Hey guys- so I a long hiatus whereby I watched PP and occupied myself with real life. But now, I'm ready to get back into the writing groove! :D

This is a continuation of 13x12. I just can't bear to see Amelia withdrawing and distancing herself from Owen like that on the show. And it's really painful to see Owen hurting. I hope Omelia can have a heart to heart talk and sort things out!

Anyways, enjoy…and my apologies in advance if my writing is a little rusty- I haven't written for quite some time after all….:P

Hurting

The pepperoni pizza tasted so delicious as Amelia closed her eyes to savor its taste in her mouth.

' He said to tell you he's not gonna wait forever.' her mentee Stephanie interrupted the blissful moment.

' What?' Amelia mumbled in reply, her mouth still full of pizza. She didn't realize that she was starving until she took the first bite.

'Before he walked away, Dr Hunt told me to tell you that he's not going to wait forever.' Stephanie repeated in a clearer tone. 'It seems like he's losing his patience.'

Amelia didn't reply, choosing to take another bite of her pizza instead. Lately her appetite had increased, and every food she took tasted heavenly.

Stephanie sighed, internally debating on whether to probe Amelia further. Amelia was her mentor and superior, she had no right to interfere with her personal business. On the other hand, watching Amelia withdraw from Owen and avoiding him at all costs was getting painful to watch. She didn't know exactly what happened between them, but she could see that it was eating Owen up inside. She noticed that he had this sad and worried expression permanently stamped on his face since Amelia moved in to stay with her a couple of days ago.

She had been shocked to find Amelia standing at the other side of her apartment door with her luggage when she answered the doorbell that night. She had expected it to be Jo or Leah. Amelia had looked so crestfallen and tired, asking for a place to stay. A million questions were running through Stephanie's mind as she let her mentor into her house, but she decided to leave the questions until later as she made some hot chocolate for her.

Over the next couple of days, Stephanie had to rush back and forth from the hospital to her apartment as she brought back their patients' scans for Amelia to review. Amelia would then look through the scans and give Stephanie her management plan, before the resident had to rush back to the hospital to carry out the plan. Luckily all the plans so far had been conservative treatment or just minor procedures.

Stephanie really didn't mind her mentor staying at her place. She just missed being able to invite the other residents over for a sleepover, or having the freedom to do whatever she wanted in her own apartment. Now that her boss was staying with her, she felt like she had to guard her behavior at all times. Furthermore, her snacks and yogurt seemed to have disappeared at an alarming rate since Amelia first appeared at her apartment door. She had NO idea someone so small in size could have such a huge appetite.

'You have to talk to Dr Hunt.' Stephanie finally found the courage to speak up, ' You can't just keep shutting him out like that. Didn't you hear what he said? Each time you don't open the door, it gets a little easier to stay inside. I don't know what exactly is going on between you both this time or what you both are fighting about now- but you should go talk to him. Sort out whatever issues you both have. This can't go on forever.'

' Well, I can't. Not yet.' came the nonchalant reply as Amelia took yet another bite of her pizza.

Stephanie could feel her temper beginning to rise, but she tried to remain calm, reminding herself that it wasn't wise to yell at an attending.

' He's worried about you. He has been asking about you every day. Yesterday he asked me if you were okay and sober. He told me to tell you to come home and that you both will be fine. Why are you doing this to him?

' It's none of your business.' Amelia said curtly, pretending to focus her attention on the crappy daytime soap opera playing on the TV. She didn't appreciate her resident interfering with her personal affairs.

Stephanie knew better than to probe Amelia any further. Grabbing a piece of pizza for herself, she announced that she was going to go back to the hospital to round on their patients.

Stephanie sighed as she noticed Owen walking towards her while she was sitting in the MRI scan room, supervising a patient's brain MRI. She hated always being caught in the middle of this couple's personal drama.

' Did you tell her what I said?' Owen asked.

' Yes' came the brisk reply.

'Well, what did she say?'

' She didn't say anything! She just said she can't talk to you just yet and that it's none of my business.' Stephanie answered exasperatedly.

' Oh… I'm so sorry Dr Hunt' Stephanie quickly apologized upon noticing Owen's hurt facial expression. ' I didn't mean to yell at you. I can't get to her either, she wouldn't open up to me or tell me anything. I'm just as much in the dark as you are.'

' I don't know why is she behaving this way.' Owen admitted. ' One day, we were happily talking about not waiting for kids, and the next day she yells in my face that she doesn't' want kids. Are women usually this confusing?'

Stephanie shrugged. She didn't want to get even more involved in this couple's issues.

' I don't know. I can only speak for myself. I'm not that hard to read.'

Their conversation was interrupted when the patient's MRI brain image showed up on the computer screen.

Stephanie let out a gasp as she continued staring at the images. ' This looks like a huge astrocytoma!' she cried excitedly, clicking the print button.

'I have to bring the scans to to confirm the diagnosis though..' she proclaimed , grabbing the printed out scans and running out of the room.

' Tell her that she can't keep shutting herself out from me and from the rest of the world like that!' Owen yelled at Stephanie's retreating figure.

Once he was left alone in the MRI scan room, he continued pacing up and down the room, his arms folded. He could feel his blood beginning to boil. He had done nothing wrong in his mind to deserve this silent treatment from his wife. All he did was make his intentions to start a family known. That was all it took for her to withdraw from him. He didn't know where he went wrong. Was wanting to start a family a wrong decision on his part? Did he push Amelia too much into that direction? But they did come to a consensus that they both wanted kids. So what went wrong? Why didn't any of the women he loved want his kids?

He banged his right fist against the wall in frustration, and let out a yell of pain. He grabbed his now hurt right wrist to examine it, realizing that it was now swollen and probably needed some medical attention. The wall now had a hole in it.

' Amelia, please come back to me.' he whimpered, still clutching his right wrist. He would now have to go back to the ER to get it checked out.

Amelia couldn't focus on the crappy soap opera playing on her TV. Her stomach was churning and twisting and she felt some cramping, similar to the menstrual cramps she usually felt. She didn't want to take any painkillers unless the pain was really intolerable. Maybe her period was finally about to come, it had been delayed for a few weeks already.

Ignoring the discomfort, she switched channels, trying to find a good television show to distract her.

The truth was, she was now having conflicting feelings inside. Part of her wanted to go back to Owen and apologize to him. She loved Owen so much and wanted to go back to the way things were during the first couple of months of their marriage. She missed their morning sexual romps, and cuddling up next to him in bed. She missed their casual discussions about work and throwing silly jokes at each other.

But then- she just couldn't bring herself to tell him that she was too afraid to start a family. She couldn't tell her husband that the main reason she was withdrawing herself from him was that she was afraid she couldn't give him what he wanted so badly….a family. She was afraid because she just couldn't bring herself to face another pregnancy, with the possibility of having yet another anencephalic baby.

But hearing his words from the other side of the door an hour ago stirred a conscience from deep within her. He sincerely cared about her and wanted her to return to him and open up to him. Owen was a sincere, kind-hearted and wonderful guy and a great husband, he deserved that much.

' Maybe I should go back to the hospital to apologize to him.' she contemplated. ' And tell him the whole story about my unicorn baby.'

As she stood up from the couch, she suddenly felt the room spinning, forcing her to sit back down.

Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she felt a sudden wave of nausea overtake her. She had been feeling this way for the past couple of days, experiencing dizzy spells and bouts of nausea. She made a mental note to scold Stephanie for storing expired yoghurt in her fridge.

She rushed to the bathroom just in time to throw up all the pizza she had just eaten. When she had emptied her entire gut contents out, she sank onto the floor, her knees wobbly and her head spinning. Then her entire world went black.

This was the first time Stephanie actually felt excited to be travelling back to her apartment in the middle of her work day. She held the films of the patient's brain MRI in her hands, guarding them like a precious certificate. She was hoping and praying that once Dr. Shepherd confirmed the diagnosis she had been suspecting and praised her for picking it up, she would give her the opportunity to perform her very first solo tumor removal. She could already feel the tumor in her hands.

' Dr Shepherd!' Stephanie called out excitedly as she barged into her apartment. ' Look what we've got here! I brought back some MRI films showing a nice looking tumor- I'm thinking it's a grade 3 astrocytoma…'

The TV was on, and the pizza was finished, but Amelia was nowhere to be found. Usually when she came home, Amelia would be hanging out at the kitchen table or on the couch.

' Maybe she's in the bathroom.' Stephanie thought to herself.

' Dr. Shepherd' Stephanie called out as she walked towards the bathroom. ' I've something exciting to show you once you're done..'

She stopped dead on her tracks as she saw a limp figure lying still on the bathroom floor.

'Oh my God!' she exclaimed as she ran over to Amelia's motionless figure.

' Dr. Shepherd, can you hear me?!' she cried as she felt frantically for a pulse and some breathing.

She sighed in relief when she felt a pulse, although weak and thready.

Hands trembling, she dialed 911, praying for her mentor to be ok.

Any reviews, comments and messages are very much appreciated :) I really love to hear from you guys and would like to know what you guys think! :D