Aurora walked through the entrance of the emergency room with Jane, her two-year-old daughter, hiked up on her hip. She glanced around hoping to find somebody to show her the way to the cardiology unit. Finally, she spotted Dr. Owen Hunt filling out paperwork at the nurse's station.
"Excuse me, I seem to be lost. Can you point us in the direction of the cardiology unit?" Aurora asked politely. Owen turned around and gave them a smile.
"I was just headed that way, I can take you down there. I'm Dr. Owen Hunt."
"I'm Aurora, and this is my daughter, Jane." They began to walk outside of the emergency room and into the rest of the hospital.
"Who are you seeing in cardiology?" Owen asked politely.
"Her name's Maggie Pierce. She's good, right? I mean, I know she is chief of cardiology, but I just want to make sure she's the right doctor for my daughter."
"Dr. Pierce is a brilliant doctor and surgeon. What condition does your daughter have?" They made another turn down a hallway and Aurora saw the big sign that said cardiology on it.
"She has VSD, today's just another check up to make sure she's still healthy and I'm hoping Dr. Pierce says we can hold off on surgery for another couple years." She stepped into the cardiology unit. "Thanks for helping us Dr. Hunt. Jane, say bye-bye to Dr. Hunt." Jane smiled her big, gummy smile and waved good-bye with her stuffed duck, Mr. Quackers, in her hand. Owen smiled back and waved good-bye as well before heading back to the E.R.
Aurora, still holding Jane, walked up to the desk in the waiting room and gave the receptionist her name before sitting down in one of the chairs .She pulled out Jane's favorite book out of her diaper bag and began reading to her.
"Jane Kelly," a nurse called out. She put the book away and swung Jane back on her hip before following the nurse down the hall. They arrived in a small room with only a bed with crinkly paper on it and a desk with a computer.
"We just need to get her height and weight and then Dr. Pierce will come in." Aurora showed Jane where to stand on the scale, and her eyes went wide as she looked around the foreign room. Thankfully the nurse was able to record her height and weight at the same time because Jane is attached to Aurora in foreign places and she could tell if she had to wait any longer before being held, a meltdown would ensue.
"She's a little small for her age, but it's nothing too alarming. I'll let Dr. Pierce know you're here and she'll come by in a few minutes." Aurora replied a thanks before setting Jane on the bed.
"Mama, why here?" she asked.
"We're here to check your heart and make sure you're still sweet," she replied. She smiled at her mom before playing with Mr. Quackers. A few minutes went by when there's a knock on the door and a short woman with curly hair walks in.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Maggie Pierce and this is Dr. Schmitt, and you must be Jane," she replied to the little girl. Jane looked up from her duck and smiled tentatively at the doctor before scooching closer to Aurora. Dr. Pierce then turned her attention on her.
"Her last visit everything seemed normal, so this is just a routine visit, correct?"
"Yes, and I was hoping that after her tests you could give me an estimation of when she will have her surgery." Aurora had prayed that it would be at least two years away, because then she would be Aurora's age when she had her surgery.
"Of course, how old were you when you had the surgery?" They had already gotten access to her charts since moving to Seattle six months ago.
"I was four, but in my chart you can see the surgery didn't go as planned. Once my doctors opened me up they saw I had a second heart condition and couldn't fix my heart as much as they would've liked. They also ended up pinching a nerve and paralyzed my left side and I was in Physical Therapy for years afterward to build up my strength. When you do tests on her today, please make sure to check for ASD as well, I don't want her surgery to be like mine." Aurora had always made sure Jane's doctors knew her medical history so the same mistakes wouldn't happen to Jane.
"I'm so sorry you went through that Ms. Kelly. It also says in your chart you had heart valve replacement surgery at age twenty?"
"Please, call me Aurora, and yes, I had my second surgery to fix the damage from my other heart condition."
"Alright, well right now I'm going to have Dr. Schmitt take you and Aurora down for an MRI and see what's going on. Afterwards, I'll have them take you back to the cardiology waiting room while we wait for the results." She gave Dr. Schmitt her chart and walked out of the room.
"Alright, Jane, are you ready to go?" Dr. Schmitt said as he reached to pick her up. Immediately Jane's lips began to pout and she started to crawl onto Aurora to hold her.
"She's only two, I'm coming with," she told the intern.
"Of course, I don't know why I even did that," he mumbled. Aurora smiled apologetically to him and scooped Jane up before tossing her diaper bag over her shoulder.
We got to the MRI room and Aurora saw Jane's eyes go wide at the machine. She's never had an MRI before, she only needed ultrasounds before because she was too little for the machine. Aurora immediately turned away from the machine to block her from seeing it. She saw Jane's lips beginning to quiver and she knew she needed to act fast.
"Jane, sweetie, look at Mama," she told her. Big crocodile tears started to form in Jane's eyes and Aurora wiped away ones threatening to fall. "I know the machine looks really scary, huh? But this machine is…" Aurora stopped for a moment to think "… is magic. It's going to look at your heart and tell the doctor how sweet you are." She still looked unconvinced. "And you can take Mr. Quackers with you and hold him tight and Mama's going to be right here, okay? You'll be okay, I promise." She held her tight when Dr. Schmitt began to talk.
"Actually, we prefer not to have anyone else in the room during an MRI."
"She's never been in one, she's scared, and she needs me to have her stay calm," Aurora explained.
"I'm sorry, but it's hospital policy."
"When I had MRI's done, my mom could stay in the room with me and I was perfectly fine. It actually made me feel better knowing she was in the room." Owen overheard the conversation from outside the room and quickly entered to stop more damage from happening.
"What's going on, Schmitt?" Own asked, glaring at the intern. Aurora turned her attention back to Jane, who began to actively cry because of the tension. She bounced her on her hip and began shushing her to calm her down.
"Aurora wants to be in the room when her daughter has an MRI, but it's against policy to have other people in the room." Owen sighed deeply before talking again.
"Not with parents and children, Glasses. Now get out of here," he demanded. Schmitt jumped at the intensity of his voice and scrambled out of the room.
"I'm sorry about that, of course you are allowed to stay in here during her MRI." Aurora can barely manage out a thank you in between shushes of comfort for Jane.
"Hey Jane, have you ever been inside of a rocket ship?" Jane sniffled while shaking her head.
"You see this machine? When you go in there and close your eyes it'll make this noise and it'll take you to outer space. Want to see?" Jane's crying had now reduced to sniffles and she nodded. Owen lifted his hands to take Jane to the machine and she leaned toward him. Aurora stood there shocked. Jane had always been clingy to her and never let anyone else hold her. Owen held her in the superman position and flew her over to the MRI machine and set her down. Jane giggled at Owen as he explained the rocket ship will make noise while it flew around. He then moved her into the machine and the technician behind the glass started it up.
"Thank you," Aurora breathed. "Jane has never let anyone else hold her before. You're really good with her." Owen smiled down at Aurora. This was the first time he got a good luck at her without Jane on her hip. He already knew she was short, but without a toddler on her, he saw she was no more than 5'1". Her chestnut colored hair flowed down her back and made her green eyes stand out.
"I figured you might have a problem getting her to let go after the conflict and the rocket ship trick works on most kids," Owen explained. Aurora smiled back. She and Owen were standing unusually close for doctor/patient protocol, but she felt safe. This was the closest she's stood to a guy since her ex-husband divorced her. She audibly sighed when thoughts of her ex-husband came back. Owen looked at her questioningly but then the machine stopped, and the technician gave the okay for Jane to exit the machine. Owen helped move Jane out of the machine and she reached her arms out for Owen to pick her up. He smiled at her and obliged to her request.
"Do you know when we will get the results of the MRI?" Aurora asked as the trio walked back to the cardiology waiting room with Jane still on Owen's hip.
"The technician is sending the results to Dr. Pierce right away, I would say no more than a half hour," Owen said as he placed Jane in one of the waiting room chairs.
"Thanks again for helping, you saved the day," Aurora smiled at Owen as she took a seat next to her daughter. She took out the book they were reading earlier and Jane stared at the images on the page. Owen smiled down at them before leaving to find Pierce to find out the results of Jane's MRI scans.
"Pierce, did you get the results of Jane Kelly's MRI scans?" Owen asked as he entered the X-Ray room. Maggie looked up from the scans.
"How do you know Jane Kelly? And why was Schmitt kicked out of the MRI room?"
"I helped Aurora find the cardiology unit earlier and I kicked Schmitt out for not letting Aurora stay in the room with her daughter and continuing to argue with her. Now, did you get the results?"
Maggie sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately for Aurora, Jane's surgery is going to be earlier than expected. See the hole there in her chest? Compared from her scans last year, it's growing. I want to go in as soon as I can and stitch the hole closed. I'm hoping since she's still young, stitches will work. I don't want to put a patch on her heart if I can prevent it. I know Aurora wanted to wait until she was older, but I don't want to hold of any longer."
"Damn. I'm coming with you to tell her." Maggie rolled her eyes, knowing she wouldn't win if she countered his argument.
"Then let's go."
Aurora looked up from the book to see both Owen and Maggie walking toward her. She quickly finished the page before closing the book and looking up at the doctors.
"Aurora, why don't you come back, and we can go over the results?" Aurora nodded as she picked up the book and slung the diaper bag over her shoulder. She then helped Jane out of her chair and helped steady her on the floor. She grabbed her daughter's hand before following Owen and Maggie back to the room.
Aurora plopped Jane on the crinkly papered bed and gave her a couple toys to keep her occupied while she talked to the doctors.
"Unfortunately, Aurora, after looking at scans from last year and this year, it seems Jane's hole as grown. To prevent the hole from getting any bigger, I want to perform surgery to fix it." Aurora's vision started to blur, and she had to steady herself with the bed. Owen reached out to help steady her.
"Are you going to do a patch or are you going to stitch it?" Aurora asked. Maggie explained how she wants to perform the surgery and Aurora nodded. After a few minutes she finally mustered up the courage to ask when.
"We want to do it as soon as possible. I want to schedule it for tomorrow morning." That was it for Aurora and she started to fall over before Owen caught her.
"Tomorrow?" Aurora whispered.
"Aurora, I know you're scared but it's the best thing for your daughter," Maggie assured her.
"Did you check her scans for other conditions? Are you prepared for this? I can't have her hurt. I can't have what happened to me happen to her. She's my baby," Aurora let a few tears escape before she realized Jane was still in the room and she had to remain strong for her. Maggie began to talk to Aurora about her game plan, but Owen wasn't listening to her. Aurora had a heart condition? What happened to her?
"… I'm going to check you into room 1212 and let you settle in for the night." Maggie said and lead Aurora and Jane to their room. Owen went to follow when he got paged 911 to the E.R.
After spending the last 4 hours in the E.R., Owen went to shower and got ready to leave. However, as he is was leaving, he spotted a teddy bear in the hospital gift shop and before he knew what he was doing, he bought the bear and was on his way to room 1212.
He gently knocked on the open door and Aurora looked up from stroking Jane's forehead and smiled at him.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Owen asked. He saw Jane was asleep and noticed Aurora was still stroking her hair.
"Better. I called my mom and brother, and they're flying out first thing tomorrow morning. They won't be here for the surgery but at least they'll be here to help me with recovery."
"What about her dad? Is he coming?"
Aurora sighed, "Her dad's not around. It's her and I against the world." Owen was about to ask a follow up question, but he saw the pain in her eyes and knew she didn't want to talk about it.
"What did you tell Jane about the surgery?" Owen asked instead.
"I told her that her heart was special like mine and that the doctors would fix it just like they did to me. Then I told her afterwards, we would both share a zipper scar. She was excited about that part."
"You had heart surgery?"
"I was born with the same heart condition as Jane and I was five when I had the surgery she's having. But my surgery didn't go as planned. During the surgery, my doctors didn't realize I had ASD as well and couldn't repair it right away. They also ended up pinching a nerve and paralyzed my entire left side of my body. I had my second surgery when I was twenty to repair my ASD and after that, I've been mostly healthy ever since. But it was rough growing up dealing with all of that, which is why I'm so scared for Jane. I don't want her to go through the same thing I went through." While taking about her past and Jane's present, Aurora started to hyperventilate. "I don't know what I'm going to do if her surgery doesn't go well." Tears fell from Aurora's eyes and Aurora wiped them away furiously, angry at herself for breaking down in front of a stranger. Owen grabbed the box of tissues next to him and gave them to her. She clumsily took tissues out of the box and wiped at her eyes.
"Aurora, big breaths. You gotta keep breathing. In, out. There you go." Once Aurora had calmed down, she looked at Owen apologetically.
"I'm sorry for crying, it's just been a long day." Owen smiled sadly at her, knowing she was going through hell and she had nobody to help her through it at the moment.
"You don't need to apologize; I would be a mess too if it were my daughter. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You've been wonderful helping Jane and I today, that's been enough. But you look like you're done with your shift. You should go home, I'm sure you had a long day as well."
Owen scoffed, "I don't want you being alone dealing with this. Please let me help." Aurora looked at him uncertainly. "At least until your mom comes." Aurora sat without talking for a few minutes processing what he said. Did he do this with all his patients? Why did he want to stay? And he stubborn side kept repeating that she was fine on her own.
Aurora finally sighed, "Alright, but only until my mom comes. But you don't need to, I'm used to being an independent single mom since my ex-husband walked out."
Owen still couldn't believe her husband walked out on her and Jane. What kind of man leaves when their kid is sick? He couldn't believe that with everything she went through, she didn't turn out as dark and twisty as Meredith.
Just then, Jane started waking up.
"Mama, where am I?" she asked groggily. Aurora immediately turned her attention back to her daughter.
"We're still at the hospital, baby. But look who came to visit?" Aurora gestured to Owen and Jane immediately smiled.
"Hey there kiddo. I brought you something." He picked up the teddy bear he had thrown on the couch once Aurora started to hyperventilate. Jane smiled and reached for the bear to embrace it.
"What do you say to Dr. Owen, Jane?" Aurora said. Jane looked back up at Owen and thanked him. After a little while of playing with her bear, Jane's eyelids started to droop.
"Alright, baby, it's time to go to sleep," Aurora told Jane. Jane nodded and Aurora took out another book from the diaper bag. Owen and Aurora shared a look, and Owen knew that she wanted some alone time with Jane while she tucked her in. Owen quietly left the room to give the two some privacy while Aurora put Jane to bed. He paced up and down the hallway, waiting for Aurora to come out. He didn't know why he was doing this. He's seen plenty of single moms in the hospital and he never gave it a second thought. But there was something about Aurora. The way she protected her daughter from everything, without lying. The way she stood her ground with Schmitt when he wouldn't let her stay in the MRI room. And the way her eyes showed kindness and compassion whenever she spook to somebody. In the hospital room, Aurora heard Jane breathe deeply in her sleep and she kissed her forehead before turning out the lights and walking out the room.
Aurora walked down the dimly lit hallway and saw Owen pacing by the nurse's station.
"You're still here?" Aurora asked incredibly.
"Why wouldn't I be? I told you I'd help," Owen said.
"I guess I'm just used to people letting me down," Aurora said. Owen could tell she didn't want to elaborate and didn't ask any questions about the subject.
"Are you hungry? I haven't eaten since lunch," Owen asked.
"Not really, but I could go for a cup of coffee," she admitted.
"Are you sure you want to drink coffee this late?"
"It's not like I'll be getting much sleep tonight anyway," she shot back. Owen conceded in that and they made their way to the cafeteria, with Owen leading.
Once they made it to the cafeteria, Owen started loading his plate with food while Aurora grabbed a Styrofoam cup and poured coffee into it.
"Okay, I know you said you haven't eaten since lunch, but how hungry are you?" Aurora asked as he added another slice of pizza to the tray.
"Well, it's for you too. When was the last time you ate?"
"I already told you I'm not that hungry, besides, I don't want to eat until Jane is able to eat," she said.
"Aurora, Jane won't be able to eat until the day after tomorrow and she'll have a feeding tube for some of it to give her nutrients. You need to eat to be able to help her." Aurora nodded while they sat down at one of the cafeteria tables. Owen pushed a slice of pizza toward her and she started nibbling at it.
"I need you to distract me from all of this. So, what made you want to be a doctor?"
"I knew from a young age that I wanted to help people. And after my intern year, I knew I wanted to do more, so I enlisted in the army as a surgeon to help injured soldiers."
"Were you ever injured?" Aurora asked out loud.
"Physically, no. But I experienced PTSD for years afterward, I still deal with it." Aurora nodded sympathetically, her brother used to be in the army, and she knew how hard it could be over there.
"I'm sorry, that must be difficult. My brother suffered PTSD too when he returned. It was so hard watching him suffer and knowing there was nothing I could do for him."
"Where did he serve?"
"Iraq, he served as a major for ten years before getting discharged. He got married last year, he seems really happy now. How long did you serve?"
"How long were you enlisted for?"
"10 years and after I was discharged, I came to Seattle and was offered a job here as Head of Trauma."
"What was in Seattle?" Aurora asked, thinking Seattle seemed like such a random place to settle down.
"A job, I was visiting Seattle during one of my rare vacations in the army and I helped assist this hospital with incoming traumas and afterward, the Chief of Surgery offered me a job. I couldn't accept right away because I had to finish my tour, but afterwards I came back and accepted. I've been here ever since. But what about you? Your family lives in another state, what made you choose Seattle?"
"I needed a fresh start for Jane and I. After my ex-husband found out that Jane had the same heart condition, he bailed. I wasn't even five months pregnant and I was divorced and trying to make a living for my daughter and I. Living back home was too painful, we lived in a small town and Jane and I would run into him and his family all the time. So, I saved as much money as I could and took off to Seattle. I found an amazing library for sale, and with the rest of my savings I bought it and have been bringing it back to life."
"Your husband just left you when you were pregnant? How could somebody do that?" Owen asked, furious at the guy that he's never met.
"I don't know, but I have to believe that it was for the best. Who knows what mine and Jane's life would've been if we stayed married? I mean, I know he's not the most kind or caring person out there, and I don't want Jane to be raised like that."
"You're really strong, Aurora. I don't know how you dealt with that, and to come out still compassionate and caring." Aurora blushed at his compliment.
"Do you know when Jane's surgery will be tomorrow morning?" Aurora asked suddenly, remembering that soon her daughter would be under the knife.
"Dr. Pierce scheduled it for 8 AM and it should take about four hours," Owen replied. Aurora nodded, nervous for her daughter. "Don't worry, Aurora. Dr. Pierce is a wonderful surgeon and meticulous in her work. We'll also have our Head of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. Karev, on stand-by. I promise we'll do everything in our power to keep Jane safe."
"Thank you. I mean it really. You've helped Jane and I so much today and I don't know what I would've done without you distracting me for the past hour." Owen smiled at her.
"You're welcome. You should try and get some rest before tomorrow morning," Owen said as he got up to throw out his tray of food. Aurora stood up as well. "What time are your mom and brother coming tomorrow?" Owen asked as they walked back to Jane's room.
"Around 2 PM," Aurora answered after checking the flight details her mom had sent her earlier.
"I can come tomorrow morning and stay with you during her surgery, so you won't have to be alone."
"I can't ask you to do that, you've already done so much already. Besides, don't you have to work?" Aurora asked. They had reached the nurse's station, which was about teen feet from Jane's room.
"I have off tomorrow, and you're not asking, I'm telling you that I can be here tomorrow if you need a distraction."
"If you're sure I'm not bothering you, I don't want to hold you from your life." Owen just shook his head at her.
"Good night, Aurora. I'll see you tomorrow morning around seven." She nodded and Owen put his hand on her shoulder as a way of saying good-bye. She could see him microscopically move closer to her.
"Good night, Dr. Hunt. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Aurora walked over to Jane's room and slowly opened the door before going inside. She shook her head, trying to ignore the feeling of his hand on her shoulder. Now is not the time, she shouted at herself internally. You need to focus on Jane and her needs right now. Aurora sighed before taking a seat in one of the chairs and scooting it closer to Jane's bed. She grabbed Jane's hand and put it in hers before calming down. Jane always came first, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.