Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and all its characters are the property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I do not own anything. This story is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement in intended.
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A/N: This lighthearted and celebratory piece was written specifically for Mary, and I dedicate it to her and to and all the other courageous people out there who are battling cancer. I hope this lifts your spirits!
I have never walked the Breast Cancer 3-Day, but I have friends who have and who told me of their experiences. The picture I've painted of the event is a combination of those interviews, some internet research, and my own imagination. It is not intended to provide a totally realistic account.
By the time Cristina got Mary's email, a year had passed since those fateful events that had caused her to break up with Owen. It had been a terrible, frustrating, and ultimately beautiful year, one full of anguish and despair, followed by glimmerings of hope that eventually blossomed into a new life for both of them. It had taken Owen nine months of intensive therapy with Dr. Wyatt before she pronounced him well enough to pursue getting back together with Cristina, nine months that had been sheer hell for him as he watched her go on with her life. He had driven them both crazy by pushing her away with one hand and pulling her back with the other, alternately consumed with the need to protect her and the fear that she would find someone much less damaged and more attractive than him on which to focus her attentions. Although she had made no promise to wait for him, he had been relieved to see that she had seemed uninterested in starting a relationship with anyone else. When all else failed, she focused on her work just like he did. He had hoped and prayed she would be receptive to him when he was ready.
And she had been. Nine months and one day after that horrific night, he had taken her out on a real date, a trip to the West Point Lighthouse and dinner at a little dive on the water that had the best seafood around. This time they had agreed to keep it casual, trying to stay low key and low pressure. It had been a magical evening that had begun with some tentative hand-holding at the lighthouse and ended up with them in Cristina's bed after a goodnight kiss gone crazy. Thus they had begun the much-delayed second phase of their romantic relationship, this time starting out with a solid foundation. Callie had moved out months earlier to live with Arizona, and two weeks later Owen had started spending most of his free time over at Cristina's, to the extent of keeping a toothbrush and a few other items there for overnights. He had not yet given up his apartment but it was only a matter of time. Paying rent for two places made no sense when they were spending every spare minute together, and Cristina, unwilling to part with her prime location, was already having difficulty carrying the financial burden of her place alone. She teased him that he had only started dating her again so he could roll out of bed 5 minutes before work, but they both knew the truth. These last 6 weeks had been the best of both their lives. Being with her again was the most gratifying reward he could imagine for all the work he'd done. And for Cristina, having Owen back, healthy and whole, was a gift beyond anything she'd imagined for herself when this all began.
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They were sitting together on her couch one evening, laptops open, when Cristina let out a gasp. "Oh, shit."
"What's wrong?" Owen asked.
"Remember I told you about Mary?"
"Mary... your college friend?"
"Yeah, her. She's been diagnosed with breast cancer."
Owen stopped what he was doing and gave her his full attention. "Oh, god, I'm sorry." He knew how much she had taken Izzie's illness to heart. Having another friend to support through cancer treatment was likely to take a lot more out of her than most people would give her credit for.
"Yeah, me too. Her treatment protocol looks pretty aggressive. She's having both breasts removed. Wow, this really bites."
He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. "Anything I can do for you?"
She shook her head in frustration. "It's not me who needs the help, is it? I wish there was something practical I could do for her."
Owen studied her for a moment. He already had an idea. "Are you sure there isn't?"
Cristina snorted. "I'm not an oncologist. What can I possibly do?"
Owen allowed himself a small smile. Of course Cristina would go there, into the fix-this-now-or-forget-it side of things. "That's not what I meant. There are other ways to support her, even if she's far away. Remember last year when that group of nurses was hitting everyone up for donations for that 3 day walk thing? I'll never forget it because by the time they were done with me, I was out about 500 bucks without even realizing it."
"So you think I should raise money? That's your bright idea?"
"Well, that's part of it... but what if you did the walk this year? I hear lots of people do that to support friends and family members who have breast cancer."
Cristina looked at him like he was crazy. "Me? Do a walk? Isn't that thing like 50 miles or something?"
"Sixty, I think..."
"Owen, walking across the street to go to work is all the exercise I get. You know that."
He gave her a little smirk. "I disagree. You do get some exercise. It just doesn't involve walking..."
She gave him a disapproving look and smacked him on the arm. "You know what I mean. I'm totally out of shape."
"That, Dr. Yang, can be remedied. I'd be happy to train with you. Hell, I'll even do the walk with you if you want. It'd be fun." He raised his eyebrows at her, "I hear everyone sleeps in tents."
"Yuck. Outside? On the ground?"
He shook his head in disbelief. Camping was one of his passions, but the subject hadn't come up yet. Though he could probably have predicted it, this was his first real inkling of her aversion. He realized that future vacations might require some serious negotiation. Might as well start now. "Come on, Cristina, it's not that bad. You can sleep on top of me if the ground's too hard."
"I can sleep on top of you right here in a nice soft bed, too..."
He laid a hand on her arm. "Ok, now, cut it out. You're making me really horny."
Cristina grinned at him. "You're such a guy."
"And that would be a bad thing... how?"
"I can't think of any way that's a bad thing, unless we're trying to stay focused on our conversation, which I think we are..."
They discussed the walk for another ten minutes, and Cristina promised to think about it. Owen was already pretty committed to the idea and was formulating an action plan if she balked. Aside from the camping issue, he had another agenda where Cristina was concerned - namely finding a way to get her to exercise that didn't involve him nagging.
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When they went to bed that night, Owen lay awake for a while, staring at the new light fixture he had installed when they began seeing each other again. He had done extensive work to desensitize himself to the spinning blades of fans and helicopters and was mostly coping well with his PTSD symptoms, but Cristina had taken a hammer to the fan as soon as she realized the connection with the choking incident, even though they weren't together at the time. When he had seen the mangled mess that was left over when she was done with it, hanging at an odd angle from the ceiling like a drunken spider, he had brought some tools over and finished the job. The medication he was on for the night terrors was working exceedingly well and his therapy had released many of his demons, so Cristina could now lie in his arms and fall asleep without fear; still, it was good not to have a reminder hanging awkwardly over his head.
Owen was excited about the idea of training with her for the walk. This lack of exercise thing had been bothering him since he'd started spending all his free time with her and realized she really didn't get any. He was religious about running and lifting weights at least 3 times a week, and although he had no desire to change her for the sake of changing her, he did want her around for a good long time and worried that she risked her health by not working out. Difficult as the situation was with Mary, he hoped that this would be the motivator she needed to get out and do something physical. The added bonus would be the opportunity to work on a joint project that involved taking long walks with her. Spending hours together with nothing to do but talk sounded like just what they needed after their prolonged separation. They had a lot of catching up to do.
To his surprise, the next morning she agreed to do the walk without any further cajoling on his part. She had slept on it, and in typical Cristina fashion, made up her mind quickly. Based on her explanation, it seemed to be the personal side of putting herself out there for her friend that appealed to her. She couldn't sit and hold Mary's hand due to the distance, but a grand gesture was the next best thing, and if it raised money for research - all the better. Not wanting to give her a chance for second thoughts, Owen took her to his favorite running store at their first opportunity and helped her choose a good pair of shoes. She naively thought she could use the same sneakers she used at work, and he didn't want to scare her off by telling her she was likely to walk her way through at least 2 or 3 pairs before this was over.
The event was three months away, and thus began a schedule of extensive excursions several days each week, depending of course on their work obligations. It was hard to find time for this with their already demanding schedules, but they did the best they could. Owen had moved to a more realistic work rotation during the course of his treatment, when Dr. Wyatt had pointed out that he was logging long hours as a way of avoiding his feelings and told him to cut back. In anticipation of the walk, they tweaked their calendars to maximize time off together, and they gradually worked their way up to 4 and 5 hour walks, eating up the miles with conversation or companionable silence. Cristina complained remarkably little about the physical demands, realizing that she was doing this for someone else who couldn't do it for herself. He had seen her intense loyalty already with Izzie's illness, not to mention the fact that she'd waited for him through nine months of hell. Now, here it was again - that soft and shining heart she kept buried under layers of toughness, only allowing a peek to those closest to her. It was a part of her character that touched him deeply and made him fall even further in love with her.
Their fundraising efforts focused on the hospital. A friendly rivalry ensued over the $2300 they each had to raise to participate, and they placed a little bet on who could reach that milestone first, with the winner offering the loser a home cooked meal. Owen had no intention of winning this one, since Cristina was a terrible cook, and he tried to stay one step behind her as they racked up the dollars on their respective sign-up sheets. Cristina milked her connections with the residents and interns, but unfortunately they didn't have much money to spare, so she had to make up in volume what she lacked in quantity. She relentlessly pursued every student at SGH and got them to donate whatever they could, even if it was only a few dollars. Her biggest coup was in the Oncology ward, where she had spent so much time during Izzie's illness and developed some good relationships with the staff. The fact that this was a cancer walk helped her cause there too, and a collection bucket at the main desk filled up nicely with small and large bills left by the patients' visitors and relatives. Izzie herself, in remission and holding her own for now, had donated generously too. Owen, on the other hand, scored big with his fellow department heads and discovered that the female nursing staff seemed unable to say no to him when he asked them, even if they could only donate a few dollars. The Chief, in a well-placed gesture of diplomacy, donated the same sizable amount to both of them. In the end, much to Owen's relief, Cristina beat him by one day.
He found her sitting at the nurse's station, filling out paperwork. He leaned over the desk. "You won, you know."
"Huh?" She kept her attention on the papers in front of her, barely acknowledging him.
"Our little bet. You won. Someone just signed up on your sheet for the last 50 bucks. Looks like I'm the chef tonight. What would you like for dinner?"
"Oh, I won! Really? All $2300? That happened faster than I thought it would. Ok. Um... steak, and baked potatoes with sour cream..." She looked around to see if anyone was listening, and whispered, "...in bed."
He smiled. This was definitely going to be a win/win. "And dessert?"
She gave him a little smirk that could only mean one thing. "Surprise me."
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6 weeks before the event and about 2 miles from home, Cristina tripped and stumbled in pain.
"Ow! Ow! Shit!"
Owen grabbed her arm to steady her. "What happened?"
"It's my groin muscle. I think I pulled it really badly. Ow!"
Owen supported her as she hopped over to a low wall and sat down. "Take a break." He sat down beside her, handed her his water bottle and waited as she took a long drink.
A few minutes later, she tried to get up, but sat back down again. "I don't think I can walk back, Owen. Why don't you leave me here and get the truck?"
He shook his head. "No way. I'm not leaving a defenseless female on the street by herself. You couldn't get up and run to save your life." While she bristled at the description of her as defenseless, Cristina realized that he might have a point. The neighborhood wasn't too terrible, but anyone could drive by. "I'll carry you," he suggested, "It's only a couple of miles. Come on," he pointed to his back, "climb on board."
Cristina laughed nervously and shook her head. "I'm not letting you give me a piggy back ride, you big jerk. Be serious."
"I am serious. It's no big deal. I could do a fireman's carry if you prefer... or just drag you back by your hair to my cave."
"Stop it! We'll look ridiculous. I'll never live it down."
"Short of calling an ambulance, which really IS ridiculous, I see no other option..." He was serious now. "Come on. No one will see us. I'll put you down a block from the hospital and help you hop the rest of the way if you're so worried someone will notice... Just let me do this for you."
It took Cristina a minute to realize that he wasn't kidding, that this was important to him for some studly reason known only to the male of the species. Still, she gave it one more try. "I'm too heavy. I don't want you to hurt your back."
Owen looked at her condescendingly. "Cristina, I've carried backpacks heavier than you. Now, cut it out and come on." He got up and helped her stand on the low wall they'd been sitting on, and she reluctantly climbed on his back, her groin muscle protesting loudly as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Owen grabbed her under her knees and glanced back at her. "You ok?"
"I'll live, although whether I'll survive the humiliation is another story." She rested her chin on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "You know, this position works a whole lot better from the front."
He smiled and gave her leg a squeeze. "We'll have to explore that another time. Right now, let's get you home."
As they trekked the last two miles back to her apartment, Cristina reflected that, although it went against her grain in every way possible, it really wasn't so bad to lean on him. Now that he was doing so well, his broad shoulders could handle more than just his own problems, and he seemed to revel in helping her with whatever landed on her plate. Maybe it was just his nature, or maybe he was trying to pay her back for waiting for him for so long. Either way, Cristina had never in her life felt so supported by anyone.
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She was fortunate enough to heal nicely and resume training relatively quickly, though the strained muscle still gave her some pain on occasion. The remaining few weeks passed in a blur, and before she knew it they were packing up their stuff for the walk the next day. Owen had brought his things over, since they were leaving from Cristina's place early the next morning. He pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to her.
"Take a look inside. I thought we could wear these for the walk."
Cristina opened the bag and pulled out 6 navy blue T shirts in two sizes. On the front was a large head shot of Mary, a big smile on her face. Team Mary was written in bold white lettering on the back, under a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon. Cristina broke into a huge grin. "You know I love you, right? These are perfect! Where'd you get the picture?"
Owen paused for a moment before responding, taking a moment to digest what she had just said. "You left your Facebook open and I stole it out of her photo gallery. I hope you don't mind the intrusion. Normally I'd never snoop in your stuff - or hers - but I didn't have another way to get it and I wanted to surprise you."
"No, this is great... Owen, thanks for everything. I'd never be doing this without you."
He smiled nervously. "We'll see if you're still thanking me after 20 miles tomorrow... which reminds me, I bought us something else. I think you'll appreciate it." He opened another large bag and produced a deflated full size air mattress and a pump. "In case the ground is too hard..."
Cristina was impressed. "Wow. You know me too well."
"I intend to make a habit of it."
He stuffed the mattress into his duffle and reflected that, if he had heard right, Cristina had just, casually and in passing, said those three important words to him for the first time.
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