Snowmageddon 3/?
Title: Snowmageddon 3/?
Rating: R, for now.
Pairing: Well. Eventually Callie and Arizona. Eventually.
Summary: At Chief's orders, everyone's asked to stay overnight at the hospital due to an incoming blizzard. But what's this mean for Callie, who has been trying to avoid Arizona like the plague. Set after 7X10.
A/N: Well, this is another thank you to brittlovesher who prompted me to write this. She's so inspiring, huh? :D Also I am spoiler free. Anything that happens in the weeks to follow is coincidence.
A/N II: Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday.
A/N III: This chapter is a bit of a cliffhanger, but at least Callie and Arizona are talking. Much more to come. I plan to have this updated by Tuesday. It's just been a joy to write. I have a great muse!
Feedback: Yes, please! I absolutely love hearing what you guys think. It makes me happy to write for you lovelies.
Chapter 1: http://community.livejournal.com/roughian_fics/3918.html
Chapter 2: http://community.livejournal.com/roughian_fics/4218.html
Chapter 3:
Callie’s waiting for Arizona, watching from window above the operating room. She can hear their exchanges between the urgent beeps and gurgling sound of the suction. Shepherd’s clearing space for the shunt now while Arizona stands by, acting as a second pair of capable eyes, and suction.
"Damnit, this is a lot of swelling..." Shepherd breathes quietly. Arizona nods with eyes honed in Shepherd's hands, occasionally flicking to the monitors.
It always make the Latina nervous to see little children with their heads cut open and portions of their brains exposed. Not that it’s ever not nerve wracking when adults are in this same predicament, but yeah, tiny head, tiny bald spot from where the hair was shaved to facilitate the incision.
It makes Callie very sick to her stomach.
Arizona glances upward once and notices Callie sitting there, dutifully. They lock eyes and then the Pediatric attending looks back at her work. Callie remembers when they first started dating, how they’d sit in on each others’ surgeries if they had a free minute. This is kinda like that, she imagines.
Minus the dating part.
Plus Africa.
Plus Mark.
"We've got a bleed!" Arizona says loud enough to shake Callie out of her reverie. She scoots to the edge of her seat, watching this with horrified brown eyes, biting the cuticle clear off her thumb nail.
"It's alright, Dr. Robbins. I've got it, don't worry." Says Shepherd from behind his mask. The lights on either side of her head and in between his eyes momentarily remind Callie of something out of Tron.
She can’t watch, she just can’t watch. Or listen. She doesn’t wanna hear it. She looks up from time to time, but there’s so much blood, and still that tiny little skull literally almost flapped open. Callie's mind slips away, trying to distract herself physically from the scene unfolding. She's seen trauma before, there's just something so... different about a little blond haired, blue eyed girl...
Sunlight filters in through the windows, and Callie knows that, judging by all the dust dancing in the bright light, Arizona's going to want to clean on their day off. The blond is still asleep, having gotten in at just after three that same morning. She looks peaceful. She'd woken Callie up to tell her she'd saved an infant's life today, with Teddy's help.
Tiny human heart surgery, a success. She was so proud.
Callie kisses the side of that sleeping head and makes her way to their kitchen. She starts to coffee and begins cooking, cracking eggs into a bowl, dicing up veggies and adding cheese. A veggie omelet is Arizona's absolute favorite. She sings while she cooks, "It's Rainin' Men" stuck in her head for some stupid reason.
She barely feels the arms wrap around her from behind and the sleepy kisses pressed onto her back.
"Go back to sleep," Callie urges as she turns around and kisses Arizona on the tip of her nose.
"No, no. Please continue to serenade me with that song. It's hilarious. And a little creepy. But mostly hilarious." Arizona says, sleep still laced thickly in her voice.
Callie smiles, Arizona does too.
"I can't wait until we have babies, Calliope Torres. Tiny little brown eyed babies that look like you."
"I think I'd prefer some blond haired blue eyed ones, myself..."
Arizona slips her arms around Callie's form, rubbing her back through the gaps in her tank top. "Well, there are ten of them, if I do recall. I'm sure we'll get lucky once or twice."
Callie smiles and pulls Arizona in for a kiss, hands holding her around the waist.
The panicking beeps of the machine as well as the panic she heard in Arizona's voice is no more, and instead they both stand reverently, completing their task. She wipes her eyes unconsciously, trying to get the burning image of Arizona out of her head.
She’s also not sure how she’d be able to deal with seeing that little girl die, especially after that drunk driver guy lived.
Making her way out of the surgical suite’s balcony, she takes the elevator down a floor and waits cautiously outside of the scrub room. She’s really doing this. Like, really, really doing it. Standing there, waiting for Arizona.
She barely notices the blond come out of the room until she’s halfway down the hall. Her head down. She looks so small.
“Arizona,” Callie says weakly, voice barely slipping above a whisper.
Arizona sniffles and turns around, wiping her eyes.
“Oh…Is…I mean, I’m sorry I could, we can talk later.” Callie nods.
“She’s just. I can’t believe it. We almost lost her.” Arizona looks upward, blinking a few times.
“But, you didn’t. That’s the important part. You didn’t.” Callie says as she steps a few feet closer to place a hand on Arizona’s shoulder, rubbing it softly. “You and Shepherd saved her…”
“I know, I know.” Arizona smiles through tears, seeking out her moment of clarity. “I’m just exhausted, and emotional, and… yeah. I want to go home, I do. But, I don’t want to let the chief down…” After Africa, Callie thinks silently. “I could also use a nap.”
Callie’s hand stays on her shoulder.
Arizona wants to melt into her. Crash into her. She can’t help it. She's more than vulnerable right now.
“I can let you nap,” Callie offers, gently, taking her hand away with a sadness that fills those warm brown eyes.
Usually they would nap together. With roaming hands and quiet discussions and muffled sounds…
“I should be okay. I just need some coffee and to sit down for awhile, clear my head.”
“Need some company?” The brunette tests the waters.
“Calliope, I’ll be okay. Thank you, though.” Those blues shine sadness. She starts to walk away.
“It was only three times. Just three. That we slept together. Mark and I. And I was sad. Really sad, because it hollowed me out from the inside out. It made me feel less than human. It made me feel repulsive, so I’m sorry.” Callie explains, blinking back the tears in her eyes.
Arizona stops and pivots on her heels, digesting that statement for a moment.
“I can’t lie and say it’s okay and I forgive you and we should ride off together into some Sapphic sunset. It hurts me, and repulses me. It makes me think that’s what you wanted all along. And it makes me wonder if you were just biding your time with me.” Arizona swallows hard.
“No.” The Latina closes the distance between them and puts her hands on Arizona’s shoulders.
“No. I wasn’t waiting for him. You were gone and I felt alone. I felt trapped. That’s why I cut my hair. I wanted to cut all ties with you, everything that reminded me of you. You, the woman I thought I was going to marry, who would have my kids, who would get old and grey and droopy with me.”
“Calliope…” It’s Arizona’s turn to blink back tears. “I’m sorry…”
“But you left, Arizona. You left and I was stunned. You left…”
“I know. I regretted it. I still do. I just. I needed to go, Calliope. And you were so bitter about it, but those kids don’t have anything. I just. I couldn’t bring you there. I had to make sure you stayed here, and stayed happy.”
Callie kicks some invisible dirt on the linoleum and stuffs her hands into her pockets, gaze dropping. “You did?”
“I did. And when I came back, and you almost broke my nose slamming the door in my face…”
“Oh here we go.” Callie throws her hands up.
“I’m always the bad guy, Calliope. Always.”
Callie stops and narrows her gaze. “Are you serious right now?”
“I didn’t want to have kids. I’m the bad guy. I didn’t want to tote you and your cynicism to Africa. I’m the bad guy. I come back, giving up my dreams. I’m the bad guy. When are you going to own up for anything?” Arizona crosses her arms over her chest.
“Own up for what? I slept with Mark, and I apologized.”
“Of course, Calliope. Of course.” Arizona says as she turns on her heels and walks away.
“What…the…” Callie breathes, watching the doors close as the blond retreats further down the hall.
=====
Callie rapidly knocks on on-call room six, listening to the faint sounds of snoring from behind it. “Mark, I need to talk to you.”
“Nnyyynnggg…”
“Seriously, Mark,” More pounding. More hard. Serious pounding that cuts through Mark’s head like a knife.
“Torres, go away, please. I need to sleep…” He says from behind the door.
Callie rolls her eyes. “Tell Lexie I’m giving her five minutes to put her clothes on, and then I need to talk to you, urgently.”
“Lexie’s not here, Torres. I need to rest. This can wait.”
“Marcus Alexander Sloan…” Callie says through her teeth.
“Jesus, Cal!” He shouts as he flings open the door, blinking sleepily into the fully lit hall way. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”
“Arizona… we talked.” She says as she pushes through, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Oh, boy,” He groans, rubbing his eyes. “How’d that go?”
“It was great. It was all clarity and ‘oh my gosh I’m sorry’ and ‘oh my gosh I’m sorry too’ and then she told me I always make her out to be the bad guy. I so do not do that.”
Mark arches a brow.
“Don’t eyebrow me.”
“You do. Sometimes, Torres. That’s all. Just sometimes.” He assures, watching his friend’s face darken with self-realization.
She fingers the edge of the stiff cotton sheet.
“Just a few times, Torres. Like the babies…thing, and the whole…being kind of a whiny child before it was time to go to Africa…or yanno, the slamming doors thing.” He realizes she’s glaring as he puts on his shirt. “But I mean those were the only times that I can think of.”
Callie flops down onto the unmade on-call room bed. “I suck.”
“Only sometimes, but she gets it. I think she just needs to hear you say it for yourself.” He explains, proud of his lack of double entendre at her comment.
“Oh, God. Then she’ll get the gloating face… and she’s so good at gloating. Freakishly good at it.” Callie moans and whimpers dramatically.
“Callie, you love her. You love her so much that it’s stupid now that you’re just moping around. Really friggen stupid, kid. It’s time to man up, push through and go get your woman back.” He gruffs, hoping this will get through to her.
“You just want to go back to sleep.”
“That’s true, but my advice would be the same even if you hadn’t interrupted my nap.”
“Old man.”
“Drama queen.”
Callie gets up and punches Mark in the shoulder, just for fun. He swats at her butt. She opens the door to the on-call room as she giggles, shaking her head a bit.
And there’s Arizona. Of course. Why wouldn't she be standing there?
“So, just three times, huh?” She asks, holding two cups of coffee.
“What? Oh.” Callie snorts. “You think, I just… we? In there?” She laughs. “Um, no. Not even close.”
“I heard your moaning and whimpering…” Arizona says as she squares her jaw.
“Arizona, it’s not…”
“It is, it totally is. Does Lexie at least kn-
“There’s nothing to tell her!”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Enough!” Callie says, grabbing Arizona by the elbow and dragging her down the hall to on-call room ten.