*Author's Note- We will be going on vacation at the end of the week so I wanted to make sure I finished this chapter before we went. I'll do my best to get another chapter written within the next week. These next few chapters are again crucial to the story, therefore harder to write. Thank you so much to those readers who left me reviews. They are great encouragement! The ride is just getting started, so hang on to your hats, buckle up, read and review

Little black submarines

Operator please

Put me back on the line

Told my girl I'd be back

Operator please

This is wreckin' my mind

Oh can it be

The voices calling me

They get lost

And out of time….

~Little Black Submarines~ The Black Keys


" What are you still doing here? I thought Owen was taking you to dinner?" Meredith asked as she and Zola approached a dejected looking Cristina.

" So did I. He texted me 45 minutes ago, telling me he was running late. I haven't heard from him since then."

" Have you tried calling him?"

" Goes straight to voicemail."

" Why don't you come to dinner with Zola and I? We're going to that Mexican restaurant down the street. Baby wants a burrito."

" Come on Aunty Tina!" Zola exclaimed, grabbing Cristina by the hand. With a hesitant sigh, she stood, adjusted her purse, and then grabbed Zola's hand.

" It better be Margarita night," Cristina replied as they headed for the parking lot.


" Shepherd. What are you still doing here? I thought you were off already," Richard Webber stated as Derek Shepherd approached the nurse's station in the ER.

" Just finishing up a consult for a drunk college student who thought it would be a great idea to skateboard down three flights of stairs without wearing a helmet," replied Derek as he scrawled something onto a chart before putting it where it belonged.

" I saw Meredith leave just a little bit ago with Zola and Cristina. How is she feeling?"

" Pregnant. Very pregnant," he responded as an alarm sounded, signaling there was a call coming in from EMS. Derek glanced at the computer screen as Richard picked up the attached phone.

'INCOMING: TWO GSW VICTIMS. ONE MAJOR. ONE MINOR.'

" This is Dr. Webber, what's the situation? I see. Are you sure? Is he conscious? What's his condition? What's your ETA? Ok. We'll be ready."

" What's going on?" Derek asked as a visibly shaken Richard hung up the phone.

" EMS is bringing in Owen Hunt. It seems that he tried to break up a gas station robbery and got shot in the process."

" What's his condition?" Derek asked as he pulled out his iPhone.

" Two gunshot wounds to the chest. He's lost a lot of blood. That's all EMS has."

" Page Bailey and Kepner. I'll call Meredith and see if Cristina is still with her," replied Derek as he headed for the ambulance bay.


" Do you want to talk about it?" Meredith asked Cristina as she pulled into the parking lot at Mi Casa's.

" Nope. I want to drink tequila. Lots and lots of tequila," replied Cristina as Meredith's phone rang.

" Can you get Zola out of her car seat while I get this? It's Derek."

" Tell him to make it snappy," she said as she got out of the SUV and opened the backdoor.

" Hey you. Are you getting off soon? We just got to Mi Casa."

" Ask him if he's seen Owen," Cristina shouted as she unbuckled Zola.

" Have you seen Owen? He stood up Cristina."

" Cristina is with you? Meredith. I need you to listen to me, okay?"

You need to come back to the hospital," demanded Derek.

" Why? What's going on?"

" EMS is on their way in with Owen."

"What happened?"

" He tried to break up a gas station robbery and was shot."

" What's his condition?" Meredith asked nervously as she glanced back at Cristina who was holding Zola.

" Two gunshot wounds to the chest. We don't know much else."

" We're on our way," said Meredith as she hung up.

Change of plans. We're going back to hospital."

" What's going on?" asked a confused Cristina as she buckled Zola back into her car seat.

" I uh. One of my patients is being rushed into emergency surgery," stammered Meredith.

" Meredith Grey you are a horrible liar. Now tell me what's going on." The SUV was silent as Meredith pulled out of the parking lot. As she approached a red light, she turned to Cristina.

" You have to promise me you won't freak out. Not with Zola in the car."

" Um. Okay?"

" It's Owen."


" Jacob Shelby. Age nineteen. Gunshot wound to the leg," announced a paramedic as a young man was wheeled into the ER, accompanied by a police officer

" Is this the shooter?" asked Miranda Bailey

" The shooter is in the ambulance behind me. That bastard shot me. I want to press charges!" he screamed.

" THAT bastard works here so I suggest you shut your mouth," she replied.

" He's also high on heroin. Found a bindle of it in his pocket," quipped the police officer.

" Kepner, take this lowlife to Trauma 2," ordered Dr. Webber as the second ambulance stopped and opened its doors.

" How's he doing?" asked Bailey as the paramedics unloaded the stretcher containing Owen. At first glance he was almost unrecognizable, his skin as white as a sheet.

" BP is low, 60/40. We tubed him in the rig. He's lost a lot of blood, at least a couple of liters."

" Dr. Hunt. Owen. Can you hear me?" shouted Richard as they rolled the gurney into the closest trauma room. The room was met with silence as a nurse cut off his blood soaked shirt and jacket.

" First bullet wound is to the mid-right chest, second is to the upper left abdomen. Let's get him on a monitor. Someone find out his blood type and send down to the lab for type specific," Bailey ordered as a nurse ran out of the room.


" You let Cristina drive with our daughter and unborn child in the car?" Derek asked as Meredith's SUV pulled into the ambulance bay.

" She carjacked me!" Meredith exclaimed as Cristina shot past her and into the ER.

" Where is he?" Cristina asked as Callie Torres stepped in front of her.

" Trauma 3…Cristina I'm not so sure you want… It's not good."

" Get out of my way Torres. I swear to god if you don't get out of my way I'm going to hurt you. Bad. NOW MOVE!" shouted Cristina as she made a beeline for Trauma 3.


Owen felt as if he were in a tunnel. The voices of his coworkers and friends seemed so distant as he lay motionless atop the gurney. Every inch of his body ached with the most vicious, unimaginable pain. It was incomparable to anything Owen had ever felt. He heard the door to the Trauma room open up, followed by a voice. Her voice. He tried desperately to speak, to tell her it would be okay and that he loved her, but nothing came out.


" Cristina, you shouldn't be in here," Meredith said as she entered the room followed by Derek. Ignoring Meredith's advice, Cristina rushed to Owen's side.

" How is he? How much blood has he lost?"

" Dr. Yang, you should leave," declared Richard.

" I swear if one more person tells me I need to leave, I'm going to scream. Loud. How bad is it? Where was he shot?"

Someone. Please. Mer. Please tell me how he's doing. I can't lose him right now," Cristina pleaded as a high-pitched alarm sounded.

" Shit! He's crashing. Someone start CPR and get her out of here!" Meredith shouted as Bailey began chest compressions.

" I am NOT leaving."

" Derek, get her out of here. NOW!" A yelp escaped Cristina's mouth as Derek grabbed her from behind and half dragged her out of the Trauma room.

" You do NOT get to die on me Owen Hunt. Do you hear me? You do NOT get to die," Meredith yelled as she grabbed the paddles.

Charge to 300. Clear!" Nothing.

" 360. Clear!"

" Still nothing," Richard noted.

" 360. Again. Clear!"

" We've got a rhythm. Let the OR know we're on our way," Bailey ordered as everyone grabbed ahold of the gurney and pushed it out of the Trauma room.


Owen sighed as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. Glancing down at his watch, he noted that it was almost 6:00p. He couldn't wait to pick up Cristina for their date. He wanted things to go right this time. A chime sounded, signaling that Owen had reached his designated floor. The doors slide open, revealing a deserted fourth floor. What was going on? Where was everybody? An impatient Owen turned, prepared to step back on the elevator. The sound of footsteps approaching caused him to pause.

" Dr. Hunt."

" O'Malley? What are you doing here?"