Chapter seven- Breathe (2 a.m)

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable

And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table

No one can find the rewind button girl,

So cradle your head in you hands

And breathe, just breathe,

Whoa breathe, just breathe

-Breathe, Anna Nalick

Two weeks later- March 28th

For Jo, her daily routine hadn't changed much since the day of Chris' surgery. Wake up at 5am, get the kids ready and get to the hospital before 6:30 am to start rounds, Check in on her husband before rounds, depending on how the morning routine went. Most often then not Jo wasn't able to see him before rounds started, so she'd make sure to check in during her break. After her shift ended she'd check in on Chris once more, pick up the kids, spend time with them, get them fed, bathed and ready for bed and then once they were asleep she'd eat, clean up, prep for tomorrow's cases, sleep and then repeat.

"Hey Jo," Arizona says after she walks over to Jo, who was having something to eat in the lunch room.

"Hey Dr Robbins," Jo smiles.

"How's Chris today?" She asks as she sits down next to her.

"Amelia is with him right now doing his neuro checks, I'm not allowed in the room while she's doing that, hence why I'm here," Jo responds.

"I know that you're usually with Karev, and he's a great teacher. But with him off this week I thought that you could assist me with Feotal surgery. I know it's not the same as Paeds, it's actually way cooler," Arizona gushes.

Jo nods her head, "I guess I could use the distraction."

Arizona smiles, "good. I'll see you in an hour in the OBGYN floor."

Scene break

An hour later Jo found her self on the obstetrics floor, a place in a hospital she hadn't been since the birth of Grace, which was a happy but yet sad occasion as Chris had not long had his accident.

Jo found herself staring at the dozens of baby pictures on the walls and was particularly blown away by the progress of the babies that were once in the NICU.

"That's Jack. He was born 12 weeks early... he was so tiny," Arizona says as she points to the picture on the wall. "This is him on his first birthday."

"That's amazing. You can't even tell," Jo gushes.

"That's the amazing thing about Paeds. They survive worse and they bounce back quicker," Arizona beams.

"What are we doing today?" Jo asks curiously.

"Allison Hume, 28, is 25 weeks pregnant with twins. She has developed Twin to twin transfusion syndrome, stage three, also know as TTTS. Are you familiar with this?" Arizona asks.

Jo nods her head, "Yeah. It's where one twin, the donor, does not produce as much urine as it should which causes low amount of amniotic fluid and causes poor foetal growth. The other twin, the recipient, is overwhelmed by too much fluid and produces too much urine. It leads to excess amniotic fluid and enlarged bladder. It in turn puts a strain on the resilient twins heart and can lead to heart failure," Jo explains.

"Good. Today we're going to use foetal surgery to resolve the problem. I'll go in with a laser through a small incision in he abdomen and use the laser to seal shut the abnormal vessels and I'll drain the excess fluid," Arizona adds.

"That sounds amazing," Jo gushes.

"It really is. Lets go see Allison," Arizona prompts.

Scene break

After the surgery

In the Neuro ICU

"Seriously Chris, you should of seen her go in, it was amazing! One of the most amazing things that I've ever seen. They had surgery before they were even born, the babies never even had to leave the uterus. It's remarkable, truly remarkable and now I'm considering doing a Foetal surgery fellowship after I've completed my Paeds residency. And I know that's it's a long way off, but you know how much I love plans," Jo stops for a moment and sighs, "but what I really want is you. I want you here so you can share in this excitement with me. It's been two weeks baby, I need you to wake up for me now, please," Jo begs. She sits silently for a few moments and watches the monitors as nothing happens and sighs defeatedly, "damn it, you were always so stubborn. Why should I of expected you'd listen to me now and just wake the hell up."

Jo stands up and kisses his temple, "Well, I have to go and pick up the kids from daycare now. I'm sure they've got plenty of stories to tell me and I'm sure that they'd love to tell you too... well Theo at least, Grace can't talk yet. She's a long way off, just in case you were wondering." Jo pauses for a moment and then sits back down, "should I bring them here to see you? Would you like that? Would it help? Because I've always been so scared that I'd scar them if I brought them down here to see you like this. Goodness knows it's hard enough for me, I can't imagine what will go through Theo's brain if he saw you like this and couldn't understand what was going on," Jo muses.

Unknown to Jo, Amelia has been standing at the door of Chris' room, waiting for her to leave so that she could do his neuro checks, "You should," Amelia speaks up. Not expecting anyone to speak, Jo jumps and looks back at Amelia. Amelia walks into the room and stands closer to Jo. "You should bring them to see him. I know that you're worried about scaring them, but I think it might be beneficial for Chris and the kids. I know that you've explained things the best you can to Theo, but I also know that he still has questions and doesn't fully understand, seeing it might help him process what's happening."

Jo nods her head, "I think you're right. It would probably help Theo to understand. I'm going to go up and get them and bring them back down here," Jo says.

"Okay, well, I'm going to do his neuro checks while you're getting them. If I'm still in here when you get back, just wait outside the room. I don't want the room to be too crowded," Amelia responds with a smile.

Scene break

In daycare

"We go home now?" Theo asks his mum as she buckles Grace into her pram.

"No, baby," Jo responds. "Can you put your bag on for me?" She asks.

Theo nods his head and picks up his backpack from his feet and tries to put it on. Seeing her son struggling, Jo decides to jump in and help him.

"Where we going?" He asks curiously.

Jo looks around the ground to find what she had done with the baby bag.

"We're going to see daddy," Jo responds as she picks up the bag and puts in on her shoulder.

"Daddy in the hospital?" Theo recalls.

"That's right, daddy is in the hospital," Jo responds. "Hold on," Jo requests. Theo grabs hold of the pram and Jo begins to push it out of the daycare. "Now, when you see daddy he's not going to look like you remember."

"Daddy is sick, I remember," Theo respond.

"Yes, he is sick," Jo confirms, "but when you see daddy he will be sleeping. But it's not a normal sleep, like you have at night. Daddy is in a special sleep called a coma, which means that the doctors aren't sure when or if daddy will wake up. He can't see you, but we don't know if daddy can hear you. He might be able too so I thought that you could talk to daddy to try and make him feel better."

Theo looks up at Jo appearing a little puzzled, "okay. But what do I say?"

"Well, you can talk to daddy about whatever you want. About your friends, daycare, Grace, the things that you like to do or don't like," Jo suggests.

"Okay," Theo replies.