Excuses

Chapter one:

She sighed as she leaned back against the marble island in the middle of the kitchen. Glancing at the clock she realised she'd been baking for nearly six hours. She groaned again, setting the timer she turned back to the food she'd made that day and looked at it with satisfaction, it was then she caught her reflection in the window above and snorted in laughter.

It appeared as though she'd aged in the last few hours as self raising flour had peppered Callie's hair giving it a nice going white look. She had something that looked suspiciously like chocolate just near her neck. Whipping it off and shaking her hands through her hair she began to clear the kitchen.

It was only the night before that she'd overheard George on the phone to his brother. It had been 2 weeks since Harold O'Malley had passed away, the thought still left a painful feeling in Callie's chest. She hadn't known the man that long but he'd been her father in law and the time she'd spent with him on the O'Malley farm when she and George were on holiday would remain in her heart forever. According to Ronny, the matriarch of the O'Malley family was out of action, she slept for most of the day leaving the boys to fend for themselves. Not that she blamed the woman, she had just lost her husband.

So Callie Torres got to work in the kitchen. She'd made a whole lot of Ronny's favourites as well as Jerry's and some goodies for Louise. As well as a whole lot of meals easy to heat up. She glanced up towards the clock and wondered briefly where George was. He had been up and down since his Dad's death which had hit him exceptionally hard. Some days he was happy others he was sad and at other times he was angry. Never knowing which way he was going to go had gotten Callie into trouble more than once and as wrong as it sounded, she had quickly become a fan of George spending time at the Grey house. Great marriage right there. She sighed reflecting on the past few days, it had begun to feel as though nothing she could do was right, nothing was good enough, she wasn't good enough to make George feel better.

Once the kitchen was clean and there was still no sign of her husband she headed towards the bathroom with the intention of a nice hot shower. It was heaven as the steam helped release and relax her tensed shoulders and sore feet. She spent more time than she probably should in there and half an hour later she stepped out feeling much better. She threw on her fluffy robe and headed out to the kitchen. She stopped in the entrance of the hall. There was George lying on the couch with a large muffin in his hand watching some show on television. Nice to know you're home honey

"Hi George" He grunted at her, oh great

"Where have you been all night?" She could smell the stench of alcohol from where she was standing and wrinkled her nose. He turned to her glaring at her,

"Why do you care? I've been with Meredith and Izzie at Joes if you have to know...they were letting me have a few drinks unlike you"

When he'd turned to the alcohol she'd tried to intervene attempting to explain to him that it wasn't going to help. It certainly didn't. It made him angrier, snarkier and didn't allow him to properly grieve at all.

"Can I have another one of these" He held up the nearly eaten muffin and her irritation increased,

"George I've been cooking all day for your family, for Louise and Ronny and Jerry. Why don't we take them up there tomorrow?

"Nope I'm going out tomorrow" He said with finality,

She raised her eyebrows,

"really where?"

"Meredith invited me over" Callie's eyes narrowed and she sighed,

"George don't you think it would be a good idea if w—"

"NO CALLIE I DON'T...JUST LET ME DO MY OWN THING STOP TRYING TO DICTATE MY LIFE"

She stood still, incredulous at his sudden outburst, not that she should be this was the second or third time he had done it, as he stormed much like a small child would into the kitchen, when he came back he was holding a bowl. One that she'd wrapped in plastic and planned to deliver to Louise. She sighed,

"George come on your dinner is in the fridge that's for Ronny and Jerry and your mum" He turned to her and gave her the biggest glare in the world.

"There you go again, trying to control me Jesus Callie" He was getting angrier and angrier by the second and she knew she should stop. But she was not going to get up the next morning to find all the food she had spent the day cooking, gone. She padded into the kitchen without answering him and moved to fridge grabbing George's plate of food out that she had made earlier. She pushed it into the microwave and leaned back on the counter sighing as she watched the food heat. When it was done she pulled it out and walked back into the lounge with a drink for George and set them down in front of him.

He just looked at her, eyebrows raised,

"Thanks Cal" she muttered under her breath,

"Here, dinner I made it for you, the other food is for your family who you told me barely have any food" George's eyes clouded with fury as he stood up grabbed the plate and threw it at the wall, hard. It shattered loudly against the wall food flying everywhere. He then picked up the glass and did the same. Callie stared at George who then turned to her,

"MY DAD JUST FUCKING DIED CALLIE IF YOU COULD BE A LITTLE UNDERSTANDING I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT. JESUS I FORGET ONE THANKYOU AND I'M THE DEVIL"

Callie turned, she didn't say a word and walked to the bedroom. She didn't catch the other things that George spat out, shutting the door behind her. Her heart was pounding. She'd never seen George so angry. She cringed as she heard other dishes breaking, shattering and she knew it was the food in the kitchen. Anger filled her now but as she went to stand up she heard George let out a scream of frustration and then the front door slammed shut.

Unwelcome tears wet her eyes as she reeled from his temper tantrum. Standing up she didn't bother heading back out instead she just climbed into bed and cried...for the billionth time that week. She considered calling Christina or Mark or someone but she knew it would all sound worse than it was. It always did when she tried to explain George's recent temper. That and Mark would chuck a hissy fit, probably march in there and forcefully carry her out if she refused to leave. She been missing the closeness with her friends that she usually had lately and a sting in her chest reminded how much she missed them. Christina's sarcasm, Mark's perverted little remarks and his comfortable and secure arms, Derek's kind hearted nature and witty humour that always made them laugh. Alex's ...well just Alex in general and Owen's ability to completely bring out the softer side of Christina Yang much to her disgust and his loyal friendship. As she drifted off to sleep the ache in her chest never lessened. She fell asleep her tears on her pillow wondering what another exhausting tomorrow would bring.

New story, what do you guys think about it?