Owen didn't know what to think of her.

She was scrawny, brown eyes dulling into a greyish colour most of the time, and she was always super quiet. But when she did speak, she had the most intelligent sentences come out of her mouth. She wasn't a shark, in fact he swore she never stole a single surgery, or stop one from being taken from her. Yet she spent multiple hours in the ER, doing god knows what.

It was his ER, she logged more than anyone else, and he had no idea how.

He was covering the night shift and she was still there. Bags were under her eyes. She looked more tired than any other third-year resident.

Owen sat down at the emergency counter and signed himself into the ER shift schedule. Scrolling through a series of names, he came across hers and apparently, she had maxed out hours last week. That girl was still there.

"(Y/L/N)" he spoke from his counter, getting her attention. "Go home."

She looked at him, as if she had forgotten what he had said. Then she snapped out of it. "I said I would cover Dr. Harrison's shift today."

"Go home, we don't need you toady. One of those days." he said as a code for a slow day.

"But—"

"Just go home and get some sleep." she nodded and Owen watched her leave.

The next shift, she looked just as exhausted as ever. He made a mental note to check her hours and whether they would change or not. A few days later, her hours dramatically changed from higher hours to lower hours, and he decided that there was something wrong. However, he kept silent, and once her hours hit the maximum, they dropped back down again.

It was hard to approach her, but he did. "Dr. (Y/L/N)."

"Dr. Hunt."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

She shrugged. "Ok."

"I've noticed your hours have been shifting after you've reached the maximum. Care to explain why?"

Her tan cheeks turned into a rose blush "I—it was—Dr. Hunt I—"

Owen realized he was feeling extremely bad for the young resident and he told her not to let it happen again, otherwise he would have to report it.

She quickly scampered away and he tried his best to forget it. There was something about her that he felt drawn to, and he didn't know what it was. She just reminded him of something.

Another shift while he worked on a patient, he noticed her dazing out into space. Just as he was to yell at her for daydreaming, he saw her eyelids snap shut and she collapsed against the wall. He looked around; no one seemed to notice. Owen quickly started to run to see if she was ok but once he was a few feets distance, her eyes snapped open, and her grey ones met his.

Next thing he knew, she had walked away.

He was too shocked to say anything.

Owen kept a close eye on her the next week, and it kept on happening. Derek told him it happened a lot, and she insisted it was nothing. However she still looked terrible. Almost like she was dying. In fact, he constantly had to yell at other residents to start following her example of excellent performance when they were bullying her as if they were in middle school.

It all seemed to go downhill when she passed out in the middle of a surgery.

They checked for a pulse and it was still there, but when they shook her, she didn't wake up. The nurses quickly found a gurney and Owen left the other surgeons so he could treat her. He quickly found out that she definitely wasn't getting enough calories in her system and they gave her some IV fluids.

He was busy monitoring her when she woke up. "Hey."

Her eyes darted around the room frantically. "What happened?"

"You passed out again, this time in the middle of the procedure. It looks like you haven't been eating." He told her. Owen didn't know what to do next.

"I—I forgot to eat lunch. How stupid. Must be because of the patient I had."

"Which patient?" He demanded.

"Mr. Klein, Ms. Liu, and I think Mrs. Halliday."

"Why do you have so many hard cases at once? Didn't I tell you you need more sleep? You can't perform well if you're tired."

Her mouth was agape in shock, as if she never knew that exhaustion affected her.

"Look, you're a great surgeon (Y/N)." he decided to call her by her first name. "You are already our top resident and I can almost guarantee you'll be Chief resident when the time comes. However, as far as solo surgery goes, if you keep this up I will make our chief of surgery doesn't select you. You'll be a risk to the patient."

(Y/N) blinked a couple times and nodded. "I'm sorry Dr. Hunt."

"I hope you get better Dr. (Y/L/N)"

Alas, she didn't get better. In fact it got worse. No matter how many times he attempted to pull her off of the ER schedules, she managed to cover seemingly everyone's shift. Unfortunately, he couldn't pull himself together enough to report it to the chief .

It didn't come off as a surprise when she passed out on his trauma wing again. However this time, when she woke up a few moments after, a terrifying scream ripped throuigh the hall. Her eyes were wide open but she wouldn't respond when he screamed her name over and over.

She cried out a name, then thrashed aorund, tears suddenly streaming down her face. Patients stared curiously but he didn't care. As nurses quickly gathered beside her, he barked out orders until he jabbed a needle into her thigh, watching her body limply fall in his arms.

A few hours later, he was by her bedside checking her vitals until he found her eyes slowly opening.

"About time Dr. (Y/L/N), we were beginning to worry." he told her.

"What happened?" the resident murmurred.

"You passed out."

"I shouldn't be here." she said. "I shouldn't be here."

Then with teary and fearful eyes, ones that looked all too familiar, she screamed out the phrase over and over again, each time louder. Before he knew what was happening, she stopped breathing and he saw that she was pale, gasping for air. He incubated her, easily sliding the tube down her throat and watching her chest heave in relief.

"Call security, she needs to be restrained." He hollered, holding her shoulders down with the strength he could muster.

When she woke up again, he made sure to be at her bedside, and when her eyes opened, he knew.

"You've been in a war." He said quietly before she could get up.

(Y/N) looked like she was going to deny it but her expression changed. Her head slowly moved up in down, confirming his thoughts.

"I know that look of fear during your PTSD attack. Veterans always have that look." He felt her clutch onto his hand and smile a little, but with much pain and regret.

"I'm not a veteran." she whispered, gazing into his blue eyes. 

"Then—"

"I'm a refugee. I came here when I was seven."

Owen nodded and swallowed the lump of pity. "May I ask what happened?"

Once again, she looked like she wanted to refuse but spoke anyways. "It was horrible. Bombs were everywhere. I remember the cries of my friends on the playground when the planes flew by. There wasn't anything to live for anymore. We could see all of our ribs when we look int eh mirror, starving from hunger. I saw so many dead bodies it seemed normal. We decided to escape a year later. My parents brought us here, but on the way, my ten-year-old brother was hurt. He was blind and deaf in the blink of an eye. After finally settling down, my mother was murdered by a hate group and my father tried to raise us alone. He bled out after being murdered as well. My brother and I were put in foster care but he was framed for a crime he couldn't have commited. We didn't have any money to pay for a lawyer so he was put in juvie. It kept on happening until his criminal record looked horrible. When he fought back the next time, they stabbed him and he was badly injured, then suffered permanent brain damage."

"Is that why you became a doctor?" he asked.

"I want to be able to save loved ones because the doctors we had couldn't save mine."

And that's when it clicked. "(Y/N), you can't save everyone." 

"But I can save more."

"You can't starve yourself spending every day with your patients. It won't do anyone any good. People make fun of me and say I'm the runt of the litter. How else can I prove to them that I'm a good doctor?"

Owen looked at the young doctor, who's beautiful grey eyes were sparkling with tears. He wiped them away with his thumb. 

"I need you to take care of yourself. I don't know where you found this idea that not eating and sleeping make you a good doctor. You have great potential, but I think you need help."

"Help?" her eyes widened. "No, no, I'm fine I—"

"When was the last time you really slept? When was the last time you smiled, laughed even?"

She looked away and clutched the sheets with her pale, restrained hands. "I don't remember."

"I know what it feels like to be numb. It doesn't feel, and you need help. I'll make sure you still have a job but you need to see a shrink." 

Running his knuckles over hers, she nodded in agreement.

Her mouth parted as if she was going to say something, but she didn't.

"What is it?"

She shook her head. "It's stupid." 

"Tell me anyways." he insisted.

"Will you come with me? To see the shrink?"

Owen nodded with a small chuckle. "Of course."

That's when she smiled.

It was the first time he had ever seen her smile and he realized how beautiful she was. He knew he would do anything to make her smile again. Relasing the restraints, he brought her knuckles to his lips and saw her smile widen.

"Anything."

This collection is going to be put on hold