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The thing is, she wasn’t even supposed to be there. If it weren’t for Allison and her constant need to make everything better in the world, Teddy wouldn’t even make the decision to enlist the army, and she would have stayed in New York where it wasn’t 113 degrees and AC was a thing, but Allison did try to make the world a better place, which concluded Teddy, grieving the death of the 3 most significant people in her life, feeling like the only thing to do to try and be a little bit like Allison is helping to stop the people who did this to her. Who took the best person she ever knew, hell, probably the best person to ever walk this earth, away from her. And then there she was, midair in some forsaken desert in Iraq, sand in every direction. She’s actually starting to believe there is no end to it, that the sand hills just keep going and going like that forever. They meet an air pocket and everything starts shaking around her, she holds unto her sit, she fucking hates helicopters.
It’s been 2 months since she’d been sent to Iraq, and 48 hours since she’s been told to pack all of her stuff cuz they’re sending her to some other base northern than here, something about them being short staffed. She closes her eyes, trying to forget the fact that she’s in some tiny rumbling box that is flying in the air, there’s a few more recruits with her on the helicopter, none of them seems to care about the rumbling.
As they land she swears she could’ve kissed the ground if she didn’t have a reputation to hold unto as one of the doctors. She’s looking around her, “they couldn’t find a worse place to send us to?” She murmurs, and the other 3 recruits laugh.
The commanding officer leads them to their residence, some old containers that have been converted into dorms. It's better than what they had at their previous base, where they would’ve shared 1 giant tent for 20 women, “Cozy” smiles one of the recruits, named Hudson. Maybe there’s a chance this isn’t the worst place after all.
The next day they’re following some commander named Brown around the base, he shows them the medical equipment and operating tents, nothing too different than what they had in their former base, the equipment is remarkably newer, sure. Not that she cares about those things. But just as they enter the treatment tent, their tour is being interrupted by a group of 17 injured soldiers being rushed in, commander Brown is immediately running to one of the beds and starts to check stats of some soldier, and she and the other recruits each find another bed with an injured soldier to treat.
She rips off her mask and steps outside of the tent, trying to breath normally as she wipes the sweat from her forehead. She just got out of a 5 hours surgery and it’s almost evening, but the soldier lived, that’s all that matters. She was helping to make the world a better place, she just wishes it wasn’t that damn hard, and maybe less hot.
It’s been a week since her arrival, and the work simply does not end, they weren’t laughing about being short staffed. Compared to her former base’s location, this area was much more active, there were a lot of terror militants around that area, and let’s just say they didn’t really like the idea of American soldiers shoving their noses to their plans.
“Doctor to bed 3” one of the nurses yelled, “coming!” Teddy yells back, and reaches the bed quickly, the soldier laying in it, breathing slowly and bleeding from a cut near his neck. He looks so young, not more than 24, “what the hell happened?” She asks, “They just started shooting at us, from nowhere, the bullet missed me by a millimeter.” She's looking around her, trying to find gauze to press into his wound, “Need help with that?” Another doctor reaches for her, she lifts her gaze and meets his blue eyes, “I’m trying to find gauze, I’m all out.” She says, “Here,” he hands her a new pack of gauze, “You’re one of the new recruits, right?” The ginger asks, she nods, “yeah.” She’s struggling to open the package with only one hand and he helps her, “Well, not really, I’ve been moved from Camp Bucca.” She’s looking at the wound again, “The bullet cut his artery, it’s totally clogged, we need to get him to an OR.” He agrees, “is there an OR available?” He yells, “OR 6 Doctor Hunt.” One of the nurses answers, “let’s go.” Teddy says.
“Poor guy,” she says, “instead of going to college with his friends and getting drunk, he’s here, lying unconscious on an operating table after being shot at.” She looks down at the kid, “That’s the harsh reality of war.” The ginger surgeon sighs, “So, I didn’t really catch your name earlier, Dr.?…” he’s looking at her, “Altman, Teddy Altman.” She answers, smiling gently, “okay Doctor Altman, I’m Owen.” He’s nice, nicer than most of the captains she knew, And he’s a good damn assistant in surgery, not pulling ranks and making a mess, she feels like he trusts her. “I saw you getting out of a surgery a few days ago, you looked kind of exhausted, was it a long surgery?” He chuckles, “Oh, not really, it was just a long day, we only arrived the day before and I didn’t really get a lot of sleep, which I much needed after the rumbly flight here.” She felt like she was talking too much, but he just smiled at her, at least she hoped so, it was hard to tell with his mask on. “Not a fan of helicopters?” She looked at him, “To say at least.” She sighed, he laughed, what was it about that blue-eyed, pale, ginger doctor that was so calming? Here they were, with their hands stuck inside of some soldier that experienced such a terrible accident that he’ll probably have to deal with ptsd for the rest of his life, and that Owen guy was asking her about helicopters?
“Is it a lot different here than in Camp Bucca?” He asked, “two different worlds. There it was much more quiet, there were some injured soldiers coming in and out, but definitely not even close to the amount of injured soldiers here. I’m surprised you even have soldiers left with the amount of surgeries I had to perform this past week.” She trailed off, maybe too much? But again, he just laughed, appreciating the joke. “There’s a lot more activity in this area than in there, but also better facilities.” She nodded, “The bunks are definitely a big improvement, but don’t get me started on the terrible food here, are you sure you guys have a cook and not just someone putting things in a pot?” She teases, “You’ll learn to like it, trust me.” He smiles back.
The next day is even more harsh than the previous and she’s starting to feel it’s just going to get harder and harder as the days go by. She finds herself lying in her bed at night, staring at the ceiling fan, when it all catches up to her. What the hell is she doing here? In the middle of the desert nonetheless, She reaches for her dog tags and grasps them in one hand. This is not going to bring Allison back, nothing will bring Allison back. Allison is dead, and so is her mother, and her father. And being here, nowhere to be found, and giving every last bit of energy left in her to save 20 year olds from dying won’t bring any of them back, and as she lets those thoughts linger in her mind, she can feel her breath leave her mouth, and nothing enters back. She can’t breathe. She tries to catch her breath, and fails terribly.
She gets up from her bed, grasping her chest as she stumbles outside, barely even understanding what is going on with her. She gasps for air, as she feels the warm touch of a hand on her back, “Hey, it’s ok, don’t worry, just sit, and slow down…” he sits with her on some small, and pretty hot, sand dune, gesturing his hand around her gently. “Slow breaths, count with me, one, two, three, four… Now again, one, two, three, four, you got this. Don’t worry, you’re okay.” As she finally feels the air getting back into her lungs she looks up to see him sitting next to her, his face much more serious than before, worried. He notices she’s a bit surprised to see him, to see anyone actually. “It happens to a lot of soldiers, the baggage we think we left at home never really stays there, it always catches up with us.” She’s looking at her feet, wearing her stupid heavy army boots. “I don’t know if you’re much of a talker, but even if you don’t wanna talk about it, just know that everybody here has baggage, for some it’s small and for some.. it takes their breath away, but everybody here has some.”
She can’t explain it, but hearing his words actually manages to calm her down, she looks at him, still shocked from her losing her breath.
“Allison.” She says, and he looks at her, a little bit confused, “She’s my best friend.” She starts, “Well, at least she was… She died in the second tower.” Owen is surprised to hear that, after all, it wasn’t too long ago that the tragedy happened. “I’m so sorry, Teddy.” He says, “It’s okay,” she smiles, “She had that amazing, childish belief that she can make the world a better place, and after she died I started to have that annoying urge to do it for her, because she couldn’t anymore. So I signed up for a tour.” She explains to him, he nods in understanding, “You are making the world a better place, the soldier from your surgery last week? He’ll be able to hug his mom again, all because of you, because you saved him.” She smiles at that thought.
“I’m sorry you had to see me like this.” She cleans the powdery sand from her uniform pants as she slowly gets up, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse, you’ll never believe what is going on in the men’s tent on basic training.” He comforts her, and she laughs at the thought of 30 grown men crying.
“Have a good night, Teddy.” He says as they reach the door to her room, “Good night, Owen. And thank you again.” She looks at him before entering her room, and he’s a bit surprised that she remembers his name.
“The thing I miss the most is mom’s carrot cake, I’ll kill to have that right now.” He’s sitting with Megan and Nathan, it’s one of those slow days where they aren't really needed in the clinic. “Really Megan? A carrot cake? That’s the thing you miss the most?” Nathan looks at her in disbelief, “Well it’s better than your answer!” She’s protesting, and Nathan rolls his eyes. They spot Teddy as she gets out of the medical tent, “Hey, that’s one of the recruits, right? What’s her name…” Megan tries to remember, “Teddy” Owen answers, Megan and Nathan look at each other, then back at him, “So you already met her?” She asks suspiciously, “Yeah, I assisted her in surgery the other day.” Megan jaw drops to the floor, “You? Assisted anyone?? You’re not even willing to assist me!” She yells out and Nathan laughs at her shock, “Well because you make a big deal out of it, and annoy me.” He looks at her, “I’m calling her.” She announces, “Megan no, poor girl must’ve just gotten out of her shift.” Nathan tries to convince her to leave the girl alone, and Owen nods in agreement. “I have to hear about her experience with Owen assisting her in surgery, the girl must be traumatized from all this pale skin blinding her.” Owen growls at her, “And also, she seems nice. It’s time to let another girl into the group.” The boys look at each other again, they both know that when Megan is determined there is no stopping her. “Hey! Teddy!” She yells out to her, waving her arms in the air, Teddy turns around to look at the source of the yelling, all confused, silently signing “me?” With her hands, “Yes you! Come over here!” Megan is nodding enthusiastically. Teddy waits for a second, then she looks around, and eventually starts walking towards them, her steps are nervous and she’s looking a bit embarrassed. When she reaches them Megan is gesturing to her to sit on one of the chairs in the small circle, “Harsh shift?” Nathan asks, “No, not really, I was just checking on my post-op patients.” She smiles at the three. “You’re new here right? You came with the other recruits last week?” Teddy nods in approval, “Yeah I’ve been moved from Camp Bucca” she wonders how many more times she’ll have to repeat that line to people, “Cool, I heard you guys had the new showers there. I’ll kill for one of those.” Teddy laughs, “Yeah we did, also better food options, we had a rip-off subway, but you guys have way better dorms and medical equipment. I was shocked when I heard you got the new ultra sound.” Megan smiles at her, finally, a girl friend in their group, “I believe we didn’t even introduced ourselves, I’m Megan, Hunt.” Teddy’s eyes widened and she moved to look at Owen, who nodded silently, ok so they’re a brother and a sister, that’s nice. “And that’s Nathan Riggs, and I believe you’ve already met Owen.” She continues, “Yeah, I did.” Teddy smiles, “So, you have to tell me, how was my buttoned up brother as an assistant?” She’s inspecting Teddy's shocked face, she stays silent for a second, looking for an answer that will satisfy both of them, “He was actually really good, anticipated my every move.” Megan’s jaw drops to the floor once again, “Are you sure you’re talking about my brother? That dangerously pale ginger right here?” She points at Owen, “I believe it’s him.” Teddy answers calmly, and Megan is still shocked. “Come on Megan, leave the girl alone.” Nathan stops Megan before she can rant about Owen being bossy and annoying. “So, Teddy, we were just talking about what we miss the most at home, I said coffee, but like real coffee, from the coffee shop down the street from my home, not like the garbage we get here.” She can see he’s very passionate about his coffee. “And Megan said she misses their mom’s carrot cake, which I do approve of as magical.” Nathan laughs, “what about you?” Megan asks, “What do you miss the most about home?” The first thing that pops up in Teddy's mind is Allison, but Allison doesn’t wait for her there anymore. Honestly, with both Allison and her parents gone, she doesn’t even know if she has a home anymore. It takes her a minute to consider an answer, but then she finally manages to find one, “The snow. The snow on New York in the winter, on Christmas especially. When all of the city covers in that white blanket and everything feels so calm and quiet, even though New York is never really quiet, It’s my favorite time of the year.” She says, they’re sitting in silence, all 3 of them staring at her, “That’s such a good answer.” Megan finally says, “Better than any of us.” Nathan chuckles, Teddy laughs. “So you’re from New York than?” Nathan asks, “Yes, I am. Or, at least I was, there’s really nothing left for me there.” She looks down at her hands in her lap, Megan senses her new friend is embarrassed and decides to break the silence, “What about you Owen? What do you miss the most? And don’t steal mine!” They all laugh, “I don’t know, probably Beth.” Owen answers doubtfully, and Megan immediately rolls her eyes. “What?” Owen gets mad, and Nathan laughs, “Really? Your so called “girlfriend”? I hoped for a better answer than that” Megan shoots him a look. So he has a girlfriend, some girl called Beth, Teddy notes to herself. “I miss her.” Owen protests, “Yeah sure, that’s why you never talk about her.” Teddy quickly realizes she likes Megan, with her fiery curls and short temper. She's definitely not afraid to speak her mind, which comes out as very funny to other people who aren’t Owen, who seems to be the victim of most of her jokes. That's just how siblings are. Well, she figures, considering she’s an only child. “I think Teddy wins this round.” Nathan claims, “Definitely.” Megan agrees with him, and Owen just smiles at her, she can’t help not to smile back.
She immediately finds herself as part of the group, and it makes everything much more tolerable, she can even count some of the days as fun, well, to be honest, most of the days. After long days of operations they get together and rant about the heat, and the stupid commanders, and share rumors they heard. Usually it ends with Owen telling Megan to stop gossiping and Megan starting to yell at him, while Teddy and Nathan laugh about the two siblings turning bright red. And sometimes, if she had a bad day, or memories of the people she lost come flooding up, she sits and talks to Owen. She doesn’t know how they always end up in the same situation, it’s like he just knows when she needs someone to talk to, or where to find her even if she trailed somewhere because she wanted to be alone. Even then, she isn't really bothered by that, because Owen is kind, and sweet, and he sits with her and lets her talk for hours. He just listens, just looks at her and nods, sometimes he even pulls her closer and holds her if he senses that she needs him to. Soon enough they become close friends, and she comes to him not only on the bad times, but even when she had a great surgery or one of her patients was clear for duty. They sit on some sand dune somewhere and drink beer and just talk about everything really.
“So, you and Beth, how long have the two of you been together?” She asks, taking a sip from her bottle of beer. It's hot, and kinda gross to be honest, but it’s better than nothing. “For about a year.” He answers, “How did you two meet?” She looks at him, “At a gas station actually,” he chuckles, Teddy feels like she could listen to him laugh forever. “Her car got stuck and I gave her a ride home, we talked all the way, and eventually I just asked her out.” Teddy looks at him, she did not expect to hear a story like that from a man like Owen. She never really hears him talk about Beth, and Megan always claims he doesn’t really love her. “You never really told me about her.” Teddy finally dares to say, “That’s not true!” He protests, “It is!” She laughs, “Okay, maybe there is a slight chance that you’re right.” He says quietly, and before she can ask him about the reasons he doesn’t ever bring Beth up, she can see he doesn’t really like to talk about that subject, so she tries to change the topic, “You know, I think Megan and Nathan are into each other.” She drops, Owen opens his eyes wildly in disbelief, and she laughs at his expression.
It’s not long after that Megan and Nathan get together, one night there's a knock on her door, she opens it and it’s Megan, she just storms in. “I just can't with him!” She almost yells, “Who? Nathan?” Teddy has no idea what is going on, “Did you two get into a fight?” Megan crashes on her bed, “Not him! My dumb brother!” She says with anger, “Owen? What happened between the two of you?” She’s still standing in the other side of the room, “It’s like we’re 8 again, he goes and pulls ranks and changes the treatment plan for my patients, like he doesn’t trust me, who’s gonna tell him that I graduated from med school too?” Teddy sits next to her on the bed, “He just irritates me so much!” She blurts out, Megan breathes for a second, “Sorry I know you two have something going on between you guys.” She gets up and sits next to Teddy on the bed, “We’re just friends.” Teddy says, “yeah right, that’s why you two go to
Talk every night after me and Nathan leave?” Megan shots her a teasing look, “There’s nothing going on between us.” Teddy stays put, “Yeah right’” Megan teases her, “look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for him.” She gets up and looks down on Teddy, “He’s with Beth.” Teddy looks back at her, “That’s not what I asked.” She’s looking at her with a mischievous smile, “I don’t have feelings for Owen.” Teddy says, “liar.” Megan shots back at her as she leaves the room, leaving confused Teddy behind. She doesn’t have feelings for Owen.
Right?