She looked up from settling her daughter's sleepy protests and scanned the people milling around the Mazatlan regional airport when her eyes lit on a familiar head of unruly chestnut hair and the laughing green eyes of her first true love… "Juli!" Callie breathed out softly as she and Sofia both were swept up by her oldest friend in a tight and comforting hug. She felt a few tears escape her eyes at the pure comfort and unconditional love she felt radiating through that simple gesture. "Hola bonita," Juli murmured to a dozy Sofia. "And you, pensé que nunca ibas a visitarme para ver mi sueño."
"Oh Julian Montealtar, you know I've meant to come for a long time, and it never worked out…. but I am glad that you've built your dream. I would love to see it." She said as she felt him take a good look at her.
"Ya sé que necesitas un descanso y veo que estas sufriendo del corazón, pero vas a superarlo y quiero que sepas que yo te quiero mucho…"he finally said softly as he threw his arm around her shoulders and taking her bags led her out to his waiting car in the sweltering heat of the Mexican summer.
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The storm had continued unabated for the rest of the night and into the next day. She had managed to miss seeing Arizona as she worked without a break or sleeping, fixing fractures and suturing victims of the bus crash among others until there was no one left to fix but herself. Her phone showed messages from Arizona, her dad and one from Hunt:
Torres, the heart operation on Webber went well, he's in recovery now room 3302 for visits. Good job on his dislocation.
Hey, I saw you still have surgeries so I took Sofia and Zola home since Mer's still resting and Derek's with baby Bailey. -A
Mija, are you alright? I heard the storm arrived early. Are you still coming to that convention in Ft. Lauderdale? I would love to see my nieta if you would bring her. I love you, your papi."
Instead of responding she did drop by to see the Chief, sleeping soundly and recovering from being electrocuted the night before. She nodded to her friend Bailey and then went to check on Meredith Grey, her fellow attending, board member, and most recently, real friend.
"Hey Grey," she smiled softly through her exhaustion as she realized the new mother was awake. "I heard you did it again" Callie gave a soft smirk somewhere between empathetic and incredulous.
"Did what?" Meredith said groggily.
"Survived" Callie said simply. The clear eyed woman in the hospital bed merely gave her a half grin as they both embraced the silence and their own thoughts.
"Apparently I lost you…" rang through the tall brunettes mind. She had felt herself say the words, and then only after did she understand what they had meant. She had felt the truth of them and felt her face change from shocked, to broken, to the stoic mask she had still had in place all these hours later. Standing in the room with Meredith, looking at the woman who had survived so much and still managed to make it and smile after everything she'd been through helped Callie gain some clarity.
"I'm leaving... Mexico." She felt herself speak the words as they were the obvious continuation of some conversation they'd been having.
"Okay… Wait what?" Meredith's grey-eyed gaze fixed on her softly.She had noticed Callie's eyes were heavy with something, but she figured it was just due to exhaustion and Webber's surgery.
"Yeah, I got invited to a symposium on problems in hand surgery and after giving that TED talk I think I can handle public speaking a little better…
"I am taking some leave before over the next few weeks and going to visit a friend in Mexico now that everything with the storm has settled down." Callie was almost shocked at how she had made this decision. And seeing Meredith Grey had allowed her to just do it. Everything would be ok, and her friends would hold down the fort in her absence.
"Okay…" Meredith replied slightly confused but supportive of her friend. "Well I guess you have fun", she offered chuckling as Callie quickly came over and gave her a hug.
"Yeah, see you soon Mer, and congratulations on your beautiful baby boy…" The dark eyed brunette whispered as she strode from the room and began to make her way back to her apartment.
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"And then as I was giving a lesson milking to three very attractive young ladies in my workshop, the goat comes crashing in, stealing the pail of milk, which then causes the cow to stomp on my foot and whip me in the face with her tail in frustration, which then results in me hopping up and slipping face first into a pile of cow shit."
Callie found herself laughing uproariously at this story as Julian drove them back to his eco resort in the mountains. As she clutched her sides she realized that this was the first time she's truly laughed in weeks, even since before the storm and… Arizona.
"So", Julian noticed the change in her expression as they neared his home, "who has broken your heart and do you need me to break their face?"
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When she arrived home she noticed a note taped to the bedroom door.
Since its sunny out I took the girls for supper.
She let herself into her bedroom, her wife's and her bedroom she corrected mentally. She stared at their bed and despite her reluctance to sleep in the bed she'd shared with her love for over four years, her exhaustion won out and she collapsed onto her side and curled into a ball, ignoring the smell of her wife's perfume, her clothes draped across the furniture, her jewelry on the nightstand, and just let herself drift into the calm of sleep.
What Julian says in the airport:
Hey beautiful… and you, I thought you were never going to visit me and get to see my dream.
I already know that you need a rest and I see that your heart is suffering but you are going to get through this and I want you to know that I love you very much…