Raise your love
Work. That was their distraction. After relapsing, getting sober again and coming back to work Amelia and Owen had shared some awkward looks here and there and that was all. Neither knew how to start a conversation and they were not even sure what they should talk about first. The fact that Owen pushed her away, that he was one of the reasons Amelia ended her sobriety that lasted almost four years, that she was hurt to the bottom of her heart, that he didn`t know how to share his emotions and tell her what was bugging him, that he hated himself for shutting her out. They were both emotionally hurt but didn`t know what to do about it, so they decided to avoid each other and the conversation, going deep into work. Which at that point seemed a perfect escape from each other and the world in general.
Somehow they even managed to avoid working with each other. Everyone knew that something was wrong between them and for not being a part of their drama hospital stuff tried to keep them in separate surgeries, rooms or hallways. It all changed the day a car blew up near the hospital. ER was a mess. No one knew what was happening and everyone was in a rush to help the injured people who were coming in like there is no other day. Amelia was paged into an ER room 4 where a patient needed a consult. She entered the room and saw Owen was already working on the patient. She ignored his presentence and went straight to the patient.
"I need to take him to an OR right now!" Owen stated. "What`s the condition in there Ame... Dr. Shephard?" Owen turned to Amelia.
"He has a small internal bleeding that needs to be stopped, I`ll scrub in with you." Amelia answered plainly.
"Ok, everyone let`s get going, OR 3!" Owen ordered and walked out of the room.
In the scrub room Amelia was already washing her hand when Owen came in. He nodded toward her and started washing his hands. There was a silence that was very uncomfortable for both of them. They have never felt so awkward around each other. They wanted to talk but none of them was brave enough to start the conversation which was going to be nasty and very emotional.
During the surgery Owen and Amelia were both concentrated on the patient, the air was thick and everyone was on their tip toes. It was very unusual for GSMH staff to be quiet in an OR, no matter how bad was the situation with the patient they were all making small talks, making jokes, trying to easy the electric situation in the OR. This time around everyone was afraid to make a noise because either Amelia or Owen could have spilled their anger on them. The anger that was eating both of them from inside.
Two hours passed and Amelia finished her job. "Ok, all done, I`m out of here." She said and walked away before Owen could move a muscle to acknowledge what she said. He shook his head in disbelieve and continued working on the patient.
Several hours later when Owen was done with the surgery and the patient was already in a recovery room, he decided to go and look for Amelia. He was fed up with this situation and was ready to talk.
He walked through hallways of the hospital in search of the neurosurgeon. He spotted her near a nursey station. She was typing something in the pad when he approached her. She ignored him and continued typing.
"Can we talk?" Owen asked.
"We don`t have anything to talk about." Amelia barked.
Anger was eating Owen. He took Amelia`s hand and led her to the nearest room.
"What`s wrong with you? Leave my hand!" Amelia yelled.
"What`s wrong with me?" Owen yelled back. "What`s wrong with you?! Can you stop acting like you don`t care? Can we at least be normal as colleagues? Can you stop snapping at me every time we meet? Can you stop being so ignorant?" Owen stopped to take a breath.
At this point everyone in the hallway has stopped and were looking at the couple, which for the first time in past several months were talking, well not exactly talking but at least it seemed they were trying to sort things out.
"Why do you care?" Amelia said under her breath.
"You know why." Owen answered.
"No, actually I don`t know why. I don`t Owen, I don`t. You shut me out of your problems, you didn`t tell me what`s wrong between you and Riggs, we haven`t talked in months. I don`t even know what are we friends, couple? So no, Owen I don't know." Amelia shouted back at him.
"Amelia…"
"Don`t Amelia me, you can`t decide when we need to talk and when you can put me aside like a toy. I`m not a toy Owen! I have feelings and you trashed them. I`m not gonna sit in a corner and wait when you`ll calm down and want to talk. I`m so done with all of this." Amelia said her hands flying in the air.
"Please, can you listen to me for a minute?" Owen begged.
Amelia looked at him not saying anything.
"I was not ready then, god, I think I`m still not ready to talk about it now. But I care about you and I value you and I don`t want to lose you. I just… just give me some more time to get my thoughts together. Believe me I want to tell you everything but not right now."
"I give up Owen. I can`t do this anymore." Amelia sobbed.
"Amelia, please… I can`t stand seeing you in the hallways and not being able to talk to you. I can`t concentrate on anything expect you. It breaks my heart to see you and not be able to talk to you." Owen said softly.
"It`s hard for me too, Owen." Amelia confessed.
"So can we just be back to being normal?" Owen offered a small smile. "I swear I`ll tell you everything but give me some time."
"We can try I guess." Amelia smiled back.
Everyone in the hallway let loose of the breath they didn't know were holding. It was a small step, but at least Owen and Amelia wouldn`t ignore each other and there would be one less drama around the hospital.
The End