Apologies for the delay in updating this fan fiction. The final chapter is coming next, and I hope to post it fairly quickly. If I am honest, the C/O storyline has depressed me a bit, and it has taken a bit of effort to get this chapter written, as I am just not feeling it. I hope that this does not come across too much. The drought of Cristina and Owen fan fiction being published at the moment has given me a bit of a push, so lets hope our favourite couple live on to fight again in season seven.
As usual I would like to remind everyone that I do not own the greys characters, and that I have written this for fun, and not for profit.
The end is in sight.
Cristina waited quietly for Owen, in the reception for OBGYN. She had an appointment with James, and Owen, who had been adamant about attending all of her prenatal appointments, was late. Cristina was tempted to go in, and start her appointment without him, but following reassurances from James, that he had time to wait for Owen, she thought better of it. Owen was bound to think that, the clean bill of health she was confident that James would give her, was coerced out of him, if he was not there to see it delivered by James. Cristina checked her watch again. She would give her trauma god husband five minutes to get here, or she would go in to her appointment alone. A short ring, alerted Crisitina to the fact that the lift had stopped, and within seconds, she saw a six foot one inch red headed wall of muscle come hurtling towards her. Wow he looked hot, she thought, a man on a mission. "Hey Cristina, I am so sorry I am late, I was delayed in surgery with the shooting victim." Owen rushed out what he needed to say. "Its fine." replied Cristina, "James is ok for time, so he said he could wait for you to arrive. Is your patient doing ok?" she asked. "No, she flat lined in the OR ten minutes ago, there was too much blood loss, and we just couldn't stop the bleeding. Karev is taking care of her for me." Owen replied softly. He hated losing patients, they all did, but after seeing so much violence in Iraq, Owen particularly hated losing patients to acts of mindless violence. He did not know the reason that a 26 year old women, had been fatally shot in one of the safest places in the country, but he knew it was a waste, and after seeing people fight to stay alive a few more months, the waste of a human life, always tore him apart.
Cristina could see that Owen was upset by the loss of his patient, and in an attempt to distract him, suggested that they see if James was ok to see them both now. Cristina held onto Owens left hand, and stroked the back of it with her free hand in a comforting gesture. "Come on," she said, "Let's go and see how our baby is doing." and with this she guided Owen towards the door to the office of Dr James Evans.
James looked up, when he heard Clare, his nurse; show Cristina and Owen into his office. "Hello Owen, Cristina. How have you been doing?" The latter question was directed at Cristina, although both her, and Owen answered in unison.
"Great, fantastic." said Cristina.
"Okay." was Owens response. James looked a little bemused, and looked from one to the other looking for signs of tension, although to be fair, they were both smiling, and their body language was good so James decided to find out a little bit more. "Wow that is quite a contrast in opinions. Why is that?" James addressed Owen.
"Well, the fainting, and the head injury." explained Owen. James looked slightly alarmed. As Cristina's consultant, he was well aware of the occasion several weeks previously when Cristina had fainted, and hit her head, and he had in fact been called to the OR by Chief Shepherd to monitor the baby, while he dealt with the head injury, but in his last meeting with Shepherd, everything had been fine, and they had both given Cristina the green light to return to work. James looked back at Cristina's records. There should be a note, if she had suffered any further blackouts, or if there had been any complications with the head injury she had sustained, but there was not, and he did not understand why.
"So has there been another fainting spell Cristina? If so you should have come in to see Me." stated James.
"No, no there hasn't, I have been much more careful about eating at regular times, and getting plenty of rest, and I have been absolutely fine. I feel great, radiant even." Cristina was talking to James, but was moving her head back and forth between the two men, making her point to both of them.
"Right, Owen, what are your concerns, while it's good to be vigilant, there are not any indications that the problem will reoccur, surely you realise that. Is there something else I should be aware of?" he asked Owen. Owen took a deep breath, to steady himself.
"James, I am a doctor, I see things go wrong with people every day. My logic tells me that there is no reason, why Cristina will not sail through the last three months of this pregnancy, but I can't be logical about my family and I am scared. I know too much, I know Cristina too well, and I know the demands of residency. All those factors added up means that I can't sleep at night." Owen explained dryly. Cristina swallowed; she was a selfish bitch at times. She knew that she was well. She knew that after the scare she had had, that she was taking really good care of herself, and that all Owen's fussing over her was unnecessary, but she didn't tell him that often enough. When she was in the hospital, with her friends, and he asked what she had eaten, or asked how long she had been on her feet, she would roll her eyes, and make a joke or offer a sarcastic comment, after all she was Cristina Hunt, and has her credibility to maintain. Things were different when they were alone, she let him pamper her, because she felt he needed to do it, and if she was honest, although she would deny it if asked, she kind of likes being pampered and fussed over by Owen. Cristina reached over and took Owens hand in hers, and in response he turned to look at her.
"I am so sorry, I should have realised." said Cristina. "I promised you that I would do better, and I have kept that promise. Shepherd, and James both gave me the all clear to return to work, and I have not come in to the hospital on my days off. I'm eating right, and sleeping really well. If I was not, I probably would have realised that you weren't." Cristina finished. She squeezed Owens hand.
"Guys," James addressed them both. "You both know that there are always risks, and we all know that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, so let's use our medical knowledge to make sure that everything goes smoothly, rather than you torturing yourself with all the things that can go wrong. You should be enjoying this experience, not terrified by it." James smiled encouragingly. "Now, let's get our checks completed."
James weighed, Cristina, took her blood pressure, and checked the baby with an exam. He checked her water sample for abnormalities in the sugar and protein levels, and seemed really pleased with her progress.
"Cristina everything is looking great. Just keep doing what you are doing, and I will see you in two weeks." said James.
"Two weeks, I thought that you said everything was fine, why you need to see me so soon?" asked Cristina.
"Don't worry. You are in your last trimester now, and I will see you every two weeks, for the next eight weeks and then weekly until you deliver this baby. It is standard practice." James explained
"So, I have a clean bill of health?" asked Cristina.
"Absolutely." responded James.
"Excellent," said Cristina, mentally thinking that Daddy was now trailing 0 to 2.
Owen, who had been quite, and had now composed himself, after his emotional outburst, was relieved to hear that everything was as it should be, but also knew that this would mean that Cristina would not let up on her schedule any time soon. He said goodbye to James, and made his way back downstairs with his wife.
Cristina was due back in cardio, and knew that Owen was busy in the pit, but wanted a few minutes with him, so applied some pressure onto his arm, to guide him into an on-call room. Owen waited for her to close the door, before moving in to kiss his wife. Cristina responded immediately. It was not what she had brought him here for, but hell she was only human, and she would defy anyone to prefer a talk rather than being thoroughly kissed by Owen Hunt. Cristina broke the kiss, and gasped for air.
"I know that you are worried about me, but now, I am worried about you." she stated simply.
"You don't need to be. As long as you are the baby stay healthy, I promise I will be just fine." he responded.
"Owen, you need to trust me. It's natural, and sweet for you to worry about us, but I find it a bit offensive, that you think that I don't care about our family as much as you do." Owen looked shocked, he never really thought of it that way, but he knew she was right. He was lost for words. Cristina on the other hand was not, and carried on.
"I know that I am focussed on my work, and I have got to be, while I still can. If I am putting in a bit extra now, it is so that I can take some time off after the baby is born, so that I can bond with her, and at least try and be a good Mum." Cristina paused, almost talking to herself. "It would be nice to prove those who think I can't do it wrong wouldn't it." Cristina looked at Owen, who thought that he should make some sort of response.
"The last thing I care about is what others think. If you want to get a full time nanny, and just do the fun Mum things yourself, that would be fine with me as long as you are both happy and healthy." Owen said gently. He could feel that Cristina was frustrated, and wanted to placate her. He didn't seem to be doing very well.
"Owen you're missing the point." Cristina said, rather exasperated. "You are constantly checking up on me, as if you don't trust me to do the right thing. When I told you I was pregnant, I told you that I wanted this baby, and that I was scared that another eptopic pregnancy would mean we would never get to have a baby together. I didn't take any chances with my child. I got medical advice, I did everything that I was supposed to, and I worried on my own, because I didn't want to raise your hopes until I was more confident that everything was ok. I am a responsible adult Owen, and your lack of faith in me, is infuriating. You have got to back off, and let me get on with running my own life; I was doing that for quite some time before you came along." Cristina's voiced had risen somewhat during the course of her speech, so by the time she finished she was almost shouting, which had Owen on the ropes. He did not want to fight with her, and definitely did not want her angry, that couldn't be good for her blood pressure, but he didn't want to back down either. Cristina was tough, and constantly pushed herself. She knew her own limits, but did she know the baby's? How could she.
Owen walked towards Cristina, and held her at arms length by the shoulders, massaging them in an attempt to ease the tension that he could feel in them.
"I am sorry that you feel slighted by the way I have acted. You are the one who pointed out my saviour complex to me before I even knew I had one, and I haven't changed, it is probably just because I am looking after two of you, you are getting twice as much attention." Owen smiled and pulled Cristina into a loose hug. "I will try not to suffocate you. I just guess I am checking up, because I need reassurance from you that everything is ok. I have seen too much pain, lost too many people who were important to me, and I have never seen myself as a lucky person until now, and I am frightened that it is going to be taken away from me." Owens eyes looked troubled, and it was now Cristina's turn to feel lost for words, so she did what she always did when she could not think what to say. She kissed him.
Five minutes later both Dr Hunts were in there own departments, crisis averted, and both sporting rather swollen lips.
"Owen" said Meredith, who was assigned to the pit along with Alex. "How did your appointment go, did you find out the sex of the baby?" She asked.
"Everything was fine, Cristina has been given a clean bill of health, and we are both still resisting the temptation to find out the sex. Although Cristina constantly refers to the baby as she and her, we want to be surprised." He added.
"Yes but if we knew what you were having, it would give Lexie the opportunity to chose an appropriate theme for the baby shower she is planning for Cristina." explained Meredith.
"No," said Owen. "I didn't hear you say you were planning a shower, because we both know that she will hate that, and when she goes berserk, because the house is full of balloons and stuffed animals, I want to honestly be able to say I knew nothing about it." Owen stated.
"Me too," said Meredith, "why do you think I sowed the seed to Lexie, this way, I get to throw a shower for my best friend without any of the responsibility or blame." Meredith said smugly.
"Well I am sorry to disappoint you, but you will have to come up with a generic theme, because all indications are, that he sex of this baby will not be known for another three months, unless of course Cristina crumbles." Owen delivered the final part of his sentence, as he was walking towards the ambulance bay, Karev having alerted both him and Meredith to an incoming trauma.
Cristina had been on a cardio rotation for the last four weeks, and had seen James for three further appointments, getting the thumbs up on all occasions, and things seems to have fallen into place for her. She was feeling well, and was excited about her forthcoming parenthood. Owen, true to his word was trying hard not to suffocate her, and on the surface he seemed fine, but Owen was a complex person, and what he showed on the surface was only a fraction of what was going on with him.
Owen really looked forward to the days that Cristina was in the pit, and they were working together. He worried less about her, when she was by his side, and he could see that she was ok, and not over doing things. She was stitching up a laceration, on a young daredevil skateboarder's leg, and it reminded him of their first meeting, when he too had a leg injury, that needed her attention. Owen was slightly lost in his thoughts, when he became aware of noise from behind him, probably a patient that felt that they had been waiting too long for medical attention. Owen heard a man calling out Dr Hunt, trying to get his attention. It was not somebody that he recognised, but while trying to place the man, Cristina, shouted, "I am Dr Hunt, and I will be with you in one minute."
Cristina, allocated the finishing off of the sutures to one of her interns, and while removing and disposing of her surgical gloves walked towards the person calling for her.
As Cristina got to the gentleman, he pulled Cristina towards himself, and showed her a knife which he had been concealing. Owen immediately rushed towards Cristina's attacker, but stopped in his tracks, when the attacker shouted, "One step nearer, and I will cut her throat."
"What do you want?" asked Owen.
"Revenge." the attacker replied simply. "Dr Hunt here apparently did everything possible, but it wasn't enough," shouted the attacker. "She let her die; she let my lovely girl die."
"Who are you?" asked Owen. "Who is the patient you are talking about? I am the head of trauma here, and this is my team. If something went wrong, I am responsible, so why don't you let her go, and come and talk to me." Cristina who had been quiet, suddenly drained of all colour, at the thought of Owen taking on a madman, but she did not need to worry, because the attacker laughed. "No way red, Dr Hunt here killed my wife, with her inaction, and I am going to kill her." and with that the blade he was carrying was swiftly brought across Cristina's throat, and her jugular vein was severed. Owen flew at the assailant, and punched him hard, knocking him to the floor, unconscious, before trying to stop the flow of blood from his wife's throat.
Owen woke up in a cold sweat, and taking note of his surroundings closed his eyes and started counting backwards in an attempt to stabilise his breathing. It had been so vivid; he had been through this before, although it was usually friends that he had lost in Iraq that he had nightmares about. Owen realised that the room was not silent, which is what you expect when you wake up in the middle of the night He could hear a whimpering noise, and when he turned his head to look at Cristina, she was staring at him with a look of terror in her eyes, and blood oozing from a split lip which she was trying to stop from dripping onto the bed linen.
Owen immediately jumped out of bed, and ran to the bathroom, where he wet a facecloth with cold water, which he brought back to Cristina, to attend to her mouth.
"I am so sorry." said Owen. "I did this to you didn't I." he stated, already knowing the answer.
"It is fine, it was my fault, I could see you were having a nightmare, and thought that if I could comfort you you would settle. I should have known not to try and restrain you while you were in the middle of a bad dream." responded Cristina.
"Please don't apologise to me, you have nothing to apologise for. I hurt you, again, and you are saying you're sorry. I hate myself right now. Owen looked down, unable to keep eye contact any longer, he was ashamed, and he was scared, because although Cristina had forgiven him after the choking, she had been honest enough to tell him that she was afraid to fall asleep next to him, and with the baby to consider she had every reason to react the same now. Owen took deep gulping breaths, he had talked himself into thinking that she would break up with just like the last time a night terror had resulted in her being injured. On the verge of a panic attack, Owen started to sob.
Cristina dropped the wet wash cloth that she had been holding to her mouth, in an attempt to prevent any swelling, and absorb the small amount of blood that was still seeping from her lip. Uncaring of the dampness, and blood staining that was lying on her pale green bedding, Cristina immediately put both arms around Owen, in more of a restraining hold than a hug. She could see the signs, the agitation, the gasping breaths that he was taking, and in the same way that she had calmed Dr Dixon over a year before, she held onto Owen, suppressing his nervous system, and talked soothingly to him., until his breathing started to regulate, and gradually, Owens panic attack subsided, and he turned, to return his wife's hug, telling her over and over again that he was sorry.
"Come on Owen," whispered Cristina, "It is still early, try and get some more sleep, come and get in bed."
Owen stood up, and from his place next to Cristina, removed the damp wash cloth, and returned to his side of the bed, climbing under the covers. "I know that I won't sleep now," answered Owen, "But if it is alright, I will stay here and hold you until you go back to sleep." offered Owen.
"I'd like that." said Cristina shuffling towards him, and placing her head on his chest, and closing her eyes.
Owen lay in bed, rubbing his sleeping wife's arm, and worrying about when he was ever going to get
better, or if he was always going to be a threat to the safety of his wife and baby.
Cristina was glad that the first part of her day was being spent doing an early surgery, as her surgical mask covered the evidence of the previous nights events. It was not until almost lunch time, that Cristina had to face her fellow residents sporting a fat lip.
Cristina made her way from the lunch line, to their usual table, and placed her tray next to Meredith's. She was thinking about telling a lie, and saying she had left a door open, but she knew that Meredith could always see through her lies, and decided against it. "What the hell happened to your mouth?" gasped Meredith. "Oh," stalled Cristina, I forgot about that, it looks a bit of a mess doesn't t?" she stammered.
"Yes it does, now tell me what happened." reiterated Meredith.
"Well Owen was having a bad dream, and I foolishly tried to restrain him." explained Cristina.
"He hurt you? Again? Cristina this has got to stop, don't you realise what danger you are putting yourself in." said Meredith firmly.
"It was an accident, it hardly even hurts" argued Cristina.
"I don't care if it was an accident or how sorry he is, I've seen it before remember, and you can't keep on going back for more. Are you waiting for him to seriously hurt you, or kill you even." said an increasingly upset Meredith. "Cristina, you are my person, and I know that you love Owen, but I would not be doing my job if I did not remind you, that you are putting more than yourself at risk. You have a baby to think about for god sake, you need to be a responsible adult. Be strong, and change something. If you don't change something, this will keep happening, and you cannot go on like this." Meredith added.
Cristina had no words. She was livid. How dare Meredith say that she was being irresponsible by staying with Owen? How dare she imply that Owen was some sort of bomb waiting to go off, or that she was being frivolous about the safety of herself and her child. Even more upsetting from Cristina's point of view was that Meredith had said she was weak, by telling her that she needed to be strong. She took a deep breath, before responding, and said "Meredith, I have told you before, that I need there to be an Owen and Me. That will not change ever." and with that Cristina took her untouched lunch tray and walked away.
Meredith did not follow; she figured that she needed some time on her own. She would talk to her again later, but not before she had spoken to Owen Hunt. She did not have to wait long, because 20 minutes later as she was walking out of the place with the food, she virtually collided with Owen.
"Owen, Hi." said Meredith. "I am glad I have seen you, I was hoping that I could talk to you in private. Do you have a few minutes?" asked Meredith.
"Hi, yes I do, do you want to come to my office?" Owen asked.
Meredith merely nodded, and quickly preceded Owen down towards his office. Once inside, Owen closed the door and was about to ask Meredith what was on her mind, when Meredith held up her hand silencing him.
"Owen, this is really difficult for me, so I was hoping you would give me a couple of minutes without interruption." Owen closed his mouth, keen to let this twisted sister have her say.
"I think that you should leave Cristina. I know you love her, but I think that you are dangerous for her, and after what happened last time, I know that even though she knows that she has to keep herself safe, that she will not leave you. Please if you care about her at all, you will leave, and make sure that Cristina and your child are out of harms way." Meredith who had been looking at the floor, moved her eyes up, to meet Owens, he was angry she could tell, but there was also something else in those expressive blue eyes, sadness and resignation.
"Has Cristina said something to you?" asked Owen.
"She told me how she got a fat lip, and made more excuses about how you were not awake, and that it was an accident and you were sorry! But Owen this isn't about you being sorry, it's about you not being in control, it is about my best friend, your wife, being at risk with you. She loves you Owen, she would die for you, but do you really want her to. If you love her at all, you would leave her before she really gets hurt." finished Meredith.
Owen knew what she was saying was true, Cristina would die for him, he would die for her, but either move would result in them not being together, and he wanted that more than anything didn't he? No, Owen thought, what I want more than anything is for my wife and child to be safe and well, and Meredith was right, he was a risk to that safety.
"Meredith, I love Cristina with all my heart, and it would break me to be apart from her, but I understand what you are telling me, and I promise you that I will talk to Cristina." Owen walked to his office door and opened it, letting Meredith know that the conversation was over. As Meredith left his office, Owen, lunch long forgotten, returned to his chair, and sat with his head in his hands.
Cristina, good to her word, was not putting in any extra shifts at the hospital, and as Owen was stuck in surgery, she went home alone.
After changing into some sweat pants, and a baggy t shirt, she went about stripping and remaking the bed, and placed the bedding in the washing machine. All evidence of last nights events were now gone. The blood stained bedding and facecloth gone, the side table straightened, so that the items knocked over as Owen had thrashed about the previous night, were back in there correct place, and everything looked neat and tidy. She smiled, the bed was the one thing that she always managed to keep straight, the kitchen was another matter, and very much Owens domain, but as she had some time to kill, she decided to look in the freezer to see what they could have for dinner.
Cristina had found one of Owens frozen lasagne's, and had both defrosted it, and had placed it in the oven to slowly reheat, when Owen came in over an our later. He greeted Cristina briefly on the way in, and told her that he was taking a shower. Cristina, who was busy checking the food, merely shouted her acknowledgment, from her crouched position in front of the oven, no mean feat for a woman well over seven months pregnant.
Owen quickly showered, and pulled some clean clothes out of his wardrobe, and then, spotting his overnight bag on the shelf, pulled it out, and started filling it quickly and efficiently. This was going to be crazy. Cristina was the love of his life, they were about to become a real family, and here he was, acting on Meredith's request to leave his wife, but he knew on a basic level, that Meredith was at least partly right. As far as being a couple went, the end was in sight, soon there would be three of them, and their decisions would affect another person. His shrink had told him over and over again, that he had to focus on himself, that he could only get better for himself, not for others, but he knew that Cristina was his reason for wanting to get well, and that not being together, even some of the time, was all the incentive he needed to sort himself out. He hated to admit that Dr Wyatt was right, but he had become lost in her, in them, and he had thought that he had everything he needed, until the fear of something happening to her triggered him, and he realised that he did not.
Cristina, still in the kitchen, was plating up the lasagne, and deciding that Owen had taken far too long already, walked into their bedroom, to hurry him along. Welcomed with the sight of her husband packing, Cristina stopped dead still, and stared at Owen, who had also stopped what he was doing and was looking intently at her.
Cristina was the first to recover, and said "Owen, why are you packing?"
