TEN

The whole situation unsettled Cristina. While there was fun in the joking, underneath she was annoyed.

How difficult was it to just go out with someone, be their girlfriend, let them be your boyfriend. All joking and drama and great sex aside, all she really wanted was to work and be with Owen. She fingered the engagement ring around her neck and wondered what getting married to him really meant. Sure it was commitment, but it was her future, and as independent as she was, she wanted to share her future with Owen. He was fun to be around, he was a great lover, he loved her unconditionally and he was brilliant and smart. There was just something about Owen Hunt that made her want to stick by him. She couldn't explain it to anyone who asked. She just liked, loved, wanted to be around him.

Not that she really cared what her friends thought about her, but she cared what they thought about him. She protectively didn't want anyone to hate him, or worse, be scared of him. Callie's rant to her at Joes had been on her mind a bit. She didn't like to think of anyone hating Owen or being scared of him. Owen would pull off his right arm before he hurt her on purpose. She thought Callie liked Owen. She wanted Meredith to like him. But then didn't care if either didn't. But then she did. It was complicated.

Owen was making efforts to please all round. Always being polite to Meredith, taking her on dates and things. Keeping Callie's apartment clean, cooking, filling the fridge with food. A year of wonderful-ish harmony amongst her friends and the reset button had been pressed because Owen thought he wanted to break up with her, but got engaged to her instead. What was so bad about moving forwards in her life? She yawned, and pushed her feet and into the back of Owens legs and snuggled the back of her body up to him as he slept. Wondering why it mattered to her, what her friends thought about her life, she fell asleep.

*

In the early hours of that night, a long while past midnight, one of Cristina's heels connected with the back of one of Owen's shins and he shifted instinctively, drawing his leg away from her. When her heel jabbed at him again, Owen grunted and shifted forward still in sleep. It was a long while past midnight. Owen was sleeping on his side and Cristina lay sprawled on her back taking up most of the bed. The flat side of her palm pushed at the side of his body. Owen opened his eyes and turned his face toward her and felt the back of her hand come up and hit him in the face. "Hey!" He rolled away from her. Her heel jabbed again at his body. Owen sat up and flicked the bedside lamp on. She was still asleep; he leant over to shake her. "Cristina."

She lashed out at his touch, dislodging his grip a moment. He held on tighter and called her again, this time louder. Her hand pushed out and the heel of her palm jutted him on the jaw. Pushing her feet rapidly into the bed Cristina made like she was trying to move, she swung her body wildly and kicked out awkwardly. Owen got to his feet to get out of the way. He stood watching her momentarily confused, should he restrain her, try again to wake her. What?

When Cristina began to gasp and wheeze sucking in air, clutching at her throat, Owen went into doctor mode and sprang to her side. At his touch her gasp intensified, as did her actions, she clawed, grabbed, wheezed, lashed out and kicked her feet wildly. The bed covers went flying off the bed. Owen scrambled backward. He swallowed and looked round him, every time he touched her, her hands made frantic pushes at his body. She was reliving the choking.

There was a light on outside their bedroom that meant Callie was still up.

"Callie!" He called out. "Callie, get in here!"

Owen reached back down to Cristina and tried to wake her, she was going to hurt herself. Her hands scratched at her neck, when his palm applied pressure to her shoulder, she pushed at and slapped his face, her fingernails trying to scrape at his skin. Her eyes were clamped closed and she fought him, but he held on, calling, trying to slap her face, not hard but to jolt her awake. The scorching intakes of breaths she took made Owen feel light headed. She was trying to say his name.

"Callie, I need your help! Callie!"

This was nothing like being a doctor in control and watching or helping someone through a seizure. This was his girlfriend, and the last time he was over her, holding her down like this, he was choking her, hurting her, squeezing the life out of her. He called out fretfully. Cristina's whole body struggled.

Callie's shadow finally appeared as she pushed open the bedroom door knocking. "Hello hello..." She was wearing her night sweats and her hair was bundled into a messy ponytail. The look on her face when she saw Owen paused over Cristina's body would have made him sad if he had the time to process it, but he didn't. "Get in here!" Owen called to her.

Callie didn't move, she looked at Owen but didn't, couldn't move.

"She's having a nightmare!" Owen cried out. "I don't know what else to do... She's not waking up." He looked and felt helpless; every time he approached Cristina she attacked him. "Can you help me?"

The look on Callie's face told him she couldn't; she was confused, scared, wary.

"Callie!" Owen ordered.

Just then her shoulder was twisted roughly into the bedroom as Arizona barged her out of the way to get to the bed. She grabbed at Owen roughly. "Move!" She knelt onto the bed, reaching out for Cristina and shook at her shoulders firmly. "Cristina!" Arizona was focussed on pulling Cristina out of her sleep. "Cristina! Wake up. You're having a dream. Come on. Wake up!" Arizona slapped at Cristina's cheeks firmly with the front and back of her hand and called out to her, holding on and tolerating the lashes Cristina gave out. Eventually Cristina stopped fighting and her eyes opened. Her breathing was heavy and she coughed, gasped and tried to focus.

"That was a bad one." Arizona looked over at Owen.

Cristina tried to access the situation but there was no rational explanation why she should be lying in her bedroom naked with Arizona kneeling over her, with Owen and Callie hovering in the corner with the same look on their face. Callie in her night sweats and top, and Owen naked, except for a cloth something, he held at his front.

"You're touching me." her eyes lazered in on Arizona's hands holding her body. Arizona let go as Cristina struggled to her elbows looking for something to cover herself with. Arizona pulled the bed clothes from the floor and heaped them over Cristina's body and went to stand by Callie. She soothed her arm. "You alright?" Callie barely nodded.

Owen walked over to the bed and sat down next to Cristina. "This must have been your worst orgy," She said. He placed a careful hand on the side of her face and hair. The concern in his eyes caused her to give a little cough, to hold back a lump that was creeping up the back of her throat. "What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare." Said Arizona. Cristina moved her eyes back to Arizona, who was trying to cover her front suddenly aware that was wearing a night shorts and a see through tank top. Her eyes were gentle, concerned. Arizona turned to look at Callie. Callie couldn't move, she felt weak and genuinely sick to her stomach.

Owens head pounded and he unconsciously ground his teeth. When he had choked Cristina, he had no memory of it. Tonight he was conscious and could see the affect being choked had on her. The vision of her kicking and clawing and writhing and hitting at him caught in her nightmare made him want to run. Made him nauseous. No wonder she had to have therapy. No wonder she wanted them to finish. No wonder Meredith hated him.

"It's okay." Arizona was saying to Cristina, to Callie, to Owen, to herself. A hand on Callie's arm, she trailed it down and round to Callie's back and pushed her gently out of the bedroom, mouthing, "Let's go," and they left, not quite closing the door behind them.

"I have no idea what happened." Cristina said quietly lying back on the bed. It was in part to settle Owen but she realised as soon as she had said it, it was the worst thing she could've said. Owen didn't want to get back into the bed with her. Something stopped him from getting under the covers. How could she not notice, but she didn't say anything, just snuggled up to him, needing comfort.

*

Toward the end of the next day Callie leant against the nurses' station on the main floor distracted by the notes she was making. She didn't see Cristina walk up, hands pushed into her lab coat for comfort. Cristina had been looking for Callie, she stared purposefully at her roommate and asked; "Do you want me to move out?"

Callie looked at her. "No. Why?"

Cristina was silent, but Callie wasn't about to interject and make completing the sentence less painful, so Cristina continued. "Because of all the...drama..."

"No." Callie responded. "Do you want to move out?"

"No."

"Well then." Callie went back to her notes.

Cristina bounced on the balls of her feet a moment and then swung slowly on her heels to move off.

"Why didn't you tell me you and Owen were engaged?" Callie said still concentrating on her writing.

"What?"

"You're not just my roommate, you know..." Callie something in her voice. "You're my friend... Owen practically lives at our place. I've seen his ass more times than I've seen Arizona's. Why wouldn't you tell me...?" She looked up from her notes for a second and noting Cristina's face was marked with confusion, Callie went back to her writing. "Never mind."

Cristina hands in pockets was processing Callie's comments. "I'm sorry." Was all she said.

Callie didn't look up, didn't say anything, but kept writing. Cristina turned on her heels and walked away back down the hall.