A/N- I'm making this a Cristina/OC story but! The endgame is Crowen, I just think that Cristina needs to be with somebody else to make her realize how much she loves Owen and how she should have given him more.

A/N 2: in my defence Cristina's mother didn't even visit when she was in the plane crash or when she got married to Owen but I agree I probably should've made her call.

A/N 3- (Don't worry this is the last one) who would you like to see come back? Teddy or Burke.

Chapter 7- Witness the change.

In my mind there are mirrors, reflecting on my past. The shattered hopes and dreams of a future that was never meant to last. Just turn around now. Tell me what you see. Look all around you, is this how things should be? Had enough of love never lasting but now I know it never will but hanging around on the off chance. Waiting for that certain thrill. Just turn around now and see what we have done. It's getting late now and the future has begun so witness the change.

I've been observing the way people walk lately, like her in the purple blouse with the ketchup stain, always walking as though she's in a hurry. The guy in the green jacket walks with purpose. The woman in the mismatched socks walked with confidence and certainty in herself.

I feel a hand tap my shoulder, I looked behind me and saw Owen standing there. I was outside the hospital, watching the snowflakes fall and dust the ground in white. The snow was cold and sharp as it bit at my fingers and the wind kissed my cheeks.

"Hey." I said it so softly and quietly that I wasn't sure he had heard me.

"Hey." He smiled and sat on the bench next to me. "I'm sorry, I haven't been around to see you but ii wasn't sure you wanted to, I should've fought harder for you to stay, maybe this wouldn't have happened." He looked guilty.

"Don't think about the maybe's and what if's. This happened. And I'm dealing." I nodded, I was reassuring myself more than him but my words seemed to put him at ease. "So, what've you been doing lately?"

"Working."

"You need to get a life." This was probably very hypocritical of me, since before the accident I basically lived here. I no longer belong here but I can't seem to tear myself away. Apparently we go through five stages of grief.

I think I'm currently in denial.

He smiles at me but only for a second before it disappears. "OMG! A smile! Somebody alert the media!" I laugh and he hits me in the shoulder softly. People say it's a sign of affection. I hit him in the shoulder, hard. Well as hard as I can hit. Which probably isn't very hard. "So… got any cute dates, for tonight?" he looks embarrassed by my question.

"Uh no… you know we don't have to talk about this. Actually I would prefer it if we didn't."

"You want kids though, don't you?" he nods softly, "well if you're going to have kids than you're going to have to find the right companion. A high IQ and mildly attractive looks, maybe you should ask out that nurse from the second floor, I think her name's Natalie, I heard her say that she thinks your cute." They would make beautiful babies together.

"How do you know that?"

"I listen to the gossip." Owen never listened to the gossip, it was a good thing but also made him completely oblivious and clueless.

"You know what I'll just make you a list of suitable women who would most likely have a child worthy of being yours." It was nice that we were friends and not just exes or co-workers.

"No, I think I'm good." He softly laughed at me or the conversation e=we were having, I'm not quite sure.

"You sure?"

"Positive." His pager beeps and he stands but then leans down and kisses me on my cheek, his lips are cool from the cold air of winter and are firm. His lips linger longer than they would if this was just a polite kiss. He pulls away and walks off. I watch him walk away, his tall and broad figure, until I can no longer see him.

I look down at my hands. They were the hands of a surgeon. A surgeon. Not a wife or a friend. I gave away everything and now I have nothing.

"I want a simple wedding. Not even in a church. Maybe a park or even in the hospital." Alex was planning his wedding with Mer's and my help. I had a lot of time on my hands and Mer was soft.

"What does Jo want?" I ask.

"She wants to me to plan it. She doesn't care as long as at the end of the day, she's my wife and our friends are there to see it happen." Alex didn't seem to care either. Those two were made for each other.

"What about my backyard?" Mer suggests, she looks like the idea just came to her and she's had an epiphany. "It's big so you can invite as many people as you want and the weather forecast says that this weekend there is going to be absolutely no rain! It's a miracle!"

"Hell yeah!" Alex says and then grabs Mer and pulls her into a tight hug, I laugh at the look of pure and absolute joy on his face. After all this time, I was glad he was getting his happy ending.

I spent the rest of my day planning the perfect simple wedding. White lilies were going to be delivered Saturday morning, the day of the wedding. Sandwiches and Buffalo wings and all other kinds of finger foods were going to be served on the tables that Dereck and Jackson were going to steal from the nurses. I booked a minister and ordered an alter online. Fifty white plastic chairs were waiting in Mer's living room and I had sent out an email to the guest list that Alex wrote for me.

Jo had her bridesmaids, Leah and Stephanie. And Alex asked Mer and me to be his groom's women.

This was going to happen.

Now, for my date.

Ian.

We had exchanged phone numbers over cafeteria food. He was handsome, charming and he didn't care about the chair. But maybe he felt bad for me because he saw me struggling…

The phone rang three times before a familiar smooth voice answered. "Hello?" I didn't know what to do. I pressed the hang up button and through my phone across from the room, I glared at it when it started ringing again. Damn caller ID.

I wheeled across the room and picked the phone up. "Hello." My voice was small and pathetic.

"Hey! Cristina, I'm so glad that you called." He sounded happy. But maybe I was trying to find something that wasn't actually there.

"Hey. So I don't know if you've heard but my friend um… Alex is getting married." I was stuttering and sounded like I was about to throw up.

"Oh, yeah. I think I heard about that from the nurses."

"Yeah. Well I'm planning it and I wanted to know if I should just have lilies for the flower arrangement or maybe I should add some roses or daisies in…" my voice trailed off towards the end. It was a white lie, I truly did want to ask someone, it wasn't going to be Ian, but he'll do. And this way I don't have to embarrass myself.

"Oh." He paused for a second. "Is that what you wanted to ask me?" he sounded sad, like I had just kicked his puppy.

I nodded but then remembered that he couldn't see me so I gave a lame excuse. "Um, yeah. I'm no good at this. But I had time, so you know."

"No. I think you were going to ask me out on a date but were too much of a chicken." His tone was teasing but his words were true.

"I'm not a chicken! And I wasn't going to ask you out!" I was frantic and nervous. Damn him.

"You totally are. And your blushing." I looked around. How could he possibly know that? I saw him walking over with two cups of coffee and his phone tucked under his chin. "Told you." Why did I have to blush?

"And since your obviously not going to ask, then I am. Want to be my date to Karev's wedding?" he handed me a cup of coffee. It had no sugar or milk in it, just the way I liked it.

"Are you even invited?" I don't remember his name on the guest list. "And what are you doing here?" he smiled, his teeth were white and perfect, his lips were firm and full, kissable.

"Nope. And I'm here because I knew you would be" he paused and looked out at the woods, "and Meredith grey needed help lifting and we've become friends kind of."

I lightly laughed and smiled, he made me smile. "Well to answer your question, yes I will… be your date to the wedding. And I'm not a chicken." He got up and walked away.

I heard him laugh and yell "yes you are!"

Today was Alex's wedding and I needed a change.

"How short?" the woman behind me had blue highlights and bleach blonde hair, her eyebrow was pierced in two places and her nose had a ring in it.

"Chin length." She nodded and the scissors started cutting. I watched my hair fall and gather on the floor.

When she was done, I nearly didn't recognize myself when I looked into the mirror in front of me. But I liked it. It was new. A change, I desperately needed.

I paid the woman and left the hairdressers. Ian was waiting outside for me, he was leaning against the door to his Audi, soaking up the rare sun of Seattle. He was wearing jeans, a pale grey t-shirt and sunglasses.

"I like it." He ruffled my hair and I swatted his hand away.

We drove back to Mer's and I went to where Mer was getting changed into her dark red dress, it had only one strap and went to just above the knees. We had to wear the same dress as Alex's grooms women.

"Your hair-"she looked shell shocked, not once in the time that we had known each other had I ever cut my hair. "It's so different…" she touched it softly.

"I needed a change." I shrugged my shoulders, she twirled my hair and tucked it behind my ears.

"Well it looks great." She smiled and I smiled back. Smiling used to be painful, now I just… smiled and there was no pain just happiness when I smiled, it wasn't fake or forced.

I got dressed into my identical red dress with help from Mer. I put on my red flats that matched, I didn't need heels anymore. I put on red lip-gloss and silver eye shadow, Mer fluffed up my hair and left it down.

Alex walked in, he was wearing a black tux and his bow tie wasn't tied. He looked happy but nervous.

"Alex you look…great." It wasn't often when I gave compliments but when I did everybody looks like they just died of shock. "Come here." I patted Meredith's bed and he sat down, he was still taller than me but his neck was in line with the top of my head. I tied the bow tie perfectly if I do say so myself.

"Nervous?" Mer asked, it was just us like old times. Minus Barbie and 007.

"A little… but no." he paused, "this is the best day of my life." He looked like he was about to become the happiest man in the world and he was.

Meredith and I pulled him in for a hug. Mer was on the floor on her knees and Alex's head was resting on my shoulder, we were all leaning on each other like it had always been. We stayed that for a till we heard the violins on the CD machine that I had downloaded started playing. Guests must be arriving.

Alex stood and sighed, he straightened out his jacket and walked towards the door. "Time to start the first day of the rest of my life."

We followed him out. People that I recognized from the hospital were sitting down and the minister was talking to Dereck. I saw Owen standing over by the bar talking to Callie and Bailey. He was wearing a navy blazer and a white button up shirt.

Ian was talking to Richard, he saw me and headed over he handed me a flute of grape coloured wine. Meredith looked at me questioningly and walked over to Dereck who kissed her cheek. I forgot that I hadn't told her about my date with Ian.

We chatted and joked around like we usually do and then he sat down in his chair in the front while I wheeled over to the empty space left for me. Alex was standing up there and everybody was sitting.

Everybody apart from me stood when Jo walked up to where the aisle started, the music changed and she walked down the aisle. Her dress was white and went to the knee's, around the waist was a bow and it had sleeves that stopped at the elbows. It was beautiful, she looked amazing. Her hair was piled onto the top of her head in a bun. The wedding went by fast. I looked to where Owen was sitting next to Arizona, our eyes met and I felt that spark that I always felt but it wasn't as strong as it used to be. I looked at the man sitting next to me. He was amazing and carefree. Exactly what I needed. He met my eyes and smiled his toothy grin, his hand moved over to where mine was resting, ours fingers intertwined and tingles shot up my arm. It felt right.

It was Jo's turn to say her vows. "I promise to make you laugh and I promise to make you happy. You make me feel alive. I give you my heart. I give you my soul and I give you our life together. You give me your heart and you give me your soul. You give me our life together. I promise always to love you. I promise always to cherish you. I promise always to be by your side. Our 2 lives will move through life together. Our 2 lives will be better together. Our 2 lives will be one forever."

The minister turned to Alex. "I love you. You are my best friend. Our love is so strong. I believe our love can do anything. So today I commit to give my life to you in marriage. You have taught me what it is to truly love something more than my own self. I commit to you that I will love you forever. I will give my life for you. And I promise to always protect your life with mine. I will celebrate with you in times of great happiness and I will not just stand by you, but carry you during times of life's greatest sorrows. I will cherish your health, but one day when it fades I will be with you in any sickness or weakness you face, from now until the day that I die. One day we will celebrate great riches, but even if those parish and we are left with nothing, I will always stand by you, and you will always be taken care of. I will never give up on our love. I prayed for you before I ever met you. You're the answer to every prayer I have ever prayed. You are the only one for me, and from this day fourth I will forsake all others and be bound only to you. I love you, and now I get to spend the rest of my life proving it to you." A lone tear rolled down my cheek and I saw tears gathered in Jo's eyes.

They said their 'I do's' and then when the minister allowed them to kiss they did so with so much fire, passion and love, that it restored my faith that maybe love was still an option for me.

Alex and Jo walked with hands locked together towards the car that would take them to their new future as a married couple, everybody cheered. I knew then that everything would be ok.

Change is a challenge. Change is a fear. Change is the change of mind. Change is a change of attitude. Change is a change of way of life. Change is the change of recognized. Change is the change of mysterious. Change is the change to solitude. Change is the change to perfection. Change is the change to unknown ethics. Change is the change to supremacy. Change is the change to divinity. A change to know the real self.

Things change. People change. Minds change. Love changes. Hearts change. Life is change.

A/N: most chapters will be in Cristina's POV from now on.