Apply Some Pressure – Chapter I

The sand was impossible to get rid of. Owen tugged the collar of his ballistic vest as the insufferable grains rubbed up against his chest. He glared out the window of the hummer, into the bleak and dusty landscape. Most days it was clear, the changeless blue sky against the glaring yellow of the ground. But last night the wind had picked up, and the perfect sky was now chocked with the sand he had become sick of – getting into every nook and cranny, no matter how many times he brushed it off.

Owen looked back into the armoured vehicle to his friends as they tossed with the hummer. Their laughing had stopped now that they were closing in on the front line. He peered a back to the sky. He hated this weather. You could never really place the enemy on days like this, they always appeared out of nowhere.

Owen was shaken out of his thoughts. The convoy had screeched to a halt. Instinctively, he jumped out of the hummer with his colleagues and rushed to the tanks that waited on the side of the road.

"Major." A man saluted.

"What have we got lieutenant?" Owen grabbed his med bag from his assisting officer.

"Three injured sir. The enemy retreated a while ago. They've all had first aid."

"My knee!" Came a muffled scream from around the tank.

"Good job lieutenant." Owen nodded to the man then walked around the tank to see the three men lying against the wheels of the machine, one almost unconscious and another grasping at his leg.

"Jesus!" The man spat in pain. "My knee!"

Owen kneeled down beside him, eyes furrowed as he began to set up an IV. "What happened officer?"

"I got shot…. my knee! I got shot in the knee!" He screamed in pain once more.

"Ok, don't worry, we're going to take you back to Bagdad, I'm just going to give you some mor…."

Suddenly they heard a small bang.

"GET DOWN!"

Owen got up in a sweat. Sitting on the bed, he grasped the sides of the mattress as he tried to slow his breathing, his heart racing a million miles an hour. He closed his eyes and took and deep breath, then opened them again. The on-call room was dark. He glanced over to the bedside table where his pager rested.

2:45

He hadn't slept at all. His heart began to calm itself. What if he wasn't sleeping in the first place? Owen shook his head to clear it, then slowly lay back down on the bed. He needed his sleep. He knew that, he was sensible. With his mind set on sleeping, he closed his eyes again.

Cristina…

He shot from the bed again. This wasn't going to work.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Cristina rested her chin on her fist as she sat behind the desk, staring off into space, rather than checking up on the OR board like she intended to. Yesterday, Owen had taken her to the vent.

The vent.

Cristina scoffed at the insanity of it all. It was like Marylyn Monroe meets some cheesy Hollywood Christmas special. And yet…well, it was…the vent. She sighed reminiscently then realised what she was doing and quickly stopped herself. What the hell had this guy turned her into? Burke never made her feel like this. Burke was…Burke. She needed some serious surgery action.

"Cristina."

She shook out of her thoughts and looked up at George, standing on the other side of the desk.

"What do you want?" Cristina groaned.

George glared at her slightly. "I know you're not interested but I need you to do me a favour. I think something's wrong with Izzie."

Cristina raised an eyebrow then sighed. "Look, why don't you talk to Mer about it?"

He was not humoured. "I tried that but she's too obsessed with you two fighting to care about anyone else."

"Hmph." Cristina scoffed. "Sounds like her."

"Just, you're the only that can help me, ok? Just look out for her, see if she does anything weird."

"Fine. But seriously, I think everything Izzie does is weird so don't expect much."

George rolled his eyes then walked away. Cristina watched him go when Derek appeared around the corner and looked straight at her, then started to walk over. Quickly she turned and pretended she was doing something else, anything to get away from the inane babble of Derek trying to "heal the conflict" between Mer and her.

"Cristina?" Derek's voice appeared way to close to her head.

"Mhmm?" Cristina continued to look away, now typing gibberish into the computer to make her look busy.

"I was wondering if you'd like to scrub in with me on a case about 10 minutes out. Car crash. Severe head injuries."

"Severe?" Cristina spun around to face him with a smile. To see Derek was also smiling she stopped. "I mean, sure. I'll see you down in the pit."

Cristina spun back around in the chair and tapped the table in happiness. Severe injuries; serious surgery. This was definitely going to bring back the hardcore in Cristina.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Owen pressed in the button on the elevator and watched as the doors closed. He tugged at the collar of his scrubs and brushed his arm down when he stopped. He shook himself out of it. This was a bad day.

Maybe he could get away to the vent again. He needed to clear his head. A smile appeared on his face. Her hair, her laugh…she had haunted him all day and night but he couldn't help it. He didn't want it to stop. He wanted to take her back down there and stay like that forever; out of time, out of space. She made him forget, she made him better.

The elevator stopped, and in walked in Derek, a smile appearing on his face as he saw Owen.

"Afternoon." He said cheerily.

"Afternoon Dr. Shepherd." Owen nodded.

"We've worked together for a while now, call me Derek." The doors closed.

"Ok, well, call me Owen."

There was a silence between them, and Derek shoved his hands in his coat pockets.

"Listen Owen…" He started. "This is probably going to sound ridiculous and unprofessional but I need you to do me a favour."

Owen looked over at him and raised his sceptically. "Ah..." he took a breath. "Sure. What do you want me to do?"

"The head trauma 5 minutes out, I'll need to you to get Meredith Grey to assist."

"Dr Grey?"

"Sorry, it's just, I'm getting Cristina to assist, and she and Meredith are best friends but they're fighting right now and they're not looking any closer to making up so I've got to force them to make up."

"They're fighting?" Owen stared at Derek.

"Yes."

"In what way do you think that will help the poor patient with severe injuries on their way to the hospital?"

Derek sighed. "None at all."

The elevator stopped and the doors began to open.

"Ok, I'll page Dr. Grey." Owen rolled his eyes.

"You're a good man." Derek nodded then walked out the elevator. "Welcome to Seattle Grace."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

N/B

Why hello! This is…. well; this is an Owina fic, set the day after The Vent. Yes, The Vent is its own capitalised occurrence. So back to straightening out what this fic is, cause this is the first chapter and I don't want any confusion 3 chapters in with people screaming, "WHERE'S THE RABBITS??". There will be no rabbits in this fic. It is Owina centric, but I shall also cover other characters. I shall not ignore George and no way in hell with I have any Denny. Loved the guy in season two but seriously, being there when Alex professed his love? SACRELIGE!!

Ok. Lot of capitals.

If I can, I shall try and fit in MerDer hotness, cause there also has been a lack of that. But shouldn't really continue talking, otherwise I'll talk on about what it's about and tell you the whole thing!

Exactly! So, please give your two cents, I truly need your input to power my brain, so unless you're telepathic, REVIEW!!! Thank you very much, and stop reading my mind. That's right! I know who you are….

REVIEW!!