A knock sounded at the door and Owen glanced up as Derek stuck his head in motioning for the man to enter his office. They hadn't really spoken since he'd left the neurosurgeon to run tests on his sister and though he knew from the nurses she was doing fine, he wasn't sure what kind of conversation to be expecting. "How's Amelia?" He asked hesitantly, abandoning his pen on the desk.

"Being a pain as usual." Derek shifted on the balls of his feet, not good with apologies. He didn't like being wrong, he liked it even less when he had to admit it... but he couldn't deny his thinking had been changed since the events of the storm had taken place. He owed it to Amelia and to Owen to set things straight. "You should see her."

Owen nodded, admittedly surprised by the suggestion. He'd managed to get the hospital back on it's feet but he hadn't stopped thinking about her and the fact he'd been getting updates from the nurses instead of seeing for himself was maddening. "I'm about to go down, I'm just finishing-"

"No." Derek cut him off, "I mean you she 'see' her... as in, officially." He waited for the penny to drop and turned to the door, pulling it closed behind him. Just because he was willing to admit a few truths didn't mean he wanted everybody on the floor to know about it and he took a deep breath as he stepped forward.

"I was wrong-" he breathed out the apology, coming to terms with it, "I don't want Amelia to get hurt. No matter what happens, that's all I care about... but I can't be in her life all the time. I don't want to be and she doesn't want me to be either. So the best I can ask for is that she has other people around who actually care about her."

Owen opened his mouth, then promptly closed it again not sure what he was supposed to say. Out of the things he expecting to discuss, Derek's approval was the furthest thing from his mind and he pushed up from his chair feeling the need to equal their standing. "So all those things you said before?"

"Are still problematic-" he confirmed, not going back on his earlier opinion. Just because he no longer thought it was the worst idea in the world, didn't mean he was completely absolved of his doubts. "But I can see there's a lot of good to balance it out." That was the difference. Yesterday he couldn't see anything to warrant the risk but now he understood why his sister was falling for the man. There were genuine feelings involved and even if he wanted to, he was too late to stop them from growing. "She's going stir crazy down there, I thought you could keep her from bolting while I finish off some tests?"

"Yeah-" he cleared his throat, trying to mask his eagerness, "why not, I could use a break anyway."

"Great." Derek gave him a genuine but awkward smile as he stuck his arm out. He wasn't great at male bonding, unless it involved beer and a boat, but the chief of surgery accepted the gesture and he was relieved. Although getting him onside was onside was one thing, admitting he'd been an idiot to his sister was a whole other ball game.

He would never hear the end of it but with a bit of luck, maybe she'd be too distracted by her new love-life to hold it against him.

##

##

Owen tapped on the window to Amelia's room, throwing his head through the door with a smile, "hey... up for visitors?"

"You're not smuggling my brother back in are you?" Her voice was a little rough and she coughed reaching for the water beside her bed. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep but she'd been in lock-down for the last two hours while Derek ordered her to undergo every test, x-ray and CT scan he could think of and the fussing was slowly driving her insane. "Do you think we could call the president and have him arrange a private flight back... like, in the next half hour maybe?"

Owen breathed out a soft laugh as he neared her bed, "from what I hear you're the one who's not cooperating. What do they say about doctors being the worst patients?"

"Owen..." she stressed his name to get her point across, "he booked me in for a freakn M.R.I. I bumped my head, that's all. I'm fine."

He smiled again, pulling the penlight from his pocket and perching on the bed beside her. She shot him an indignant look but he ignored it, moving his free hand under her chin to tilt her head up. "Pupils seem normal-" he clicked on the little torch, "responding well to light... the left one is a little sluggish and you probably have a slight concussion..."

He dropped the pen back in his pocket, still holding her gaze, "but if you ask me, your eyes are perfect."

Her cheeks flushed at the compliment and she gave him a coy smile. "Is that last part your professional opinion?"

"Definitely a personal one." He covered her hand giving it a gently squeeze. The chaos from the last twenty-four hours was slowly starting to unravel and aside from the mess on level eight they had come through the worst part unscathed. He deserved the break and there was no where else he wanted to be. "Are you hungry, do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, you've done way more than enough." She glanced down at his fingers as they absently brushed her knuckles. If it hadn't been for his actions she would've drowned and she breathed in deeply trying not to dwell too much on the fact. "Thank you... for getting me out of there."

"I shouldn't have sent you up there in the first place-" he admitted, feeling the weight of regret settle on his shoulders. It was something he still had to come to terms with and he averted his eyes, surprised when she locked their hands together.

"Hey-" she waited for him to look up, admonishing him for the guilt, "you are not allowed to blame yourself for my bad decisions. I've got a brother who does that, I don't need a boyfriend doing it too."

He raised an eyebrow deliberately sidelining the conversation, "boyfriend?" Maybe it hadn't been all of his fault but he definitely shouldered some of the blame and he was relieved when the plan to distract her worked.

"I mean, you know... is that, are we-" she fumbled awkwardly, dropping her gaze to their entwined fingers. Being a doctor made it hard to date like a regular person but it didn't feel like she was jumping the gun. She liked him, a lot... and even though they hadn't made anything official she'd hoped that was the direction they were headed. "That just sort of slipped out, I didn't mean boyfriend as in 'boyfriend' just like, you know friends that sometimes-"

"Amelia." He stopped her and slowly leaned forward, pressing his mouth to her lips in order to answer the question. She didn't need to have doubts, he wasn't going anywhere and if she was okay with it, then he was more than happy to call himself her boyfriend.

AN: So this is all I've written and I was thinking of potentially leaving the story here :) I'm going on holiday for a couple of days though, so I'll see where my muse takes me... it might want to keep going or do a sequel, or start something new :P But either way, thank you again for all the love :) xx