6.10

Helena zigzagged through the crowd that had formed to hear Derek's speech, settling in beside her friends. Derek was apparently their new chief of surgery, having called for a meeting.

"What the hell is he wearing?" Callie asked, her tone a bit mocking.

"It's good. Chiefly." Owen shrugged, Cristina shaking her head.

"He looks like an undertaker." She shared, Helena letting out a giggle.

"He kind of looks like a child playing dress up." The brunette told them, Callie letting out a chuckle.

"I promised him we'd clap." Arizona told them, the short girl nodding.

"Now?" Cristina teased.

As she felt a hand on the small of her back, Helena saw her boyfriend, smiling up at him as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Did Sloan say anything about when she was getting back?" She asked, stealing the man's coffee.

"She said she'd let us know when she booked a flight. Said it might be a few days." Mark told her, the crowd soon quieting down as Derek cleared him throat, shuffling through his flashcards.

"I want to thank you all for being here." He told them. "I know you're busy so I'll try to make this quick. As you might have heard, I have been appointed the new interim Chief of Surgery. It's my personal goal to make this transition as smooth as possible. I know we've head a rocky few months, mistakes have been made. I intend to right those wrongs and bring this hospital back to it's former glory."

"Former glory." Cristina mocked. "The undertaker needs a speech writer."

Helena snacked the back of their neck, turning when she heard Reed speak. "Check out Chief Webber."

"Oh, I can't see him!" Helena complained, getting on her tiptoes and pouting. "Does he look mad?" At that, Mark grabbed her waist, lifting her slightly off the ground. "Oh, he looks mad... Thank you, querido."

Webber and Shepherd seemed to be in some sort of stare down for a moment, the neurosurgeon nervously getting back to his speech soon enough. "And, huh... what I meant by that... what I'm trying to say is that I want to thank you for your support in advance, that's all. Let's go back to work."

Helena shook her head and scrunched up her nose disapprovingly, however, clapped along with Arizona and the rest at the end of the speech.

As the crowd dispersed, she whispered to her boyfriend. "That wasn't good. You don't thank people for support you don't have."

"No, ruined the whole speech." Mark agreed, Arizona approaching them.

"Lena, let's go for rounds?" She requested with a smile, Helena nodding.

"Let's. See you later, honey."

——

Helena palpated her patient's abdomen as Arizona asked the boy's parents some questions, in the room at peds floor of the hospital.

"How long would you say Brad has been having the pain?" The blond asked.

"Off and on for months..." The mother told her.

"Brad, is the pain constant or is it worse at times, better at others...?" The attending questioned.

"It's usually worse in the mornings, right after breakfast." The preteen spoke up.

"Which, I might point out, is when he has to go to school." The father scoffed, Helena furrowing her brows slightly.

"But I feel it at other times too." The kid explained.

"Right. When you have a Spanish test or a history presentation..." The father accused.

"Well, stress exacerbate abdominal pain..." Helena gave the man a slight smile and a nod.

"Please, Doctor, don't encourage him. He's just faking it so he can miss school." The man requested.

"I am not!" The boy told him, clearly offended.

"Abdomen is soft, non tender, non rigid and the bowel sounds are good." Helena informed her attending as she finished palpating the abdomen.

"Still, I'd like to cover all the basis." Arizona told her. "Dr. Campos, how would you proceed?"

"I'd go for a triple contrast CT." Helena suggested, taking of her gloves.

"We'll do it." The attending nodded in agreement.

"Brad, this is gonna cost us thousands of dollars, and insurance only covers part of it. You know that, right?" The father asked, the boy's mother shaking her head in disagreement.

"I'm not faking it!" The boy let out. "I'm not faking it, dad, I swear."

——

"What about that spot?" Helena asked as she stared at a seemingly normal CT.

"It's just lint..." Arizona found out, a she ran her finger through it.

"It doesn't make sense... why would he complain of pain this often if there's nothing wrong? I mean, I'd get doing l once to miss class, but this often, especially with his dad... it doesn't make sense." Helena muttered to herself.

"I loved the hospital when I was a kid. No school, lots of medical supplies to play with..." Arizona smiled, almost excited at the memories.

"I know, I used to beg my dad to take me with him. I remember sometimes he'd pick me up after school and I'd hang around in an empty office doing my homework or drawing." Helena smiled back, reminiscing. "Then he'd give me some money to go to the cafeteria between consults and I'd get a cookie and bring him a snack too." She shook her head, almost snapping out of it. "This just doesn't make sense."

"Let's go over I again." Arizona asked, Helena nodding.

"Alright, he presented with severe but intermittent abdominal pain, no discernible pattern."

"Labs are normal. No fever. Fist abdomen on exam." The blond added, Helena closing her eyes as she thought.

"We're missing something." She whispered to herself, her eyes snapping open once she came up with a suggestion. "I know this is rare on kids, but what about chronic mesenteric ischemia?"

Arizona nodded, agreeing with the possible. "It a stretch for a kid, but if he had vascular problems..."

"It'd fit all the symptoms and it doesn't show up on the scans." The brunette nodded, her eyes shining at her idea.