As Owen sat at the board table working on paperwork and listening to his messages, the last message from the director of the hospital at Boise sent chills running up his spine as he looked outside and then looked down at his watch.
They should have been there and back to Seattle by now, immediately Owen called back the woman to see if she had any more information.
"Dr. Hunt, I've been trying to reach you all day!" The woman said exasperated.
"Have you heard anything on where my team is?" He asked not caring to issue apologies, when there were bigger issues at hand.
"No, the airport said they never arrived, they think they went down, but they aren't getting a signal from the plane, they have rescue crews out searching now." She said in a sympathetic sound.
"…Keep me updated!" Owen barely was able to get out before he slammed the phone down and sent the whole device flying across the table.
Thinking back to just a few minutes ago Owen went running out the door of the board room, "Teddy!" He yelled up and down the halls, he lied, he was wrong, he did need support right now. His co-workers, his friends, his wife, were all on that plane.
A few moments later Teddy came bounding around a corner, "What is it?" She asked a look of concern etched across her face.
"The plane!" Was all that Owen could get out.
Teddy immediately rushed to his side and pulled his head up, her tone serious.
"Owen, what about the plane?" She asked not sure if she wanted to hear the response.
"It never arrived in Boise! They think it crashed!" It was in that moment that the usually stoically strong Owen broke down in tears, not caring who was watching.
As the chief wept in Dr. Altman's arms the rumor mill started spreading about the down flight. Some people were crying, others were searching the internet and TV for any indication as to the status of what was going on.
When Owen looked up and saw disheveled nurses and doctors everywhere on phones, in each others arms, he knew that he had made a mistake breaking down in front of everyone, he needed to be strong right now, he needed to issue a statement to everyone.
Tearing himself away from Teddy's arms Owen went over to the nurses station and asked a female nurse to page a list of people that he scribbled down before he and Teddy disappeared back into the board room to try and figure out the next step.
It had been well over an hour that Webber, Kempner, Avery, and Karev had been waiting for Yang and Grey at the restaurant. Not wanting the succulent duck to lose it's flavor they had begun their dinner, every now and then glancing back at the door to the restaurant.
"Those jerks, ditched us here." Alex said in a hushed tone after the chief had gotten up to answer a phone call from his wife's nursing home.
"I know right!" Avery agreed.
Just as Webber sat back down, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of their pagers going off simultaneously.
All of them looked down expecting a multi-car pile-up, or a massacre, but instead they read the message telling them that there was a mandatory staff meeting.
"Has Hunt gone off his rocker, who holds a staff meeting this late?" Alex griped.
Webber gave him a stern look, "If there is one thing that I have learned about late night staff meetings is that they always mean something significant, this dinner will have to be continued." The chief said standing up ushering the waiter over to their table so he could pay the bill before leaving.
Reluctantly they all followed Webber's car back to the hospital, this night was just getting better and better, they thought sarcastically.
When they arrived at the hospital however their moods had changed something was definitely wrong, everyone was somber and ashen, something had happened. Immediately, they all put on their game faces and joined the crowd, Webber leaving them in search of Hunt.
Bailey and Ben were still standing in the OR discussing their impending futures when their pagers went off, "What the…" Bailey started to ask as she looked down at the message calling for a mandatory staff meeting. "Well, I guess we better go." Ben said still with a dirty smirk on his face as he grabbed her hand and lead her through the OR doors.
Callie had fallen asleep in the bed in her sexy lingerie, when the sound of her pager pulled her from her dreams.
After reading the message she was somewhat dumbfounded, and then it dawned on her, maybe something had happened at the hospital and that's where Arizona was, dealing with trauma's or whatever the hell was going on.
Reluctantly, Callie hopped off of the bed, and began dressing herself, leaving the lingerie on underneath the dress that she decided to throw on just in case, Arizona happened to feel up to her welcome home after all, once she got to the hospital. Which Callie really hoped was the case.
Webber found Owen and Teddy in the boardroom, both of their eyes red rimmed and glued to the computer screen.
"Hunt?" Webber asked knowing instantly that something was terribly wrong.
"Richard…" Hunt said solemnly.
"What's going on? You have everyone in a tizzy out there." Webber asked stepping closer.
Owen not having the strength the speak, teddy spoke up for him, "The plane never arrived in Boise, they think it crashed." Teddy said automatically.
Richard had to grab onto the leather chair next to him to hold himself up when the shock hit.
Pulling the chair out and sliding into it, Richard let out a chortle before he began to speak again, "Do they know where it crashed? What's the status on the rescue?" Richard asked needing to know everything.
"Apparently, the tracking device isn't working, they can't pick up a signal, so right now they are blindly searching." Owen managed to get out before breaking down again.
All Richard could do was lean against the table, and put his head in his hands. This was getting ridiculous, hadn't everyone already been through enough. He had to ask himself at every turn now it seemed.
Richard pulled his head up from his hands, "We need to get Bailey, Callie, Alex, April, and Jackson, they need to hear this from you personally instead of from you making a general announcement." Webber said calmly.
Owen nodded his head in agreement, "I will go get them." Richard said slowly standing up and making his way out into the crowd, praying that they hadn't heard from anyone else what was going on.
Quickly spotting, Alex, Karev, and Kempner he gently placed a hand on their shoulders, "Go to the board room, no questions." He said before he turned his attention to looking for Callie and Bailey.
Callie he found standing off in a corner straining her head looking around in the crowd, no doubt looking for Arizona, and it broke his heart. "Torres." He called out to get her attention.
"Yeah Chief?" She said so bright and bubbly, he coughed for a moment to clear his throat, "Head to the board room." He ordered.
She looked at him perplexed for a moment and then agreed, not knowing quite what she was in store for.
Finally Webber looked for Bailey, he found her and Ben standing together seemingly in their own little world talking to each other.
"Bailey!" He said coming up behind her.
"Yeah Chief?" She said drawing her attention away from Ben, it was so funny Richard had been Chief for sometime now, but he often found that people couldn't help but call him by his old title.
"Why don't you and Ben come with be to the board room, we are going to have a more intimate discussion." He said taking a huge breath.
"Chief?" She asked knowing that something was up.
"Just come with me." He said parting the crowd as they made their way to the board room that now held everyone that he had intended be there.
"What's going on, late night staff meetings, secret board room meetings?" Callie asked kind of laughing at the situation, completely oblivious to the bomb that was about to be dropped.
"I…I called you all here…because…" Owen paused, he needed to collect himself if not for these people in this room, but for Christina too, hope was not lost and he needed to remember that.
"I have bad news. Our plane never made it to Boise…" He couldn't pause he needed to keep going despite the gasps of everyone in the room. "They think that it has crashed, search and rescue is out looking for them right now, but unfortunately the transmitter in the plane is not working which is making the search difficult. That's all I know for now. "
Taking a breath Owen sat down, he just sat there are question after shocked question flooded his mind.
Thankfully Richard intervened.
"That's really all anyone knows right now, we will keep you updated. I just want to say though, that no matter what religion you are you should pray right now for our family and friends safe return."
No one knew what to do they all just sat there in shock. Callie was sobbing uncontrollably, both Mark and Arizona were on that flight, if she lost them, she would lose everything.
Alex looked at Callie and felt a deep sense of guilt, if he hadn't chosen Hopkins then Arizona would still be here and he would be on that flight.
Bailey was tucked deeply into Bens arms, crying and thumping him in the chest, she was starting to believe in the nickname, 'Seattle Grace Mercy Death' this was unreal, it was some sort of nightmare.
Jackson and April just gripped each others hands tightly underneath the table. Jackson's mind secretly going back to thoughts of Lexie.
Then out of nowhere April spoke up, "Zola, I have to get to Zola, she can't be alone right now, her parents are missing…they might be…" She couldn't finish she just jumped out of the seat and bolted for daycare.
Callie wanted to do the same she wanted Sofia in her arms, but right now her legs were like cement she couldn't move.
They just sat there in stunned silence staring at the TV which Teddy had turned to the news, waiting for something, anything that would shred a ray of light on their situation.