Grey's Anatomy

Chapter 23

They heard the screaming at the same time. Owen bolted downstairs, leaving Adira to slowly get out of bed. Adira had just started to have a nightmare and they always left her shaky. She carefully pulled herself out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She dropped to her knees, taking shaky, uneven breaths to try and calm herself but it didn't work, it never did. Her stomach was soon rushing up her throat and into the toilet.

...

Owen flew down the staird, three at a time. His mind racing, wondering what had happened to Makenna. He reached her room, almost slamming his body into the door frame as his momentum carried him forward. She was thrashing in bed, in a tangle of sheets and blankets, and screaming. Her hands wrapped in her hair as if she had lost her mind. Owen didn't think, he just did. He quickly assessed thr situation before advancing to one side of the bed. He reached forward and put a hand on Makenna's elbow, but she immediately thrashed away from him. He started speaking forcefully, but not angrily: "Makenna. You need to wake up." His words kept streaming from his mouth as he decided that if he couldn't wake Makenna up then he must keep her safe at the least. He went to the end of the bed and slowly started to pull back the blanket and the sheets.

Then, that's when Makenna decided to wake up. "GET AWAY, YOU CREEP! GET AWAY!" She scrambled to the top of her bed in a blind panic, pulling the blankets with her. "ADIRA!" Tears were streaming down her face as she continuously repeated Adira's name.

Owen raised his hands up in surrender. "No. No. Makenna, you were having a nightmare. You were screaming so I came to see if you were alright. I was doing nothing other then that. You wouldn't wake up so thats why I started to pull away the blankets. You were going to hurt yourself if you kept thrashing in them. They were going to choke you."

"He's right, Makenna," said Adira as she walked through the door way and onto Makenna's bed. She sat cross legged next to Makenna and wrapped her arms around Makenna. "He was trying to save you from yourself."

“And, where were you?” questioned Makenna.

“I was throwing up,” she whispered.

Makenna’s face paled as she glared daggers at Owen. “What happened?” She hissed.

“Makenna,” scolded Adira. “Stop looking at my husband like that. I had a nightmare but I think it was the amount of alcohol I consumed before bed.” Adira looked at the bedside clock. “It is only two am. Let’s just go back to bed.”

Makenna sighed as Adira dragged herself off of Makenna’s bed. She walked out the door without another word and as Owen turned, still in the doorway, ready to follow Adira, he stopped as Makenna’s soft voice splashed over him: “Thank you. I don’t forget my debts.”

Owen sucked in a sharp breath and went out into the hallway to see Adira was moving slowly up the stairs. He went up behind her, scooped her up, and since she was too tired to fight, he carried her all the way up to their bed.

…

Adira woke up, looked at the clock, and realized it was only five-thirty. She pulled herself out of bed once again and went into her closest. She pulled on a pair of Nike leggings and a dri-fit top, ready to go for a run. She went downstairs and grabbed her phone, shoving it into the zip up, butt pocket of her leggings along with a key and a twenty – she liked to always have some money on her, usually only a five, but all she had left was a twenty. She scribbled a note and stuck it on the microwave since the fridge was full of drawings done by her kids. She slipped out the front door and started running. Adira loved running.

She ran from her fears. She ran from the feelings of failure and not being good enough. She ran from the loss that seemed to cling to her like a shadow. She ran, knowing that she could only run for so long. She ran from the nightmares, trying to create as much distance as she possible could between then and now. She ran to a place where she didn’t have to think.

…

Owen awoke to an empty bed and he shook his head. He got up, grabbed a towel from the linen closet then hopped into the shower. He finished then seeing it was only six started to wonder where Adira had went. He headed to the kitchen, found the note, and read it over quickly:

                “I went for a run @ 5:07. Be back by 7. Cell on. Stay home. Breakfast at nine. Hospital at ten. Love you. –AX”

Owen smiled to himself and started to look through the fridge and the pantry. He came up with enough to make a full breakfast including: hash browns, eggs, bread, fruit, yogurt, granola, sausage, and bacon. Owen decided to what to actually make anything but set the meat out to thaw. He grabbed his coat and sat out on the swinging bench on the front wrap around porch. He swiped the newspaper off the front steps and sat with his cup of coffee. He felt surprisingly normal just sitting there as if he was truly waiting for his wife to get home from her morning jog. He closed his eyes and let the thought of having kids sleeping upstairs or running around on the front lawn fill his head. He didn’t let these thoughts come in often because he had one child, and that was the hospital. He had a family and that was the residents. There was no room for children; at least, not yet. Especially since his last wife, only wife, Christina hadn’t wanted children. As soon as the thought of Christina filled his head, he shut down the idea of children, effectively cutting off the source of Christina Yang. He was thankfully saved by the sound of clattering feet. He looked up to find Adira at the far end of the street, a couple of blocks away still—at least he assumed it was Adira. He watched in surprise as she poured on the speed, picking it up from her already incredibly fast pace. Before he knew it he was off his feet, standing half way down the drive way as Adira slowed to a walk. He watched her struggle and then before his mind had fully comprehended what was taking place, he had ran to the end of the driveway and caught a falling Adira.

He scooped her up, seeing that it was sheer exhaustion plaguing her features – she was still full conscience. She was breathing heavily so he took her inside and set her down on the couch. He rushed to the kitchen, filled up a glass with lukewarm water, and brought it back to her. He crouched in front of her, coaxing some water down her perched throat. “What do you think you were doing?” He demanded as he felt her pulse from her wrist. “Adira,” he commanded once again after taking the empty glass of water from her.

“I was…running.”

“That was not running!” He scolded, harshly. “You’re wrecking your body.”

“It’s therapeutic,” she replied.

It dawned on him, “Have you ever been tested for PTSD?”

Adira leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a kiss that was strictly not for pretend.