Cristina wiped the tears away from her face and tried to compose herself before she stepped out on the back patio. Owen was there, sitting in a chair, with Kady on his lap. He was talking in a soft voice to her, pointing out the birds and squirrels in the back yard. Kady clapped her hands in glee. She enjoyed being with her daddy.
"Hey," Cristina said, quietly. Owen looked up at her with the warmest smile on his face. It almost broke her heart because of what she was going to tell him.
"How is Olivia?" he asked. "Is she doing better? Did you get a chance to talk to her?"
Cristina shook her head. Her heart was very heavy as she spoke. "I didn't speak to her but I listened to her conversation with Noel. " She came and sat next to him.
"It was the most heartbreaking conversation ever. Olivia is in great pain. She is still grieving for Peter. Your entry into our lives has not been easy for her," she continued.
"I can understand that," Owen said. A sense of dread began to fill him. He waited with bated breath for Cristina's next words. She looked at him and he could see the pain in her eyes.
"No, no, no!" he said, immediately. He knew what she was going to say. "We just found each other, again. No."
"We have to," she said, softly. "For the sake of Olivia. She needs more time to accept something like this. I think we should take a break."
"No," Owen repeated. "You can't do this. Please don't do this. We can work this out."
The tears were streaming down Cristina's face. "Peter and I had made a pact when we first got married that the welfare and the needs of the children would always come first. I have to think about her. My daughter is in pain."
They both sat there in silence. Owen gave Kady to Cristina and he stood up. He was both angry and very hurt at the same time.
"So I have no say in this," he said, looking down at her. He started walking away from her but he turned around to take one last look at her. "You know if I walk out of this house, there is a possibility I may never come back."
She nodded. "If that is your choice," she said, softly.
As he walked away, he could not help the bitter tears that were filling his eyes. He was so hurt. How could she just throw away their relationship? He knew the intense pain he was feeling was because he loved her.
It had been two months since he walked out of the Kennedy house. It had been a difficult two months for him. He had been filled with so much hurt, pain, anger and bitterness. His emotions were different, depending on the day. He missed Cristina so badly and he missed seeing Kady's beautiful little face. He tried to get on with his work. He took on extra shifts, so that he could fill his day and not think about her. But it was difficult when he tried to sleep; all he could do was dream about her and making love to her. They had only made love that one day when they had come back from the lake in his house. He couldn't fathom that it would be the only time they would ever have together. The dreams would be so beautiful but when he woke up, he would be reminded them that they were not real and that he was alone.
After one such dream, he woke up, trying to reach for her but there was no one there on the other side of the bed.
"You can't carry on like this, Owen. You have to move on," he said, aloud. "Cristina did not choose you. You have to accept that." With greater resolve, he decided he was going to make an effort. There was a new dermatologist on staff. Her name was Roxanne Reynolds. She was a tall, attractive brunette with flawless skin. He would expect that her skin was flawless, given that she was a dermatologist and would know all of the tricks of the trade to keep her skin glowing and unblemished.
He had seen her several times in the cafeteria and other than the superficial small talk, they really hadn't had a conversation. He found out that she was divorced with no children. That was similar to his own situation. He took a deep breath before he approached her in the cafeteria and asked if he could join her. They had a pleasant conversation and by the end of lunch, he had asked her out. She had readily said yes to his invitation. As he walked away from the table, he had mixed emotions. He still wanted Cristina but she had wounded him so much.
"You have to move on," he reminded himself. "Cristina doesn't want you."
It was the day of his date with Roxanne. She had come down to the ER to see him.
"Hey, Owen," she said. "Still on for tonight?"
"Yes," he said. "Made reservations at Luigi's. You do like Italian?" He cocked his head to one side, which Roxanne found to be quite adorable.
"Yes, I adore Italian," she said. "Luigi's is a great place. I guess I will meet you there around 7 p.m."
"Yes," he said. "I will be there at 7 p.m." He watched as she walked away and took the elevator. He sighed. She was an attractive woman but she was not the woman he wanted. Roxanne looked around and gave him a smile and a wave. He smiled back. He needed to try.
Later, he was treating a patient, who had been stung by several bees. The man's face was swollen. Apparently, he was an amateur beekeeper – the emphasis being on "amateur." After giving the man a few shots, Owen heard a familiar voice calling his name. The person sounded frantic and desperate.
"Where is Dr Hunt? Please get me Dr Hunt," the person said. Owen knew who it was. He stepped out from behind the curtain.
"Olivia?" he said. Olivia turned around as Owen said her name. Then, he saw her. Kady was in Olivia's arms. All Owen could see was the blood on Kady's face.
"Oh my God! Kady!" he shouted, as he rushed forward to take Kady in his arms. "What happened, Olivia?" He took Kady to the nearest bed.
"Daddy?" Kady said in a plaintive wail.
"Yes, it is me, baby," Owen said, as he gently laid her down on the bed. He started examining the wound. It looked like a dog bite.
"What happened?" Owen asked. "This seems to be a dog bite."
"It is," Olivia said, her voice shaky with fear. "We were in the park – me, Sam and Kady. Kady was playing. Then she saw this dog. Kady loves dogs. So before we could stop her, she rushed up to the dog to hug it. The dog was startled and bit her in retaliation. We rushed her here as soon as possible. Please help her."
Owen examined the bite, closely. "We need to clean this wound up. She definitely will need some shots. We don't know the dog's history so we are going to take every precaution. Plus it definitely looks like she is going to need some stitches."
"Oh, no!" Olivia said, as she burst into tears. Owen needed to concentrate on Kady so he wanted Olivia to go outside in the waiting room.
"Is Sam out there?" Owen asked. Olivia nodded. "Well, go out there and wait with Sam. I need to start working on Kady." Olivia reluctantly left the room.
"Daddy," Kady said. staring up at Owen.
"I am going to take good care of you," Owen said, as he started cleaning the wound and the blood off her face. "You are such a brave girl."
As he cleaned the wound, he stared at the jagged tear on her face. He knew he could stitch it up himself. He had done this, hundreds of times. But this was Kady – his beautiful, little Kady. He told the nurse to call Dr. Mitchell.
"The head of plastics?" the nurse asked in surprise.
"I gave you an order, now please do it," Owen said, sternly. The nurse nodded and headed out of the exam room area to call Dr. Mitchell. In the meantime, Owen gave Kady her first set of shots. She cried and he comforted her.
Dr. Mitchell came down, 10 minutes later. "Hunt, you have a patient for me?" The man looked at Kady on the bed.
"Yes, she was bitten on her face by a dog," Owen said. "I need you to stitch her up."
"What, Hunt? I know you can handle this. Why call me for this?" Mitchell asked.
"I want there to be as minimal scarring as possible. That's why I called you," Owen said. "Please, Brian."
"Daddy," Kady said, again. Owen rushed to her side.
"I am here, baby. I am not going anywhere," he said.
"Good God, Owen. Why didn't you say that it was your kid?" Mitchell said. He came forward to examine the wound.
"Yes, she does need stitches. She is a beautiful, little girl," he noted. "Okay, minimal scarring. After it heals, she will look like she almost never was injured." Kady was sedated and Mitchell got to work on repairing the wound. Owen held Kady's hand throughout the whole procedure, saying that she was the bravest, little girl in the whole world.
When it was over, Owen left Kady to talk to Olivia and Sam. They both jumped up, immediately.
"Is she alright?" Olivia asked.
"Yes," Owen said. "She is a little bit sedated, now because we had to give her stitches. When she wakes up, you can take her home. She will need some rest and you have to ensure that she does not touch the wound." He handed her an instruction sheet about taking care of Kady's injury.
"Thank you so much," Olivia said. She started crying, again but this time, they were tears of relief. He patted her on her back and then, he started to walk away, when Olivia called him back. He turned around when he heard her next words.
"She misses you, Dr Hunt. Very much. She is miserable without you. She cries at night, when she thinks that no one is awake but I hear her," Olivia said, softly. He knew she was talking about Cristina.
Olivia continued, "I know it is all my fault. I know I have been selfish about the whole situation. Cristina is very unhappy and I know I am to blame. She stopped seeing you, when I couldn't accept the fact that she was dating.
"I miss my dad, so much. It is like an ache in my heart. But my hostility towards you wasn't really aimed at you. Well, yes, maybe it was but it would have been anybody that Cristina dated. It wasn't you, in particular. I didn't want her to move on because it seemed that everyone was forgetting my dad. Cristina, Noel, especially Kady, who doesn't even have a clue that she had a dad.
"So when I heard her call you daddy, I just went ballistic. It isn't your fault, Dr. Hunt. You have been good to my family. You helped save Dad, when he was in the accident. You took care of Noel, when he had that concussion. And now you are helping Kady. I am so grateful. If Cristina were here, she would be grateful, too. You are a good man, Dr. Hunt and I wish to apologize for my terrible behavior."
Owen nodded. He knew that it took a lot out of Olivia to apologize. "Where is your step-mom? I thought you would have called her."
"Um, Cristina is out of town. She is doing a lecture at another university. I will tell her about Kady after she is done. I don't want to interrupt her, now," Olivia said. "Especially since Kady is doing alright."
"Okay," Owen said. "I have instructed the nurse to release Kady when she wakes up. Just to make sure that she is okay. As for the other thing, I accept your apology. I have to go check on another patient."
As he walked away, he heard Olivia yell after him, "You can call her, you know."
Owen closed his eyes.
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate them.