The hospital air felt static, a pre-storm tension that only Christopher seemed to register. He stood in OR 3, the sterile room where Dylan Young and a hand-held anti-tank round were scheduled to meet their end.
In the original canon, the explosion happened in the hallway, turning a bomb squad leader into a memory. Christopher moved with clinical aggression, ordering the scrub nurses to clear out all unnecessary oxygen tanks and flammable anaesthetics.
"I want the reinforced blast shields from the Radiology wing moved to the hallway outside OR 3," Christopher commanded, his voice a razor-sharp monotone.
"Wright, the Chief is going to kill us for moving lead-lined equipment without a work order," the head nurse protested.
"The Chief will be too busy thanking me for saving his foundation's structural integrity to care about paperwork," Christopher snapped. "Just move them. Now."
He walked toward the trauma bay where Dylan Young stood, looking calm in his EOD suit. Meredith was already inside the Code Black zone, her hand inside a man's chest, holding the trigger.
Christopher stopped at the threshold. He didn't look at Meredith; he looked at Dylan. "Dr. Wright? I thought this floor was evacuated," the bomb squad leader noted.
"I'm the surgical lead for the extraction," Christopher said, leaning against the doorframe with a sarcastic shield that felt thinner than usual. "Listen to me, Dylan. When you take that projectile out... don't walk toward the North hallway. The air pressure there is unstable due to the ventilation shafts. Walk slow, and for God's sake, keep the blast shields between you and the elevator shafts."
Dylan narrowed his eyes. "That's a very specific mechanical observation, Doctor."
"I have insomnia and I read the blueprints for fun," Christopher drawled, his heart hammering under his ribs. "If you tilt the round more than three degrees, the fuze will activate. Don't look at the lights. Look at your hands."
Meredith looked at Christopher, her eyes wide with a terror he'd seen a thousand times in syndication. "Christopher, you have to leave."
"I'm going, Grey," Christopher said, backing away slowly. "I have a Thai food date that I've already postponed for a mass casualty and an ambulance crash. I'm not letting a unexploded ordinance make me late again."
He turned and walked toward the evacuation zone, his phone vibrating with a text from Jack. "The news is reporting a Code Black. Tell me you're not in the building. - J"
Christopher didn't reply. He stood behind the heavy lead-lined door he'd ordered moved, his breath hitched in his throat. He had tamped down the variables. He had advised the squad.
Boom.
The building shuddered, a dull roar echoing through the corridors.