Title: Crash and Burn (1/?)
Authors: sofietc & saoirsegirl
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Summary: One thing turns out wrong and then suddenly the whole world is crumbling. Set after the break up in 7x07.
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.
A/N: So... Here it is. Our take on what could have happened after the break up scene in 7x07.
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Enjoy! : )
Crash and Burn
1
Depression. It's a very insidious feeling. Feeling that you can shove deep
down into your soul. Hide from the world. Put the brave face on and walk tall.
Untill you get tired of everything. And then your facade crunbles and no fake smile,
no lie that you tell yourself every day can't hide your inner darkness from the world...
xxxx
Callie had walked the streets of Seattle ever since Arizona left the night before. She hadn't slept that night, how could she? She had never felt this way before. It was worse than when George had cheated on her, worse than when Erika had suddenly left, worse than when her father disowned her, hell, it was worse than when they had broken up the first time. 'Cause this time… This time she had no idea if they would ever be together again. When they broke up over the baby-thing she had known, deep down inside, that there was hope. But now… Now it felt like all hope was gone. The beautiful blonde, that she calls the love of her live, left her, in an airport with no hope.
Callie didn't have a job, she had no place to go. She couldn't go home… There was no home, sure she had an apartment, their apartment, but it wasn't home without Arizona. So she decided to go to Cristina and Owen's. After all Cristina had quit her job, so she might be at the new place unpacking or something.
Callie walked up the round staircase, tears in her eyes and sadness written all over her face. When she entered the apartment she saw Cristina unpacking some of the boxes.
"Hi…" Callie said as she stood in front of the staircase.
"Hey!" Was Cristina's first response before she registered who had spoken to her. "Wait? Weren't you supposed to be like an Africa or something?"
"Yea…"
"But you're here?"
"Yea…"
"Jesus Christ! I moved out so that I wouldn't have to deal with the Lesbian Drama. So you have to go… Go…"
Callie was in no way prepared for such an outburst and it caught her of guard. She looked at Cristina for a few seconds and then suddenly burst into tears, sobbing heavily into her hands as her body fell to the floor.
"Oh my God! Do you two have to keep breaking up and making up. Seriously this is becoming a little to much like Meredith and Derek… talk about Déjà vu!" Cristina mumbled, mostly to herself, 'cause there was no way Callie could heat any thing through her heavy sobbing.
"I… Cristina… She left… she… she…"
"Left. Right I got that part." Cristina interrupted. "Okay, so since Mark is not here right now I guess I'm gonna have to be some sort of comforting person… Okay…" Cristina took a deep breath before she kneeling down in front of Callie and pulling her into a hug.
"So… Ehm… I got it! You are gonna help me unpack." Cristina suddenly exclaimed after being silent for a couple of minutes. "Yes, it's the perfect plan. It'll keep your mind off of Arizona:"
When Cristina mentioned Arizona, Callie started sobbing loudly again.
"Oh for the love of God! Will you just… Come on… Unpack. It's an order. Since we both no longer work at the hospital there is no hospital ranking system. Here it is the Yang-system, which means I'm your boss… Haha! This is gonna be so much fun!"
Callie stayed on the floor and tried to compose herself for another minute or two before getting up and walking over to one of the boxes. Cristina was right, she needed to distract herself. Her heart hurt like hell, but maybe, just maybe a little unpacking would help her think of something else than the blonde woman who had just ripped her heart out and stomped on it. After all she had come to Cristina for help, so she hadn't really been expecting compassion or a heartfelt conversation.
Cristina turned on the music and the two girls began dancing it out. To Callie's surprise the dancing it out part actually helped a bit, it kept her mind from overthinking. The unpacking on the other hand ended up a failed mission, because as soon as the music was on, neither of the girls got any unpacking done, they were way to busy moving their bodies to the music and singing along.
Suddenly, in the middle of the best song on Cristina's iPod playlist, Callie's phone rang. Callie groaned and waved her hands trying to get Cristina to turn the music down a bit. But then suddenly the thought that it might be Arizona calling hit Callie and she frantically searched for her phone in her purse. As she finally found it and looked at the screen she frowned. No call. There was nothing on the screen, no message, no call. The pager! Of course. She had kept her pager in her bag out of habit. She picked up the pager.
"911?" Callie said out loud.
As the messaged registered in her mind she realized that this was exactly what she needed. She needed distractions, dancing, surgery, whatever… As long as it distracted her.
"Cristina I gotta go. I'll see you later."
"Whatever." Cristina said as she turned the volume of the music up and started dancing again.
Callie needed to get there fast. However as she parked the car outside of the hospital the feelings hit her like bricks from the sky. Her and Arizona had worked here, together, there were just to many memories, to many reminders of their time together. Callie Torres broke down, in her car, in the middle of the parking lot. She was broken. She let herself cry for a few minutes before trying to regain composure. It would take all her strength to go in there, but she had to, she needed to, because she so desperately needed the distraction. Nobody could know. She wouldn't allow herself to be broken by this woman, she wouldn't allow herself to fall apart. She would walk tall, with her head held high, and do her job. Nobody could know.
xxxx
Callie needed a little moment of peace before taking the next step. Just some quiet corner to catch her breath and to regroup. So when her pager got off she wanted to scream. But it was 911. And it was from Bailey. Again. So it really must be important. And you can't ignore Bailey. So she quickly made her way down to the pit. Bailey was already waiting for her. In her own unique manner she didn't waste any time for greeting, cutting right to the case.
"We've got a patient. Abby Elliot, 8 years old. She was in a car crash. Prior symptoms: unstable BP, internal bleeding, damage to her right hip. Not very promising… We're waiting for the X-rays."
"So… I guess we're scrubbing in together." Callie said as she went into doctor-mode. This was just what she needed. Her distraction was here.
"Yeah. We and ."
"What? Why? You're perfectly capable of treating a pediatric patient."
"I know. But he is Head of Peds. And this is very complicated surgery. So 'his majesty' wants to observe."
"Terrific… Just what I needed to finish this wonderful day…" She needed to be distracted and the new Head of Peds being in the OR would most certainly not help her with that.
They didn't finish their conversation, because one of the interns showed up with the scans. Callie took matters in her hands.
"Ok. Lets see… Shit… She have cervical hip fracture… Not only that. Her femoral head is shattered."
Bailey looked closely at the X-rays.
"It means you need to be extra careful, Torres."
Callie turned to the resident.
"Prep an OR. We need to operate as soon as possible."
xxxx
The atmosphere in the OR was very tense. The little girl's internal organs were severely damaged. Bailey had to remove her spleen. And she tried to locate another small bleeder. While Callie tried to put together all shattered bones before inserting dynamic hip screw, wasn't helping any and was giving his suggestions. Bailey was grumbling. Callie started to get nervous. Due to the lack of sleep she was on the brink of snapping at the Peds surgeon. While he continued to chat non stop.
". What taking you so long? I heard that you're a brilliant surgeon." He smirked.
"I'm trying to be careful, . It's a big part of being a good surgeon."
"Interesting… , is it my imagination or your hands are shaking a little?"
"I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern… But I'll appreciate it if you'll let me concentrate."
The ortho surgeon was getting really angry. Her movements became more abrupt. Callie was feeling that eyes of were boring into her head. She wanted to tell him to mind his own business or just go to hell, but her right hand suddenly jerked. Small piece of the bone sliced the main artery.
"Crap! Give me the clamps."
Bailey looked up alarmed.
"What happened, Torres?"
"Artery… Bone sliced it… Damn it! There's so much blood… Suction here!"
"Her BP is dropping! Torres, you need to repair it quickly or she'll bleed out!"
"I know that myself!.. Almost done… Here… Done!"
All personnel in the OR let a collective sigh of relief. Bailey was looking intensely at Latina. Callie was trying to catch her breath.
All of sudden all monitors in the OR went off, Bailey snapped.
"What now?"
"She's crashing!"
"We need to defibrillate! Charge 200! Clear!"
Monitors were still shrilling.
She could not loose a patient. She just couldn't. This was supposed to distract her, not make her feel worse.
"10 milligrams of epi!"
"No use… Charge 300! Clear!"