Chapter 17: Back to Work
Mid-April
Much to his surprise, Owen had convinced Callie to give him the green light to begin working part time. Three months to the day of his shooting, he returned to the hospital. Owen was full of joy – energy and enthusiasm poured from his presence.
Callie had been clear that Owen could try part-time work for a week. Then, together, the two would reassess the arrangement. Her rules were clear and firm, and a copies were provided to Webber as Acting Chief of Surgery, Kepner as hall monitor, Amelia as wifely oversight, and Owen as patient. Just to be crystal clear, Callie left an additional copy at the ER desk and another copy in Owen's inbox:
No running. Period. No running from the ambulance bay to a treatment room. No running from the ER to the elevator to the OR. No running from anywhere in the hospital to anywhere else.
No leading the transfer from gurney to bed. Count to 3 all you want, but you're not lifting patients nor leading their transfer from paramedic gurneys to the ER tables.
Shifts cannot exceed eight hours and must include a 45 minute, off the ER floor, break. Half of the time on the floor should be spent sitting (e.g., on a rolling stool as you're treating a patient, at the ER desk, etc.).
Like it or not, you must use a cane or crutches to walk. You're not going to be running anyway, so what's the issue?
At 6:45 am, Owen arrived at the hospital for his first eight-hour shift. He was due to report at 7:30. Changing into scrubs, putting on his lab coat for the first time in months and attaching his name badge gave him time to mentally shift from patient to doctor. He and his cane made their way down to the ER, which was quiet and calm. Three patients were present: someone needing sutures, a baby with a possible ear infection, and a runner who had twisted his ankle and fallen.
"April," Owen announced with an upbeat tone, "good to see you."
"Chief!" April ran to hug Owen, nearly knocking him down. She backed up, smoothed out the collar on his lab coat and quickly apologized, "Sorry. I'm just so happy to see you. To see you walking and healthy and here and back and…well, everything. It's so great."
"What do you have for me, Kepner?" Owen asked flatly knowing that he'd spend hours in chit chat if he didn't keep her focused. Some habits die hard.
Giggling, April smiled and handed him an iPad with a partial work up saved, "Oh, right. I've got Edwards on sutures. Why don't you take the little one in Curtain 3? Mom can't soothe her; my guess is an ear infection."
Owen glanced down at the tablet and shrugged. Easy first case, he thought to himself. He walked over to the curtain, hearing the increasing volume of the screaming toddler's cries. "Good morning, I'm Dr. Hunt. Sounds like someone isn't feeling well. Would that be you Tina?" Owen began as he sat on a doctor's stool and pulled out his trusty pen light to distract the sweet but sad little girl. Her cries turned to sniffles and pouting as she explored the light.
"Can I take you home? Please? That's the calmest she's been since yesterday afternoon," the over-wrought, tired mother with her hair pulled into a messy ponytail begged.
Owen chuckled as he played with the little girl, trying to make friends as he examined her glands and listened to her heart, "I'm not sure how that would go over with my wife." He smiled and asked, "Hard night, huh?"
With tears of desperation and exhaustion gathering in her eyes, the Mother explained, "I've tried rocking her, walking with her, driving around, letting her cry it out, everything I can think of."
"I have kids at home. I get it," Owen smiled with empathy. "In fact," he explained as he gently brushed Tina's nose and chin, "I have twins about your age."
"Twins? Oh my," Tina's mother, Sonja Gleeson, moaned, unable to fathom how anyone could survive that plight. Tina reached out for Owen's stethoscope. When she couldn't reach it, she settled on grabbing his ear and pulling.
"Mrs. Gleeson, has Tina had a lingering cold?" Owen asked as he tried to get the little girl to imitate him and stick out her tongue so he could check her throat.
"It seems like she's had it all winter," Sonja commented.
"Mmm," Owen acknowledged. "Ok, Tina, this is the big moment. I'm going to look inside your ears. Can you shine the light at your mommy? Where's Mommy's purse? Shine the light there," Owen instructed hoping to distract the little girl from the ear check. The second he put the otoscope inside the first ear, Tina bellowed in pain and looked at Owen as if he were a traitor.
"Mom, would you prefer to hold her while I check the other ear? Or I can call in a nurse to help," Owen detailed. The mom held her daughter and Owen encouraged her to snuggle the toddler into her shoulder and gently hold her head. Quickly, Owen snuck a peak at the second ear. He snapped the disposable tip off the otoscope and sat back in his chair with a grimace. "Mrs. Gleeson, I'd like to order an x-ray of Tina's chest. I'm hearing crackling in her lungs which could indicate pneumonia. In the meantime, I'd like to relocate you to a side room that has a door and a lower bed. That will give you a chance to rest while Tina's at x-ray. How does that sound?"
"Ok," Sonja agreed. "Will the x-ray hurt? I know they don't normally, but she's so wiggly."
"The technician will have a brace and will strap her into it. It looks worse than it is, and the x-ray only takes seconds. She might not like the brace, but she won't be in pain," Owen explained. "She can keep the light," Owen concluded with a smirk. "Someone will be right in to help you change rooms and to get everything rolling."
Owen slid the stool beyond the curtain and saw a nurse. "Hannah, can I get your help over here?"
"Dr. Hunt! How wonderful to see you? Of course, I can help," Hannah replied.
"Let's get an x-ray of Tina's lungs and relocate them into Room 24 down the hall so Mom can rest," Owen shook his head, "and I completely neglected to finish the workup blanks. Can you get a temp and ask about allergies? Let me know when the film's back."
Owen and his cane hobbled over to the ER desk. There were no patients awaiting a doctor. "Kepner, what can I do?" Owen inquired.
"Let me explain what I have planned," April began. April being April, she had thoughtfully divided the Chief of Trauma Surgery tasks on a checklist. She would run the incoming ambulance patients and transports; Owen could work with the nurses on any walk ins. He'd keep the board updated and manage the treatment room usage and assignments, so that he could simultaneously work and be seated. She was more than happy to share traumas with Owen, but they'd have to play those situations by ear as they arose.
"You haven't changed, Kepner. Nice work," Owen nodded. After chatting with other ER staff that had just as little to do, a call came in explaining that MVA victims were on their way: a dad and his preschool aged son. The son appeared to be shaken up but stable. April asked Hunt to take that case while she tended the father.
As Owen and a nurse tried to calm the little boy down, April was desperately trying to pack the wounds the father sustained in the crash. She asked someone to go fetch Owen. He came in quickly and approached the table after being gowned and re-gloved.
"I can't get the bleeding to stop enough to identify the issues," April shared.
"Deep breath. Re-orient your approach. ABCs in check, right?" Owen steadied her.
"Yes," April confirmed as her hands moved in a frenzy along the patient's torso and legs.
"Good. Heart sounds fast but steady. BP is high but manageable. Move to the torso. What do you see?" Owen coached as he reached in and clamped a bleeder near the man's liver.
"Multiple bleeds," April observed.
"That's enough to get him up to the OR. Go scrub, I'll stay with him here until he is transported," Owen instructed. Working quickly, Owen clamped a few other areas and replaced saturated towels. He explained to Edwards what she would need to do as she transported him to the OR and ordered Edwards to scrub in and assist.
Within seconds, the room was quiet, and Owen was left standing alone. He took a deep breath, pulled off his gown and gloves and returned to the son. "We have an ID on Dad – let's try to get a hold of Mom asap. Can you stay with the son until she arrives?" The nurse agreed as Owen hobbled over to the desk to assess any needs that had arisen since the MVA arrived.
Before long, his shift was over. He had resolved Tina's pneumonia and ear infection, then sent her home with scrips for antibiotics and numbing drops. April was in surgery with the MVA and the mom had arrived and was holding her son as she waited for news of her husband's surgery. Owen provided her with an update and headed home, feeling strange about leaving mid-day.
When he pulled into the garage, the dogs came bounding toward him with glee. The Enclave was in its spot, indicating that Amelia and the kids were home from school pick-ups. Owen patted the dogs and called for them to follow him inside. Knowing better than to compete with their enthusiasm, Owen opened the door and let the dogs burst through it first.
Owen walked to the kitchen counter, poured himself a tall glass of water and sorted through the mail. Bronwyn was sitting at the table alone, eating a snack. "Hey, Red, how was school?"
"School was good. We played with the color purple today. Purple snacks, purple paints, writing and spelling purple. It was a purply day," Bronwyn explained as she took another bite of her snack. With her mouth partially full, she asked, "Where were you today?"
"I went to the hospital to work in the ER," Owen explained as he sat across from his daughter and drank his water. He glanced down to see an array of peculiar foods on her plate: tomato slices with Nutella, some sort of juice in a cup, watermelon with ketchup, and a completely plain piece of white bread. He wondered about the white bread. It was not something he or Amelia ever purchased or even allowed the kids to eat.
"Did you…uh … help Mommy and make your own snack today?" Owen asked with curiosity. Behind him, Amelia approached with Gwen in her arms.
"Nope. Mommy hasn't made snack yet, but she said I could try her snack. She was eating it before she came to getted us," Bronwyn explained as she shoved the remaining slice of tomato with Nutella in her mouth. "This is super, amazing yumminess," Bronwyn smiled.
Owen pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, "Oh…"
"Hey, how was the ER?" Amelia offered as she handed Gwen off to Owen and kissed Owen on the cheek.
"Good. Steady but not swamped. Bad MVA – Kepner's still in surgery. A little kiddo with pneumonia and a double ear infection," Owen shrugged.
Owen teased, "Looks like you've… uh… been jotting down recipes from Food Network over here."
Chuckling, Amelia reached for the juice and took a drink before sharing it with Gwen. "Pear juice – left over from the can. Mmmm."
"Seriously?" Owen asked with a puzzled expression.
"Ever tried it?" Amelia grinned as she pulled her chin toward her shoulder. "Here…"
"No, thanks. Really. I'm good, Mia," Owen laughed. "Since when do you drink pear juice from the can?"
Amelia raised her shoulders and opened her eyes wide, "Just sounded good. The girls like it too." She stabbed a piece of watermelon with a fork and dipped it in ketchup, "You've gotta try this – I know it seems weird, but it is divine." By the end of her sentence, Amy had taken two more bites of the watermelon/ketchup combo.
"Where's the hidden camera?" Owen guffawed as he looked around in jest.
Shoving his shoulder playfully, Amelia grinned. "I'm not telling unless you try the watermelon." She held out a fork with a ketchuped chunk of watermelon and brought it toward his mouth.
Bronwyn, intrigued by the interaction, was laughing and reminded Owen, "You know the rule, Dada. You can't say you don't like it if you haven't tried it a few times. Have you ever tried that?"
"It's not a normal thing to try. This doesn't count," Owen laughed as he kept leaning his head further back or to the side to avoid Amelia's fork.
"Mmm Hmm," Bronwyn insisted. "You tolded me once that everything counts on that rule."
Owen looked at Bronwyn and laughed with his mouth opened wide. Amelia saw her opportunity and slipped the fork inside his mouth. Instinctively, Owen took in the bite and closed his mouth.
Amelia teased, "You know the rule, Daddy… you can't spit it out or it doesn't count as trying it."
"Yeah, Dada," Bronwyn nodded as she freely ate a slice of melon with ketchup.
Owen's face puckered and his brows drew inward as he chewed and modeled a look of disgust. He swallowed the tidbit and took a large drink of water. Both Gwen and Bronwyn howled with laughter as they watched Owen taste the bite.
Gwen tapped her gathered fingertips together and called out, "Mow. Mow. Dada mow."
Leaning in front of Gwen's face, Owen tickled her and shared, "You are a sneaky girl. Daddy doesn't want more. Gwen want more?" She nodded affirmatively and opened her mouth like a baby bird. Amelia slipped a bite of the melon in her mouth.
"No fair! Hers didn't have ketchup on it," Owen whined. Amelia rolled her eyes and laughed.
Bronwyn declared with a serious warning, "Daddy, the faces and the whining have to stop or Mama's gonna send you to time out."
"Can I please? Can I please go to time out?" Owen begged, looking for a way to get away from the feast before Amelia began force feeding him white bread.
"Hmm," Amelia hummed as she offered a sideways grin, "What do you think, Bron. He's begging for time out. What should I do?"
"I think," Bronwyn announced with gusto as she folded her arms, "he needs a nap."
"Owen, you heard the lady, skedaddle and go take a nap," Amelia teased, knowing that was exactly what he wanted to do.
Without saying a word, Owen stood up, handed Gwen back to Amelia, and kissed his wife. Then he walked over to Bronwyn and gave her a kiss and hug. He headed up the stairs and the girls heard the door to the Master Bedroom close.
Reaching out and patting Amelia's hand, Bronwyn affirmed in a matter of fact tone, "Good job, Mommy. You gotta be firm with him or he just won't learn." Bronwyn pursed her lips, drew in a large breath and proceeded to nibble on the rest of the ketchuped watermelon.