All in a day's work...
Title: All in a day's work...
Characters: Alex, with a little Lexie along for the ride.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 560
Warning: Crack!fic alert!!! I blame the existence of this fic almost entirely on
only_obsession !
“She's crashing!”
“Get the cart...”
“Sats are falling...”
“Where the hell is Karev?”
The panicked commotion in the neonatal intensive care unit builds to a ringing crescendo that doesn't peak until the swinging doors burst open and Alex rushes in, flushed and more than a touch out of breath.
“What have we got?” he barks, surveying the disarray with practised eyes. Monitors are shrilling wildly as an impossibly undersized infant, born just yesterday, lies motionless and unresponsive between a positive gaggle of medical professionals and a reverent air of expectation fills the crowded space as everyone takes a respectful stride back.
Alex knows instinctively what they want, it's all they ever seem to want, and as he raises a hand to decline modestly, the rising murmur of chorused voices that meets his half hearted protest compels him into picturesque slow motion. Despite the gravity of the situation and despite the fact that time is of the essence, if this child is to be saved, Alex knows that he must carry out all of the choreographed steps and in a precisely predetermined order to ensure his unblemished record lives on to see another day.
He bows his head momentarily, allowing a peace to settle over the room that, until know, had been a chaotic cacophany of desperation and hopelessness. The stunned crowd draw a collective breath as the melodrama builds and they all wait...
Alex gives the monitors a quick once over and decides that the situation is bad, worse than bad. He'll have to bring out the big guns, which is a thankfully rare requirement. The child, a girl, has a thicket of dark hair that contrasts shockingly with the jaundiced yellow of her paper thin skin. Liver disease; the poor thing was doomed from the very beginning. The parents drove across the continent to be here for the birth, they'd heard the stories, they'd seen the proof, this was to be their saving grace.
Lexie looks up from where she is seated in an armchair in the corner. She already knows what the result will be, she's simply here for the show. Too be honest, she's beginning to tire of it somewhat, there's very little excitement and anticipation in it for her anymore, it's almost routine.
Alex removes his scrub top smoothly, like he's practiced the motion countless times previously, which is probably because he has. Sometimes he can stop at the wifebeater; for the less sickly children, the wifebeater is often enough. But not today, definitely not today, and really, that's why Lexie is here.
The wifebeater dangles from his fingertips momentarily, before hitting the floor with an almost audible sigh as Alex moves in and scoops the listless child from the bed, drawing it effortlessly to his chest as the women in the room collectively ovulate as one.
The monitors immediately cease their wailing yell and calm to a steady rhythm that is almost impossible to detect over the dull roar of disbelief and gratitude that swells in the room. Alex shrugs off the praise and places the child in its mother's arms for the first time as she offers him a watery smile and tries to appear just the right amount of relieved and thankful. He smirks at her smugly, with typical Alex Karev bravado, and winks at Lexie over the baby's head.
“All in a day's work, ladies. All in a day's work.”