Chapter Seventeen

Peggy walked down the hall towards the group sitting in the waiting room laughing and playing around. Rolling her eyes she calls out to the girl, "Lola, Andrew is asking for you. So please come with me."

The girl gets up smiling, Peggy turns around annoyed until she hears the girls voice. "Hey, um, is ... Is he OK?"

The doctor scoffs at the girl, "No, he's not OK. You guys dared him to get in a thing of quick-drying cement and now he's at risk of dying." Shaking her head at the dumb look on the girls face Peggy rolls her eyes once more. "He's quite literally trapped in a block of rock which is putting him in danger of dying in so many ways. How in the world could he be okay right now?" Seeing the face of the girl makes Peggy stare at her in disbelief, "Wow, you care about him."

Lola tilts her head whispering, "He's my friend. I ... I know I told you he wasn't, but he's my friend."

"If he was your friend," Peggy tilts her head. "you would have never let him get into that cement. If he was your friend that whole show you put on earlier wouldn't have happened. You all made fun of the fact that his life was in danger because he's Andrew."

Suddenly a high pitched voice starts talking, "Mommy, I have a boo-boo. Kiss it better." Looking over Peggy sees the boys making kissing noises at them.

Peggy glares at them, "The concrete is sucking all of the water out of his body and pushing toxins into it! The second they have it off of him Andrew will be rushed to surgery so his heart doesn't stop. Then we have to hope the cement doesn't stop blood flow to his limb so he doesn't lose them." She moves forward to crouch in front of the boys, "We also have to hope that the cement doesn't burn him from the inside out. Let's also hope that as we do all of this, that he doesn't go into organ failure."

Squinting her eyes at the two boys who slowly move back in their seats, "If any of these things happen, I hope you all are prepared to handle the guilt of what you did to him. Andrew is terrified in there and all he wants is someone he cares about to be there to hold his hand. So who is it gonna be?

Lola looks at the boys before glancing back at Peggy shaking her head, "I'm sorry but we can't help you with this."

"You're going to regret this decision for the rest of your life if he doesn't make it," Peggy tells her moving towards the door before looking back at the boys. "I hope you all know that I will be personally calling all of your parents."

✗✗✗

Peggy put back on her dress gown and walked into the trauma room where Andrew gave her a hopeful look. "Wait. Is she? Lola?"

She stutters shaking her head, "She must of went to the bathroom or something because I couldn't find her."

"We need to start the catheter," Bailey tells them as she walks over.

Webber turns to the boy, "Ok, now, you're gonna feel some pressure."

The boy looks over at Peggy heartbroken, "She didn't go to eat. She just didn't want to come, right?" He lets out a gasp tilting his head back making her give him a sad look and grab his hand. "Lola likes to hang out with me. Or she did...used to. Before I did this. Once, she almost...There coulda been a kiss, but I chickened out."

Peggy shakes her head, "Well, maybe she's not the girl you want to be kissing."

He lets out a painful laugh, "No, I do. I do. I do need to be kissing her. My whole life is about kissing her."

Bailey sighs, "Catheter's in."

"Guys are on their last piece of cement," Mark informs them as Andrew shudders.

He lets out a relieved sigh, "Thank God. The hard part's over, right? The hard part's over?"

"Get a crash cart ready," Webber yells out.

Hahn moves to inject into the IV, "I've got calcium, D-50 and insulin. Ready."

Andrew looks at Peggy confused, "The hard part is over?"

Bailey leans closer to him, "Ok, there is a chance that when the nice gentlemen take off the final piece of cement there, on your abdomen, the toxins that have been building up underneath the concrete will rush to your heart, and you'll crash. You ... Your heart will stop, and you'll stop breathing."

The boy begins to freak out but Peggy squeezes his hand making him turn to her, "Calm down, there is no reason to make that face because they will restart your heart, and we will put in a tube that will breathe for you and rush you to the OR. We are good at what we do. Just, if you see that bright white light, don't go into it."

He laughs a little at her before tilting his head, "Will you hold my hand through the whole surgery?"

The attending all in the room all shift their eyes towards her but she ignores them, "Of course I will, I won't let go for even a second."

She looks up at Mark and gives him a nod making him return the gesture, "Let's go."

The fireman grabs the edge of the piece on his chest as Webber begins to give instructions, "OK, we're gonna do this on three. OK. One."

Mark looks over at the man, "Watch the leads."

"Two. Three." The cement is lifted off making Andrew gasp before his eyes roll to the back of his head, "There he goes."

Bailey catches the boys head as Mark moves forward to hold his upper body, "Clear his airway."

The chief looks over at Mark and the fireman who grab each end of his body, "All right. One. Two. Three." They lift him and lay him onto the gurney, "Easy, easy, easy."

The rest of them rush over to him, "Push the lidocaine."

"Bailey," Webber calls out.

The resident nods putting the tube down his throat, "Got the intubation."

The chief nods for them to move, "Go."