Grey's Anatomy - Choices (15/23)
Title: Choices
Chapter 15/23
Authors: Faith & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Post-6x17 "Push" -- Arizona prefers chickens to children, and Callie isn't okay with that. Heartbroken and lonely, the two women try unsuccessfully to move on with their lives, only to find they really are made for eachother.
Chapter Summary: Mark tries to help the girls, and makes things so much worse for everyone involved.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Previous Chapters
A/N: Our medical knowledge extends to what Google tells us, and no further. So...yeah. Let's all just pretend that this is all serious, hardcore medical stuff, okay? Good.
---
After that day, Arizona avoided being alone with Callie whenever possible.
Simply because it was too hard.
She also avoided Mark, because even though what Callie had said about the two of them wasn’t true, her words still stung Arizona to the core.
They had brought up hidden insecurites she’d had from the beginning of their relationship. Insecurities she had ignored because she trusted Callie, and got used to Mark being around over time. But now...
Looking at Mark reminded her that he still had Callie, and she didn’t.
Spending most of her time at the hospital, Arizona threw herself deep into her work and overloaded her schedule with surgeries to keep busy. Too busy to think about anything other than her patients.
Almost a full week later, she had numbed herself to the pain of losing Callie by trying not to thinking about her. Surgery helped with that, except whenever she saw the brunette at the other end of the hallway, or at a desk, or heading for the elevator, or in the cafeteria. Those times, something inside of her churned sharply enough to nearly cripple her completely.
She still had to work with Carmen, too. But Arizona had been fairly firm in a brief conversation about how ‘they’ were never, ever going to happen again. So far, the nurse had managed to act professional around her, which helped the rumors die away as people moved on to more up-to-date gossip, but every once in a while the beautiful Latina would send her one of those sexy smiles or whisper something not-very-professional when they were alone or nobody else was listening.
But, Arizona tried her best to remain numb to the rest of the world, and all of the people in it. Work was what she knew and was good at, so that’s where she focused her energies.
A week after her yelling match/heartfelt conversation with Callie, Danielle, the brain tumor patient, landed back in her care with more symptoms.
Arizona sat in the MRI computer room, leaning back against the chair and idly flipping a pen around in her hand while she waited for the machine to start. She looked up when Derek Shepherd finally arrived, projecting a kind of frazzled exhaustion that had become his norm lately.
“Hey, Chief.” She forced out one of the fake smiles she’d been using all week, so as not to appear as inhuman on the outside as she felt on the inside. “I was starting to think you were going to stand me up. Busy day on the paperwork front?”
Derek sighed heavily as he sat down in the empty chair next to the blonde. He released a long, deep groan as he slouched into the leather material and dropped his head against the back.
“That good, huh?” Arizona found herself genuinely grinning this time.
Derek groaned again as he reached up to rub his palms hard against his eyes. “If I ever see another file folder, or have to sign another piece of paper...” He paused to drop his hands heavily back onto his lap. “I'll kill myself.”
Arizona laughed. “Bet you miss the old days, when all you had to do was cut.”
“You have no idea,” Derek confirmed.
“Well, you might get lucky here,” Arizona replied, swiveling her chair back to face the screen. “Though ‘lucky’ isn’t the word I’d use for Danielle.” She fidgeted as the stupid computer took forever to load the images. “She’s had headaches, some pretty severe, and vision problems since the surgery. I think it’s most likely a blood clot or aneurysm from her tumor removal, though I have no idea how bad yet.” She chewed on the end of her pen, watching the screen carefully.
Derek frowned and pulled his chair closer to the desk, resting his elbow on the surface. “Definitely an aneurysm,” he finally confirmed as he pointed its location out on the images.
Arizona sighed as her fears were confirmed.
Sometimes, it really sucked to be her.
***
Mr. and Mrs. Harper sat in the two hard plastic chairs facing Arizona, their joined hands resting between them. Their attention was focused completely on their daughter's surgeon as they fidgeted in place.
Waiting.
Arizona swallowed back nervously, but forced out her best smile. “Mr. and Mrs. Harper-”
“Please,” Martin cut in shortly. “Just tell us. We can't take much more at this point.”
Arizona released a soft breath, nodding. “I know. I’m sorry you had to wait this long, there was a backlog for the MRI machine.” She shifted in her seat and leaned forward. “Danielle has formed an aneurysm at the site of her last surgery,” she explained carefully, making sure to keep her tone as neutral as possible.
“But,” Mrs. Harper stuttered, fighting not to dissolve into tears. “You said that after a few weeks, she’d be in the clear. It’s been two weeks since her last surgery, why is this just happening now?”
“It happens with these kinds of procedures, and in Danielle’s case, it formed fairly slowly. Rare, but it does happen.” She chose her next words carefully. “Mrs. Harper-”
“Amanda and Martin, please,” the wife said through a forced smile. “We’ve known you for a year now, Dr. Robbins…Arizona.”
Arizona smiled a little. “Amanda, Martin. Because of the location of the clot, removing it poses more of a risk than the original surgery. Dr. Shepherd believes he can go in and remove it, but there is a risk that with the stress of opening her up, the aneurysm could burst before he can get to it. And with Danielle’s body in such a weakened condition from her first operation, that risk is slightly higher than usual.”
Both parents looked like they were hardly able to process this information, and Arizona’s heart went out to them.
This part of her job was almost as bad as losing the kids themselves. Especially the ones she’d been working with for such a long time, like Danielle.
“But I’m going to add in here that Dr. Shepherd is the best neurosurgeon in the country,” Arizona continued in a firm and confident tone. “Danielle’s in the best of hands, I promise you that.”
Martin smiled shakily. “She always has been.” Amanda nodded in agreement.
Arizona felt herself smiling in return. “Danielle's a special little girl. She deserves the best we can give her.”
“We've never questioned that for even a moment,” Amanda sniffed, her voice breaking through her tears. “We don't know what we would've done without this hospital.” She paused, her eyes genuine as they looked back at the surgeon. “Without you.” She reached up to swipe a hand across her cheeks. “Dani wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for all your hard work, Dr. - Arizona,” she quickly corrected.
“You gave us our daughter back,” Martin added after a moment. “There are no words to describe how...how grateful we are.” His tears began to fall as well as he squeezed his wife's hand tightly.
Arizona smiled a little shyly, but nodded with confidence. “You have my word that we’re going to keep doing everything we can for her. I promise.”
Amanda and Martin held each other for a few seconds, whispering soft words of reassurance to one another.
The tender moment between husband and wife made her think of Callie again. It took a lot of effort to force her ex to the back of her mind before she could feel that familiar stab of pain return.
“Dr. Shepherd advised that we wait another day to see if the swelling in her brain goes down a little more. We’ll monitor her very closely over the next twenty-four hours, and she’ll need to take it very easy.” Arizona flashed the couple a confident smile. “Would you like to see her right now? I can have a nurse show you to her room.”
Martin nodded. “Yes, please.”
Arizona stood up and was about to find someone to escort them, when a loud squeal interrupted the fragile moment.
“Higher, Callie!” what was unmistakably a child’s voice rang out. “Higher!”
Three sets of eyes turned to look across the atrium as Dr. Torres held a giggling Annabelle Harper in her arms.
“Alright,” Callie relented with a laugh. “But you better hold on tight this time.”
“I will!” Anna giggled. “Promise!”
Callie grinned again as she adjusted the tiny body in her arms. “Here we go.” She gripped the little girl around the waist and twirled her around. Anna's giggles filled the hall.
The two parents watched the scene unfold with a sense of peace about them, clearly happy for the thin ray of light their other daughter was able to experience among all of this darkness.
Arizona, on the other hand, felt the breath leave her lungs almost the second she saw her ex-girlfriend.
She forced herself to look away and waved over a passing nurse. “Can you show Mr. and Mrs. Harper to room 314?”
The young nurse nodded. “Of course.”
Out of no where, Amanda Harper suddenly pulled Arizona into a hug. The surgeon froze, caught completely off-guard.
“Thank you, Arizona.” Amanda hugged her tightly, and Arizona kind of awkwardly patted her on the back until she let go.
Danielle’s mother took her husband’s hand and looked at Annabelle. “Come on, Ani. Let’s go see your sister.”
“Don't wanna!” the little girl instantly giggled in return just as Callie set her feet back onto the floor. She smiled up brightly at the surgeon and instantly reached up to grab her right hand, holding on tightly.
Callie felt her heart melt at the feel of the warm, tiny little hand clutching gently to her own.
“Can I stay with Callie? Just until we get ice cream?” Annabelle pleaded as she looked at her parents. “I promise I won't get in the way, and I wanna bring Dani some, too.”
Amanda looked to Arizona, who smiled at Ani but shook her head a little. “Dani can’t have ice cream right now, sweetie. But maybe you can eat a little extra for her, how about that?”
Martin had to laugh. “Oh, please don’t give her any ideas.” He looked to Callie. “If she’s going to be in your way, if you’re busy…”
“Oh, please,” Callie said with a wide smile as she lightly swung their joined hands by her side. “I'm never too busy for Ani-Bee.”
Annabelle grinned widely. “That's my new name!” she explained excitedly to her parents. “Callie says I'm always buzzing around just like a little bee. Busy as a bee, right Callie?” She looked up to the surgeon, admiration shining in her eyes.
“That's right,” the brunette beamed down at her.
God, this kid was cute.
However, her deep blue eyes and dark brown hair only reminded Callie of something she had been trying desperately to forget.
But she was still super cute.
Amanda nodded. “Okay then, Ani-Bee. We’ll see you upstairs in a little while, okay?” She smiled at Callie. “Thanks, Dr. Torres.” They headed off with the nurse.
Annabelle instantly turned to Arizona. “Dr. Robbins, can you come too?”
Arizona swallowed back and glanced over at Callie. “I, uh…maybe later, Ani.”
“Pleeeaasse?” the little girl whined, clutching tightly to Callie’s hand.
Callie looked over at her former girlfriend. Her smile faltered for the first time since the conversation had started.
“Ani-bee? Maybe Arizona doesn't want to get ice cream right now.” She said the words to the little girl, but kept her gaze locked on the blonde.
Arizona wanted to look away, but couldn’t.
Callie had really beautiful eyes.
“I, um…” she started again, just about to cave in when her pager went off.
Saved by the bell. Again.
“I…have to take this,” Arizona said to Callie, glancing down at her hip to the screen on her pager. “Raincheck, Ani?”
Annabelle looked confused. “What’s a raincheck?”
Callie hesitated to pull her eyes away from her ex. She forced a smile as she looked down at the child. “It's something grown-ups say so you won't feel bad when they reject you.” Her smile faltered again as she glanced back up at the blonde.
She really wasn't trying to be mean. They had ended on fairly amicable terms, considering.
But Arizona had been avoiding her like the plague for the last...however long.
And it was starting to get on her nerves.
Arizona caught the verbal jab and sighed. “I’ll…yeah. Enjoy the ice cream, Ani.” She turned away from Callie as she walked by the duo, unable to make eye contact again.
Ani tugged on Callie’s hand. “Ice cream now?”
***
Mark was chewing on an apple and reading a copy of a plastics magazine when the chair across from him suddenly moved.
He glanced up, frowning when he didn’t see anyone at first. Then a head popped up over the table and some kid climbed into view.
Arching a brow, he swallowed his bite of the apple, staring at the little person. “Uh…hi. Are you lost?”
Callie smacked him upside the head as she appeared behind him.
“Ow! Woman, you’re gonna make my brain bleed one of these days.”
“Trust me,” Callie grinned as she moved around the end of the table, helping Annabelle into her chair. “It'd be an improvement.”
“Thanks, Callie,” Annabelle grinned as she wiggled to get comfortable. The top scoop of chocolate ice cream was already starting to melt on the cone in her hand, and it was beginning to teeter dangerously close to the edge.
Mark eyed the situation warily as he looked from his best friend to the little girl, and then back again. “Robbins doesn't wanna have a kid with you, so you stole one?”
Callie sent him a mean look. “I didn't steal her,” she shot back as she narrowed her eyes. She moved to the chair next to Annabelle. “This is Ani-Bee,” she grinned as she introduced her pint-sized friend. “She's the sister of one of Arizona's patients.”
Mark raised a slow brow again. “You two haven’t even been broken up a week and she’s already making you babysit for her?” This time he flinched when she kicked him under the table.
At this rate, he would be lucky to escape with his life by the end of the week.
“Um, little person,” he addressed the child.
“Ani-bee,” Annabelle corrected as she ate her ice cream.
“Ani b - yeah. You’re losing your ice cream.” And he really didn’t want to clean it up, so he slid his tray across the table, allowing the drops of chocolate to fall onto it instead of the table or the kid’s lap.
Mark was still looking at the child like she was an alien from another planet.
Callie watched the exchange very intently. She tilted her head as she focused on the other surgeon. “Oh my God,” she whispered as her smile widened.
Mark instantly snapped his eyes over to her even as he lifted the apple to his mouth for another bite. “What?”
A beat passed before Callie responded. “You totally like her.”
A blonde brow furrowed as he stopped mid-chew. “I do not!” Sloan shot back, much in the fashion of a five-year-old.
“Oh, you so do,” Torres laughed in return.
Annabelle just continued to quietly and happily eat her ice cream.
Mark grumbled under his breath and chewed with his mouth open. “I do not,” he repeated, though it came out garbled. He swallowed when Callie looked at him in disgust and continued. “She’s tiny and strange. And covered in stickiness.”
Anna looked up at him with an innocent, yet pointed stare. “You’re big and have a hairy face.”
Mark’s eyes widened, and Callie burst out laughing.
“Touché, little dude,” Sloan relented with a slight chuckle.
“I'm not a dude,” Annabelle shot back with a pint-sized glare. She looked up Callie with wide, trusting blue eyes. “Right, Callie?”
Once again, the surgeon felt her heart melt into a big pile of mush. On instinct, she reached out to brush her fingers through soft, curly brown hair. “That's right, Ani-Bee.”
Mark watched his best friend as a slow, warm smile began to form across his lips. “You're gonna be a great mom to some very lucky kid someday, Torres.”
He tilted his head when Callie looked sad all of a sudden. “Hey.” He reached across the table and placed his hand overtop of hers. “It’ll happen, Torres. I know it will.”
“Not anytime soon,” Callie sighed sadly, looking down-trodden.
Mark paused, and then began to smirk. “I could always knock you up.”
Callie instantly perked up at the words. “What?” she asked softly, her eyes wide.
Mark jerked back a little at the sudden and intense look on the brunette's face. He didn't really expect her to take him seriously.
But then again...
The man's smile slowly faded as he sat completely still, staring back into brown eyes. “What the hell, right?” he finally spoke up a few moments later. “I mean...we both want one.” He glanced to a chocolate-covered Annabelle and grimaced slightly. “A clean one,” he quickly clarified as he shifted his gaze back to Callie. “But at least we both agree on the 'one' part. That's what's important here.”
Callie could feel, and hear, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest. “Are you serious right now?” she asked as her hand twitched a little beneath the other surgeon's. “‘Cause I don't think I can take it if you're not.”
Mark hesitated for only a moment. “I'm serious.” Another short pause. “Let's do it. Let's have a kid.” He slowly began to grin.
Callie returned the gesture.
***
Dr. Robbins strolled into the cafeteria, trying to steel herself on the inside to sit and have a talk with Callie.
A nice, G-rated talk, since there was a tiny human in the vicinity, but a talk none the less. They needed to start working on the ‘friends’ thing, and having a kid around meant it would keep them under control.
Sad, but very true.
She spotted Callie sitting down with Mark, and lost her nerve a little. She veered into the food lineup and grabbed a tray at the last second. The other two were pretty close, behind and to her right, and she could hear their conversation faintly.
“I could always knock you up.”
Arizona stiffened, straining to hear better and stopping in place.
“We both want one…”
A huge part of her suddenly wished she had stayed upstairs.
“Are you serious right now…?”
“I’m serious. Let’s do it. Let’s have a kid.”
Arizona’s head spun as she realized what it was exactly she was overhearing.
At the table, Mark flashed Callie a grin. “You hear that, little Bee person? Dr. Torres and I are gonna make one of you.”
Annabelle frowned. “That’s weird. There’s already two of me, with Dani.”
Mark chuckled as he finally released his friend's hand to fall back into his chair. He took another bite of his apple. “You were right, Torres,” he smirked. “I do like her.”
Both friends laughed, too distracted by each other to even notice the blonde that rushed by behind Callie, pausing only to toss her tray into the garbage before quickly heading out of the cafeteria.
Callie's laughter slowly died away as she sat nearly motionless in her chair. Her gaze dropped away from Mark to focus on the surface of the table.
Mark stopped mid-chew. “Oh no,” he grumbled. “I know that look.” He sat forward in his chair. “I don't like that look.”
Callie sighed heavily, her smile completely gone by now. “I can't do it.” She lifted her tentative features back to meet her best friend's. “I can't do it,” she repeated. “I can't do that to her.”
Mark was completely lost. “Who?”
“Arizona,” Callie shot back with a hint of annoyance. “How do you think it's gonna make her feel if we aren't 'officially' broken up for more than a week before I jump in the sack to make a baby with you?” She quickly glanced to her right, but Annabelle was distracted by drawing finger paintings with the melted ice cream on Mark's tray. She smiled a little.
“But,” Mark started, then paused for a second. “But I thought you were all pissed over her and 'hot nurse'?”
“I was,” Callie sighed after a moment. “But we sorta worked through that.” Another pause. “Sorta.”
Mark leaned forward immediately, hissing under his breath. “You had sex in a broom closet, didn’t you?”
“Mark!” She kicked him under the table. “Little people are present. Shut it.”
“I’m whispering,” he grumbled, rubbing his shin. But just to make a point of whispering more, he lowered his voice and repeated: “You had sex in a broom closet! That’s your version of ‘working through it’.”
“We so did not,” Callie whispered with a growl. “There was no kind of...” She paused, lowering her voice even more. “Sex involved what-so-ever.” She turned a quick smile in the little girl's direction when she looked up from her finger painting.
Annabelle grinned as she reached up to spread out her five very chocolate-covered, sticky fingers.
Callie's smile vanished to be replace by a clearly disgusted pout.
Okay. So she loved kids most of the time.
When they were clean.
“So, wait,” Mark went on as he shifted in his chair. “You didn't have any kinda sex, and still made up?”
Callie shot him another wide-eyed glare. “Yes,” she repeated. “We are capable of such a feat, y'know.” Her features softened a little more. “But we didn't make up. We just sort of...” She trailed off as she searched for the right words. “Let go, I guess.”
Mark nodded solemnly. “It’s for the best.”
Callie sent him a sharp, irritated glare. “Don’t say that. That’s what she kept saying, and I wanted to pop her head like a grape every time it came out of her mouth.”
That made Sloan laugh. “Torres, she just wants you to move on and be happy. To find someone who’s not as emotionally stunted as her.”
Another sharp kick under the table. “Ow.”
Callie glared at him. “You should know.”
Mark raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Callie's eyes widened just slightly. “Do I really have to say it?” she shot back as a slow smile formed across her lips. “Do you even remember all their names?”
Mark shrugged as he bit into his apple. “Never wanted to.”
Callie snorted. “I rest my case.”
“Oh come on, Torres,” Sloan pushed, smirking in amusement. “Like you've never had sex just for the sake of having sex before.” He shot her a look, daring her to deny it. “I think I'm pretty much walking proof of that.”
“Yeah,” Callie instantly replied. “But I wasn't in love with you.”
Mark chuckled. “What's love got to do with it?”
Callie laughed a little, but it died away fairly quickly. “If it's the right one? Everything.”
Mark pulled the apple from his lips, quietly chewing as he watched her. “Is Robbins 'the right one'?” he asked after a moment.
Callie's smile faded almost completely. “She's the only one.”
Mark sighed and reached across to squeeze her hand again.
Callie stayed silent for a long moment, and then quickly turned to make sure the kid wasn’t paying attention. “She told me she used to be like you.”
Mark’s brow skyrocketed. “Seriously? Robbins? No way.”
Callie just sighed and sat there looking dejected.
“Oh, come on, Torres. Even if she did the no-attachment thing at some point, that’s not what it was with you. You know that. She loved you. Still does.”
“I know,” Callie replied with a soft sigh. She dropped her gaze to the table as she played with the corner of her napkin. “I still love her, too,” she added after a moment had passed. “I'm still so in love with her. And I am so pathetic for it.”
Mark gently squeezed her hand. “You're not pathetic.” His lips turned up in a patented smirk that only he could pull off. “You're in love.”
Callie rolled her eyes with a tiny laugh. “When did you become so cheesy?”
Mark shrugged, apparently at peace with the fact that he was. His eyes moved past Callie to follow Lexi Grey walk across the other side of the cafeteria. “Right about the time I tried monogamy.”
This time, it was his shoulders that slumped as he leaned back in his chair. “I still say I should just knock you up. That would make life so much simpler.”
Callie thought about that for a moment. “Yeah,” she finally admitted. “You're probably right.” She shook her head as she reached over to brush her fingers through Annabelle's soft brown hair.
Kids were cute. Really cute.
But now she couldn’t imagining having one without a certain blonde by her side, and not the one she sat across from now.
She tore her eyes away to once again focus in on the other surgeon. Her smile was still soft, but there was a hint of sadness behind it. “Since when have our lives ever been simple?” she pointed out with a small chuckle. “Where's the fun in that?”
Mark thought about it for a moment, then raised his juice box in cheers.
***
By the next afternoon, Sloan found himself vowing to metaphorically hog-tie Robbins and Torres back together again by the end of the week, even if it killed him. There was only so much girly misery and moping he could stand, and it was honestly just getting sad watching them both slouch around the hospital with little rainclouds hanging over their heads.
They might be too thick to realize they were supposed to be together, but he wasn’t.
Or so he had convinced himself.
Mark spotted Arizona scribbling notes down on a patient chart at the main surgical wing desk, and he sidled up next to her, leaning against the countertop and flashing her his brightest ‘Mark Sloan’ smile. “Hi there.”
Arizona stopped writing for half a second, but then continued on without sparing him a glance. “What?” she growled irritably, not falling for the act.
She really, really couldn’t handle Mark right now. Her brain was still digesting what she’d overheard the day before.
“Oh...nothin',” Mark replied casually as he reached down to pick at the vase of flowers sitting on the corner of the desk. He glanced over at the woman, his smile still firmly in place. “Seen Torres lately?”
Not exactly inconspicuous.
Arizona clamped her hand around the pen in her grasp. She swallowed back the urge to reach over and slam it into Sloan's heart. Or his eye.
Or his penis.
“Probably not as much of her as you.”
Mark recoiled just a little at the amount of venom in Arizona’s voice. “Geeze. Who peed in your cornflakes this morning?”
Arizona slammed her pen down onto the clipboard and turned sharply to Mark. “Probably you.”
She then spun on her Heelys, grabbing her papers, and marched off in the other direction.
Thrown off his game, Mark followed her after a second’s hesitation. “Hey!”
Arizona kept up her brisk pace, staring straight ahead. “Can you go stalk somebody else, please? I’m busy. Kids to save, parents to talk to, all that stuff.”
“Hey,” Mark called again, this time in a much lighter tone as he reached out to grab Arizona by the elbow.
“Don't touch me!” the blonde instantly snapped as she quickly jerked her arm from the man's grasp, whirling to face him. Fury was written all over her usually happy-go-lucky features.
Sloan's eyes widened as he instantly threw his hands into the air and took a step back in defense. “Whoa,” he called soothingly as his brow furrowed in confusion. Arizona looked...not okay. “Did I catch you on a bad day or somethin'? Did you just lose some kid in the OR, or...somethin'?”
“Don’t act like I’m stupid, Mark,” Arizona snapped. “You really expect me to be okay with you and Callie?”
Mark blinked. “Um…?”
“Don’t,” she warned again. “Wipe that stupid, innocent look off your face, Sloan. I heard you two. Talking. And now other people are talking about it. Because apparently, in this hellhole, nothing is a secret.” A fact that still irritated the crap out of her.
She’d come in this morning hoping it had all been a bad dream, until a group of nurses had walked by chatting about how Sloan and Torres were having a baby.
Arizona hated this place.
“Okay, before you get angry,” Sloan began again, slowly this time. “I need you to tell me what you’re so upset about.“
“She breaks up with me and not a week later you two are having a baby.” It was the first time she’d said those words out loud, and her stomach twisted sickly at the thought. “How did you expect me to feel? Elated? Happy? Overjoyed that you two probably spent the whole night screwing?”
Mark looked a little stunned at first, but slowly began to smile. He could work with that.
Oh, could he ever.
The plastic surgeon leaned casually against the wall as he smirked at the other blonde. “It wasn't the whole night,” he finally answered, drawing it out a little. “Pretty sure I got it done on the first or...sixth try.”
Jealousy was a very powerful weapon, if wielded by the right hands.
And for some unknown reason, Mark Sloan thought his were those hands.
Arizona bristled and started walking away again, fighting the urge to stab Mark with a scalpel as he followed her.
Stabbing was bad. She could lose her job if she stabbed him.
Then again, Derek would understand the urge to stab Mark. Maybe he’d cut her some slack.
If only she had one on her.
When Mark grabbed her elbow again to turn her around, she shoved him roughly in the chest. “I swear to God, Sloan, if you touch me again, I will end you.”
Mark was surprised to find himself a little turned on.
Robbins was pretty hot when she was pissed.
“I don't get why you're so mad,” Mark went on, keeping up with the 'oblivious' facade. “You didn't want to have her babies, and I want babies.” He paused for a moment, laughing to himself at the fiery look in her blue eyes, thinking he had her right where he wanted. “You're outta the picture.” His smirked slowly widened. “Plus, it was super fun trying.”
Mark glanced over his shoulder before casually leaning closer to the other surgeon. She tensed. “I'd forgotten how hot Torres is in the sack.” He released a low whistle. “She's still got the tightest-”
Arizona reared back her fist and punched him in the face.
Effectively ending that conversation.
They both cried out at the same time. Mark stumbled back, and Arizona instantly began to whimper as she rapidly shook her hand, reaching up to cup it with her other.
“Oww,” she moaned out loud, bending over slightly. “God, I knew your face was stupid, but I wasn't expecting it to be so hard.”
“You’re saying ow?!” Mark cried, clutching at his face. The various charts they had been holding now lay scattered all over the floor. “Jesus, Robbins, you do not punch like a girl!”
Arizona was still shaking her bruised knuckles, wincing and hoping nothing was broken. “Ow, God…that’s the first time I’ve punched someone in almost thirty years.” Mark, through his pain, looked at her disbelievingly. “Bobby Jenkins called Rebecca Lee a doody head and made her cry, so I slugged him.” She winced again and tried to flex her hand, only succeeding in making it throb even more. When Mark glared at her through holding his face, she shrugged. “I was five. I remember it hurting a lot less back then.”
Mark groaned pitifully, his jaw throbbing and already starting to swell. He was hoping he still had all of his teeth in place. “Well, you put your weight behind it this time…fuck, Robbins.”
His words sometimes got him into a lot of trouble with women, but it had never hurt this much before.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”
Arizona and Mark both turned to see Chief Shepherd standing five feet away, arms crossed as he looked at them both in disbelief.
Robbins cradling her right hand and whimpering, Sloan clutching at the left side of his face, which was bright red. Papers all over the floor.
He couldn't decide between amusement and annoyance.
“Nothing,” they both stated at the same time, looking extremely unconvincing.
“Yes, that's exactly what this looks like,” Derek shot back as he looked from Arizona to Mark, then down to the scattered files laying all over the hallway. “Get this mess cleaned up,” he ordered, arms still crossed over his chest. “Then see me in my office.”
The Chief turned and left it at that as he headed back down the corridor.
Mark narrowed his eyes as he watched the retreating form of their new Chief. He was still holding the left side of his jaw as he turned to glare daggers at the other surgeon. “If I get suspended for this-”
Arizona cut him off. “Oh, shut it, Sloan.”
***
“Why do I have to go in first?” Arizona complained.
“Because, I’m trying to keep my face from falling off,” Mark shot back nastily.
Both surgeons sat outside of Chief Derek Shepherd's office like kids waiting for the principle to discipline them.
“Oh, grow a pair,” Arizona grumbled, rolling her eyes. “You’re such a baby.”
Mark glared hard at her. “For your information, I have a pair. A great pair. A pair that Torres so happens to-”
The only thing that stopped from Arizona from hitting him a second time was Shepherd’s door opening. So she settled for glaring laser beams through Mark’s skull instead as she stood up and silently followed Derek into his office.
She sat down heavily in the chair across the Chief’s desk, and watched silently as he sat down, too.
Derek was his usual stoic, quiet self as he released a heavy, 'Chiefly' sigh. He relaxed back into his chair, folding his hands on his lap as he stared straight across his desk to meet Arizona's eyes dead on.
The blonde squirmed a little in her seat, looking guilty.
“I can't believe you hit him,” Derek finally broke the silence with an amused grin and a hearty laugh. “I can't believe it's taken you this long to hit him,” he then corrected.
Arizona’s brow skyrocketed. “Huh?”
“What did he do, anyway?” Derek continued. “Or was he just being Mark?”
Surprised that she wasn’t being fired, Arizona stammered for a second. “H-he, um…you’re not mad? Really? He’s your best friend.”
“He’s also an ass who tends to deserve what he gets,” Derek pointed out. “The only thing I’m mad about is you jeopardizing that two-million-dollar hand. Is anything broken?”
Arizona hadn’t even thought about that until now. “I-I don’t think so." She looked down and flexed it. "Just…sore. Sorry, Chief.”
Derek shook his head. “Not too long ago, I was sitting where you are when this was Dr. Webber’s office, for the exact same reason. So I sympathize. Mark has this effect on a lot of people.”
Arizona managed a weak smile. “Why’d you punch him?”
“He slept with my wife, then showed up to brag about it.” Derek tilted his head to the side. “You?”
What little expression she had retained from before instantly fell away. “Pretty much that,” she whispered weakly, looking down.
Derek was quiet for a long moment. “Do you really think Callie would do that?”
Arizona lifted her gaze to meet her boss’. “Yes.” She hesitated to leave it at that. “I mean no.” She paused. “I don't know anymore.”
“Arizona,” Derek started softly again. “I know we're not really close. We’ve spent almost no time together outside of the hospital. But there's one thing I know when I see it, regardless of that fact.”
Arizona's brow furrowed. “What?”
The Chief smiled that patented 'McDreamy' smile. “Love.” He paused as he tilted his head at her. “Meredith taught me that. Callie looks at you the way I feel about Meredith.”
Arizona smiled softly. “You two are lucky. And dare I say awfully cute together.”
Derek chuckled. “Most days.”
The peds surgeon once more fell silent, a good ten seconds passing before she spoke again. “But I couldn’t give her what she wanted. What she needed. And Mark apparently wants to reproduce now, so…I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming in the first place.” She let out a dejected sigh. “I should be happy for her, on some level, but…the idea of them having a baby together makes me feel…”
Sick. Nauseous. Angry.
Arizona shook her head, sitting up a little in her chair. “And to be fair to me, punching him wasn’t my first decision. I tried to walk away. Twice. But he’s a persistent ass, so…” Arizona shook her head. “It won’t happen again.” She paused. “Probably.”
Another beat.
“Inside the walls of this hospital.”
Derek laughed. “Kick his ass all you want,” he replied with a growing smile. “Just make sure you don't hurt his hands. Or yours. I've got a hospital with the best surgeons in the country to run.”
Arizona smiled at the inferred compliment.
Derek nodded to the door. “Get outta here,” he told her. “Get some ice on that hand, and don't let it happen again.”
Arizona smiled with a silent nod as she pushed her chair back and quickly headed for the exit.
***
Mark was pacing nervously just outside of the Chief's office when the door suddenly swung open and Arizona stepped out. She glared at him before quickly heading off in the opposite direction.
Just as she walked away across the bridge, the other set of doors next to the Chief’s office opened and Callie stepped into the corridor. She was distracted by a folded up newspaper in her hand and bumped right into Mark.
“Ugh, sorry,” she apologized before even looking up. The moment she did, her brown eyes widened. “What the hell happened to you?”
Mark just sighed, ignoring her as he stepped into Derek’s office and shut the door behind him.
Callie just stood there staring, stunned at the sight of the closed office. “Okay,” she mumbled to herself before continuing on across the open bridge.
***
Arizona grimaced as she placed her swollen right hand beneath the cold water of the bathroom faucet. She was pretty sure it was going to be sore for at least a day or two.
Meaning her back-to-back-to-back surgeries were just gonna be so...fun.
The bathroom door opened, but she ignored it as she continued to hold her hand beneath the steady flow of freezing water.
Callie froze as she looked up from her paper to see the blonde standing in front of the row of sinks.
Dammit.
Her dark eyes dropped down at the sound of running water. “What the hell happened to you?” she asked on instinct as she quickly made her way over.
Arizona jumped, glancing over to see Callie.
Crap.
Just…crap.
She immediately turned back to stare at the flow of water. “Ran into a door,” she mumbled in a low voice. She really didn’t know if she could handle seeing Callie right now.
The brunette arched a slow, calculated brow. “With your hand?” She dropped her eyes down to see the swollen redness of the blonde's knuckles. “That must've been one helluva run.”
Funny. Didn't she just see Mark with one very knuckle-sized bruise on the side of his face?
And then...
“Arizona!” Callie suddenly shouted, causing her ex-girlfriend to jump in place. “You hit him in the face?! What's wrong with you?!” She reached out to smack Arizona on the shoulder, glowering. Then, “Wait.” Her anger dissipated a little and her brow furrowed once more. “Why did you hit him in the face?” It’s not like the blonde was the type to go around punching people. Callie couldn’t understand why that had suddenly changed.
This was Arizona Robbins. The girl who wouldn’t even kill spiders.
Granted, she usually made Callie do it for her because she was too afraid to touch them, but still.
Arizona refused to look at Callie, which was difficult considering there was also a mirror right in front of her. She stared directly down at her hand, and nowhere else.
Instead of answering, she kept silent and waited until the cold water hurt too much to hold her hand under anymore. Grimacing, she pulled it away and turned off the flow while grabbing some paper towels to dab off the excess moisture.
Upon a preliminary inspection, the skin wasn’t busted open, and though it was swollen, Arizona was pretty sure nothing was broken. Still hurt like hell, however.
She made a mental note to not punch people in the future. It was a risky thing to do when you made a living using your hands.
“Arizona?” Callie called after the blonde still hadn't answered. She took a slight step back, hoping that giving Arizona some space would open her up.
So to speak.
Another few moments of silence passed.
And then, Callie got a little angry.
“Would you just fucking say something?” she suddenly snapped as she reached up to run a hand through her hair. It was the only thing she could think of to curb the need to reach out and touch the blonde.
Not in anger, just a...touch.
Blinking slowly, Arizona shrugged. “I don’t have anything to say.”
Callie dropped her hand back to her side and glared at Arizona. “Well, how about starting with why you went all ‘Rocky’ on Sloan’s face?”
Shrugging again, Arizona just leaned back against the counter behind her. “He’s a plastic surgeon. If I did any real damage, he can fix it.”
“Arizona,” Callie demanded, taking a step closer, her voice wavering a bit. “Look at me.”
Swallowing hard, Arizona finally lifted her gaze up to meet Callie’s, doing her best to keep her expression neutral.
But her eyes were full of hurt, pain, and even a little anger.
But not anger directed at Callie. She was mad at herself for letting the perfect woman go, and losing her to that...that...him.
Callie finally lost the battle with herself as she reached down to gently take Arizona's injured hand in her own. She very softly brushed her thumb over the swollen, slightly bruised knuckles. Her heart hurt a little. She couldn't stand to see the blonde in any kind of pain, and from the look in her eyes, it was more than just physical.
“Please tell me,” Callie pleaded softly after another silent moment had passed between them. She couldn't stand this much longer.
Feeling Callie’s soft touch against her hand brought back the powerful urge to just…grab her and kiss her until she forgot all about Mark and his stupid man-penis. Arizona would kiss her until she forgot the rest of the world existed, if Callie let her.
But thinking about kissing only made her think about Mark kissing Callie, and doing other things to her that made the blonde want to punch him all over again.
It was a vicious cycle.
And it wasn’t her place to make Callie ‘forget’ anything anymore, either.
Releasing a deep sigh, Arizona finally found her voice. “I’ve been having a hard time, I guess. I’ll be okay.”
Callie swallowed back as she felt a little tug in her chest.
Was it wrong that she was sort of happy to hear that?
“Having a hard time?” the brunette repeated softly as she lifted her gaze, trying to meet perfect blue eyes. “About what?”
Arizona finally looked up. “What do you think?” she answered just as softly, not a trace of anger or malice in her tone.
Callie felt another tug where her heart resided.
“I just, I can’t, okay?” Before Callie could answer, Arizona suddenly pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry, but I-I…can’t.”
Callie frowned in confusion. “Can’t what?”
Taking a step back, Arizona took in a shallow breath. “Be here. Watch…this, I-I can’t, it…it hurts too much.”
Now even more confused than ever, Callie tried to take a step toward the other woman, but Arizona darted around her and headed for the door. “Arizona! Arizona!”
Ignoring her ex’s calls, Arizona didn’t look back over her shoulder as she pushed out of the bathroom and escaped down the hall.
***
Mark was suddenly jolted forward by a hard slap against the back of his head.
“What did you do?” Callie snarled as she suddenly appeared behind him.
The man looked up from his seat, reclined back in the Attendings’ lounge. He was holding an ice pack to the side of his jaw. “Ow,” he moaned uncomfortably. “What?”
“Arizona,” Callie snarled again as her eyes widened, nostrils flaring. “Her hand is all swollen and bruised and your face is...” She trailed off as she tilted her head, her eyes glued on bag of ice. She slowly started to smile. “She really decked you, huh?”
“What does it look like?” Mark snapped back, grimacing and dropping the hand holding the ice bag down onto his lap. The left side of his jaw and cheek were discoloured and a little bit swollen. Not to mention they throbbed.
“Anyone ever tell you Robbins was a psycho? Because I must have missed the memo where she goes around punching people. I didn’t think women who crap rainbows and dream in cartoons did that.”
Callie's smile disappeared as her eyes narrowed at the other surgeon. “She is not a psycho,” she quickly shot back. “She's just the first person to do what we've all wanted to do at some point.” Her smile slowly began to reappear. “You're just mad ‘cause you got beat up by a girl. A blonde. On roller skates.”
Mark glowered at her, clearly unimpressed. “It was one hit.”
Callie chuckled as she sat down beside him. “Why'd she hit you, anyway?” Yeah. She could be sneaky. “Did you call her 'Blondie' again?” she quickly added to try and cover her true intentions.
If she didn't find out 'why' soon, she was going to explode.
Then again, there were so many reasons why one would want to deck Mark Sloan.
The possibilities really were endless.
Mark considered his options. They were few and far between.
And at the end of each option, he was still screwed.
So, he went with the truth.
Sort of.
“I made her jealous. About you.” A smug smirk formed over his face as he lifted the ice back to his jaw. “It wasn’t hard. She must really, really still be carrying your torch to lay me flat out in the middle of the hallway like that. Not to mention in front of the new Chief.”
That little tug easily reappeared in Callie's chest.
It happened a lot these days whenever someone mentioned the blonde's name. Or whenever she got a fleeting glance of her around the corner of a hallway.
Or whenever she thought about her.
Smelled her.
Remembered her.
Callie was beginning to think that little tug was just never gonna go away.
“How'd you make her jealous?” she questioned, completely curious now. “It had to be pretty bad for her to actually hit you.” She paused and started to frown. “I didn't even know she could do that.”
“Neither did I,” Mark sighed, wincing once more.
“Sloan,” Callie started slowly. “What did you say to her?”
Mark looked a little guilty this time. “Uh…”
***
Instead of sucking dry Joe’s entire supply of whisky, Arizona stuck to a vodka tonic.
She’d drown her sorrows, just not quite to the same extent as the first time around.
The surgeon glanced down at her aching hand, flexing it again with a slight grimace. It was stiff enough that she’d had to post-pone the last surgery of the day until tomorrow, or possibly the day after that.
Great. Now her patient care was suffering because of her stupidity. Her stupidity, and Mark Sloan.
Just…great.
With a sigh, Arizona tipped back the rest of her drink, then signaled Joe for more.
What was she thinking? Hitting Mark like that.
She knew why.
Calliope.
But still. She was a surgeon for Gods sake.
Stupid. Stupid. Stu-
“Hey there, gorgeous.”
Arizona jerked a little at the unexpected voice. Her blue eyes darted up just as a warm body slid easily onto the stool next to her.
Carmen Rodriguez smiled a dazzling smile as she set her purse onto the counter of the bar. She nodded to the bartender, never once taking her eyes from the blonde.
In turn, Arizona never took her eyes from Carmen. “Hi there yourself.”
Joe stood behind the bar, glancing back and forth from Arizona to the new girl, before reluctantly setting down their drinks. “Anything else, Dr. Robbins?” he asked a little pointedly. “Like, say, a cab?”
Arizona glanced at Joe. “No. I’m good, thanks.”
A few more wouldn’t hurt.
“What brings you here on a Monday evening?” Arizona asked Carmen with only mild curiosity.
Carmen smiled a perfect smile. She reached out with her right hand to gently swirl the straw in her glass as she propped her left elbow up onto the bar. She rested her chin in her palm as she leaned closer. “I could ask you the same thing.”
It took considerably more effort for Arizona to pull in a breath.
Carmen was just looking so...
Blue eyes dropped down to the front of a wide open, white, nearly see-through blouse.
She immediately snapped her head back to face her drink.
Bad, bad, bad.
Carmen’s rich laughter reached her ears. “Arizona, I’ve been watching you for a while, now. And I have to say, tonight you look…worse than usual.” She said it lightly, as a fact and not a flaw. “Bad day at the office?”
Arizona shrugged. “You could say that.” She flexed her right hand while holding the drink to her lips with her left. “I punched Mark Sloan. I didn’t get fired, which is awesome, but my hand is wrecked enough that I had to cancel surgeries, which means that my personal life is now effecting my work.” She released a deep sigh, staring right into her drink as she swirled the straw. “I used to be good at keeping my personal life personal, and now I’m punching plastic surgeons.”
Aware that she had begun to ramble a little, Arizona blushed and looked over at Carmen with a sheepish smile. “Beware of what you ask me when I’m drunk. I talk a lot.”
Carmen just continued to smile as she leaned a little closer to the other woman. “So you're drunk, hm?” she teased with a low chuckle. “I think I like that.”
Arizona fidgeted a little under the intense stare.
Carmen had beautiful eyes. Really warm and brown.
Kinda reminded her of someone else.
The blonde shook her head as she forced a weak grin. “You say that now,” she easily recovered with a soft laugh. “Let's see you still say that when you've got my puke all over your shoes.”
Not that she always puked when she was drunk. But she just had to say something.
Of course, talking about puke wasn’t exactly the smoothest thing she could have done. Arizona closed her eyes for a second and mentally kicked herself.
She used to be good at talking to women. But now…now Calliope was the only one she could think of, and talking to another seemed harder than she remembered.
Great. Callie had ruined her completely, it seemed. She was going to die a single old woman with sixty cats and a shelf full of Harper Averys’, because she’d have no life outside of her medical career.
Perfect.
“Puke? Really?” Carmen smirked. “Are you trying to turn me on?”
Chuckling, Arizona finished off her second drink. “Like I said, I’m drinking, and when I drink smart things don’t always come out of my mouth.” She set the empty glass down against the counter.
“Why are we drinking tonight?” Carmen moved her stool a little bit closer to Arizona, so their thighs were just barely touching.
Even that slight touch made Arizona shiver. “Because…the woman I love is sleeping with the man that I punched. She’s…moving on without me, and…drinking numbs the pain just a little.” She pressed the cold glass against her aching knuckles, wincing as they throbbed.
Carmen was quiet for a long moment. “I see." Her eyes dropped down to the other woman's hands. She placed her own drink back onto the bar counter before reaching out with gentle fingers to pull the glass from the surgeon's. She set it next to her own before returning her attention to the injured appendage.
“Ice is always good for swelling,” Carmen said as she began a slow, gentle massage of the hand held tenderly in her own. She glanced up from beneath her lashes. “But so is stimulation.”
Even though she wasn’t even near being drunk yet, Arizona felt her head swim a little.
“That it is,” she replied mildly.
After a lengthy pause, full of thinking and weighing of options, Arizona glanced up from their hands to meet Carmen’s smoky gaze with an intense one of her own.
She hesitated for only a second before making her final choice.
“I may be out of line here, and if I am, you can tell me, but…” Arizona tilted her head to the side just a little, pulling in a soft breath. “Do you want to come back to my place? Maybe have another drink?”
Her heart slammed fiercely against her ribcage.
“Yes,” Carmen instantly replied, leaning a little closer. Just enough to invade Arizona’s senses. She reached out to trail the very tip of her index finger along the smooth, firm plane of the surgeon's arm. “Maybe we can even skip the drink?”
A slow, knowing smile spread across Arizona’s lips. “I think we can work that,” she agreed in a low voice. She held the other woman’s gaze for a long time, before eventually standing up.
On the side of the stool that brought her right up against Carmen's body.
“Joe, tab,” she said briefly to the bartender, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the gorgeous woman in front of her.
Arizona grabbed her purse, her eyes lingering on Carmen for one more second, then turned and headed for the door.
Fuck it. If Callie got to move on, then so did she.
Carmen tipped back the rest of her drink and followed.
---
Chapter 15/23
Authors: Faith & Kye
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: NC-17
Story Summary: Post-6x17 "Push" -- Arizona prefers chickens to children, and Callie isn't okay with that. Heartbroken and lonely, the two women try unsuccessfully to move on with their lives, only to find they really are made for eachother.
Chapter Summary: Mark tries to help the girls, and makes things so much worse for everyone involved.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Previous Chapters
A/N: Our medical knowledge extends to what Google tells us, and no further. So...yeah. Let's all just pretend that this is all serious, hardcore medical stuff, okay? Good.
---
After that day, Arizona avoided being alone with Callie whenever possible.
Simply because it was too hard.
She also avoided Mark, because even though what Callie had said about the two of them wasn’t true, her words still stung Arizona to the core.
They had brought up hidden insecurites she’d had from the beginning of their relationship. Insecurities she had ignored because she trusted Callie, and got used to Mark being around over time. But now...
Looking at Mark reminded her that he still had Callie, and she didn’t.
Spending most of her time at the hospital, Arizona threw herself deep into her work and overloaded her schedule with surgeries to keep busy. Too busy to think about anything other than her patients.
Almost a full week later, she had numbed herself to the pain of losing Callie by trying not to thinking about her. Surgery helped with that, except whenever she saw the brunette at the other end of the hallway, or at a desk, or heading for the elevator, or in the cafeteria. Those times, something inside of her churned sharply enough to nearly cripple her completely.
She still had to work with Carmen, too. But Arizona had been fairly firm in a brief conversation about how ‘they’ were never, ever going to happen again. So far, the nurse had managed to act professional around her, which helped the rumors die away as people moved on to more up-to-date gossip, but every once in a while the beautiful Latina would send her one of those sexy smiles or whisper something not-very-professional when they were alone or nobody else was listening.
But, Arizona tried her best to remain numb to the rest of the world, and all of the people in it. Work was what she knew and was good at, so that’s where she focused her energies.
A week after her yelling match/heartfelt conversation with Callie, Danielle, the brain tumor patient, landed back in her care with more symptoms.
Arizona sat in the MRI computer room, leaning back against the chair and idly flipping a pen around in her hand while she waited for the machine to start. She looked up when Derek Shepherd finally arrived, projecting a kind of frazzled exhaustion that had become his norm lately.
“Hey, Chief.” She forced out one of the fake smiles she’d been using all week, so as not to appear as inhuman on the outside as she felt on the inside. “I was starting to think you were going to stand me up. Busy day on the paperwork front?”
Derek sighed heavily as he sat down in the empty chair next to the blonde. He released a long, deep groan as he slouched into the leather material and dropped his head against the back.
“That good, huh?” Arizona found herself genuinely grinning this time.
Derek groaned again as he reached up to rub his palms hard against his eyes. “If I ever see another file folder, or have to sign another piece of paper...” He paused to drop his hands heavily back onto his lap. “I'll kill myself.”
Arizona laughed. “Bet you miss the old days, when all you had to do was cut.”
“You have no idea,” Derek confirmed.
“Well, you might get lucky here,” Arizona replied, swiveling her chair back to face the screen. “Though ‘lucky’ isn’t the word I’d use for Danielle.” She fidgeted as the stupid computer took forever to load the images. “She’s had headaches, some pretty severe, and vision problems since the surgery. I think it’s most likely a blood clot or aneurysm from her tumor removal, though I have no idea how bad yet.” She chewed on the end of her pen, watching the screen carefully.
Derek frowned and pulled his chair closer to the desk, resting his elbow on the surface. “Definitely an aneurysm,” he finally confirmed as he pointed its location out on the images.
Arizona sighed as her fears were confirmed.
Sometimes, it really sucked to be her.
***
Mr. and Mrs. Harper sat in the two hard plastic chairs facing Arizona, their joined hands resting between them. Their attention was focused completely on their daughter's surgeon as they fidgeted in place.
Waiting.
Arizona swallowed back nervously, but forced out her best smile. “Mr. and Mrs. Harper-”
“Please,” Martin cut in shortly. “Just tell us. We can't take much more at this point.”
Arizona released a soft breath, nodding. “I know. I’m sorry you had to wait this long, there was a backlog for the MRI machine.” She shifted in her seat and leaned forward. “Danielle has formed an aneurysm at the site of her last surgery,” she explained carefully, making sure to keep her tone as neutral as possible.
“But,” Mrs. Harper stuttered, fighting not to dissolve into tears. “You said that after a few weeks, she’d be in the clear. It’s been two weeks since her last surgery, why is this just happening now?”
“It happens with these kinds of procedures, and in Danielle’s case, it formed fairly slowly. Rare, but it does happen.” She chose her next words carefully. “Mrs. Harper-”
“Amanda and Martin, please,” the wife said through a forced smile. “We’ve known you for a year now, Dr. Robbins…Arizona.”
Arizona smiled a little. “Amanda, Martin. Because of the location of the clot, removing it poses more of a risk than the original surgery. Dr. Shepherd believes he can go in and remove it, but there is a risk that with the stress of opening her up, the aneurysm could burst before he can get to it. And with Danielle’s body in such a weakened condition from her first operation, that risk is slightly higher than usual.”
Both parents looked like they were hardly able to process this information, and Arizona’s heart went out to them.
This part of her job was almost as bad as losing the kids themselves. Especially the ones she’d been working with for such a long time, like Danielle.
“But I’m going to add in here that Dr. Shepherd is the best neurosurgeon in the country,” Arizona continued in a firm and confident tone. “Danielle’s in the best of hands, I promise you that.”
Martin smiled shakily. “She always has been.” Amanda nodded in agreement.
Arizona felt herself smiling in return. “Danielle's a special little girl. She deserves the best we can give her.”
“We've never questioned that for even a moment,” Amanda sniffed, her voice breaking through her tears. “We don't know what we would've done without this hospital.” She paused, her eyes genuine as they looked back at the surgeon. “Without you.” She reached up to swipe a hand across her cheeks. “Dani wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for all your hard work, Dr. - Arizona,” she quickly corrected.
“You gave us our daughter back,” Martin added after a moment. “There are no words to describe how...how grateful we are.” His tears began to fall as well as he squeezed his wife's hand tightly.
Arizona smiled a little shyly, but nodded with confidence. “You have my word that we’re going to keep doing everything we can for her. I promise.”
Amanda and Martin held each other for a few seconds, whispering soft words of reassurance to one another.
The tender moment between husband and wife made her think of Callie again. It took a lot of effort to force her ex to the back of her mind before she could feel that familiar stab of pain return.
“Dr. Shepherd advised that we wait another day to see if the swelling in her brain goes down a little more. We’ll monitor her very closely over the next twenty-four hours, and she’ll need to take it very easy.” Arizona flashed the couple a confident smile. “Would you like to see her right now? I can have a nurse show you to her room.”
Martin nodded. “Yes, please.”
Arizona stood up and was about to find someone to escort them, when a loud squeal interrupted the fragile moment.
“Higher, Callie!” what was unmistakably a child’s voice rang out. “Higher!”
Three sets of eyes turned to look across the atrium as Dr. Torres held a giggling Annabelle Harper in her arms.
“Alright,” Callie relented with a laugh. “But you better hold on tight this time.”
“I will!” Anna giggled. “Promise!”
Callie grinned again as she adjusted the tiny body in her arms. “Here we go.” She gripped the little girl around the waist and twirled her around. Anna's giggles filled the hall.
The two parents watched the scene unfold with a sense of peace about them, clearly happy for the thin ray of light their other daughter was able to experience among all of this darkness.
Arizona, on the other hand, felt the breath leave her lungs almost the second she saw her ex-girlfriend.
She forced herself to look away and waved over a passing nurse. “Can you show Mr. and Mrs. Harper to room 314?”
The young nurse nodded. “Of course.”
Out of no where, Amanda Harper suddenly pulled Arizona into a hug. The surgeon froze, caught completely off-guard.
“Thank you, Arizona.” Amanda hugged her tightly, and Arizona kind of awkwardly patted her on the back until she let go.
Danielle’s mother took her husband’s hand and looked at Annabelle. “Come on, Ani. Let’s go see your sister.”
“Don't wanna!” the little girl instantly giggled in return just as Callie set her feet back onto the floor. She smiled up brightly at the surgeon and instantly reached up to grab her right hand, holding on tightly.
Callie felt her heart melt at the feel of the warm, tiny little hand clutching gently to her own.
“Can I stay with Callie? Just until we get ice cream?” Annabelle pleaded as she looked at her parents. “I promise I won't get in the way, and I wanna bring Dani some, too.”
Amanda looked to Arizona, who smiled at Ani but shook her head a little. “Dani can’t have ice cream right now, sweetie. But maybe you can eat a little extra for her, how about that?”
Martin had to laugh. “Oh, please don’t give her any ideas.” He looked to Callie. “If she’s going to be in your way, if you’re busy…”
“Oh, please,” Callie said with a wide smile as she lightly swung their joined hands by her side. “I'm never too busy for Ani-Bee.”
Annabelle grinned widely. “That's my new name!” she explained excitedly to her parents. “Callie says I'm always buzzing around just like a little bee. Busy as a bee, right Callie?” She looked up to the surgeon, admiration shining in her eyes.
“That's right,” the brunette beamed down at her.
God, this kid was cute.
However, her deep blue eyes and dark brown hair only reminded Callie of something she had been trying desperately to forget.
But she was still super cute.
Amanda nodded. “Okay then, Ani-Bee. We’ll see you upstairs in a little while, okay?” She smiled at Callie. “Thanks, Dr. Torres.” They headed off with the nurse.
Annabelle instantly turned to Arizona. “Dr. Robbins, can you come too?”
Arizona swallowed back and glanced over at Callie. “I, uh…maybe later, Ani.”
“Pleeeaasse?” the little girl whined, clutching tightly to Callie’s hand.
Callie looked over at her former girlfriend. Her smile faltered for the first time since the conversation had started.
“Ani-bee? Maybe Arizona doesn't want to get ice cream right now.” She said the words to the little girl, but kept her gaze locked on the blonde.
Arizona wanted to look away, but couldn’t.
Callie had really beautiful eyes.
“I, um…” she started again, just about to cave in when her pager went off.
Saved by the bell. Again.
“I…have to take this,” Arizona said to Callie, glancing down at her hip to the screen on her pager. “Raincheck, Ani?”
Annabelle looked confused. “What’s a raincheck?”
Callie hesitated to pull her eyes away from her ex. She forced a smile as she looked down at the child. “It's something grown-ups say so you won't feel bad when they reject you.” Her smile faltered again as she glanced back up at the blonde.
She really wasn't trying to be mean. They had ended on fairly amicable terms, considering.
But Arizona had been avoiding her like the plague for the last...however long.
And it was starting to get on her nerves.
Arizona caught the verbal jab and sighed. “I’ll…yeah. Enjoy the ice cream, Ani.” She turned away from Callie as she walked by the duo, unable to make eye contact again.
Ani tugged on Callie’s hand. “Ice cream now?”
***
Mark was chewing on an apple and reading a copy of a plastics magazine when the chair across from him suddenly moved.
He glanced up, frowning when he didn’t see anyone at first. Then a head popped up over the table and some kid climbed into view.
Arching a brow, he swallowed his bite of the apple, staring at the little person. “Uh…hi. Are you lost?”
Callie smacked him upside the head as she appeared behind him.
“Ow! Woman, you’re gonna make my brain bleed one of these days.”
“Trust me,” Callie grinned as she moved around the end of the table, helping Annabelle into her chair. “It'd be an improvement.”
“Thanks, Callie,” Annabelle grinned as she wiggled to get comfortable. The top scoop of chocolate ice cream was already starting to melt on the cone in her hand, and it was beginning to teeter dangerously close to the edge.
Mark eyed the situation warily as he looked from his best friend to the little girl, and then back again. “Robbins doesn't wanna have a kid with you, so you stole one?”
Callie sent him a mean look. “I didn't steal her,” she shot back as she narrowed her eyes. She moved to the chair next to Annabelle. “This is Ani-Bee,” she grinned as she introduced her pint-sized friend. “She's the sister of one of Arizona's patients.”
Mark raised a slow brow again. “You two haven’t even been broken up a week and she’s already making you babysit for her?” This time he flinched when she kicked him under the table.
At this rate, he would be lucky to escape with his life by the end of the week.
“Um, little person,” he addressed the child.
“Ani-bee,” Annabelle corrected as she ate her ice cream.
“Ani b - yeah. You’re losing your ice cream.” And he really didn’t want to clean it up, so he slid his tray across the table, allowing the drops of chocolate to fall onto it instead of the table or the kid’s lap.
Mark was still looking at the child like she was an alien from another planet.
Callie watched the exchange very intently. She tilted her head as she focused on the other surgeon. “Oh my God,” she whispered as her smile widened.
Mark instantly snapped his eyes over to her even as he lifted the apple to his mouth for another bite. “What?”
A beat passed before Callie responded. “You totally like her.”
A blonde brow furrowed as he stopped mid-chew. “I do not!” Sloan shot back, much in the fashion of a five-year-old.
“Oh, you so do,” Torres laughed in return.
Annabelle just continued to quietly and happily eat her ice cream.
Mark grumbled under his breath and chewed with his mouth open. “I do not,” he repeated, though it came out garbled. He swallowed when Callie looked at him in disgust and continued. “She’s tiny and strange. And covered in stickiness.”
Anna looked up at him with an innocent, yet pointed stare. “You’re big and have a hairy face.”
Mark’s eyes widened, and Callie burst out laughing.
“Touché, little dude,” Sloan relented with a slight chuckle.
“I'm not a dude,” Annabelle shot back with a pint-sized glare. She looked up Callie with wide, trusting blue eyes. “Right, Callie?”
Once again, the surgeon felt her heart melt into a big pile of mush. On instinct, she reached out to brush her fingers through soft, curly brown hair. “That's right, Ani-Bee.”
Mark watched his best friend as a slow, warm smile began to form across his lips. “You're gonna be a great mom to some very lucky kid someday, Torres.”
He tilted his head when Callie looked sad all of a sudden. “Hey.” He reached across the table and placed his hand overtop of hers. “It’ll happen, Torres. I know it will.”
“Not anytime soon,” Callie sighed sadly, looking down-trodden.
Mark paused, and then began to smirk. “I could always knock you up.”
Callie instantly perked up at the words. “What?” she asked softly, her eyes wide.
Mark jerked back a little at the sudden and intense look on the brunette's face. He didn't really expect her to take him seriously.
But then again...
The man's smile slowly faded as he sat completely still, staring back into brown eyes. “What the hell, right?” he finally spoke up a few moments later. “I mean...we both want one.” He glanced to a chocolate-covered Annabelle and grimaced slightly. “A clean one,” he quickly clarified as he shifted his gaze back to Callie. “But at least we both agree on the 'one' part. That's what's important here.”
Callie could feel, and hear, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest. “Are you serious right now?” she asked as her hand twitched a little beneath the other surgeon's. “‘Cause I don't think I can take it if you're not.”
Mark hesitated for only a moment. “I'm serious.” Another short pause. “Let's do it. Let's have a kid.” He slowly began to grin.
Callie returned the gesture.
***
Dr. Robbins strolled into the cafeteria, trying to steel herself on the inside to sit and have a talk with Callie.
A nice, G-rated talk, since there was a tiny human in the vicinity, but a talk none the less. They needed to start working on the ‘friends’ thing, and having a kid around meant it would keep them under control.
Sad, but very true.
She spotted Callie sitting down with Mark, and lost her nerve a little. She veered into the food lineup and grabbed a tray at the last second. The other two were pretty close, behind and to her right, and she could hear their conversation faintly.
“I could always knock you up.”
Arizona stiffened, straining to hear better and stopping in place.
“We both want one…”
A huge part of her suddenly wished she had stayed upstairs.
“Are you serious right now…?”
“I’m serious. Let’s do it. Let’s have a kid.”
Arizona’s head spun as she realized what it was exactly she was overhearing.
At the table, Mark flashed Callie a grin. “You hear that, little Bee person? Dr. Torres and I are gonna make one of you.”
Annabelle frowned. “That’s weird. There’s already two of me, with Dani.”
Mark chuckled as he finally released his friend's hand to fall back into his chair. He took another bite of his apple. “You were right, Torres,” he smirked. “I do like her.”
Both friends laughed, too distracted by each other to even notice the blonde that rushed by behind Callie, pausing only to toss her tray into the garbage before quickly heading out of the cafeteria.
Callie's laughter slowly died away as she sat nearly motionless in her chair. Her gaze dropped away from Mark to focus on the surface of the table.
Mark stopped mid-chew. “Oh no,” he grumbled. “I know that look.” He sat forward in his chair. “I don't like that look.”
Callie sighed heavily, her smile completely gone by now. “I can't do it.” She lifted her tentative features back to meet her best friend's. “I can't do it,” she repeated. “I can't do that to her.”
Mark was completely lost. “Who?”
“Arizona,” Callie shot back with a hint of annoyance. “How do you think it's gonna make her feel if we aren't 'officially' broken up for more than a week before I jump in the sack to make a baby with you?” She quickly glanced to her right, but Annabelle was distracted by drawing finger paintings with the melted ice cream on Mark's tray. She smiled a little.
“But,” Mark started, then paused for a second. “But I thought you were all pissed over her and 'hot nurse'?”
“I was,” Callie sighed after a moment. “But we sorta worked through that.” Another pause. “Sorta.”
Mark leaned forward immediately, hissing under his breath. “You had sex in a broom closet, didn’t you?”
“Mark!” She kicked him under the table. “Little people are present. Shut it.”
“I’m whispering,” he grumbled, rubbing his shin. But just to make a point of whispering more, he lowered his voice and repeated: “You had sex in a broom closet! That’s your version of ‘working through it’.”
“We so did not,” Callie whispered with a growl. “There was no kind of...” She paused, lowering her voice even more. “Sex involved what-so-ever.” She turned a quick smile in the little girl's direction when she looked up from her finger painting.
Annabelle grinned as she reached up to spread out her five very chocolate-covered, sticky fingers.
Callie's smile vanished to be replace by a clearly disgusted pout.
Okay. So she loved kids most of the time.
When they were clean.
“So, wait,” Mark went on as he shifted in his chair. “You didn't have any kinda sex, and still made up?”
Callie shot him another wide-eyed glare. “Yes,” she repeated. “We are capable of such a feat, y'know.” Her features softened a little more. “But we didn't make up. We just sort of...” She trailed off as she searched for the right words. “Let go, I guess.”
Mark nodded solemnly. “It’s for the best.”
Callie sent him a sharp, irritated glare. “Don’t say that. That’s what she kept saying, and I wanted to pop her head like a grape every time it came out of her mouth.”
That made Sloan laugh. “Torres, she just wants you to move on and be happy. To find someone who’s not as emotionally stunted as her.”
Another sharp kick under the table. “Ow.”
Callie glared at him. “You should know.”
Mark raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Callie's eyes widened just slightly. “Do I really have to say it?” she shot back as a slow smile formed across her lips. “Do you even remember all their names?”
Mark shrugged as he bit into his apple. “Never wanted to.”
Callie snorted. “I rest my case.”
“Oh come on, Torres,” Sloan pushed, smirking in amusement. “Like you've never had sex just for the sake of having sex before.” He shot her a look, daring her to deny it. “I think I'm pretty much walking proof of that.”
“Yeah,” Callie instantly replied. “But I wasn't in love with you.”
Mark chuckled. “What's love got to do with it?”
Callie laughed a little, but it died away fairly quickly. “If it's the right one? Everything.”
Mark pulled the apple from his lips, quietly chewing as he watched her. “Is Robbins 'the right one'?” he asked after a moment.
Callie's smile faded almost completely. “She's the only one.”
Mark sighed and reached across to squeeze her hand again.
Callie stayed silent for a long moment, and then quickly turned to make sure the kid wasn’t paying attention. “She told me she used to be like you.”
Mark’s brow skyrocketed. “Seriously? Robbins? No way.”
Callie just sighed and sat there looking dejected.
“Oh, come on, Torres. Even if she did the no-attachment thing at some point, that’s not what it was with you. You know that. She loved you. Still does.”
“I know,” Callie replied with a soft sigh. She dropped her gaze to the table as she played with the corner of her napkin. “I still love her, too,” she added after a moment had passed. “I'm still so in love with her. And I am so pathetic for it.”
Mark gently squeezed her hand. “You're not pathetic.” His lips turned up in a patented smirk that only he could pull off. “You're in love.”
Callie rolled her eyes with a tiny laugh. “When did you become so cheesy?”
Mark shrugged, apparently at peace with the fact that he was. His eyes moved past Callie to follow Lexi Grey walk across the other side of the cafeteria. “Right about the time I tried monogamy.”
This time, it was his shoulders that slumped as he leaned back in his chair. “I still say I should just knock you up. That would make life so much simpler.”
Callie thought about that for a moment. “Yeah,” she finally admitted. “You're probably right.” She shook her head as she reached over to brush her fingers through Annabelle's soft brown hair.
Kids were cute. Really cute.
But now she couldn’t imagining having one without a certain blonde by her side, and not the one she sat across from now.
She tore her eyes away to once again focus in on the other surgeon. Her smile was still soft, but there was a hint of sadness behind it. “Since when have our lives ever been simple?” she pointed out with a small chuckle. “Where's the fun in that?”
Mark thought about it for a moment, then raised his juice box in cheers.
***
By the next afternoon, Sloan found himself vowing to metaphorically hog-tie Robbins and Torres back together again by the end of the week, even if it killed him. There was only so much girly misery and moping he could stand, and it was honestly just getting sad watching them both slouch around the hospital with little rainclouds hanging over their heads.
They might be too thick to realize they were supposed to be together, but he wasn’t.
Or so he had convinced himself.
Mark spotted Arizona scribbling notes down on a patient chart at the main surgical wing desk, and he sidled up next to her, leaning against the countertop and flashing her his brightest ‘Mark Sloan’ smile. “Hi there.”
Arizona stopped writing for half a second, but then continued on without sparing him a glance. “What?” she growled irritably, not falling for the act.
She really, really couldn’t handle Mark right now. Her brain was still digesting what she’d overheard the day before.
“Oh...nothin',” Mark replied casually as he reached down to pick at the vase of flowers sitting on the corner of the desk. He glanced over at the woman, his smile still firmly in place. “Seen Torres lately?”
Not exactly inconspicuous.
Arizona clamped her hand around the pen in her grasp. She swallowed back the urge to reach over and slam it into Sloan's heart. Or his eye.
Or his penis.
“Probably not as much of her as you.”
Mark recoiled just a little at the amount of venom in Arizona’s voice. “Geeze. Who peed in your cornflakes this morning?”
Arizona slammed her pen down onto the clipboard and turned sharply to Mark. “Probably you.”
She then spun on her Heelys, grabbing her papers, and marched off in the other direction.
Thrown off his game, Mark followed her after a second’s hesitation. “Hey!”
Arizona kept up her brisk pace, staring straight ahead. “Can you go stalk somebody else, please? I’m busy. Kids to save, parents to talk to, all that stuff.”
“Hey,” Mark called again, this time in a much lighter tone as he reached out to grab Arizona by the elbow.
“Don't touch me!” the blonde instantly snapped as she quickly jerked her arm from the man's grasp, whirling to face him. Fury was written all over her usually happy-go-lucky features.
Sloan's eyes widened as he instantly threw his hands into the air and took a step back in defense. “Whoa,” he called soothingly as his brow furrowed in confusion. Arizona looked...not okay. “Did I catch you on a bad day or somethin'? Did you just lose some kid in the OR, or...somethin'?”
“Don’t act like I’m stupid, Mark,” Arizona snapped. “You really expect me to be okay with you and Callie?”
Mark blinked. “Um…?”
“Don’t,” she warned again. “Wipe that stupid, innocent look off your face, Sloan. I heard you two. Talking. And now other people are talking about it. Because apparently, in this hellhole, nothing is a secret.” A fact that still irritated the crap out of her.
She’d come in this morning hoping it had all been a bad dream, until a group of nurses had walked by chatting about how Sloan and Torres were having a baby.
Arizona hated this place.
“Okay, before you get angry,” Sloan began again, slowly this time. “I need you to tell me what you’re so upset about.“
“She breaks up with me and not a week later you two are having a baby.” It was the first time she’d said those words out loud, and her stomach twisted sickly at the thought. “How did you expect me to feel? Elated? Happy? Overjoyed that you two probably spent the whole night screwing?”
Mark looked a little stunned at first, but slowly began to smile. He could work with that.
Oh, could he ever.
The plastic surgeon leaned casually against the wall as he smirked at the other blonde. “It wasn't the whole night,” he finally answered, drawing it out a little. “Pretty sure I got it done on the first or...sixth try.”
Jealousy was a very powerful weapon, if wielded by the right hands.
And for some unknown reason, Mark Sloan thought his were those hands.
Arizona bristled and started walking away again, fighting the urge to stab Mark with a scalpel as he followed her.
Stabbing was bad. She could lose her job if she stabbed him.
Then again, Derek would understand the urge to stab Mark. Maybe he’d cut her some slack.
If only she had one on her.
When Mark grabbed her elbow again to turn her around, she shoved him roughly in the chest. “I swear to God, Sloan, if you touch me again, I will end you.”
Mark was surprised to find himself a little turned on.
Robbins was pretty hot when she was pissed.
“I don't get why you're so mad,” Mark went on, keeping up with the 'oblivious' facade. “You didn't want to have her babies, and I want babies.” He paused for a moment, laughing to himself at the fiery look in her blue eyes, thinking he had her right where he wanted. “You're outta the picture.” His smirked slowly widened. “Plus, it was super fun trying.”
Mark glanced over his shoulder before casually leaning closer to the other surgeon. She tensed. “I'd forgotten how hot Torres is in the sack.” He released a low whistle. “She's still got the tightest-”
Arizona reared back her fist and punched him in the face.
Effectively ending that conversation.
They both cried out at the same time. Mark stumbled back, and Arizona instantly began to whimper as she rapidly shook her hand, reaching up to cup it with her other.
“Oww,” she moaned out loud, bending over slightly. “God, I knew your face was stupid, but I wasn't expecting it to be so hard.”
“You’re saying ow?!” Mark cried, clutching at his face. The various charts they had been holding now lay scattered all over the floor. “Jesus, Robbins, you do not punch like a girl!”
Arizona was still shaking her bruised knuckles, wincing and hoping nothing was broken. “Ow, God…that’s the first time I’ve punched someone in almost thirty years.” Mark, through his pain, looked at her disbelievingly. “Bobby Jenkins called Rebecca Lee a doody head and made her cry, so I slugged him.” She winced again and tried to flex her hand, only succeeding in making it throb even more. When Mark glared at her through holding his face, she shrugged. “I was five. I remember it hurting a lot less back then.”
Mark groaned pitifully, his jaw throbbing and already starting to swell. He was hoping he still had all of his teeth in place. “Well, you put your weight behind it this time…fuck, Robbins.”
His words sometimes got him into a lot of trouble with women, but it had never hurt this much before.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”
Arizona and Mark both turned to see Chief Shepherd standing five feet away, arms crossed as he looked at them both in disbelief.
Robbins cradling her right hand and whimpering, Sloan clutching at the left side of his face, which was bright red. Papers all over the floor.
He couldn't decide between amusement and annoyance.
“Nothing,” they both stated at the same time, looking extremely unconvincing.
“Yes, that's exactly what this looks like,” Derek shot back as he looked from Arizona to Mark, then down to the scattered files laying all over the hallway. “Get this mess cleaned up,” he ordered, arms still crossed over his chest. “Then see me in my office.”
The Chief turned and left it at that as he headed back down the corridor.
Mark narrowed his eyes as he watched the retreating form of their new Chief. He was still holding the left side of his jaw as he turned to glare daggers at the other surgeon. “If I get suspended for this-”
Arizona cut him off. “Oh, shut it, Sloan.”
***
“Why do I have to go in first?” Arizona complained.
“Because, I’m trying to keep my face from falling off,” Mark shot back nastily.
Both surgeons sat outside of Chief Derek Shepherd's office like kids waiting for the principle to discipline them.
“Oh, grow a pair,” Arizona grumbled, rolling her eyes. “You’re such a baby.”
Mark glared hard at her. “For your information, I have a pair. A great pair. A pair that Torres so happens to-”
The only thing that stopped from Arizona from hitting him a second time was Shepherd’s door opening. So she settled for glaring laser beams through Mark’s skull instead as she stood up and silently followed Derek into his office.
She sat down heavily in the chair across the Chief’s desk, and watched silently as he sat down, too.
Derek was his usual stoic, quiet self as he released a heavy, 'Chiefly' sigh. He relaxed back into his chair, folding his hands on his lap as he stared straight across his desk to meet Arizona's eyes dead on.
The blonde squirmed a little in her seat, looking guilty.
“I can't believe you hit him,” Derek finally broke the silence with an amused grin and a hearty laugh. “I can't believe it's taken you this long to hit him,” he then corrected.
Arizona’s brow skyrocketed. “Huh?”
“What did he do, anyway?” Derek continued. “Or was he just being Mark?”
Surprised that she wasn’t being fired, Arizona stammered for a second. “H-he, um…you’re not mad? Really? He’s your best friend.”
“He’s also an ass who tends to deserve what he gets,” Derek pointed out. “The only thing I’m mad about is you jeopardizing that two-million-dollar hand. Is anything broken?”
Arizona hadn’t even thought about that until now. “I-I don’t think so." She looked down and flexed it. "Just…sore. Sorry, Chief.”
Derek shook his head. “Not too long ago, I was sitting where you are when this was Dr. Webber’s office, for the exact same reason. So I sympathize. Mark has this effect on a lot of people.”
Arizona managed a weak smile. “Why’d you punch him?”
“He slept with my wife, then showed up to brag about it.” Derek tilted his head to the side. “You?”
What little expression she had retained from before instantly fell away. “Pretty much that,” she whispered weakly, looking down.
Derek was quiet for a long moment. “Do you really think Callie would do that?”
Arizona lifted her gaze to meet her boss’. “Yes.” She hesitated to leave it at that. “I mean no.” She paused. “I don't know anymore.”
“Arizona,” Derek started softly again. “I know we're not really close. We’ve spent almost no time together outside of the hospital. But there's one thing I know when I see it, regardless of that fact.”
Arizona's brow furrowed. “What?”
The Chief smiled that patented 'McDreamy' smile. “Love.” He paused as he tilted his head at her. “Meredith taught me that. Callie looks at you the way I feel about Meredith.”
Arizona smiled softly. “You two are lucky. And dare I say awfully cute together.”
Derek chuckled. “Most days.”
The peds surgeon once more fell silent, a good ten seconds passing before she spoke again. “But I couldn’t give her what she wanted. What she needed. And Mark apparently wants to reproduce now, so…I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming in the first place.” She let out a dejected sigh. “I should be happy for her, on some level, but…the idea of them having a baby together makes me feel…”
Sick. Nauseous. Angry.
Arizona shook her head, sitting up a little in her chair. “And to be fair to me, punching him wasn’t my first decision. I tried to walk away. Twice. But he’s a persistent ass, so…” Arizona shook her head. “It won’t happen again.” She paused. “Probably.”
Another beat.
“Inside the walls of this hospital.”
Derek laughed. “Kick his ass all you want,” he replied with a growing smile. “Just make sure you don't hurt his hands. Or yours. I've got a hospital with the best surgeons in the country to run.”
Arizona smiled at the inferred compliment.
Derek nodded to the door. “Get outta here,” he told her. “Get some ice on that hand, and don't let it happen again.”
Arizona smiled with a silent nod as she pushed her chair back and quickly headed for the exit.
***
Mark was pacing nervously just outside of the Chief's office when the door suddenly swung open and Arizona stepped out. She glared at him before quickly heading off in the opposite direction.
Just as she walked away across the bridge, the other set of doors next to the Chief’s office opened and Callie stepped into the corridor. She was distracted by a folded up newspaper in her hand and bumped right into Mark.
“Ugh, sorry,” she apologized before even looking up. The moment she did, her brown eyes widened. “What the hell happened to you?”
Mark just sighed, ignoring her as he stepped into Derek’s office and shut the door behind him.
Callie just stood there staring, stunned at the sight of the closed office. “Okay,” she mumbled to herself before continuing on across the open bridge.
***
Arizona grimaced as she placed her swollen right hand beneath the cold water of the bathroom faucet. She was pretty sure it was going to be sore for at least a day or two.
Meaning her back-to-back-to-back surgeries were just gonna be so...fun.
The bathroom door opened, but she ignored it as she continued to hold her hand beneath the steady flow of freezing water.
Callie froze as she looked up from her paper to see the blonde standing in front of the row of sinks.
Dammit.
Her dark eyes dropped down at the sound of running water. “What the hell happened to you?” she asked on instinct as she quickly made her way over.
Arizona jumped, glancing over to see Callie.
Crap.
Just…crap.
She immediately turned back to stare at the flow of water. “Ran into a door,” she mumbled in a low voice. She really didn’t know if she could handle seeing Callie right now.
The brunette arched a slow, calculated brow. “With your hand?” She dropped her eyes down to see the swollen redness of the blonde's knuckles. “That must've been one helluva run.”
Funny. Didn't she just see Mark with one very knuckle-sized bruise on the side of his face?
And then...
“Arizona!” Callie suddenly shouted, causing her ex-girlfriend to jump in place. “You hit him in the face?! What's wrong with you?!” She reached out to smack Arizona on the shoulder, glowering. Then, “Wait.” Her anger dissipated a little and her brow furrowed once more. “Why did you hit him in the face?” It’s not like the blonde was the type to go around punching people. Callie couldn’t understand why that had suddenly changed.
This was Arizona Robbins. The girl who wouldn’t even kill spiders.
Granted, she usually made Callie do it for her because she was too afraid to touch them, but still.
Arizona refused to look at Callie, which was difficult considering there was also a mirror right in front of her. She stared directly down at her hand, and nowhere else.
Instead of answering, she kept silent and waited until the cold water hurt too much to hold her hand under anymore. Grimacing, she pulled it away and turned off the flow while grabbing some paper towels to dab off the excess moisture.
Upon a preliminary inspection, the skin wasn’t busted open, and though it was swollen, Arizona was pretty sure nothing was broken. Still hurt like hell, however.
She made a mental note to not punch people in the future. It was a risky thing to do when you made a living using your hands.
“Arizona?” Callie called after the blonde still hadn't answered. She took a slight step back, hoping that giving Arizona some space would open her up.
So to speak.
Another few moments of silence passed.
And then, Callie got a little angry.
“Would you just fucking say something?” she suddenly snapped as she reached up to run a hand through her hair. It was the only thing she could think of to curb the need to reach out and touch the blonde.
Not in anger, just a...touch.
Blinking slowly, Arizona shrugged. “I don’t have anything to say.”
Callie dropped her hand back to her side and glared at Arizona. “Well, how about starting with why you went all ‘Rocky’ on Sloan’s face?”
Shrugging again, Arizona just leaned back against the counter behind her. “He’s a plastic surgeon. If I did any real damage, he can fix it.”
“Arizona,” Callie demanded, taking a step closer, her voice wavering a bit. “Look at me.”
Swallowing hard, Arizona finally lifted her gaze up to meet Callie’s, doing her best to keep her expression neutral.
But her eyes were full of hurt, pain, and even a little anger.
But not anger directed at Callie. She was mad at herself for letting the perfect woman go, and losing her to that...that...him.
Callie finally lost the battle with herself as she reached down to gently take Arizona's injured hand in her own. She very softly brushed her thumb over the swollen, slightly bruised knuckles. Her heart hurt a little. She couldn't stand to see the blonde in any kind of pain, and from the look in her eyes, it was more than just physical.
“Please tell me,” Callie pleaded softly after another silent moment had passed between them. She couldn't stand this much longer.
Feeling Callie’s soft touch against her hand brought back the powerful urge to just…grab her and kiss her until she forgot all about Mark and his stupid man-penis. Arizona would kiss her until she forgot the rest of the world existed, if Callie let her.
But thinking about kissing only made her think about Mark kissing Callie, and doing other things to her that made the blonde want to punch him all over again.
It was a vicious cycle.
And it wasn’t her place to make Callie ‘forget’ anything anymore, either.
Releasing a deep sigh, Arizona finally found her voice. “I’ve been having a hard time, I guess. I’ll be okay.”
Callie swallowed back as she felt a little tug in her chest.
Was it wrong that she was sort of happy to hear that?
“Having a hard time?” the brunette repeated softly as she lifted her gaze, trying to meet perfect blue eyes. “About what?”
Arizona finally looked up. “What do you think?” she answered just as softly, not a trace of anger or malice in her tone.
Callie felt another tug where her heart resided.
“I just, I can’t, okay?” Before Callie could answer, Arizona suddenly pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry, but I-I…can’t.”
Callie frowned in confusion. “Can’t what?”
Taking a step back, Arizona took in a shallow breath. “Be here. Watch…this, I-I can’t, it…it hurts too much.”
Now even more confused than ever, Callie tried to take a step toward the other woman, but Arizona darted around her and headed for the door. “Arizona! Arizona!”
Ignoring her ex’s calls, Arizona didn’t look back over her shoulder as she pushed out of the bathroom and escaped down the hall.
***
Mark was suddenly jolted forward by a hard slap against the back of his head.
“What did you do?” Callie snarled as she suddenly appeared behind him.
The man looked up from his seat, reclined back in the Attendings’ lounge. He was holding an ice pack to the side of his jaw. “Ow,” he moaned uncomfortably. “What?”
“Arizona,” Callie snarled again as her eyes widened, nostrils flaring. “Her hand is all swollen and bruised and your face is...” She trailed off as she tilted her head, her eyes glued on bag of ice. She slowly started to smile. “She really decked you, huh?”
“What does it look like?” Mark snapped back, grimacing and dropping the hand holding the ice bag down onto his lap. The left side of his jaw and cheek were discoloured and a little bit swollen. Not to mention they throbbed.
“Anyone ever tell you Robbins was a psycho? Because I must have missed the memo where she goes around punching people. I didn’t think women who crap rainbows and dream in cartoons did that.”
Callie's smile disappeared as her eyes narrowed at the other surgeon. “She is not a psycho,” she quickly shot back. “She's just the first person to do what we've all wanted to do at some point.” Her smile slowly began to reappear. “You're just mad ‘cause you got beat up by a girl. A blonde. On roller skates.”
Mark glowered at her, clearly unimpressed. “It was one hit.”
Callie chuckled as she sat down beside him. “Why'd she hit you, anyway?” Yeah. She could be sneaky. “Did you call her 'Blondie' again?” she quickly added to try and cover her true intentions.
If she didn't find out 'why' soon, she was going to explode.
Then again, there were so many reasons why one would want to deck Mark Sloan.
The possibilities really were endless.
Mark considered his options. They were few and far between.
And at the end of each option, he was still screwed.
So, he went with the truth.
Sort of.
“I made her jealous. About you.” A smug smirk formed over his face as he lifted the ice back to his jaw. “It wasn’t hard. She must really, really still be carrying your torch to lay me flat out in the middle of the hallway like that. Not to mention in front of the new Chief.”
That little tug easily reappeared in Callie's chest.
It happened a lot these days whenever someone mentioned the blonde's name. Or whenever she got a fleeting glance of her around the corner of a hallway.
Or whenever she thought about her.
Smelled her.
Remembered her.
Callie was beginning to think that little tug was just never gonna go away.
“How'd you make her jealous?” she questioned, completely curious now. “It had to be pretty bad for her to actually hit you.” She paused and started to frown. “I didn't even know she could do that.”
“Neither did I,” Mark sighed, wincing once more.
“Sloan,” Callie started slowly. “What did you say to her?”
Mark looked a little guilty this time. “Uh…”
***
Instead of sucking dry Joe’s entire supply of whisky, Arizona stuck to a vodka tonic.
She’d drown her sorrows, just not quite to the same extent as the first time around.
The surgeon glanced down at her aching hand, flexing it again with a slight grimace. It was stiff enough that she’d had to post-pone the last surgery of the day until tomorrow, or possibly the day after that.
Great. Now her patient care was suffering because of her stupidity. Her stupidity, and Mark Sloan.
Just…great.
With a sigh, Arizona tipped back the rest of her drink, then signaled Joe for more.
What was she thinking? Hitting Mark like that.
She knew why.
Calliope.
But still. She was a surgeon for Gods sake.
Stupid. Stupid. Stu-
“Hey there, gorgeous.”
Arizona jerked a little at the unexpected voice. Her blue eyes darted up just as a warm body slid easily onto the stool next to her.
Carmen Rodriguez smiled a dazzling smile as she set her purse onto the counter of the bar. She nodded to the bartender, never once taking her eyes from the blonde.
In turn, Arizona never took her eyes from Carmen. “Hi there yourself.”
Joe stood behind the bar, glancing back and forth from Arizona to the new girl, before reluctantly setting down their drinks. “Anything else, Dr. Robbins?” he asked a little pointedly. “Like, say, a cab?”
Arizona glanced at Joe. “No. I’m good, thanks.”
A few more wouldn’t hurt.
“What brings you here on a Monday evening?” Arizona asked Carmen with only mild curiosity.
Carmen smiled a perfect smile. She reached out with her right hand to gently swirl the straw in her glass as she propped her left elbow up onto the bar. She rested her chin in her palm as she leaned closer. “I could ask you the same thing.”
It took considerably more effort for Arizona to pull in a breath.
Carmen was just looking so...
Blue eyes dropped down to the front of a wide open, white, nearly see-through blouse.
She immediately snapped her head back to face her drink.
Bad, bad, bad.
Carmen’s rich laughter reached her ears. “Arizona, I’ve been watching you for a while, now. And I have to say, tonight you look…worse than usual.” She said it lightly, as a fact and not a flaw. “Bad day at the office?”
Arizona shrugged. “You could say that.” She flexed her right hand while holding the drink to her lips with her left. “I punched Mark Sloan. I didn’t get fired, which is awesome, but my hand is wrecked enough that I had to cancel surgeries, which means that my personal life is now effecting my work.” She released a deep sigh, staring right into her drink as she swirled the straw. “I used to be good at keeping my personal life personal, and now I’m punching plastic surgeons.”
Aware that she had begun to ramble a little, Arizona blushed and looked over at Carmen with a sheepish smile. “Beware of what you ask me when I’m drunk. I talk a lot.”
Carmen just continued to smile as she leaned a little closer to the other woman. “So you're drunk, hm?” she teased with a low chuckle. “I think I like that.”
Arizona fidgeted a little under the intense stare.
Carmen had beautiful eyes. Really warm and brown.
Kinda reminded her of someone else.
The blonde shook her head as she forced a weak grin. “You say that now,” she easily recovered with a soft laugh. “Let's see you still say that when you've got my puke all over your shoes.”
Not that she always puked when she was drunk. But she just had to say something.
Of course, talking about puke wasn’t exactly the smoothest thing she could have done. Arizona closed her eyes for a second and mentally kicked herself.
She used to be good at talking to women. But now…now Calliope was the only one she could think of, and talking to another seemed harder than she remembered.
Great. Callie had ruined her completely, it seemed. She was going to die a single old woman with sixty cats and a shelf full of Harper Averys’, because she’d have no life outside of her medical career.
Perfect.
“Puke? Really?” Carmen smirked. “Are you trying to turn me on?”
Chuckling, Arizona finished off her second drink. “Like I said, I’m drinking, and when I drink smart things don’t always come out of my mouth.” She set the empty glass down against the counter.
“Why are we drinking tonight?” Carmen moved her stool a little bit closer to Arizona, so their thighs were just barely touching.
Even that slight touch made Arizona shiver. “Because…the woman I love is sleeping with the man that I punched. She’s…moving on without me, and…drinking numbs the pain just a little.” She pressed the cold glass against her aching knuckles, wincing as they throbbed.
Carmen was quiet for a long moment. “I see." Her eyes dropped down to the other woman's hands. She placed her own drink back onto the bar counter before reaching out with gentle fingers to pull the glass from the surgeon's. She set it next to her own before returning her attention to the injured appendage.
“Ice is always good for swelling,” Carmen said as she began a slow, gentle massage of the hand held tenderly in her own. She glanced up from beneath her lashes. “But so is stimulation.”
Even though she wasn’t even near being drunk yet, Arizona felt her head swim a little.
“That it is,” she replied mildly.
After a lengthy pause, full of thinking and weighing of options, Arizona glanced up from their hands to meet Carmen’s smoky gaze with an intense one of her own.
She hesitated for only a second before making her final choice.
“I may be out of line here, and if I am, you can tell me, but…” Arizona tilted her head to the side just a little, pulling in a soft breath. “Do you want to come back to my place? Maybe have another drink?”
Her heart slammed fiercely against her ribcage.
“Yes,” Carmen instantly replied, leaning a little closer. Just enough to invade Arizona’s senses. She reached out to trail the very tip of her index finger along the smooth, firm plane of the surgeon's arm. “Maybe we can even skip the drink?”
A slow, knowing smile spread across Arizona’s lips. “I think we can work that,” she agreed in a low voice. She held the other woman’s gaze for a long time, before eventually standing up.
On the side of the stool that brought her right up against Carmen's body.
“Joe, tab,” she said briefly to the bartender, all the while keeping her eyes locked on the gorgeous woman in front of her.
Arizona grabbed her purse, her eyes lingering on Carmen for one more second, then turned and headed for the door.
Fuck it. If Callie got to move on, then so did she.
Carmen tipped back the rest of her drink and followed.
---