A/N: Please no grief on any medical mistakes on my part.
The entire ER unit was outside, awaiting the ambulances. Word had come in that there were eight accident victims on the way. Trauma surgeons lived for nights like these.
"And you thought that it was going to be a slow night," Josh told Owen. Head of trauma, Dr Rogers was also out there with them, as well as Gabby and nine other doctors. The unit was ready to spring into action.
The first ambulance came screaming around the corner. Gabby rushed to meet it, as the paramedic brought out the first victim. Owen caught sight of the blonde hair and the familiar face. The paramedic started, "Eileen Granderson, age 20, broken leg, broken arm and possible internal injuries."
Owen ran to the ambulance, "Eileen, was Cristina with you?" Eileen's eyes focused to make out the face of Dr. Hunt.
"Dr. Hunt?" she asked.
"Yes, it's me. I know you're feeling terrible, Eileen, but you have to tell me. Was Cristina with you?" he asked, desperately.
"Yes," Eileen said, weakly. "She was sitting next to me."
"We've got to take her in, Owen," Gabby said, as she raced her patient into the ER.
Another ambulance came screaming in, followed by another, and then another. He listened to the names of the patients, as the paramedics announced who they were. First, Josie Charles, age 21, Larissa Thompson, age 22, Melanie Jones, age 21, Kelly Iverson, age 22, Sharon Cole, age 21 and Jared Burrows, age 35.
"Where the hell was she?" Owen thought. He felt like screaming. The final ambulance screeched around the corner. He ran to it as the paramedic brought out the gurney. "Cristina Yang, age 19, head trauma, possible broken bones and internal injuries."
Owen rushed to Cristina's side, "Baby, baby, it's me."
The paramedic looked at him, "She has been unconscious since they pulled her out of the vehicle. She was the last one that they got out."
Rogers looked across and observed Owen's extremely concerned face. This was no ordinary patient, he gathered.
"Hunt, who is this girl to you?" he asked.
"She's my girlfriend," Owen admitted.
"Then back off. I will take care of her. Do your job and go see about one of the other patients," Rogers ordered him.
"Please…." Owen started.
"You know the rules. You cannot work on someone, who is a family member or a significant other. Do your job, Hunt. There are seven other victims you can help. Trust me, I will take good care of her," Rogers said.
Owen let go of the gurney as Rogers and the paramedic wheeled Cristina into the ER. He ran to check on the other victims. Larissa seemed to be the worst off, since she got the full brunt of the impact on the driver's side. In fact, the two other girls, Kelly and Sharon who were also on the driver's side in the back seats were also in bad shape.
The driver of the truck, Jared Burrows, seemed to be the only one doing well. Other than a deep cut on his forehead, his air bag saved him from any worse injuries. He was talking to the police and Owen heard him say that the white SUV, driven by the girls, had come out of nowhere and he couldn't swerve fast enough and had hit them, square on. He added that his lights were on green, so it appeared that the SUV had broken the red light.
He joined Josh, who was working on Larissa, "They think alcohol was involved. So all of the girls will be tested. How is your girl?" Josh asked.
"Rogers is taking care of her. He won't let me anywhere near her," Owen sounded frustrated.
"Well, you know the rules. If Rogers is working on her, she is in good hands," Josh said. "Help me get this one to surgery. I think they're all going to surgery, tonight. Peters will be the attending on this one."
As they scrubbed in to the surgery, Owen could not help wondering about what was happening with Cristina. "Keep focused, Hunt," Josh advised. "This girl is our patient. Cristina is someone else's. We have to take care of what is right in front of us."
Larissa had numerous injuries and it took a team of doctors to take care of her needs. It was six hours before they got out of there. As soon as he scrubbed out, Owen ran to find what was going on with Cristina. The nurse told him that Cristina had undergone surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain, as well as she had two broken ribs from being crushed against the door. Other than that, she had no other injuries. He was relieved.
He ran to her room. She looked so tiny in her hospital bed. She had a bandage around her head. He touched her face and softly kissed her lips. He held her hand, "Thank God, you're still here."
He grabbed a chair and put it right next to her bed. He put his head on the bed, still holding her hand. Exhausted from working all night, he fell asleep.
Cristina opened her eyes. Her head ached. She remembered the previous night's events – the party, the accident and nothing after that. She took her hand and touched her head to feel the bandage. Alarmed, she realized they must have shaved off some of her hair to deal with her head injury. "I must look like a freak," she thought.
Someone was holding her hand. She looked down to see the familiar red hair of her boyfriend. She shook her hand to wake him up.
"Hey, baby," he said. "You're up. How are you feeling? Do you want anything?"
"Yeah, some water. My head hurts and my side aches," she said.
"Yeah, you have a head injury and two broken ribs," he said, as he poured some water for her.
"How's everyone?" she asked, fearing the worst. "Eileen?"
"They all went into surgery last night, some worse off than others. So far, they're all still here. Eileen is going to be alright. She has a couple of broken bones and internal injuries, but she is going to be fine," Owen said.
"Thanks," she said. "Aren't you going to ask me?"
"Ask you what?" he was puzzled.
"What we were doing in Boston at three in the morning," she said.
"Yeah but I know you're going to tell me, eventually. I don't want to push you. You told me you were going to a party. I didn't know the party was in the Boston area," he said.
Cristina decided that she might as well come clean. "It wasn't in Boston. It was in Cambridge, we went to a frat party at MIT," she said. "I didn't tell you because I knew you weren't going to be pleased."
"The police think drinking was involved in the accident. Were you all drinking at the party? You know you're under-aged," he said, hoping that it wasn't coming across as an admonishment.
"No, not me. But the other girls were," she said.
"Why did you go into a vehicle, when you knew the driver was drinking?" Owen said, sharply. "You could have been killed."
"I know. It was poor judgment on my part," she said. "I know never to do that again."
"Why didn't you call me?" he said. "I would have come for you."
"I know that," she said, ruefully. "If I had done that, I wouldn't be in the hospital, now."
"Ah, well. We can't change what has already happened," he said. "I am just glad you're going to be alright."
He continued, "Your doctor will probably come and check you today."
"You're not on my case?" she asked.
"No, I am not allowed. Even though we're not related, I can't be on your case because I am emotionally involved with you," he said.
"Hey, I am just going to my apartment to get a change of clothes and get something to eat and I will be right back," he said, as he kissed her. "I am so happy that you're here. I would have died if something happened to you."
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," she said.
He got up, grabbed his stuff from the locker room and drove his way home. He took a bath, grabbed some breakfast and fell asleep, watching the news on television. He was still tired, both emotionally and physically drained from the night's events. It was at least eight hours before he woke up.
"Oh my God, I told Cristina I would be right back, and here it is, already in the evening," he said. He changed his clothes, grabbed an apple and a pear out of the refrigerator, and headed out of his apartment.
He literally ran to Cristina's room. "Baby, I am so sorry. I fell asleep….." His voice trailed off, as he saw Jamie in Cristina's room.
"Hello, James," Owen said, offering his hand.
"Hi, Dr. Hunt," Jamie said, accepting Owen's handshake.
Owen, despite his attempt to be civil, felt a little bit peeved at Jamie. Irrationally, he blamed Jamie that Cristina was in the accident because he was pretty certain that it was Jamie who had invited the girls to the frat party.
"I heard about the accident on the news this morning and I came over, as soon as I could. It would have just killed me if anything had happened to Pumpkin," Jamie said.
Cristina said, "Yeah, Jamie has been with me for a lot of the day. I thought you said you were coming right back, Owen." She looked at him with hurt eyes.
"I am so sorry. I fell asleep and it seems I was very exhausted after last night. Forgive me," he said.
"It's okay. Jamie was here," she said. Another reason to resent Jamie, Owen thought.
"Did your doctor come and check you?" Owen asked.
"Yes, he did. He said I was doing remarkably well. Still have some pain from these broken ribs. Do I look like an idiot with this bandage on my head?" she asked.
"NO!" both Owen and Jamie said at the same time. They looked at each other.
At that moment, the room's three occupants were disturbed by a new visitor. A short Asian woman with impeccable hair, entered the room. "Cristina Yang, I had to cut short my attendance at a fundraising event today to take the redeye from LA to Boston because you managed to get yourself in an accident," she said.
Cristina whimpered, "Mother."
A/N: Please leave reviews. They are always appreciated.