*Callie's POV*
"Sofia, are you nearly ready?" I called through the cramped apartment as I double checked my bag for our passports. "Sofia, if we don't leave in the next 10 minutes were going to miss our plane" the door opened showing my little girl walking towards me with her little pink lego backpack on her back.
"I'm ready Mami" she smiled at me as I grabbed hold of our suitcase and headed towards the end of the hall. As the doors to the elevator opened the two of us were met with the face of a very tired Penny Blake, she looked me up and down with a crinkle in her brow "What's with the bags? Where are you going?" she asked
"I'm taking Sofia to Seattle" I said shortly
"Why?" She sighed and I could tell she was fed up with how we were acting recently, you seem, Penny has been working a lot and I have had a lot less hours because I'm not the head of orthopaedic surgery, I gave up everything for her, I left my friends, family and took Sofia away from her mother. I guess I started to resent her for it
"Because Sofia, wanted to see her mommy on her birthday, we're going to surprise Arizona" I told her and in response she rolled her eyes and I swear I could hear her mumble something along the lines of "typical"
"So, on my weekend off you're going to Seattle, to see your ex-wife?" she snapped
"Yes Penny. Yes I am! And we are not talking about this now because Sofia and I are going to miss our flight" I bark back catching her off guard
"Fine." She says before turning her back on the elevator and heading back to the apartment. I sigh before grabbing Sofia's hand and smiling down at the little girl on my left, she was buzzing with excitement at the thought of seeing her mother. It took us a while to get to the airport and go through security etc. (I'm guessing the majority of you know what going to an airport is like). as we sat on the plane it suddenly dawned on me what we were doing. And then the nerves started to kick in, I haven't seen Arizona for almost a full year and knowing that she doesn't even know we're coming, is this a good idea? Going to Seattle? Just as my mind was racing through whether this was or wasn't a good idea I felt a tug on my shirt sleeve and my little Sofia was looking at me with the biggest smile on her face
"Mami, do you think Mommy will be excited to see me?" she questioned
"Sofia, of course she'll be excited to see you, I'm sure she's missed you very much"
"Then why doesn't she come see me?" Sofia asked with tears in her eyes
"Oh, Sof, it's not that easy. You know Mami and Mama are both doctors? Well that means that we save people's lives when they're hurt and people can get hurt whenever which means we can't plan when we have to work. And your mama is extra special because she operates on babies, even before they're born!" I use an exaggerated tone to appease my daughter. Just a couple hours left until I see Arizona again.
*Arizona's POV*
I don't make a fuss about my birthday, I never have, Callie always made a fuss though. She loved that look on a person's face when their friends would jump out from behind a couch and yell "surprise" at the top of their lungs. It's weird waking up alone on your birthday after being so used to waking up to someone beside you. I don't even think anyone knows it's my birthday today. Callie knew, she always knew. I guess I just kind of miss someone knowing everything about me and to celebrate these special days with me.
"Morning Robbins" Bailey smiled at me as I entered the lift
"Oh hi Bailey, how's that kid who came in last night? The one with the ruptured appendix?" I asked her
"Oh he's fine, we removed his appendix a few hours ago and he's in recovery now" Bailey told me as we arrived at the reception area, there waiting were Amelia, Maggie and Meredith. Maybe some of them might remember that it's my birthday.
"Hey guys, got anything interesting going on?" I smiled
"Nope, it seems like quite a slow day today" Maggie replied
"Oh, ok well I'll be doing paperwork in the Peds ward if you need me" I sent them a small smile and took a slow walk towards the Peds ward. Not one person wished me a happy birthday, nobody said anything. I wish Sofia was here.
"Hey Arizona" April called from beside the coffee machine in the attending lounge. She's been back at work for about a week after she had maternity leave and honestly I have never seen her this determined to do anything, it's great.
"April, hi! How's Harriet?" I smiled as I grabbed a cup of coffee
"Oh my gosh she's amazing" April started and then she began to talk about how amazing Harriet was and all I could think about was my little Sofia and how much I missed her, I heard my voice being called and saw April clicking her fingers to get my attention back.
"Oh god, Arizona I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about you and Sofia. I'm such an idiot" she ranted apologetically. That's when our pagers went off with a trauma in the pit for April and Karev needed me in the NICU. Maybe today won't be as slow as we thought.
*Callie's POV*
Sofia and I just landed and we were heading towards the taxi bank to get a cab to Grey Sloan, this was stupid, I should have called ahead, I should have told Kepner or Hunt that we were coming.
"Where to miss?" the cab driver asked as he put mine and Sofia's luggage in the boot.
"Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital please" I got Sofia seated and comfortable beside me as I sat behind the driver. Sofia was fascinated by all the buildings and cars she could see coming into view, she knew that was where her Mama was so that made things extra exciting. But me, all I could think about was what I was going to say to the beautiful blonde woman who stole my heart all those years ago. The woman who I went through everything with. The woman who I thought I would stop lobbing, but all I did was run…to New York…with Penny. All I could think about was Arizona. The peds surgeon with wheelie sneakers and a super magic smile.
"Oh my god" I heard the cab driver whisper as he looked left. We'd pulled up at a red light and on our right was a semi truck racing down the hill heading right for us. It was like everything was in slow motion as this truck collided with the right side of the car. I heard Sofia scream and cry before everything went black.
I gasped for air as I opened my eyes, there was smoke all around and the car was trashed broken glass was everywhere. I could hear people outside the car calling for help. I felt two sets of hands wrap around my arms and shoulders after hearing a countdown they began to drag me out of the broken vehicle. As soon as I was released I could tell that my left radius and ulna were snapped in two, it was highly likely that I had a concussion and there were some cuts and bruises over my whole body, other than that I think I'm ok.
"Miss, miss are you ok? Are you hurt?" The paramedic's have just arrived and are asking me questions but all I can think about is my baby.
"Sofia. Where's Sofia? My daughter where is she?" I yell in panic
"Your daughter is being brought out of the car now, it's highly likely that she will be in a critical condition as the truck hit her side of the vehicle, we're taking her straight to the nearest hospital, Grey Sloan memorial" I've never seen this paramedic before.
"Oh my god, Dr Torres" Nicole came running across out of the ambulance "it's you, you were in the accident? And Sofia, she's the kid in the car" she put all the pieces together before yelling at the fire-fighter behind her "you get that child out of that car stat, got it?" she got me into the ambulance to get ready for them bringing Sofia in. This was bad.
*April's POV*
"Yeah, uh huh…what? Oh my gosh. Ok, yes, yes we'll get everything ready. Thank you" Meredith answered the call "We have a 911 trauma coming in, taxi vs semi, child, 6 years old was badly injured in the crash. The mother and driver are ok"
"Alright…" Alex began getting everything ready and organising the interns
"Webber, page Robbins" Meredith said under her breath
"Robbins? Why do we need Robbins? We already have a PEDS surgeon, Karev is here" Richard replied
"Because, the mother in the crash was Callie and the child coming in is Sofia. That's why" Meredith stated before storming past him and heading towards Alex to get a trauma gown
"Dr. Webber, I'll go, let me tell Arizona please? They already have Hunt so they don't need another trauma surgeon, but they will probably need another general surgeon" I told him and he nodded and I went running to the attending's lounge and paged Arizona.
*Arizona's POV*
"Ok Tommy, you'll be out of here by tomorrow, we have to keep you overnight just to make sure everything is alright" I smiled at the young boy in the hospital bed before thanking the parents and walking out to return the chart to the nurses' station. And then my pager went off with a 911 from April. I went running towards the attendings loungerst through the doors and found the lounge was empty apart from April who was sat with her head in her hands.
"April? What the hell is going on are you ok?" I sat down beside her
"Arizona, there was a collision on the freeway, a semi crashed into a taxi" she couldn't look me in the eyes and my heart began to race
"Ok why are you telling me this?"
"Arizona, the passengers in the taxi, it was Callie and Sofia. I'm so sorry" instantly, my hands went numb, my face fell and my heart sank
"Wait….wait, no they're not meant to be here…they're in New York. April, tell me this is a joke, some kind of sick joke. I'm calling Callie" Arizona pulls out her phone, her hands shaking as she searched for Callie's number.
*No POV*
Callie was sat on one of the gurney's across from the trauma rooms in the ER, Jo was stitching up a few cuts on her face after she had set the bones and put a pot on. Callie couldn't focus on anything other than the room in which some of her closest friends were trying to save her daughter's life. "Callie, Callie…..Dr. Torres!" Wilson yelled bringing Callie out of her daydreams "Your phone is ringing"
Arizona Robbins – answer/decline. Oh my God, Arizona. Callie presses answer and hears Arizona frantically speaking
"Callie! What, what is going on? Please tell me you're in New York…please" Arizona's voice broke and Callie began to sob, Wilson grabbed the phone
"Robbins, its Wilson. She needs you right now and you need her, come to the pit Please?" That's was all Arizona needed, she grabbed her pager from the table beside April and went racing towards the pit.
She got there in about 3 minutes and as soon as she walked in she saw Callie being hugged by Jo who was shielding her away from something, then the gurney came into view, Owen, Amelia, Maggie, Meredith, Bailey and Webber were all pushing it towards the elevator. Each one looked at Arizona with sympathy in their eyes and sorrowful looks on their faces. Arizona looked at the patient on the gurney and saw Sofia hooked up to wires and machines with blood and bruises across her face. And everything became more real. Arizona felt like she couldn't breathe, she cou catch her breath and then she stumbled and fell towards the hospital floor, but she never landed, instead she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and hold her up. She was back on her feet, whoever caught her still had hold of her waist and one hand was on her shoulder. She looked up to see beautiful brown eyes "Callie" she whispered "What the hell happened?" she went on to say with tears making her vision slightly blurred.
"We were going to surprise you, for your birthday, it was Sofia's idea, so we got a plane and flew here and then as we were on our way to the hospital, a truck crashed head on into the side of the taxi, Sofia was closest to the crash. Arizona I'm so sorry" Callie said as she cried into Arizona's shoulder. Bailey came back from the elevator just as the gwo were hugging, they were holding onto each other so tightly that it seemed nothing could tear them apart.
"Callie, Arizona?" Bailey said slowly not wanting to intrude. The two women slowly pulled away from each other and looked at the chief of surgery
"What's going on Bailey?" Callie asked, she had her arm wrapped around Arizona
"The crash crushed Sofia's left side; there was a lot of internal bleeding and head trauma as well as multiple breaks. While we were in trauma, she crashed. Dr. Pierce got her back and she was taken into surgery right away. That's all we know as of right now. I've cornered off the attending lounge to give you both some privacy. I'm so sorry" Bailey said
"It's ok, none of this was your fault" Callie gave her a small smile before looking at Arizona who was speechless, she couldn't fathom the idea that this was happening to her little girl just as it had happened to her wife a few years ago.
"Come on, let's go to the lounge and just sit for while ok?" Callie told her and they began to walk to the lounge, both praying for their little girl.
