Apply Some Pressure – Chapter III
"So, Dr Hunt, what made you come back to Seattle Grace?"
Owen halted his stiches on the artery and looked up at Meredith as she held the suction. He knew it had to be a simple question, just small talk, but something in Meredith's eyes and the fact that Cristina was standing right next to him, he felt there must have been something else behind it.
"The weather I guess." Owen replied simply in a low sarcastic tone.
As Meredith went back to the suction, he quickly shot a look over at Cristina, who was assisting Derek. Cristina's eyes looked like fire as she glared at Meredith. He knew it was a bad idea letting them both in.
"It mustn't have been the pay though…" Meredith suddenly continued. Owen could tell Cristina had now frozen in her spot. "I mean, Seattle's a pretty desirable place to work compared to other cites that pay a lot more…but maybe the chief offered you a very good deal…"
Owen shifted uncomfortably then looked up at Meredith, eyebrow raised. Suddenly there was a beeping sound.
"Dr Hunt!" Derek warned at the end of the surgical table.
Owen glanced over at the stat monitor. "He's loosing blood pressure. Suction Dr Grey." He threw dressings into the cavity to hold the bleeding.
"You keep that BP up Dr Hunt, any lower and it's going to cause troubles up here." Derek cautioned.
"I've got it all under control." Owen grumbled as he moved aside the dressings and began again on the stiches. "Suction Grey!" He barked again. He could hear Cristina scoff at the end of the table. Slowly, as he finished the repair, the blood pressure grew stable.
"Well that was lucky." Cristina mumbled under her breath, sarcastically.
Meredith shot up. "What is your problem?"
"Oh I'm sorry, but if you hadn't been so interesting in small talk, we wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of serious brain damage."
"Well if you had- "
"Dr Grey!" Owen glared at Meredith. "Dr Yang!" He continued facing Meredith to avoid the look on Cristina's face. "Get out of this OR now. Both of you."
Meredith raised her eyes in astonishment and looked over at Derek, whose sad eyes seemed to agree with Owen's outburst.
"That's an order!" Owen reiterated. Cristina and Meredith then quickly put down their surgical equipment walked away from the table, tearing off their surgical gowns while keeping a safe distance away from each other as they exited the OR.
Owen stood in silence over the table and took a deep breath. Cristina's going to hate him now. He was an army man; none of this stuff ever got mixed up in the field. There were rules; there was a reason why they had a don't ask don't tell policy. That stuff just couldn't get mixed with their work.
"I'm sorry Owen." Derek's low voice broke his thought. "It was a stupid idea. I never should have suggested it."
Owen sighed then looked up at Derek. "Look, I've gathered that in this hospital it's hard to keep things separate. But don't ever purposely bring your personal lives into the OR with me again."
Derek nodded slowly then went back to the surgery. Owen gazed at the door of the OR. He had to talk to Cristina.
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Cristina scrubbed her hands hard in the sink outside the OR in the hall. She was waiting for Meredith to dry her hands and leave before she left, just so she didn't have to talk to her or anything. She could tell Meredith was glancing over to her even though her head was fixed forward.
"Seriously Cristina!" Meredith suddenly burst. "Why did you have to get us kicked out of surgery?"
Cristina switched off the tap and turned to her. "What? I'm not the one who nearly killed the guy!"
"It was just a minor drop! It was fixed in no time! Just because I was having a little small talk-"
"Yeah what the hell? Why were you talking to him?"
"He was my attending! Who else do you think I'd have small talk with?"
"Just… whatever!" Cristina hastily shrugged and grabbed a paper towel.
"Look," Meredith lowered her voice and looked up and down the hallway. "I wasn't trying to get any information about you and him."
"Seriously? With all the questioning of why he came back?"
"It's not like it's my problem I'm clueless! You haven't told me anything about it."
"Well maybe I've tried. And maybe you're to interested in your own crap to listen to your friend's."
Cristina threw her paper towel in the bin and walked away. She could hear Meredith call out her name but she kept walking. Owen had just turned out to be some crappy domineering surgeon like Burke and she couldn't tell her best friend. She felt like shit.
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Cristina sat on a step in the empty stairwell. It was getting dark. The cold cement was beginning to ache her but she remained still, staring out the blank window and listening to the dull echo of the flickering fluorescent lights.
She was supposed to be going to the vent, but she had stopped halfway. It was her place of release last time, her place of escape and joy – but she was scared now that it wouldn't be the same without Owen. She was scared that it would be different now, that it would spoil the now cherished memories of that place forever.
So instead she stopped, and sat on the cold concrete steps.
A door opened above her. The escaping noises of the outside world stopped as the door closed with a metallic thud. She could hear heavy footsteps move close to her then stop as a dark figure appeared beside her on the step.
"If you're still looking for the answer on whether this is appropriate or not, I think that should probably resolve it." Cristina looked up to see the set of blue eyes staring back at her.
"I'm not going to apologise for kicking you out. Just, what were you thinking? You were fighting while a patient was open on the table!"
"I know." She sighed as she covered her face with her hand and looked away. "I don't know what got into me…"
She felt his hand on her knee. The warmth of his hand seemed to radiate through her scrubs, down through her thigh and up to her chest. That small gesture had suddenly her feel safe, made her feel calm.
"Are you ok?" His deep voice somehow soothed her.
"I don't know…" She looked back at Owen. "She's my best friend. She's my…sister. We've never fought before. I just don't know what to do."
"Tell you what," A faint smile appeared on Owen's lips. "I'm going to buy you a drink. And some food. There's nothing like a good meal to fix you up."
Cristina looked at him cautiously. "Wouldn't you call drinks and dinner inappropriate?"
"I've thought about that." He looked away. "I think I'm going to give up being strictly professional with you, especially since it hasn't seemed to be working out that well."
"What? With all those make-out sessions in the steam pipe trunk distribution venue?" Cristina smiled cheekily.
"Hmm… it's hard to go back across the line after that." Owen gave a smile.
"Ok then," She stood up then held out her hand to him. "You owe me a steak."
Owen grinned and grabbed Cristina's hand. "Steak it is."
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NB
Mmmmmm….steak. Ok, so maybe the end was a little food obsessed. But I like food. And now I feel like a steak.
But yeah, FLASHBACK! Remember – Burke doesn't like redmeat and Cristina did? Well Owen likes it two! Yey! Carnivorous soulmates! Like, totally.
So I hope any West Wing fans caught my little homage there, or maybe it's just a lot of confused readers.
I seriously don't think I have made any sense.
Right! Shall shut up, but before I go; those scared of a bit of Mark/Lexie, it's only going to be a bit, and it's got a while to come up – which pretty much applies to the other plot lines, they'll all pop up eventually.
But now I'm off to run then bbq my self a steak!
Please review. I mean it – I want YOU to REVIEW! Huh, that kind of rhymes. Cool. REVIEW! Give me creativity to burn! BURN I tells ya!