Here's to us
Here's to love
All the times
That we f*cked up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cause the last few days
Have kicked my ass
So lets give em hell
Wish everybody well
Here's to us
Here's to us
We stuck it out this far together
Put our dreams through the shredder
Let's toast cause things got better
~Halestorm~ Here's To Us
Author's Note: I debated splitting this chapter up in several different ways: 2 separate chapters, ending it part way and starting the sequel from where I left off, or option #3- create an uber long, final chapter. Obviously I chose option #3. I know I've said this time and time again, but I profusely apologize for such the delay in posting this, the final chapter. I intended on having it finished nearly two months ago, but I had major surgery and wasn't feeling the most creative. I'm back on my feet now and will be getting to work on the sequel ASAP. I mean it! (And no, it won't take me years to finish.) Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews I've received throughout the story and for those that stuck it out with my lengthy absences. This is a bittersweet ending. Enjoy!
" I was starting to think you were never going to wake up," Cristina stated as Owen stirred beside her.
" How long was I asleep for?" he asked as he sat up, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
" Nearly four hours. It's almost 1:00 p.m." she replied as Owen's stomach growled.
Karev ate your breakfast by the way. Do you want me to order something?"
" What? You aren't going to cook for me?" Owen jokingly asked.
" Do you want to wind back up in the hospital? Wilson make breakfast this morning," answered Cristina as she grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contact list, selecting a number.
" I'll have an order of sweet and sour chicken, a double order of Spring Rolls, an order of dumplings, an order of Crab Rangoon, and an order of fried rice. Delivery please," Cristina said, giving the person on the other end the address before hanging up.
" Fifteen minutes," she stated as Owen threw the covers off.
" How'd you get Mr. Chow's to deliver so quickly?" he asked as he slowly shuffled to the bathroom.
" I told them I'd tip the delivery guy $20," Cristina answered with a laugh. Her phone chimed as Owen made his way back into the bedroom.
" Who's that?"
" Meredith….damn! That's gnarly," she stated as she opened up a text message.
" What in the world is that?" he asked as he propped himself up with pillows beside Cristina.
" That's the bloody chainsaw they just extracted from Kepner's cardiac trauma," she replied.
" And he's still alive?" asked Owen as her phone chimed again.
" She says Kepner, Bailey, Webber, and Russell have been at it for hours and they have no clue when they'll finish," Cristina answered wistfully.
" You can go if you want…I know it killed you turning down all that bloody carnage."
" And leave you here by yourself…when there's hot Chinese food being delivered soon?" Cristina asked, doing her best to appear sincere.
" You're a horrible liar Cristina Yang," Owen quipped as the doorbell rang downstairs.
" I must love you or something," she muttered as she disappeared downstairs. A few minutes later she reappeared with two bags stuffed full of Chinese food and two bottles of water. Owen grabbed the bags of food and began arranging them on the bed, eager to eat. After eating in silence for a bit, Cristina turned to face Owen.
" They were talking about organ donation," she blurted out.
" Who was talking about organ donation?" asked Owen, placing the carton of food he was holding down in front of him.
" When you were in a coma…some mousey intern of Derek's asked me about whether or not I wanted to consider withdrawing life support and donating your organs."
" Obviously you said no."
" I told him to shove the papers up his ass or I'd do it for him." Owen laughed, choking on the bite of chicken in his mouth as he did so. After swallowing a drink of water, he turned back towards Cristina. Her face showed no emotion though Owen could feel the sudden tension in the room. He carefully placed his food on the bedside table, scooting himself closer to Cristina so that he could wrap his arm around her.
" What's wrong?"
" Nothing," she mumbled.
" I know better…what is it?"
" They wanted your organs Owen. You were thisclose to dying," declared Cristina as she toyed with the chopsticks in her hand.
" I had no clue…about the organs anyways…" Owen's voice trailed off, suddenly unsure of what else to say. He picked up a spring roll and took a bite, his chewing the only noise in the awkward silence. With a quick swallow, he pulled Cristina closer to him.
" None of this is going the way it was supposed to."
" Obviously," Cristina replied snidely.
" That night…do you remember our first date?"
" You mean the night you showed up to my apartment drunk off your ass and smelling like a distillery? The night you wound up in my shower, wearing your suit?"
" That would be it. I had the evening all planned out minus the drunken shower part. I wanted to recreate what was supposed to be our first date. I was going to pick you up from the hospital and then we were going to pick up food from that bistro across the street. I had a spot picked out in the woods near the trailer. We were going to dine under the stars and watch the Northern Lights," he said, pausing so he could face Cristina.
I want us to start over and put the past behind us."
" No more tackling crazy guys with guns?"
" No more tackling crazy guys with guns," Owen repeated.
" What about…." Cristina started.
" I think we can both agree neither of us is in a position to even think about kids right now. Let's just live here. Now. In the moment. We can take each day as it comes," explained Owen as he leaned over and planted a kiss on Cristina's lips.
" So what you're saying is you should take your medicine then we should start the next season of The Walking Dead?"
" Precisely," Owen said as he handed Cristina the remote.
" Can I catch a ride in with you?" Owen asked several days later as Cristina tugged on her shoes for work.
" You don't have therapy until 2:00 p.m., right?"
" If I stay in that bed watching Netflix any longer my brain is going to turn to mush…and my ass will become permanently fused to the mattress," he explained desperately as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
" You know Bailey is going to have your ass," Cristina replied as she walked into the hallway, pulling her hair up in a ponytail as she did so.
" I'll hide out in the gallery and watch my very talented and beautiful girl perform awesome, cutting edge surgeries," Owen replied as he slowly followed Cristina downstairs.
" You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" she asked as they entered the kitchen.
" What do you think?" Owen replied. Cristina sighed as she poured coffee into a travel mug.
" Just make sure Bailey knows I tried talking you out of it," said Cristina as they headed to her car.
Oh…and can we not have a repeat of last week's incident in the truck? No tossing your cookies in my car."
" As long as you don't drive it like you stole it, we'll be fine," he answered jokingly as he climbed into the front seat.
" I can grab my motorcycle helmet from the trunk if you'd like," Cristina said as a wicked smile crept across her face. Owen grinned and shook his head as they drove away, heading for the hospital.
" You better not let Bailey see you here," Derek stated as he walked into the OR gallery that Owen was sitting in.
" How'd you know I was here?"
" I saw you sneak in with Cristina this morning," replied Derek as he took the set beside Owen.
" If I watched one more episode of Breaking Bad on Netflix my brain would have exploded. You can only watch people cook Meth for so long before you lose it."
" When I got shot and Meredith was at home with me I had to watch chick flicks. I paid Mark to kidnap me and take me to his place so we could watch March Madness," Derek said.
" Since when does Meredith watch chick flicks?"
" I think she was trying to torture me," he answered with a laugh as Owen glanced down at his watch as it beeped.
" I've got to get going. I'm supposed to be meeting Cristina for lunch before therapy."
" You won't have to worry about Bailey by the way. She's in OR 2 for another couple of hours."
" That would have been great to know when I was sneaking around the hallways," Owen said with a laugh as he stood and exited the room.
" So how did therapy go?" Cristina asked Owen as they met up outside of the cafeteria.
" I'd rather hear about your emergency, gory surgery that ran long, causing us to miss lunch," Owen replied as they surveyed the array of food in front of them.
" It was hardly gory. The guy was a walking heart attack waiting to happen. He was eating two Big Macs, two medium fries, and a large Coke every day at lunch."
" Thanks…I was going to get a hamburger," he stated, grabbing a grilled chicken sandwich instead.
" Trust me…if you would have seen the man's clogged arteries, you'd avoid hamburgers for months," Cristina pointed out as they grabbed drinks and approached the cashier.
" Are you trying to ruin my appetite?" questioned Owen as they paid and sat down at a nearby table.
" No. So how did therapy go?"
" The therapist thinks I need to build up the stamina and muscle mass I lost from being bed ridden so long. I ordered a treadmill to go in the study downstairs. They're delivering it this evening," he explained as he took a bite of his sandwich.
" We could find an empty on-call room to build up your stamina," Cristina suggested with a devilish grin.
" I like the sound of that… but that's all I need is for Bailey to find us naked in an on-call room," Owen pointed out.
" Supply closet then?" Owen shook his head no despite the fact he wanted to take her in the middle of the cafeteria regardless of who was watching.
" I've got a couple of post-ops to follow up on after lunch," said Cristina, changing the subject.
I should be ready to go around 5:00p. Do you want me to see if Derek or someone can give you a ride?"
" Nah. I'll take my chances and continue dodging Bailey," Owen said, stifling a yawn. He planted a kiss on her cheek before slowly walking out into the hallway. Before he knew it, he was standing at the door to his office feeling completely exhausted. Owen opened the door, which was thankfully unlocked. After closing the door behind him and pulling the shades down, he grabbed a heavy blanket and pillow he kept in the closet. As he kicked off his shoes, Owen stretched out on the futon.
'Might as well take a nap while I wait on Cristina,' he thought to himself as he shut his eyes.
" Have you seen Owen?" Cristina asked Meredith as she exited the locker room hours later.
" Derek said he saw him earlier passed out in his office," she responded as she sat down in a chair.
" I'll see you later," stated Cristina as she took off for Owen's office. Minutes later she stood outside the door. As quietly as possible she twisted the doorknob, allowing for the door to open. Inside she found Owen curled up underneath a blanket on the futon, softly snoring. She knelt beside him, placing her hand in his tousled red hair and raked her fingers slowly through it. Owen stirred slightly before turning over to face Cristina who promptly placed a kiss on his lips.
" Now that's a way to be woken up," he said with a smile. After stretching his limbs, Owen sat up and tugged on his shoes.
" Let's go before…"
" Before what?" Bailey's voice echoed into the office as Owen and Cristina turned to find her standing in the doorway.
I believe your therapy session was over at 3:30p.m. So tell me. What are you still doing here?" she demanded. Owen looked to Cristina who shook her head.
" For the record, I tried to make him stay home this morning," she pointed out nervously.
" I wasn't talking to you," Bailey stated angrily.
You've been here since this morning? I thought I told you to rest at home when you weren't at therapy."
" For what it's worth, I just woke up," Owen replied guiltily as he stood.
" Go. Get out of here. NOW!" Bailey ordered with a sigh. Owen grabbed ahold of Cristina's hand and exited his office as quickly as he possibly could.
" IF I SEE YOU BACK HERE AGAIN OTHER THAN FOR THERAPY, I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR REAR END INTO NEXT WEEK!" she shouted down the hallway. Owen and Cristina snickered to themselves as they headed for the elevator.
" I know I didn't just hear you two laughing…"
" Have a good night Dr. Bailey!" Owen shouted as the doors to the elevator closed. He and Cristina found themselves in a fit of laughter as they leaned against the elevator's back wall.
" Bailey is going to crucify you," Cristina pointed out in between fits of laughter.
" She doesn't faze me. Besides, I'm her boss," he replied, choking back laughter as he put his arm around Cristina's shoulders, drawing her closer to his side.
You on the other hand…you scare me."
" Good. You should be scared," Cristina retorted playfully as they reached the first floor of the hospital, the elevator doors opening before them.
" Let's go home," Owen said, grabbing for Cristina's hand as they walked towards the parking lot.
" Home it is," replied Cristina as she intertwined her fingers with Owen's as they walked towards her car.
" Home it is," he stated simply as he bent down to kiss Cristina on the lips. A familiar warm and spine tingling sensation of happiness enveloped Owen's heart as he did so. Despite the demons that their tattered past held, Cristina was his home, his happy ending. That he was sure of.
