"Jack?" said Ianto suddenly as he saw him running down the corridor towards them.
Owen looked up from the pieces of broken plastic in his hands. "She broke it, she fucking broke it!" he cursed.
"Ianto" Jack announced ignoring Owen, and waited for him to explain.
"Long version or short?" he asked.
"Short" said Jack.
"Even if the power did supposedly fail on its own, which I highly doubt as there are systems in place to stop a body defrosting, Gray couldn't have got out on his own" he repeated wearily. "Didn't any of you question why he was the only one who seemed to escape?" Ianto asked sceptically.
"We were busy" Jack said pathetically. "Owen was back-"
"Yeah that's right, blame it on the dead guy" Owen cut in. "Maybe…if you hadn't abandoned the Hub in the first place, I would have caught up with you sooner" he said bitterly.
"It was your choice to stay away Owen" Jack reminded him sharply, and turned his attention back to Ianto. "Ok, I was…distracted" he admitted sheepishly.
"By Gwen" Ianto filled in slowly, in comprehension.
"I know this is my fault" Jack began, now avoiding Ianto's statement. "But it didn't seem like a priority at the time. Whoever helped Gray obviously isn't a threat anymore, otherwise something would have happened by now."
"But-"
"I'm not saying that it's not important" Jack cut in quickly. "But my main concern right now is to look after Gwen."
Faintly, coming from the room behind him, Owen heard a sound that would be meaningless to anyone other than a doctor or nurse. The monitors were picking up. In the gaping silence, he stood up and walked into the other room. Rhys was waking up.
Finally he thought, and walked back out to meet the others. "Jack" he said. "Just remind me, what's your take on what happened?"
Jack examined him cautiously before he spoke, wondering where he was taking this. "Rhys attacked Gwen and she fought back" he said surely.
"But that wasn't what Gwen told you, was it?"
"Well it wasn't hard to guess" said Jack.
"Ok…in that case, you should probably stay out here" Owen concluded. He went back into the room, knowing that he would follow anyway, and began making adjustments to the various medical equipment.
"Where am I?" Rhys asked groggily.
"You're in hospital mate" Owen replied lightly. "Stay calm, you're going to be fine."
"Owen!" Ianto hissed, at the ready by Jack's side. "He thinks you're dead!" he reminded him quietly.
Owen shrugged uncaringly. "I doubt he'll notice, Ianto" he said scornfully. And he was right, Rhys didn't notice. "Besides…if he does we can always just retcon him."
"Are you a doctor?" Rhys asked next.
"Doctor Owen Harper" he replied smugly.
"Owen!" Ianto shouted nervously.
"What happened?" asked Rhys to Ianto's surprise.
"See, told ya" said Owen arrogantly and turned back to Rhys. "You hit your head."
"Oh" was all he managed to say.
"This is wrong" said Jack, concerned. "Why hasn't he asked about Gwen?"
This seemed to worry Owen as well. "Can you tell me your name please sir?" he asked Rhys politely.
"Rhys Williams" he answered promptly.
"Wife's name" Jack cut in urgently.
Rhys looked at him blankly. "Arr, sorry, I don't have a wife."
The three of them stared at him with a shared expression of shock and fear. It was Owen who eventually broke the silence. "Girlfriend's name then" he asked, still hopeful.
"Sorry, no girlfriend either" Rhys said apologetically, although he had no idea why it would matter to them.
"Fuck" Owen muttered quietly under his breath.
At that moment, three nurses swiftly pushed there way into the room, including the one that had broken Owen's comm, and ordered them out while they went about making their own adjustments. They left quietly and collapsed miserably in the chairs outside the room.
"So…do we tell Gwen?" Ianto asked first.
Jack and Owen turned to glare at him.
"Well we can't hide it from her" he said defensively.
"She thinks he's unconscious. Let her just think that for now" said Jack. "Do you think it will come back to him?" he asked Owen.
"It's always a possibility" he sighed. "It could be tomorrow…or it could be in two years time. I won't know if it's temporary or permanent until I see the x-rays though" said Owen.
"Permanent?" asked Ianto in disbelief.
"It's not unheard of you know" Owen replied. "But amnesia…it can come and go" he said in reminiscence. "This is really shit."
"Yep" said Ianto.
The hospital clerk, who had been watching them carefully for some time now, got up from her desk and walked over to them warily. She did not hesitate however, despite the nervous expression on her face. "Bad news?" she asked, more scared of the reply rather than out of concern.
"You could say that yeah" said Owen obliviously, unaware of the beautiful receptionist that now stood before him.
She sighed overtly, showing too much interest for Jack's liking.
"How bad?" she asked again.
"Amnesia" answered Owen unwillingly.
"Do you know him?" Jack finally asked.
"No, no" she replied quickly. "His wife just rang to check if he was awake yet. I guess I should call her back and warn-"
"No!" Jack, Owen and Ianto shouted simultaneously.
"What did you tell her?" Jack demanded.
"I just said that he was awake" she said defensively.
"Is she coming here?" Jack asked next.
"I'm surprised that she didn't come sooner" she said disapprovingly.
"Great" muttered Owen as the clerk went back to her desk.
"I should have expected that" said Jack frustrated. "She must have known we would have never told her the truth, especially now."
"John's with her though, right?" asked Ianto.
"That just means she'll be here sooner" said Jack. "I promised her she could come as soon as he woke up. And now that she knows for sure that he has…" he trailed off.
"Can't you call John?" asked Ianto.
"Nope" said Jack looking straight ahead.
"Why not?" Owen demanded.
"Because they're already here…"