then the machines started to beep rapidly.
"Damn it, right heart failure." Ava switched tools with one of the nurses.
"Yeah, heart's ballooning." Said Connor.
"Echo confirms." Marty confirmed.
"Mean arterial pressure's down to 30. He's crash." Said Connor.
"Put him back on pump." Ava ordered.
"I'm on it." Marty replied.
Noah could only stare at the situation that was going on. Something that could have been prevented if he correctly diagnosed his patient. Without thinking, he leaned down to press the mic button again. "He had all the symptoms of a heart attack."
No one in the O.R. was listening to him.
"Marty, where are we at with drugs?" Connor asked.
"He's maxed out on everything: Dopamine, dobutamine, milrinone."
"All right, let's add epi. Up inhaled nitric to 20." Connor ordered looking at the monitors.
"And two amps back on bicarb." Ava ordered looking at the monitors.
"He's severely male fused. You're gonna kill his organs." He looked at her with confusion with her plan.
"I'm aware, Dr. Rhodes." She turned to face him, knowing it was a bad idea.
"Is this why you brought me in? So, I could share in your disaster?" He slightly glared at her.
Ava gave him a look and furrowed her eyebrows.
Noah continued to stare in sorrow at the mess he caused.
About an hour and half has passed by and things were looking better than they were earlier.
"Mean arterial pressure is 53, 58... 65." Connor observed the monitor. "It's coming up." He looked back down at the chest.
"Bypass." He and Ava both placed their instruments by the tubes. " Now." They both clamped it.
"We're still giving blood products?" Ava asked.
"No." One of the team members spoke.
"How 'bout meds?" Connor asked.
"He's still on maximal support, but his urine output has improved." Said Marty.
The two of them looked at the screens.
"Profusion's improving." Connor commented.
"I think he's stable enough to decannulate." Said Ava.
"I agree." Connor looked at her then cranked his head around to look at Noah and give him the thumbs up. "He's looking good."
"Great." Noah spoke into the mic.
"No thanks to you." Ava glared at him through the glass.
Noah looked regretful.
'Yep. I can still definitely see Dr. Jaffrey's influence in you.' Connor gave Ava a stern look. "Let's just close him up."
Ava looked at him at the corners of her eyes. They made a brief eye contact before Connor looked down to start closing the chest.
Mr. Murphy was placed in the recovery room as the nurse was checking his lungs with both CT surgeons watching over him back in their scrubs and Ava back in her white coat.
"BP's stable." Connor looked at the monitor.
"Let's start titrating down the epinephrine." Ava ordered the nurse who nodded.
Connor and Ava started to walk towards the exit.
"Nice job." Connor complimented her as he opened the door for her.
Outside the room was the main area of the CT floor and a young nervous resident doctor was waiting for them as he was pacing. Once he saw them, he started to walk towards them, then briefly stopped when he was in the same pathway as Dr. Bekker and paused to step aside to walk pass her. She turned her head to look at him with annoyance written on her face.
"How could I have missed it?" Noah asked Connor as he stood by him, shoulder to shoulder.
Connor was listening to Noah but was also observing Ava knowing she's mad at Noah. She walked further ahead.
"I did a chest X-ray and an EKG..." Noah continued.
"Neither of which showed the aortic dissection." Connor softly sighed as they approached the counter at the nurses' workstation. "Look, every indication was that the guy was having a heart attack."
Ava approached one of the computers and stared at Noah in annoyance.
"What if I had just done a... a bedside echo?" Noah rambled.
"Why?" Connor asked. "Look, you thought your priority was to get him to the Cath lab."
Noah had a regretful look on his face. "But that was wrong." He spoke softly.
Ava didn't move a single bone in her body, but her eyes rolled up to glare at him.
"Look... we're all taught to see things a certain way, and most of the time, that works, just... not all of the time. It is a very, very hard thing to see past our assumptions. Believe me, I'm still learning." Connor patted Noah's shoulder to comfort him more with his words before walking away.
Noah stared at him walking away.
Ava, who was listening to the entire conversation, stopped what she was doing to look at Connor at the corner of her eye, then turned her head to watch him walk away.
The corners of her lips curved slightly.
'You would make a good mentor for the med students.'
A few hours later, Connor and Ava were in the surgeon's lounge, nearing the end of their shift. Connor was drinking from a mug while Ava was looking through a medical journal while sitting on the bed.
"You were throwing in some beautiful stitches back there." He complimented her to break their long silence. He turned to look at her. Her eyes rolled up to look at him. They made eye contact. "Fast." He continued.
Ava slightly nodded, accepting his words. "No, you moved right with me. Spot-on with the craft." She countered.
"Thanks." He muttered taking another sip from his mug.
Ava closed the journal and placed it back onto some grey table.
"You know Connor, you would make a great mentor to the med students and new resident doc that come here." She continued to compliment him. "How you were with that doctor, you're a natural. I'm impress."
"Oh that." He looked at her at the corner of his eye. "Noah's been having a hard time lately. He's been a lot. Just recently a few weeks ago he lost his first patient. 16-year-old boy, Car accident. He got beat up by the kid's older brother. I had to step in to save him."
Ava nodded listening. "All I'm hearing is he still has a lot to learn to get where we're at." She stared at him. "Of course, I don't see him become a surgeon, let alone CT."
Connor shrugged his shoulders. "You may never know. The future holds many mysterious." He looked away, not catching Ava staring deeply at him.
The door opened revealing to be Dr. Latham. "Ah..."
The two CT fellows stood up from their seats.
"Aortic dissection. Very often fatal. Mazel tov to you both." He complimented them.
"Thank you." Ava thanked him.
The older man looked between the two. "I emailed you a case: a conjoined twin. We plan to separate them in about a month. It's going to be a long and difficult procedure, involving several departments. I am putting together our team."
"I look forward to it." Ava replied.
"Actually, I haven't decided which of my fellows I'm going to include, but I wanted everyone to a au courant." He stated.
The two fellows took in his words at what he meant.
Only one of them could be on the team.
"Sure." Connor spoke.
"Hm." Latham replied. He was about to turn to leave but stopped and looking at them. "You know, we often say mazel tov as an offer of congratulations, but it literally means "good luck"." He gave them one last look before closing the door behind him as he left.
The two surgeons were left to absorb everything that just happened. Connor walked pass Ava to walk towards the refrigerator.
"It sounds like he's only going to bring on one of us." She turned her body to look at him.
"Yeah." He opened the fridge. "You shouldn't have invited me into the aortic dissection. You could have grabbed all the glory for yourself." He scanned it quickly before closing it. "Gotten a leg up." He walked around her and towards the table to tidy it up.
"That's what I get for hedging my bet." She rubbed the back of her neck
"Yeah, it's better to go all-in... sometimes." Connor picked up his stethoscope, putting it in his pocket, and his small notebook. Opening his locker and putting it on the second shelf then adjusted his stuff by moving things around.
Ava bit her lower lip. "So...which of your myriad girlfriends isn't getting Dr. Rhodes tonight?" She joked.
Connor chuckled. "We're back to your jealous talking again." He mocked taking out his phone to check if he missed any messages.
"Oh please~. This again." She walked closer to stand right behind him.
"Well~ you're the only one that keeps talking about it. You don't see me asking you about your love life."
Ava just smiled staring at him for 10 seconds before speaking. "For a one-woman type of guy, you don't seem to be looking around."
"Well, I rather just wait." He spoke softly.
"For what?"
"For the right partner...I guess." He said sincerely then turned around to look at her. "You?"
"I guess I've been too busy competing with you that I haven't been looking." She locked eyes with him. "It's just you." She said sincerely.
They didn't realize they were standing really close to one another. Almost as close as they were in the elevator in Rock Island.
They stayed silent but kept staring at one another. Didn't know what else to say. The presence was just like the elevator in Rock Island. Both could feel their hearts beating faster as the silence grew.
Standing this close, he could smell her perfume.
'Hm. Her perfume... it seems like lilacs.'
And she could smell his aftershave.
'He really does smell like a man.'
With their minds they could see what was going on, it was like they were watching themselves.
They weren't in control of their bodies.
Their necks...
and their heads...
started to lean closer to one another...
"Dr. Rhodes!" A nurse burst through the doors loudly, causing both surgeons to fully realize what they were doing and quickly backed away from one another before the nurse could comprehend what was going on.
"Yes! Belinda!" Connor quickly fixed himself.
Ava turned around to prevent the two from seeing her warm flushed face. She held her warm red cheeks in her hands. '...I-We...we were... about...to...kiss?!'
"You're needed in the ED, Dr. Halstead paged you." Said the Charge Nurse, completely unaware what just happened in the room a few moments ago.
"Yeah...okay. I'll be right there now." Connor nodded as the older woman left. He turned his head to look back the woman he was about to kiss who was still not looking at him.
"Ava I..." He started to speak till Ava turned around, her hands back down to her sides.
"Let's just forget what just happened in the last 60 seconds shall we. We just got lost in the moment." She shook it off with her right hand. "Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Joe Murphy. You better get down there, Connor." Ava put on a fake reassuring grin for him as she quickly walked out of the room.
"Yeah..." He spoke softly, almost in a sad tone.
'Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! What the hell did I just do in there!?' Ava scolded herself as she buried her face in her hands in an empty room so no one could see her like this.
Most of the hospital saw her as Cruella de Vil...
…so, who was she now, if she was acting like this!?
- The Next Day -
"I thought you were working trauma tomorrow?" Will asked seeing Connor putting away his stuff in the ED's doctor's lounge.
"I-uh, checked with Latham and he said things should be slow in CT, so I'm here." Connor answered quickly as he took off his coat.
"Okay then. Glad you're with us today then, buddy." Will walked around him and patted his shoulder as he took off his messenger bag and coat. "It's been a while since you've been down here. We really do miss you."
"Yeah well, life of a surgeon." Connor turned to his right to look at him. "You used to be a surgeon as I recalled."
"Yeah, well, I'm happy with the way things are now. Besides, you're better off being the face of surgery here anyway, hotshot." Will joked giving Connor one last pat on his back before heading out into the main floor.
Once he was left alone, Connor deeply sighed. The truth was, he asked Latham if he could be on trauma service a day early because of what happened last night between him and Ava. They almost kissed and hasn't see each other since. Once Connor came back onto the CT floor after being called to the ED, Ava had already left to go home. When he got to work today, he immediately went up to Latham's office and asked to be on trauma for the day and comeback to CT tomorrow. He didn't question why, in fact he thought it would be a good idea to give him a break for a day from CT. Luckily for him, by the time he got to the elevator, Ava had already entered the surgeon's lounge once she arrived onto the floor. At the corner of his eye, he saw that she noticed him and quickly went into the room. Most likely she was avoiding him. He understood it, even he thought they should give each other some space, at least for 24 hours.
The hope is he doesn't get very serious cases that would require him to page her for help.
He was dead wrong.
He was told from paramedics that his lung's patient was coming in,
and was told that Dr. Bekker would be assisting him.
"So much for avoiding the other.'" Connor muttered softly walking towards the walk-in entrance and catching a glimpse of Ava coming out from the elevator dressed in her usual scrubs and white coat and was gloved up as well.
There was one big difference with her look for today.
Usually her hair was tied up in a different way or was kept straight.
This time, it was wavy and had some curls to it. And was a little shorter, it seemed.
'She looks hotter with her hair like this.' Connor stared at her in awe.
Ava turned to his direction and locked eyes with him. They both froze a brief second recalling the events that took place last night, then quickly shook it off and headed towards the walk-in entrance. Their jobs as doctors always comes first before personal lives.
"Courtney?" Connor asked picking up his speed as the paramedics arrived. Two paramedics appeared through the doors with a young African American boy on a gurney with his parents trailing behind them.
"I've got Luke Wallis." Paramedic Courtney started talking, Connor walked towards the gurney. "Cystic Fibrosis. No Breath sounds on the right. Tachycardic with BP 122 over 66." Ava walked towards the gurney. "Satting at 86." She finished.
"Oh, I know Luke. How you doing, buddy?" Connor turned his head to look at the boy.
"Been better." Luke spoke in a hoarse voice.
"He was just watching TV, and then suddenly, he couldn't breathe." Said Mrs. Wallis.
"Get a stat chest X-ray." Connor ordered a nearby nurse.
"Make it a CT." Ava added. The male nurse nodded and left.
"And get more information." She looked at Connor as they pushed the gurney into an empty treatment room.
"On my count, one, two, three." Said Connor as they lifted the boy onto the bed. "There we go." The paramedics took the gurney and left the room.
Connor putted on his stethoscope to check Luke's breathing.
Luke looked like he was having a hard time trying to breath. Ava took notice of this and turned to look at his parents. "Has his lung function been getting worse?"
"He's been in the ICU three times in the last five months." Said Mrs. Wallis.
"Yeah, Dr. Rhodes has him at the top of the transplant list for lungs, but so far, nothing." Said Mr. Wallis.
Connor and Ava glanced at each other.
"He's got a pneumothorax on the right," Connor took off his stethoscope "significant rale son the left. Set me up for a 16 French chest tube."
"That's a little invasive. We can use a pigtail catheter." Ava slightly furrowed her eyebrows in concern with his choice.
"His lungs are too stiff. He's needs a tube." Connor stared at her.
"Which will only cause additional trauma." Ava countered.
"It's bad, isn't it." Luke spoke softly as they shifted the bed to go low. The skin surrounding his eyes looked pinkish and pale and his forehead looked paler.
Connor slightly nodded and looked down at the boy. "The collapsed lung means that your lungs are so scarred that they can't hold together, so..." He took a quick glance at Ava then turned his head back to look at the parents, then back at Luke. "Yeah, buddy, it's bad."
Ava placed her right hand behind Luke's head as he looked at Connor.
"Look, as soon as we get your lung re-inflated, I'm gonna sit down with you and your mom and your dad," He glanced back at them again. "and we're gonna talk about what comes next, okay?" Connor had a sincere look on his face as he spoke.
Luke took a quick glance at Ava who was carefully staring at Connor.
"Chest tube, 16 French. Lidocaine?" Connor ordered.
A nurse handed him a needle.
"All right, buddy you're gonna feel a little pinch," They rolled up the right side of his shirt up to his chest. "followed by some pressure, okay?" Connor placed his left hand on the right side of Luke's chest, a nurse placed her left hand by his right shoulder and Ava kept her hand behind the left side of his head and her left hand was supporting his waist. Connor slowly injected the needed in Luke's chest.
"Agh!" He slightly jolted by the pressure. Ava added some pressure in her hand behind his head for support.
"There you go, buddy." Connor spoke softly.
Mrs. Wallis turned around to hide her face in her husband's chest from seeing her son in pain.
"You're okay, you're okay." Connor spoke softly to comfort him. "You're doing great, pal."
Ava had a sincere look on her face watching Connor comfort the boy with care.
'Has Connor always been this caring towards his patients?' She admired him.
"I have good news." Ava walked into the room with a grin on her face. "They found a pair of lungs in Kansas that are a perfect match. We're loading them onto a plane now."
"Oh, my god." Mrs. Wallis smiled.
"You hear that, Luke?" Mr. Wallis smiled.
"This is good news, buddy." Connor grinned looking at the boy before looking up at the parents. "Uh, I am gonna have a conversation with Dr. Bekker, and I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Connor proceeded to walk out of the room as Ava grinned at the parents before exiting out first.
She looked back at him as he exited. "I'll start the transplant protocol."
"Hold on." Connor spoke causing Ava to turn around to see he had a grim look on his face. "We need to put him on ECMO."
"What?" Ava spoke with a confuse look and tone.
"He's satting in the 80s and wearing down. His respiratory muscles are going to give out." He explained.
"But ECMO could introduce an infection. It's a partial contraindication to surgery." She pointed out.
"And Kansas is a two-hour flight. We have to keep him oxygenated till the lungs get here." He explained.
"Those lungs only last four hours. If anything goes wrong before they get here, and he's stuck on ECMO, we may not be able to get him off." She pointed out in more detail. "He could die."
Connor just stared at her. "Then we make sure that nothing goes wrong." He said with a determine look on his face before walking pass her.
Ava was left frozen with her mouth gapped open for a few seconds before turning to the side.
"Dr. Rhodes?" Mrs. Wallis asked as Connor had his stethoscope on, listening to Luke's chest as he was intubated.
Ava walked into the ICU room with a frown on her face as she handed him a tablet with Luke's test results. Connor looked down and frowned as well.
The parents watched as the doctors shared unsetting looking with each other.
"What's wrong?" Mr. Wallis sensed the tense atmosphere.
They were silent for a few seconds before Connor started to speak. "Luke's LFTs are rising." He looked at her then at the parents.
"What... what does that mean?" Mr. Wallis asked.
"It indicates that he might be in early liver failure. Unfortunately, if it progresses, it could prevent him from getting the lungs." He replied.
"Prevent him?" Mrs. Wallis asked.
"Fortunately, we can still get him off the ECMO, while we try to reverse this trend." Ava explained her way.
"However, if we take him off of ECMO now," Connor took a quick look at Ava then directed his focus to the parents "it decreases the odds that he survives until the lungs get here." Connor explained his way.
Mrs. Wallis crossed her fingers together then released them, "I don't understand. Can't you agree on what to do?" She looked between the two.
Clearly, the two surgeons have their own way on how they want to deal with the situation.
"It's not a black and white situation." Said Ava.
Mrs. Wallis looked over at her husband who looked at her with the same concern look on her face. He turned his head to look at Connor.
"Uh, you've been treating him, Dr. Rhodes." He spoke softly. "What should we do?" He asked.
Connor silently looked at the parents. "We should keep him on the ECMO."
Ava mentally sighed with his decision and frowned looking down.
"It's still our best chance that he gets those lungs." He finished.
The parents nodded and looked at each other. "Okay." Said Mrs. Wallis.
"Yes. That's what we'll do." Mr. Wallis spoke softly.
"All right." Connor whispered softly as he walked pass the parents to exit the room.
Ava took a short look at the parents before exiting the room and marching straight after Connor. "You're being completely irresponsible."
Connor turned around to face her. "That kid is going to die if he doesn't get new lungs."
"Only if your ECMO doesn't kill him first. He's a snowball rolling down a hill, and this is our last chance to stop it." She tried to convince him to change his mind.
Connor stayed silent and avoided trying to make eye contact with her.
Ava just stared at him with disappointment in her eyes before walking pass him.
Connor frowned as she left.
"I need a doctor in here." The perfusionist Roy Bellino called out the room as the monitors started beeping.
"Help him!" Mrs. Wallis called out.
Connor and Ava quickly rushed back into the room along with Nurse Dina.
The doctors stood on both sides of the bed. Ava touched Luke's face and lean down close to see blood was coming out of his left nostril. "He's coagulopathic." Ava looked up at Connor.
"What does that mean?" Mr. Wallis asked.
Connor looked back at them. "The combination of his poor liver function and the anticoagulants that we gave him has disrupted his ability to clot."
"Hang a bag of heparin." Ava stared at him.
"We thinned his blood for the ECMO, we had to, but his liver is failing more quickly than we expected."
Ava frowned at his explanation.
"You did this, so take him off that machine!" Mrs. Wallis raised her voice.
"I am afraid that it is too late for that." Said Connor.
"Too late?" Mrs. Wallis widen her eyes at his words. She looked over at her husband who was sporting the same look.
"Heparin's running." Said Nurse Dina. Ava nodded.
"We're gonna try and reverse the bleeding now." Connor looked at the parents then back at the perfusionist. "Run the plasma now." He ordered.
Ava frowned at his words and quickly turned her head around to face the perfusionist. "Hold on that." He stopped on her commands. She looked back at Connor, who looked back at her after hearing her words. She nudged her head to the side, signaling to talk alone in private. The two walked outside the room.
Everyone in the room watched them leave.
"Wait..." Mr. Wallis spoke softly as they left. His wife walked closer to the bed.
Outside the room, Connor followed Ava till she turned around to face him. "A transfusion is going to increase his antibody count. His PRA's already at 50. If it hits 80, we can't use those lungs." She explained how bad the situation was.
"You think I don't know that? We don't have a choice." He replied calmly.
"We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't insisted on ECMO in the first place." She pointed out.
"You keep pointing out problems. What I need are solutions so if you don't have any, just... just get out of my way, okay?" He slightly raised his voice and shook his head.
Ava just shook her head and frowned.
"Hang the bags." Connor ordered as he walked back in the room and stood at the foot of the bed.
Roy proceeded to hang the bags as told.
Everyone carefully watched to see what would happen next.
Ava stood outside the room looking at Connor for what he's done. 'You better hope this works, Rhodes.'
Sometime later, Ava walked back into Luke's room to check on him. She turned to leave, taking a quick glance at the parents.
"Dr. Bekker." Mrs. Wallis called her.
She stopped to turn to face them, taking two steps closer.
"You disagree with Dr. Rhodes' treatment, don't you?" He asked. They both looked at her with worry.
Ava blinked and paused for a brief second. "It's a complicated situation." Deep down, she knows Connor is doing what he believes to be best. Even though in the past they used to be bitter rivals to one another, then eventually became friends, and where they stand now, especially all these new feelings she's been having lately...
She knows in her heart that Connor Rhodes is a good doctor.
"Okay." He nodded.
Ava looked at Luke in sorrow. "I know... how hard it must be" she took a few steps forward towards them, "watching him go through this."
Mrs. Wallis nodded. "It is...And it has been for 12 years."
"We tried everything: Modulator therapies, clinical trials. It was all we ever thought about, but nothing ever worked. After a while, we just wanted to let Luke be a kid, while he still had the chance." He paused. "But now, I'm..." He paused again, this caused Ava to walk closer them. "Maybe there was more we could've done."
"Did we just let our little boy die?" Mrs. Wallis asked.
Ava shook her head, walked in front of them and kneeled to the ground, placing her right hand on the side of the couch they were sitting on. "There are no right answers with Cystic Fibrosis."
Mrs. Wallis' eyes became watery.
"It's relentless and impervious to whatever we throw at it." Ava looked at them both and focused her attention to Mrs. Wallis. "But every decision you made for you son, you made out of love... " She spoke with a sincere emotional look on her face.
It was also at that moment when Connor walked back and saw Ava talking to them. He walked closer to hear.
"And I believe that whenever you do something out of love, it can never really be wrong." She finished.
Mrs. Wallis turned to cry in her husband's embrace.
Ava stood up, turned to leave and saw Connor standing outside of the room watching them, watching her.
They made eye contact for a moment till Ava broke it by shifting her eyes downward towards the floor and awkwardly walked away.
Connor's eyes followed her as she left.
'I've never seen Ava ever acted that soft before. To anyone.'
Some time has passed by. Connor was checking how Luke was when Ava walked in the room.
"I just got the call. The lungs are ten minutes out." Ava's eyes were wide open as she approached him.
"His cardiac output is down, urine too. He's in multi-organ failure." Connor turned to head to the left to look at her with a frown on his face.
"BP's 90 over 50." She spoke softly. "He's not going to be stable enough for surgery." Her eyes went from the monitor to stare at Connor.
"This doesn't make any sense. Cystic fibrosis is a chronic disease. This is all happening too fast." He looked at the monitor.
"Only since you put him on the ECMO." Ava pointed out.
Connor turned his head to look at her. "These are symptoms of under-perfusion. It shouldn't happen on ECMO." He pointed out.
Ava took in his words and realized that he was right. Something else was off.
==Flashback==
"You keep pointing out problems. What I need are solutions so if you don't have any, just... just get out of my way, okay?"
==Flashback Ends==
'He's right. All I've been doing is pointing out the errors in his treatment decisions, not providing any solutions for the reason for any of it.'
She thought carefully of any possible reasoning for everything that has happened, then realized something they haven't considered yet.
"Unless the problem is with the ECMO itself."
They both stared at each other once those words left her mouth.
Connor turned around towards the ECMO machine and the perfusionist. "Let me see your readings." Ava followed him. They both stood to look at the machine as Roy stepped back. The two carefully looked at the readings and instantly saw there was something wrong.
"The flow rate's too slow. How long's it been at 2.6?" Connor asked.
"Couple hours." Roy replied.
"Did you interrogate the line? Ava said in a concern tone.
"Yeah, it was clean." Roy explained, not sure what was the issue.
The surgeons both turned their attention towards the bags.
"You think it's the oxygenator?" Ava started moving towards the bags in front of them.
"Let's find out." Connor followed suit.
"His stats are gonna drop. We gotta do this fast." Ava grabbed an instrument from the rack then turned to face Nurse Dina who was standing by a machine. "Turn the FiO2 up to 100." The nurse did as instruct. Ava turned her head to look at the perfusionist. "Shut down ECMO." She kneeled next to Connor who was working to fix the problem.
"What? You're turning it off? I thought it was keeping him alive." Mr. Wallis exclaimed.
"Sats are down to 80." Said Nurse Dina.
"We think there might be a clot in the oxygenator." Connor stood up to grab something from the side.
Ava turned to face the parents. "That would impede the blood flow enough to cause his organs to fail." She turned back to face Connor who handed her an instrument.
"75." Said Nurse Dina.
The parents watched as the doctors worked.
"Set." Said Connor.
"Set." Said Ava who inserted the instrument to connect to the tubes. With it she was able to find and take out the clot. "Got it." She looked up at Connor.
Connor turned to face the parents. "It must've happened when we hung the plasma." He looked back down at his work then back at Roy. "ECMO back on." He ordered.
The doctors putted the instruments back, Connor quickly moved to look at the readings again. "Flow rate's at 4." Ava finished putting back the instruments and turned to check Luke.
The parents watched in concern.
"Sats are coming back up. 83..." Nurse Dina was nodding. Ava breathed. "85..."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Mr. Wallis asked.
Connor slowly took a few steps towards them. "He's getting oxygen back to his organs. That failure should be reversible."
"Oh, thank God." Mrs. Wallis sighed, along with her husband.
It was at that moment when the ICU Charge Nurse walked in front of the room. "Dr. Rhodes, Dr. Bekker..." The two turned to look at her "the lungs are here."
"All right, let's get him upstairs. Come on." Connor ordered. Ava, Roy and the nurses started to move.
"You can still do the transplant?" Mrs. Wallis asked.
"Yes." Connor nodded.
"Oh!" Mrs. Wallis covered her mouth in happiest and turned to face her husband who was also happy.
"It's okay." Mr. Wallis said softly.
"Come on!" Said Connor as more workers got inside and everyone got on one side of the bed and disconnected some tubes.
"All right, let's go." Ava declared. Her and Connor stood at the foot of the bed.
Luke was now laid on the table in the O.R. as the doctors and nurses were in the middle of detaching his old lungs.
"Pulmonary artery is cut." Said Connor.
"Left lung if free." Said Ava.
"Yep." Connor handed a nurse an instrument and placed his hands on the lungs. Ava's were by the heart. "Lungs are coming out. Keep the heart elevated." Ava held the heart up so Connor could carefully take out the damaged lungs. "Okay. Alright." He spoke softly. Once they were out, he placed them in a metal tray bowl that one of the nurses held out for him. The other nurse standing next to him handed him a tray that contained the donor lungs. Connor took hold of them and placed them inside the chest. "Let's sew these new lungs in. Dr. Bekker's gonna take the lead."
His words surprised her. "Me?" She asked as her eyes shifted up to look at him.
"Yes." He replied.
"But he's your patient." She reminded him.
"You are the better choice." He looked up.
Their conversation caught the attention of the people in the room.
"Why would you say that?" She was confused. "You've been fighting me tooth and nail all day." She reminded him.
Connor paused for a moment to stare deeply in her eyes. "You told Dr. Latham and I that we're a team. And this is a teamwork effort, I had forgotten that earlier. And it was because of you that we managed to save the kid's organs before they died out. And right now, your hands are smaller. It'll be easier for you to work in the confined space than me. Also, you are an excellent surgeon." He admitted.
The two stared at each other in silent for a few seconds.
"All right." Ava looked down at the chest then towards one of the nurses. "Stitch?" The nurse handed her two instruments.
The surgery was successful in the end. Luke was in the recovery room with his parents. He was up and alerted, but also a little groggy. Ava was back in her white coat and black scrubs. She stood on Luke's left side, checking his breathing with his new lungs. She took off her stethoscope hearing the door behind her open. Revealing to be Connor.
"Hey, hey." He said walking towards them. The parents smiled seeing him. They were standing on the right side of the bed. Connor stood next to Ava. She placed her stethoscope around her neck. "How's it going, bud? How's it feel?" He asked.
"Sore, but good." He sounded exhausted but he nodded to assure the doctors that he was okay.
"Good." Said Connor. He and Ava smiled. "Well, don't go anywhere, okay?" Ava turned her head to her left to look at him. Luke nodded. "I'm gonna be back to check on you in just a little bit."
The parents smiled at him then back at their son. Mrs. Wallis careless her son's head.
Connor and Ava walked out the room, Connor held the door for her to exit first.
"I have to admit, your way worked." She looked back to face him as they walked. "You got him to the finish line."
"I think we both know that I couldn't have done this without you. I did admit that in the O.R. didn't I." He sighed softly then looked to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry for how I treated you today during all of this." They stopped walking, she turned to face him. "I had to do what I thought best for my patient. This isn't the first time I've done something like this in the past."
Ava looked up at the ceiling to think. "After today, and the times I've worked with you in the last couple of months, I'm not surprised." She directed her attention to his face. "You can be such a cowboy sometimes." She smirked.
He smiled at her, admiring her new look. "Say, uh..." Ava was about to turn away till he started to talk again. She looked at him expectantly. "You did your hair differently today. It's new and refreshing." An awkward smile appeared on his lips. "Is there a reason why?"
A small grin appeared on her face. She directed her eyes downward and tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear. "Oh, I just thought I should curl my hair now. I didn't do it much before cause it involves waking up a little earlier in the mornings, but... I like it." Ava slightly blushed.
"Yeah, so do I." He smiled.
"Also, um," she bit her lower lip "I heard from Latham this morning that you asked to be on trauma today?" A curious look appeared in her eyes.
"Uh, yeah." He paused. "I just... didn't want things to be awkward between us. After last night." He thought back to how close she stood next to him. The look in her eyes. Something he never seen before in a woman's eye. "I just thought you would have like to have some space between us, for a day?"
"Right, right." She breathed and tried to put on a reassuring smile. "I didn't want things to be awkward between us either." She nodded. "Thank you for thinking about my feelings." She gave him a timid smile. "See you tomorrow up here?" She said softly.
"Yeah." He gave her a sincere look.
Connor watched Ava walk pass him. His eyes continue to watch her till she disappears behind a corner.
He thinks back to the first day they met and how much they've come since then. Her cruel, abrasive, strict, ruthless sharp-tongued attitude she was before has changed over time to be more friendly, playful and nice. Mostly to him at least. Some other doctors tend to hit a nerve at Ava. To them, she was Cruella de Vil. To Connor, she was just Ava Bekker. Part of the reason why was because Connor was the only one in the hospital who has seen different sides to Ava. He saw how vulnerable she was after Dr. Jaffrey scolded her and made her cry. She trusted him enough to tell him how she lost her family and her past events and memories; leading to where she is today. They both still saw each other as rivals, but also friends at the same time. To her, he was her only friend in Chicago and…maybe something more than that? Especially since things have changed between them since Rock Island. Their moment in the elevator. Him walking her to her hotel room. And that almost kiss that happened last night….
Connor doesn't know how Ava sees him now after these last couple of months, but after today, seeing how compassionate, sincere and heartfelt she was to Luke and his parents….
Connor knows that he has fallen heads over heels with the South African doctor.
- One Week Later -
In the O.R., a freshly cut heart laid in a blue plastic tray on a table and standing in front of it was two surgeons operating on a man.
"Another 3-0 Prolene." Ava asked the nurse next her.
"Here." The nurses it to the doctor to finish the stitch.
Ava leaned down to stare at the patient. "Homestretch, Peter. Just finishing up the aortic connection. Then we'll start you back up." She looked back down at her work.
"Talking to the patient while they're out, that's a new one." Connor handed a nurse an instrument as he stared across at her. She made eye contact with him. "It' a new touch."
"Actually, not new." She looked down then back up. "Just the first time you've noticed." She looked back down. "Thought I'd made more of an impression on you."
"The way you can turn a compliment into a dig, it's quite the skill, Dr. Bekker." He stared at her.
"Don't be so sensitive, Dr. Rhodes." She responded.
Connor looked down at the chest, seeing that she finished.
"Okay, donor heart is fully attached." She looked up.
"All right." Said Connor.
"Let's get the pacer leads on." Ava instructed.
"Yes, doctor." A nurse handed Connor a device.
"100 beats per minute, Marty." He handed him the device once he connected it to the heart.
"We're set." Marty responded.
"Okay then, turn it on." Ava instructed. Marty turned it on, and the heart started to beat. "Excellent contractility in the left and right ventricles." She used an instrument to get a closer look. "No distension."
"Healthy color." Connor commented. "Take off bypass?"
Ava took a quick look across at him then turned to her left to look at her patient. "Looks like this one's going to take, Peter." She looked back at the chest.
Connor looked at her. "There's no better sight, is there, Dr. Bekker?"
"Can't argue with that." Ava looked up at him.
They stared at each other, talking with their eyes, they could tell that the one was smiling... Unfortunately, that happy moment didn't last long. A few seconds later when they both looked down, the heart slowly started to turn blue. The monitors started beeping rapidly.
"No, no, no!" Ava exclaimed.
"Losing color. It's cyanotic." Connor observed.
"Global contractility's way down. Left and right ventricles severely distended." Ava observed.
"Hyperacute rejection." Connor held his hand out towards the nurses. "Donor heart's failing. We need to get it out now." He looked at her.
Ava sighed. "Damn it. Okay, back on bypass." Ava nodded her head towards Marty. He turned the machine back on. Ava clamped a tube connected to the heart.
The two doctors quickly started to work. Taking a quick moment to look at one another. Their eyes filled with worry.
About an hour in a half later they took out the donor heart out and the two surgeons left the O.R. to think while the team kept Peter stable till, they got back.
Ava exited out of the O.R. first with Connor right behind her. "Okay, Peter obviously goes back on the transplant list, but for right now, I only see two options: ECOMO or an artificial heart." The two walked turned a corner to the left, heading towards the surgical waiting area, also known as the main CT floor.
"ECMO's quick and easy. Peter's on bypass, so the cannulas are already in place." Said Connor.
"Downside, he'd be confined to the ICU and likely intubated. I'm leaning artificial." Ava looked at him.
"That is a huge surgery." Connor walked in front of her to stop and talk. "Peter's already been on the table for over four hours. The risk of complications, especially stroke?"
"But if all goes well, he could get out of bed, walk around, maybe even go home."
Connor took in her words.
"Peter waited a year for his first donor heart, two and a half for the one that just failed." She slightly shook her head. "There's no telling how long the next will take."
"Then I guess you really only have one option." She convinced him. The two stared at one another for a few seconds till Ava caught an older pale skinned woman with blonde hair in a bob cut staring at them.
"It's Peter's wife, Jane." She slightly shook her head and looked down. "Not the post-op conversation I was hoping for." She looked back at his face.
"Dr. Rhodes," Connor turned his head hearing Nurse Beth's voice. "Dr. Halstead called from the E.D." she handed him a note, "while you were in surgery, asked that you find him the moment you're free." He looked down at the note. "Thank you." He looked at the Asian nurse.
"Mm." She nodded and left the two.
"It's Dan Kennet, my giant-cell myocarditis patient." He looked at her and sighed. "He's back."
"Go. I've got this." She assured looking at him that she can handle it alone.
"All right." He whispered and walked past her.
Ava putted on a straight face as she walked towards his patient's wife.
A few hours later, Connor transported his patient to the ICU.
"So, I took a second look at your echo, and I wanna start you on dexamethasone. It's another anti-inflammatory." Said Connor.
"Whatever you think is best, do it." Dan looked at him.
Connor patted his shoulder and walked out the room. In front of the room, he saw Ava and the team transporting her patient across the ICU.
"How'd it go?" He asked her.
"Surgery went well." Ava let go of the bed to stop and talk with him while the team took the patient away. "Peter's artificial heart is in." Connor stand down in a chair at a table while Ava leaned next to him against a glass window. "Let's hope it lasts until a donor heart becomes available."
"Peter's status one on the transplant list." He looked at her then away. "He's got a chance." She nodded then looked back at him. "My patient, Dan, he's status two. I am waiting for a call that's probably never gonna come." He looked back at her.
"GCM's brutal but not usually discovered until autopsy. You're way ahead of it." She comforted him.
"I was." He looked back and forth. "Now I'm just playing catch-up."
The two stared at each other.
It was in that exact moment in the ED when paramedics brought in a 23-year-old male motorcyclist who crashed without wearing a helmet.
"You know what they call a motorcyclist riding without a helmet, don't you? An organ donor." Said Dr. Stohl.
Ava was in Peter's room, which was next door to Dan's room. She was seeing how he was doing. Connor was sitting at the table outside his patient's room. He turned his head towards his left, hearing some noise. It was Dr. Stohl, and two nurses and a man and woman pushing a patient's bed with a young man in it. He was intubated. They walked pass Connor but was close enough for him to hear. They stopped walking.
"Take as much time with your son as you need. When you're ready, someone will come speak with you about organ donation." Dr. Stohl walked away from the parents and towards the nurses' station.
Connor stared at them and Ava walked out of the room after seeing them come back. She walked towards Dr. Stohl. "What happened?" She asked him.
"Motorcycle accident. Never had a chance." He responded and walked away.
Ava looked down at the tablet that had the motorcyclist's info and reached for it. She looked at it and slightly widen her eyes. She turned to look at Nurse Dina. "Soon as the immunotyping results are in, fine me."
"Yeah, okay." The nurse nodded.
Ava took a quick glance at the patient before walking away.
Unknowingly to her, Connor was listening and watching the entire time.
Sometime later, Dan coded and after three shocks from Connor, he came back.
His condition started to get worse.
He didn't have much time left.
His wife was also ready to give up after everything her husband has been through so he can stop suffering.
Connor bit his lip thinking.
There was another option. An option he knew a certain someone will yell at him for. And will most likely revert them to go back to the way things were when they first met.
'I'm sorry Ava, but Dan is gonna die today if he doesn't get that heart.'
"Where is he? Where is Dr. Rhodes?!" She narrowed her eyebrows.
A shy nurse pointed towards two doors.
Connor was cleaning his hands with hand sanitizer when he heard the two-way doors on his left side burst open. Revealing to be a VERY frustrated Ava Bekker who forcefully used both arms to open the door.
"What the hell, Connor?!" She shouted earning many pairs of eyes on them. She stood in front of a glass door that separated them.
"Not here." He calmly spoke.
She glared and walked into the empty room. She walked further and started talking when she heard Connor close the door and turned around. "That motorcyclist is an HLA match to my patient, Peter," Connor calmly walked pass her as she walked up to him and he leaned against the counter. Ava furrowed her eyebrows. "but suddenly, your GCM patient is above him on the transplant list?!" She motioned with her hands. She started to raise her voice. "How did he come in this morning at status two" she motioned with her hands and turned around to continue "and suddenly jump to the highest priority?" She walked up near him.
"I had to put him on ECMO." He responded in a calm matter.
"Before other meds?" Her tone was still the same, and angry.
Connor nodded.
"Milrinone? Monoclonal antibody therapy?" She listed and turned around and took a few steps.
"They're just stop-gaps." He responded.
Ava stopped walking and widen her eyes. "Oh, you sneaky son of a bitch." She turned around at him and glared. "ECMO trumps an artificial heart," she realizes what he did. "puts your patient to the top of the list." She took a few steps towards him as her glare increased. "You manipulated the system."
"I am an aggressive treatment decision." Connor not being fazed by her.
"You're taking a heart that doesn't belong to you!"
"I am fighting for one that's available!" He walked close to her and they were now standing face to face.
"This isn't right..." Ava clenched her teeth. "and it isn't over." she stared at him as she walked out the room.
"This is not a debate, Dr. Rhodes." They were by the nurses' station on the ICU floor, this time with Ms. Goodwin who was talking to Connor. Ava was standing nearby watching them.
"My patient's HLA is an ideal match to the donor." Connor stated.
"But his antibody levels are not. They're too high and suggest he'll reject the heart." Connor took a glance downward. "So, it slides to the next person on the transplant list, Dr. Bekker's, patient, Peter." Connor turned his head to his left to look at Ava who was frowning at him.
"I'm sorry." Ms. Goodwin said before walking away. Connor watched her leave.
Connor walked away and around Ava. "Without that heart, Dan doesn't stand a chance."
"Neither does Peter." Ava responded.
"No," he turned around to face her, making his shoes squeak, she turned around, "actually, he does, because the artificial heart that you put in can last months, possibly even years." Ava just stared at him. "Dan doesn't have that kinda time." He pointed towards Peter's room. "Peter, he's had two hearts already, and with each transplant, his chances of survival decrease." He clenched his jaw. "It is not fair that he gets a third heart before Dan even gets his first."
"There's no limit to the number of organs a person can receive," she reminded him "and it's impossible to compare patients in need. That's why there's a list, to crunch numbers and break ties." She explained.
Connor listened to her words carefully and... realized there was something in them.
Something between the lines.
A loop hole.
He nodded. "You're right." His words came out softly.
Ava blinked and her face loosen its tension. She was confused with his change in tone.
"It's all about the numbers." He stated before walking into his patient's room.
Ava continued to stare at him.
'There's no way he gave up that easily. He's up to something.'
"These are the results of Dan Kennet's latest panel reactive antibody test." Connor handed Ms. Goodwin a tablet. Ava was standing by, walked closer to them. "His antibody levels were above 80, but now..." Ava rolled her eyes from Connor to Ms. Goodwin.
"They're within transplant criteria." Ms. Goodwin finished.
Connor nodded.
"Antibody levels don't just go down on their own that quickly." Ava stated, a crease appeared on her forehead looking at him.
"Uh, you can see for yourself. I had the lab run it twice." He encouraged her.
Ava took the tablet and saw the levels were indeed lower.
'That son of a..'
Ava turned to look at the Chief of Services, about ready to persuade her,
"I'm sorry, Dr. Bekker." Ms. Goodwin saw and spoke first. "It's not my decision. Dan Kennet is at the top of the list." Ava frowned in defeat, her eyes looking down at the ground. Ms. Goodwin looked at Connor. "Assemble the transplant team and notify Mr. Kennet and his family." She then walked away.
Connor looked at Ava for a few second before he started to walk away.
But Ava wasn't done with him yet.
"Emergency plasmapheresis and IVIG." She turned her head. "Didn't you?" It was enough to make him stop walking. He turned to face her. "You made Dan look like a better candidate than he really is." Her eyes were shining. "Soon as he's off the plasmapheresis and IVIG, his antibody levels will shoot back up." She pointed out.
"Maybe, but the immunosuppressants that he's gonna be on post-transplant should ensure that his body doesn't reject the organ." He countered starting to walk again.
She had a scornful look. "You got it all covered, huh?" Her body turned around to follow him.
"Hey, look," he stopped again, "I did what I had to for my patient." He stated.
"At the expense of mine!" She stated. "So, do me a favor, okay," her eyes became watery, "and save your self-righteous hero speech for someone else." She shook her head and walked pass him towards an empty room. He saw her lift her right hand to her face before closing the door behind her.
Connor turned around with a downhearted look.
'I knew she would be upset and mad at me, but... I didn't want to make her cry.'
He shook his head and sighed.
"So, it's really gonna happen today?" Dan's wife handed a freshly made bottle to a nurse to feed their son. She turned to face the doctor.
Dan was laying on the bed, playing toys with their toddler daughter.
"Yes." Connor looked at Mrs. Kennet then back at her husband. "You are getting a new heart."
Dan breathed then remember something important. "Uh... my antibody levels, like, I thought they were too high."
"They were, but now they're not." He crossed his arms. "The emergency plasmapheresis and IVIG you're on now lowered your levels within transplant criteria."
It was at that moment when Ava walked by outside the room. She held her right forearm with her other hand as she stood and listen to Connor's words.
"Techs are gonna be by to prep you for surgery soon." He finished.
Dan looked overwhelm and stared to shed tears in happiest. He turned his head to look at him. "Thank you, Dr. Rhodes." He said softly.
Ava blinked, her eyes shifting to look down then back up to stare at her rival. Admiring his interaction with his patient.
"Of course." Connor placed a hand on Dan's left leg before leaving the room.
"Thank you." Mrs. Kennet said softly looking at her husband. Both happy with the news.
Ava made sure to hide before Connor saw when he exited the room.
When it was time to do the surgery, Connor was surprised to see Ava scrubbing in. He figured she didn't want to see him for the rest of the day, or for a few days since she was mad at him. He had paged Dr. Bardovi to assist him instead. Apparently, she was paged to do another surgery with Dr. Latham and Ava volunteered to do it. Connor didn't say much while they were scrubbing, he didn't want to upset her even more. But he did take a short glance at her at the corner of his eye, expecting to see a frown on her face. Instead, her facial expression was... calm. No indication that she was angry at him. They did the surgery in a professional matter and was successful in the end.
After Connor checked in on Dan in his ICU room at the end of his shift, he went back to the surgeon's lounge to find Ava changed out of her scrubs and ready to depart. They made eye contact. Connor breathed softly. He didn't want things to go back to the way they were before. Especially now that he has feelings for Ava and wants to be with her. He didn't want to lose any chances he has with her. He had already made her cry. He had to fix this quick.
"I'm sorry, Ava." He started. Ava just stared at him. "I know the heart was yours and I knew that you would be upset with me when I thought how to get the heart. It's just..." He bit his lower lip, leaving behind imprints of his front teeth. His eyes shifted downward. "Dan had already coded today and we were very close to losing him. After that, his wife said that she was now ready to give up after everything he's been through. Leaving her to raise their two young kids alone... I just... couldn't give up on trying to save him." He looked back up at her. "Just know, the last thing I ever wanted out of this was to make you cry." He looked deeply in her eyes. "What can I do to make it to you?"
Ava carefully listened to his words, looked deep into his cerulean eyes and saw he was being very sincere and apologetic. She putted on her black winter waist length coat. "Buy me an expensive dinner and we'll call it even." She said calmly.
Connor nodded. "Give me a few minutes to change and we'll go. You can pick wherever."
That caught Ava's interests. "Even Alinea?" Her voice became intrigued by the idea of Connor letting her pick anywhere to eat in Chicago with no cost.
He sighed softly. "Yes, even Aliena. I delivered the owner's baby and went to high school with her husband." He rolled his eyes. "They always let me in." He admitted. "I don't tell people this."
"I can see why." Her lips curved into a smile. The fact that he revealed that he has an all access pass to one of the toughest places to a reservation at in Chicago, must mean that he's really sorry.
'She's smiling. That's a good sigh.' Connor commented in his head.
"Okay then." She lifted her backpack onto her right shoulder. "I'll wait for you outside." She walked pass him.
Connor turned his head to watch her leave the room, missing the amused look on her face.
'Even though he can be a pain to work with sometimes, he can be really cute afterwards. Still though, what woman doesn't like a man who's so caring towards others, especially their patients.' Ava took a quick glance at the corner of her left eye to get one last look of him before the door closed.
- Three Days Later -
Connor breathed once he arrived. He looked around the large room that had many windows that oversaw the river and the city. He saw various people dressed up in business casual attire. He was dressed up in a blue blazer suit wearing a white-collar suit underneath with no tie. He was at a big CT event with the hospital donors and other potential donors. It was still morning, he left from home. He would be back at the hospital in the afternoon once he was done here. Him and few other CT surgeons were present. He scanned the room to see if he recognized some people. His eyes locked on a table where two men in suits were seated. It was the hospital's head of the legal department, Peter Kalmick, and seated across him was his husband. He walked up to them.
"Dr. Rhodes." Peter held out his hand.
"Morning." Connor shook it.
"Morning. You know my husband, Larry." Peter introduced him.
"Larry, good to see you." Connor greeted and shook his hand.
"He's always dragging me to these things. I'm an introvert. I hate them." Said Larry.
"I am completely with you there." Connor directed his words towards Peter.
"Yes, well, there are a lot of checkbooks here, and their owners would like to meet our rising star," Peter held out his arm towards Connor, motioning him to come forward. "so please..." he places his hand on his back, "go and schmooze." He directed him towards the crowd.
Connor took one look at the crowd and his eyes were directed to a smaller table nearby. There were two people were standing. An older dark-grey haired man dressed in a grey suit, and a young blonde-haired woman dressed in a blazer over her black dress. It was Ava Bekker and his father, Cornelius Rhodes.
"Ah." His father held out a hand seeing he was coming.
"Dad." Connor walked forward. Ava took notice of him, a smile appeared on her face. She was wearing more makeup and wearing a pair of black earrings.
"Were your ears burning? We were just talking about you." Said Cornelius. Ava held her cup towards her lips. Connor could see some glint of her eyes.
"Oh, really?" His son asked.
"Yeah. I told Dr. Bekker how your mother and I knew, even when you were just a little boy, how you'd be a surgeon. Do you remember when that dog got ahold of your Teddy Ruxpin?" Connor slightly furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His father turned towards Ava. "He sewed that little thing together."
"You had a Teddy Ruxpin?" Ava found the information to be very amusing.
"I wouldn't believe everything my father tells you." He turned towards her.
"Oh, Connor's always been uncomfortable with anything that smelled of praise." Cornelius revealed.
"That's funny, I ever noticed that." Ava said with a mock in her tone when she looked back at the younger Rhodes.
"I'm gonna go get some breakfast." Said Connor.
"Try the avocado toast." Ava smiled seeing that Connor was getting embarrassed. Connor gave her a look as he walked around the table. She replied bringing her cup towards her lips to look innocent. She directed her eyes towards his father once he started talking again.
"We are having a trunk show next week." She brought her cup down to the table. "Loro Piana. I would love it if you'd come as my guest." He stated.
Ava moved her head back slightly at his words. She remembers that she has to please the donors to like them to donate more money to the hospital. "I'd love you."
Connor was standing near by the food table behind them and heard an alert from his phone. He pulled it up to see a notification from his Chicago Med app.
'CODE PINK ALERT
Gaffney Chicago Medical Center
Emergency Alert System
HOSPITAL ON LOCKDOWN
Missing Patient at Gaffney Chicago
Medical Center. Follow department protocol.'
"Ava..." He turned towards her. She turned around. His eyes took one last look down at his phone then back up at her. "hospital's on lockdown." He told her.
Ava furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked down at his phone.
Word of there being a Code Pink quickly spread in the room. Peter Kalmick was busying on the phone trying to deal with it.
"Just prepare an innocuous press release and let me know the second we find that baby." He spoke on the phone. Connor and Ava were watching him where they stood.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Connor's phone started ringing, getting his attention. He looked down to see it was a April trying to FaceTime him. He slides the screen to answer it. Appeared on the screen was her and Ethan dressed up on yellow gowns and goggles. He turned his phone horizontal to get the entire view.
"Dr. Rhodes." Said April.
Ethan looked at the screen to see Connor. "Connor, I need your help, buddy."
"Yeah, okay. Ava." Connor motioned his left hand towards her and walked back towards a small empty table by the window. Ava walked towards him to see what was going on.
At the table she was standing at, Cornelius and Larry were there and saw her leave.
"All right, give me a view of the medial side of the left ventricle." Connor asked as he and Ava were watching Ethan and the nurses do heart surgery on a man that was stabbed in the ED instead of the O.R.
April moved her phone closer to the area. "Yeah, good." Said Connor. "Uh now, Ethan, you're gonna remove your finger, and once you get the stapler in place, you're gonna close laterally acros the opening."
The two watched the Chief Resident move the stapler towards the area.
"I can't get the stapler in place." Said Ethan.
"It's a moving target." Said April.
"Keep trying." Said Ava
After a few more seconds, a click was heard. "Got it. Staple's in." Said Connor.
"Good." Ava took a quick look at Connor then back at his phone.
The success didn't last long.
"No. No, wait, this isn't working." April moved the phone towards Ethan's face. "Every time I get a staple in, it tears, making the hole even bigger." He stated.
'It can't be helped.' Connor commented to himself and placed his left hand behind Ava's back for a second. "All right, here." He handed her his phone from his right hand to her left.
"What are you doing?" She asked confused with his sudden movement.
"I gotta get in there." He walked around her.
"The hospital's on lockdown. They won't let you in." She reminded him that even though he works there, they still won't let him in. Even if they know him."
"I have to try. Help Ethan get him stabilized." He told her before he walked away.
His father saw him leave and paused his conversation with Larry to walk near Ava.
Ava brought her attention back to his phone and held it up. "All right, Dr. Choi, let's see if I can keep you from killing this patient."
Some time has passed by and Ethan was still struggling with the stapler.
"Ah, come on." He complained.
Cornelius was standing nearby, arms crossed, watching the surgery.
"I still can't get it in." Said Ethan.
"Get me a closer look at the hole." Ava instructed. April brought her phone closer as instructed. "Here's what I want you to do: get two Allis clamps... " April gave her phone to another nurse to get the instruments while she holds onto the phone.
"Here." Said April.
"I want you to clamp on either side of the hole." Ava instructed.
Ethan clamped both sides. "Ready." He said.
"Okay, April, you're going to take hold of the clamps and lift the heart." Ava instructed.
"'Kay." April nodded holding both clamps.
"As soon as she does, Dr. Choi, you'll remove your finger and see if you can get the staple in while it's elevated. Got it?"
"Copy." Ethan answered.
"Here we got. One, two, three, lift." Ava instructed.
The team did as instruct, and it worked. "It's in. It's working." Ethan declared.
"Well done." Said Ava.
However, the happy moment didn't last very long. The machine started beeping and blood started to pour out.
"Ava... Ava, he's still bleeding." Ethan quickly placed his hands in the patient's chest to stop it. Another machine started beeping. "Give me suction." He looked at April and she proceed to try and suck out the blood for a clearer vision.
"He's hypotensive!" April looked at the monitor.
"Dr. Choi, I need you to snake your hand around the heart. what do you feel?" Ava asked. April then took her phone back from the other nurse to get a closer view.
Ethan moved his heart around the heart as instructed. "He's got a hole in the backside." He answered.
Ava had a disappointing look on her face. "The knife went through and through. Looks like you have more work to do."
She sighed and looked at the window. 'I hope you make it there in time, Connor. This patient isn't gonna last long with these guys.'
More time has passed, and things still wasn't looking good.
"He's bradying down." April observed the monitor.
"I can't reach it." Said Ethan trying to work.
"Keep trying." Ava's placed her left hand on her hip.
The machines started to beep again.
"Heart rate's dropping." Said April.
It was at that moment when Connor arrived, wearing a yellow gown over his white shirt. A nurse walked towards him to tie in and hand him a pair of goggles.
"It's about time." Ethan looked over at the surgeon. "Hole backside of his left ventricle." Connor walked over to the open chest.
"Connor, here's what's happening: Whenever they elevate the heart to make the repair, it cuts off his venous return." Ava informed him where they were at.
Connor quickly thought what to do. "Okay, get me two bags of saline." A nurse opened the storage shelf to grab the bags. "April, load up a 2-0 Prolene on a long needle driver." The nurse handed him the bags.
"How'd you get in here?" Ethan asked turning his head towards him.
"Long story." Connor answered looking at him then at the team.
"On my count, I want you to roll him onto his side." Everyone grabbed a hold of the patient's body. "One, two, three." He counted and placed the bags "Up..." under his body "and down. " as they placed him back down. April handed him the stitch. "All right, Ethan, when I tell you, I want you to remove your finger, and I'm gonna replace it with mine. Ready and go." The two switched and Connor proceed to stitch. "Okay, I'm gonna try to access the hole from this angle."
"Careful, he bradies down quickly." Ava said still watching the video feed.
Cornelius leaned his head a little closer to see.
Connor continued to stitch and was successful. "All right, stitch is in. That should temporize the bleed long enough to get him up to the O.R."
Ethan covered the open area with a cloth as the team started to move the gurney.
"Let's go." Said Connor.
April ended the video call.
Ava sighed and turned off the screen and lowered her hand to relax her muscles.
Cornelius grinned at her. "Dr. Bekker, you are amazing."
"Thank you." She spoke softly and looked down at the phone.
'Good luck, Connor.'
A few hours later, Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese found the missing baby, in the hands of a woman who lost her baby few months ago in the hospital.
It was a risky surgery from the ED to the O.R. but Connor managed to save the man's life.
The team was taking the patient out of the O.R., Connor trailing behind them. The two-way doors on his left opened, revealing to be Ethan. He was in the monitor room watching the remainder of the surgery.
"Thanks, man." Ethan held up his right fist.
"He should wake up pretty soon." Connor gave him a fist bump. Ethan did the explosion hand sign.
"Yeah."
"Nice work today." Connor complimented his hard work till he got there.
"You too."
"Yeah."
Ethan followed the team take the patient into the recovery room. In the connecting hallway, Ava walked around the Corner, with a grey wool waist length coat on.
He didn't realize it this morning, but he could see that she was wearing black heels. Her dark attire was a dress and it reached just above her knees. Her whole outfit made her skinny legs stand out and look tall. She looked like a model.
"Dr Bekker," He called to get her attention. "have you come to see me or our patient?" He stopped in front of her.
Ava didn't answer. She just grinned and held up his phone in her right hand. Connor took it from her.
"How's he doing?" She asked
Connor looked in her eyes, standing face to face, now taking in how beautiful she looked all dressed up. "I think he's gonna make it." He said softly. Ava nodded. "It's been a long day, huh?"
"Yeah." Ava nodded looking down at her feet then back at his face.
"I could go for a meal." He looked at her.
Ava slowly smiled, then grinned showing her teeth. She looked down. "I'd, uh check the cafeteria." She looked back up. "It's Tuesday." She made a playful upsetting look. "It's meatloaf." Then grinned, smiling through her eyes.
"My favorite." Connor joked slightly sucking in his lips.
It was enough to make Ava's grin grow larger, showing her white teeth.
They stared at one another. Not saying anything, just smiling.
"Good night." She spoke softly with a soft smile and sincere look.
"Good night." He nodded and walked pass her.
Ava turned her head to her left then proceed to walk towards the surgeon's lounge.
Connor turned his head around to watch her walk, hoping she would do the same.
She didn't.
He continued to walk towards the recovery room.
This chapter covers 3x11-14
*I decided to not have them kiss yet since it caused problems the morning after they slept together and Ava telling Connor that it was a mistake. That's why I thought it was better for them to almost kiss instead. It helps develop their relationship more.
*Connor now realizes his feelings for Ava and wants to be with her
*Ava admits to herself that she has feelings for Connor
*I added an additional scene for 3x13 after the whole heart transplant list. As a way for them to make up since the episodes didn't really cover them making up. We just saw Ava watching and admiring Connor was to his patient at the end of the episode
Tell me what you think about it!
When do you think they'll admit their feelings to each other?
Until next time!