IT'S MY LIFE NOW OR NEVER I AIN'T GONNA LAST FOREVER

by burleseymour

This is my thought process in my own head of how I think my favorite characters Arizona and Callie first met, and as their life together progresses. After watching the first few episodes of Season 10, I think the writers should start their relationship over again from the beginning. A do over if you will. But that is just my opinion. Anyhoo, this story is how I see their beginning.

1. Chapter 1

A/N…After watching the Grey's Anatomy Season 10 Episode 3, I could not get this thought for a story out of my head. Seeing Arizona and her new look and her new haircut, just like the way she wore her hair back in the late episodes of Season 5 when she and Callie first met, I wanted to write their story from a different view. Starting over if you will because I think that is what their story needs for this season…a new start from the beginning. Hope you all that read this story enjoy this version of the thought process in my head and of their new beginning…KB

IT'S MY LIFE…NOW OR NEVER…I AIN'T GONNA LAST FOREVER!

CHAPTER ONE

AUGUST 15, 2005…

I am sitting in the back of an open aired jalopy of a transport vehicle that is taking all of us to a village in Botswana. With my crew of doctors and nurses as we leave our village of Zomba In Malawi yesterday morning to travel to Francistown just inside the Botswana border from Zimbabwe. It has been a grueling ride for the last eighteen hours, to say the least, but just six more to go our guide keeps telling us. I am trying to read the latest letter from my brother who is serving in Iraq and has been for over a year now. We both became doctors as he joined the Marine Corp as a trauma surgeon after his residency at Mass Gen as I became a Pediatric surgeon and volunteered to come to this god forsaken country during my residency at Johns Hopkins at the bequest of my mentor, Dr. Norman McHale. Now here it is two years later and I am still here in this god forsaken country helping the children of Malawi while my brother is just trying to save some soldiers lives as well as his own.

Tim is writing to me about some folks he met during his stop in Fallujah at a MASH unit. They're Americans in the U.S. Army as one is from Seattle as he a trauma surgeon like my brother and the other is a woman from New York that is a heart surgeon. He writes about his new found friends as the gentleman of the group tell my brother to look him up in Seattle when he finishes his tour of duty. Tim tells Owen that he will do just that. Tim wishes Owen and Teddy goodbye as his unit makes their way back to the city of Tikrit. Tim then proceeds to tell me about our mom and dad moving to Boston from Seattle so mom can be closer to her sister Jodi because our aunt is not in the best of health. My brother says that once I leave this god forsaken country that I could meet up with him in Seattle so we can share and live in our parent's home while we try to find gainful employment as doctors in the emerald city of Seattle…or wherever we choose to help others with our surgical and medical talents.

Just before we reach Francistown, I finish recording my letter back to my brother. I have chosen to speak my responses back to him so he can hear my voice because I simply do not have time to sit and write letters. With the Internet service in Malawi being pretty non existent but it has just come into play about nine months ago, I just record my messages and send them through the U.S. military postal service stationed in the capital city of Lilongwe. Tim does this way of messaging sometimes when he's very busy but most of the time he just writes letters to me. We both send pictures of each other to each other when we can but getting pictures developed can be pretty tricky here in Malawi. My picture usually consists of me in the middle of the picture surrounded by all the children of our village. Tim's pictures are full of his Marine Corp buddies and some local color as he calls it as they consists mostly of the women that live in the cities where he visits. I just laugh at my brother but the one thing I have noticed lately with his picture taking of these women, we both seem to have an interest in the same type of women. Tall, dark and brunette…

My posse, as some of my medical staff like to call themselves, and I reach the city of Francistown just before dark and all of us go into our doctor and nurse mode as we begin to help the children with their individual health needs. By morning my staff and I realize that there has been an outbreak of the chicken pox virus. My medical staff has taken the precise precautions as to quarantine part of the village from the rest of the village. Most of the cases we have encountered are children with a few adults but we want to be safe and not risk the other inhabitants of the village. With the local priest and mayor of Francistown holding a town meeting to inform the rest of the residents of the outbreak, my medical staff and I stays on sight for the next ten days to see that medical attention is given to each and every individual man, woman and child.

After a few days the local people begin to tell my medical staff of some workers that have come to their village from The Peace Corp of the U.S. a few months back. These workers have traveled throughout Africa for the past two years but they left a couple of days ago to help out another village with their water irrigation system. Father Raoul comes to my tent after my rounds to discuss the possibility of these workers bringing in the chicken pox virus with them through their travels. I tell him if they have been in the village for a few months now that it is probably not possible that they brought this virus with them. I tell him more than likely an elderly member of the community became sick with the virus and before they could be treated the virus spread because it is an airborne contaminate. That is why we are checking each individual of Francistown before we leave. A couple of days later, the medical staff begin to lift the quarantine off most of the children and all of the adults. Later that afternoon just before dark the bus that is carrying all of the Peace Corp volunteers arrives back in Francistown.

I quickly board the bus before anyone gets off as I say to all of the volunteers "Hello My name is Dr. Robbins and my staff and I are here because there has been an outbreak of the chicken pox in this village. I would like all of you as you depart the bus to walk over to the makeshift clinic we have set up to have my staff ask you all some questions and give you all a shot for the chicken pox virus. Thank you". I exit the bus as the rest of my team ushers all of the volunteer workers into the clinic. I grab some gloves and a gown as I make my way inside the clinic also and begin to examine the people from the bus. I am holding onto a clipboard as I pull the curtain open and back again to find a gorgeous Latina woman sitting on the gurney. I try to think of something to say when this beautiful woman says to me first "Wow, this must be my lucky day". I quickly say "Excuse me" with a slight giggle in my voice. Then this magnificently stunning woman says back to me "My luck is changing…you see I bet one of the other ladies in our little group that I would be seen by one of the other doctors because I would never be lucky enough to be seen by someone as fine looking as you". I smile back at this woman as I am enjoying her flirtatious tone when I say "Well it is a pleasure to meet you too". This woman just won't stop as she says to me "Oh no doc, the pleasure is all mine". I straighten up my lab coat as I do not know what to say to this attractive woman so I just take my stethoscope from around my neck as I check her heartbeat and her lungs and then I ask this woman some basic questions. Then this woman grabs a hold of my hand as she shakes it roughly and says "Hi, by the way my name is Callie".

As the evening of the tenth day immeasurably approaches, Callie and I know that come tomorrow morning that my medical staff and I will be leaving to travel back to Malawi. All of the children have done outstanding in their recovery from the chicken pox. The last of the children are taken back to their families after dinner this evening as the quarantine has been lifted. My medical staff has dismantled our mobile clinic and has packed everything neatly away for our travels tomorrow morning. I am standing outside of the bunk house that I have shared with the women of my staff for the last ten days and nights as I see Callie leaving her bunk house with a blanket in her hands as she is walking towards me. Over the last several days we have had conversations about our lives before coming to Africa and what our future holds for us once we leave this god forsaken country during our free time as I find her absolutely fascinating and intriguing to say the least. Callie walks up to me and she says in almost a whisper "Hey there you". I say back to her in the same tone of voice "Hey there yourself". Then Callie asks me "You want to go for a walk before you retire for the evening"? Then she takes my hand and leads me in a direction away from everyone else's curious eyes.

We walk together for several hundred yards as Callie stops near a marula tree as she lays the blanket on the dirt below. She takes my hand as she silently asks me to sit next to her on the blanket. I take a seat next to her as she begins to speak "Arizona, I know that I have only known you for a few days but I think we could become great friends. I would like to keep in touch with you even after we both leave Africa. I am due to leave by the 15th of November and I will travel to Miami and spend the holidays with my family and return to finish my last year of my internship". I watch the pale moon light stream through the marula tree as it dances off Callie's face and her gorgeous body as I say to her "I would love nothing more than to keep in touch with you, Calliope". I watch as Callie's face contorts a little at the sound of me mentioning her full first name as she says to me with a chuckle in her voice "My father is the only one I allow to call me Calliope…until now. I like the way it sounds rolling off you tongue". For some unknown reason when Callie says that to me I feel this strong urge to kiss her but I am afraid for a second that she may not feel the same way I do about her but then I see the attraction in her eyes and I bend forward a bit as I take a chance. My thin pink lips make contact with her plump red ones as I hear her sigh a little as my tongue traces her bottom lip as a whisper escapes Calliope mouth and I hear her say "Arizona" then she swallows my tongue deep into her mouth. Callie falls backwards onto the blanket as she takes me with her and our kiss deepens.

Just as we were about to get carried away with ourselves, we hear off into the distance numerous voices of our friends coming closer. I break our kiss and remove myself from on top of Callie. Callie reaches in her outside cargo pants pocket to pull out three glow sticks. She hands me one as we snap them in half to let off a neon green color light as we toss all three around the blanket to shed some more light on ourselves. Callie reaches in her back pocket to pull out a deck of cards as she quickly removes them from their box and throws them in between her and I to make it look like we are playing cards. I whisper to her "You have come prepared I see" and she just smiles and whispers back to me before our friends arrive "This is not my first time at the rodeo, Arizona". I smile at her response as I think to myself after that kiss we had just shared "Oh my new dear friend, I bet it isn't".

Our friends finally make their way to us as they all take their seats on and around the blanket with their cooler full of alcoholic refreshments and the chatting session between everyone begin. When the sounds of the African wildlife become to close for comfort, we all pack up our things and make our way back to the village. Callie and I walk side by side as she asks me in a professional manner "So Dr. Robbins, what are your plans once you return back to the states"? I, too, answer this gorgeous woman in the same professional manner when I say to her "Well , my brother Tim, who is still in Iraq at the moment, has asked me to join him in Seattle but I am going to finish my residency in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. I left a lot of good friends back there and cannot wait to see them again. Also my parents recently moved back to Boston according to my brother so I am looking forward to spending the holidays with them this year. What about you Dr. Torres, what are your plans once you leave Africa"?

Knowing the answer to my question already because this is one of the topics we've talked about over the last three days since I met Calliope. Calliope answers my question as she says in front of our friends to make it sound like this is the first time I am asking about her future as she says to me "Well Dr. Robbins, I plan on flying back home to Miami to my friends and family. From there I plan on completing my internship and my med school studies and trying my damndest to find the best hospital to do my residency in as my specialty will be in orthopedic surgery". Then Callie and I join in the small talk from the other members of our little group as not to show them of our desirability for each other. We all walk back to our designated bunk houses as I bid Calliope a good night. She shakes my hand for a little while as she says to me "Have a safe trip back to Malawi and maybe I'll see you someday".

The next morning after my staff has packed everything in our transport vehicles, we say goodbye to the children of Francistown along with its priest and mayor. Just as I am about to hoist myself up in the open aired vehicle when I hear a sweet voice travel across the slight breeze in the air as I turn to see Calliope running towards me. She stops just short of my body as she says to me "Here I just wanted to give you all my information for when you arrive back in the states. I would really like to keep in touch with you so if you don't mind…call me when you land in Baltimore". She leans in and kisses my cheek and whispers in my ear "I would really like to see you again when we both make it back home". I take her note out of her hand as I place it in the front pocket of my cargo shorts as I lean in to kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear "I would love to see you again too, Calliope and I will call you when I land". I stare at the smile that I leave on my new friend's face as I lift myself up and into the back of this old jalopy. We wave at each other as she stands in that same spot until she can no longer see our truck as we vanish into the distance behind a large cloud of dust stirred up from the desert dirt. November 20th cannot come soon enough as this is the day I am designated to leave Malawi and my life here behind. In the last two years I have accomplished and grown so much as I smile at the people in this vehicle that I will leave behind to carry on Dr. Norman McHale's and my work…the Carter Madison Foundation's work. Yes, I think to myself that November 20th cannot come soon enough…as I smile about the first phone call I will make to my new friend when I land in Baltimore Maryland…in The United States of America.

December 2, 2005

I am standing at the baggage claim area at Boston's Logan International airport waiting for my duffle bag to come around to me. I was supposed to leave Africa and the country of Malawi in particular to fly back to the United States to complete my residency at Johns Hopkins over ten days ago but my travel plans were changed to November 30th instead. My friend and mentor Dr. Norman McHale tells me before I left Malawi to go home and see my family for the holidays before I come to back to Baltimore to complete my residency. He said that he did not want to see my shining and happy face until January 3rd. I have just talked to my parents to let them know that my plane has landed and I will be home soon. I then call the one person I promised to call as soon as my feet touched back down on U. S. soil. Within three rings I hear a sweet voice say "Hello". I wait a second or two and before my friend can say "Hello" again then I ask "Hello Calliope, is that you"?

For the next forty five minutes, until the taxicab pulls up in front of my parent's home, I talk to my friend as we catch up on our lives since we last saw each other. Callie informs me that she has stayed in Miami and is doing her internship at the University of Miami Hospital. Living at her parent's home has been quite difficult but with the time and hours she spends at the hospital she rarely sees her family anyways. But, as she points out to me with the voice of disgust, her father has requested her presence at their annual New Year's Eve party and has even went so far as to tell the head of the hospital to make sure his daughter does not have to work on New Year's Eve or even the day after. I tell Calliope that I am staying in Boston until after the New Year with my parents. There is some dead silence on the other end of the phone and I think to myself that I may have lost the call but then I hear breathing. Just as I am about to say something I hear my friend say "So you don't have to be at Johns Hopkins until after the first of the year Arizona"? I smile into the phone and say "Yea Calliope…Why"? My new friend, without any hesitation in her voice, invites me to her family's New Year's Eve party in Miami. But before I can answer Calliope, my parents come outside from inside their house to greet me home. I quickly tell Calliope that I will call her back as soon as I am settled in.

Four hours and two dozens relatives and guests later I finally find a moment to myself as I take a hot shower and get ready for bed. I am sitting on my bed rubbing lotion on my legs and arms when I notice that I have missed two text messages and one voice mail message from my friend. I open up the first text message as it reads "Arizona, I know that you are probably doing family things right now…but please think about coming to Miami for a visit. I would love to see you and we can catch up some more…let me know what you decide…miss you…Calliope". Then I open up the second text and it reads "Please…Please…Please!" I smile at the gesture and I now listen to the voice mail from my friend as she says "I know that I have left you two text messages but just in case I sent them to the wrong phone number…I just want to invite you again to please come to Miami for the New Year. I will show you around and we will have so much fun…I guarantee it my friend…just let me know…and by the way…Merry Christmas and I am very glad you made it home safe and sound. Bye for now". I quickly dial Calliope's number but it automatically goes to her voice mail. I leave her a message as I say "Well if the three pleases weren't enough you wishing me a Merry Christmas and saying that you are glad I made it home safe and sound did the trick. I would love to spend New Year's Eve with you. I am sorry for not calling you sooner but relatives and guests and dinner kind of took precedence when I arrived home this evening. But now I am showered and relaxed and lying here in this big comfy bed talking to your voice mail when I would rather be talking to you. But as our luck would have it, you are probably doing some amazing surgery and cannot be bothered with keeping me company tonight. So I bid you a lovely good night and a very Merry Christmas to you and I am too glad you made it home safe and sound. I will keep my phone on vibrate and on my pillow next to my head if you decide to call me back later this evening. Take care my friend and I will talk to you soon".

I wake up almost ten hours later from when I fell asleep the night before to the sound of my mother's sweet southern twang when she call my name from downstairs. Walking down the steps I can smell coffee brewing as I see my father sitting at the breakfast table as he nods his head towards the front door. I turn to see a very nice looking nervous gentleman standing just inside our front door and I hear him say in a quite terrified voice "Are…Are you…Are you" then I hear my father say "Speak up young man and stop your stammering". My mother calls out from the kitchen area as she says to my father sternly "Daniel, stop raising your voice and let the poor boy be…you are scaring him". I see the slight grin on my father's face as I look back to the gentleman standing at the door. I politely say to him "I am Dr. Arizona Robbins, are you looking for me"? The young man named Matthew says "Yes ma'am I am. These are for you…if you will just sign here ma'am". Matthew hands me a dozen red roses and a large envelope as he holds out a clip board for me to sign my name. I tell Matthew "Thank you" as my mother says from the kitchen "Bye bye now Matthew dear" and I lead the nice young man out the front door. My mother comes into the breakfast area with a vase for my roses as she inquires about my gifts. I place the roses in the vase and open the envelope as I surprisingly say "There from Calliope". My mother asks "Calliope is she the woman you met in Africa"? I say with delight in my voice and a big smile on my face "Yes mama…yes she is".