lxiii. pulled out of surgery
5.16

There's nothing like getting pulled out of your surgery, Atlas could tell anyone that that. It was always a surprise, a shock to everyone around. It's not a good thing, someone would say, they would tell you it meant one of two things.

Either there was a patient in much more need of their help, that they were their only change at survival.

Or something bad was happening, it could range from someone dying or being hurt — to a bomb or something else.

Personally, Atlas had never been pulled from his surgery until this very moment. Alex had come and pulled him out of the surgery, leaving the patient with a cardio fellow who was capable of finishing up.

Once Atlas was outside of the OR room, Alex turned to him. "Your fiancé is going crazy."

Those words alone set Atlas into a frenzy, he didn't know if something was wrong. Or what was happening.

Atlas followed Alex towards another OR room down the hall where Derek was standing over a patient's head, it was obvious that he was preforming surgery.

The monitors were beeping erratically when Atlas approached Derek. "Der?" Atlas spoke softly through his surgical mask.

Derek turned towards Atlas briefly, "She's bleeding into the frontal lobe. Now if I can just stop the bleed, save the rest of the brain, she'd have a chance."

"Decels are getting longer." Alex announced, having just sat back down to monitor the baby's heartbeat.

Addison looked to Derek. "Derek, I have to deliver the baby."

Derek looked up quickly then looked back down. "No, she — just — she's lost too much blood. If you cut her now, she'll bleed out. I can save her."

"How?" Addison questioned sternly.

"I have to cut out the frontal lobe."

Atlas sighed, "Derek. Please stop. Let Addie do this."

Derek didn't even bother looking up. "No. I have no choice. Bipolars."

"The baby's heart rate is bottoming out." Alex spoke up.

"Damn it, Derek." Addison muttered with frustration. "Okay, damn it. We've gone... this has gone too far. Taking the frontal lobe out, even if she does live, you are creating a monster." Addison started to raise her voice, "You don't get to play god here, Derek. Jen is gone, but this baby has a chance to live."

"Der, you need to let her go. Let it go." Atlas gently told Derek, it wasn't that he was siding with Addison, it was because he knew this woman didn't deserve to live the way she was going to if she survived.

"I'm taking the baby out." Addison started to move things so she could preform an emergency c-section.

"Put down the scalpel, Addison!" Derek yelled. The yell startled the people around him, including Atlas.

Derek and Addison glared at each other.

"You put down the scalpel." Addison countered, not taking her eyes off Derek.

"Addison, put the scalpel down." Derek said more calmly, even though there was still a hostile tone to his words.

"You put the scalpel down! You have to let her go." Addison tried — it was her duty to save the baby at any costs.

"Take your hand off the scalpel, Addison! You take your — take it off!" Derek yelled loudly, everyone went quiet.

Addison looked to Meredith who has been assisting with the surgery. "Meredith, go get the chief."

"Do not go anywhere." Derek told her harshly.

Atlas pushed Meredith to the side lightly, he took her spot at the table, now standing beside Derek. "Der, baby. Please just stop." It was a useless plead, Derek wasn't going too.

"We can save the baby." Atlas tried once more. "Der. Please look at me."

He didn't.

"The baby's still in distress. I need to take it out." Addison was now talking to Atlas, not Derek anymore.

Atlas knew his actions would anger Derek, he didn't say anything but shake his head sadly.

"Derek." Atlas sighed.

The chief and Alex stepped into the OR room. "The baby's still in distress. I need to take it out." Addison repeated to the chief.

"Wait. Just wait. The bleeding could stop. The baby could stabilize. If you do a c-section now, she'll lose too much blood and she'll die." Derek told them as he continued to do the surgery.

"She is dead, Derek." Addison snapped.

"Please just wait." Derek pleaded.

"Most of her brain is gone. For all intents and purposes, she's dead." Addison told him the truth he needed to hear.

"Meredith, get some more blood." Derek told the resident. "She needs more blood."

When Meredith didn't move Derek asked again. "Get some more blood. We need more blood."

Atlas risked it now, he placed his hands over top of Derek's shaking ones. "No more blood, Der. No more blood."

╚═ ☆ ═╝

Atlas had been pushed away. After Derek had been called a murder he was pushed away. Derek told him that he was fine and left stomping off. Poor Atlas only wanted to help.

Mark Sloan didn't know that Derek had lost a patient. He didn't know the names he had been called yet. "I'm seeing Lexie." Mark walked up to Derek on the catwalk.

Derek stopped leaning and stood up slightly. Neither of the two men saw Atlas watching from the doors. "Well, I'm sleeping with her, too. But it's more than that — we're happy. I'm happy." Mark told Derek, he felt as if he should. Derek was his best friend.

Derek brought his hand back before he pushed forward and punched Mark right in the face. Mark grunted as his body whipped to the side.

"Okay... that's... maybe I deserve that." Mark said as he held his cheek. "No, you know what? I didn't deserve that. You have no right to tell me who I can sleep with — oh!"

Derek had punched Mark in the face again.

Atlas was still watching, he was waiting to see if they would stop being children and stop themselves.

They didn't. Mark through the next punch and it was a back and forth game until they were both in the ground wrestling each other.

That's when Atlas rushed forward and pulled Derek away from Mark. "Hey stop."

Derek tried to get closer to Derek.

"I said stop!" Atlas bellowed and Derek looked to Atlas shocked. Derek shimmied  out of Atlas hold and walked off mad.