A Love So Absolutely Clear {Crowen} ✔️

29: dreaming nightmares

she hadn't woken up yet. it had been thirty six hours. and while novella stayed unconscious in bed, owen and cristina stayed conscious out of bed for all of those thirty six hours.

while she was unconscious, cristina shaved off the remaining hair from her head—which was very few to begin with—and she put her little hat on her to keep her warm.

owen was tired. both of them were. but instead of sleeping for even five minutes, they sat there drinking gallons of coffee at a time or talking to each other to keep their minds working.

cristina informed doctor patel that novella was an i.u.g.r. baby and had a lower immune system, wondering if that could be why she had to be on ventilation. he said it could be a possibility, but they didn't know what was going on for the time being. anything could've happened. they just didn't know what.

it was five in the morning when cristina finally began to close an eye. owen watched as she fell into a small slumber, but waking up right away once she realized she had fallen asleep.

he put his hand on her curls and stroked it softly, causing a light gasp to escape from her mouth. she looked over at him and put a hand to her chest.

"cris, we should go back to the motel. we haven't slept in forever." it wasn't like they weren't used to it, though. they had forty-eight hour shifts before. but everything around them took a toll on their bodies, making it more difficult than usual.

she shifted positions on the couch and stared at novella for a few moments before she could answer. she still hadn't moved an inch. she still looked just as lifeless as she did thirty six hours ago.

"we can't leave her here." she whispered, then a yawn followed right after. she grabbed her cup of coffee on the table in front of them and took a large sip before putting it back down.

owen rubbed her arm, pulling himself closer to her. he had a solemn look on his face.

"okay, then you sleep for a while, and i'll wake you up if something happens." he compromised. she didn't answer. she just melted into him, resting her head on his lap and yawned tiredly. a few seconds later, she was fast asleep.

owen moved his hand over to her hair, petting it slowly. he could smell the conditioner she used, though his nose was a few inches away.

even if he tried to sleep, he wouldn't be able to. he remembered what happened last time, and wouldn't risk anything like that to happen again. even though everyone was asleep, or at least unconscious, something could go wrong. and he would never forgive himself if he wasn't awake for it.

he grabbed a blanket that was on the couch, unfolded it, and wrapped it around cristina comfortably. she moved in her spot a little bit, but other than that, she remained asleep as can be.

now all there was left to do was watch novella with his eyes peeled completely. he didn't have to, but he felt obligated to. if something went wrong, he wanted to be wide awake.

perhaps he felt like if he was awake, it meant that she had a better chance of living if she was close to death. and though that wasn't exactly true, he stayed up anyway. he would stay up even if it was for a week straight, even if it impaired his own health, or even if nothing ever happened in the end.

to him, none of it mattered if it meant keeping his child safe.

...

cristina was still fast asleep. owen was still wide awake. he had lost track of time, but he wouldn't be surprised if a few hours had passed. at that point, he didn't even know if it was morning, evening, or late at night.