A/N- The surgeons in the woods are fighting to stay alive. But what's going on back in Seattle? This chapter follows Chief of Surgery, Dr. Owen Hunt as he realizes his doctors are missing and spreads the tragic news. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!
Owen Hunt was a trauma surgeon. He had served multiple tours in Iraq, and had seen things that he would never be able to remove from his hippocampus. He had saved lives and unintentionally ended them, and Owen knew every day that working at Seattle Grace Hospital in Washington was easy compared to all that he had gone through in the middle-east.
That being said, the last 24 hours had been a little much. Nearby, a building had collapsed on a group of firefighters that were completing their last day of training. A bunch of them were hurt and so Owen had been running around in the emergency room for what felt like days. On top of everything else, he was managing his duties as the Chief of Surgery, a job that he was still uncertain he really liked. For a while, Owen was not getting to operate nearly enough but lately, thanks in part to those firefighters, he was putting in more time in the OR.
When the last firefighter was finally declared stable, Owen trudged up to the conference room where hopefully, he would finally be able to get a few bites to eat. He had already sent an intern to buy him a sandwich at the cafeteria and was extremely grateful when he sat down in front of his computer and devoured the whole thing.
It was not until after the sandwich was gone and Owen was considering taking a power-nap that he realized he had several missed calls and voicemails on his phone. That was part of being chief but a few of them were from Boise Memorial Hospital where a team of his surgeons currently were operating on conjoined twins. They could not get back to Seattle fast enough, especially with all the traumas rolling in.
Nelson was good but he was not Shepherd. Avery was decent but he was not Sloan. Stark was a great doctor but none of the patients liked him as much as Robbins and they were on short-supply of residents, too. Lexie Grey would have helped a lot on the neuro-cases and…
Wait, were Cristina and Meredith not supposed to be back for their dinner with Webber by now?
Owen listened to the first voicemail from Boise: "Good morning, Dr. Hunt. This is Dr. Sheehan over at Boise Memorial. I just wanted to double-check what time your surgeons were set to arrive today."
That message had been sent almost 24 hours ago though, so it was nothing to be concerned about… Owen switched to the next voicemail: "Dr. Hunt, Dr. Sheehan again… still no word from your surgeons. I'm gonna check in with the airport and see if the weather held them up."
That message had been recorded more than 15 hours ago. Owen could not believe he had been wrapped up in traumas for this long but certainly, his surgeons had to be in Boise by now.
The third voicemail: "This is Dr. Sheehan again. We're starting to get a bit concerned here. Is there some kind of mass-casualty in Seattle that you kept them around to help with? If so, that's alright, just… just please fill me in."
That message had been sent four hours ago.
Quickly, Owen picked-up the phone and dialed the number back. A voice instantly answered after only one ring: "Dr. Sheehan, Boise Memorial."
"Sheehan, this is Hunt in Seattle. My surgeons are there now, right? Are they still operating on the twins or are they finishing up?"
"Dr. Hunt, they still aren't here. We've sent the twins back to their room with their parents for now because we couldn't get a hold of anyone," Sheehan explained.
"Okay, so… so they got held up at the airport? We had a big storm last night; that could have delayed their flight," Owen said.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and for the first time, Owen realized that something was very wrong. Sheehan took a deep breath. "No… I called the airport and they said the plane took off at 7:00 this morning, as planned. Unless they had to make an emergency landing at another airport… I don't know; I would still think that someone would have contacted us."
"So you're saying… you're saying what, that the plane could have crashed?!" Owen asked, hoping that he would be corrected… hoping that Sheehan would inform him that he was sleep-deprived and that idea was ridiculous.
"I don't know, Hunt. I can't really think of what else it could be because the airline said that they were trying to reach the pilot, Jerry Haynes but that they had lost all connections."
A deep, intense fear filled Owen from head to toe… Cristina was on that plane. Derek Shepherd was on that plane. Mark Sloan and Arizona Robbins were both on that plane… and Lexie and Meredith Grey were on that plane. They could not all be dead. That was impossible. A shooting had killed eleven members of the staff less than two years ago. It was not within reason for another tragedy to strike the hospital.
"Okay, look… maybe it's just an issue with reception or the plane. I'm gonna start calling my guys and I'll fill you in," Owen said and then hung-up.
Immediately, he called his top neurosurgeon, Derek Shepherd. The phone did not ring and rolled straight to voicemail: "This is Dr. Derek Shepherd. I'm sorry I missed your call; please leave me a short message and I'll return your call as soon as possible."
Owen did not have the strength to say anything. He hung-up and called his wife, Cristina but her phone did not ring either: "You've reached Dr. Cristina Yang. Leave a message."
Maybe they had landed somewhere else and their transmitter was broken. Maybe the whole airline was losing track of flights because of the storms.
But if that was the case, then why the hell was everyone's phone dead?
Owen Hunt was a trauma surgeon. He had seen much worse and he was a PTSD survivor. And because of all that, Owen knew that he could not waste any time. He jumped out of his chair, and sprinted down the hallway of his hospital. He took the stairs because an elevator was too slow for him and was sweating profusely by the time he ran into Webber.
"Hunt!" the latter smiled shortly. "We waited all night for Cristina and Meredith but they never showed for the resident's dinner. Their plane home was supposed to land hours ago; do you know what's keeping them? Were there surgical complications in Boise?"
"Richard, we need to talk," Owen said and swiftly lead the former-chief into an empty meeting room. "Look… I need your help on what to do. You were chief for eleven years and… and I'm out of my depth here."
Webber looked confused. "What do you mean? You've done a fantastic job of handling the situation with the firefighters. They're all doing great."
"That's not what I mean," Owen said and sighed. "I just talked with Dr. Sheehan at Boise Memorial. Our surgeons never arrived today and the airport cannot contact the plane. Everyone seems to be in agreement that… that there must have been a crash of some sort."
Webber's face went completely blank for a few seconds and for the first time since the shooting, there was genuine fear in his eyes.
"Cristina was on that plane," Owen choked out.
"Y-Yes and… and so was Meredith… and Shepherd and Sloan and…" Webber shook his head. "Six of our most talented surgeons were on that plane and nothing's been done?!"
Owen shrugged. "I… I just learned about it! What do I do?!"
"First of all, you check your damn voicemail more often!" Webber snapped. "And second of all, you call the police. Tell them what you suspect. We'll need to get a search party out right away."
The next half-hour went by in a blur. Owen locked himself in his office so the word would not get out to the other doctors and made phone call after phone call. He talked to Seattle's Chief of Police who he had seen much more than he cared to in the last couple years and then got in contact with the National Guard. He wanted everyone possible out there searching for his wife and friends.
When he finally got a break, Owen ran down to the emergency room where the day shift was making their way inside. Callie Torres was standing near a man with a broken leg, drinking a cup of coffee and Jackson Avery was in a corner with April Kepner and Alex Karev. They all looked slightly annoyed.
Owen needed to break the news to them now because it would be worse if they heard it on television or the radio. He took a deep breath and announced, "Doctors Torres, Bailey, Karev, Avery, and Kepner to Trauma 1 immediately!"
There were others that cared about the surgeons on the plane but Owen could not ease this news on everyone. There were five doctors though, that could not learn through gossip.
"What now?" April Kepner groaned as she followed her peers into Trauma 1. Owen had informed her yesterday that she would not have a job here much longer because he could not accept an attending that was not board-certified.
"Were you going to tell us we all get the day off?" Avery begged. "Webber kept us at that damn restaurant so late last night waiting for Meredith and Cristina and they never even showed."
"Yes, that's… that's what I wanted to talk with you about and unfortunately… yes, you may have the day off if needed," Owen said and the faces of the residents brightened.
Callie looked confused. "Wait, then why am I here?"
"Yeah, excuse me but some of us have actual patients to see…" Bailey added.
"Stop! You all need to listen to me very carefully," Owen said. "I've just received word that the team of surgeons we sent to Boise Memorial yesterday… never made it there. We have reason to believe that their aircraft may have went down."
There was another long silence as Owen's words sunk in. Karev's face went completely pale and Callie looked like she might throw-up.
"Wait, like their PLANE CRASHED?!" Kepner gasped, tears filling her eyes.
"That… is what appears to have happened. Nothing is confirmed yet but I've talked with the police and the National Guard. They're getting ready to send out a search-party. Either way, I didn't want you to hear about this through the media," Owen whispered.
Callie shook her head. "This is a joke, right, Owen? This is some kind of sick joke because… because Arizona was on that plane! And Mark!"
"And so was Meredith and Cristina!" Alex Karev added.
"Yes, I am aware of all of that and this is most certainly not a joke," Owen promised. "News reporters will likely be here soon and we will need to give them accurate descriptions of all the missing surgeons. I would urge you not to panic but I'm not sure how much good that would do… just please try to keep calm and remember that no matter what happened, our people our doctors. They're survivors and I have faith that they can and will survive this."
Callie fell into a nearby chair; it was safe to say that she was not going to be working today or anytime soon. "But… but that plane crash… the one last year… everyone died…"
"Everyone died except for that one little girl," Avery remembered.
April Kepner began sobbing uncontrollably and dropped into another chair next to Callie. She was mumbling something about how Jesus was mad at her and therefore, destroying her world.
"We need to try and be strong," Owen continued. "You all are going through something incredibly difficult so I would urge you to all try and help each other. Trust me, I want to find them just as much as you do."
"Wait, wait… who all went on that trip? I thought you were supposed to go, Karev," Bailey said.
Karev appeared even paler and nodded. "I… I was supposed to but… but Robbins was pissed at me so… so took my spot. Oh, God, I was supposed to be on that plane…"
"You just had to go and take that damn fellowship at Hopkins, didn't you, Karev?" Callie cried. It was not Alex's fault and Callie had to know that but again, it was only natural to blame him, to blame somebody since Callie's wife was potentially dead.
But Owen could not comfort them now. Owen could not comfort himself. All Owen could do was exit Trauma 1, and pace out to the lobby where already, a television was portraying a breaking news segment: "SIX SEATTLE SURGEONS MISSING IN POSSIBLE PLANE CRASH."
"It is the same medical center that experienced the infamous shooting almost two years ago," a female reporter stated. "Seattle Grace, one of the top ten teaching hospitals in the country, sent a team of surgeons to Boise Memorial Hospital in Idaho yesterday where they were supposed to be performing a complicated operation on a set of conjoined twins. Instead, those surgeons never showed up and it is widely thought that their aircraft went down somewhere between Seattle and Boise. Search parties are being prepared now."
Owen tried not to look around as fellow-employees took in the news. Several nurses were gasping and pointing at the television and Webber, who had joined the remaining fifth-year residents, was grave with worry.
"What now?" Owen whispered to him. "What do I do now?"
"Now the journalists are going to start showing-up and they are all going to want to hear from you," Webber explained. "They are also going to want to publicize the names of the missing surgeons. If I were you, I would get on the phone fast with everyone's emergency contact because it is not fair to them to find out through the media either. They should hear it from you, Chief."
And Owen realized that the pain was only just beginning. He sprinted back up to his office and opened the file cabinet that held all of his surgeons' personal files. He picked-up his office phone and called a man called Daniel Robbins, Arizona's father. He talked with a woman, Carolyn Shepherd, Derek's mother. Owen could not get a hold of anyone related to Mark Sloan but he spoke to Thatcher Grey, father to both Meredith and Lexie and then held an extremely awkward conversation with Helen Rubenstein, Cristina's mother. Owen did not mention anything to her about being Cristina's husband because he knew that Cristina never informed her mother of the impromptu marriage.
He had barely finished the hour of excruciating phone calls when Webber came to fetch him for his press conference. Owen had forgotten to get a suit on such short notice but thankfully, Webber had sent an intern to do the job and Owen slipped the jacket on just as he walked outside to the podium.
It was hard to talk about the mission surgeons like they were just co-workers.
"This potential loss is personal for me, in addition to professional," Owen said into the microphone. "I am proud to say that Dr. Cristina Yang is my wife and the other surgeons on that plane are some of my closest friends. We want nothing more than to find them all alive, as soon as possible."
Of course, the media could not get enough of the fact that Owen was married to Cristina and then they loved it when he talked about Derek and Meredith being husband and wife. It was a love story that could end tragically or beautifully.
By the time that Owen made it back inside, he learned that some of the victim's families were already arriving. Thatcher Grey was in the hospital lobby with tears streaming down his face, begging for answers about both Lexie and Meredith. Both of Arizona's parents had arrived as well and they were talking with Thatcher, trying to find comfort in one another. Callie joined them and Owen watched as they held a prayer service together for Arizona and Mark, Lexie and Meredith.
Cristina's mother was apparently on a train to Seattle from Los Angeles because she did not want to get on a plane. Carolyn Shepherd, coming from New York, was forced to fly. Addison Montgomery was calling from LA, concerned about her ex-husband and ex-boyfriend.
Minutes went by like hours. Owen ordered the doctors that were able to start setting up for multiple traumas so if and when the surgeons were found, they could be rushed here for treatment. If they were all alive, Owen could hardly imagine the shape that they would be in but they would bring doctors over from Seattle-Pres if they had to… they would give everyone the best care imaginable.
"Do you really think they're all alive out there?" Alex Karev asked at one point, while bringing down armfuls of blood. It was doubtless that any survivors would need a lot.
"I have to believe that they're out there right now," Owen said. "If I've given up hope already, I… I don't know where to start but until we know otherwise, I have to believe that Cristina, Meredith, Derek, Mark, Arizona, and Lexie are all alive and waiting to be rescued."
A few hours later, there were six trauma beds set up in the emergency room. Dr. Nelson was ready as the neurosurgeon, Owen would be available to anyone besides Cristina as far as trauma went, and Dr. McQueen agreed to take on any cardiac-cases, with the help of Dr. Harrison. Another orthopedic attending was found named Dr. Schacter for the probable broken bones and he had a talented fellow called Dr. Blane. Dr. Bailey and Dr. Webber would take care of general surgery.
The first opportunity he got, Owen went out into the lobby where he sat with the families waiting. Cristina's mother was not here yet but the others had all arrived, including Carolyn Shepherd from New York.
"Is there any news?" Thatcher Grey asked for what was likely the hundredth time. "I'm sorry but… but my wife is dead and my daughters… my daughters are all I have. Molly is at the army base and… and God… I can't lose Meredith and Lexie, I can't…"
Owen nodded, compassionately. "I know, Mr. Grey. I wish I could say something more comforting but I assure you, we'll let you know as soon as we know something."
"Dr. Hunt," a blonde woman called; she appeared to be in her mid to late sixties. "I have to know about my Arizona. I've already lost my son; I can't lose her, too. Do you think she could still be alive? Do you think… there's a chance?"
"Yes, of course… I've seen people survive much worse than a plane crash. I think there's a good chance Arizona could still be alive," Owen said and he was not sure how much he believed it.
Just as Owen was about to approach Carolyn Shepherd, a nearby police officer called his name and so Owen headed in that direction instead. "Is there any news?"
"Well, not exactly," the officer said and his face was anxious. "We're continuing to search no matter what happens… but we did speak with some people from the airport that work for that aircraft company and unfortunately, if that plane really did go down somewhere in the trees… due to the build of the plane and the environment… unfortunately, we have been told not to expect any survivors."
Ooh, suspense… Let me know if you liked this chapter or if you thought it was dumb. I always thought that we should have seen more from the doctors in Seattle as they realized the plane had crashed. The next chapter will be focusing on the plane crash victims again. Favorite/follow, review, and stay tuned! Love you all so much. Xoxo, merderpedia