Author's Note: I loved the idea of a friendship forming between Owen and Amelia based on their need to be able to talk to someone who can understand the bad things their going through. This is just a little scene I wrote based off of what was introduced in the winter finale.
Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.
The halls were too quiet for Amelia. Her thoughts weren't only bouncing around her head but they were also bouncing around the deserted halls at a loud volume. At least during the day time the hospital was constantly bustling with people and the commotion distracted her mind from dwelling in the negative thoughts that often plagued her mind. In the early hours of the morning it was quite the opposite, only a few souls were caught walking the halls and it was quiet except for the light squeak of her shoes on the tile floor.
After completing one more round down in the pit and making sure she wasn't needed Amelia retired to an on call room. The only thing keeping the negative thoughts from getting too unbearable in that moment was the music pouring out of the headphones in her ears. At first she focused on each of the words in the songs she listened to and then she sort of just succumbed to the music, drowning out the thoughts.
Amelia faintly recognized the sliver of bright light that shone in from the hallway as someone entered the on call room. She was staring at the ceiling, ignoring the world around her when she sat straight up in bed with a hand on her shoulder, pulling her headphones out of her ears in process.
"Dr. Shepherd, are you okay?" Amelia let out a deep breath of relief when she realized it was only Owen.
"Yes." She answered with the go-to answer, the one that usually gave those asking a better feeling instead of if she had answered any other way like the honest truth. The darkness of the on call room normally would have made it impossible to see Amelia's face when she answered but Owen could tell it was filled with distraught.
Owen took a deep breath. "You were crying, Amelia. I could hear you from outside in the hall when I was passing by." Owen explained.
Slowly Amelia pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on top of her knees. She realized her face was wet now that she was aware of her surroundings. Her throat was scratchy and her head was pounding. Owen carefully sat down at the foot of the bed. "You don't have to talk, but I'm here if you want to." Owen told her softly.
They sat there for a long time, neither saying a word. Amelia thought about Derek and the day he kept her quiet when their father died. She thought about all the things that she had done since that day that had made her brother so upset, things that she felt so terrible about doing. Tears began to fall again and her breath got caught in her throat and she cried out, feeling guilty of pushing Derek away when he was trying to take care of her.
Owen had endured many bad things in his adult life and sitting there beside Amelia as she cried brought on one of the worst feelings he had ever felt wash over him. He felt helpless.
Another loud sob was all that it took and Owen moved to the head of the bed and wrapped his arms around Amelia, hugging her tight to his body. "It's okay, let it out." He spoke into her hair as she let her emotions completely take over her body.
Eventually she cried all of the tears she could possibly cry and in the process she fell asleep in Owen's arms. He thought against leaving her in the on call room to wake up by herself but he was too content holding her as she slept to another bed. It was nice to be able to hold someone and just be.
"What time is it?" Amelia asked in a groggy whisper. Owen dug into the pocket of his scrub top for his phone. "Oh god, I need to do rounds again." She said when the time flashed across the screen.
Owen let go as Amelia began to stretch her legs. "Thank you." Amelia turned to face Owen, only able to see one side of his face from the small amount of light coming in the window from outside. She searched his eyes the best that she could.
"It's nothing." Owen smiled. Amelia shook her head in opposition.
"No it's not, and you know it." She argued lightly. "Everyone who knows about my addiction pressures me into talking about it and tries to make explain what I'm thinking or feeling." Amelia looked down at her hands. Her voice was soft almost a whisper. "I haven't felt like I've been accepted as who I am with all the bad parts too." She exhaled slowly.
Silent for a few moments Owen thought over her words. "I get it." Owen nodded his head. "As a friend, don't ever feel like I'm forcing you to talk to me about the bad stuff." He told her. "As your boss, I won't ask unless there's something going on that will compromise my staff or patients." Pausing for a few more moments Owen thought about all the hours he had spent in Dr. Wyatt's office sorting through the bad stuff. "At some point you're going to have to talk about it and I'm here if you want to get off your chest."
Amelia nodded her head, a tear threatening to spill out of the corner of her eye. "Thank you, Owen." She smiled in return. "The offer still stands." She remembered as she reached the door. "I can be your people, I'm here for you too." Amelia reminded before slipping out of the on call room.
