*Author's Note- I want to say a big thank you to those loyal readers and reviewers as well as to those new to the story. I truly appreciate all of the reviews. Thanks so much. I'm already working on the next chapter, so it shouldn't be too long until it's posted.
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I'll set you apart
Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start.
~Coldplay~ The Scientist
" Have you…seen Cristina?" Owen asked as Meredith entered his room.
" I thought you were asleep," she pointed out as she scribbled something in his chart.
" Time?"
" It's a little after 6:30 in the evening. Cristina's stuck in the OR," Meredith explained as she sat down.
" How long?"
" How long have you been here?" Owen nodded.
Almost five days. You're incredibly lucky to be alive."
" So I've heard."
" You almost died Owen! I had to revive you. Twice!"
" I know. I was…there. So was…O'Malley." Meredith straightened up in her chair.
" You saw George?"
" He was there…after I crashed." Meredith was silent.
And now you…think I'm crazy."
" When Cristina and I were interns, I almost died. I should have died."
" How?"
" There was a massive ferry boat accident. It was one of the most chaotic scenes I've ever witnessed. Anyway, it was an all hands on deck situation. I came across a gentleman near the water's edge. He had extensive damage to his femoral artery. I triaged him as best as I could with the limited supplies that were available. As I finished up, he began panicking. One moment I was covering him up with my coat and the next I was sinking in the water."
Derek eventually jumped in and saved me once he realized where I was…but at that point I had been underwater for a prolonged period of time. The next thing I remember was being in this…"
" Limbo?"
" I was 'greeted' by a friend's dead fiancée and a member of the bomb squad."
" The bomb squad?"
" That's a whole different story. Anyway, my dead dog and finally my mother who had just recently died also visited me. It was my mother who convinced me to choose life. So no. I don't think you're crazy when you say you saw O'Malley. The fact that you tried to beat up the gunman, which got you shot once and then you stupidly tried to wrestle the gun away from him, resulting in a second gunshot wound? That's crazy." Owen sighed as he closed his eyes.
" I'll save the lecture for later. Get some sleep. I'll be in to check on you in the morning."
" How's Hunt?" Alex asked as Cristina stumbled through the front door of Meredith's old house later that night.
" He was asleep when I got out of surgery," she replied as she went into the kitchen in search of something that resembled dinner.
I needed food and decent sleep so I came back here."
" If you're looking for something edible, I'd call for take out. The only thing that resembles food in the kitchen is a box of stale Cheerios and a six pack of beer."
" Who was supposed to do the grocery shopping this week Evil Spawn?" Cristina asked as she sifted through a stack of take out menus.
" You were…though the last two times it was your turn, Owen did it for you."
" I'm ordering Jimmy John's. Let me know when they get here," she replied as she headed up the stairs. As Cristina entered her bedroom, it dawned on her that she hadn't been home in five days. She had spent every night in the hospital, either sleeping at Owen's bedside or in his office. After placing her order with the restaurant, she pulled on a worn Stanford shirt and yoga pants before throwing her dirty clothes on the floor. Cristina flung herself onto the hastily made bed and grabbed the remote. As she flipped through the channels, the scent of Owen's cologne drifted through the air. Cristina flipped onto her side, facing the empty half of her bed that Owen had been occupying recently. She brought his pillow closer to her and inhaled the intoxicating scent of the cologne mixed with Owen's shampoo. Yet again, Cristina felt her eyes well up with tears. She had cried more this week than she cared to admit. Thankfully, the tears that were slowly spilling out of her eyes were 'happy' tears. Owen was alive. He was awake and no longer in a coma. All of his scans had come back showing no permanent brain damage. Cristina quickly dried her eyes as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
" You owe me $20," Alex declared as he entered Cristina's bedroom. If he noticed the lingering tears, he said nothing.
" Nice try Evil Spawn. You still owe Owen for the Chinese take out from two weeks ago." With that, she took her food from Alex and shut the door.
GROUP MESSAGE
TO: C. Yang
Cc: D. Shepherd, M. Grey, R. Webber
FROM: M. Bailey
CARE CONFERENCE RE: O. Hunt 8:30A ICU
" Edwards, I need you to admit Mr. Patterson in Exam 2 for observation and get these to the lab for Mrs. Anders in Exam 4," Cristina announced to her intern as she felt her phone buzz against her hip. She quickly read the message, and then turned towards Edwards who was still standing nearby.
" I need to take this. If I'm not done before Mrs. Anders' test results come back, come find me. I'll be up in the ICU."
" I think we can all agree that the drastic improvement in Dr. Hunt's condition is nothing short of a miracle," Bailey declared in a hushed tone. The door behind her slid open and Meredith stepped inside.
" Sorry I'm late," she whispered as she took a spot beside Cristina.
" No need to whisper. I'm awake." Owen's voice caused the group of doctors to turn towards his bed.
" As your general surgeons, I think Dr. Webber, Dr. Grey, and I can all agree that we'd like to closely monitor you for the next few days in the ICU so we can keep an eye on your blood pressure and heart rate as you heal. Your BP is hovering around 70/45. Even though it's considerably higher than it was a few days ago, it's still an area of concern."
" Your heart rate is also somewhat weak, but that is to be expected with the massive blood loss and trauma your body underwent," Richard stated.
" From a neurological standpoint, the fact that you're as alert as you are after being in a coma for almost four days is remarkable. The exam I performed after you initially woke up posed concerns when it came to your motor responses. We'll keep an eye on things and will be able to further evaluate the situation should any complications arise."
" Is this the point of the conversation where you all now lecture me for how stupid I was?"
" We'll save that for another day. You need your rest," Richard replied as he, Meredith, Derek, and Bailey exited.
" I missed you last night. Where were you?" Owen asked as Cristina moved to his side.
" I went back to the house to get some sleep. I stopped by after my last surgery, but you weren't awake or I would have stayed," she explained. For a split second they just stared at each other.
" I want to make this right…," stated Owen as he reached for her hand.
" We will…" she began, her words interrupted by the beeping of her pager.
I need to take this. We'll talk later." She leaned in and allowed for Owen to plant a soft kiss on her lips.
" Thank you for not dying."
" I did my best," he replied with a smirk as Cristina took off for the ER.
" Mrs. Anders, my name is Dr. Yang. I'm the cardio-thoracic surgeon assigned to your case."
" A surgeon? Do I need surgery?" A look of panic swept over the older woman's face.
" We got your test results back," responded Cristina as Dr. Edwards entered the room.
" Dr. Yang…"
" I'm busy right now Edwards. Whatever it is can wait until I'm finished." Cristina turned back towards the patient.
" As I was saying…"
" Dr. Yang, I really need to speak with you." Cristina sighed, resisting the urge to smack Edwards upside the head. Instead she chose to ignore the intern.
" As I was saying before Dr. Edwards so rudely interrupted us, your test results show…"
" Mrs. Anders. I apologize, but I really need to speak with Dr. Yang. It's an emergency." Dr. Edwards opened the door and ushered an angry Cristina out into the hallway.
" You better have a damn good explanation for your behavior," she insisted as her pager began beeping yet again.
Who the heck is paging me now?"
" It's the ICU. They just called down to the nurse's station. They're paging you 911 for Dr. Hunt."
