Chapter 89: The Waiting Game

Owen faded in and out of sleep as the pain medications worked their magic. April, while willing to assist with nearby patients, refused to leave his side. As he awoke and struggled to barely open his eyes, Owen asked weakly, "Mia. Has someone called her?"

April placed her hand gently on Owen's left arm, "I'm not sure, but I can try to find out. We are on our way to Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti. Someone told me we can call home when we arrive."

"Djibouti…that's a Role 2. Trauma treatment before moving to further care," Owen recalled. "Have I been stable? Tell me my injuries."

"I don't want you worrying about details, Owen," Kepner offered softly as she shook her head.

Owen's heavy eyelids blinked slowly, and he began to open his mouth with a response. He closed his mouth and took some deep breaths. He tried to speak again but yawned as soon as his mouth opened. April observed each movement and effort, looking for signs of Owen's condition. She grinned at him as she watched him. Finally, in broken words, Owen declared with both seriousness and humor, "Still…boss…April."

Smiling and giggling softly, April raised her eyebrows and moved her chin toward her shoulder. "You're still my boss?"

"Yeah," Owen groaned.

"You're right, Chief, you are," April agreed as she accepted that Owen would continue to gather all his energy to ask about his status until she disclosed it to him. "You drive a hard bargain, mister," she kidded. Continuing, April explained, "You were thrown to the ground – do you remember that?"

Owen closed his eyes and nodded his head, "Hard. Hit my head hard."

"That's correct," April affirmed. "The soldier kicked you up and down your body when you ordered them to step away from Risa."

"Yeah," Owen recalled.

"You remember that?" April asked as Owen nodded. "I'm sure it was painful." Her brown eyes softened as her eyes glistened with tears. Stroking his shaved head, April grimaced before continuing. "It all happened so fast. At some point, you were shot 3 times. They hit your knee, upper leg and stomach muscles."

"Missed the ab wall, huh?" Owen attempted to smirk. "Lucky me."

April gently smiled and added, "Your knee appears to be in pretty bad shape. I can't tell if you a have broken femur. I'm guessing you do. There, now I told you about your injuries. Your turn."

"Huh? What?" Owen asked.

"Sleep," Kepner ordered firmly. "We'll be landing soon. Sleep so you can call Amelia when we get there." Owen complied because he was motivated by the promise of calling Mia and also because he was unable to stay awake anyway.

As they prepared to descend, the medevac doctors explained to April that ambulances would meet the plane at the aft door. When the C-130 landed, the patients in more serious condition would be off loaded first. Owen was at the bottom of the critical patients since he was medicated and stable.

When soldiers came to transport Owen, the medevac doctor ordered, "This is Dr. Kepner. She stays with the major." The soldiers nodded. April smiled gently and thanked the doctor. As she walked alongside Owen's gurney, she smiled as she soaked in the late night, 80 degree, nearly ideal weather. Landing on an established base gave her an enormous sense of peace and safety.

As the soldiers loaded Owen into a waiting ambulance, they invited April to climb in and sit next to the EMT. April introduced herself and ran down what was known about Owen's case. By memory, she listed all of the medications he'd been given since the shooting.

The EMT explained, "The medevac doctor was in touch with the ground during the flight. He ordered an immediate x-ray, labs, and wound irrigation. As soon as he enters the doors of the hospital, they'll begin working on him."

"Great," April sighed. "Can he briefly call home before going through all that? He's anxious to hear his wife's voice," April whispered, knowing Owen would probably be uncomfortable with the way she described his needs and desires. She used the words hoping they would make a phone call home more likely.

"We have about 10 minutes until we arrive. He can call now using my phone. The hospital will arrange a more extensive call once he's undergone an initial evaluation and basic procedures," the EMT offered.

April leaned down and gently nudged Owen's shoulder, "Owen? You want to call Amelia?"

"Please," Owen begged without opening his eyes. He squeezed his lids closed and shared, "Meds not helping the pain as much now."

"I know. As soon as we get to the hospital, we'll remedy that," April promised. She provided Amelia's cell phone number to the EMT and he dialed it before handing the phone to April. Looking down, April noted it was 2430 which meant it was 10:30am in Seattle.

The phone barely rang once. "Dr. Shepherd-Hunt," Amelia answered anxiously.

"Dr. Shepherd-Hunt, it's Kepner. Owen's here next to me. He's groggy, but wants to speak with you," April explained. Amelia beamed as she received the call.

"Hey beautiful…" Owen flirted as his weak voice rallied enough to speak.

"Owen…" Amelia cried and smiled. "Thank God you're alive. I love hearing your voice."

"You're gonna be pissed," Owen teased.

"Yeah? Why?" Amelia questioned with a light tone.

"Went and got hurt. Sorry," Owen remarked. "But you should see the other guy," Owen quipped attempting to make light of the horrid situation.

"Owen," Amelia stated seriously, "Don't try to protect me. How are you really?"

"Bloody and shot. Sweaty and dirty. Guy threw me to the ground. Banged my head. He kicked me. I hurt, but we're safe now," Owen muttered. Amelia closed her eyes as she listened to his summary.

"I love you, Owen. I love you so much," Amelia proclaimed. "I'll see you soon – the Red Cross is flying me to Germany."

"I'm not there," Owen interrupted.

"You will be, O. They'll transport you there soon," Amelia explained with far more assurance of the timing than she truly felt.

The ambulance neared the hospital. April explained he could call again later but needed to hang up now. His final words for the call were predictable, "Mia, I love you. Gotta go, ok? Will call later."

Amelia grinned peacefully as she held the phone to her chest. "It was so wonderful to hear his voice," she mused aloud.

Jackson asked, "How'd he sound?"

"Groggy, tired, and a little weak. But he tried to joke a little, his spirits are high…or at least, he is," Amelia shared with sass. Jackson hugged her and told her how relieved he was. Sensing an opportunity to get some food into Amelia, he suggested they grab some lunch. Once they sat down, he thought, they could sketch out their travel plans.

As the EMTs transferred Owen to the doctors at Lemmonier, they introduced April. The doctors agreed to allow April to accompany Owen as he underwent testing, but they suggested she might feel more revived and engaged if she showered and changed. The idea of a true shower was unbelievable. April told Owen he was in good hands and that she would find him later. He quipped with a grin, "You're leaving me for water." A nurse showed April to a doctors' lounge and provided everything she'd need.

The doctors wheeled Owen into a room and explained that they were going to draw some blood and replace his IV with a new sterile one and that they would add pain medications to it. As soon as the pain meds took effect, a CNA would provide a bed bath. That sounded like Heaven to Owen who was still wearing his ripped clothes that were soaked in blood, sweat and dirt. Once he was cleaned up, they'd change out his dressings. The doctor noted how impressed he was with April's work. Owen grinned and admitted with coy pride, "She was my star student."

Fifteen minutes later, after the new pain meds were working their magic, a young nursing assistant came into Owen's room. "Hi Major Hunt, I'm Mary and I'm going to give you a bath. I understand you've had quite the day."

"That's an understatement," Owen grinned.

Mary smiled and asked, "Tell me where you are hurting so I can be especially careful in those areas."

"Right side from head to knee is a mess. I was shot in the leg and knee and on the left side of my abs. My head hit the floor hard," Owen explained.

Mary began at Owen's head and washed his hair, face, and neck gently. He closed his eyes and told himself to imagine he was at a spa. With each stroke of the washcloth, Owen felt as if another layer of the day's experience was being washed away. The doctor had asked Mary to note any lacs, bruising or injury as she washed. When Mary washed the right side of his head, she noted bruising. His neck was stiff, probably from reacting to all of his body's pain for so many hours. His upper right arm was bruised in two places and he was bruised from his ribs to hips. The already known gunshot injuries would be cleaned when the dressings were changed, but Mary noted Owen's extreme tenderness on his right leg. As she bathed him, Mary verbally followed Owen's conversational cues as he chatted away in faltering words. When Mary had finished shaving Owen's face, he felt like a new person. He thanked her profusely and offered her a job at Grey-Sloan. She giggled and promised she'd keep that in mind for the future.

April also felt like a new person after showering and putting on fresh clothes. She approached Owen's room just as Mary was leaving. The women introduced themselves and Mary commented to April, "Even in horrible pain, he's a pleasant man. I bet you enjoy working with him."

"I do," April grinned. "He's taught me so much over the years. Although, believe me, he has his rare days just like everyone else." April knocked on the door and let herself in. "Are you feeling like a new guy?" she asked him with her characteristic bubbly tone.

Owen reached his left hand up to his face and rubbed his eyebrow as he chuckled. "Now if we could just get me out of bed."

"That's going to be a while," April warned, unsure if he was joking or if the pain meds were making him feel like walking was a possibility.

"I know," Owen grumbled. "What's up first? Let's get this show moving."

April laughed and reminded Owen, "This isn't your ER, Chief. I think you're going to be working on other doctors' timelines for a while."

"Crap," Owen winked. "When can I call Amelia again?"

Pulling a chair up to his bedside, April admitted, "Nobody has told me any details on that. I'd like to call Jackson, too. Next time someone comes in here, I'll ask. Is there anything I can get you?"

"A cold beer," Owen smiled as he closed his eyes, "and my head is pounding. Can you turn off the overhead lights?"

As April stood up to adjust the lighting, Mary came in and summarized the plan the nurse had just shared with her. She smiled, "Major Hunt, it looks like you'll be stuck with me for the next few hours. Would you like to hear a run-down of your agenda?"

"Please," Owen answered before adding, "Kepner, Mary here is going to be our new Chief of CNAs at GSMH."

April smiled and laughed, "Give a guy a bath and he's forever grateful."

Smiling playfully, Mary offered the summary, "First, we're going to obtain a head CT. Then, we'll irrigate your wounds and change the dressings. After that, we'll get a number of x-rays. The doctors anticipate that your lab results will be in by then. The team will assess the situation and we'll go from there. Somewhere in all that, we need to feed you. Are you hungry?"

Owen shook his head. "CT then irrigation?" Owen asked. He looked at April, "Are they worried about a bleed or something?"

"You hit your head hard. Better to check and rule out, right?" April attempted to calmly answer. She was puzzled by the order of procedures as well.

"Mary, when can I call my family?" Owen asked.

"Depending on wait times, we might be able to do it between the dressings and x-rays. Otherwise, it will be after the x-rays. Dr. Kepner, if you would like to call home now, you can. The staff at the station just around the corner can set you up." April smiled and excused herself, assuring Owen that she'd stay posted on his status.