Pairing: Owen/Christina eventually
Summary: Starts after 5x01 and 5x02. Owen returns from Iraq with a physical injury rather than a mental one. Cristina is to treat him along with Callie.
Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy at all. Merely manipulate the characters for my enjoyment.
Chapter 1
"This is Dr. Owen Hunt, 35 year old male, transferred upon family's wishes. He is here for treatment and observation due to a lower left leg injury in Iraq from an explosion ten days ago. His BP and heart rate are within normal range and has no complaints other than the pain that accompanies his injury. He is Dr. Torres' patient. He may undergo surgery for debreidment or removal depending on how the next few days go."
Cristina presented Owen to the rest of the group for rounds. She tried to keep her voice at a normal tone as to not make this presentation any more uncomfortable for him than he already was. Owen tried to ignore them, he already knew his status and was uncomfortable due to pain and the increased attention that rounds brought He appreciated Cristina's tone, her: quick, direct and informative. He couldn't handle much more than the pain, he didn't want to be put on display.
Owen looked drastically different compared to the last time Cristina had seen him. He was paler despite being in the desert, that fire and determination that was in his eyes before; the fierce and direct attitude she once saw was gone. The man who once stapled his own leg closed was just a memory; reduced now to a man flat on his back, fighting to keep his body in tact. She tried not to feel bad, it was both uncharacteristic of her and she knew he didn't want sympathy, but she felt compassionate, this strong determined man risked his life, lost his platoon and might lose his leg. He may have been taken out of the war but the war wasn't over.
He was still polite. The gentleman his mother had raised along with the three sisters he had was still there and dominant. It still took all the patience he could muster to not snap at the early morning nurses who were just doing their jobs, or during rounds and the frequent doctor visits. His pain was always the same, just high enough to disrupt his thinking, his sleep, and fighting to disrupt his overall mood. He was quiet which was usual for him, not a hugely social guy and certainly not now that he'd survived a war. He mostly just lay in bed, and tried not to go stir crazy.
The civilian hospital was quieter than the military hospital he was previously staying in. The rooms were semi-private now as opposed to the curtained hallway served as a wing in the hospital he shared with other injured soldiers. And the doctors were cuter too. The down side of the military hospital was that it was military, orderly and direct, too abrasive for someone who was trying to heal. Too many egos were contained within the beds. He was glad to be put in a private room; Richard Webber wanted to make sure he was treated right. If it all went well Webber was going to offer him the job again. And he got to see Cristina.
Cristina found out about Owen's admission when she was placed on Callie's service. Since Owen's case might have been surgical Callie did the chief a favor and put him on her service. Cristina was shocked when she was sifting through the charts and discovered that Owen's name was in the pile of charts.
"Major Owen Hunt's here?" She asked Callie around the nurse's station.
"Just Dr. Owen Hunt now. Yeah. Not exactly surgical yet but could be. Chief asked that I take his case."
"Oh."
She quickly read up on him. She remembered him, how could she not. It wasn't everyday that someone removed an icicle from your torso, or that you even experience an icicle in your torso. After she read up she had to find Maredith and discuss the newfound information.
"McBadass is here."
"Who?"
"Major Owen Hunt. He removed my icicle when I was all damsel in distress."
"Oh. Right. Does he work here now?"
"No. He's on Callie's service. He was wounded in Iraq and his mother moved him here from the military hospital he was in previously."
"Ok. So?"
"So he kissed me and I let him and now I'm on Callie's service."
"Good luck." Maredith's pager went off and she had to leave to attend to the matter.
Cristina tried to busy herself with charting at the nurse's station but kept glancing over at the closed door to his room. There was a sign posted eye level on the closed door to remind the doctors and nurses not to startle Owen. He was only ten days out of the sand pit after all and probably had experienced some things that would cause him to overreact to an unannounced wake up.
And then the call light to Owen's room lit up. He needed something and the nurses weren't around, neither were the interns. While she was on Callie's service she hadn't had to actually address Owen alone yet. Callie did the talking when she had to discuss his case with him and he never needed to address Cristina when Callie was present. The nurses did all the medication changes and she got an intern to answer when she could. Christina had to go talk to him and he was alone.
Chapter 2
She had to answer Owen's call. He obviously needed help or else he wouldn't have pushed the button. Taking deep breaths she walked the short distance from the nurse's station to his closed door and paused before knocking. Taking one last breath she knocked twice and proceeded to open the door.
His bed was on the left side facing the right where a television was mounted on the wall. The window was opposite the door she entered and he was just as he always was, lying in his bed with his left leg propped up and a sheet draped over the rail to keep his leg warm without the weight of it.
She walked in, avoiding eye contact with him. She ran her eyes from the foot of the bed to his chest, making sure his leg was okay and then skipped his head to check the IV stand for the various medication levels.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were avoiding me Cristina." He looked in her direction as he talked; she stayed focused on the medication. He turned his head back to the television after he was finished speaking.
"How did you know I'd be the one to answer your call?"
"The nurses change shifts right now." He said slowly. Managing to smile slightly through the pain. "Doing nothing all day makes you pretty observant."
She didn't say anything for a moment, then responded, "I haven't been avoiding you."
"Then why don't you ever look at me?"
"I look at you. I do rounds, medication checks, dressing changes."
"You look at my body. You don't look at my eyes. You don't look at me." He paused and looked down. "Me" he said again.
She still didn't make complete eye contact with him.
"Do you need anything else?"
"No."
"Then I should be getting back to my charting." She said in his direction while pretending to make notes in his chart. She noticed he nodded, and then turned his attention back to the television, flickering on the neighboring wall.
"You kept me alive over there." He called to her back at her as she walked to the door. She hovered with her hand on the handle, then opened the door, left and closed it, pausing on the other side for a moment.
As she paused Callie arrived at the nurse's station and saw her at his door.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Fine." Cristina called back as she walked back to the station and took her seat to finish charting.
As she charted she couldn't shake what he had said to her. They barely knew each other. Yet one meeting and one kiss had kept her in mind throughout his tour. And she was the one that kept him alive. She wasn't sure exactly what that meant but she knew that he was at least fond of her. It's not just any random woman that can give a man the will to live after just one meeting.
She was obviously distracted throughout the remainder of the day. Meredith and Cristina spent the night at Meredith's. Mer had to talk about Derek moving in or not and quickly picked up on Cristina's distance as they shared Mer's bed.
"Cristina you didn't hear a word I just said."
"Wha? Oh right."
"What is going on?"
"Owen."
"So he gets a name now?"
And she told her the story of what had happened that day. How he called her in and then said what he said.
"He said I kept him alive over there."
"He- well, he might love you."
"Love? After one meeting and one kiss? Seriously?"
"Ok fine, he thinks you're smokin' hot and wants to sleep with you. Every time he sees you it's pure torture for him stuck in that bed not being able to do or say the things he wants to say and seeing you all day."
"Oh you're helping."
"Just give it time. He obviously likes you, you obviously at least think about him. Just talk to him, spend time with him. Or let him come to you. Just don't let him go."
The next day Cristina had to do Owen's dressing change. It was a painful process, the removal of the old bandages for new after irrigation and a check for infection and healing progression. It happened every three days. Since Owen had nothing to do all day he knew that it was coming and wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He had hoped Cristina was doing it, maybe the sight of her could take some of the pain away.
After her usual double knock she opened the door arms laden with all the materials she needed for the change. Placing all the materials on the side table she turned her attention to him.
"Hey." She greeted with eye contact. And he noticed.
"Hey." His eyes looked tired
"Everything okay?"
"As okay as can be expected."
"You shouldn't lie to your doctors" she said with a slight smile as she began to prepare for the dressing change.
"You shouldn't ignore your patient." He said with an equal smirk.
"Where's your mom today?"
"I ask her to not come on these days."
Cristina understood, and began to remove the dressing.
About six inches below his knee there was a large open wound that stretched to about eight inches above his ankle. There was a flap of skin and muscle that fit in the space but because the military hospital had just sewn it closed on the multiple layers the swelling caused further damage, so how they had to sew one layer closed at a time and wait to see if he could gain full use of his leg. This method was risky for infection but could prolong his abilities after he was healed if all went to plan.
"It looks good today. We might be able to stitch the next layer closed by the end of the week." She looked at him with pleasant eyes to be greeted with saddened ones.
"It's my fault."
"What? This? No, this is out of your control."
"In the field what do you do when your trauma surgeon gets injured like this? The medic was brand new. Scared shitless. I had to talk him through how to help me while trying not to pass out."
She finished and sat beside him. "You didn't know. How could you have known you'd get hit? You did what you could. And you're still alive. Focus on healing and walking. It happened, you'll never heal dwelling in the past." She said all of this kindly, without breaking eye contact. And some point his hand ended up sandwiched between hers. He felt comforted despite the increased pain the dressing change had brought. He had received good news about his leg, and she touched him, she saw him.
"Thank you." He said back.
Chapter 3
Cristina began to spend more and more time with Owen. She was on call more often so she got some alone time with him and was able to still peruse the cases before rounds. She was careful to avoid his room when his mother was around, she felt awkward enough spending time with a patient.
"I'm not Izzie. I'm not soft. I don't do compassion."
"You like him, not the fact that he's a patient. You knew him before this. He's not Denny."
"Callie and I are finally closing his leg tomorrow."
"That's good."
"Then he'll go home in a couple of days."
"You helped him through a big thing. And he'll be back for physical therapy. He's not going to just leave you."
Cristina had made it a sort of habit to chart and study and hang out in Owen's room most nights she was on call and the floor was quiet. She knew he liked her company. He didn't like being alone, he was alone for enough time over there. He didn't sleep much either. They were cutting back on his pain medication since he hated the side effects but that meant that he had increased pain. His channel surfing and her charting seemed to work well.
It was important to Owen that she chose to stay in his room the nights before and after his last surgery. Before because he was nervous, and after because he needed someone to hang out with. Cristina could see his nervousness as she sat charting that night. He kept flipping channels, never settling on one show for more than a minute, and struggling to get comfortable, trying to rearrange the pillows and adjusting the blankets. Eventually he called to her.
"Could you?" he gestured towards the mound of fluff behind his head.
"Sure." She was quick to his side. "Lean forward." She pulled the pillows from behind him. As she fluffed them a bit Owen continued getting comfortable. "Need one back?" She asked as she handed a pillow forwards.
"No, this is much better."
Cristina returned to her seat after placing the pillows on an end table. "Yeah, being stuck in a bed with an icicle in my abdomen all day, I figured out it was more comfortable without them too." She went back to her charts.
"Thanks. I'm just..."
"Nervous?"
"Am I that easy to read?"
"Tonight you are." She smiled, casting her charts to the side table again.
"I don't remember feeling nervous before the others."
"I'm surprised you can remember the others. You were on some good drugs then."
"Right."
"So it makes sense that you're nervous now."
Owen was back to pretending to watch the TV.
"When was the last time someone touched you?"
"Wha, what?"
"You know, a hug, held your hand, whatever."
"I guess, just my mom. When she comes over she tries to hug me, holds my hand occasionally."
Cristina stretched and stood up. "Got room for me?"
"Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"
"No. Besides, the warmth of another person might just calm you down. You know, like when a child is comforted by a parent."
"Are you calling me a child?"
"Far from it. Just consider this a prescription from your doctor."
"A cuddle session, is a prescription?"
"Oh you would you shut up and just make room? You want this don't you?"
"I can't turn down a woman in my bed." He smirked and moved to make room.
"Now just be quiet and rest."
Owen complied and rested his head on her shoulder, eyes fixed on the channel Cristina had chosen. It wasn't long before he was asleep.
Owen's mother was there the day of the surgery. Lucky for Cristina an early page called her away from the warm confines of Owen's bed, so she didn't get caught with a patient. His mother had come in earlier than usual, unsure of when his surgery would start and found him still asleep. She waited quietly until he woke. He was a little disappointed to find his bed without Cristina, but seeing his mother in the corner, he knew he was lucky that page called her away.
"Good morning. Are you ready?" She called from behind her book.
"G'morning." He said through a yawn. "As ready as I can be." He felt the nerves beginning to crawl their way into his stomach, churning the empty vessel.
"You look worried."
"That's probably because I am."
"You weren't worried for the others."
"I was asleep most of the time then. Cristina said I was on some heavy duty drugs then."
"Cristina?"
"Dr. Yang."
"Oh." she closed her book. "Well, what are you worried about?"
"I just want it to go well. I can't stand being in here much longer. I want to get out, start getting my life back."
"Think good thoughts, dear."
Cristina found herself feeling nervous while she was scrubbing in for his surgery later that day. She knew he wouldn't deal with another setback well, especially if it led to him needing another surgery. Midway through her scrubbing in a nurse called for her from the door between the operating room and the scrub room.
"Dr. Yang."
"Yeah." She turned her head towards the voice as she continued to scrub.
"The patient is asking for you. He's adamant about seeing you before they put him under."
She turned off the water and grabbed a towel, making her way to Owen.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." She could see the worry across his face, starting to sweat and panic.
"What's up?"
"What if... what will I do... if this doesn't work?"
"Owen." She was silently commanding his blues to look into her deep browns. "It's going to work. You know that." She squeezed his hand and held on until he was under.
His surgery went well, the rest of the wound was closed, but there was significantly more swelling than expected, which resulted in Owen having to spend another week in the hospital to monitor it instead of the two days he was told prior to the surgery. This extended stay was enough to break what spirit he had had earlier. He threw everyone out of his room aside from his mother, who could sit with him but he wouldn't talk to. When the nurses did their normal rounds he was silent and refused to make eye contact. During the intern and resident rounds he pretended to be asleep yet Cristina could see through it. She could tell he was upset, annoyed, and fed up. She didn't blame him. He'd been in the hospital for close to three weeks now and was off fighting a war before that. He wanted some rest, relaxation and normalcy; all of which he was yet to experience since his accident.
Towards the end of the day Owen's mother found Cristina.
"Dr. Yang?" She asked as she stood beside her at the nurse's station.
"Mrs. Hunt. What can I do for you?"
"Owen was never one to sit still. He would when he was told to but if he had the choice he was off doing something, being active. This stint in the hospital is really taking a toll on him being stuck in that room. Is there any way he could get out? And maybe get a proper shower? These are the only things he talks about now."
"I'll see what I can do."
After evening meals were served Cristina decided to go pay Owen a visit despite his poor mood. She knocked twice after she knew he was alone again.
"I'm not accepting visitors." He said loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door.
He's even polite when he's telling people to leave. Cristina thought. "I'm coming in anyway." She announced after she had opened the door. He hadn't eaten his dinner.
"You have to eat if you want to get out of here."
"This isn't food. I've had some pretty bad stuff but this isn't food."
"Your mom talked to me earlier." He just looked at her waiting to hear what she had said. "Sounds like you are going a little stir crazy in here."
"It's been far too long since my last real shower."
"Let's see what I can do about that. Then we can eat a real dinner."
Chapter 4
Owen knew he was being stubborn for no real reason. He knew how long it took people to heal and that surgery came with setbacks, but being trapped in one room with occasional trips to the OR had started to take a toll on him. He needed out. And now it sounded like Cristina was going to get him a shower or something of that nature, something potentially a little more refreshing than a sponge bath. She also mentioned a real dinner. He knew that the hospital food was bland because some patients couldn't have more flavor than what he was fed on a daily basis, and his mother did bring him real food from time to time. It was just the toll of bad news and being uncomfortable and the growing frustration that compiled into kicking people out of his room and being a real scrooge for the day.
Now the more Owen thought about Cristina and the possibility of a shower the more he got nervous. It had been a very long time since he had taken a shower or had actually been covered in water since he was in the field. Showers don't travel well when you live in fox holes and the only shower he had prior to deployment was a base camp which was luke warm and limited to five minutes. He was more than ready to have a real shower but he was nervous. He hadn't stood or tried to stand since he was laid up which would mean he'd need her help and well who knows what might happen when she puts her warm soapy hands all over his body. He blushed just thinking about it. Cristina was out ordering dinner and preparing whatever wet surprise she had in store.
"Okay dinner will be here in an hour. So we have to get moving if you want to be clean before dinner."
He looked at her in the entry way of his room and tried to keep himself under control. "Okay. Let's go then." He managed a smirk for her at the end of his sentence and she returned it. Cristina went back into the hall and brought in a sort of padded chair, a mix between a wheel chair and a hospital bed. Wheeling it to the side of his bed she lowered the bed rail and started unhooking Owen from his multiple tethers. Once he was free she helped him move from the bed to the chair.
"It's one hop step." He swung his legs around to the side of the bed carefully protecting his left with both of his hands. Cristina stood on his right as he placed his arm around her shoulders."Okay now shift your weight from your right to me and hop to make it into this chair." He did better than he thought he would and let out a smooth breath once he was situated in the chair.
They were quickly in the hall and Owen had a whole new outlook on the floor, most of the time he was flat on his back, now he could see everything properly. He had no clue where they were going but he was glad to be out of his room.
"Where are we going?" He asked over his shoulder to her as she pushed him down the hall.
"Somewhere with a large bath tub."
"I can do that?"
"Do what?"
"Sit in a bath tub?"
"Yep you'll see."
They had arrived on the OB floor from the elevator.
"OB? Who's pregnant?"
"No one. The birthing suites have the largest bath tubs for obvious reasons."
Cristina had worked a little magic and found an empty birthing suite to allow Owen his much needed water time. She had also found a waterproof sleeve to place his leg in to allow complete submersion without getting his recent stitches wet. After some smooth body transport Owen was soaking nicely in the warm tub while Cristina made sure he didn't drown.
"It's kind of lonely in this tub." Owen said with his eyes closed.
"Someone is feeling better." Cristina said with a hint of smirk in her voice.
"Aw come on. I'm naked and lonely here. It's kind of embarrassing actually. Me all naked and you just watching."
"This isn't the first time I've seen you naked pal. And how would it look if we got caught together naked in a stolen tub?
"Stolen?"
"Well I didn't exactly sign out the room and getting caught naked with a patient isn't exactly appropriate."
"You don't usually come across as one for the rules."
"Well let's just say I'd like to spend more than just tonight with you. So if you'd like to see me past the next hour I'm going to keep my pants on."
"Well since you want to see more of me I'll let you."
"Oh you'll let me huh?" She returned with a smile. Owen sent a sleepy smile back, the bath was really helping to relax him and his sore muscles from being in a bed for so long. "How's the leg?" Time to get medical again.
"It's alright. Minimal pain. Mostly stiff, scar tissue will do that."
"Dr. Hunt is back again I see." Just then Cristina's pager went off. "Dinner's here." She looked over to Owen and found him snoozing. "Owen." She called as she shook his shoulder. With a little persistence he was awake again.
The transport from the tub to the chair was a little more difficult than it was going into the tub but they managed. Owen tried to protect his manhood but failed, Cristina saw him naked, by accident through transport and Cristina was modest being in doctor mode and just brushed it off. Once they were back into his room and he was situated comfortably and once again tethered to the medical lines Cristina set up dinner on the tray table in his room.
"I'm not always this nice or dare I say caring."
"I could tell. But it's okay. I appreciate some real food and some company that isn't my mother."
Cristina was listening but still preparing dinner. Owen continued "Just the sight of you is enough."
"Your mother sure raised a gentleman."
"Maybe once I get out of here I can take you on a real dinner date, not some laid up hospital thing."
"Hey I'm trying here. And I do like a romantic."
Chapter 5
Owen was scheduled to go home today. He was going to live with his mother until he made a more full recovery, but at least he could leave the hospital and start regaining some normalcy in his life again. She could take him to his physical therapy sessions and give him some nice home cooked meals while he got back on his feet. The only thing more fresh on his mind than leaving was Cristina. They had started what looked like to him at least, the making of a relationship. They talked on a regular basis; she even set up a date for him in the hospital. He wanted to keep the relationship going but he wasn't sure how that would happen, considering he was leaving and they had never been together outside of the hospital.
The hospital thought early on in Owen's stay that he should see a psychiatrist. Between all the things he saw and dealt with in Iraq as well as the pain and stress put on himself with the series of surgeries and lengthy stay, it was probably a good suggestion. He wasn't too keen on talking to someone he didn't know about all the terrible things in his head, but he understood why he should open up to someone who didn't know him before all this happened. They always did sessions in Owen's room, and as he had expected he was due for a session before he left.
"So, how are you feeling today?"
He hated it when he asked that. "I'm fine. Good."
"I don't think that's how you really feel."
"It's... I'm not an open person. Not anymore."
They had a few sessions prior to this one, but they weren't very productive. He was in a lot of pain, and on a lot of drugs so talking about things, remembering things accurately was very difficult.
"Anymore?"
Owen sighed. "I was with someone, engaged. And when I came back from Iraq the first time, she wouldn't listen to how I felt. She refused to listen to what I saw. Like if she never heard about it, it never happened."
"I can see how it would be hard to release your emotions when someone who you trusted was ignoring you. But you shouldn't shut it in."
"I don't want to say it, to see it again. It was rough enough the first time."
"What about Cristina?"
"I'm not even sure what Cristina and I are. I can't bother her with all this."
"It's not a bother. If she cares about you, which I'm sure she does from what you've told me, she will try to understand, and she'll listen."
A nurse knocked at the door. "Our session is over for today. Best of luck back home and I'll see you next week."
"Right."
His therapist left as the nurse entered. She removed his IV, administered his oral pain meds and helped him move from the bed to the chair for the physical therapist's visit. He had wanted to get out of his bed more and more, in hopes that he'd be getting closer to getting home, but he also didn't want to lose Cristina. He was thinking about how he wanted to get better, but not lose the prospects of Cristina, and how she remembered him while he was away and what she did for his morale when he was on the brink of getting killed, when Cristina came in and sat on his bed.
"Earth to Owen."
"What? Hey." She pulled him away from his thoughts.
"What's up? Heard you get to go home today. Well to your mother's at least."
"Well I did live there once." He said with a forced smirk, Cristina caught him.
"Are you really okay?"
"Yeah... not really."
"Owen." She looked into his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. And I can't forget you. Not since you kissed me after going all superhero and removing my icicle."
"Okay."
They were mid kiss when Cristina's pager went off. She groaned and retrieved the noise making device.
"Ugh. Callie. I have a double hip replacement with her today. Which is why I came to see you. I won't be able to catch you later but I wanted to see you before you left."
"Right. Yeah, double hip, that'll take all day."
"Unfortunately. Ortho isn't my thing, but it's Callie's service so."
"Go do surgery. I'll page you with my next PT appointment."
"Sounds good." She kissed him again.
"See you later." He called as she left, watching until the door closed behind her.
"You ready for this marathon surgery?" Callie asked as they scrubbed in.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, Owen's leaving today. I just…" Callie cut her off.
"I get it. You two will be fine."
"How did you know?"
"How could the entire hospital not know? If we couldn't find you we just went to Owen's room."
"Oh." She looked down and stopped scrubbing.
"It's fine. No one cares. It's not like you did anything with him as a patient so you're in the clear. Chief doesn't care about residents sleeping with interns I doubt he's going to break you two up, how can he?"
Cristina continued scrubbing again. "Right yeah. Let's replace some hips!"
The morning seemed to drag on for Owen. He had already memorized all the channels his TV got and what was on during each hour and half hour. His physical therapist stopped by to give him some home exercises to do before his next appointment. His mother arrived right before lunch was to be served since he had planned to eat at home, a real meal for once. She found him in his chair still half flipping through the channels as usual and half asleep.
"Owen dear."
"Oh hi mom." He stirred enough to make eye contact.
"Are we almost ready to go?"
"I don't have discharge papers yet and have no real clothing to go home in. They cut my uniform off when I was in the field and all I have are a pair of sweatpants and this gray t-shirt."
"I brought you some clothes. Beth had dropped all your stuff off in my garage one day. I just hope they still fit."
Owen sighed and stretched. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just tired. You know, it's a lot to process, finally getting to leave."
Mrs. Hunt set down the bag she brought on his bed and gave him a tight hug. He was reminded of the last hug he received from her like that, the day he was being shipped out. She didn't cry, but he could fell every emotion she was suppressing when she hugged him.
"Let's see what we can do about getting out of here."
Owen's last two hours in the hospital consisted of a shower and a change into real clothes. He had recently gotten shower privileges from his therapist as well as walking with the assistance of crutches. The only thing that kept him at Seattle Grace was his discharge paperwork. A nurse paged Callie and Callie paged Meredith. Meredith knew about Owen and his discharge from Cristina, but Owen hadn't met Meredith as Cristina's friend.
Meredith knocked. "Dr. Hunt?"
She found him in the chair and his mother in a neighboring chair, talking. They stopped and turned towards her when she entered.
"I have your discharge papers. Dr. Torres is in a surgery so she couldn't be here."
"Yeah, Cristina, I mean Dr. Yang told me about it earlier."
"I just need your signature here." She handed him a pen and pulled the table closer. As he signed she decided to mention that they meant once before.
"We sort of half met awhile ago. When Cristina was injured, and you picked her up and treated her. I was the, I'm her friend. We were fighting before she was impaled." She paused as he handed her the pen back. "You probably don't remember."
"You look familiar. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm sure we'll meet again." Meredith said with a smile. She gathered the paperwork and left, sending an orderly to take Owen out to his mother's car.
"Ready to go home?" his mother asked as they pulled away from the main entrance.
"So ready."
"Good. Your sister is in town, she's making us lunch. I called her on my way to the car."
Chapter 6
By the time they had pulled into his mom's driveway he was reminded just how weak he was. The mere six mile drive had worn him out, and his leg was protesting every bump and imperfection in the road. With a little help from Mom he got out of the car and successfully into the house. The couch was all set up and waiting for him, complete with a pillow, blanket, and fresh ice pack. Stifling a sigh of relief he practically flopped down on the couch and made himself comfortable. Before his sister could even say hello, Owen was fast asleep.
The girls chatted and ate lunch while Owen slept.
"How's he doing?" Owen's sister Rachel asked as she prepared plates for her and her mother.
"Well enough to be home. As you can see, he's very weak still but he'll get stronger." She said as she sipped her coffee.
"I'd just glad he's home in one piece. It feels like I haven't seen him in forever."
"I'm glad too. I'm glad you're here to see him, and to help if you don't mind. It's been alright with him being taken care of in the hospital, but now I'm not sure how much care he'll need."
"Of course I can. It's rough taking care of someone, it takes a lot out of you. But something tells me he'll be pretty independent soon enough."
"It is Owen, he was never big on getting help, ever since he was little."
They had just out finished lunch when they heard Owen stir in the neighboring room. He got up on his own and went down the hall to the bathroom. When he returned to the living room he was met by Rachel with a sandwich and chips. He sat back down on the couch and put his leg up on the coffee table. She handed him the plate and he dove in hungrily. After he finished chewing Rachel started the conversation.
"So. Tell me everything."
Rachel was Owen's only older sister and they had been very close and she was one of the only people he still felt comfortable spilling his guts to. She never looked at him differently after his experience, she knew what was happening over there and knew that the only way he could deal with what he saw, what happened to him would be to talk about it to someone who was going to listen.
Owen laughed. "Where should I start?"
"How about you start with the part where Beth put all your stuff in Mom's garage."
"Oh." Owen put his plate down. "That."
"I heard it was one line in an email. The Owen I know and love wouldn't break up with anyone in an email, let alone a one liner."
"I... I came home for a few days in between tours. And she was excited I was home but completely ignored that I was in Iraq. She wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, big things that were bothering me. So it started then."
"She wouldn't listen?"
"No she would change the subject. Avoid the topic. As if, if she didn't hear it, it didn't happen." he paused. "How am I supposed to be married to someone who ignores a huge part of my life?"
"So why didn't you break it off then?"
"I got into an accident, it was a freak snow storm and I hit some black ice and a limo."
"Mom didn't mention it."
"I didn't tell her." "Anyways. I met someone. A doctor. She was forced to work on my case, I cut my leg and then I saved her from an icicle impalement and, well, we kissed."
"You kissed another girl while you were engaged to Beth?"
"It was just one kiss, and Beth didn't know. I figured that Beth and I would be fine once I came home for good. I could ease her into it and we'd be okay."
"You know that would never actually happen. But I get your point."
"Yeah it was fine until I lost most of my unit and then I knew I couldn't deal with this and be with Beth. And Cristina, the doctor I met, I couldn't get her out of my head. So I guess it was over with Beth when she ignored Iraq. So I broke it off in an email. How was I supposed to break up with her and say it was just another girl. It's way more complicated than that. It was my Iraq experience and her avoidance and all that." "You must think I'm..."
"Don't. I still love you, you're my little brother. I understand that it gets hectic and nuts over there and you can't help how you feel or what you experience and you're right, you can't marry someone who won't listen to you, even if it's about some heavy topics. So while an email probably wasn't the best way to break it off, at least you did. And it's over." She hugged him and then sat back down. "Alright, so what happened next?"
"Then I was training a new medic and got hit. My leg was torn open and it was pretty nasty. I had to walk the medic through how to dress the wound and try to stay conscious. Somehow I ended up at a medic station and then in a hospital in a safe zone."
"And then Mom got you shipped home."
"Yeah. They moved me to the states when they saw how bad my leg was. They closed it but apparently not well enough because the layers didn't heal right and they had to open them and close them individually."
"So Cristina works at the hospital you were moved to?"
"Yeah. And she worked on my case. She, she set up a date for me in the hospital." Owen blushed.
"So are you guys a thing now?"
"I dunno. I hope so."
"Have you talked to her since you left?"
"I just got home today."
"So?"
"She's in a marathon surgery. I'll call her tomorrow or something. I have to page her with my next PT appointment so she can stop by while I'm there."
"Hey, if she kept you alive over there, she might be worth more than you think."
Owen smiled.
Owen quickly adjusted to being at home again. He enjoyed his freedom to roam the house, the larger bed and the daily showers. The home cooked meals were just icing on the cake. He could get around freely, with the aid of crutches and he didn't need much care aside from a dressing change each day and a little help carrying things. He missed seeing Cristina every day though. His sister and mom being around were great, the company was nice even if it was just sitting in the same room reading or watching television. His physical therapy appointment was growing closer and closer, and he had yet paged Cristina the date and time.
"Owen, when are you going to page that girl?" Rachel sat down next to him, seeing that he was lost in thought.
"What? How'd you know?"
"Oh, you think I don't know you? I used to help change your diapers."
"Shut up." he smirked. "I'm thinking about doing it now."
"Well then, just do it. She asked you to tell her right?"
"Yeah..."
"So just do it."
"Fine alright. Doing it now." He typed the number into his cell phone and pressed send. He put the phone on the coffee table, sat back against the couch, and fought the anxiety that was welling inside him as he waited for a text or phone call from her.
"She's gonna send you something back, quit worrying." Rachel stayed with him, wanting to see what she replied, because of course he was going to tell her.
Chapter 7
Cristina figured it would take Owen a couple of days to get used to being home before he'd even think about his next physical therapy appointment, but since the last time she saw him she found herself thinking about him more and more. Wondering what he was doing instead of working like she was, or if he'd think the cases she was working on would be interesting. She missed being able to just walk down the hall and see him, sit with him, do work while he slept. She got his page mid lunch. She got up quickly and left the table and her friends to answer it, playing it off as a case. She found an open on call room and decided to call him, since it had been a few days since they had last spoken.
Owen heard the cell phone buzzing on the coffee table and as quickly as he could manage picked it up and read the ID.
"It's her." He told Rachel, next to him on the couch.
"So?"
"She's calling me."
"Well answer it." She said as she got up from the couch and started walking away. "I'll be back when you're done."
After they got through the boring how are you, and how's home life Owen asked Cristina about her recent surgeries. He was in serious scalpel withdrawal, he hadn't cut in a very long time. Cristina gladly and intently filled him in on valve replacements and emergencies that happened in the middle of the night. He loved hearing the passion she had for medicine in her voice, how she gave just enough detail so he could see it, but not enough to be lost in the technicalities. Of course Owen talked too. He told her of how home was a lot better than he remembered it, probably because he had taken it for granted, and how he was getting around really well, and with any luck he would be off the crutches in a couple weeks. He also missed the hospital and Cristina could tell. She knew it wouldn't be long until he was back, but she also knew what it felt like to not be able to work at all, and how each day felt like an eternity.
"Well, we'll have to plan some stuff, get you out of the house before you go stir crazy."
"Oh I can't wait. The only things that get me out of the house are PT and doctor appointments."
"I'll see what I can do."
Meredith found Cristina in the on call room about an hour later, still talking on the phone.
"We have work to do you know."
"Yeah, yeah I know." she called back as she covered the phone with her hand. "Almost done."
On the other end of the line Owen could tell she had to get back. "Time for you to get back to work huh? Meredith I'm guessing?"
"How did you know?"
"Who else would have the guts to tell you to get off the phone?"
"True. I'll talk to you later."
"Sounds good. Later."
"There, happy?" Cristina called to Meredith, trailing her down the hall while stuffing her phone back into her pocket.
"You could have spent as long as you wanted. I was merely stating the facts." Cristina had caught up. "So how's Owen?"
"He's good. Healing quickly. Slowly dying of boredom and over feeding." "How could you tell it was him?"
"You don't talk to people on your cell during the day." "And I could hear him a little."
"He could tell it was you. Are you cheating on Derek with my boyfriend?"
"Oh, so he's your boyfriend now?"
"I think he will be soon if he isn't already."
Owen's first few physical therapy sessions Cristina just stopped by at the end. Seeing him tired and dripping with sweat from working his leg was a bit like torture for her. While he was super hot, getting his muscular body back as well as his leg, he also tore at her heart strings a bit. It was hard to see him fatigued after so little work compared to what he used to do. After a couple of weeks of therapy he was walking without the aid of crutches and was going to physical therapy more for a full work out under the watchful eyes of his therapist than to just work his leg. He was also seeing his psychiatrist but that was moved to once a week and he was doing well. He had very little PTSD symptoms, only the occasional unsuspected loud noise would make him jump but he was sleeping well and all around in better shape than he was when he arrived.
One Friday when Owen had therapy he showed up a little early. Cristina rounded the corner to head to the nurse's station and found him standing at the station talking to Callie and a few nurses. He took her by surprise, standing there in street clothes, walking unaided and looking pretty damn attractive. In her walk over she composed herself and suppressed any ideas she had of taking him to the on call room right then.
"Hey. Figured you'd be up here." He said as he watched her walk over with an armful of charts to drop off.
"Hey. What?"
"I met Meredith in the elevator. Pure coincidence. I swear I didn't plan it."
"Well good. Glad to see you, but isn't your appointment in like ten minutes? Did Rachel drop you off early or something?"
"I drove." he said with a smile.
"Wow! Awesome!" she said with a smile and a hug. "How'd it feel?"
"Great." he replied with a larger smile. "Figured I'd come a little early and show you my driving skills."
"Well I'm really glad you're making such great progress. Pretty soon you'll be off working somewhere."
"If Webber plays his cards right I might be working here soon enough."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah" He looked down at his watch. "I gotta go downstairs for therapy. See you after?"
"Sure." She watched him walk back to the elevators to go to his appointment. When the elevator doors closed and he was gone Callie was back at the station.
"He looks really good. Making great progress." she said as she finished in a chart.
"You're telling me."
Chapter 8
"It's been years since my last first date, I don't even know what to wear." Owen flopped down on the couch next to his sister, who was channel surfing. She set down the remote and looked across the room at her mother, buried behind a book. She just gave her full attention to her book, while peering over it at her daughter with suggestive eyes. Rachel turned her attention back to Owen.
"Do you still have that dark green button up? Pair it with some black pants and black shoes. You'll be golden."
He looked back at her trying to hide his surprise. "How, how do you know?"
"I'm a girl, we know these things like you guys know sports."
Owen sighed and pushed himself up off the couch. "I guess it's the green shirt and the black slacks then." he returned matter-of-factly.
After an hour he was properly showered, groomed and dressed for his official first date with Cristina. It had been a few weeks since his last physical therapy appointment and he had just signed the official papers starting a career at Seattle Grace Hospital. He had taken more time off to settle down for real in Seattle, which meant shopping for a new truck since his last had died or had been sold by Beth, a new place to live which he was still working on finding the right one and just getting used to doing things for himself now that he was healed. He made some repairs on his mother's house, took some turns cooking dinner and running errands. He was ready to get his real life back in motion again, and that included taking Cristina out for dinner, to both celebrate his new job and his new life.
He picked her up in his new green pickup truck. Hoping she was ready he apprehensively pushed the call button so he could be let in to the apartment. It buzzed for a few seconds and Callie's voice came over the speaker. "Yeah?"
Owen cleared his throat. "It's Owen."
Callie pushed the button to unlock the front door.
Careful not to charge up the stairs too quickly, he made his way to their apartment. When he arrived the door was slightly ajar, probably left by Callie so he didn't have to knock again. He knocked anyways but was met by a quick "come in" as he let himself in. He found Callie and Arizona sitting on the couch, sipping wine and watching a movie.
"Owen, this is Arizona. Arizona, this is the patient I was telling you about. See, he isn't a patient anymore."
"Hi." she waved from the couch, Owen waved back. "Glad to meet you, I heard your story."
"Same to you." he smiled. "Is uh, is Cristina ready?"
"Probably not, you might as well have a seat."
Owen got a little flushed and sat down, eagerly waiting for Cristina to emerge. When she finally did she took his breath away. She was wearing a sleek black dress which accented her bouncy dark curls. Having never seen her outside of the hospital he was amazed at the difference.
"Ready to go?" she asked as she fiddled with her purse.
"Yeah." he answered as he stood and held the door for her.
"Later guys." She called as she walked out the door.
"Nice meeting you." Owen said walking through the door, closing it behind himself.
"He doesn't know what he's in for." Callie remarked to Arizona.
"I don't think she does either." Arizona said back.
Cristina noticed the nerves Owen was trying to hide as he navigated the truck to their destination.
"Why so nervous?" she asked, looking out the window.
"I, I haven't done this in a very long time."
"S'ok. My last date involved disagreeing on what to order, he thought he could order for both of us, and then we were saved by an emergency Marfan's syndrome patient who collapsed."
"I'm sorta hoping ours isn't that eventful."
"As long as you let me order my own meal, I think we'll be fine." Owen still looked worried. "Seriously." she was looking in his direction now. "It's going to be fine. It's dinner. We sit, we order, we eat, and we talk. You don't have to perform, just be yourself. It's you I like anyway, not what you order for dinner."
Owen smiled. "Right." "Here we are." he said as they pulled into the parking lot.
The evening went as smoothly as Owen hoped. They ordered their own food and drink, and their conversations went alright. Owen couldn't wait any longer to tell her that he had officially signed with Seattle Grace, although Cristina knew that he might have been leaning towards SGH.
"So when do you start work?"
"Beginning of next week. I'm still looking for a place to stay, I feel I've overstayed my welcome at my mom's."
"There might be some apartments in my building. I can check."
"I'm, I'm looking for a house actually. A place that needs a little work, a bit outside the city."
"A house?"
"Yeah. I've always wanted a project house and this seems as good a time as any to start looking. I don't plan on leaving Seattle any time soon, so why not get a house."
"You're not thinking that I'm..."
"Cristina, it's our first date."
"Second actually."
"Okay, second date. I'm not asking you to move in. I'm just telling you I'm not going anywhere."
"Well, good to know."
They finished their meal, and Owen didn't have any other plans. He hadn't known how the date was going to go, if he was the same person she met in the hospital, so he didn't want to book an evening if it wasn't going well. Cristina climbed back into Owen's truck with a little help from him. He was quick to climb in next to her and started the engine to get the heat going in the cold cab. They sat parked as the truck warmed up.
"So what now?" She asked as she warmed up from the chill outside.
"I uh, I don't really know. I hadn't really planned anything else."
"We could go back to my place. Arizona and Callie won't mind."
"Are, are you sure that's such a good idea?"
Cristina could hear the hesitation in his voice. She knew it was only their second date and didn't want to move things along too quickly, she just wanted to spend more time with him.
"I know it's only our second date. I just, I just don't want it to end so quickly. We can watch a movie or something."
"You're right, this shouldn't end so soon."
Owen put the truck in drive and pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road.
Cristina let them into her apartment and they were greeted with silence. Callie and Arizona were in Callie's room, the TV could barely be heard through the wall. She led him into her bedroom and shut the door behind herself.
"See, they don't even know we're here." She walked across the room towards the bathroom, grabbing a few things as she crossed the room. "Sit, make yourself comfortable. I'll be back in a minute." She said as she entered the bathroom. Owen wasn't sure what she was going to change into, so he decided to sit on the bed and take his shoes off and roll up his dress shirt sleeves. Cristina reemerged wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "I couldn't watch a movie in that dress. And those panty hose, I hate them."
"Then why'd you wear them?"
"Meredith thought they were a good idea." she said as she opened the covers of the bed and got comfortable. Owen half committed to sitting up on the other side of the bed. Cristina looked at him. "Owen." she said very seriously. "Why are you being so weird tonight? Where's that Owen that let me cuddle with him in his bed, or invited me into his bathtub while I was working?"
He showed a sheepish grin. "I dunno why I'm so nervous. It's just, my last date, well was with my fiance, and I'm just, afraid to mess this up."
"Well you won't mess it up. Now get over here and get comfortable. We're a thing now, so you better get used to it."
"We're a thing?" he asked as he slid under the covers and closer to her.
"Yeah you know, a couple."
"Good." he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
The evening progressed into night. They had watched a movie and some bad television. Owen had taken off his dress clothes and was in his boxers and t-shirt. Cristina said they were too bulky and got in the way of a good cuddle. They were now entwined under the covers, Cristina wrapped around Owen, both watching the TV and catching glimpses of each other when they thought the other wasn't looking.
"I could get used to this." Cristina said during a commercial break.
"Good." Owen answered back.
"Good?"
"Yeah. I've love to have 40 years of this."
"I'd imagine we'd be pretty old by then."
"That's my point. I want to be around then."
"I think I want you to be around then too."