The Start of Arizona's Comeback
Warning: This is a bit of filler between the end of S.7 E11 and the promos/sneak peeks we have seen for Ep 12. So, this includes spoilers if you try and avoid that type of thing.
A/N: Not betaed so all mistakes are mine.
While the others residents and Attendings were laughing, they were enjoying this too much Arizona thought to herself, she quietly left the observation area stunned and shocked with how the events of the day turned out. She was delighted to have a job at Seattle Grace, nearly ecstatic actually, but she was going to be working under Stark. Stark was going to be her boss!
Arizona had only known Stark for a short time; she had not heard of him through reputation and from what she saw in the operating room with Karev, she wondered how his reputation had not preceded him. He was an arrogant, angry, uncaring man; but that wouldn't mean anything if he performed in the operating theatre and advocated for the patients. But what Arizona saw was a mediocre surgeon who didn't care about the children he was operating on. And that made Arizona mad! And a mad Arizona was not an Arizona to be messed with!
Arizona stalked the halls of the hospital; she was not ready to take off her dark blue scrubs; Chief Webber's words echoed in her; she had a job which allowed her to see her Calliope daily, but the price of this was working under that weasel of a Stark; a man who didn't care about the interests of the tiny humans! But what also irritated Arizona was Starks' attitude towards Alex Karev. She had never seen such potential in a resident before; paediatrics was a tough speciality and only a select few had the skills, heart and fortitude to succeed at in as a long term career choice. But Arizona felt Karev had the whole package to be a great Paediatric Attending in the future and maybe to follow in her footsteps in receiving accolades or the like. Stark was ruining this; spoiling it for Karev; threatening the resident's career because he himself wanted the glory of sawing off a child's leg instead of taking the time and making an effort to save it! Arizona vigorously shook her head as she rounded a corner; only at that time realising where her legs had unwittingly taken her. She was near their on-call room.
Arizona was not in control of her legs when they walked the short distance to the door. The room was empty, but in Arizona's mind the room was anything but devoid. It was alive with memories of her and Calliope; the hugs and kisses shared; the lunch hours spent lying on these beds while the other vented their frustration about that morning's patients; the cuddles and yes the amazing sex which was sometimes rushed as they attempted to beat the beeping pagers to their much needed release. Arizona's thoughts turned to Calliope's words; her declaration that she was not coming back to their relationship. Arizona was miserable when she was in Malawi; her heart ached to see her beloved Calliope; she thought of her any spare minute she had and times in between. Arizona did not know how ingrained her feelings for Callie were when she left for Africa that fateful evening, but as the weeks stretched by Arizona came to understand how deeply in love she was with the beautiful Latina and how she needed desperately to mend the hurt she had caused.
And now, sitting here, her mind was in such a quandary as to her next step. She had so desperately needed to see Callie; but now that she was back in Seattle it seemed that she and Callie were farther apart than even when she was in Malawi. Callie seemed confident and adamant that their relationship was over; she wasn't open to a reunion and appeared to thoroughly enjoy how the Chief had humiliated her in the observation room. Arizona knew how much she had hurt Callie, but the magnitude of it was only becoming apparent the more time she spent near (not with) Callie. She expected anger and a fiery Latina, but this calm and quiet Callie was not what she had prepared herself for.
Arizona wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around Callie, to kiss her and to soothe all the fears and anger away that she now knew Callie felt; to reassure her daily and hourly and each minute, if needed, that she was now here for good and she would never leave again. She needed Callie to know that her leaving was done in anger and, that contrary to Callie's belief, Arizona did look back as she left and she knew, when her anger subsided shortly into the airplane journey, that she had made a terrible mistake in leaving Callie like that.
She needed Callie to know that she thought of her every single day; she tried to call and text and even write, but her arrogance stopped her; every great surgeon suffered from this personality trait; they needed it to cope with the pressure in the OR; the overwhelming stress of having to make life and death decisions like God; and this trait stopped Arizona from making the first move. Initially she thought Callie would be on the next plane and would confront her in Malawi, but her hope of that vanished after the first week went by and the beautiful Latina did not appear. She had forgotten that the same arrogance that she possessed was also in the Orthopaedic specialist; while Callie had waited initially for a telephone call or anything from Arizona, as time passed her resolve hardened; Arizona was the one who walked away so she should be the one who made the first move.
Was Arizona's first move too late?
Arizona walked to the bed and sat down. She stared at her dark blue scrubs wondering whether she would be wearing this colour when she officially started her new position under Stark. Arizona Robbins, winner of the Carter Madison Grant, would be working under an annoying, weasel, uncaring and almost incompetent Attending; an Attending she would be expected to take orders from and whom she would be expected to report to. But given Stark's performance of today, Arizona believed the Chief would soon see him for what he is; his downfall would be his own actions and demeanour. And although the next few weeks and maybe months would be hard for Arizona in her new position, Arizona knew that she had to accept the Chief's offer; she had to be in Seattle right now; to see Callie as much as possible and to earn back her trust. Working with Stark was going to be an annoyance, but a small price to pay in order to rebuild the trust with her Calliope again.
Arizona didn't think Callie would welcome her with open arms, but she didn't expect this; deep down she knew that Callie still loved her and she had hoped that upon seeing Arizona and hearing how much she was in utter love with the Spanish beauty, that the love Callie still had for Arizona would shine through the darkness caused by her departure. Arizona knew they had trust issues; both Callie and Arizona had them, but it never crossed Arizona's mind that Callie would completely discount their reunion. Callie's epiphany today that Arizona had come back to the relationship but Callie hadn't was a surprise to Arizona. Callie wasn't fighting Arizona; she was walking away; without a backward glance it seemed or a care in the world.
Arizona now knew the hurdle she faced to get a third chance with the Latina. This wasn't an occasion for chocolates or flowers or telegrams or dinners or even heartfelt declarations of love. Moving back to Seattle had not defrosted Callie; if anything it made Callie even cooler and frigid; but this would not deter Arizona. She needed a new strategy; a game changing plan that would thaw Callie enough to allow those feelings still inside her to start to blossom and hopefully bloom into the amazing relationship that the two of them could have again. A relationship she hoped would result someday in Callie agreeing to be her wife, having a dog and chickens, and yes even children. Arizona wanted children with Callie; now more than ever; and as each day passed her vision for the future slowly became murkier; she only wanted children with Callie; olive skin dark hair brown eyed children who were multilingual in English and Spanish. She would do anything to ensure that this was her future. Anything.
Arizona jumped up from the bed nearly hitting her head in the process. She had an idea. It seemed that Callie had resigned herself to the fact that their relationship had failed; but maybe Callie hadn't and her words were only a mechanism to ensure she didn't get hurt again. Arizona would fight enough for them both. Arizona had said to Callie that she would spend the rest of her life showing her how much she loved her, and this would now be the real start of this fight.
Arizona was warring for her future; what she wanted her future to be and what she knew in her heart could be a great and wondrous life for both her and Callie. This was a clash for the olive skinned children that she hoped would fill their home; for the battery hens she wanted to nurse back to health; and even for the chance to have Mr. Torres as her father-in-law. This was Arizona's future and she would not give up without an epic battle.
She opened the door and sprinted through the halls of the hospital, wondering where her heely sneaks were in the mountain of boxes she had stored. She reached the Attendings Lounge and opened her locker; the same locker she had originally; and found her cell phone in her coat.
'Time to make some calls,' she said to nobody in particular.
The fight had now only begun. Callie wouldn't know what hit her.