#rymeliafics

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.18

16th June 2019.

Owen awoke to an empty bed. At first, he was a little disappointed, but then the smell of pancake mix wafted into the bedroom, letting him know that she was downstairs making breakfast. He smiled to himself, thinking that he’d take a shower in the meantime.

Once he finished, and had thrown on a loose shirt and sweatpants, he ventured downstairs to greet the rest of his family. His family, he thought, smiling even wider, look at that; I have a family. The second he came into the kitchen, his eyes met with Amelia’s first, and they shared a fond smile with one another.

“Waffles?” she offered, handing him a plate. Owen gladly took it from her, sitting down in between Ryan and Rosie, while the twins sat in their high chairs, making a mess of the baby food in front of them.

“What are you drawing there?” Owen asked Rosie, looking over her shoulder.

“It’s a surprise,” the little two year old giggled, using her tiny arms to cover the page.

Owen chuckled, taking a huge bite out of his waffles. “Okay.”

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Amelia shared, unplugging the waffle maker, “Watch them?”

“Sure,” he nodded, enjoying the domesticity of their arrangement. Once she was out of the room, Rosie uncovered her masterpiece.

“It’s for mommy,” she said, pointing at the various stickmen she’d drawn on the paper, “This is you, mommy, Ry, and Finny and Izzie.” She gasped as she realised she’d forgotten an important detail. “Oh, I forgot to draw me!” Rosie quickly went back to work on the drawing, once again distracted.

“What about you?” Owen asked as he turned his attention to Ryan, “You making anything?”

“I got my gift already,” the seven year old proudly announced, “What did you get mom?”

“Uh…” Owen stuttered, not sure why he was supposed to get Amelia a gift.

“For her birthday, daddy!” Rosie exclaimed, “You gots something, right?”

Owen looked between the two kids, dumbfounded. “It’s her birthday today?”

“Oh, right,” Ryan realised, “You don’t remember.”

“She didn’t tell me,” he muttered, a little hurt.

“Maybe mommy forgot too,” Rosie explained as she scribbled away at her drawing.

“Well, what does mommy like?” he asked the two children. If anybody knew Amelia better than him right now, it would be them.

“Chocolates!” Rosie loudly stated.

“You like chocolates, Rosie,” Ryan reminded her, “Mom likes Chinese takeout and jolly ranchers.”

“And chocolate ice cream with wormies!” she enthusiastically added. Owen remembered Amelia telling him this not too long ago, and he thought it was cute that Ryan and Rosie were also privy to this information.

“Okay, okay,” Owen nodded, soaking in the suggestions, “And where do I get Chinese takeout and chocolate ice cream with wormies?”

“The place close to the hospital,” Ryan informed him, “Wong Lee’s.”

“Alright,” he mused, finishing one of his waffles, “Well then I’ll see what I can do.”

“You can’t just buy her food, daddy,” Rosie sighed, his ignorance frustrating her, “You have to buy a gift too.”

“What kind of gift?” Owen wondered aloud. Amelia didn’t seem like the type to fawn over makeup, and she’d barely worn jewellery in front of him, so what did she actually like?

“Diamonds!” Rosie squealed, “I learned that word yesterday.”

Being the mood killer, yet again, Ryan commented, “Rosie, you like diamonds.” Turning his attention back to Owen, he said, “We got that photoshoot thing last year, and the year before that, you got her some cool surgery.”

“That doesn’t really help at all,” Owen pondered, wondering what he could get Amelia that wouldn’t make her cringe.

Ryan shrugged. “Mom likes weird stuff.”

“Oh, you have to call the nanny too, daddy,” Rosie told him, a bit of disappointment in her voice, “You always call her on mommy’s birthday.” Ryan nodded, confirming Rosie’s story.

---

Owen and Amelia stood silently next to each other in the slightly packed elevator.

Leaning over, Owen whispered, “When were you going to tell me it’s your birthday?”

“I figured you would find out on your own,” she lightly teased, “Which you did.” Briefly, their knuckles awkwardly grazed against each other. Instead of pulling her hand away, and making the situation even more awkward, Amelia made a brave move and laced her index finger with his, longing for the familiar intimacy of his touch. A warm feeling overcame Owen as he felt her finger hold tightly onto his; he liked it.

“Two little kids told me that you liked Chinese food,” Owen hummed as the elevator came to a halt and people filed out, leaving just the two of them and a resident and nurse.

“Is that so?” she grinned, realising that Ryan and Rosie had sold her out.

“Yeah,” he smiled, taking a leap of faith and deciding to hold her entire hand. He was relieved to see that she hadn’t flinched or pulled away, but rather leaned closer to him as the last of the occupants exited the elevator, once it’d stopped.

“This is your floor,” she reminded him, watching the doors close once more. Owen looked down at her and smiled; he seemed to be smiling a lot today.

“I know,” he assured her, “I just wanted to hold your hand a little longer.” Her cheeks blushed bright red instantly at his comment. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d made her feel this nervous. Her feelings of excitement, nervousness and lust for him had long been replaced with more intimate feelings of love, comfort and security. Then, those feelings had been replaced with hatred, insecurity, grief and rejection. It felt odd to be having a small crush on her ex-husband.

“So what time do you get off work?” he asked as they approached her floor.

“7:00pm,” she answered.

“Oaky,” he said as the elevator stopped. Tenderly, he pressed his lips against her temple. “I’ll meet you at the front desk then?” She nodded, once again at a loss for words with his bombardment of affection. Hesitantly, she unlaced her hand from his and waved him goodbye before stepping off the elevator.

---

Meredith and Alex sat at the same lunch table as yesterday, accompanied by Arizona only this time, making small talk and picking at their food while they watched the personnel around them enjoy their lunch.

“Look,” Alex announced, pointing his fork in the direction of the food line. There, standing next to one another, was Owen and Amelia. Owen appeared to be saying something funny, because Amelia couldn’t stop smiling with every word he said.

“What about it?” Meredith commented, “It’s her birthday, maybe they’re just being polite.”

“I know what polite Shepherd looks like,” Alex commented with a grunt, “That’s not polite Shepherd, that’s flirty Shepherd.”

“So what?” Arizona chimed in, “Isn’t this what you guys wanted in the first place?”

“Well,” Meredith mused as the two walked over to their table, “It’s better than the arguing.” As Amelia and Owen sat down, the neurosurgeon was greeted with birthday wishes from the other three occupants at the table. Arizona, Alex and Meredith remained silent as they attempted to eavesdrop on the conversation the old couple was having.

“Okay, so Karev is the one with one kid,” Owen recalled, “Meredith has three now, Jackson and April have two, Callie and Arizona have two, and Maggie…”

“Maggie has none,” Amelia reminded him, “Yet, at least.”

“That’s a lot of play dates,” he laughed, only now noticing that the other three doctors sitting at the table were staring at them in awe.

“What?” Amelia asked, wondering what was so exciting.

“Kids,” Alex muttered, “You’re talking about kids.”

“I thought they were flirting or something,” Arizona murmured in Alex’s ear. Before Owen could respond, his pager went off.

“I’ll see you later?” he asked Amelia. She nodded and he gathered his lunch and swiftly made his way out of the cafeteria.

“I still think they’re screwing on the down low,” Alex reaffirmed to Arizona and Meredith.

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows and blushed, hearing clearly what Alex had said. “We’re not screwing.”

“Well, you guys are doing something,” Alex insisted, pointing his fork accusingly at the Shepherd, “Something happened between yesterday and today.”

Amelia sighed, not in the mood to keep up her façade. “Is it that obvious?”

“Yes,” all three surgeons confirmed. Amelia shrunk lower in her chair, embarrassed. She and Owen had never been able to hide their emotions when it came to each other. It was always blatantly obvious on either of their faces when something was going on.

“So did you screw?” Alex asked, getting straight to the point.

“No!” she exclaimed, turning her attention to her food in the hopes that they’d forget about her.

“Well, in the least, they kissed,” Arizona pointed out.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Amelia?” Meredith asked, always the voice of reason, “I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Amelia looked up at Meredith and noticed the concern in her eyes. Smiling softly in appreciation for her consideration, she shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Can we talk about somebody else’s problems?”

“We don’t have any problems,” Arizona teased, further adding with a sweet smile, “We’re all perfect.” Alex and Meredith chuckled in agreement, while Amelia rolled her eyes and sighed.

---

Meredith and Derek sat at the kitchen island, both snacking from a bowl of mixed nuts as they read their respective literatures. Meredith eyed Derek suspiciously, gauging his mood and wondering if she should say what she was about to say.

“Derek,” she called, still a bit reluctant.

“Yes?” he answered, without looking up from his journal. When no response came, he looked up at her, noticing she seemed a bit on edge, almost like she was keeping a secret. “What’s wrong, Meredith?”

“Has Amelia spoken to you?” she asked, reaching for more nuts.

“About what?”

“About…Owen,” she answered. The second the word left her mouth, she could see that he’d already tensed.

Returning his eyes to his magazine, Derek nonchalantly asked, “What about Hunt?”

“Well, they’ve been getting kind of close again,” she commented.

“He lives in the house with her, Mer,” he stated the obvious, “And they sleep in the same bed too, the therapist insisted on that. Of course they’d get close.”

“And you’re okay about this?” she further questioned, “About them possibly getting back together. About the possibility of him ruining her again?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice in the matter,” he sighed, slouching his shoulders in defeat. As much as he wanted to keep Amelia away from him and just ship Owen off to another country where he could never hurt his baby sister again, things weren’t that simple. “Of course I don’t want to see her get hurt again, but if things are meant to be with them, nothing we say or do will change that.” Meredith didn’t seem reassured, so he added, “Look how many times I’ve hurt you, aren’t we still here?”

“Maybe I should’ve left you,” she teased, standing up. As she walked around the table to head down the hall, she pressed a kiss to his forehead and said, “I hope you remember your words if he hurts her again.”

#omelia #omeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #rymelia #rymeliafics #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #isabella shepherd hunt #finn shepherd hunt #derek shepherd #meredith grey #arizona robbins #alex karev

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.19

Amelia came home at 9 that night, getting stuck in a surgery and having to cancel on whatever plan Owen had in mind to celebrate her birthday. She was disappointed, but the hospital wouldn’t stop running just because it was her birthday, and her patient needed her. Sighing, she plopped down onto the living room couch and cocked her head back, closing her eyes. She opened her eyes when she heard someone clear their throat and there, upside down in her vision, was Owen, staring down at her with a sympathetic smile. He was fully dressed in a tuxedo, clearly expecting to take her out tonight.

“Still up for your birthday dinner?” he asked.

“That Chinese place is probably closed by now,” she sadly admitted, not wanting to rain on his parade; he was dressed so nicely.

“I ordered takeout,” he said with a grin, “Come out back.” He held his hand out for her and she couldn’t say no; not that she wanted to. Once they’d gotten closer to their destination, Owen covered her eyes with his hands.

“Get ready,” he said once they’d reached the deck. Slowly, he pulled his hands away and she opened her eyes. A huge smile overtook her face as she saw the lit candles, the fancily covered table, the cheap looking boxes of Chinese food that she was so familiar with, and her two children, Ryan and Rosie, dressed in a matching tuxedo and dress, with no shoes to match, respectively. Owen remembered what Rosie had said this morning and figured it would be nice to include them in the birthday surprise this year. The two kids were ecstatic about spending the evening with their mom, and getting to stay up past bed time.

“Happy Birthday!” the two kids exclaimed, holding their gifts in their hands.

“Owen,” she whispered, feeling tears come to her eyes as she looked at the view in front of her.

“No crying on your birthday,” he murmured in her ear, “Only smiles.” He gently guided her towards the two children and Amelia stooped to their level.

“Here,” Rosie proudly announced, handing Amelia the drawing she’d created this morning, “Ry didn’t help me this time.”

“This is so beautiful,” Amelia told the little girl, pulling her in for a tight hug, “Thank you.” Ryan walked forward next presenting his gift in a tiny jewellery box. Amelia took the box from him and opened it, revealing an anklet that appeared to be slightly homemade, but the charms seemed to be purchased.

Her eyes watered as she looked at it. “Where did you get this?”

“I bought it when I went on the field trip,” he explained with a shy smile.

“I gave you that money to buy something for yourself, Ry,” she laughed, a tear finally falling. The boy shrugged, clearly not bothered. Amelia hugged him tight, momentarily feeling no guilt at the fact that he was her favourite.

“Let’s eat, huh?” she told the two children. They didn’t move, smiling expectantly at her, and Amelia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Owen cleared his throat, catching her attention. Standing up slowly, heart racing in her chest, Amelia turned to face him.

“I was told that Chinese food and dirt cups weren’t enough of a gift,” he said. Pulling out the gift from behind his back, he stuttered, “I know we haven’t been on good terms for a while, and the whole accident thing has made it so much harder for you, that I have made things so hard for you, but I think it’s important that you feel special, at least on your birthday.” He handed her the small box, and she opened it, a pair of diamond studs staring back at her. “I checked your dresser, so I know for sure you don’t have those kinds,” he reinforced. Amelia smiled as she stared back at the earrings.

“And you don’t find that a little creepy?” she questioned, gazing at him suspiciously, still smiling.

His entire face turned red. “Uh…”

“It’s okay,” she assured him, making him exhale in relief.

“This is also for you,” he told her, handing her a gift bag, “Something the kids and I chose out; a gift from all of us. I’d like to hard that it’s incredibly difficult to venture the mall with four kids.” Amelia laughed in agreement, took the bag from him and stuck her hand in, feeling fabric. Slowly, she pulled the garment out, revealing it to be a knee length, black dress; sleeveless with no back.

She blushed as she looked at the dress. “Owen…”

“Now you can fit in with the rest of us, mommy,” Rosie exclaimed, referring to their fancy clothes.

“You want me to wear this now?” Amelia wondered aloud, looking between the three family members. They all looked at her as if she asked a stupid question, nodding their heads slowly. She looked back at the dress and sighed, a chuckle escaping her lips. “Okay.” She took the dress, and her other gifts, and disappeared inside. Owen watched with a distracted gaze until she was out of sight.

“Aren’t you gonna go help?” Ryan inquired.

Owen looked back at the little boy and his face turned red again. “Uh, I don’t think she needs it, it doesn’t have a zip.”

“You have to tell her she’s pretty,” Rosie spelled out for him, “Duh, daddy.”

“Yeah, that’s how you used to help,” Ryan confirmed, shooing him with his hands, “Hurry up.” Owen nodded, reinvigorated by the encouragement of his children, and disappeared inside the house.

“I like this daddy more,” Rosie disclosed to her brother, once Owen was out of sight, “I hope he stays.”

Ryan looked down at her younger half and smiled. “Me too.”

---

“Oh, the twins fell asleep waiting up for you,” Owen said as he knocked and entered the bedroom, “Need any help?” He stopped in his tracks when he saw her in the dress, looking in the mirror. “Wow,” he muttered.

“It fits perfectly,” she whispered as she twisted and turned, eyeing the way it fit her figure. She turned to face him and smiled. “What do you think?”

He couldn’t stop looking at the dress as he walked towards her. “I…” He tried to look up at her face, but his eyes went back to the dress. “You look…” She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to kiss him. His hands went to her waist, pulling her to him as her fingers combed through his hair. The next thing he knew, Amelia had broken the kiss and pushed him onto the bed, straddling him. Once there, she kissed him again, tugging on his tie and loosening it.

“Kids,” he mumbled against her lips before she could pull off his tie and go any further, “Downstairs.”

“Right,” she laughed. She pulled away, still seated in his lap, as she readjusted his tie. Once done, the two shared a fond gaze and electricity passed between them, eyes equally as dilated.

“You look amazing, by the way,” he said, suddenly finding back his words.

“I know,” she cockily agreed, leaping off his lap. She took his hand and said, “Come on, let’s go. I’m starving.” The two returned to the makeshift dinner table, outback, and the family enjoyed the simple dinner, filled with jokes, laughter, and fancily dressed people with no shoes on.

#omelia #omeliafics #rymelia #rymeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #finn shepherd hunt #isabella shepherd hunt

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.17

“I hated you,” she admitted, wiping tears from her cheeks again. In a softer voice, she added, “I think I still do.”

Her words hit him hard. He held his face in his hands, unsure of how to process the information she’d just told him. “What was Megan telling me?”

Amelia shrugged. “You never talked about it. All I know is that your mom visited a couple times with you.”

Owen fought to catch his breath, suddenly feeling the walls closing around him. “I…I need to leave.” He stood up, haphazardly looking around for his car keys.

Confusion and hurt written all over her face, she said, “Owen, don’t leave. Where are you gonna go?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he dismissed, feeling on the verge of a panic attack. He felt like he was having an out of body experience, like the Owen that his ex-wife had just described was a completely different person. But no, it was him. He said and did all those cruel things to her, to his family and friends, and the worst part was that he couldn’t figure out why. “I just need to go.” He stormed out of the kitchen and, before Amelia could grab onto him and beg him one more time to stay, he was gone. A deep feeling of dread filled her entire being as she stared at their front door. History was repeating itself. She was unfortunately right when she told Derek that people didn’t change.

The further Owen walked away from the house, the harder the rain fell. By the time he reached the bus stop a few streets down, it was pouring. Sitting at the stop, he held his face in his hands as he tried to calm himself down and figure out his next move, the cold rain barely fazing him.

“It’s all your fault, Eeyore.” Owen jumped, quickly raising his face to see where the voice had come from. There, sitting across from him, was Megan.

“Leave me alone,” he told her, knowing his mind was playing tricks on him.

“It’s your fault I got on that helicopter,” she listed, standing up, “It’s your fault I went missing for so long.” She walked over to him, lowering her lips to his ears. “It’s your fault your wife hates you.” Standing up straight, she corrected herself, “Sorry, ex­-wife.”

“I stayed in the army for five years!” he yelled at her, “I looked for you for five years.”

“And I was missing for 12!” she screamed back at him, “Why didn’t you look harder?!”

“I am sorry, Meg.” Owen buried his face in his hands once more, trying to will the hallucination away. “I moved on because I thought I would never find you. I thought you had died.”

“I wish I did,” she muttered. Owen furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if his brain was subconsciously accessing his memories to create the hateful Megan in front of him now. “Your wife hates you. I hate you. The only person who could hate you more than we do right now, is yourself Eeyore.”

“I do,” he confessed, looking up at the sky. The rain was finally beginning to feel cold against his skin. “I hate myself, Megan. Are you happy?”

“No,” she answered, turning away. Before she walked off, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Do something about it.”

“What do you want me to do?” he asked her. When he heard no response, he looked at where he thought she was standing, only to find that she was no longer there. Instead, there was a relatively old man who had just sat down on the bench across from him, shaded by an umbrella. He used the newspaper in his hand to sit on so that the bench wouldn’t wet his attire.

“I’d offer you some shade,” he said, “But I don’t think it would make sense at this point.”

“Yeah,” Owen mused, looking down at his attire.

“Charles,” he introduced himself, “Who were you talking to?”

“Myself, I think.”

“You sounded pretty angry,” Charles disclosed, “I heard you from down the road, not that I’m trying to be nosy.” He looked over at Owen and smiled warmly. “Family problems?” The trauma surgeon’s silence confirmed his answer. Sensing his reluctance to speak about the issue, the man attempted to fill the silence. “I used to ride motorcycles when I was younger,” he informed him, “Or at least that’s what my wife used to tell me.”

Owen stared out at the rain pouring in front of them. “Accident?”

“Lost all of the best memories of my life,” he said, “And the worst.” He sighed looking up at the sky. “Apparently, I used to be a therapist. I had three kids who didn’t understand why daddy couldn’t remember them, and a wonderful wife who was so patient with me that I didn’t deserve it, to be honest.” Owen looked over at the man now, and Charles looked back at him. “But I didn’t remember them, so I didn’t love them; I didn’t even like them. I never imagined myself settling down and having kids, so I felt so trapped when I woke up in that hospital to my new life.”

“I feel like I’m trapped in a nightmare,” Owen confessed, running a hand stressfully through his wet hair, “Like everyone is in on the joke except for me. Like...”

“Like you’re standing up in front of your class, in your underwear,” Charles finished the thought for him, “Yeah, I know that feeling.” The rain began to settle as he continued to speak. “In a way, though, it felt like I’d been given a second chance to do things differently.” He looked over at Owen and asked, “Have you been given a second chance, Owen?”

Owen shrugged, not knowing the answer. “I think my chances have run out.” He covered his mouth as tears fell down his cheek. He had walked right out of the house, more importantly; he’d walked out on Amelia when all she was doing was trying to help. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about the fact that he was doing the same things he did before the accident. It was as if he’d learned nothing from his past behaviour.

“Well,” Charles mused as the rain turned into a light drizzle, “What would you do if you did have another chance?”

“Ask for forgiveness,” he scoffed, as if the answer was obvious.

“There’s only so much forgiveness you can ask for,” the guy chuckled, closing up his umbrella, “If I were you, and I’d been given another chance to fix what I broke…” He looked back at Owen. “Well, I don’t know what exactly I’d do but, for starters, I wouldn’t do the same thing that caused the problem in the first place, again.” Owen frowned at his information. He was right. He’d been cursed with this illness, yet blessed with a second chance to fix his relationship, and here he was, soaking wet at a bus stop, talking to some old guy.

“I have to go,” Owen said, standing up suddenly, “Thank you.”

---

Amelia couldn’t wait any longer on their bed. Owen had been gone for almost an hour, and it was raining. She was confused at his outburst, she was hurt that he’d walked out on her again, but mostly, she was worried about him and his whereabouts. She couldn’t lie to herself; as much as she didn’t want to, she still cared deeply for him; the towel she held in her hands as she waited for him only reinforced that thought, and she didn’t know if that meant that she still had feelings for him or not. All she knew was that she needed to know that Owen was okay.

“I think I might need a new phone,” a voice said. She snapped her head around, only to find Owen at the door of their bedroom, soaked from head to toe. Clothes stuck to every inch of his muscles and, if it wasn’t for the tense situation they were in, she might’ve thought it was kind of sexy. She watched as he walked around the bed and towards her. He then sat in front of her, setting the phone on the floor next to him, and smirked at her.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, his eyes red from crying. Suddenly, a goofy smile overtook her face. “Why…Why are you smiling?” he asked, confused at her sudden change in demeanour.

She eyed his entire being before saying, “It’s hard to take you seriously when there are water drops hanging off of your golden eyelashes.” Owen smiled and laughed softly as Amelia used the towel in her hands to pat his face dry. He then proceeded to pull his shirt over his head before she ruffled his hair with the same towel. Owen stared at her fondly through the entire experience, a soft smile on his face.

“What was it like?” he asked her as she dried his neck and chest, “Before all the bad stuff. What were we like?” She remained silent for a minute, trying to find the right words to describe the kind of love they used to have.

“We were every sense of the word imperfect, but we were so happy,” she disclosed, running the towel along his arms, “A lot of crappy stuff happened to us, but we made it through.”

“What kind of crappy stuff?”

In a casual tone, Amelia recalled, “Hypothermia, relapses, PTSD, car accidents, a miscarriage...” She smiled to herself as she added, “Come to think of it, most of these things happened to me, actually, not us.”

“You are really unlucky,” he joked.

“Yeah,” she agreed, “The most normal thing to happen to us that was bad was that time you had your appendix taken out and the time I got my appendix taken out.” Owen laughed, finding the statement hilarious. They were bad luck charms.

“How have we lasted this long?” he wondered, still chuckling.

“We didn’t,” she reminded him, accidentally darkening the mood. Once she realised what she’d said, she added, “No filter. Sorry.”

Owen curled his lips into a coy smirk as he analysed her previous statement. “I should be the one apologising.” She stopped drying him and held the towel in her hand, gazing at him as she shrugged. She passed the towel through his hair one more time as she contemplated whether to say what had been on her mind for a little while.

“Ex-wife to ex-husband?” she teased, handing him the towel. He rolled his eyes playfully at her choice in labels, but waited for her to finish. “Sometimes I forget what it was like when we were happy, even what it was like to just kiss you.”

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t remember it at all,” he joked, making her giggle. He liked the sound of her laugh and the way it made her dimples sink into her cheeks. He didn’t know if it was a habit or if she did it to get his attention, but Owen didn’t miss the way she softly bit her bottom lip, trying to hide her smile. In one swift motion, he got up on his knees to be on her level, causing his body to get closer to hers. His sudden invasion of her space made her cheeks turn red and her heart jump with adrenalin. He was giving her that look. That look that he used to give her right before he was about to kiss her. She didn’t even think he knew he was giving her that look.

Resting his hands on either side of her on the bed, Owen unapologetically stared at her bitten bottom lip. “Can I kiss you?” Although she knew that was what he was going to do anyways, hearing him ask it made her heart race even more.

For a moment, she lost her voice, opening her mouth and no words coming out. “We…shouldn’t.”

“You’re right, we shouldn’t.” He nodded, but made no movements to distance himself from her. He knew she didn’t have many residual feelings for him, but he couldn’t resist so instead, he got even closer, his nose brushing against hers as their foreheads touched. Relishing in the all too intimate feeling, Amelia closed her eyes and sighed peacefully.

“We have a lot of problems,” she reminded herself more than him, her cheeks flushing the longer they stayed so close to each other.

His hands made their way to her thighs before slowly running up her sides. “So you’ve told me.” Dear lord, she couldn’t get the thoughts that were going through her, out of her mind. The smell of her shampoo was flooding his senses now. It was all so familiar, yet all so new.

“We are divorced,” she added, hoping the information would discourage him from continuing. She wouldn’t stop herself if he kissed her, so she needed him to be the bigger person and stop.

“You’ve also told me that,” he whispered, his hands making their way to her shoulders now. They snaked up her neck and cupped her cheeks, his thumbs caressing the skin there. At this point, she felt as though her heart would leap out her throat.

“Owen…” Before she could finish the rest of her sentence, his lips were on hers. He’d started off slow, soft touches and brushes of his tongue against her bottom lip; he wasn’t sure how she liked to be kissed. However, unbeknownst to him, the gentle kissing only served to provoke Amelia and make her want more. She pulled his hands away from her face, fed up with being treated like a fragile antique, and laced her hands in his hair, softly pulling on it and knowing that he would part his lips, giving her entrance into his mouth. Owen moaned softly at the assaultive kiss; he was surprised at how assertive she was being. He somehow thought of her as a modest lover, but the way she was kissing him right now, he could tell she was anything but that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her as she lay back on the bed. He went with her, holding his body up by his hands as he covered her body with his. If they kept this up, pretty soon she’d be able to feel his excitement, and he wasn’t sure if she was planning to go that far with him.

“Pants,” Amelia rasped as she pulled away from him, pushing on his chest. Or maybe she was planning to go that far.

“Are you sure?” he sought to confirm, not wanting to push her too far.

“No, Owen,” she exclaimed, “Your pants are wet.” Quickly, he leapt off the bed, but the damage was done. There was a huge wet spot covering Amelia’s lower body and shorts, not to mention the comforter.

“Sorry,” he sheepishly announced, his cheeks red with embarrassment, “I thought you meant-,” Just then, her pager went off. Disappointment filled Owen’s entire being as he remembered that she was on call.

“I have to go,” she said as she read the message. She stood up, heading to the bathroom while he searched for some fresh, dry clothes.

Almost 10 minutes later, she reappeared in black jeans and a plain t-shirt, grabbing her items from her bedside table as she made her way out of the bedroom. At the door she paused and turned around, remembering that she’d left some unfinished business.

She walked to where Owen was patiently sitting down and planted a quick peck on his lips. “We’ll finish this when I get back.”

Owen nodded; he was fascinated by this side of her that he’d managed to bring out. “Okay.” She kissed him one more time before leaving the bedroom.  “Amelia,” he called, stopping her exit. She quickly turned around and looked at him expectantly. “You should wear your hair down more,” he said, “I like the way it looks.”

Her cheeks turned red yet again as she processed the compliment, but she eventually settled for smiling shyly. “You told me that when we first started dating.” And with that, she was gone. Once he heard the front door slam shut, Owen fell back onto the bed and exhaled loudly, closing his eyes as a stupid grin took over his face. He had kissed Amelia. He had finally kissed Amelia. He sighed dreamily, replaying the kiss in his mind.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide and froze with fear. He just made out with his ex-wife.

“Oh crap,” he berated himself, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. He had a feeling this was going to get very messy very quickly.

#echo #au #au fics #rymelia #rymeliafics #omelia #omeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #oc #omeliafanfic #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #megan hunt

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.15

15th June 2019.

“Amy?” Derek called as he entered the empty skills lab, “You paged me, is everything alright?”

Amelia turned around in her chair. “I don’t know.”

“Well, what’s wrong?” he concernedly asked, coming to her table and sitting down next to her.

“Is it possible to have phantom pain and not have an amputated limb?” she asked in a soft voice, looking down at her lap.

Derek smirked, unsure of where this conversation was going. “You’re a neurosurgeon, you already know the answer.”

“My hand hurts,” she whispered, squeezing her hand, “A lot.”

“Well,” he mused, leaning back in the chair, “It’s only been two weeks since the accident, that’s expected.”

“It wasn’t hurting before,” she added, tears coming to her eyes, “It started hurting yesterday after the meeting.”

Derek sat up, treading lightly, afraid to say the wrong thing. “What kind of pain?”

Amelia shrugged. “Pressure. Sometimes I can physically feel the window of the airplane squeezing my wrist.”

“Maybe you should consider other diagnoses,” Derek said, slowly adding, “Like…PTSD…”

Amelia chuckled bitterly. “Funny, you’re not the first person to tell me that.” She looked down at her hand, feeling it squeezing, as though the blood circulation was being cut off from it. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to take her mind off of it.

“It’ll go away,” he assured her, taking her hand in his. He ran his thumb along the back of her hand, around her wrist, then along her palm. “How’s it going with Owen?”

“Hmm?” she hummed, momentarily distracted by his massage, “Oh, it’s okay. He told me he remembered something else yesterday.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Something about me making waffles.”

Derek chuckled, reversing the pattern of the massage. “Your waffles are hard to forget, I’ll have to admit.”

“The waffle maker does most of the work,” she dismissed, smiling a little.

He shook his head and smirked, stopping his massage. “Let’s go for lunch, it’ll take your mind off things.” She nodded and stood up, joining him in his walk to the cafeteria.

---

“Derek, Arizona and I got more than that when our plane crashed,” Meredith commented as she, Maggie, Arizona, Alex and Owen sat at the cafeteria table, having lunch.

“I don’t want the money,” Alex grunted, stabbing his fork into his salad, “I just want to forget the thing ever happened. Our kid almost lost both her parents and I hate thinking about that. No amount of money can ever make me forget that.”

“Just your kid?” Maggie commented, taking a bite of her sandwich, “Owen and Amelia’s four kids almost lost both their parents too.” Looking over at Owen, she added, “I don’t know if I’d actually have been able to fulfil my godmother duty for all four of those gremlins.”

Meredith chuckled. “Agreed, huh Owen?” When no response came, Meredith looked over at where Owen was sitting and noticed he was staring intently in another direction. “Owen?” She tapped him on his shoulder.

“Hmm?” he hummed, looking at them dumbfounded, “What were you saying?”

“Who were you looking at?” Maggie inquired suspiciously.

“No one,” he lied. Being directly opposite to Owen, Maggie looked over his shoulder, only to see the two Shepherd siblings having lunch across the cafeteria.

“He’s looking at Amelia,” she announced, pointing her fork in his direction.

“No I wasn’t,” he denied, his cheeks turning red already.

“Amelia and Owen, sitting in a tree,” Arizona teased, making Alex and Meredith chuckle, “K-I-S-S…”

“Not funny,” he said, cutting her off, “Amelia and I aren’t sitting in trees and we definitely aren’t kissing.” He looked over at the table she was sitting at and, longingly, sighed.

“Not yet,” Meredith added.

“Not at all,” Owen corrected her, turning back around.

“But you want to kiss, don’t you?” Arizona continued the game, enjoying it.

“No, I don’t!” he exclaimed, their teasing making his entire face turned red.

“He definitely wants to suck her face,” Alex pointed out.

“And so what if I do?” Owen finally confessed, stabbing his fork into his pasta and almost breaking the plastic, “What’s so wrong with that?”

“Other than the fact that you guys cheated on each other and then got divorced in like, a month?” Meredith said, stating the obvious.

“It’s a shame you can’t remember how heavy you and Shepherd used to go at it in the on-call rooms,” Alex sighed, taking a sip of his coffee, “At least you would’ve had the memories to keep you satisfied. Now, all you probably have is fantasies.”

“I don’t fantasise about Amelia,” he said, which was true. He didn’t fantasise about her, just occasionally wondered what it would be like to have his tongue brushing against hers. Or other parts of his body.

“Of course you don’t,” Alex humoured him.

“Hey, at least this is better than the bickering,” Arizona chimed in, “That was annoying.” The other doctors hummed in approval while Owen stared at all of them in confusion.

“You guys fought a lot,” Maggie informed him, “Like, every day, more than three times a day.”

“About what?” he asked.

“Everything,” they all answered at the same time.

“Little stuff like leaving the toilet seat up, closing cabinets, putting stuff back in the right place,” Meredith mused.

“Then there was the big stuff like lying, cheating, you drinking,” Maggie added, “Oh, and Megan of course.”

“Why would we be fighting about my sister?” Owen wondered.

“You didn’t tell Amelia she was alive,” Meredith told him, “Not to mention, every time you visited her in DC, you’d come back drunk.”

“You came to work drunk , a couple times,” Arizona piped in.

“Wow,” Owen said, suddenly feeling extremely guilty. He turned around and looked at Amelia once more, feeling even more terrible for what he’d possibly put her through. He watched as she spoke with the Derek, the way her dimple popped when she laughed at whatever joke he made, and he smiled, her happiness infectious.

“He definitely wants to bang her,” Alex chimed, noticing the dreamy look on Owen’s face.

“How do I fix this?” he asked them once he turned around.

“I don’t know if that’s possible at this point,” Arizona truthfully remarked, “Once you stop loving someone, there’s not much more you can do.”

“I find it hard to believe that I ever stopped loving her,” he said, “I just want to know what happened, so I can fix it.” In a softer voice, he added, “I don’t think our story was meant to end like this.” The four doctors looked at him, pity on all of their faces.

Ceasing the jokes, Meredith said, “You should ask her for the whole story. Maybe that will help.” Owen nodded appreciatively at her.

---

Owen and Amelia stood side by side as they washed the load of dishes together. Having put the kids to bed a little while ago, Owen was glad to have her all to him, so they could talk.

“Amelia,” he said softly, the noise of dishes hitting each other louder than his own voice, “Can we talk?” His ex-wife froze midway through washing a plate. He watched as she slowly began to scrub the plate again.

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked, handing the plate to him to rinse.

“About what happened between us,” he said.

“I told you what happened already,” she reminded him.

“No, I want the whole story,” he clarified, putting the plate to dry and taking the other one from her hand, “You only told me about the cheating and the divorce. I want to know what happened before that.”

“Owen…” she sighed, closing her eyes briefly, “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Please,” he begged, setting down the dish now as he faced, “I know you’re not supposed to tell me everything about my life, but I deserve to know what happened to me. To us.”

Handing him the last plate, she shut off the water and sighed. “What’s the point?”

Owen paused for a bit before answering her question. “I may not be able to fix our marriage, Amelia, but I don’t want to make the same mistakes again. I’m tired of apologising; I want to do something about it.” He put the plate away and faced her now. “Please tell me what happened, so I can be a better person in the future, for myself at least.”

“Let’s go sit,” she suggested. He followed her to the living room and they sat on the couch. Not wanting to push her, he watched as she fiddled with her finger in her lap, intently focused on them. Quickly, she wiped a stray tear from her eye as she mustered up the courage to talk about the painful five months they’d been through that eventually led to their divorce.

“Megan’s in a rehab facility in DC,” she began, unsure of how exactly to bring across the story, “You would visit her on the weekends.” She smiled sadly to herself as she recalled, “I remember dreading the weekends and the days following it, because that was when you’d be at your worst.” Owen internally cringed at her statement. She made him feel like he was an abusive drunk.

“The problems started from when you first visited her,” she told him.

#omelia #omeliafics #au #au fics #rymelia #rymeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #derek shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #arizona robins #meredith grey #maggie pierce #alex karev #jo wilson

[drreporting]

How ‘It’ Came To Be

Owen was pretty sure that if he had to guess when he and Amelia had conceived the twins, it would’ve been the night of that gala they went to. They hadn’t had sex in almost a month, something that was a direct cause of the depression that followed right after that meeting they had with the fertility specialist. Although there was nothing physically wrong with either of them, Amelia had convinced herself that she’d run out of luck in her life and this was it for her, which led to a spiralling depression. Two weeks after, they decided, well, he decided that they should adopt a pet or something of the sorts. Mr. Jefferson, the cat Amelia ended up begging Owen to adopt, had oddly enough brought a lot of joy back into their lives. Jeff, as they nicknamed him, had Amelia make a complete 360; it was weird and intriguing. Every day, she’d wake up happier, and a happy her meant a happy him.

15th October 2017.

The gala was a small event that had been hosted by a hospital a couple towns away from Grey Sloan. All the heads of departments from Grey Sloan were invited and, as such, Amelia and Owen were required to go. The going part wasn’t a problem for either of them, although they weren’t too excited to go, it was the getting ready that was the problem. Whereas Owen had a perfectly scheduled set of events that led to him being ready at 7, Amelia was only just jumping into the shower at that time.

“Really?” Owen sighed as he stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, watching his wife sneak into the shower.

“Not everybody’s spent over five years in the army, Major,” she lightly teased him as she turned on the water.

“Amelia, we have to be there for 9:00,” he complained as he brushed his teeth, “The drive is an hour, which means we have to leave here by 7:45 so we can get there fifteen minutes early.”

“When are you going to get that stick up your ass removed?” she inquired from within the shower.

“When you start caring about being punctual,” he grumbled, rinsing his mouth.

“If it helps, I brushed my teeth first,” she nonchalantly told him, “So that’s out of the way.”

Owen clenched his teeth, knowing she was provoking him. “That’s great, Amelia.”

In ten minutes, Amelia was out of the shower and Owen had managed to fully dress himself, except for tying his bowtie. He couldn’t help but ogle a little at her, soaking wet and only covered by her towel.

“Stop staring at me,” she laughed, catching him red handed, “I would hate to distract you from your strict time schedule.”

“I’ve given up on my schedule because I know we’ll end up leaving late anyways,” he declared, his face clearly showing his disappointment with her lackadaisical behaviour.

“You’re acting like this is the first time I’m doing this,” she giggled, tucking her towel before going to help him fix his tie, “You shouldn’t have married me if you couldn’t deal with this.”

“Well, it’s not too late for us to get a divorce,” he laughed, watching in adoration as her slim fingers weaved around his neck to fix the tie. She briefly glanced at him and rolled her eyes.

Owen sighed and smiled, watching the determined, yet peaceful look on her face. “You look happier.”

Their eyes met and she smiled. “I am.” She finished the last knot on his bowtie and then smoothed it out, looking him up and down. “I’m other things too…” Owen didn’t miss the way she nibbled on her bottom lip as she said the words.

Bells were ringing in his head, and other places, as he took in her words. “Other things too?”

She nodded, going up on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on his lips. Almost immediately, Owen lowered his neck and wrapped his hands around her waist as her tongue glided across his top lip. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d shared a kiss that lasted more than a peck. He was frustrated and confused when she pulled away, but there was a mischievous smile on her face as she eyed the print of his erection on his dress pants.

“If only we had time,” she huffed playfully, “But we shouldn’t be any later than we already are. I know you like being on ti-,” Owen lifted her by her waist onto their bathroom sink.

“Don’t tease me and expect no consequences,” he warned her. She noticed the primal way he stared at her, and she couldn’t help but be incredibly turned on by it, pulling him back by his collar for another kiss. He pulled the towel off of her, his hands instantly going to her breasts and kneading them eagerly, his member flexing against the restraints of his pants as she moaned in his mouth.

“Bed,” he managed to whisper as she unbuckled his pants.

“Here,” she demanded, letting his pants drop to the floor. She shrugged his boxer briefs down and grabbed him while he haphazardly felt around for the bottle of lube they kept by the sink.

“What’s gotten into to you?” he chuckled at her insistence, opening the bottle and squirting some in his hand before applying it. He then pulled her impossibly close to the edge of the countertop, slowly pushing himself into her.

“Is this okay?” he concernedly asked when she gasped, not wanting to hurt her or make her feel uncomfortable.

She answered by kissing him and wrapping her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper into her. “You’re fine.” He smiled softly, lacing his fingers with hers and pinning her hand down on the mirror behind them as they finally made love after so long. With each thrust, he could slowly feel her relaxing around him and, soon enough, they’d found a tantalisingly slow rhythm that had the both of them moaning softly. The only time he stopped was to pull her off the countertop and turn her around, bending her over the sink. His thrusts this time were faster and deeper and the look of pure bliss on her face as he gazed at her in the mirror only increased his arousal.

“Fuck,” he moaned as he watched her. Feeling his orgasm coming, he raised her body and brought her close to his chest, wrapping his fingers around her neck in a light choke as he rubbed on her core. Within minutes he could feel her panting and moaning getting louder, her hair and body soaking the entire front of his dress shirt. Her soft cry of pleasure, in conjunction with the contractions he was feeling around his dick, let him know that she’d finally orgasmed. As her pleasure began to die down, he moaned, loudly, releasing himself into her. They both bent over the sink now, trying to catch their breaths as they lazily looked at each other and grinned softly.

“How did we go so long without this?” she thought aloud.

“I don’t know,” he huffed, still trying to catch his breath, “All I know is that I love you and I’m glad it happened, even though it was short and there’s so much more I want to do to you.”

She smiled coyly. “Even though I made us late?”

He narrowed his eyes at her in the mirror. “Don’t push it.” He pulled out of her and stepped back, looking down at his now wet suit. “I’m gonna have to put this in the dryer.”

She turned around and proudly eyed the mess she’d caused on him. “Sorry.”

He rolled his eyes. “No you’re not.”

---

Although Owen and Amelia tried their best to sneak downstairs to the laundry room undetected, Ryan was quick to notice their presence.

“Mr. Owen?” he called out, seeing Owen first, “Why are you sneaking?” It was then he noticed Owen’s attire. “And why are you wet?”

“Oh, Dr. Hunt, Dr. Shepherd,” Sam, their babysitter, greeted them from the couch, bouncing Rosie in her lap, “I was just about to come up and ask what time you guys were planning to return…” Her eyes opened wide as she noticed the large, wet stain on Owen’s shirt, which just so happened to be around the same width as the wife innocently standing next to him in one of his jerseys, drying her hair with a towel. Instantly, Sam’s cheeks turned red. “Uh, I…um...”

“I’m just going to put these clothes to dry,” Owen said slowly, his face redder than hers, “There was a problem with the sink upstairs and I got wet.”

“Very wet,” Amelia added, just to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Amelia!” he hissed, softly elbowing her. She only responded with a Cheshire grin.

“Um…Okay,” Sam said slowly, having a good idea of what had happened to get him that wet. The three adults all stood awkwardly, staring at one another.

“Well,” Owen started, breaking the silence, “We’ll be in the laundry room.”

“Okay,” Sam dragged eyeing them suspiciously, “I hope the pipe in there doesn’t break too.”

Amelia burst out laughing, but Owen found the situation anything but funny, his pink blush now spreading to his ears.

#smut #omeliafic #omelia #omeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #au #au fics #rymelia #rymeliafics #things change #convalescence

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.12

“Right there.” She pointed to a spot on the scan. “Then evacuate  there. If all goes well, Cross should be able to at least feel his legs after surgery.”

“Hmm,” Derek mused, thinking over the game plan Amelia had given him five minutes prior, “Your plan is solid. It’d be nice to have you assist in surgery, though.”

“I’d like to be in it,” she agreed, “But Avery hasn’t cleared me yet.”

“Bummer.” Derek looked over at her and smirked. “How’s things with Owen?”

Amelia bit her bottom lip, thinking about this morning. “Is it bad that I like this version of him better?”

“No,” he answered, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at the scans once more, “But it’s not real. You know that, right?”

“What’s not real?” she asked, annoyed by his statement.

“This version of him, the version of him before he became a father and a husband. He’s lost a considerable amount of development that made him the person you married and birthed children for,” he briefly described, looking over at her, “He’s regressed in understanding his life and how he plays a role in it. That’s going to catch up to him.” He looked back at the scans, adding, “And you.”

She wanted to ignore him, especially because what he was saying was somewhat true. This Owen was not her Owen. Her Owen was estranged and emotionally unavailable and, now, divorced by her. This Owen couldn’t even remember meeting her, far less liking her. What if he never regained his memories and this was no longer the life he wanted? What would she do? Their kids?

“Well, it’s not like we were together before,” she muttered, despite the many thoughts running through her head at the very moment, “What’s different now? We’re nicer to each other? Sounds like a better deal to me than what was happening before.”

“I’m just saying,” he lectured her, “Don’t go falling in love with the wrong Owen.”

“There’s only one Owen, Derek,” she told him sternly, “Memories or not, he’ll still likely respond to things the same way.”

“I disagree,” he responded, “The future always has the ability to change.” He bumped shoulders with her, winking. “Maybe for the better, too.”

“Owen and I are not a thing anymore,” I say, more to myself than him, “We’re divorced.”

“The entire hospital knows you guys cheated on each other, by the way,” he informed her, “I heard a nurse talking about how she walked in on your yelling match with him.” He turned off the illumination and grabbed the scans. “Divorced?”

“Yeah, divorced,” she confirmed, “I filed a little over a month ago. We didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“So why are you telling me now?”

She shrugged. “Because now it’s real and official. I guess I was trying to avoid accepting that.”

“Was it mutual?” he asked, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Less 50/50, more 75/25,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself, “I’m the 75.”

“I’m sorry,” he truthfully told her, pulling her in for a hug, “I didn’t know things were that bad.”

“Well, if it helps,” she mumbled into his lab coat, “Things are a lot better now that he has no clue what the heck is going on.”

Derek snorted. “You are terrible.”

---

4th May 2019.

“Owen, what are you doing here?” Amelia sighed when she opened the front door at minutes to 9pm, only to find him on the other side.

“I just,” he began, unsure of what to say, “I just want to see them.”

“You know I can’t do that,” she said, blocking him from coming inside, if he tried to, “Not to mention you’re drunk.”

“I’m not that drunk,” he told her, tears falling in anguish, “I just had a couple beers.”

She stepped outside the house, closing the door behind her. “We agreed on weekends, Owen.”

“I know,” he whimpered, wrapping his arms around his chest to hold himself together, “It’s just, I had a bad day and Megan…I just…please, Amelia…”

Amelia sighed, feeling tears stinging the back of her eyes. “No, Owen.”

He looked into her eyes for any sign of falter and found none. “Fine.” He angrily stomped away, stopping by the curb and sitting down, not knowing where to go from there. She watched as he held his face in his hands, silently crying on the side of the curb.

---

“Rivastigmine,” he recited, handing her the prescription, “Apparently they use it in Alzheimer’s patients, but he said that they’re doing this trial with head trauma victims and-”

“I know,” she answered, analysing the prescription for a dosage.

“Oh right,” he grinned, “World class neurosurgeon. Forgot.” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her; she didn’t even seem to be paying attention to him. They walked down the hall in silence for a bit, just him staring at her staring at a prescription. He found that he liked watching her think about things, which was weird. It was such an odd thing to like about a person.

“Here,” she said, handing the prescription back to him, “It’s yielded great results in the trial, I hope it works for you.”

“Me too,” he answered as they approached the day care, where Callie and Arizona already were, “I’d really like to know all of you.” Amelia froze, stopping dead in her tracks by the glass window pane to the day care.

When Owen picked up on her shock, he quickly added, “No! Not like all of you all of you. Just the good parts.” She turned around and stared at him in confusion now. “And the bad parts too!” he quickly added, making her even more confused. “The good and the bad,” he finished, hoping he saved himself, “Everything. Naked. In the open.” Her cheeks turned red at the mention of the word naked, a tinge of embarrassing horror covering her face.

Realising he’d screwed up again, Owen tried to cover his tracks once more. “Not like you naked or anything; I’m not thinking about that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and held his breath, hoping she’d say something, anything. When she didn’t, he added once more, “I’m definitely not thinking about you naked on top of me.” Nice going, Owen, he thought to himself.

Her look of horror slowly morphed into a kind smile. “Do you want me to pretend you never said any of this?”

Owen finally exhaled. “Yeah…”

“Okay,” she chuckled, taking his hand and guiding him into the room, “Come on.”

The second they got into the room, Owen heard a word thrown at him that he never thought he’d ever hear.

“DADA!” he heard them yell at him. Instantly, he felt his chest tighten. These were his kids, he was their father. It was all so surreal.

“Are you going to say hi?” Amelia asked when Owen stayed at the door. He was still stuck on the fact that they’d called him dada.

“Yeah,” he muttered, feeling the tears sting his eyes already. Amelia watched as Owen cautiously approached the two babies, kneeling down next to them. However, the second he got on the floor, Finn and Isabella jumped him, toppling him over. She smiled as she watched Owen lay there on the floor, laughing with the kids. Their kids.

“Not gonna join in on the happiness?” Arizona chirped when she noticed Amelia had chosen to remain by the door.

Amelia took a sharp inhale. “Yeah, I’m just…I don’t know…”

“Absorbing it,” she finished for her, looking at Owen now, too, “It’s hard not to look at the guy and feel your ovaries weep, and that’s a lot coming from a lesbian.”

The Shepherd covered her mouth with one hand to fight off a laugh. “You always say too much, Robbins.”

“I know,” she said happily, turning to leave.

#echo #omelia #omeliafics #omeliafic #rymelia #rymeliafics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #derek shepherd #finn shepherd hunt #isabella shepherd hunt #callie torres #arizona robbins

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.11

10th June 2019.

Owen randomly awoke at 3am to an empty bed, Amelia nowhere in sight. He looked over at her side, at how empty it looked, and felt as though he had something to do with it. Maybe she was uncomfortable sleep next to him, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted to find her.

He sat up in bed, hearing a faint sniffle as he did so. Unsure of where it was coming from, Owen remained silent, listening to see if he’d hear the noise again, and he did. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom, but the lights were off. Regardless, he decided he’d investigate.

He entered the bathroom and turned on the lights, only to find Amelia on the floor by the toilet, crying with a roll of toilet paper in her hand. As soon as she recognised him, she began quickly wiping away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

“Sorry,” he quickly said, feeling like he was in her personal space, “I was just worried about where you went.” He stood awkwardly at the door, unsure of what to do or say. “Is…Is everything okay?”

“Not really,” she answered honestly. She squinted at the sudden brightness in the bathroom. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” he said, turning off the light. He then proceeded to sit across from her, on the floor of the bathroom. “We won’t talk about it, then.” He couldn’t see it, but Amelia was looking at him suspiciously, trying to figure out what he was up to. “Can I at least ask if it was a bad dream or something?”

“You can’t ask,” she said, “But no, it wasn’t.”

“So you just occasionally come into the bathroom to cry on the floor, then?” he lightly joked, stretching out his legs in front of him, the tips of his toes a few centimetres away from her crossed legs.

“Pretty much,” she smiled, wiping her cheeks with the toilet paper again, “Motherhood does that to you.”

“I think it’s more than that,” he accurately described, “But we’re not supposed to be talking about it, remember?” As his eyesight adjusted, he was beginning to see the outline of her small figure, huddled next to the toilet.

He heard a small giggle. “We’re not talking about it,” she confirmed, sighing after.

“So you like ice cream,” he hummed, changing the topic in hopes of raising her spirits, “What other sweet stuff do you like?”

“I can’t think of any right now, but I have an unhealthy obsession with pancake syrup,” she conveyed. He could finally see her face in the dark, and she was smiling.

He smiled. “What about skittles?”

“Jolly ranchers,” she corrected him, “And gummy worms; the sour kind.” Her legs stretched out and bumped into the sides of his knees as she relaxed a little more. “Especially on chocolate ice cream.”

“What, like a dirt cup?” he asked, feigning disgust while also grinning.

“Exactly like a dirt cup,” she confirmed, a short laugh escaping her lips. Owen watched as she mindlessly fiddled with the foot of his pyjama pants, the action painfully familiar to him. “How are the memories going?”

“Nothing solid, just feelings,” he said, mesmerized by the way his fabric curled around her fingers so delicately, like she was afraid to rip his pants. “Some of the things you and the kids do seem familiar, but I don’t remember anything specific.” She nodded, remaining focused on playing with his pant.

“Does this mean you know what I like too?” he asked.

There was a coy smile on her face as she nodded. “All the boring, sugar free, follow the rules, child-safe stuff.”

He laughed. “That sounds exactly like me.”

“Well, you break the rules sometimes,” she relented, softly adding, “For me.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that,” he agreed, “You have a very manipulative way about you.”

“I do,” she confirmed, smiling to herself. There was a brief silence between them for a little bit before Owen broke it once more.

“I want to meet the twins,” he announced with conviction, “For real, this time.”

Amelia stopped fiddling with his pant to look up at him now, looking into his eyes for any falter in them. When she found none, she answered, “Okay. I’ll call Callie tomorrow.” Right after she said it, she yawned, stretching her body all the way down to her toes.

“Tired?” he inquired, a little sad that their conversation would probably be ending soon. She nodded, doing something that caught him completely off guard. She crawled her way over to him, lodging herself in between his legs, and wrapped an arm around his torso, snuggling her head against his chest.

“I miss you,” she whispered, her eyes closed. She could suddenly feel his heart racing beneath her ear.

“I-I’m right here,” he managed to stutter, his face quickly turning red. He hoped she didn’t notice, or at least didn’t pay too much attention to it.

“I know,” she sighed, opening her eyes briefly, “But you’re not really here, you know?” She glanced at him, still snuggled against his chest. “Not to mention this is weird, seeing as I’m the one who divorced you.”

“Yeah,” he snorted, unable to deny the urge to wrap his arms around her too. “Although that isn’t the weirdest thing to arise from this situation. Try being me.”

“Yeah,” she giggled, yawning again as she closed her eyes.

---

The bathroom was hot and there was a considerable amount of steam, fogging the bathroom mirror and the transparent shower glass. He could hear Amelia talking to him, calming him down, as she showered. He was saying something about an incident at work that had pissed him off so much that he could barely think straight. He was sitting on the toilet, trying to calm down when he heard her ask him to come in the shower with him. He’d denied her request, telling her that he was too mad to even think about sex right now, but she was persistent.

“Owen,” he heard Amelia say, “Come in the shower.”

“Please,” he heard himself saying, “Not right now.”

“Owen,” she called again.

He then heard himself raising his voice at her. “Amelia, I said-” His voice caught in his throat. There she was, hands pressed against the glass of the shower, her breasts right over them and covering her nipples, leaving so little to his imagination. There was a smug smile on her face, her hair sexily soaked from the water.

“Come. In. The. Shower,” she said slowly. She didn’t need to ask again.

He quickly shredded himself of his clothes, reaching for the door handle of the shower and stepping into the steam emanating from it. He had his hands on her hips and, as the steam was about to dissipate…

He woke up.

For a moment, he looked around, completely disoriented. Then he remembered he and Amelia had fallen asleep in the bathroom, although she was no longer in his arms now.

“What a tease,” Owen said to himself, referring to how cruel his mind had been to cut the dream, or memory, as it was getting interesting.  Right after, he made his way downstairs where he assumed Amelia would be. The sun was now beginning to rise, as it was still a little dark in the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen, he was met with the painful image of Amelia trying to reach something at the top of the cabinet, the item being just out of reach. What made the image so painful was the fact that she was only in a shirt and underwear, and the shirt was short enough that he could see her perky butt sticking out from under it every time she reached for whatever was at the top of the cupboard. He wanted to be respectful, yet he couldn’t help but stare at her ass. Soon, he found that his boxers were getting uncomfortable and, upon investigation, he realised he’d gotten an instant boner.

“Got it,” Amelia whispered triumphantly, finally getting the box of pancake mix. It was then she turned around and noticed Owen awkwardly hiding behind the wall. “What are you doing?”

“Me?” Owen asked, pointing at himself, “I wasn’t doing anything.” She furrowed her eyebrows at him and walked over to where he was. Quickly, Owen tucked his erection downwards and covered the area by casually holding his hands over it.

It took her almost no time at all to realise what was going on. “Were you staring at me?”

He inhaled anxiously, holding his breath. “Yes?”

Amelia bit the inside of her cheek, looking him up and down before realising how strategically placed his hands were. “Did you get a boner staring at me?”

Exhaling in defeat, Owen sadly announced, “Yes…” He was beginning to hate how intelligent she was.

Amelia smiled, biting her bottom lip to hide how flattered she actually was. Wordlessly, she turned away, heading back to the kitchen to continue her task, as if nothing happened. Owen was at a loss for words, but he was sure of one thing.

He was becoming increasingly attracted to her.

#au #au fics #echo #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #finn shepherd hunt #isabella shepherd hunt

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.10

Merry Ficmas/Christmas! Two fics in one night :)

1 month ago.

Amelia vomited into the toilet, unable to catch her breath for a second in between each episode. Although Owen hated her right now, and she probably hated him too, he couldn’t bear to see his wife in such agony. Kneeling behind her and rubbing her back, Owen pulled the hair out of her face as she continued to empty the alcohol out of her body. Once it appeared that it was over, Owen sat to one side while she let her head rest on the side of the toilet, not trusting that she wouldn’t be sick again. Her eyes fluttered open and closed with exhaustion as she looked at Owen.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered hoarsely as he stared back at her, still bubbling with rage that she could clearly see.

“Honestly,” he sighed, running a hand through his haphazard hair, “Slamming the toilet seat over your head and killing you.” Amelia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but then her expression slowly turned into a smile, which then turned into a soft chuckle. Infected by her sudden mood, Owen began to laugh as well, although the situation was anything but funny. Once their soft laughter had died down, the atmosphere turned sombre once more. For minutes, no words were exchanged between the two.

“This is over, isn’t it?” Owen dared to ask, the question itself making tears come to his eyes. He didn’t want it to be over; he didn’t even want to think about it being over.

Amelia shrugged, unsure of what was left for them to salvage at this point. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He watched as she finally got up from the toilet, her words ringing in his ears.

“Can I have a minute to clean up?” she sheepishly asked. Wordlessly, Owen nodded and left for the kitchen. About ten minutes later, Amelia finally came downstairs and the two stood on opposite sides of the kitchen, the island between them being their only obstacle. Not knowing what to say, Amelia fiddled with her wedding band, twisting it around her ring finger.

“Amelia…” He wasn’t even sure what to say. “Are you sure about this?”

“No.” She looked up from her band and at him. “But we are destroying each other and we’re going to destroy the kids in the process.”

It hurt him to hear the words come out of her mouth, but he knew she was right. “Should I call a lawyer?”

“I’ll call one,” she murmured distractedly, staring back down at her ring again. Slowly and reluctantly, she took it off, and then walked over to Owen’s side. She took his hand, because she knew he wouldn’t put it out, and put the ring in it before closing her hand around his. Owen’s heart sunk at the gesture. It was over. They were finally over.

“I should leave,” he suggested, staring at his hand which held her wedding ring. The band felt heavy in his hand.

“Not now,” she told him, “It’s too late.” Owen finally looked up at her, their blues meeting. There were tears in her eyes, just like his.

“I’m sorry,” he said, unsure of what else he could say.

“Me too,” she agreed, wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head on his chest. He circled his arms around her neck, his tears finally falling. Although he was sure she wouldn’t admit it, this whole situation was entirely his fault. Everything she’d done was because of him, and he felt terrible. He alienated his family, he drank, he cheated, he made her drink, and he made her cheat.

“I’m so sorry, Amelia,” he said again, this time his voice watered down by tears. Amelia pulled away and looked up at him, her face equally as bombarded by tears. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she tiptoed and kissed him. It was short, brief, and polite, nothing like any of their other kisses. Their gazes met again, and Owen couldn’t help but lean in and give her a real kiss. One full of the passion and love he should’ve given her months ago, one that had led to another, which led to another. He was delighted to feel her hands begin pulling at his hair and, expecting the situation to go its typical way, he was surprised when he felt Amelia’s delicate hands move from pulling his hair to pushing on his chest. His heart broke at the simple, yet agonising gesture, and he looked at her like a lost puppy. She didn’t want this; she didn’t want him.

“Goodnight, Owen,” she reluctantly said. She wanted so badly to just jump right into his arms, just forget everything he’d done, everything she’d done. But she couldn’t. She had more than herself to think about; she couldn’t let their toxic issues affect their children. This was the best decision, but the pain was unbearable. Regardless, she knew it would be easier if they weren’t together, even though some feelings were still there.

9th June 2019.

Ryan and Rosie were occupied in the arcade while Owen and Amelia sat by the food court. Once Owen had found out about the divorce, the idea of meeting his twin offspring didn’t seem so important anymore.

“I know this must be awkward,” he mumbled, “But could you just repeat this timeline for me one more time, more concisely.”

Amelia sighed, not wanting to talk about it again. It was incredibly awkward talking to the person who’d caused all of her pain, and having to be civil with them because they weren’t aware of all the pain they’d caused. “You cheated, we got a separation. A month later, I cheated, we filed for divorce. A month later, plane crash,” she summarised.

“We moved quickly,” he commented bitterly.

“We always move quickly,” she vaguely described. The two sat in silence again, watching as Ryan rode a bike with Rosie on it, holding on tightly to her older brother. The boy was so attentive and caring to his little sister; it was endearing.

“So, I have stuff in an apartment somewhere in Seattle, then?”

Amelia nodded. Owen sighed and looked down at his shoes. “Do you want me to move back there?” He didn’t like the idea that he was possibly making her incredibly uncomfortable with his presence, especially regarding the fact that they were now, officially, divorced, but at the same time he liked being around her and hated his past self for creating all of this craziness.

“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully, fiddling with the edge of her leather jacket. Owen rested his hand over hers, trying to be sympathetic, but Amelia looked startled, her eyebrows raised at him. “What are you doing?”

Owen froze, opening his eyes a little wider. “I’m sorry, I thought…” He quickly pulled his hand away, his face red with embarrassment. “It seemed like a good idea, at the time.” He swiftly shifted his attention to anything else in the theatre.

Amelia smiled, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. “You should see your face right now; you look traumatised.”

“Traumatised and severely embarrassed,” he agreed, giving her a short laugh. It got silent again, but Owen’s curiosity got the better of him. “Did we…you know, start seeing other people?”

Amelia shook her head. “We move quick, but not that quickly.”

“Can we go get ice cream?” Ryan called as he and Rosie made their way back to them. Owen looked to Amelia for confirmation, unsure of the policy they held with the kids about sweet stuff.

Amelia grinned, staring back at her family. “I love ice cream.”

Owen furrowed his eyebrows at her choice in words, the statement giving him a weird sense of déjà vu.

Amelia moaned as she shoved another spoonful in her mouth. “I love ice cream.”

Owen chuckled as he massaged her feet. They were sitting on the couch in the living room. “You, or the babies?”

“All three of us,” she said, sighing in content, “I’m gonna have so much baby fat after they’re born.”

“That’s okay,” he assured her, “That’s just more of you for me to love…”

“Earth to Owen,” Amelia said, waving her hand in front of his face. The surgeon blinked a couple times, a look of pure confusion on his face. Looking at Amelia, he felt this sudden urge to protect her, something he hadn’t felt until just now.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, pure concern on her face as she completely switched into doctor mode. He could tell she’d done so, also.

“I think I just remembered something,” he whispered, shocked.

#echo #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #nathan riggs #teddy altman #megan hunt #au #au fics

[drreporting]

Something’s Not Right...

MERRY FICMAS Day ONEEE. My exams just finished so I’m starting a little late haha. Can’t believe this is the third year I’m doing this. Time flies.

Amelia had vomited twice in her OR, once during the Herman surgery and once due to morning sickness. She’d finished the hardest part of the surgery and the overwhelming relief at not killing her patient had caused an overwhelming need to throw up. It had happened to Derek before, so she wasn’t surprised that she’d taken after him in that aspect of anxiety. But today, she was simply clipping an aneurysm, a small one too. There was no anxiety, so no need to vomit, and no morning sickness. Yet, she felt nauseous. Something wasn’t right…

“Dr. Shepherd?” DeLuca called, “Is everything alright? You look pale.”

“I’m white, DeLuca. Of course I look pale.” She blinked slowly, trying her best to control her nausea and now trying to keep her sudden dizziness at bay.

Andrew blushed beneath his surgical mask. “I-I know. You just look paler…and clammy.”

“I said I’m…” Amelia winced as she felt something that she could only call a contraction. Fear surged through her as she waited for the pain to subside. She was barely past the first trimester; there was no way she could have these babies now. Either it was Braxton Hicks, which had come too early, unlikely, or she was having a miscarriage.

“Should I call Dr. Hunt?” he asked, not missing her wince from pain.

She was about to say yes, but she felt the bile rising in her throat. Uttering in the softest way possible, she said, “Someone take off my mask.”

“What did you say, doctor?” a nurse inquired.

Amelia stepped away from the patient, barely maintaining her balance as she loudly announced, “Take off my mask!” When no one moved, probably out of confusion, Amelia broke scrub to tear the thing off her face, lurching over to empty the contents of her stomach almost immediately after. The room was spinning madly now as she stared at the floor where she’d just puked.

“Shepherd, are you okay?” Andrew asked, quickly coming to her side, “Somebody page Hunt!”

“I’m okay,” she said, standing up straight again, “Probably ate something bad.” She reached for the small table next to her that held all her instruments, hoping to regain her balance there, but the second she grabbed the table, it slipped away from her and she lost her balance, going headfirst into the tray of instruments before crashing to the ground and passing out.

---

When she opened her eyes, she was met with the worried gaze of her husband, his eyes filled to the brim with tears threatening to fall. In the background, she could see Arizona moving a probe around her stomach.

“Owen,” she managed to squeak out of her dry throat.

“Don’t speak,” he told her, caressing her hair, “Robbins is gonna get you checked out, okay?”

She nodded her head, regretting it when she felt the dizziness coming back. “Dizzy…”

“I know,” he said, “You hit your head pretty hard.”

“She shook her head. “Dizzy before…”

“That’s because you have appendicitis,” Arizona chirped, “The twins are fine; no need to worry.”

Owen breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“I’m gonna go sort out her paperwork and then we can get her prepped for surgery,” she said before leaving, closing the door behind her. Owen turned his attention back to his ailing wife, the tears finally falling as he worried over her.

“No crying,” she muttered, closing her eyes.

“Well then stop trying to kill yourself,” he darkly joked, “First it was the car accidents, now this?”

“I’m fine,” she told him, gesturing him to sit on the stool.

“No, you’re not,” he said, taking a seat, “The universe keeps trying to take you away from me and I don’t know why or how to stop it.” He burrowed his head in her chest, taking her free hand and wrapping it around his neck. “I can’t lose you, Amelia. I won’t make it.” She knew he was referring to the car accident that had almost taken her life, but she was surprised that he was still so affected by it. “I won’t.” He tightened his grip around her upper arm, muffling his tears in her patient gown.

“Not going,” she managed to say besides the fact that her throat felt like sandpaper.

“You better not,” he told her, “As soon as you’re out of surgery, I’m bubble wrapping you.”

Amelia smiled, wanting to laugh.

#omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #arizona robbins #andrew deluca #au #au fic rec #AU fics

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.8

The car ride home was dead silence. Ryan and Rosie could feel the tension, so they remained quiet, and Amelia refused to speak with Owen.

“Amelia, how did…” Owen began, unsure of what to ask, “What did I…”

“Not…in the car,” she answered in a calm, low voice, although the tight grip she had on the wheel told otherwise of how she was currently feeling. Ryan squirmed in his seat, knowing how truly angry his mother could get at Owen. He hoped it was nothing like last time…

---

20th March 2019.

“I made a mistake, but you haven’t been around,” he told her.

“I haven’t been around?” she laughed, “Your sister all but tells you she hates you and you come home here, where I am, but I haven’t been around? You drink in front of me, in front of the kids, but I haven’t been around? You leave and go off somewhere and, instead of letting me in, letting me help you, you end up kissing another woman, but I haven’t been around?” She smiled to herself. “I must be some sort of witch to you, huh?”

“Amelia, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, knowing he’d worded himself wrong, “I just…”

“No, you know what, Owen?” she asked. “Screw you.”

“Amelia,” he begged, watching as she stormed off to their bedroom. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor. He felt hopeless and disgusted at himself. What was wrong with him? When Amelia emerged from their bedroom, she had a suitcase in her hand.

“Where are you going?” Owen inquired, hastily getting up off the floor as he followed her down the hall.

“I don’t know if you’re too drunk to notice,” she said as she neared the twins’ bedroom, “But this is what it looks like when your wife is leaving you.”

“Amelia, please,” he begged, standing in front of the twins’ door to block her, “Don’t leave.”

“Give me one good reason why I should stay, Owen,” she said, knowing he’d have no response to it.

Surprisingly, however, Owen bargained, “Finn and Isabella are my children too. You can’t take them; I’ll sue you.”

Amelia raised her eyebrows at him in surprise before eventually morphing her face into a cold smile. “Ryan’s not yours.”

---

The rest of the night had been painfully quiet. Their Chinese takeout dinner with the kids was almost unbearable, considering the huge elephant in the room. Owen kept hoping that she would speak to him, but he’d eventually given up after watching her tuck both kids in without a single word to him. Instead, he decided he’d finally shave off the stubble that had turned into a fully grown beard over the last few days. He’d gotten past the lathering part without any issues, but once it came to finally shaving, he couldn’t get his hands to stop shaking. He managed to cut his face a couple times before angrily throwing the razor into the sink. He thought he was alone but, when he looked up from the sink and at the mirror, he saw Amelia leaning against the doorframe, wearing a Harvard hoodie and a pair of shorts.

“My hands won’t stop shaking,” he muttered in shame, “A side effect of the brain trauma? I don’t know.” Without uttering a word, she walked over to the sink, pulling up her sleeves before retrieving the bloodied razor.

“Shep…Amelia,” he corrected himself, “I don’t want you to shave my beard for me.”

“If you continue, you’re going to bleed to death,” she lightly joked, rinsing out the blade. She then grabbed the cloth Owen had put on the table and used it to wipe his face clean again. He stayed quiet as she squeezed some of the cream into her hand and began lathering his cheeks, eyeing the scars on the hand that was holding his razor. They looked painful.

“I can’t ask you to shave my beard for me,” he said, constantly wanting to be the gentleman, even with his brain injury.

“You don’t have to,” she responded. Gesturing to the marble table top, she asked, “I’m a little short, if you haven’t noticed. Can you…?” Owen held her by her hips and easily lifted her up onto the table top surface. Standing in between her legs, he watched as she held his chin with one hand and gently glided the razor across his cheek with the other. Her touch was soft but firm, gentle but effective.

“You kissed Teddy,” she murmured, almost completely focused on the task, “Nothing more, but it still felt like…”

“Like a razor dragged across your face by someone with shaky hands?” he described, making her smile a little.

“Something like that,” she agreed. There was silence once more, nothing but the sound of the razor gliding smoothly across his face being heard. Not being able to focus on much but her, because of her close proximity, Owen analysed his wife’s face. The soft cluster of freckles situated directly beneath her caring, icy blues, the way her cheeks had a mildly puffy way to them, the way her lips held an inviting, pink tinge…

“Like what you see?” he heard a voice say, interrupting his thoughts.

Knowing he’d been caught staring, Owen’s face slowly turned red with embarrassment. “Sorry, I was just…”

“It’s okay,” she smiled. He watched as a dimple poked out at him with her smile. He couldn’t believe that his past self would be stupid enough to cheat on a woman like this.

“So if I kissed…” he began, not sure how to ask the question, “Who did you…”

Amelia sighed. “It happened a month after the thing with Teddy.”

---

30th April 2019

Amelia sat at the bar table, downing another shot of vodka as she ignored yet another call from Owen.

“You gonna answer that?” a familiar accent asked. A guy sat down next to her.

“Is the sky still blue during the day?” she rhetorically asked, waving at the bartender for another round.

“Aren’t you like an alcoholic or something?” Nathan calmly asked, not wanting to scare her off.

“Not tonight I’m not,” she shrugged, “So save your lecture for some other day.”

“Well, in that case…” He called the bartender and ordered four shots of tequila for the two of them to share. For a couple of hours, he let her drink and dance and sit in the laps of other guys; she seemed like she needed the fun. But then he drew the line once she’d gotten up on the bar table and, evidently, fallen off, nearly getting into a fight with another woman that was brave enough to call her easy. He grabbed her hand to help her up, only to realise that there was now blood on his hand.

“Oops,” Amelia slurred as she looked at the laceration on the side of her hand.

“Come on, let’s go to the hospital before you bleed out,” Nathan told her, grabbing some napkins and handing it to her.

“I can’t go to the hospital drunk,” she muttered once they’d reached outside of the bar, “Bailey will fire me.”

“You can’t go home to your family drunk, Shep,” Nathan reminded her, “They will fire you, so sober up, because I’m not letting you bleed to death.”

“Whatever.”

Once they’d reached the ER, and discreetly bypassed the sleepy night shift personnel, they set up in a trauma room. While Nathan gathered a suture kit and set up an IV, Amelia continued to ignore the calls from Owen, which were now minutes apart.

“You gotta answer at some point, you know,” he lectured her, donning a pair of gloves.

“No, I don’t,” she flatly responded.

He chuckled as he injected the local anaesthetic. “Whatever Hunt did, knowing him, he’s probably out of his mind guilty about it.”

“He clearly didn’t feel guilty about it when it happened,” she retorted.

Nathan smirked, knowing she was probably right. “Well…Megan basically spat at me to leave her alone forever. But, if she called me, I’d still answer.”

“Would you still answer if you found out Megan cheated on you and kissed her best friend?”

Trying to hide his shock at her revelation, he calmly answered, “You know what? Probably not.” When she said nothing further, he added, “But I’m not married to Megan. We don’t have four kids together, so you owe it to them to try and make things work.”

“I have tried-ow!” she yelped, “Be careful!”

“Sorry.” He pierced her skin with the suture needle a little softer. “If it helps, I think Hunt is stupid for even thinking of cheating on you.”

“It doesn’t help,” she sulked, although he’d gotten her attention with the compliment.

“Well, he’s stupid. You are incredibly smart, incredibly funny and you are an amazing mom, like superhero amazing,” he listed as he tied the suture, “You have those gorgeous blue eyes and that super cute, dimple smile…that’s popping up right now!”

Amelia rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, but still smiled. “None of these things change what happened.”

“That’s not the point, Shep,” he said as he began tying another knot, “The point is, if there’s anything wrong that caused it to happen, it 100% had nothing to do with you. You shouldn’t blame yourself for something that I’m sure wasn’t your fault.” He tied off the last one. “There, done.” He looked up at her and smiled. “You are the best druggie I know.”

Amelia laughed heartily, making him laugh too. “Thank you.” Once their laughter had died down, the two stared at one another, stolen gazes at lips being exchanged. Neither had realised how close they were.

Inhaling deeply, Nathan tried to snap himself out of the thoughts running through his mind. “I should…We should get you home…”

She nodded, but instead of leaping off the exam table, she grabbed the middle of his shirt and pulled him closer, their noses nuzzling against each other.

“Amelia…” he began to warn her. She closed the gap and cut him off from what he was about to say, desperate to feel any form of emotional connection, and he didn’t stop her. Instead, he found himself deepening the kiss, gliding his tongue across hers as she shrugged off her jacket. His hands eventually found their way under her shirt, slowly making their way up her back to her breasts before logic finally kicked in and he pulled away.

“Wow, okay,” Nathan breathlessly commented as he turned away from her, “I see why Hunt has trouble keeping his hands off you. You are…” He looked over his shoulder at her, at her messy hair and red cheeks, and he felt his stomach churn.

“I am…?” she prompted him, a smug smile on her face.

Nathan sighed and finally turned around. “You are good at this.” It took everything in his being not to resume their previous activities. He reminded himself that she was with Hunt. Those were Hunt’s boobs, and just knowing that was enough for him to not go any further than he already had; he’d already gone far enough.

“So are you just gonna stand there or do you want to see how good I really am at this?” she asked.

Ignoring the dirty thoughts overriding his drunken brain, he said, “You are attractive, trust me. But you belong to someone, Amelia, someone who loves you. You don’t want this. Not with me.”

“He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t care,” she coldly reminded him.

“But I care, and I think you care,” he told her, “If you do this, if we have sex, you’ll be worse than him.” Nathan cautiously approached her, taking her hands in his. “If you’re marriage is going to be over anyway, then fine. But don’t let it be because you’re trying to hurt him because he hurt you.” He looked down at her sad, glistened eyes. “You are hurt and you feel unloved and you are trying to repair yourself by looking for that love in other things, other people.” He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Amelia, you are only going to destroy yourself more if you do this.” He watched as her bottom lip trembled before she finally caved, dissolving into a pool of tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice watery with emotions, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-“

“It’s okay,” he sighed in relief as he enveloped her in a bear hug, thankful that he finally got through to her. Crying, he could deal with. That lustful gaze she’d been giving him, he couldn’t handle.

“I’m sorry,” she said into his shirt, her body shaking as she cried. Nathan kissed the top of her head and held her, swaying her body from side to side. Almost a few seconds later, however, someone opened the door to the trauma room.

“Amelia?” Owen called, confused at the scene playing out in front of him, “What’s…what’s going on? Why are you crying?” He tried to ignore the compromising position he’d found her in with Nathan and instantly walked towards her, replacing Nathan’s spot as her comforter. He sniffed. “Have you been drinking?” Shocked at Owen’s sudden presence, Amelia was unsure of what to say. She looked at Nathan, who nodded at her before walking off.

“I have been drinking,” she slowly confessed. She hated the concerned look in his eyes; she didn’t deserve it. “I fell off a bar table.” She showed him her hand and the three stitches and he got even more worried, if that was possible.

“Are you okay otherwise?” he asked, analysing her entirely, looking for anything that was wrong. It was then that he noticed her lips, the redness in them. He knew all too well what she looked like after she’d been kissing someone, that someone being him. “Why…why do you look like you kissed someone?” Amelia opened her mouth, but no words came out.

His once caring and worried demeanour turned into one of rage as he put two and two together. Storming out of the trauma room, Owen walked right up to Nathan and punched him across the face in front of the entire ER.

“If you ever touch my wife again,” he muttered under his breath, “I will kill you.”

“Oh that’s real rich coming from you, mate,” Nathan chided as he wiped some blood off of his now busted lip, “Considering everything Shep has told me.”

“You shut your mouth before I shut it for you,” Owen threatened, loudly this time. Nathan rolled his eyes and walked off, not wanting to make a bigger scene. Returning to the trauma room, Owen forcefully grabbed Amelia’s good hand, pulling her off the exam bed. “We’re going home.”

She pulled back even harder, taking her hand out of his possession. “I can walk myself.”

---

“I’m sorry for making you drink,” he said, feeling apologetic for the actions he didn’t remember.

“No one forces anybody to do anything,” she assured him, “I drank because I wanted to, doesn’t matter why.”

He didn’t respond to that, just simply watched the way she was so focused on the task in front of her. “So what happened after that?”

“We got into the plane crash about a month later and here we are,” she explained as she passed the shaver across his face one more time. “Done.”

“Thank you,” Owen told her, feeling like he was thanking her for more than just shaving his face.

Amelia inhaled deeply and smiled, her eyes briefly focusing on his lips. “You’re welcome.”

“I know this probably won’t mean much right now,” he said, his eyes also glancing at her lips, “But I’m sorry for everything that I put you through, whatever it was.”

She exhaled. “It doesn’t, but thank you.” The two exchanged polite smiles, neither one making any movements to go anywhere. Once again, Owen’s eyes drifted to her lips, wondering what it had been like to be with her.

“Uh, Owen?”

He looked up at her eyes. “Hmm?”

“I can’t move if you’re in between my legs,” she gently reminded him.

His face turned red at her choice in words. “You’re right, sorry.” He stepped away and helped her off the table before watching her leave. There were so many more questions he had.

#echo #au #au fics #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #nathan riggs #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt

[drreporting]

Moving Again

Someone asked for a conclusion to the brawl between Derek and Owen over dating Amelia, so here it is. Set two months after Big Brother Pt.2

24th November 2014.

It had been two months since they’d broken things off, well since he’d unintentionally run her off. Normally, two months would’ve been more than enough for someone to get over a person they only dated for a month and a half, but for some reason he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He felt deeply in his heart that they had unfinished business, but their communication was nowhere near resolving that. They only spoke to each other when it was necessary, and Owen was afraid to pursue Amelia and get turned down. Not knowing if she still had feelings for him was easier to deal with than knowing she felt nothing; it gave him hope.

“Mr. Owen?!” Owen heard a small child squeal. Turning away from the elevator and in the direction of where he heard the voice, Owen was surprised to see Ryan by the front desk, holding Amelia’s hand and clearly wanting to let go to run over to the trauma surgeon and say hello. He hadn’t seen Ryan in months.

“Ryan?!” Owen replied with the same childlike enthusiasm, making the boy even more excited. It was then that Amelia turned around and looked at him, clearly not conveying the same level of excitement.

“Can I go say hi?” Ryan asked, looking up at his mother, milking her with his sad, puppy dog gaze.

Amelia sighed, letting go of his hand and putting on a fake smile. “Go ahead.” The second she let go of his hand, Ryan went head first into Owen, jumping into his arms and letting the surgeon lift him up into the air.

“How are you?” Owen asked as he bore most of Ryan’s weight on his hip.

“Mommy and I are moving into a big house tomorrow,” the boy explained, opening his hands wide to describe the size of the house, “It has three beds and two potties and a pool!”

“That sounds a lot bigger than my trailer.”

“It is, silly,” Ryan giggled, wrapping his arms around Owen’s neck and hugging him. He’d missed Owen so, so much. Amelia watched as her son burrowed his face in the neck of the man he’d become estranged with over the past couple months, feeling a little guilty. “You should come help us move boxes!” Ryan suddenly suggested. He looked over at Amelia. “Can he, mommy?”

“I don’t know, Ry,” Amelia murmured, unsure of how to let the boy down easy, “Owen must be very busy tomorrow.”

“Actually, I’m free tomorrow,” Owen shrugged, smiling, “I don’t mind, once you’re okay with it.”

Amelia’s eyes darted between the two smiling boys, unable to say no. “Fine. Tomorrow at 3.”

“Yay!” Ryan celebrated, lifting up his hand to high five Owen.

---

“Owen, hi,” Maggie chirped when she opened Meredith’s front door, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to help move some stuff for Amelia,” he replied.

“Well, come on in,” she insisted, pulling him inside before he could protest, “Sit and I’ll tell her you’re here.” Not having much of a choice anymore, Owen sat down on the couch in the living room, faintly hearing the sound of two people quarrelling.

“You should’ve hired somebody,” he heard Meredith say.

“I don’t need any help to move my own stuff,” the other voice countered.

“That’s why I’m helping you, right?”

Meredith and Amelia appeared from down the hall, each sharing the heavy load of one box as they continued their quarrel over why Amelia hadn’t hired someone to move her stuff for her. His heart began racing as he glanced at her, the room suddenly becoming ten times hotter. Once Owen’s presence had been recognised however, Meredith sighed in relief.

“Oh great, Owen,” she said as they lowered the box to the floor of the living room, “You can help Amelia carry her stuff out of my house.”

“That’s okay,” Amelia assured him, “Ryan’s spending the day with Derek and that’s less things breaking for me to worry about.”

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t need the help…” Owen muttered.

Meredith looked between the two and huffed angrily. “Listen, whatever it is going on here, you two better get over it because I’m not helping you with any more of these boxes.” She grabbed Maggie to take her too, in case Amelia wanted to take advantage of her and make the poor cardio surgeon carry boxes. “Grow up.” And with that, she left the room, leaving Owen and Amelia alone.

Sighing softly to herself, Amelia grumbled, “Could you take this box?” Owen smirked and nodded. Funny how he was here again, helping her move out of a house to another one.

Twelve boxes later, they were on their way to Amelia’s new house, the silence in the car deafening.

Desperate to talk to her, and kill the silence, Owen commented, “This is a nice neighbourhood.”

“Yeah,” she responded, her one word reply making it clear she didn’t want to talk to him. Regardless, he still tried.

“Amelia, I’m-“

“Whatever you’re about to say, keep it to yourself please, Owen,” she said, cutting him off. His cheeks turned red in shame. Following her orders, he remained silent for the rest of the ride. He didn’t even bother to comment on how nice her house was, or how creative it was that there was a large pond in her backyard.

He stayed quiet for the trips they made from his truck to the house, carrying boxes. He said nothing as he helped her unpack some of the heavier boxes. He said nothing at all, up until he opened one of her boxes and saw one of his old shirts in it. He took the shirt, running his hands along the fabric. He didn’t remember giving her this.

“What are you doing?” Amelia asked, making him jump. He turned around, shirt still in hand, and they both froze, no one saying anything for almost thirty seconds.

Hesitantly, he walked closer to her. “Why do you have my shirt?”

Her cheeks turned red at the question and his close proximity. “You never asked for it.”

“I didn’t know you had it,” he responded. He looked at her, relieved to see that she was finally looking back at him.

“It’s a nice shirt,” she mumbled, “Soft.”

“So you’ve worn it?”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she handed him the box in her hand and went for more of her stuff that had been piled in his truck. “You can have the shirt back if you want.” And with that, she was gone, momentarily making him feel like she still cared, and now having him feel like she didn’t care at all.

“Amelia,” he called after her, “Wait.” He followed her outside and then from his truck back inside. Once she put down the box, he blocked her pathway, determined to solve their silly issue.

“What, Owen?” she exclaimed, frustrated with his persistence, but mostly his intoxicating and confusing presence.

“What are we even fighting about anymore?” he asked, “What is holding us back?”

“You said you didn’t want to be in a relationship right now,” she recalled, “And I’m not going to be your rebound sex for Cristina.”

“I said that because of Derek!” he justified, “He was being an ass and I didn’t want the hospital to be talking about you and, evidently, Cristina.”

“Who cares about Derek?” she asked, “He doesn’t decide who sees who in that hospital. And I can handle gossip, Owen. It’s you ignoring me I can’t handle.”

“I’ve been ignoring you?” he inquired, pointing his index finger at himself, “You’ve been ignoring me!”

“Because you were ignoring me!” There was silence after his last statement, neither knowing what to say. All of this could’ve been avoided had they spoken to each other sooner, and they both knew it.

Owen sighed, his frustration turning into a grin. “We are terrible at communicating.”

Amelia looked at him and smiled. “Yeah.”

“So, now what?” he asked, hoping for an “I’m secretly in love with you, let’s get back together and have five babies.”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, fiddling with the edge of her shirt, “I guess this means we’re friends again.”

“Just friends?” he wondered. Amelia walked over to where he was standing, taking the shirt from his hands and looking at it. All she could think about was the countless time she’d fallen asleep in the shirt, the amount of times she’d thought about Owen, about how they used to be, how he could always make her laugh. The amount of times she’d been intimate with him, it was hard to just push those feelings down and hope they’d go away. Her stomach churned with the memories; they weren’t friends at all.

“Amelia?” he called again, wondering what was going on in her mind. She looked up and at him, a look of realisation on her face. “Is everything alright?” he asked. She dropped the shirt back in the box and moved even closer to him, if that was possible.

“We’re probably not friends,” she said to him. His face fell but, before he could truly convey his disappointment, Amelia had grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face down to hers, finally kissing him. So that’s what she meant.

She quickly pulled away, making him confused. “What?” he asked.

“Promise me we’ll take things slow this time,” she said.

“I promise,” he laughed.

---

“I should’ve gone furniture shopping first,” Amelia mused as she and Owen lay on the bare floor, using some comforters from one of her boxes to create a makeshift bed.

“Probably,” he agreed, wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling her closer to him, placing a kiss on her forehead. They laid there in silence for what seemed like forever, both lost in their own thoughts.

“Why three bedrooms?” he inquired.

Amelia shrugged. “For more kids, I guess. If it ever happened.”

“Is this you secretly asking me for children?” he teased, “What happened to taking things slow?”

“Shut up,” she giggled, snuggling closer to him, “I’m just keeping my options open, that’s all.”

“It’s always good to do so,” he agreed, unable to help himself at thinking of a future life with her and two or three kids. They’d make an interesting family, one Ryan probably wouldn’t be too eager to share his mom with. “Wait, where’s Ryan?” Just then, the doorbell rang.

Within a minute, Owen and Amelia had redressed and answered the door, surprised to find Derek and a sleeping Ryan on the other side.

“He insisted on coming to help you guys,” Derek explained, handing the boy over to Amelia, “But he fell asleep on the way over here.”

“Thank you,” Amelia told him before taking Ryan inside to set him up somewhere he could sleep for a little longer, leaving Owen alone with her brother.

“Hunt,” Derek greeted bitterly, already putting two and two together. Despite still having harboured feelings against the trauma surgeon, he stuck his hand out and shook Owen’s. “Have a good night.”

Owen smirked, returning the handshake. “She’s safe with me, Derek.”

“She better be,” he sighed stressfully, turning to leave. There was nothing Derek could do anymore; if Amelia liked him then he couldn’t stop their relationship from happening. Didn’t mean he wasn’t unbelievably bitter about it.

#au #au fics #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #derek shepherd #ryan shepherd #meredith grey #maggie pierce

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.9

1st May  2019.

The ride home had been mostly silent. Owen kept his eyes on the road and both hands were gripping the wheel tighter than Amelia imagined he could grip it.

“Did you really kiss him?” Owen asked through clenched teeth.

Amelia looked over at him and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Owen.”

“Why?”

“Why did you kiss Teddy?” she countered, making him grip the wheel even tighter than before. No more words were exchanged until they’d reached home.

“So you kissed my best friend because I kissed Teddy?” Owen asked once they reached inside their house. She was in no mood for this conversation, still drunk out of her mind from all the alcohol she’d been consuming only an hour ago. She was actually more in the mood for something else.

“Amelia,” he called again once he heard no response. Instead of saying something, she guided him to the couch in one swift motion, pushing him down onto it before straddling him. Quickly, their one sided conversation became heated as he was attacked by an onslaught of sloppy kisses from her, her fingers already unbuttoning his shirt.

“Amelia, I am trying to talk to you,” he told her, stopping her from seducing him.

Her desire quickly turned to rage. “Sorry, I forgot you only lust after other women now.”

“Really?” he scoffed, hurt by her comment, “So you’re the only one allowed to be upset with their spouse for kissing someone else?”

“Well, you kinda gave the okay on cheating when you kissed Teddy,” she shrugged, leaping off his lap to go to the kitchen, “I didn’t know it was a one way rule.” He followed her to the kitchen, standing behind her.

“It’s not a one way rule,” he said, frustrated with her reasoning, “It’s not a rule at all! You can’t just cheat on me because I cheated on you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were making the rules here,” she said, leaving the fridge with a handful of crackers, “Do you want me to throw on an apron and make you whatever you want, too? Take care of the kids while you’re at work? Massage your feet when you come home?”

“Amelia…” he sighed, trying to centre himself, “Let’s not have this conversation now. It’s late, we’re both angry and might say the wrong things, and you’re drunk.”

“As I said before,” she flatly responded, more interested in the biscuit in her hand, “I didn’t know you were making the rules here.” Owen sighed and placed his hands on the kitchen counter. He didn’t know what to say or do to get through to her.

“I thought we were supposed to be working through the Teddy thing?” he inquired, not sure what else to say.

“What, so you could feel better about yourself?” she retorted, “Yeah, right.”

“Amelia, I am trying to have a conversation with you!” he snapped, losing his cool.

“So now you want to talk to me?” she asked, “Why don’t you go find another one of your best friends to kiss? Maybe I can call up Callie for you? Better yet, how about I call up Cristina and you can cheat on me with her the same way you did with-“

“You shut your mouth!” Owen yelled at her, startling her.

“Excuse me?” she said in disbelief, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

---

9th June 2019.

Amelia followed the smell of breakfast into the kitchen, where she saw Owen in an apron, dutifully scrambling some eggs while Ryan and Rosie devoured a plate of pancakes.

“Hi,” she said, making her presence known as she sat at one of the barstools, a couple metres away from the dinner table.

Owen turned around quickly and smiled. “Hey, I was almost done with these. You want?”

Amelia quirked an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “Sure…” In a minute, a plate of eggs and pancakes was set in front of her, accompanied by a glass of orange juice. She looked over at Ryan and Rosie, who both seemed to be beyond happy with the breakfast. Ryan noticed his mother looking at her and shrugged his shoulders, conveying his similar confusion to Owen’s sudden mood change.

“So I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something tonight,” Owen began, thinking he’d had her full attention because she was looking directly at him. When no response came, he tried again. “Amelia?”

Blinking a few times, she realised she’d been caught staring. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Let’s all go see a movie,” he said again, “Me, you, the kids. Maybe you can call Callie and we can take the twins away from them for the night. I want to meet them.”

“Can we, mom?” Ryan eagerly begged, Rosie just as eager.

“Uh…” She looked at Owen and then at them. “I don’t see why not…” Owen’s smile faltered. He sensed that Amelia was rather reluctant about the idea, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Well, it’s settled then,” he smiled, despite his conflict with her lack of enthusiasm, “We’re seeing a movie today.” His enthusiasm was really starting to bother her. What had happened between last night and this morning that had him in such a good mood?

“Why are you so…” she murmured, not wanting the kids to hear, “Peppy?”

Owen shrugged and smiled. “Maybe it’s the oxy?”

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. “Derek switched you to OxyContin?”

He froze, trying to figure a way out of the situation. “You know what, I’m gonna go get the mail while you guys finish up.” He quickly took off his apron and was out the door before Amelia could pursue him for more information. Although she wanted to know what had led Derek to make that decision, knowing it was her choice narcotic, Amelia couldn’t help but fall into the vibrant environment that Owen had created with his good mood. She’d never seen him, or the kids, this happy in a while. Ryan and Rosie were chatting and laughing and everything seemed so normal, up until Owen returned in the house with a look she could only describe as a mixture of anger and disgust.

“What’s wrong?” Amelia asked him as she scooped a spoonful of eggs into her mouth.

Owen slammed the opened letter onto the desk. “What is this?” When Owen removed his hand from the top of the paper, Amelia looked down at the letter and read it, trying to deduce what the letter was about. She only had to read a couple of words to figure out what it was.

It was their divorce papers.

#echo #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #omeliafics #oweliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd hunt #nathan riggs #teddy altman #megan hunt

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.7

8th June 2019.

Amelia tried to focus on the waffles that she was making with one hand, but in the corner of her eye she could see the small prescription bag filled with Owen’s pain medication. It was calling her, so much so that she could almost hear it saying her name. Her bandaged hand ached uncontrollably, pushing her closer to the edge. She felt like she was going crazy.

“Mom?” Ryan called as he ventured downstairs, “I think something’s wrong with Owen. I can hear him puking.”

“That’s okay,” Amelia assured him, “He should be fine, but I’ll go check on him. Go get your sister in the meantime.” The waffles popped out of the toaster and she set them on a plate on the kitchen table before going up to their room, thankful for the distraction. Like Ryan had said, Owen was vomiting his guts out in their bathroom; she could hear it.

“Owen,” she called as she knocked softly on the door, “Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine,” he called out breathlessly, vomiting right after. He didn’t want her to see him like this, not after the wonderful conversation they’d had last night.

She sighed, resting her hand on the door as she leant against it. “Owen…Please let me help you.” For once, she added in her head. When she heard no response, she’d taken it as a no.

“It’s unlocked,” he muttered after a moment’s silence. She swiftly opened the door and closed it behind her, the smell of vomit immediately infiltrating her senses. Pushing her disgust aside, she grabbed the meds bag they had stashed in the corner of the room and knelt by his side and rubbed his back soothingly.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. He was pale, sweaty, clammy and clearly exhausted from vomiting so much.

“I don’t know,” he moaned, “I woke up earlier to eat something and take my meds and then I…” He dipped his head in the toilet as another wave of vomit forced its way out of him. “I feel like I’m dying.” Once he was finished, she shone her penlight in his eyes. She then went to test his blood pressure and check his heartrate.

“You seem neurologically fine,” she assumed, “It may just be the pain medication, but your pressure is low and your heart rate is high, so I think we should get you to the hospital.”

“Okay,” Owen nodded obediently, placing his trust in her.

---

“Are you sure you should be driving with one functional hand?” Owen inquired, huddled to one side of the car with a brown paper bag near his mouth.

“It’s this or you die at home,” she coldly responded, turning into the hospital.

“Why are we trying to kill daddy?” Rosie inquired with her innocent mind.

“She’s not trying to kill him, it’s a threat,” Ryan explained, nibbling on the edges of his dry waffle.

“Mommy, what’s a tret?” Rosie asked now.

“It’s something to you say you’ll do to people to make them do things they don’t want to do,” Amelia answered mindlessly.

“Oh.” Rosie smiled mischievously and looked at her older brother. “Give me your waffle or I’ll jump out the window.”

“Really, mom?” Ryan groaned. When Amelia heard the window going down, she locked it, thanking god there was child lock on the back doors too, if she decided to open the car door and jump out.

“You’re not supposed to actually do the thing you’re gonna do, Rosie; you just pretend.” Owen laughed out loud, the first time he’d laughed like that in a while. “She is just like Megan.”

“Oh,” the little three year old said. The car stopped in front of the ER, where Meredith and Derek were patiently awaiting their arrival.

“Did you really just drive here with one hand?” Meredith announced as Derek guided Owen out of the car and towards the ER and she took Ryan and Rosie, “Call an ambulance next time.”

While Amelia went around to park, Owen followed Derek into a trauma room.

“Did Amy give you a neuro exam yet?” Derek asked as he shone his penlight in both his eyes.

“Yeah.” He swallowed a wave of nausea. “She said it might be the painkillers I’m on.”

“Could be,” he mused, “I can switch you to OxyContin and see if it changes anything.” He pulled out his prescription and began to write. “I’m not seeing any neurological signs that something may be wrong but I’m gonna get you a head CT, just in case.” He ripped the sheet off and handed it to him. “If the CT comes up clean, fill this prescription and keep it far away from Amy.”

Owen furrowed his eyebrows as he took the sheet of paper. “Why?”

“Oh, right, memory thing,” Derek chuckled, “She’s a drug addict.”

Owen’s eyes opened wide. “I married a drug addict?” He wondered if he’d already tempted by leaving the previous pain meds on the kitchen table. Now he felt bad.

“Yes, you married a talkative drug addict, that’s the least of your worries with her,” Derek confirmed with a coy smile, leaving the room, “A nurse will be in to take you to CT.”

“The least of my worries?” he called after the neurosurgeon, wondering what he meant by that. About a few minutes later, someone walked in with one arm in a sling.

“Nathan?” Owen growled at the cardio surgeon, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Oh, for the love of…” Nathan sighed as walked into the room to get the portable ultrasound, “I came here for an ultrasound, mate.”

Owen’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

“Would you just get over yourself for two minutes, Hunt?” he groaned, “I’m getting tired of being the bad guy all the time. You need to get over that kiss with Shepherd.”

The trauma surgeon’s angry gaze faltered for a moment. “I need to get over it?”

“Yes, for the love of god!” Nathan exclaimed, “It was just a kiss; I didn’t even instigate it. If you wanna keep being mad at someone, be mad at Shepherd, but I’m sure you’re already doing that.” As he was about to leave, he added, “Actually, no. Get mad at your own damn self, mate. There are reasons why people cheat, even if they’re bad ones.” And with that, Nathan was gone, blissfully unaware that Owen had no clue what he was talking about. Regardless, Owen’s blood began to boil with the unintended confession. His wife had cheated on him?

“Hey, what did Derek say?” Amelia said as she barged into the trauma room. Speak of the devil.

“I’m going for a CT,” he responded briefly, looking down at the floor, at the ceiling, anywhere but at her.

Noticing his reserved demeanour, she asked, “Is everything alright?”

His heart raced from the anger rising inside of him. “Perfect.”

Amelia took a deep breath and smiled politely, “We’ve been together for a while, Owen. I know you’re lying.”

“Why should I tell you the truth?” he inquired coldly, “You clearly haven’t.”

Her smile remained, but her eyebrows met at the bridge of her nose. “What are you talking about?”

“You had me wondering for days what I’d done to ruin our marriage,” he began, his anger getting the better of him, “What I’d done that had made you become so distant. But it was you.”

“Owen-“

“When were you going to tell me that you cheated on me?” he asked. He felt lightheaded from how mad he was. “And with my best friend too?”

“That is not the entire story,” she calmly said, trying to defend herself.

“That is basically what all cheaters say,” he retorted, his voice progressively rising in volume, “I can’t believe that you would look at this wonderful life we’ve clearly created for ourselves, and then cheat on me with my closest-“

“You cheated on me first!” she shouted at him, stopping him dead in his tracks. Silence filled the room, neither noticing that the nurse had walked in earlier.

“I’ll…I’ll come back later…” the nurse announced, taking the wheelchair away with her.

I wrote this chapter wayyyyy before the Nathan Megan cheating thing. I almost feel like Grey’s stole my idea, lol.

#echo #au #au fics #omelia #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #oweliafics #omeliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #ryan shepherd #rosie shepherd-hunt #isabella shepherd-hunt #finn shepherd-hunt #callie torres #nathan riggs #derek shepherd #meredith grey

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.6

The part I actually meant to post, lol.

7th June 2019.

“Okay so I need you guys to be really patient with him,” Amelia explained to the two kids as they sat at the dinner table, “He might drop stuff or forget what he’s talking about.” Rosie nodded dutifully while Ryan tried to look anywhere but at his mother.

Amelia went over to Ryan’s chair. “Why the long face?” she asked, noticing his reserved demeanour.

Ryan looked angrily at his mother. “Just because he forgot what he did, doesn’t mean I’m going to forget.”

She sighed and stooped down to his level. “It’s much more complicated than that.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re acting like you’re the one with amnesia.”

“A marriage is a promise, Ryan,” she sternly told him.

“A promise both of you broke,” he retorted. Amelia gazed angrily at him, about to send him to his room when Owen finally came into the kitchen.

“I’m starving,” Owen laughed, “What kind of pizza are we eating?”

---

20th March 2019.

Down the hall and to the left, Owen could hear her muffled cries. He felt sick to his stomach knowing he’d caused her this much pain.

“Is she okay?” Owen asked desperately when he saw Ryan coming out of the room, “Can I come in?”

“I don’t think she wants to see you,” he answered truthfully. Sighing, Ryan stuffed his hands into his pyjama pockets. “I don’t want to see you either. Whatever you did, you broke her. You broke my mom.” Hesitantly the little boy walked off, leaving Owen feeling even worse if that was possible. Reluctantly, Owen neared the door. As he was about to knock, he heard a strained cry come from the other side of the door. It was painful to hear.

He knocked softly on the door. “Amelia?”

“No, Owen,” he heard her say from the other side, “I am not doing this anymore.”

He rested his head against the door and sighed, letting the tears fall. “Amelia…” He didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”

She opened the door with a hurricane of fury. “What do you want me to do with that?”

He looked down at her and his heart broke. Her eyes were red and puffy and her eyebrows were frozen in their furrowed state. “I didn’t…I shouldn’t…”

“People only apologise to make themselves feel better,” she said, “I’m not giving you the comfort of that.”

---

“Shepherd?”

Amelia blinked, finding herself in front of her bathroom mirror with a toothbrush in her mouth while Owen stared at her. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was asking whose soap this is,” he repeated. She turned around, finding him with an array of soaps in his possession.

“Why do you have all the soaps in the bathroom?” she inquired, rinsing the toothpaste out her mouth, “Are you crazy or something?”

“N-No, I was just,” he stuttered, suddenly intimidated by her presence, “I thought that if I smelled something familiar, I’d remember something. But none of these things smell familiar.” He rested the soaps and bottles by the sink. “Except for this.” He showed her the purple bottle. “This one smells…I’ve smelled it before.” He opened the bottle and sniffed the scent. “I don’t know, every time I smell it, I get this burst of adrenaline.” He smiled to himself as he inhaled the scent.

“That’s my shampoo,” Amelia said, smiling softly.

Owen smiled. “I must’ve really liked you.” He came closer to her so he could smell it on her hair.

Overwhelmed by his sudden affection, Amelia quickly stepped to the side. “Uh, the right side of the bed is yours.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” He could barely get to finish before she began retreating. Whatever he’d done, it was clearly still affecting her.

“It’s okay,” she lied, “Right side is yours.” He could somehow tell that she was lying to him.

It had been over two months since they’d slept in the same bed and his memory loss didn’t help with the awkwardness. The two lay on their backs next to one another, both as close to their sides as possible as the minutes ticked by. It wasn’t like Owen had never slept next to a woman he didn’t know well, but this woman was his wife, someone he should care about and wanted to care about. This woman was apparently the love of his life and the mother of his three children. This woman was lying in bed next to him in an almost translucent shirt, and if he looked hard enough, he could see two crests staring back at him. If he dwelled any longer on the thought, he was almost sure his body would unwillingly respond.

“Shepherd,” Owen muttered.

“Please stop calling me Shepherd,” Amelia asked with her eyes still closed.

Owen shifted uncomfortably. “Amelia. What did I do to make you so upset with me?”

She sighed. “Can we please talk about anything else?”

“Okay,” he relented. He sat in silence as he thought of what he wanted to ask her about his life. “This is a really nice house, so I’m sure you picked it out.”

“I did.” When he looked over at her, she was smiling a little, probably remembering something about buying the house with him. He wished he could remember it too.

“Tell me something about you.” Her heart raced at the statement. She never would’ve guessed that he’d ask something like that.

Turning to one side, she propped her head up on one elbow and looked at him. “Anything in particular?”

Owen turned his head to the side and looked at her, at her sparkling blue eyes and wavy hair cascading down her shoulders. His wife was really pretty. “Anything at all.”

“I leave doors open,” she said, off the top of her head, “And kitchen cabinets and sometimes containers and bottles. I don’t know why I can’t remember to close stuff but it drives you crazy.” He looked at their bedroom door.

“Is that why that door’s open?” he snidely inquired, making her laugh.

#echo #omelia #au #au fics #owelia #amen #rymelia #rymeliafics #oweliafics #omeliafics #amenfics #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #rosie shepherd-hunt #ryan shepherd

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.3

1st June 2019.

She heard voices speaking in hushed tones around her.

“She performed a spinal drain in the field, with just a frickin’ catheter,” one voice said.

“No way,” the other voice commented in awe.

“And she had a concussion and a dislocated shoulder with a damaged forearm.”

“That’s hard core.” They didn’t sound like people she knew.

—

“Amelia?” Owen managed to mumble as a light shone in his eye.

“I’m right here,” he heard her say. Moments later she was in his line of vision, holding his hand, “Don’t try to move, there’s a catheter in your back.”

“What happened?” he asked, squinting as he tried to move, “Where am I?”

Nathan put an arm on his shoulder to keep him in one place. “Plane crash.”

“Am I okay?” he asked as tears came to his eyes, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want-“

“You’re not going to die,” Amelia angrily said as she combed a hand through his hair, praying to God that she could keep that promise.

—

She opened her eyes to find three doctors, in light green scrubs, hovering over her bed.

“Crap, she’s awake,” the first voice from before said, dashing out of her patient room. The others quickly followed him. Interns, she thought as she analysed her surroundings. This was not Grey Sloan, but it was a hospital. One of her hands was thoroughly bandaged, while the other was filled with needles pushing drugs into her.

“She should be waking up very soon, especially since everything went well,” a voice said.

“Thank you so much for taking care of them, Dr. Moreau,” she heard Derek say.

“Amelia?” Meredith called as she, Derek, and a doctor, entered her room, “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” she answered as if it was the most normal thing that she was pulling out her IV, “There’s morphine in this bag.”

The doctor looked at her in confusion. “It’s for the pain…”

“She has a drug addiction,” Derek explained to the surgeon. With her bandaged hand, she was struggling to rip the IV out, so Derek walked over to the IV line and stopped the drip. “You’re going to be begging for this medication very soon once you feel that pain.”

“I think I’ll live,” she answered curtly, “Where am I?”

“We are in a hospital in Maryland,” Meredith responded, “The chief is organising to have you all transferred to Grey Sloan in a couple of hours.”

“Where is everyone?” Amelia continued, “Where is Owen?”

“Alex, Jo, Nathan and Maggie are okay,” Derek told her, “In total it’s just broken ribs, dislocated joints, some internal bleeding. But they’re all mostly okay.”

“Derek, where is Owen?” Amelia repeated herself, knowing he was ignoring that part of the question.

“Cross is temporarily paralysed until they do a surgery to restore blood flow; Edwards had a brain bleed that they evacuated. Oh, Maggie has some really bad PTSD…” he rambled on.

Looking to Meredith now, whom had remained grimly silent for the whole conversation, Amelia asked, “Mer, where is Owen?”

The general surgeon hesitantly looked at her husband, then the surgeon, before looking back at Amelia. “He’s…in the room next to yours.”

“Is he okay?” she asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, “Can I see him?” Everyone looked at her, no one wanting to talk. She noticed these sombre expressions on their faces and knew immediately what was wrong. “He’s in a coma or something, isn’t he?” Their looks of pity were all she needed to know that everything she’d done to try to save him was all in vain.

“I should have never done that lumbar puncture,” she berated herself, feeling a dull pressure in her arm, “I should have never given him that stupid IV.” Meredith watched as her vitals became slowly elevated on the monitor.

“Amy, that is not true,” Derek said, “You practically saved Owen’s life with your quick thinking. No one else would’ve imagined doing a lumbar puncture in the field, or creating a hypertonic saline bag out of salt and saline, not even I.” When she didn’t acknowledge his words, he added, “There are news reporters, and chiefs of surgery from hospitals all over the country, who are dying to interview you. You and I both know if you hadn’t done what you did, Owen would be brain dead right now.”

“He’s in a coma, Derek!” she shouted, feeling her heart racing in her chest, “That is almost the same thing!” Her monitor began beeping, displaying concerning vitals as she hyperventilated.

“Okay, you two need to leave,” Dr. Moreau insisted as he called a nurse, “And she needs to go back on that pain medication.”

“No,” Amelia enforced through her panic attack and the pain in her hand, “Tell them, Derek. Please.” There were tears in her eyes now. “Just let me see him.” It killed him to see her like this.

He and Meredith were kindly let out of the room as nurses entered to control the situation. It was a mess of screaming and fighting and restraining between Amelia and the nurses. At one point, Derek had to look away; he couldn’t handle to see her like this. It reminded him of when she’d OD’d. He would never be able to forget the look of pure fear and desperation on her face as a young, 16 year old Amelia begged and cried for him to make them stop what they were doing; to make them stop hurting her. He was seeing that little girl now, as they restrained her and injected a sedative into her IV. It brought tears to his eyes. He hated himself for not being able to do what she needed.

5 months ago.

Owen ran his hand along her side, under the cover. “It’s impossible that everyone’s been this quiet for so long. I can’t believe it.”

“Shh, don’t jinx it,” Amelia whispered to him as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, looping her leg around his waist, “Who knows when next this’ll happen.”

Owen chuckled in agreement. “So…should we go again?”

There was silence on her end before she sighed loudly and stretched. “I don’t see why not.” He laughed at her feigned indifference as she brought her lips to his.

Just then, they heard Ryan’s muffled voice. “Mom, two people are at the door!”

Amelia groaned in frustration while Owen said, “I’ll get it.” He slipped out of their shared bed.

“No, ignore it,” she told him, pulling on his hand to bring him back.

“Ten minutes and then we’ll finish this, okay?” he promised her. Begrudgingly, she agreed.

About 8 minutes later, Ryan came up to Amelia’s bedroom, knocking first. “Mom?”

“Come in,” she said, throwing on Owen’s shirt.

Ryan opened the door, looking concerned. “Owen’s been staring at the door for a really long time.”

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. Wasn’t someone supposed to be at the door? “Did he open the door?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, who was at the door, Ry?” she inquired further.

Ryan shifted his weight from side to side. “A girl and a boy in green clothes.”

“A girl and a boy in green clothes?” Amelia repeated.

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed, “They had a bunch of medals on their shirts and they were wearing weird hats, too.” It was only then that it clicked. The army had visited Owen.

“Owen?” Amelia called as she ventured downstairs. Ryan remained at the top of the stairs, staring through the bars at the interaction. Like Ryan had said, the trauma surgeon was staring at the front door, motionless. “Owen,” she tried again, pressing a hand to his shoulder.

He turned around to face her, his eyes red with tears. “They found her.”

She was at a loss for words. Instead, she pulled him in for a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck as she caressed his hair. “It’s okay,” she told him as he broke down in her arms, “Everything will be fine.”

His legs buckled as he fell on his knees, overtaken by grief and guilt. “I stopped looking for her.” She dutifully followed him to the ground, never letting him go. It was one of many, many breakdowns he’d have in the coming months, breakdowns that’d eventually tear their marriage apart; if only they knew.

3rd June 2019.

She finally opened her eyes to familiar surroundings. Without even asking, she knew she was back in Grey Sloan. There was a cup of jello and a metal spoon on a table next to her, but when she reached for it, something held her hand back.

“Welcome back to Seattle,” she heard Derek say. Looking to her right she saw him lounging on the patient room’s sofa.

“Really?” she asked as she lifted her handcuffed arm.

“You had a psychotic break in Maryland,” Derek justified.

“I didn’t have a psychotic break,” she dismissed, ��I was simply in pain and worried about my husband.”

“And what did you expect from acting like that?” he countered, “To be treated as if everything was okay? They had to sedate you, Amelia. A lot.” He laughed to himself. “You just wouldn’t go down.”

She began giggling too. “I remember, I was there.”

“You’ve been asleep for over 24 hours because of it,” he said, settling into a soft chuckle.

Amelia shook her head and smiled. “Whatever. I’m not a psycho.”

“Okay, psycho,” Derek teased, making her roll her eyes, “Owen is awake, by the way, so you didn’t kill him, like I told you.”

“He is?” she confirmed, her heart fluttering at the news.

“Well, he’s usually not awake for long,” he explained, “And he doesn’t talk much, just mostly asks for jello and water. Maybe you can get him to talk a little more.”

“Can I see him?” she inquired.

Derek smiled. “Yes you can see him, but only if you promise not to carve my eye out with that spoon.” Amelia rolled her eyes.

—

“Are you sure you should’ve given her his medical chart?” Meredith asked Derek.

“Definitely,” he answered, “If she’s anything like me, which she is, she’ll need to know exactly what’s been happening, in detail. For her peace of mind.”

Amelia looked through the chart, reading the various notes recorded, from their initial hospital visit, to when they were all moved to Seattle. They’d noted everything she’d done to him in the crash, even. Thinking back on it was hard for her to do; it brought her so much anxiety knowing things could’ve gone so much worse.

“Why are you looking at my medical chart?” she heard Owen say. Looking up, she was met with his crystal blue gaze and confused expression, his head snugly wrapped in gauze.

Amelia smiled, relieved to see his eyes again. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“A patient shouldn’t be looking at my medical chart,” he quipped, eyeing her apparel and the IV bag that was next to her on a stand.

“Very funny, Owen,” she said, “But, how are you feeling? Any pain or pressure?”

“Hey, you’re awake again,” Derek said as he and Meredith entered the room, “How are you feeling this time around?”

“So we have patients running around pretending to be doctors now?” Owen asked, referring to Amelia, “Why is she in my room reading my chart?” Amelia sat there in confusion, wondering why he was being so hostile.

Derek furrowed his eyebrows, pulling out his penlight. “Owen, what year is it?” he asked as he shone the light in both his eyes.

Owen remained silent for a long moment. “Uh, I-I’m…”

“Okay, what is the last thing you remember,” Meredith tried now, hoping to jog his memory.

Owen thought long and hard for a couple minutes before answering. “I think I was having lunch with you and Derek. Uh…you were mad at him because…” He got quiet again as he thought. “He was trying to convince me to drive his sister from LA.” He brought a hand to his temple. “I…I can’t remember exactly what her name was.” Owen looked back to the woman staring at him, with his medical chart in her hands, before looking at Derek again. “I don’t want to be rude, but can you make her leave? I don’t really know who she is and she’s making me uncomfortable.” Derek looked at Meredith and they both looked at Amelia, who was staring mindlessly at the closed chart in front of her. They couldn’t read her expression, but they were almost certain it was either one of shock or grief, or both.

“Owen,” Derek said slowly, “My sister’s name was Amelia…”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Okay…”

Pointing to Amelia, Derek said, “This is Amelia.”

Owen raised both his eyebrows now. “I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

“Amelia is your wife, Owen,” Derek finished, unsure of how the information would affect him. Amelia looked up at Owen, hoping to see some sort of glimmer of realisation in his eyes. Instead, his facial expression became even more confused, irritated even.

“Is this a joke?” the trauma surgeon asked, “Because it’s not funny.” Looking at Amelia, he said, “Get her out of my room. Now.” When no one made any movements, he became more vocal. “Did you hear me?” He looked directly at Amelia. “Get out!”

#echo #owelia #omelia #amen #amenfics #oweliafics #omeliafics #rymelia #rymeliafics #amelia shepherd #owen hunt #ryan shepherd #derek shepherd #meredith grey #au #au fics #fanfiction

[drreporting]

Echo Pt.4

Alex fumbled in the meds bag, looking for anything to save Owen and wake Amelia up. He’d already tried shaking her, even desperately slapping her at one point, but she didn’t seem to budge. It was then that his eyes glossed over a syringe containing a yellow liquid.

“Found something!” he yelled, pulling it out and throwing it Jo’s way.

“It’s Valium!” Jo announced to the other two. Quickly, she uncapped the syringe and stuck it in Owen’s shoulder. The trio waited anxiously for the effects to kick in, finally relaxing once they felt the tremors soften and eventually stop.

“There should be smelling salts in one of the pockets of the meds bag,” Nathan said to Alex. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he placed two fingers against Owen’s neck, feeling for a pulse. He looked at Maggie, a shocked expression on his face.

Not believing him, Maggie took the stethoscope from around her neck and pressed it to Owen’s chest, listening for a heartbeat. “No, no, no, no…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jo voiced, feeling tears in her eyes.

“Nobody is dying today,” Nathan growled, hovering over Owen’s lifeless body to begin CPR. Jo and Maggie simply sat back helplessly, praying for a miracle.

“Shepherd,” Alex called out in a hopeful voice, seeing her eyes fluttering at the smell of the salts. Her relaxed expression slowly turned into one of disgust as she pushed the small container away from her nose. Before she could complain about the smell and whose great idea it was to put that near her, she glanced over at Nathan, her face turning pale at the scene before her.

“How long has he been down?” she asked in a small voice, crawling her way over to Owen’s side.

“About a minute,” Nathan responded, halting the CPR to feel for a pulse. Amelia shoved him out of the way with her shoulder and pressed her fingers to Owen’s neck, feeling the irregular pulse. No one was sure why, but for some reason she was waiting. Then, out of the blue, she slammed her fist against his chest as hard as she could. Everyone stared at her silently, partly in shock of what she just did. She looked at Maggie then, who put on her stethoscope and listened to Owen’s heart.

“Slow but steady,” she announced.

Amelia sighed and sat back on her rear, wiping tears that she hadn’t even realised had fallen from her eyes. “What happened to him?”

“He was fine about a minute ago,” Jo announced, stressfully placing a hand to her forehead, “He was talking and everything. Then he got all droopy and started having difficulty speaking.”

“And then he had a seizure,” Alex finished, joining the group of four doctors.

“Check his pupils,” the neurosurgeon commanded, fully switching into doctor mode now, despite the identity of the patient; she knew his life depended upon her decisions from here.

Alex went back to the meds bag and found a penlight, throwing it Jo’s way.

“They’re fixed,” she said, “Does this mean..?”

“It could be increased intracranial pressure,” she pondered aloud.

“It could be?” Nathan exclaimed.

“I don’t know!” she hissed, “I don’t have an MRI or CT scan to confirm.”

“Well, if it is,” Maggie hypothesised, “Then how do we fix it?”

“Burr holes,” Amelia murmured in defeat. The four other doctors all glanced at each other, each displaying a grim look.

“There has to be something else we can do,” Maggie insisted.

“Like what, Maggie?” Amelia snapped at her, “You wanna head back in the plane and see if they have a clutch drill casually hanging around the bathroom? Or do you wanna just find any power drill and go wild?” Maggie held her tongue, knowing that she was only snapping at her because she was afraid to lose Owen.

“Shep, just breathe, okay?” Nathan said, trying to diffuse the tension, “Now, I know this is a lot of pressure on you, but you are the only qualified person here to deal with this kind of thing. Now there has to be something we can do to buy Hunt some time until someone rescues us, so just breathe and think it through.” Truthfully, he didn’t believe there was anything else they could do for Owen, but he didn’t want her to believe that as yet.

Amelia inhaled slowly and looked up at the trees branches blocking the sunlight from the sky. Her head was killing her. It felt like someone had thrashed her head against a tree, so she could only imagine how Owen would’ve felt if he was conscious. She didn’t even know if his brain injury was subdural or extradural. A spinal tap would come in handy right about…

“A lumbar drain,” Amelia suddenly said, making some of the doctors jump, “If we drain his spinal fluid, it will decrease the pressure around his brain.”

“You want to perform a drain in the forest,” Jo said aloud, “With no betadine, no lumbar drain tube, basically no equipment.”

“All I need is a catheter,” she mused, the thought becoming more and more idealistic, “If it works, he should wake up within ten minutes. Plus, it’ll buy us four-ish hours.”

“Or you can give him a life threatening infection,” Jo countered, “We have no tubing, nothing to measure how much fluid we remove…”

“As opposed to letting him die now?” the neurosurgeon finished. She looked at Alex and nodded, and he went to the two meds bags, in search of what she’d mentioned.

Two minutes later, he returned with two catheters, an IV bag with a line, some hand sanitizer, and a 10ml syringe. “Maybe we can use the syringe to catch the fluid?”

“That’s a good idea,” Amelia praised, taking a catheter from him, “See if you can find some salt to make a hypertonic saline bag.” He nodded and handed her the sanitizer. “Hold him on his side,” she instructed. Once the other three held him, she lifted his shirt and began squeezing sanitizer along his spine, where she would insert the needle.

“This is a bad idea,” Jo murmured once more in protest as she watched Amelia near his L4 spine with the catheter.

“Shut up,” Amelia mumbled as she tried to focus. She begged her eyes to stop seeing double for just one second, to let her do this one thing. She willed herself to ignore the pounding pain coming from her head so she could focus. Breathing deeply, she slowly inserted the catheter in his spine.

When nothing came out, Nathan asked, “Isn’t there supposed to be…” Just then, spinal fluid began to drip out of the catheter at full force. She took the syringe and placed it under the catheter, watching the fluid rise to 1ml. Meanwhile, Alex had found salt and placed as much of it as he could in the IV bag before hooking Owen up to it.

“Now, we wait,” Maggie sighed. The five surgeons sat around Owen, each praying everything would go well. Once 25ml of spinal fluid had come out of his spine, Amelia tied off the catheter, with some suture material they’d found in the bag. While they waited, Alex kept pestering Amelia with questions, keeping her mind stimulated so that she would not pass out again, but even without the questions Amelia knew she wasn’t closing her eyes until Owen was okay.

Almost 15 minutes later, Owen opened his eyes.

4th June 2019.

Snuggled under her thin bed cover, Amelia stared at the rain hitting the window of the hospital room she was in while she fiddled with her 30 day chip. Feeling rejected from her interaction with Owen yesterday, she’d turned away any visitors who were her colleagues, unable to keep up the façade of happiness today. Owen had forgotten who she was, all they’d been through and everything she’d given him. He even seemed to hate her a little. It was embarrassing and depressing and she felt terrible.

“Amy,” Derek’s voice called as he opened her door.

“Go away,” she responded softly, burrowing deeper into her bedsheets as she wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled.

“I can’t,” he replied, “I have two kids here who are dying to see you.” Amelia slowly flipped over to find Ryan and Rosie holding Derek’s hands.

“Hi, guys,” she half smiled, reaching one of her hands out to them. They eagerly ran to the side of her bed and Derek lifted Rosie up onto the bed while Ryan remained at her bedside on a stool.

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked, eyeing her forehead bandage and her wrapped up left arm in a sling. He was more concerned that she was crying, however; it meant she was in pain.

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling at them. She was so happy to see them; she didn’t realise how much she missed them.

“Does it hurt?” Rosie inquired, poking her forehead.

Smiling curtly, Amelia lied. “Not one bit, but stop poking me, please.”

“Where is Owen?” her son asked now.

Amelia looked at Derek, who shrugged. “He’s in the other room, Ry.”

“Is he okay?” She could not only hear, but feel the concern in his voice.

“He’s…” Amelia thought back to how harshly Owen had spoken to her yesterday. The memory made fresh tears surface.

“Owen is having trouble remembering stuff,” Derek answered for his sister, who seemed to be in a trance.

“So he doesn’t know who I am?” Ryan sought to confirm, “Or Rosie, or mom?” Amelia snapped out of her trance and looked at Derek with watery eyes.

Derek stayed silent for a moment. “Hey, you know what? Let’s go get some ice cream from the cafeteria.”

“Ice cream!” Rosie squealed, jumping over Amelia and into Derek’s arms. Thankfully, he caught her before she could do any damage to Amelia or herself. The action reminded him so much of Amelia when she was younger. Less enthusiastically, Ryan leapt off the stool and took Rosie’s hand as they all walked outside.

Derek lingered for a moment at the door before looking back at his sister. “He wants to see you, Amelia.”

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