Quick Author's Note: If you're anything like me, you're probably still upset about the season finale. I wasn't planning on updating so soon, but I needed an outlet and I know that you guys probably need some happy(ish) Calzona action. Now keep in mind that my take on Arizona's reasons for cheating is completely different than in the show. I wanted it to be that way, so if you guys want me to continue writing this, it'll be better that it pulls away from the real storyline a bit, without being too extremely AU. I hope you like this chapter- like I said, it's a little bit happier than TV-Calzona at the moment. Remember, reviews are always fantastic and they keep me very, very motivated:) *un-beta'd version* Happy readings,
-K.
Arizona barely had time to process what had happened before her pager went off once again, and with a sigh she picked it up to see "911" flashing across the screen. No longer having any reason to hand off her patients to Karev, she took off towards the pediatric wing.
The patient she'd been paged for was a sixteen year old girl who had been driving her mother to the hospital anyways due to a heart attack. The roads had been beyond slippery and when a bus raced by them, she'd swerved and slid off the side of the road. Both patients seemed to be stable now, though, and Arizona began to search for the reason why she had been paged until Alex called out from behind her. "It's the leg."
When Arizona removed the sheet covering the wound she saw blood pouring out from beneath the gauze pads that they'd tried and failed to use to stop the bleeding. It'd be a fast surgery, though- they just were in need of the OR for the blood transfusion while they worked. "Prep her for surgery in OR 2, if it's open. Shouldn't be too difficult but…" Her heart seemed to stop as she noticed something that she'd missed while looking the patient over. A bone was cutting through the girl's leg and had blended in with the edges of white gauze pads until she'd shifted. "Damn it…" Arizona quickly flipped open the patient chart that was handed to her.
"Okay…Victoria, right?" The teenager nodded her head, obviously in pain despite the medicine they had given her. "You'll be okay, I don't want you to freak out and I understand this may be scary for you but you have to listen." Another pained nod was sent her way. "Your mom is fine, but we need to get you into surgery just to fix your broken leg. It's an easy fix, I promise. Dr. Torres is the best and she'll be assisting me as soon as I page her down here." With a final weak thumbs up from the patient, she closed the chart and placed it on the table. "Okay, you can prep her now." The nurses regained movement, each racing around to get what was needed. "And…page someone for this break. Not Dr. Torres," she barked.
Feeling confident that they'd handle everything for her up until the actual surgery, Arizona stepped out of the room and leaned against the wall as a heavy weight seemed to drop down onto her shoulders She began to think about Callie again, and hoped she wouldn't have to see her until the storm died down. Arizona knew that the woman had been called in before, part of the reason why she'd left the room, and she hoped that she'd been dragged into some difficult surgery that would take hours. Still, Arizona found herself wondering how she could possibly work with the woman who hadn't even tried to hear her out before telling her she wanted a divorce- even in the future.
Xx
Callie's pager went off just as she repositioned another leg, and when the screaming finally stopped, she checked the source of the buzzing to see it was from one of the OR's. She was glad she had her escape for the day; surgery focused her and would calm her down enough for the next face off. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with another one of her failed relationship, but at least for the sake of their daughter, she'd have to do it sometime…just not now.
Her own last words to Arizona about a divorce had haunted her since they'd left her lips, but she figured she'd have to say it eventually, or she'd be the one watching Arizona leaving her. At least this way, Callie could still walk away with the smallest bit of pride in the fact that she'd finally taken the problem of her dead-end relationships into her own hands.
When Callie reached the OR hallway, a nurse was already standing outside one of the rooms, and she found herself being immediately rushed in. She listened only enough to pick up the important facts as she scrubbed- "female…broken leg…brought in about an hour ago…" – and when she was finished, she held her hand up, not in the mood to listen to any more details.
"I've got it, let's go." Another nurse slid Callie's gloves into place when the woman practically strutted in the room, completely prepared to drown herself in hours of blood and bones.
And then she saw a flash of blonde hair, and it was all she could do to keep the string of curses from slipping out.
Xx
Arizona had been tightening her scrub cap when a loud, "What the hell?" pierced through the air.
Arizona's heart stopped. "I told you not to page her," she whispered roughly to the nurse that had been with her in the patient's room.
"No one else was available, Dr. Robbins…"
She barely had time to turn around after that response before a hand was grabbing at her wrist. "Why did you send me down here?"
"Calliope…" Arizona stumbled over her own words, and the grip just tightened, causing blue eyes to flash in fear.
"Shut up! Did you really think that paging your wife was the best idea less than an hour after telling her you slept with someone else? I can't believe you!" Callie let out a frustrated grunt and continued. "For months I've tried to understand why you're trying to ruin my life along with your own. I didn't think it could get any worse than the woman I married hating my guts, and then we were all fine and dandy and you tricked me into thinking that maybe you were done making me miserable. And now I'm going to be stuck in a room with you for the next hour because you were selfish enough to call the best Ortho surgeon in on your case instead of paging someone who may actually want to work in your OR."
Arizona's wrist was now turning red as she struggled against Callie's hold, which did nothing to stop the words Callie had been holding back. "Do your own damn surgeries, I want nothing to do with you now. A-and don't even dare open your mouth to talk about professionalism," she growled, mistaking the way the blonde's mouth opened as an attempt to defend herself. "Talk to me about work ethics when you stop fucking another surgeon in the on-call rooms." Callie's fingernails had begun to dig into pale skin through the surgical gloves without notice, but once it broke skin, Arizona yelped at the pain and then instantly regretted it, flinching away as whitened fingers released her.
Callie had suddenly realized what she had done, and hearing the sound of pain coming from the blonde was enough to make her heart drop to the floor. Brown eyes looked down to see blood releasing itself from each scratch, and then shot back up to gaze at Arizona when tears suddenly appeared to block her vision. "I…oh my god, Arizona. I'm sorry…I'm sorry." Despite her apologizes, the blue eyes were still trapped behind closed eyelids as she waited for something to happen- she deserved more than what Callie was already doing to her.
But after a few seconds, nothing came, and Arizona slowly opened her eyes…to see nothing. Callie was gone from her view, and the only people she could see were the scrub nurses who were staring at her nervously until they noticed she was looking back. Their fleeting glances told her that Callie had been even louder than she'd felt her to be.
Shaken but still focused on her patient, Arizona stepped up to the table where the Victoria was laying, figuring she'd clean up the wound, fix the source of the bleeding, and run out of there before Callie was paged back in. After most of the blood was cleaned up from the leg, she spoke in a shaky voice, "Ten blade, please." The nurses all paused, not sure what to do, until Arizona spoke again, this time stronger and with more authority. "Ten blade, please." The nurse from earlier finally responded, and the blonde began to work her way through the mess.
Less than ten minutes later, everything was prepared for Callie. Arizona told everyone that Callie would be back (on her own) soon, and since no one dared to question it, she just made sure that the page was all set to go before taking off her gloves.
She figured she'd be gone by the time Callie had arrived, but when she stepped outside into the scrub room she heard a buzz and looked to the ground. There sat her wife with the pager in her hand, staring at it blankly. Arizona sighed, and with no other choice, stood in front of her. "Hey."
Callie didn't look up, but began to apologize again until Arizona cut her off. "You didn't hurt me any more than I deserved, and I understand that it wasn't on purpose. And the girl in there needs you." I need you, she couldn't help thinking. "It's an easy fix, for you." Arizona began to wash her hands when she heard words from behind her.
"If I'm so good at fixing things-" Callie broke down before she could finish her sentence, but Arizona knew exactly what she was going to say. The blonde dried her hands quickly and rushed back to where she had been before, using the basin to help herself onto the ground in front of Callie.
"Calliope Torres, you do not get to blame this one on yourself. I've blamed you enough for everything, especially for…for cutting off my leg when I would have died if you hadn't… but none of this is your fault. You just happened to be there, right in front of me when I needed someone to blame for this terrible thing that happened to me…to both of us. But you saved me. And since the first night we…spent together since the plane crash, when you were so caring and loving and things that I didn't know how to handle…I've felt like I don't deserve you." Arizona used the long sleeve underneath her scrub top to gently wipe away the tears on Callie's face.
"And of course, I, being the one who ruins beautiful things like this…messed up again. I just wanted to feel like less of a disappointment to someone for once. Over and over again, I've disappointed you. And Lauren…all she knew was the strong, happy side of me and I tell myself that it's better that way. But it's not, Calliope, it really isn't. And I don't want anyone else to love me but you, no matter how little I deserve it." Callie finally looked up, but Arizona wasn't finished.
"And now you want a divorce. Which I totally understand. I wouldn't want to be with me either. Don't feel like you're obligated to do anything. You've fixed every part of me that made me a better person. Now go fix her," Arizona finished, trying to stay strong as she pointed towards the OR.
Callie still looked confused, though. "…I don't understand."
Arizona's eyebrows scrunched together. "Don't understand what? I'm giving you an out."
The black-haired woman glowered. "So you do want a divorce."
"What? God, no, Callie, you're the one who said to call the lawyer." Now both of the woman shared a look of confusion.
Finally it hit Callie. "Oh. I just assumed… When George cheated on me, we got divorced. I…I thought that's how it'd be with you, too."
Arizona stared. "I don't want to divorce you, Calliope. I just don't want to ask for another chance because after three of those I think I don't really have the right."
"Oh," Callie repeated. "Ohhh…kay." She wasn't completely sure what to think about the whole situation, to be honest. "Look, I need time, alright? But that thing about divorce? It's off the table, for now. At least until we get more time to talk." She stood up gracefully, helping Arizona to her feet as the blonde balanced carefully on the prosthetic.
They found themselves only inches apart, and Arizona turned her head to avoid an awkward situation. "Go fix the easy things first. Everything else will have to wait until after the storm." Her words drifted back to Callie, who, despite everything, still felt love for her wife blossoming in her chest. It was painful, sure, but being a surgeon mean that to her, you can only complain about the pain once you start bleeding out. And since she was lucky enough to be living in this moment now, she decided that she wouldn't leave anything to regret.
Suddenly, Arizona felt a kiss against her hair that was facing Callie- the soft, barely-there touch was like a whisper of a promise to attempt to work things out. A smile threatened to stretch across her face, making her feel almost hopeful that she could save the remnants of what she'd destroyed. "Meet me in the spare room when you're done and we can talk more." She yawned, "…Or maybe just sleep."
Both of the women knew that things were changing, but neither of them believed that to be enough to give up everything they had, just yet.