Omelia

Silence

It had been exactly two weeks and four days; they both mentally kept track. Owen had said nothing to Amelia, and Amelia nothing to Owen. The only words between them were the necessary medical ones with occasional small talk in the OR. Other then that, it had been complete silence. The time apart was slowly killing both of them inside. Amelia longed for Owen's arm around her waist while Owen wished for her hand to hold. Neither knew what the other was going through and they certainly weren't going to ask. The chemistry between the two of them was so strong that sometimes even being in the same hospital physically made their hearts ache. When Amelia would walk past Owen in the hallway, without even touching him, it felt as if fire was burning against her skin. When Owen would see Amelia frantically searching through files with her gaze focused on the scans in front of her, he would have to avert his eyes, for fear she would see him lurking too long. It was as if the universe was pushing them together, yet they shoved each other further away. They choked down their feelings or brushed them under the rug. Owen was drinking twice as much as he had been in the past months. Amelia, staying away from the ever pressuring addiction, threw herself entirely into her work. They did whatever it took to take away the sensation and dull the pain.

Amelia was still in complete and utter disbelief from what happened. Owen had left her out in the cold like a stray dog. She had been hurt before, but never life this. Ryan's death had scarred her deeply, but that pain had healed. Derek's death had nearly caused her to relapse and that one still hurt like a bitch. She had been screwed over by numerous guys in high school and college. Amelia was practically used to it. But somehow, Owen really really hurt her. When she caught sight of him, she wanted to strangle him, cry in his arms, and kiss him all at the same time. Her emotions were all over the place. It would be so much easier to shove this down with a couple pills. But she couldn't. Amelia was nearing two thousand days sober. It was a milestone she had been reaching for since day one. Two thousand would be the longest she'd been sober in a while. Amelia would not let herself throw it all out the window.

Owen still could not believe Amelia had the audacity to act like that in front of a patient. He had that patient completely under control. She showed no signs of neurological impairment, so a consult was not needed. Not to mention that she completely crushed him after Karev walked in. His heart was broken in pieces and there was no putting it back together this time. The last person who had hurt him like this was Cristina. That problem was solved when she moved halfway across the globe. Then he had gotten involved with another bull-headed, strong, independent and semi-broken woman. He kept doing this to himself; the same cycle over and over again. Why was he attracted to this type? Did he love the pain that came from being crushed? Owen had no clue. All he knew was that he was falling in love with Amelia, but he couldn't play her games. He could not keep going around in circles with the on again off again momentum. Owen was ready to settle down and have kids, something Amelia was not ready for. Yet he had thrown himself in the relationship, and it burned him in the ass.

Amelia sat at a table in the cafeteria with Maggie, Meredith, and Callie. The hospital had been surprisingly slow that day, so they had time to grab lunch. Across the room, Amelia watched as Owen sat with Jackson and Richard. Her heart sang a song of pain as she snuck glances over. His eyes would light up as soon as something sparked his interest. She kept shying her eyes away, for fear he may see her watching. Little did she know, but Owen was also stealing glances. He noticed Amelia, bored to death with the conversation at her table, slowly picking at the food on the plate in front of her. Owen watched as she rolled her eyes at the mundane comments, just waiting for them to say something of interest. His eyes would dart back to his own table as soon as he thought she might catch his gaze.

"Amelia!" Meredith snapped her fingers in front of Amelia's face, snapping her out of the daze.

"Uh... yeah... what?" Amelia muttered, shaking her head.

"Maggie has a late surgery, Callie is on call, Alex is out of town, and Jo is going out. I wouldn't ask you this if I had any other options, but could you watch the kids for me tonight?" A hint of compassion, almost as if she was begging, shown through Meredith's eyes.

"Mer, I love the kids. Of course I'll watch them!" Amelia looked at Meredith as if she was wearing the dunce cap. She loved her nieces and nephew! Why wouldn't she want to watch them?

"It will be at Alex's house, you know that right?" Meredith looked worried. She wondered what Amelia did all those nights alone in Derek's house. Meredith knew she couldn't handle it, so temporarily she had moved in with Alex. Amelia stayed at the house, keeping the oil burning.

"Where else would they be?" Amelia asked indignantly.

Meredith rolled her eyes subtly, but Amelia still noticed. "Can you come around seven?"

"Sure, whatever you need," Amelia dismissed the conversation by changing the point of interest to Maggie's late surgery. She loved the kids, she really did, but Meredith's constant worrying made her feel even more uncomfortable. Amelia glanced across the room again, to find Owen looking straight at her. The two locked gazes for a minute before turning away. In that moment, when their eyes had met, fireworks went off. They didn't even have to say a word. The silence stood strong and powerful saying everything that needed said. The silence spoke their thoughts so they didn't have to. The two couldn't be apart like this; not much longer. One or both of them would crash and burn from the tension. It was then that Amelia knew she would have to apologize and Owen knew he would have to get over it.

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Woah, over 1k reads total & almost 100 votes!!! This is so awesome - Love you all! Thank you so much for being loyal readers and continuing to support my writing.

I tried to make this chapter more personal so that you could understand what Amelia and Owen were thinking. This chapter doesn't have a lot of action because it's leading up to something big - which will all be in the next chapter so stay tuned.

As always, feel free to leave any feedback/questions/suggestions in the comments below. I read all of them! And they always make my day :)

Hugs & Kisses,

Scalpels & Clamps,

-G