Barely twenty minutes had passed since their arrival at the emergency room when Owen rushed in, eyes blazing, hair ruffled and chest heaving as though he had run all the way from the parking lot. His eyes found Lora's and moulded with hers instantly, the green of his irises changing colour as though an emerald and gold fire burned behind them. It lasted less than half a second, but it was enough to make Lora's world stop turning.

Then he swallowed and Dr Shaw turned to his patient, lying on the stretcher beside her, still not fully recovered. Jona's seizure had lasted a full seven minutes. It took him two minutes to respond to commands and ten minutes later, when they had already carried him into the ambulance, he was still disoriented to time, place and person. By the time they arrived at the hospital, he was calling out for Lora by her name, but he couldn't follow what was going on around him. Lora held his hand and tried to calm him down. He remained still as the nurse examined him and took his blood, but when he insisted that he must keep the oxygen mask on at all times, Jonathan swore heavily and yelled at the man for daring to tell him what to do.

"What happened?" Owen asked flipping through the charts at the side of Jona's stretcher and then checking his pulse and oxygen saturation again.

Lora stared at the man in front of her. The man she dreamed about every day for the past six and a half months. She couldn't figure out if he was a friend or a stranger. So much time had passed and yet, now that he was right there, it didn't seem that long at all. 

He had a stubble so thick that it verged on being a beard. It looked good on him even though it made him look slightly older. Lora wondered if she would still be able to see the dimple on his left cheek if he smiled. His hair seemed lighter, for some reason, and it was longer. Not much, but Lora noticed. His arms looked stronger too and she wondered if he'd been working out. But then she remembered Krista saying he was always at the hospital, so he couldn't possibly be finding time to go to the gym. 

Owen turned towards her and she felt her mouth go dry. She cleared her throat and began to speak. "We were having lunch. It's his birthday today so I invited some people over. We made roast and..."

Owen cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion and she realised that wasn't an important detail right now. She was babbling. Colour rose to her cheeks and Owen fought the urge to smile.

"Right. Well, anyway, one minute he was fine and the next he had a full-blown spastic attack. Eye-rolling, tongue-biting, frothing at the mouth, generalised jerking movements... all the works. It lasted seven mi-"

"Lor! Where are you, Lor? Where am I?" Jonathan cried beside them writhing slightly under the white sheet. His blue eyes were wide and round and he looked feverish.

"I'm right here, Jona. We're at the hospital. You had a seizure, remember?" Lora crooned soothingly, immediately taking her husband's hand.

Owen looked away. He felt like he was intruding, as though he was looking at something intimate, not meant for his eyes. And it hurt him beyond words to see the woman he loved crouched over another man with such devotion.

"How long has he been like this?" he said finally, his voice gruff.

"Since we got here. Twenty, thirty minutes?"

Owen bit the corner of his mouth and tapped his pen on the charts. "His sats are still low. It should be better by now," he said, increasing the oxygen to fifteen litres and tightening the non-rebreather mask around Jona's face. Immediately, Jona started to complain and tried to remove it, but Owen held his wrists. "Stop that! You need it on!"

"Who the hell are you? You can't tell me what to do!" Jonathan argued. But Owen was not in a patient mood.

"I'm Owen Shaw, your doctor. You know me and you'll remember in a few minutes. For now, you're still confused after your seizure but trust me, you'll remember. And yes, I can tell you what to do because your being alive depends on my expertise."

Lora's jaw dropped as she saw Jona crawl back into his shell, clearly intimated by the man standing over him. He lay still and stared at the ceiling. When Owen straightened up and looked back at her, he didn't seem surprised one bit. In fact, he found the shock on her pretty face amusing and this time, he couldn't help smiling a bit. Then, he remembered their situation and his gaze hardened. 

"He needs a CT. I'll go book it and tell the nurse."

Lora held her tongue, and her tears, as he disappeared out of their cubicle. Her instinct was to follow him. She hadn't seen him in so long and the last time she did, oh God! The last time she saw him was the last day she breathed properly.

And now he was right there, right behind that curtain. She wanted to hold him, touch him, talk to him. Ask about his day. She looked down at her husband. His hand slacked around hers and she drew it away. Jona didn't react. Would he even notice if she was gone for two, maybe three minutes?

The curtains whipped open again and the nurse from before walked in. "I'm taking Mr Scicluna for his CT ma'am," he said politely.

Lora smiled and moved out of the way. She looked around while the curtain was still open, but she couldn't see Owen anywhere. She sighed and sat down, letting her face fall into her palms, trying to ignore the heaviness in her chest.

#

Two hours later, they were still in the emergency room waiting for Jona's lab results and CT report. Jona was sleeping off his exhaustion and Lora remained beside him. His behaviour was still a bit off but for the most part, he had come round. The curtains finally stirred again and this time, to Lora's great horror and relief, it was Owen. 

She stood up, unsure of how she should react around him. Owen stared at the sleeping man for a while, as though deep in thought and then his eyes settled on her. He looked her up and down and hesitated a little before asking, "Can we talk?"

Lora nodded solemnly and followed him outside. Owen walked past the nursing station, past the doctor's office, past the waiting room and finally pushed through the doors that led to a small yard she knew the staff used as a smoking area. It was a calm night. The sky above them was dark and clear and a few stars shone through the light pollution.

"The CT report is out," Owen started. His tone was business-like and cold but Lora could feel the emotion brewing beneath the surface. "It... Uh... He has fresh bleeding near the brain stem. It doesn't seem extensive, but it may cause permanent damage. I'd like to keep him in for observation. If he bleeds again it can be fatal."

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in. Then Lora's brain went into motion. It made sense. That's why it took him so long to recover. That's why his sats were still low. 

"He won't stay," she announced finally. "He's going to refuse admission."

"He can't."

"He can and he will," she interrupted. She looked into his face, her heart cracking as he still looked determinedly away from her. "I know my husband, Owen. He's adamant about doing whatever he wants. He lost his physical independence. Now, he's making sure no one impinges on his autonomy."

"If that bleed grows..."

"I know. I'll try to convince him but I'm telling you now, you better start thinking of a discharge plan."

Owen pursed his lips, his fingers flexing into fists and relaxing again. Lora took this as a sign of suppressing his anger at her and frowned. 

If only she knew how hard he was working to resist the urge to touch her, to run his fingers through her hair. Her hair was long now, draping down her back almost reaching her elbows. She had some blond in it that wasn't there before. Her cheeks were slightly more hollowed than he remembered, making her doe eyes and plump lips look even bigger. She was breathtakingly beautiful. But she wasn't smiling. She lost that glow she had about her. She was tired.

"You dyed your hair," he said at last unable to hold his tongue.

"Jess dyed my hair. She forced me."

"Good for her. You look great. You lost weight though."

Lora gave in to a small smile. She'd been waiting for him to comment on that.

"You have facial hair," she fired back, and he gave her his lopsided smile that had brightened her dreams for the past months. She was relieved that she could just make out his dimple. She felt the warmth spread from her toes upwards, making her body lighter as it reached her cheeks.

Her eyes scanned the rest of him, searching for more differences and familiarities, and she felt something awaken inside her. A yearning. A burning need that was so basic, primal, physical and yet, it was more.

"So, how are you?" she asked before her mind could wander on the more. The basic, primal, physical she could deal with later, maybe not as well as he could, but it would be enough. It had to be enough. But nothing could fill the hole that had been growing inside her chest from the moment she drove away from his house. 

"Super. Couldn't be better," he answered quickly. Too quickly. She shook her head, hearing the cynicism, seeing the burning emotion in his eyes as he finally allowed himself to look at her directly.

"I heard you filed for a divorce," she went on boldly.

Owen shrugged his shoulders. "Of course. Carla and I have been separated for four years. We don't love each other, and we don't want to get back together. What's the point of staying married?"

Lora hesitated. She knew she was toeing a very dangerous line. "You'll still be married through the Catholic Church, though."

"We don't have grounds for an annulment," he replied warily.

Lora didn't say anything. They both knew how the other person felt. They had countless arguments on the topic before. It never ended well.

"So, uh, how is everyone?" Owen tried again.

"Good. Apart from Krista, whom you seem to be torturing very well."

Owen chuckled warmly and Lora felt a smile creep up her lips and tug on the corners of her mouth. "She's the brightest student in med school. I'm only pushing her to realise it."

Lora nodded back at him in wicked approval. "The girls moved back in."

"Really?" he said, scratching the scruff on his face. Lora found herself staring, longing to touch it, to see how it would feel beneath her fingers. "How is that working out?"

"I don't know. It's good having them back but it all feels very strained somehow. Jess is always in her room. Krista is always on the couch studying or hanging out with Karl."

"Yeah, I know about that," Owen confessed looking at the concrete floor again. "He's totally whipped. He's always going on about her, which is great. But I swear I have no idea how I can explain beating him to a pulp if he breaks her heart."

"Get in line! Jess, Wayne and I are on him like hawks!"

His face contorted into a pained expression. "Ouch! Poor guy! I don't know who I'd be most afraid of out of the three of you."

The laughter flowed naturally from Lora's mouth like a song. It made Owen smile instinctively. He hadn't heard anything so beautiful in months and the relief washed over him, knowing she hadn't lost the ability to laugh.

"How's Jess?" he said, trying to cover the fact that he'd been staring at her like a piece of art on exhibition.

"She's pulling through," Lora sighed. "She's strong. Aiden and Siena love having her there."

"Does Aiden still want to be a doctor?"

"Yep. But Siena moved on I'm afraid. She has a new boyfriend."

"Oh, really?" he smiled broadly.

"Aha. And this time, it's a boy her age so I'm in trouble."

Owen chuckled heartily, his foot toying with a cigarette butt on the floor, the question he'd been meaning to ask since he saw her right there, on the tip of his tongue.

"What about you? Are you happy?" he voiced finally.

Lora's breath hitched in her throat. They were really doing this. 

"I'm trying. I am. I..."

I miss you, she almost said.