The After

Chapter 18

Notes: Hey, sorry for taking so long to publish, I'm back into the swing of things so it hopefully won't take me this long next time. Anyways, here's another chapter...enjoy! :)

The week that followed was one of the worst of Owen's life. It consisted mostly of gruelling therapy sessions, which he knew were necessary, but truly hated. He had been attending them daily and every day Wyatt came up with new ways to force him to dig through his brain and encourage him to talk about his least favourite topic; Iraq. It pained him to remember the things he had seen out there, and it exhausted him to talk through his emotions with Dr Wyatt. The worst part of his week however, was the lack of Cristina.

Cristina was still upset with Owen's decision to move out. She missed him more than she ever thought she could, but yet she was stubbornly protesting his absence by avoiding him. She knew it wasn't logical, if you miss someone you don't avoid them, but it was her natural response and so she had stuck with it.

He called her every morning to check on her, she declined his calls and replied via text, 'I'm alive.' He tried to have lunch with her a few times, but Meredith always coincidentally needed her. He even tried to drive her home one night but she said she was 'working late.'

Not seeing her was driving him crazy, he hadn't meant for her too cut all communication with him, he was simply trying to keep her safe. After a long therapy session all he longed for was to lay his head on her chest and have her run her fingers through his hair. He missed her. Yet there was no way he was going to give in to her stubbornness and return home before he was better.

On this particular day Owen was halfway through yet another session with Dr Wyatt.

"So you had another night terror last night?" she asked from her armchair.

Owen nodded silently in response.

"Tell me about it" she said.

Owen hated when she made him do this, he spent most of the day pushing the images of his nightmares out of his head and then he would come here and have to bring them back to the surface . But he was determined to get better and if doing what Wyatt said would get him back to where he was then he was sure as hell going to do whatever she told him.

And so, Owen began to recount last night's nightmare which as per the other 4 he had experienced this week, consisted of a strange combination of war flashbacks, with Cristina thrown in for good measure.

Dr Wyatt sat back and listened intently to Owen's retelling, she studied his face and nodded at him when he looked to her for assurance.
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Elsewhere in the hospital, Cristina had had a long, exhausting day and she wanted nothing more than to go home with her husband. She slumped down on the bench in the resident changing room and let her hormones get the best of her as she started to tear up.

Burke was walking past when he spotted her crying through the window, he thought about buying her a coffee for old time's sake, but figured the gesture probably would do the opposite of cheer her up.

Still, he couldn't walk past without checking on her.

Cristina sniffled and wiped at her eyes as she heard the door opening, she looked up hoping to find Meredith to limit her embarrassment, but to her dismay Preston Burke stood before her.

There was an awkward pause as they both looked at each other, before Cristina turned away.

Burke took a step into the room allowing the door to swing closed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Cristina replied bluntly.

Burke paused, deciding whether he should leave or not.