Grey's Anatomy

Chapter 4

Owen kissed Christina as he lifted her up onto the counter. "Owen, she's the most amazing thing I have ever seen!" She knew he wasn't listening so she cupped his handsome face in her hands. "Owen, she is a surgery goddess. Her hands--"

"They're piano hands, Christina. She was gifted in music also--"

"Piano? I've always wanted to play piano. Owen, I should really play the piano. I'm an Asian; what Asian isn't good at piano?"

Owen couldn't help but laugh at Christina. "Adira went to Duke University in North Carolina. She went there when she was sixteen and graduated med school in five and a half years; she shaved off two and a half years of med school. She's just that good and she played D1 basketball the whole time. Christina, she's one of a kind."

"Are you telling me I can't be that good?" She asked in shock.

"No, I'm telling you you are not Adira Xavier."

"Let me keep her, Owen. Please?" She whined.

"Let me see what I can do." He replied before he started kissing her.

...

Owen and Derek walked into Adira's room and closed the door behind them. She clenched her fists, jaw and eyes closed. "I'm not having this conversion." She said smoothly, contrasting her tense body.

Owen immediately took the defensive side: "Adira, you are blessed with amazing hands and fingers--"

She glared at him. "I know I have piano hands and fingers that fly faster then the sped of light but," she took a deep breath and stared straight ahead, away from Owen's intense gaze and Derek's pained eyes. "The fact is I'm not a surgeon anymore and I never should have been in the first place."

"Don't start with that, Adira, you know that's not true. You wanted to be a miracle worke--" interrupted Derek.

"It was a peace offering," she shot back as she brought her eyes back to his. Her words hurt but they did have a kernel of truth at the bottom of them. "And you know it. Don't pretend like it was anything else."

Hunt looked at Derek in confusion. "Why don't you tell him?" Derek crossed his arms and looked at Hunt. "She was a street fighter and got hurt on a regular basis."

Adira rolled her eyes and unintentionally copied Derek as she crossed her arms; Owen was starting to release how alike they were really were. Both were beyond stubborn but level-headed at the same time. Both were passionate but controlled and out of control at the same time. "I was the best of the best and I would push myself. I fought men over three times my size and I would win most of them. I would go to Derek when they got bad because Momma didn't have enough money. Did Derek tell you how I did it to pay for my Mom's meds or how I paid the taxes, the mortgages, school fees and everything else as an eight year old? Did Derek tell you all the horrors I committed to provide for my family?"

Before Owen could open his mouth, Derek butted in. "What about all the help you received? Who patched you up each and every time?"

Owen opened his mouth to speak but Adira shot back: "I'm not coming back. No matter how good the deal is. No matter the benefits. No matter how much lives you tell me I could save or change or whatever. I broke my own rule by stepping foot into that OR."

"You worked a miracle. You saved a life." Stuttered Owen.

"I save people as a detective and undercover cop too." She retorted.

Before Derek could start again, Hunt shot him a glare that shut him up. "Let me talk, Shepherd." He turned back to Adira. "There's nothing I could say or that I could do to bring you back?"

Adira dropped her head and took a deep breath. She sighed as she dropped her head into her hands. She took a moment to compose herself before she finally looked at Hunt. Hunt realized at that moment how broken and alone Adira was. "Did Derek or even Sloan tell you why I left?" She paused, giving Hunt enough time to shake his head in a no. "I killed my best friend. Sloan, Derek and I were doing a joint operation and he died on my operating table. That leaves some pretty big scars."

Hunt turned to Derek. "Leave. Go be needed somewhere," he whispered. "That's an order," he added before Derek could refuse. Derek turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Owen sighed and sat on the bed beside Adira. "I've watched friends die too, ya know."

"I didn't want to operate. I told Derek no so many times but he convinced me I was Austin's only hope. My best friend was on the table and my head wasn't in the game. I can't go through that again and I like my job know, why is that so hard for Derek to understand? I've broken so many of my rules for that man."

Owen let Adira get it all out of her system before he opened her mouth. "Some rules are meant to be broken. Sometimes the world isn't black and white."

Owen saw the tears in her eyes. He pushed aside the pillow on her bed as he sat himself beside her. Adira needed a friend, so he put himself outside of his comfort zone and opened up his arms. "Come here," he whispered.