CODING ━ grey's anatomy

chapter seventeen

"Out of the room," Burke nodded.

The paramedic scoffed. "She gets to stay?"

"She has her hand inside of the patient."

Hannah smiled at them. "Nice. Thanks."

"Oh, don't get happy. You have your finger on a major bleeder. Mr. Carlson is running out of time. The only thing that you've won is an all expense paid trip to the OR," Burke sighed. "Dr. Harper and Dr. Grey, prepare to transport her to the OR. And let's make this happen quickly people."

Cristina looked around confused. "What do you want me to do?"

Burke gave her a knowing look. "I want you to make that woman out there stop screaming and tell us what happened."

"Oh, I can't go to the OR?"

"No. You have a thing to do," Burke said passive aggressively as he walked away, leaving Meredith and Cassie bewildered.

"What was that about?"

"If I'd known you guys were gonna get the good case, I would've let you stay in bed."

☆

Cassie stepped onto the elevator, running into Derek and Addison in the process. She smiled up at them, pressing the button to the OR floor.

"Hey Cass," Derek smiled, ruffling her hair.

Addison tilted her head. "I hear you get to scrub in with Dr. Burke, right?" Cassie nodded. "That's one hell of a case. Even I'm a bit jealous."

"Yep," she agreed, albeit halfheartedly. "Paramedic with her hand in a body cavity."

Derek narrowed his eyes, studying her for a moment. "Why aren't you more excited?"

Cassie sighed. "I have the feeling."

"The feeling?" he repeated with a frown. "Well that's never good."

"It's worse than usual, though. I can't help but think something really bad is about to happen."

"Everything will be fine, Cass," Addison smiled. "Don't worry. It's just a regular patient, yeah?"

"Even if something does happen," Derek shrugged. "We'll be there for you if you need it."

"I know," she said sincerely, calming down at their words. "Well, this is my floor. See you later!"

Cassie grinned, exiting the elevator as the other two watched her go.

☆

"How are you doing over there?" Meredith asksed Hannah, standing in the OR while Burke was scrubbing in.

"My hand is getting numb, and I gotta tell ya, this whole insides are all bloody and squishy thing is not good for my gag reflex. But I'm good. Is this okay? Me being in here like this?"

"Once Dr. Burke scrubs in, he'll have you remove your hand. Then you can go, and we'll fix Mr. Carlson," Cassie told her, speaking softly to ease her nerves.

Hannah sighed gratefully. "Good, because I know how much medicine I know, and it's just enough to never be allowed in an OR. It's only my second week as a paramedic. I got out of school about a month ago."

Meredith and Cassie shared a humorous look. "We haven't been doing this that long either."

"Oh. Talk about on the job training huh?"

"Okay everyone," Burke said, coming into the room and snapping on his gloves. "I'm going to do a thoracotomy, and Hannah here is going to pull her hand out. Dr. Harper is going to clamp the bleeder when we have more exposure. Ready?"