"Infections are like sleeping monsters. You can't see them. You can't feel them, but you must do everything in your power to contain them. Because when the monsters wake up, they are out of control. All that time you spent convincing yourself the sleeping monster wasn't real, it was gathering strength. The infection was spreading. The monster's awake now and there's nothing you can do about it"

"broken wings, caught my killer, in my grave"

The board members were in the attendings lounge. "We are throwing Bailey under the bus", Derek said. "Come on. That's not what we're doing", Jackson said. "Yeah, it seems like that's exactly what we're doing", Cristina said.

"Two of our patients are dead of the same post-op infection. A third one's barely hanging on. It was time. We get the CDC in here and figure this thing out"

"By treating Bailey like a criminal?" Meredith questioned. "She hasn't done anything".

"I hope that you're right. The truth is, we don't know that yet. CDC is simply asking us to temporarily freeze Bailey's files"

"Oh, come on", Derek sighed.

"And that we not discuss this investigation with her. So today, just keep your distance"

"That is ridiculous", Cristina commented. "It's not. We're meant to be professionals", Beck snapped. "Why am I in a room full of attendings and I am one of the only ones who can look at this objectively? This is work, it's our job, it's not Barney & Friends". "Also I think now's the time to put out a statement", Jackson said. They all murmured in disagreement. "I mean, we don't even know if Bailey's the source of this thing", Aurora pointed out. "If one of ours is at fault and we just sit on this information, we look like we're trying to cover something up", Jackson said. "The only way to let the public know that we can be objective is by being transparent". "Vote?" Callie suggested.

"I'm just saying, people should learn the news from us"

"There's no news", Derek said. "Okay, vote?" Callie repeated. "There's no news yet", Jackson said.

"Vote. All in favour of no press release". Everyone except Beck and Jackson put up their hands. "Okay. No press release. No statement. Clear?"

Alex and Lucy were walking down the hall together when he bumped into two members of the CDC. "Watch it, members only", he snapped.

"What's with you?"

"These guys are trying to take down Bailey. They don't deserve nice"

"Really? That's it? Because you've been weird all week, especially with me"

"No, I haven't"

"Alex, come on"

"What?"

"Just tell me"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yeah"

"You can't get mad"

"Just tell me"

"Are you cheating on me with that Jack guy?"

"What?!"

"I saw you two sneak out a supply closet together a while ago. I saw him come out of the women's bathroom at Joe's right after you. You're always talking"

She looked down.

"You could at least try and deny it"

"It's not what you think"

"Well, then, what is it?"

"I can't tell you"

"Screw this". He stormed off.

Jackson approached Beck at the nurses station in the ER. "Tell me there is someone down here that I can help", he said. "It's six against two with the board today, and I need a victory". Callie came over. "Bed three. Femur's broken. I'm taking him up to angio", she informed Beck. "Okay", Beck replied.

"Alert the press". She walked off.

"See what I mean?" Jackson said. "Thanks for having my back in there, by the way".

"You think I did that for your benefit? God, everyone in this hospital is so worried about their own feelings that they forget that we're here because we have jobs to do. We're not here to talk about hurt feelings or romance or whatever. I'm so sick of it"

"I didn't mean..."

"Not everything is about you and me because there is no you and me. There never actually was. So stop it"

Alex, Aurora, Cristina and Jason Myers were in a pregnant patient's room. "Can I hold him after he's born?" the woman asked. "Just for a minute", Jason replied. "He's gonna need to go right into surgery". "Your baby has hypoplastic left heart syndrome and an intact atrial septum that is causing a restriction to blood flow", Cristina explained. "He's fine when he's in utero, but once he's out... The condition is fatal".

"Which means he won't be getting enough oxygen. We'll let you hold him once he's stable, after his surgery"

"So we'll do the C-section, and then we'll have 60 minutes to get him to the cath lab and perform the operation to open his septum", Alex said. "And if you don't make it in time, he could die?" the woman questioned. "No, we can do the C-section in the cath lab", Cristina said. "It'll give us more time. Deliver in one room and operate in the other".

"Can you do that?"

"I don't see why not"

"There are about 1,000 reasons why not", Jason stated as they left the room. "You know, people have babies all over the place", Cristina pointed out. "Taxi cabs, high school bathrooms. If we don't have to waste time moving the kid from one floor to another, why should we?"

"Because we don't do C-sections in Cath labs"

"Karev, back me up"

"I agree with Myers", Alex said.

"Sloan?"

"Sorry...", Aurora began.

"Oh, forget it"

"Look, this whole situation is high risk", Alex reasoned. "If something goes wrong, we don't have the tools on hand to deal with it".

"Are your tools glued to the floor? Bring them with you. Okay, we have an opportunity here to do something new and badass. I mean, don't you want to be the badass who delivers the kid in a cath lab? Who does that? Nobody... But you"

"Okay", Jason said, smiling. "Okay, I'm in".

"Alright. Karev, you with Myers?"

Alex nodded.

Alex, Aurora and Cristina were walking through the halls together. "Hey, Myers set up for the C-section in the cath lab", Alex informed them. "We need to run through the steps of the procedure". "What's going on with you and Lucy?" Cristina asked.

"What do you mean? Did she say something to you?"

"No, but I kinda have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff and you basically just confirmed that something's wrong"

"Is this about Jack?" Aurora questioned him.

"That nurse guy she started hanging around with"

"See? Didn't you think that was weird?" Alex said.

"Yeah, but she never wanted to talk about it"

"I know, I tried today and she wouldn't tell me anything"

"Well, what did you say?"

"I said I thought she was cheating on me"

"Alex!" Aurora said.

"But she didn't deny it. She said it's not what I think but that she couldn't tell me what was actually going on. I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?"

"Lucy would never cheat on you", Cristina said. "I know that for a fact. I also know something is going on with her. And it's been going on for a while".

"So what should I do?"

"Beat him up"

"I'm serious"

"You need to talk to her. Don't give up so easily. Fight for her"

Owen and Aurora were in the elevator together. "On-call room, you and me?" he asked.

"I wish. But I'm scrubbing in on an atrial septostomy with Alex and Cristina. But after I help save a baby's life, I'm gonna need to celebrate"

"Okay. Well, find me"

"How is Ethan's grandma?"

"She's sweet, but useless. Rachel's doing better, though, so at least Ethan's got her"

"Paul's gonna wake up. I talked to Beck about it, she sounds pretty sure"

He pecked her lips. "Thank you. Thank you for trying to make me feel better"

"Anytime"

Cristina rang Lucy but it went straight to voicemail. "Hey, I have no idea where you are but Alex told me what happened. You two need to figure this out, okay? Also, Meredith wants you and me in the delivery room to watch her poop so call me back".

Lucy was at the house with Mia on her hip, barely able to stand up straight.

In the cath lab, Jason Myers was preparing to deliver the baby. "Okay, Amelie, here we go", he said. "Scalpel". "It's gonna be okay, honey", her husband reassured her. "But what if it's not?" Amelie asked. Jason prepared to make the first cut.

"No! Stop. I can't do this. Not right now. His heart is okay now. And you all know that when he comes out, it's going to stop working. I'm not ready for him to die"

"Amelie, honey...", Aurora began.

"No"

"Look at me. Look in my eyes. You have to do this. Your baby's life depends on it, and you are wasting time. We're all here. We're all doing our best to save your baby's life. Breathe with me. Okay. One more time. One more time. You can do this. Right? Right. She's ready"

Jason took the baby out. "Is he okay? Is he alive?" Amelie asked. "He's beautiful", Jason replied, handing him to Alex.

"Thank you"

Alex cut the cord and they moved the baby to the other room to begin operating.

"In the vena cava", Cristina said. "What is the oxygen saturation?" "Thirty-five", Aurora replied.

"Inside the right atrium"

"Nobody move. Nobody breathe", Alex ordered.

"Perforating the septum"

"Why isn't the blood going through?"

"Because I'm not through. Just give me a minute. Now I'm through. Man, I'm good"

Aurora bumped into Owen in the hallway. "Hey", she said softly, reaching for his arm.

"Hey"

"I'm sorry. I heard about Paul's wife"

"Yeah. I appreciate that"

"Are you angry at Beck and Cristina?"

"No. No. I just... I'm angry at the situation"

"Okay, well, you know, after this, let's just go home, and then I can make some dinner..."

"No, I'm gonna stay. I'm gonna stay just in case Paul's condition changes or if the kid needs... You know, I just... I just don't feel like I can leave, you know? I mean... What would you do?"

"I would go home, because I'm his doctor, not his family"

"Yeah. I'm gonna stay"

"Okay. I understand"

Vincent was talking to Owen and the board members. "Our investigation has determined the presence of a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus usa600", he explained. Bailey opened the door. "Bailey...", Arizona said. "Dr Bailey, you should not be here right now", Jackson stated. "This is about me," Bailey said. "I'd like to hear it". "That's your call", Vincent said. "We have a protocol for a reason", Jackson pointed out. "Okay, we vote", Meredith said. Everyone except Beck and Jackson put their hands up.

"She stays"

Bailey shut the door. "Staph aureus usa600 is an antibiotic-resistant infection with a range of symptoms from simple skin rashes to fatal sepsis", Vincent continued. "We have traced the source of the infection to one doctor. Dr Miranda Bailey is a carrier of mrsa usa600. But the real culprit here is the gloves. Records show the surgical gloves in use at the time of outbreak, March 15, shipped from the manufacturer Hemming Synthetics Incorporated". "We switched to Hemming's gloves when Pegasus was here", Owen said.

"Our testing reveals manufacturing defects. Microscopic tears in the gloves, which facilitated the transmission of staph usa600 to Dr Bailey's patients. It is the CDC's determination, were it not for the defective gloves, the patients in question would not have been infected. As for Dr Bailey, we recommend eradication measures before she can go back to any kind of patient care"

"Thank God", Callie sighed. "Best possible outcome", Aurora said. Bailey just left the room. "Here are copies of our report", Vincent said. "The CDC thanks you for your time and cooperation. And please... Feel free to call my office if you have any questions".

Jackson approached Beck outside the conference room. "Bailey's not at fault", he stated.

"I know, I was in the room"

"You know what? I spent my entire day getting treated like the bad guy here. I'm not gonna do this with you anymore. I don't know what the hell is going on with you but it's not my fault. Leave me out of it. You might not want to admit it but what we had was real. I'm sorry that you're not okay right now. I really am. As far as anything that happened between me and you, I'm never gonna be sorry about that. Anyway. Good night"

Beck went into Aurora's bedroom, where she was lying down, and got into the bed beside her. "What's the matter?" Aurora asked, nudging her.

"I was horrible to Jackson today. For no reason. Why can't I just talk to people like a regular human being? Why do I have to snap at everybody?"

"It's gonna be okay"

"I'm such an idiot. I love him"

Aurora put her hand on Beck's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I always do this. I get a good thing and all I think about is when it's gonna end"

"I think I'm losing Owen"

"What?"

"Not today, but... Soon"

Alex was getting ready to leave in the attending's lounge when he took out his phone. He pressed it to his ear. "Hey, this is Lucy, I can't come to the phone right now, leave a message". He heard the beep and sighed.

"Hey, it's me. I'm heading home now which is where I assume you are. I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have assumed. We can talk about this. We can figure this out because it's you and me. We always come through, right? Okay, I love you. Bye"

Lucy lay motionless on the floor in the kitchen. The pill bottle was tipped over on the floor, one pill left. Mia was crawling towards it. 

hope you enjoyed! comment your opinions! song is sleeping giant by mastodon