A/N: I just can't stay away for too long. Welcome to my new Calzona story!
Can I just say that I wrote this first chapter a really long time ago? Like at the end of 2013. It's like Shonda's reading my mind and blinding people. It's a bit of a different story and probably won't be longer than 20 chapters. I'm still figuring it out.
Callie Torres has been a resident at Seattle Grace for what felt to her the longest time. She passed her boards and yet the Chief Richard Webber didn't seem to promote her. It frustrated her. She knew she could do it. This is why she became a surgeon, so she could do solo surgeries and not have someone stand by her side to observe her work. The head of orthopedic surgery, Robert Chang, was a complete asshole. And he was more than just sloppy while doing surgeries and most patients returned because of complications.
"Excuse me could you please tell me where I can find Teddy Altman," a voice said that snapped Callie out of her frustrating thoughts. She stopped clicking the pen against the ER desk where she was sitting.
Callie looked in front of her. A female, probably the same age as her stood there. She had sunglasses on. Spoiled rich brat, Callie thought. Who wears sunglasses in the hospital? Then she remembered the original question. "Uhm yeah sure. Third floor and straight down the hall. There's a sign on her office. She should be there now," Callie replied as she checked the surgical schedule. No checkups, no appointments and no surgeries.
Arizona laughed nervously. "Could you please page her for me? Just tell her that Arizona Robbins is waiting for her."
For some reason the woman in front of her looked tense and uncomfortable. Maybe she just hates hospitals, was another one of Callie's thoughts. "I'll page her for you," Callie mumbled and lifted the phone.
Arizona could tell she was being judged. She couldn't see but she felt the whoever it was in front of her gazing every once in a while. She hated it. It made her want to run away. But she couldn't.
"I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Callie asked. She was looking at Arizona for a while with a questioning expression but the small blonde didn't budge. Maybe she hated eye contacts as well.
Arizona exhaled loudly. "Arizona Robbins," she replied. She hated being put on a spot mostly because she had no idea who was the other person.
Only a minute passed until Teddy came running from the elevator. Callie looked at her oddly. She has worked with her for a year now and she has never seen her run like this before. "Arizona," Teddy said excitedly.
Arizona slowly turned to the sound of the voice. "Teddy," she replied. She lifted her hands to Teddy's face. She couldn't see but that didn't mean she can't see things with her hands. "Still skinny I see." They both laughed at the inside joke between them.
Callie grew curious as she watched probably two friends interact in a very unique way.
"Do you want me to walk you to Shepherd?" Teddy asked. Arizona gave her a nod and a dimpled smile.
Callie checked the schedule. "Sorry to interrupt but uhm he's in the OR right now. It would take another 3 hours for him to finish." She felt like she just gave really bad news because Teddy threw her a really sad look.
"I have a surgery in an hour," Teddy confessed.
Arizona sensed the sadness of the other blonde. "It's cool. I'll just wait here or somewhere else where no one can see me. Don't worry." She didn't feel as bad as before. Maybe because Teddy was with her now.
Teddy sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to just dump you somewhere." She was worried. Not only because Arizona could get hurt if she would just wonder around but because Arizona was about to have an appointment for a very risky surgery that would be performed on her.
"Look I can just sit in the waiting room and pretend that I'm a sad family member and then I do my best to convince Derek that he does my surgery," Arizona tried to argue.
Teddy huffed. "No way." Then she turned to Callie. "When does your shift end?"
Callie looked at her phone to check the time and back to Teddy. "Four hours but it's a slow day so I might try to escape a bit earlier. Why?"
Teddy leaned closer to Callie. "Would you mind if she stayed with you until Derek finishes?" she whispered.
"I'm blind but I'm not deaf," Arizona said irritated. She didn't need to have a baby-sitter. She managed to get to Seattle just fine so sitting in a waiting room for a few hours wouldn't kill her.
Callie felt bad for judging the blonde so hard when she first came in. She couldn't imagine how she must have felt like. "Of course I don't mind. I have nothing to do anyway."
Teddy clapped her hands together. "Great. Arizona this is Callie Torres, Callie this is my friend Arizona Robbins," she introduced them quickly. "If you're hungry just yell Yang and tell her to bring you food. Oh and say that you're a friend of mine. She'll do anything you want."
Arizona rolled her eyes. She moved her hands against wooden surface of the ER desk and walked around it. There was an empty chair right next to Callie's and she sat down on it. "I'll be fine Theodora." There was a snort and Arizona figured it must have been the other doctor since Teddy never made that kind of sound.
Callie felt something lay next to her feet and she nearly jumped. "Oh my god." She looked down. It was a dog. Of course dogs weren't allowed in the hospital but obviously it was a guide dog.
"Oh I'm sorry," Arizona quickly apologized. She could tell what the problem was. "His name is Finn. He's calm and trained so he won't bark at anyone."
The dog lifted his head at the mention of his name and Callie petted him. "It's fine I just didn't know and he laid down next to my feet so I kind of freaked." It was a really well trained dog though because he made no sounds what's so ever so Callie didn't even know he was there until he laid down.
"Hey Torres can you sign this?" Mark asked her and slipped a few charts in front of her. He was busy because there was a fire and his center for burns was filled.
Callie sighed. "Fine." Unless the trauma phone wasn't ringing she had more than enough time.
"Who's the hot blondie?" he asked with a smirk.
Callie noticed the tension in Arizona's body. "A friend of Teddy. Bye Mark," she tried to get him away. He rolled his eyes and walked away. Callie faked his signature on some of his charts and then placed them all together.
"Isn't that illegal?" Arizona asked. She had a slight idea of what Callie was doing to charts that weren't hers.
Callie laughed. "Yes, it is. Welcome to Seattle Grace. Don't worry though because the surgeons are amazing." Callie was only behind the ER desk because she wanted to prove the Chief that she deserved the promotion.
"Are you a surgeon too?" Arizona asked. Her face was turned in different direction of Callie but the brunette didn't mind.
Callie looked at Arizona. She had to admit that the woman was beautiful. Blonde curls, dimples and all that. "I am, yes. An orthopedic surgeon to be exact." She was proud of who she was. She worked hard to get there. Arizona took the glasses off to rub the corners of her nose. Her eyes were opened and Callie managed to get a glimpse of the bluest eyes she's ever seen. She wasn't sure if it was Arizona's actual eye color or it happened when Arizona lost her sight.
Arizona could hear how proud Callie was through her voice but something else was there too. She couldn't name it just yet. Maybe because she didn't know Callie enough. She heard papers shuffling and assumed Callie was busy. Her phone let out a signal. "Do you maybe know where I could find a bowl so I could give Finn some water?"
Callie smiled. "Don't sweat it, I'll order one of the interns." She ordered the first person that walked by to get some water in a large bowl.
Arizona felt like she was being treated this way because of her health problem. "It's okay. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't find things." Her voice came out a bit harsher than she intended.
"Hey. I don't care if you're blind. I mean.. That came out wrong. I meant, it doesn't matter. I would say the same thing to anyone. I prefer bossing them around. I'm sorry if it came out wrong," Callie stuttered trying to apologize.
Arizona stayed quiet. Damn it me and my big mouth, she thought. A moment later Callie ordered the same intern where to put the bowl and she could hear Finn lapping the water up. She ran her hand down the leash until she reached the soft fur. Finn nudged his head and Arizona scratched his ears.
Someone updated the surgical board. "Oh doctor Shepherd finished with his surgery a little earlier than planned so if I page him he'll be here in about ten minutes," Callie explained.
Arizona reached her hands out and placed them on Callie's face. "Thank you," she said as her finger accidently brushed against Callie's lips. They were so full and soft. Callie inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry I just wanted to see you in a way."
Callie let out an awkwardly chuckle. "It's okay." It was a strange feeling she had to admit that but Arizona's hands were incredible soft. Arizona pulled her hands away. She already passed the getting to know the nice stranger appropriate time for touching.
"Doctor Torres you paged me," a male voice said. Arizona assumed that was Derek Shepherd. She met him before. Just under very different circumstances.
"Uhm yeah. Arizona Robbins," Callie said and pointed to the woman sitting next to her. Derek immediately nodded.
Teddy told him all about Arizona Robbins and he remembered her from before. "I'll lead you to my office." Arizona stood up and so did Finn. He was a very loyal dog. Derek didn't even flinch when he noticed it. Derek walked first with Finn behind him and Arizona followed him.
He successfully led her to his office and sat her down. "So doctor Altman told me quite a lot but what do you want from me?" He knew that whatever surgery Arizona wanted it would have been risky.
Arizona took a deep breath and put her hand on Finn's head to stroke his fur. It always calmed her down. She took off her sunglasses. "I want you to try a surgery that has never been performed before."
Derek made a weird sound. He was familiar with surgeries no one always wanted to risk doing them. "What kind of surgery?" But even the famous Derek Shepherd had his limits.
"During the car accident the occipital lobe was hurt and I lost my sight. But I did a lot of research and there is a lot of people with the same issue. You can fix it with a surgery. A clot and scar tissue formed and stopped the blood from flowing. But most neurosurgeons aren't willing to perform the surgery. Because it might do more damage than good." Arizona didn't know if it would work either way but she really wanted to give it a try. And she was hoping Derek would be to.
"I will have to think about. I need to run some tests. I need to ask the Chief for approval. Are you sure you want to have the procedure?" Derek asked. Even he wasn't sure. There was a high chance that it might not have worked in the first place.
Arizona reached for her bag and dug through it until she found the paper folder. She pulled it out and placed it on the table. "This is some of the people with the same injury as mine. I'm willing to be your test bunny because if it works you can give them their lives back." There was many children and teenagers on the list. "I was kind of hoping you would start a trial."
Derek nodded. He understood what she wanted. "You're a surgeon. If a mother would come to you with this problem would you operate?"
"Probably not," Arizona confessed. It's been over a year since she was in the operating room and she could barely remember it. "But it's different with a child. I have nothing to lose. Just ask the FDA for approval. That's all I'm asking."
Derek looked through the list again. It was longer than he would wanted. Maybe this would help them get more answers. "I'll ask but even if they approve there are still weeks of research before we can actually operate."
Arizona smiled. This was basically a yes to her. "Well then I'm willing to live in the hospital for as long as you want me to."
Derek chuckled. She was so eager. "Okay fine. Do you want me to call someone? And you know that if the trial is approved your permanent address will have to be in the state of Washington right?"
Arizona nodded. She was prepared for all this before she even got here. "I know that. And Teddy's my friend so I can stay with her while I'm here." She heard Derek sigh. "I met you before. And if this doesn't work just promise you won't give up and try a few more times before quitting." Arizona knew that if the surgery went wrong she could be brain dead or die on the table.
"I don't promise unless I know I can keep a promise," Derek replied. "Do you want me to page doctor Altman for you?"
"Yes, please." She didn't get a promise but she knew Derek wasn't a quitter. She got what she wanted. She came to Seattle to try and maybe, just maybe, one day she could see again. Or she would die. Either way she made her peace with it and didn't mind if it meant saving someone else.