It was Saturday morning at breakfast that Cristina told Owen that she had a surprise for him. "A surprise!" Logan said, excitedly. He loved surprises and usually, surprises meant parties or a gift.
"Not for you, Logan," Cristina told her son. "It's for Owen." Logan's face fell but he brightened up right after. If it was a surprise for Owen, Logan was sure that Owen would share whatever surprise with him. After all, Logan concluded in his three-year-old mind, Owen was his friend and friends always share.
"Really?" Owen said. "A surprise? Should I be afraid?" He grinned. It was nice of her to try and surprise him.
"Of course not," Cristina said, firmly. "It is a good surprise and would I ever do anything to scare you?"
"You never know," Owen said. "Anyway, I am excited and I am sure Logan is, too. When do I get my surprise?" Logan showed his approval by yelping, loudly.
"Well, it is not here at the house. I am taking you somewhere," she said. "So right after breakfast, we will all head down to where the surprise is."
"Okay," Owen said. He did love the little outings with Cristina and Logan. Both Owen and Logan finished up their breakfast as fast as they could. They still had to wait, impatiently, while Cristina finished hers. "Hurry up, Mommy," Logan said.
"Well, I would be finished, if I didn't have to make sure you ate first," Cristina said. Logan recognized the logic of this but it did not make him less impatient. After she took her last bite, she said, "Finally done." Even though Owen did not say anything, he was just as anxious as Logan. He breathed a sigh of relief, which Cristina heard. She smiled.
"Well, okay then, let's get into the car," she said. "See ya, Joyce."
"See ya, folks. Have a good time," Joyce replied. Cristina held Owen's hand and led him to the front passenger seat of the car. Then, she buckled in Logan into his car seat. He kicked up his feet in glee.
"It is just about 45 minutes from here," Cristina said, as she turned on the ignition. It was a rather pleasant drive with Cristina having Owen and Logan guess where they were going. Every guess they offered was wrong, as it turned out. She turned into the driveway of a rather bright-looking building. Owen was pretty sure he heard a dog barking in the distance.
She got out of the vehicle and unbuckled Logan from his car seat. She then took Owen's hand and went into the building. It was there that Logan let the proverbial cat out of the bag. But in this case, it wasn't a cat. "Doggies!" Logan screamed. "There are doggies here, Owen."
"Logan's right, Owen," Cristina said. "There are lots of doggies here. This is Good Dogs, a guide dog organization to help people with disabilities. Owen, remember I promised you that I would look into getting you a guide dog to help you get around. I am going to be leaving in three weeks and I want to make sure that you have a dog." Owen felt a pang in his chest when he heard her mention that she was going to be leaving in three weeks. It just seem all too soon for her and Logan to be leaving his life. He couldn't let that happen.
"Ah, here she is," Cristina whispered to him. "The manager of the facility, Lorraine Gallagher." Owen nodded. "Mrs. Gallagher, we spoke on the phone. I am Cristina Yang. You don't know me but I recognize your picture from the organization's website."
"Yes," Mrs. Gallagher said. "You're looking for a guide dog for your friend. Well, as I explained, we usually take references before we take on a new client."
"Yes, I know that," Cristina said. "But this is Owen Hunt, the author." Cristina hoped that Owen's fame would get them a foot in the door. Mrs. Gallagher stared at Owen, before the recognition finally hit her.
"Oh my God. Owen Hunt. I love your books. Is there a new one coming out soon? Maybe for Christmas?" Mrs. Gallagher asked hopefully.
"Yes, we seem to be moving in that direction," Owen said. "Cristina has been helping me."
"I was very sorry to hear about your accident," Mrs. Gallagher said. "So I guess that is the reason why you are here, today."
"Well, yes, Cristina thinks that a dog might help me get out of the house, more," Owen said, giving the woman a dazzling smile. Mrs. Gallagher certainly felt the glare of that smile as she found herself blushing. She was glad that he couldn't see her blush because that would have just made it worse.
"I think so, too," she answered. "Do you want to come and meet some of our trainee dogs?"
"Yes!" Logan answered. "Doggies!" Mrs. Gallagher smiled at his enthusiasm. "I am sorry but this is my son, Logan. He is a little on the loud side. He is very excited about the dogs."
"Aww, it is good when people are excited about our dogs," Mrs. Gallagher said. Owen, Cristina and Logan followed Mrs. Gallagher into the facility. She showed them some of the dogs being trained. Cristina explained to Owen all of the activity.
"There is one dog I would like you to meet," Mrs. Gallagher said. "She is just about to graduate. Her name is Daisy. Troy, can you bring Daisy over?" She beckoned to a young man with a beautiful golden retriever, wearing a vest. Logan ran to them and hugged the dog, tightly.
"Logan, don't do that, she is training," Cristina chided her son. "She is wearing her vest."
"Oh, Daisy can handle the loving of a little boy," Mrs. Gallagher said. They watched as Daisy gave Logan a lick on the face. Logan, Troy and Daisy came across with Logan still patting the dog on her head.
"Daisy is nearly two years old and she has been training since she was eight weeks old," Mrs. Gallagher said. Cristina guided Owen's hand to feel Daisy's soft furry head. "She is really beautiful, Owen," Cristina told him. "She has the softest brown eyes." Daisy licked Owen's hand.
"Yes, well, somebody lucky is going to get Daisy," Troy, the young man said. "I am going to miss her like crazy but she is an excellent guide dog and she has the sweetest disposition ever."
"Do you think that you would be interested in Daisy?" Mrs. Gallagher asked Owen. "Yes," Cristina answered for him. Owen knew that Daisy was a lovely dog but he didn't want to make a commitment to take her as yet. He had other plans in the brewing but he knew if those plans didn't work out, he would still need Daisy. He nodded.
"Good," Mrs. Gallagher said. "We probably would need to start your training soon. It is not only about training the dog, it is also about training the person she is going to help."
"Yes, I understand," Owen said. "What about the week after?" Hopefully, by that time, he would have seen his doctor and gotten the verdict.
"Good, good," Mrs. Gallagher said. She would be happy if Daisy would be able to help him.
It was a lovely drive back to the house. Logan could not stop talking about how pretty Daisy was. It was clear that he would be extremely ecstatic if Owen brought Daisy back to the beach house. Cristina noticed how quiet Owen was. She reached out and touched his hand. "Is something the matter? You're very introspective," she said.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about when you and Logan leave. I will miss you both very much," he said. She squeezed his hand. "We're still going to be friends when we leave. When you're in New York, Logan and I would love to see you. Maybe we could go out to dinner somewhere, just the three of us," she told him.
"Yeah, that would be nice," he said. "Cristina, I have an appointment with my doctor in Portland, next week. I was wondering whether you could take me there." The truth was that he didn't have an appointment as yet but he was going to make sure he had one.
"Sure," she said. "Is something wrong? Are you in pain?" He could hear the anxiety in her voice. "No, no, I am okay. I am just doing a check-up," he said. "To see if everything is back in working order."
"Okay," she said. "That's a relief. I guess you, me and Logan can take the trip to Portland. It would be a nice break to get out of the house and into the city."
"Yes," he said. "It would be." He made a mental note to ensure that he made that appointment. It was very important.
Owen did get an appointment with his doctor at St. Finbar's Hospital. That was where he had all of his surgeries and spent a lot of recovery time, there. His main doctor was Dr. Harrison Edwards and that was whom he was going to visit.
Cristina, Logan and Owen set off early to Portland on the day of his appointment. After Owen's appointment, they were going to have lunch in the city, before heading back home.
At the hospital, Owen, Logan and Cristina were in the waiting room, awaiting for the receptionist to call his name. Logan had discovered a play area with toys, so he was happy. Then, the receptionist called out Owen's name. She came forward to guide him to the doctor's office. "Good luck," Cristina said.
"Your wife and son will stay out here?" the receptionist asked. Owen smiled before he answered, "Yes, Logan will probably get restless while the doctor and I have our conversation."
"He is very cute," the receptionist said. "And so full of energy. All of that curly hair, too."
"Yup," Owen replied. "That's our Logan." He was not going to correct the receptionist's misconception about Cristina and Logan being his wife and son.
In the examination room, Owen had his blood and urine taken and he underwent a series of tests. In the end, Dr. Edwards was very pleased.
"Other than your eyes, you seemed to have recovered incredibly well," Dr. Edwards said. "You are a perfectly healthy young man."
"Doctor Edwards, that is what I want discuss with you," Owen said. "I was hoping that something could be done about them. Remember a couple of months ago, you mentioned corneal transplants but I was not really that interested because of my attitude back then. I was terribly bitter and was undergoing so many other surgeries at the time that I just didn't want to listen. I think I am ready to listen, now."
"Well, it does seem that you do exude a more positive energy, right now. You seemed to have changed a lot. Is there a reason?" Dr. Edwards asked.
"Yes, someone has come into my life and it is because of her, I want to see whether I am a good candidate for it," Owen asked. "There is nothing more in the world I want than to see her face." Dr. Edwards smiled. Often, love and support were the key ingredients to a person's full recovery. It was clear that Owen had found that.
"I am glad that you found someone. Now I am no expert on eyes, so I will refer you to my colleague, Dr. Louis Kemper. He is a brilliant ophthalmologist. He would be the best one to tell you. I will take you across to him myself," Dr. Edwards said. "Let's go." He allowed Owen to take his arm and they walked out of the office. "Do you see her?" Owen asked. "Asian girl with lots of curly hair." Dr. Edwards looked around. "Yes, I see her. She is very pretty. Hopefully, you will get to see what she looks like," the doctor said. Cristina observed the two men leaving the office, wondering where they were going. She assumed that Owen was going to have another examination done elsewhere. She wasn't wrong.
At Dr. Kemper's office, Owen was examined by the ophthalmologist. "So, Doctor Kemper, what is the verdict?" Owen asked, eagerly. He was anxious to find out.
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