Chapter 70: Naomi Comes to Dinner

September

In OR 2, Owen was attempting to repair a liver lac as Derek worked on a brain bleed. The patient had stumbled down some stairs and had been rushed to the ER. Earlier, Owen had been able to stabilize the patient before calling Derek down for a consult. The two surgeons found themselves working side-by-side as Owen coached his intern for the day, Paul Ness.

"This is nice," Derek observed, "We don't seem to operate together very often, Dr. Hunt."

"Yeah, it is," Owen grinned. As he leaned closer to the patient, Owen stated, "I'm having some trouble visualizing the area. Let's get some more suction in here please."

Ness began to respond, but Owen gently stopped him. Handing his surgical tools to the scrub nurse, Owen leaned closer to Paul and grasped his hand, showing him and explaining to him, "When you approach, you'll have far more control of the tool if you hold it at an angle like this. Give that a try and see how that's different from a more direct attempt. The suction can get away from you if you approach too directly. If that occurs, the patient can be harmed."

As Ness suctioned, he commented, "I see what you mean, Dr. Hunt. Thank you."

Owen nodded as he stroked the patient's liver, testing the repair and watching for bleeding. Then Owen explained to Ness, "Take a look at the repair. Let's walk through it together. What did you see?"

"You began with a midline incision and examined the area. The gallbladder showed no concerns. The liver lac was bleeding. The devitalized tissue was removed. You placed overlapping stitches on either side of the lac, then sutured the two sides together," Ness reported.

"Good. What type of needle is used for this process?" Owen tested.

"Round-bodied. You used a large one," Ness answered.

Owen continued challenging his protégé, "The stitches – what type was used, Dr. Ness?"

"Overlapping," Ness responded.

"Let me clarify," Owen added, "The suture style – was it a simple or running locked suture? A pulley? Some other type?"

"Oh, chromic mattress, Sir," Ness responded as he better understood Owen's question. Owen affirmed Ness' response with a nod.

"I'm ready to close, Shep," Owen shared as he began the outer sutures. "How's it going for you?"

"I'm nearly finished as well," Derek answered. "Want to go grab a beer after this?"

"I can't. Finley's got a soccer game and I promised I'd try to get there before it's over," Owen explained.

"Oh," Derek nodded. "Maybe we could connect soon, huh?"

"Sure. You… uh… you have something specific you want to talk about?" Owen asked as he began to stitch.

"I have an idea. I haven't spoken with Meredith about it yet, but I wanted to see if you and the boys wanted to join Bailey and me on a little adventure. Bailey wants to go camping and I thought it might be fun to set something up by the trailer. Amelia and Meredith could have some sort of girl's night either at your place or mine," Derek suggested.

"Sounds great," Owen replied then jested, "Camping just came up in a conversation with Oliver the other day. Our kids would have a blast."

Owen turned to Ness and asked, "Are you ready to throw a few stitches?"

"Yes, sir, absolutely," the intern eagerly stated.

"Start here, give yourself plenty of time. Dr. Shepherd has the patient open anyway…there's no hurry," Owen coached. As Paul placed a perfect stitch, Owen celebrated, "Excellent. Keep going."

The intern paused to glance up at his fellow interns, some of whom were clapping and others who were taunting. Derek interjected with encouragement, "Ignore the gallery. Your job is down here on the table. Stay focused."

Paul returned his focus to the patient as Owen nodded and commented, "Good. Nice technique." Then he asked, "Do you know how to tie off?"

"I do, sir, but I'm not sure if I'm ready," Ness admitted honestly.

Owen patted the intern's shoulder and suggested, "Then try it and I'll stop and redirect if necessary."

Slowly and carefully, Ness tied off the stitches. His technique was rough but correct.

"Nice," Owen observed. "Spend some time in the skills lab working on that. You have all the steps down, but you're ready to build on that and have a better flow. If you run into Dr. Karev or Dr. Grey, ask for their assistance. Their stitches and tie offs are museum worthy."

"That's because I taught them both," Derek boasted as Owen guffawed. Derek offered, "If you like, Ness, stay in here until I finish and we can close this area together."

"Thank you, Dr. Shepherd. That would be great," Ness proclaimed. "If that works for you, Dr. Hunt. Do you need me for anything further today?"

"No, stay here and learn the ancient secrets of tying off from Sensei Shepherd. I've got a soccer game to attend. Nice work today," Owen concluded with a firm nod and a grin.

"Sensei Shepherd…" Derek mused. "That has a nice ring to it."

After three days at St. Francis, even Owen was eager to move Bronwyn to another school. Mrs. Tonington was a wonderful principal and St. Francis was a great school; however, Amelia had been completely correct, St. Francis simply wasn't the right fit for Bronwyn.

When Amelia and Owen shared the news with Bronwyn, she was overjoyed. After being assured she could keep her cute school uniform and that the new school had fewer rules, Bronwyn was eager to check it out. She was overjoyed when she entered the brightly decorated classroom with various engaging stations throughout the room.

The teacher explained the contents of the classroom and provided an overview of the school day. Then she asked if Amelia or Bronwyn had any questions. With her elbows at her sides, her arms extended, and her palms up, Bronwyn inquired, "I seriously really need to know if it is ok to skip and dance in here, because sometimes I just need to do that."

The teacher, Miss Pam, laughed softly and replied, "Bronwyn, you can skip and dance, you can slither like a snake, and you can hop like a bunny in here. We want you to use your imagination."

Bronwyn nodded thoughtfully and admitted, "I'm not zackly sure what my mag-en-iz-ation is, but I like the rest of what you said."

Luckily, the new school was just down the road from St. Francis so the family's morning commute would barely be extended. Bronwyn began at the school the following Monday and returned home each day jubilant and full of enthusiasm. The old Bronwyn was back, and her buoyant passion had re-emerged. At the dinner table each night, Bronwyn would share stories of her day and compare her experiences to what she imagined had occurred at St. Francis. In her little heart, she felt sad for her brothers and all the rules they had to follow. Externally, Bronwyn seemed determined to convince the world that her new school was far superior to St. Francis.

Owen, Finley, and Naomi arrived at the Shepherd-Hunts after Finley's soccer match concluded. Clarisse, a single mom, had been delayed at work unexpectedly. She had called Amelia to ask if Naomi could stay with them until 7:30 that evening. Amelia, Lynne, Bronwyn, Oliver, and the babies had been eating for about ten minutes when Owen and the other kids arrived. Owen was still chuckling internally because he'd spotted Finley holding Naomi's pinky and ring finger while they were riding in the truck.

When he entered the house, Finley showed Naomi where the bathroom was and showed her where she could sit at the table before excusing himself to go change clothes. One wonderful rule Lynne had introduced was that the boys couldn't come to the table sweaty and in their sports outfits. Even if that meant, especially in Finley's case, that he was delayed 5-10 minutes to take a shower and then change, the aroma of the food was no longer overpowered by the scent of puberty.

Owen walked directly over to Amelia to kiss her and then greeted each of the kids and Lynne before he sat down. Lynne had already begun to tend to Naomi and encourage her to dish up a plate.

"Your brother and I shared a surgery today," Owen mentioned.

Bronwyn cleared her throat and interrupted, "Excuse me, Daddy, no surgery details at the table, 'member?"

Owen smiled, "No details, I promise. I was just telling Mommy that I worked with Uncle Derek today. He and I don't work together very often, so it was a nice surprise."

"Why don't you work with Uncle Derek very much?" Oliver asked Owen.

Owen considered the reason, eventually sharing, "Most of the time, my patients don't need brain surgery. That means I don't work with Mom or Uncle Derek very often."

Glancing back toward Amelia, Owen continued, "I had Ness on my service today. Have you worked with him?"

"First year?" Amelia clarified.

"Yeah. He's a little tentative but his knowledge is solid," Owen shared.

"I might have had him really early on last July when he was following Edwards. You'll have to point him out to me," Amelia responded.

"Derek was impressed enough to invite him to help close after I was done. I'm not sure I've ever seen Derek do that," Owen observed.

"Wow," Amelia answered with surprise, "Ness must be promising then."

Owen continued, "Oh, hey! Derek mentioned Bailey wants to go camping and he thought the boys and I might be interested in joining them."

"I like the gendered invitation," Amelia responded dryly, "because I have no interest in doing that and I'll bet Meredith doesn't either."

"Exactly," Owen laughed, "he thought maybe you could all do a girls night either here or at their place."

"Dad, that sounds super awesome," Oliver voiced. "I'm all for camping."

As Amelia finished a bite of salad, she nodded and then swallowed her food. "Naomi, have you ever been camping?"

"No, ma'am. My mom is like you – she doesn't like camping," Naomi answered in her little 12-year-old girl voice.

"Someday, I'll take Dr. Shepherd-Hunt, you, and your mom camping, and you'll all discover you love it," Owen teased as Naomi smiled politely in response.

Finley came bounding down the stairs with combed hair and wearing stain-free, wrinkle-free clothes. Lynne and Amelia shared knowing glances. Finley smiled and began to dish up some food. Naomi's eyes turned starry as she watched him sit down next to her and begin eating.

From the other end of the table, Owen asked, "Fin, do you want to go camping at Uncle Derek's with Bailey, Oliver, Uncle Derek, and me?"

Finley shrugged and responded, "Sure. When?"

"Soon. Maybe next weekend. We need to look at schedules," Owen explained.

Dinner concluded uneventfully. As the three adults gathered for their nearly daily pow wow to review schedules and details, the kids all went about their after-dinner chores. Bronwyn cleared the table and invited Naomi to help her. Oliver wiped the table down and put away leftovers. Finley usually did dishes, depending on his homework load. Since he had a guest over that night, Lynne placed her hand on Finley's forearm and promised, "I'll take care of the dishes tonight, Finley. Would you and Naomi mind cleaning the girls up and watching them in the other room for me?"

Finley went to the sink to wet a washcloth and shared Lynne's offer with Naomi. Shyly and very quietly, Naomi said to Finley, "I haven't been around babies much."

"I'll take care of them. Are you ok carrying one?" Finley asked with loving concern. Naomi nodded as she followed Finley over to the babies. "Come here, monkey," Finley instructed Ella as she popped another bite of banana in her mouth. He took off the high chair tray and asked Oliver to come take it. Naomi volunteered to take care of it and she met Oliver halfway between the table and sink.

Finley coached Naomi as he wiped off Ella's face, arms and hands, commenting, "She's normally not too messy. She likes to be clean. Sometimes she even fusses if there's food on her face while she's eating." Finley finished up with Ella and attempted to hand her to Naomi, who held out her hands eagerly and smiled at Ella. Ella, however, was not about to go to a stranger.

Amelia twisted around in her seat and explained, "I can take her for a minute. She's going through a phase where she only wants to be with people she knows."

"Ok," Naomi smiled sweetly, "I was afraid I did something wrong."

All three adults looked at Naomi and smiled as Owen reassured her, "Not at all. You did it all right, Ella's just fussing."

"Now this monkey," Finley began as he removed Gwen's tray, "is messier than all the rest of us kids combined. She likes to put food in her hair, on her face, and all over the place." Naomi giggled as she listened to Finley.

He continued, "Ok, Gwendolyn, what's in your hand?" The baby smiled and flirted with her brother who prompted her by extending his hand, "Can I have it?" Gwen shook her head no as she smiled at Finley.

"Gwen," Finley contested sweetly as he held each sound of her name.

Owen was eager to discuss some non-kid topics with Amelia and Lynne, and he kept waiting for Finley to finish with Gwen and join the other kids in the playroom. After speaking with some of the hospital staff, he learned about the daughter of a nurse, Sarah, who was going to nursing school part-time and was looking for a part-time job. He'd invited Sarah to join him for lunch the day prior and thought she'd fit in well with the chaotic Shepherd-Hunt home. He was eager to discuss the possibility of hiring Sarah with Amelia and Lynne.

He leaned over and nicely suggested, "It's ok, Finley. Let her have it. It's probably just a bite of food. Can you finish cleaning her up and take her in the playroom?"

"Dad, I don't think it is food, that's why I'm trying to get it," Finley explained.

"Oh, then you wash off her face and I'll take a look at her hand," Owen plotted.

Finley began distracting his sister by washing off her face playfully. Owen tickled and grabbed a hand that was holding tightly to two pieces of dog food.

"Gwendolyn Sarah, where in the world did you find those and how long have you been holding them?" Owen grumbled as he shook his head. Gwen laughed mightily as if she understood every word her father had just spoken. "Great catch, Finley. I'm glad you spotted these. She could have choked on them."

Finley unbuckled Gwen and suggested to Naomi, "She goes to everyone. You want to hold her, and I'll get my other sister?"

Naomi put her arms out and smiled at Gwen, saying, "Hi, Gwendolyn. I'm Naomi."

Gwendolyn willingly snuggled into Naomi and looked at her brother. "Fin-yee," she explained, using her name for Finley. Naomi giggled, which only encouraged Gwen to repeat herself.

The kids went into the playroom, where Oliver and Bronwyn were already hanging out. Bronwyn crawled over to Gwen and insisted, "You need to practice crawling tonight, baby sister." Then Bronwyn looked at Naomi and instructed, "Can you please set her on her tummy? Her leg doesn't work like our legs do so we have to help her learn to crawl and stand and stuff."

"Sure," Naomi replied as she set the baby down. Oliver came over and 'assisted' Bronwyn in her physical therapy efforts. Naomi sat on the couch next to Finley as he made faces at Ella. She asked him, "Why doesn't your sister's leg work well?"

"She has spina bifida. Do you know what that is?" Finley stated. Naomi shook her head, so Finley continued, "Our nerves and spinal cords are inside our spine. In babies with SB, a part of the cord pokes out and doesn't end up where it's supposed to be. So, while my mom was pregnant, the doctors at her hospital operated on Gwen to fix her spine and kept her inside my mom the whole time. Then awhile later, my mom had Ella and then she had Gwen two weeks later."

"So, her spine stuck out?" Naomi asked curiously.

Oliver, overhearing the conversation, went to the bookshelf and opened a particular book to a specific page. He sat on the other side of Naomi and explained, "See that picture? That's kind of what her SB was like. Then our Aunt Addie – she's a surgeon like everyone else we know – she poked all that stuff back inside Gwen's spine. Before the surgery, Gwen just had a bump over her spine bones. Now she just has a scar. You wanna see it?"

"Sure," Naomi replied.

Finley followed Naomi to the floor, making sure to stay as close to her as possible. Gwen was balancing on all fours and rocking back and forth slightly. Finley pulled her shirt up and pointed out the scar, "See, right there."

"It's cool looking. Does she hurt from it?" Naomi asked. Both Oliver and Finley shook their heads.

Finley celebrated with his siblings, "You guys, look how long she's been on all fours. That's really great." Then he turned to Naomi and explained, "In some kids, SB paralyzes them or can cause brain damage and other problems. Gwen was super lucky her bump was where it was. The only problem she has is that she doesn't feel anything from below this knee." Finley tapped on Gwen's lower leg and pointed out, "See, she doesn't even know I'm tapping on it. But she's still going to be able to walk when she gets older. Isn't that both weird and cool?"

"It is," Naomi answered with eyes of wonder.

Finley reached his hand over and subtly grasped Naomi's hand, suggesting, "Try it. Just tap or rub her leg. She won't react."

Ella, who was standing and holding on to the couch, called out, "Fin-yee. Fin-yee. Fin-yee. Fin-yee." Finley turned around and responded, "El-la, El-la." The baby laughed as her brother hugged her.

Finley picked up Ella and pointed at Oliver, "Who's that?"

"Ol-wee," Ella responded.

Prompting her again, Finley pointed at Gwendolyn and asked, "Who's that?"

Proud of her words, Ella shared, "Gw-en."

"And who's that?" Finley asked as he pointed at Bronwyn.

"Bonwyn," Ella announced.

Then Finley pointed at Naomi, "And who is that?" Ella lowered her brow, looked at Naomi and then looked at her brother, who prompted her, "That's Nai-Oh-Mi"

"Yeh-uh," Ella attempted lazily, still not impressed with this new person in her midst.

"That's what I'm calling you now," Finley declared as he smiled at Naomi.

Naomi, who had a quicker wit than first met the eye, answered, "Then I'll call you Fin-Yee."