Way Back into Love ↪ Owen Grady

twenty-four ↪ weakness

    The park was painfully silent. InGen's plan to evacuate the island was almost complete. Apparently, Roger didn't have the authority to stop whatever was going on, but Michael did. I couldn't stop worrying about the volunteers, Owen included, who were sent after packs of dinosaurs to calm them down. It was clear how Michael hated all of us at that point, that's what worried me the most. Who knows where he had sent Owen and Dyson.

    "He's fine, it'll be fine" Nick assured me with a frown. I unsurely nodded and looked over at Claire.

    The rest of the employees, us included, were sent to an improvised military tent. We had no idea what was going on outside and, of course, InGen wouldn't tell us.

    "You think they only want blood samples and then they'll leave?" Nick quietly asked.

    "No, it's something bigger they want" Claire frowned.

    "Like the actual dinosaurs?" Lowery whisper-yelled.

    Before I could even think about the eventuality, the tent's cloth opened. Michael stepped in, we snapped our heads up simultaneously. His face was hard, a sign that he was pissed, when he reached me and abruptly pulled me on my feet by my arm. He dragged me outside, and I saw other men doing the same to Claire and Nick.

    "Let me go!" I waggled under his strong grip.

    "Why so nervous, baby? You don't sound as confident without your new boy, now, do you?" Michael humorlessly laughed.

    I widened my eyes. "Where's Owen?!"

    The next thing I felt was a pair of strong arms throwing me into the Mosasaurus' enclosure. Water violently slapped me as I was being sucked underwater. I gasped for air but got highly agitated, the only thought of drowning made me sick to my stomach, a panic attack wrapped me up in a vortex of a very unhealthy flow of thoughts. I was going to die, just like that.

    I don't know how I managed to re-emerge but it was just for a brief second, not enough time to get air anyway. I moved quickly, my body was falling down fast. I felt lost, completely helpless. I snapped my eyes open underwater but what happened next was blurry and confused. A gigantic shadow slowly swam towards me. The Mosasaurus.

    I frantically tried to swim towards the gate, planning to climb my way out of the aquarium. At least that was my expectation. The reality was I was struggling to take in enough air between laps to even survive before I eventually reached said gate.

    "Elle! Elle, please answer!" Claire's muffled voice sounded so far I was beginning to think I had actually imagined it. "Follow my voice!"

    Her voice sounded glitched, way too far away. I went on with my plan until the point my lungs would inevitably collapse. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I bumped into the hard gate a few laps later. At that point, I had no idea if I was imagining things, or even hallucinating when Owen's voice called out my name.

    "Elle, sweetheart, hold on!" he hurried. "I'm here. Hold on for a little more, I'm right here"

    "Owen" I faintly managed to call out for him.

    "I'm here. Working on it!" his voice answered. And, again, I wasn't sure I was either making it up or not. "Talk to me, alright?"

    I struggled to float but tried to hold on, for him mostly. Which is such a bad thing to say but, yeah, those were my feelings at that moment. I clearly couldn't think straight, and neither could he since he proposed the following thing. "I'm gonna open the gate. Stay close, you hear me?"

    "Are you insane?! If you open the gate the Mosasaurus gets free" I breathed heavily. Was he even serious?!

    "Sweetheart, you're tiny. I'll close it right after I've got you"

    "You can't know how she'll react to that! She's a giant prehistoric dinosaur, she could literally break it open if she gets her head in it!"

    I could hear Owen sigh from the other side of the gate. "She won't, just trust me on this one"

    Honestly, I was tired, emotionally and physically. It was either do or die. What I also knew was that there was no other option with Owen, it was probably the best time to let him be the man. So I did, I waited for him to impulsively react to the situation.

    A very loud sound was followed by the gate opening very slowly. I swam and stopped in the middle of the two sides, waiting for Owen to drag me out of there. A strong grip on my arm finally pulled me out of that ongoing nightmare. What would I do without him? — "Wait, are you hurt?!"

.

    The car moved fast, the wind blowing through my messy hair as I happily breathed in the fresh air. I gazed over at Owen, a smile on his face as his favorite song was blasting through the radio's speakers. He was singing along goofily, he looked genuinely happy. I took in every single detail of what was going on around me and hoped it would stay printed in my memory forever. Just like that, such a little piece of happiness.

    When the vehicle stopped and Owen hopped off, I outstretched my arm from the side window and lazily pressed my head against it. The raptor trainer was having a small convo with two dudes, joking and all. I got lost in the moment, my eyes smiling along with my lips at the only sight of Owen having a good time. A warm feeling stopped and stayed in my stomach, was it how love felt for real?

    "Elle, hey, wake up"

    I snapped my eyes open, a sharp piercing pain spreading from my left leg. Had I imagined everything? Was it all gone? I frowned when my eyes met Claire's. I immediately felt the urge to cry for some reason. — "Owen" I weakly called out, my throat dry.

    "He'll be right back, it's okay" the redhead reassured.

    The door of the unknown room abruptly burst open. "Ellie, ohmygod, you're awake!"

    "Nick" I faintly smiled. A strong unknown feeling made its way to my stomach, causing my smile to immediately fall. What was wrong with me?!

    Claire hurried by my side. "Elle? Elle, what's wrong?"

    I don't know exactly when tears started streaming down my face, but there I was. Crying for no apparent reason. "I just- I need Owen"

    "It's okay, he's on his way" she reassured me.

    "No, you- you don't get it. I need him" I frantically rambled.

    Claire nodded her head unsurely. "You know what? I'm calling him, okay?"

    "Please"