It's been two weeks since the storm…The morning sun now rises over Seattle. As one tiny ray of light creeps into apartment 502.
Arizona is feeding Sofia breakfast. As she airplanes a spoonful into daughter, Callie enters the apartment making a beeline to her daughter and avoiding any eye contact with her wife. She gives her daughter a quick kiss on the head and runs her finders through her hair.
Callie: Bye sweetie, I'll see you later on today, okay?
Arizona: You're working today?
Callie fiddles with some mail on the table, still not looking at her.
Callie: (flatly) I'll get the rest of the my stuff later to bring over Marks and Sofia's with me tonight, so I'll need the crib too.
Arizona: Callie..
Callie: I'm going to call Colleen, Richard's funeral is at 1 tomorrow and I assume you'll be there so we'll need a babysitter.
Callie starts to tear up, she can't always pinpoint for what reason, for crying seems as natural as blinking to her for the last two weeks it's all she done, but saying Richards name is what has cracked her this morning.
Arizona: Callie…
Callie: What? (she snaps back) Am I not allowed to be upset over Richard? Because I wasn't in the operating room when he coded? Am I not allowed to feel anything about this too?
Arizona: That's not what..
Sofia smacks her hand down and knocks over the bowl of food. Splatting it all over the floor and all over her face.
Arizona: uh oh, what happened little miss?
Arizona goes to grab a paper towel, as Callie kisses her daughter and heads out the door.
Arizona turns around to find that Callie is gone. Sadly she sulks back over to Sofia and wipes her face.
Arizona: What a mess, huh? (to herself) It's all just one big mess.
Hospital
The hospital is still in mourning for Dr. Richard Webber. The doctors and nurses are going through the motions today, just getting in and doing what they can, but no one can shake the feeling that something is missing. Someone is missing.
Callie is going over her charts trying to get her head in the game, but a man's voice breaks her concentration.
Man voice: Things fall apart …but we can find a way to hold it all together.
Callie looks up to lock eyes with a tall, handsome man, with deep brown eyes. He's got a sexy scruff to him and right now he's flashing a rather charming yet confident little smirk and smile.
Callie: Excuse me?
He extends his hand to introduce himself.
Michael: Sorry, Michael. Michael Parker. General Surgery. And I loved your TED speech, cartilage from scratch, it's amazing. You really blew me away.
Callie: Oh, right. Well thanks. It's nice to meet you.
Callie shuts the chart and starts walking away, as Michael catches up quickly to walk with her.
Michael: I get it. I'm the one the no one wants here. Because if I'm here, it's just a reminder that he's not. Dr. Webber meant everything to you guys and I'm not trying to fill a void. I'm just here to do my job.
Callie: Dr. Parker.
Michael: Please, call me Michael.
Callie: Michael, I don't envy your position. I know how hard it must be and I'm not trying to brush you off. It's just been, well the hardest two weeks of my life and you seem really nice and really well, (she gives him a little look up in down, taking in his striking good looks) you're not going to have a hard time finding friends here. I'm just not in a very friendly place right now.
Michael: Got it. However, we do have to work together and I could really use you on this case I got.
Callie: What do you got?
Michael: Car accident, woman suffering from smashed pelvis and two dislocated shoulders and a smashed up wrist. You want in? Meet me in OR 2 in about twenty minuets.
Callie: See you there.
OR 2
Callie and Michael and working seamlessly together in the operating room, they have shared a few nods and looks over the course of the procedure, but mostly been pretty quiet, yet Callie still can't suppress all of her feelings, she tries to focus on the task at hand and shake off any linger emotions that she still has swelling inside of her about Arizona and everything else until the surgery is done.
Michael: You weren't impressed, huh?
Callie: What?
Michael: That I could quote you. I've never been able to do that to someone.
Callie: Well, I'm flattered. Thank you.
Michael: It's a shame you're married, would have been one hell of a pick up line.
Callie drops one her tools. Marriage is now on the table and she can't bare to talk about it let alone think about it.
Michael: Dr. Torres? You okay? I didn't mean any disrespect, I was just making a joke.
Callie: No, I know. It's fine.
Michael: She's a lucky lady. Your wife. She's a doctor here as well. Dr. Robbins, right?
Callie drops her tools again, but this time on purpose, because she can't hold in her rage right now, she's unleashing it and she doesn't care who hears it.
Callie: She cheated on me! My lucky lady cheated on me! Right in this hospital in fact, right down the hall in some on-call room. Yeah. After months of getting through the plane crash, surviving one disaster after another. Oh and don't forget about the leg! The damn leg! The leg that you might as well beat me over the head with, because its apparently the root of all of it. The reason she slept with another woman, it's the reason I'm never going to be what she wants or what she needs. I'm never going to be enough, because I cut if off!
Michael: Dr. Torres.!
Callie stops her rant and is stunned silent by the yell. Michael sees that he got her attention and now speaks softer but still with authority.
Michael: I'm going to ask to step aside take a minute and let Dr. Ross here take over. Okay?
Callie tries to keep her wits about her and shake herself together.
Callie: No, I'm fine I got this.
Michael: Dr. Torres you're going to step aide. Take a minute. Now!
Callie admits defeat and leaves the OR room.
Scrub Room
Michael is scrubbing down from surgery as Callie enters the room.
Callie: Dr. Parker I'm so sorry, I lost it in there and it wasn't professional and I shouldn't have said any of those things out loud to you or to anyone, especially… and now I'm just … I'm so sorry.
Michael: Dr. Torres, I understand. More than you know. And we all need to take a minute sometimes. I'm sure it won't happen again.
Callie: No it won't. Thank you, Dr. Parker.
Michael: It's Michael. And Callie…Can I call you Callie or..
Callie: Yeah of course, Callie is fine.
Michael: Callie, you may not be in a friendly place right now, but I'm good listener and over a few drinks you may even find that I make for a pretty good friend when someone needs me to be one. So think about it.
He brushes her shoulder a little and throws her a friendly wink as she leaves.
Callie manages to smile as he leaves. A smile, she forgot her face could form those.
Apartment 502
Arizona is in Sophia's room looking at the picture that Mark had taken of both Callie and herself holding little Sofia. As she sets the picture down, Callie enters the room. They share a look, both surprised to see each other, but at the same time feeling hopeful? Feeling scared? Lonely, Loved? It's confusing and heartbreaking, it's a thousand things that they can't make sense of with blank stares at each other.
Callie: Sorry, I just forgot the monitor.
Arizona reaches for the monitor and turns it on, as we her a snoring Sofia coming through it, she hands it over to Callie.
Arizona: For a little girl, she's got quite a snore on her, huh.
Callie: Yeah.
Callie turns to leave, but Arizona grabs her arms to stop her.
Arizona: Callie… at some point you and I need to talk. I don't want it to be this way.
Arizona is trying for a soft and civil approach and that just pisses Callie right off!
Callie: You think this is what I want? You think I want to live across the hall in Marks apartment? You think I want to divide my time with my daughter with you? A woman who never even wanted a child, who should have –
Arizona: Sofia means everything to me, you know that. How dare you -
Callie: How dare I? How dare I? How dare you, Arizona! How dare you use your leg and the plane crash as justification for sleeping with another woman. How dare you try to make me feel guilty for any moment that I grieved over the loss of my best friend and for nights I worried about you. How dare you make a mockery of our marriage. A marriage I fought for, a marriage I thought could survive anything.
Arizona: You don't understand, Callie. You're not even trying to understand.
Callie: Understand what? That she made you feel like you again, she made you feel things that I never could. I understand. I understand why people cheat. This isn't my first lesson in heartbreak or infidelity. But at least George wasn't a coward; he didn't make me feel like I led him to cheating, like somehow it was my fault.
Arizona: It wasn't your fault. I did it. I don't know how to explain to you exactly why I did it, but until you know what it's like to be me, you wouldn't understand.
Callie: To be you? Who the hell are you, Arizona?
Arizona: That's what I'm trying to say.. I don't know who that is anymore. I haven't for a while and I kept trying to maintain this persona, this person who everyone thinks I should be, I was holding it all together and just hoping that one day I'd feel like me again, but I don't. I don't know how to get back to the person I was.
Callie: What I am supposed to do? Forgive you? Just take it, like I have taken everything else for the last four months? Allow you to keep hurting me and just hope one day it will all just get better and you'll love me again? I can't do that. I don't deserve that.
Arizona: No, I know, I just ..
Callie: I don't have the warrior wounds as you call them from the crash. But I got battle scars of my own. But unlike you, I'm not going to let them define me or hold me back. I loved you Arizona. I fought for you and I lost you. But I'm going to walk tall, because I did everything I could.
Arizona: I know you did, but you also took something from me that I can never get back. And I wish I could stop looking at you and blaming you.
Callie: Well, maybe this will make it easier.
Callie takes off her ring and necklace and leaves them behind as she leaves the door and the apartment in a blink of eye.
The Archfeild Hotel
Arizona knocks on a hotel door as Lauren opens it up.
Lauren: I didn't think you got my messages.
Arizona: I didn't know you'd still be here.
Lauren: I wanted to stay and pay my respect to Richard tomorrow. You want to come in?
Arizona hangs her head, she doesn't know anything.
Arizona: I don't know.
Lauren: You just going to hang in the hall all night?
Arizona: I don't know.
Lauren: Arizona…
Arizona grabs Lauren and kisses her hard as they fall back into the hotel room and let the door shut behind them.
Morning.
Arizona wakes up in bed with Lauren. She feels nothing. Empty. Cold. She takes a deep breath in as she removes Lauren arm from her waist and goes to sit up. Her cell phone rings… it's Callie.
Arizona: Hey.
Callie: Look I don't mean to call you, I just can't find Sofia's teddy, she's screaming for it and I thought you might know where it is, Colleen's here and she can't find it either so…
Arizona: It's the bedroom, should be by the hamper, I had to wash it after she got dinner on it the other night.
Lauren is now awake and turns over to her moaning a "good morning". It's soft but loud enough for Callie to hear it and she closes her eyes in pain at the words being whispered over the phone.
Lauren: Mmm.. want some coffee?
Arizona tries to sush her up, but it's too late. She knows Callie heard her.
Arizona: Callie, it's not what- -
Callie: Yeah okay. Got it.
Callie hangs up and closes her eyes again and then spots the Teddy, she takes a deep breath in, trying to get her emotions together, she grabs the teddy bear and holds her head up high out of the apartment and towards her still screaming daughter.
Funeral – Day
Everyone is gathered around the gravesite as a prayer is being read by Minister. Meredith is being held by Derek. Christina is holding it together as she shares a soft look with Owen. April is with her fiancé while Avery is holding Stephanie.
Everyone is trying to hold back tears and cries, but can't.
Callie has her head down as Arizona watches her from a distance next to her is Lauren who is rubbing Arizona's back as she cries softly. Callie looks up and sees Arizona step away from Lauren touch. They lock eyes and the emotion is too much for Callie she breaks down. With no one to turn to, she tries to hold herself up and then a strong arm surrounds her, she looks up and sees Dr. Michael Parker, she lets him envelop her as she cries harder into him.
The Sheppard House
Meredith and Derek have invited everyone over after the Funeral. Everyone is inside, talking softly and picking at food and having a few glasses of wine.
Callie sits alone on the couch with her thoughts. Suddenly, a glass of red wine is being handed to her. For a moment she thinks she'll look up and she her wife's face, who else would know her choice of poison.
Michael: You seem like a red wine kind of woman. Although you also seem like a person who would drink just about anything right now.
Callie: You're right on both accounts. Thank you and sorry about earlier I didn't mean to turn your suit into a wet blanket.
Michael: It's stain resistant, so you could throw that wine on me and I'd still be good.
Callie: Stylish and Practical, that's some suit.
Michael: And that's some dress. However, it appears you could use some stain resistance. (He motions to the side of her dress) Look likes some kind of… peanut butter?
Callie: Oh. I'm a mess. My daughter felt the need to attack me with her PB&J this morning when I couldn't find her Teddy Bear.
Michael takes out a napkin from his lapel and lets Callie use it to wipe off the stain.
Michael: How old?
Callie: Almost three.
Michael: That's a fun age.
Callie: You have kids?
Michael: Um, no. No, I just have alot nieces and let's just say I've been served a few lunches to the face in my day.
Callie smiles as she then takes in the room around her. She sees Meredith with Christina and Derek talking to Owen and Jackson.
She's searching for Arizona who at the moment is standing with Alex and Jo, they're talking but it's clear Arizona is not listening.
For a second Callie feels the urge to get up and go to her. Arizona and Callie lock eyes, they stare into each other saying everything and nothing at all, its all just..too much again, so Callie turns back to Michael.
Callie: You want to get out of here? I could use something a little stronger than wine right now.
Michael: Sure.
Callie and Michael get up and leave. Lauren now walks over to Arizona.
Lauren: How you holding up?
Arizona: I'm okay. I'm ready to go though.
Lauren: Alright, I'll go pull up my car, we have a few more hours until my flight leaves.
Arizona: Actually, I just need to be alone. Could you just drop me at my place?
Lauren: Yeah, if that what you want.
Tbc…..
Shall I continue?