Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
A/N: I'd like to remind everyone that I have no medical knowledge aside from the online research I've done in preparation for these chapters. That, in no way, means that the procedures or complications I've written about are correct.
A/N 2: I'm sorry it's taken so many days for me to post. School is about to start yet again, which means that life has started getting in the way. Also, this was not an easy chapter to write. I tried to do Callie justice by spending a lot more on this than I usually would have and as a result, is a little longer. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. I know some of my readers are not happy with me because of what I've done to poor Arizona. I will say to you all that she too, is my favorite and I continue hoping that I don't disappoint you all. The reviews you've given me have been amazing! Thank you for those=) I hope you enjoy this new installment. I shall get to work on the next and will definitely try to post soon!
"I was lost without you. I lived my life, day-to-day, without having any kind of direction or meaning. I was broken. Then you found me. You filled my life with purpose, with love once again. I'm so happy to have you in my life Arizona. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have someone like you to share my life with; and I want to spend the rest of my life hoping to show you just how much I love you and what you mean to me."
Callie thought back to that beautiful Seattle morning as she scrubbed in. Arizona and she had been together for one year. They had spent the day in bed; living in blissful oblivion and making love to celebrate their milestone. It had been one of the best days of her life; of both their lives.
"Callie?"
Callie was snapped out of her memory by the voice of Derek Shepherd. She quickly focused back on reality and turned to him. "Yes?"
"I know this is going to be hard for you. I just want you to know that we are all there for you. We will do everything we can to get Arizona back to her perky, heely-wearing self. You're not alone. You can do this. We can do this."
"Thank you Derek. I've no words to express just how grateful I am to all of you. If Arizona could, I'm sure she would express gratitude as well. She will." Callie said with a small smile.
"Are you ready?" Derek asked.
"Yes. Let's get started." She said, as they both headed into the OR.
Bailey was already in the OR, alerting the staff of nurses and other doctors how the procedure was going to go and what order they would be operating in so that they could properly prepare all the required instruments and machines. She also wanted to make sure the anesthesiologist was on high alert, since this would not be a typical surgery. Teddy, along with Mark, Alex, and most of their friends sat in the gallery above, somber looks gracing their faces as they waited for the surgery to begin.
"Alright people, it's a beautiful day to save lives. Let's get started." Derek began, with his usual opening phrase before surgery.
"Hey baby, you ready for our big date tonight?" Arizona asked, coming into the on-call room and sitting next to her girlfriend. She put an arm around Callie's shoulders and gave her a quick, chaste kiss on the lips.
"I'm so sorry Arizona; I'm going to have to postpone our outing. The reason I called you in here was to tell you about the trauma that just came in. I'm due in surgery any minute, and it looks like I'll be in the OR for a few hours."
"Calliope, it's ok, you don't have to apologize. So we postpone. We both have hectic and unpredictable surgical schedules; we both get called at random moments. We'll have our romantic date night some other time. For now, I'll just go on ahead and wait for you to come home to me. I'll draw you a nice bath so that you can relax and then I'll think of a way you can make this up to me. How does that sound?"
"It sounds so enticing that I can't wait to get home. I'll be there as soon as I can my love."
"Ok beautiful. I'll see you soon. I love you now, tomorrow and forever."
Arizona took Callie's face into her hands and gently pressed her lips onto Callie's. What began as a slow and innocent kiss quickly turned passionate, both women longing for more. Realizing the situation that required Callie's attention was still a priority, Arizona reluctantly let go and headed towards the door.
"Go kick ass, be the awesome rock star with a scalpel we all know you are." She said, smiling at Callie before opening the door and heading out…
"Dr. Torres?... Callie?"
This time it was Miranda Bailey who interrupted Callie's thoughts. She didn't realize she'd been on another plane. She couldn't do this. She couldn't space out with Arizona's life and future on the line. This needed to stop.
"I'm sorry Dr. Bailey, what did you say?"
"Callie, do you need to take a moment?"
"No Miranda, I'm fine. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
"Dr. Shepherd is nearly done with the catheter. Everything is looking good so far and we are on schedule. You should be able to begin shortly."
"Thank you Dr. Bailey."
Derek worked diligently for another twenty minutes. He managed to insert the catheter into Arizona's right side of the brain and soon after brought his part of the surgery to a close.
"Ok, the catheter is in." Derek said, stepping back from the table and beginning to remove his surgical gloves and gown. We have to monitor the CSF output for the next few hours and adjust the pressure settings as necessary. It is not uncommon for the drain to become clogged, which would in turn worsen the situation so I will stay for the duration of Dr. Torres' and Dr. Bailey's part of the surgery to continue monitoring progress. Dr. Torres, she's ready for you."
"Thank you Dr. Shepherd. Ok, this is how this is going to go. I will begin with an ORIF procedure on her clavicle. After that is finished I will move onto her arm fractures and lastly the femoral fracture. Depending on how long this takes and on the severity of the spleen laceration, Dr. Bailey will either operate after I'm done or she will wait until tomorrow. Let's get started. Ten blade…"
The clavicle repair went smoothly. Callie was able to attach the titanium plate and screws with precision and ease in record time. The fracture seemed like it would heal nicely, and with time, she may even be able to go in and remove the plate once the injury healed. The Monteggia fracture was a much more delicate situation. With the broken ulna and severe nerve damage came a huge risk of complications ranging anywhere from permanent muscle damage, arthritis, tendonitis, chronic pain, stiffness, or loss of range of motion. For a surgeon, that was something that could definitely put your career in jeopardy.
Callie called Mark in for assistance with the nerve repair on the arm; trusting his hands better than her fellow ortho attending's. They worked together on Arizona for what seemed like the entire day, though in reality was only 6 or so hours. By the time they were done, Callie was exhausted and emotionally drained at having to compartmentalize her feelings of angst at seeing Arizona's face as she lay there while they all worked to get her back. She looked so peaceful that had it not been for the fact that she was covered in wires and cuts and still borderline between life and death, Callie would've said she was just sleeping.
Once Arizona's arm had been repaired, it was decided amongst the other doctors that Callie take a break against her will and rest. She was thrown out of the OR and would not be able to return for the femoral fracture repair for 15 minutes. She'd only allowed this to happen after being repeatedly assured that Arizona was holding steady, that the anesthesia would hold, and that she would be ok for that short period of time. Mark and Bailey offered to stay with her while Derek and Callie took their break.
Callie went into an on-call room and lowered herself onto the nearest bed. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept in over 36 hours and every muscle in her body ached. Her body begged for rest, but that was the last thing on her mind. She couldn't, wouldn't stop until Arizona was safe. She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, if only to rest them for a few minutes.
"So tell me about this place you have figured out in your brain for the both of us; I'm quite eager to know what you've planned."
"Well," Arizona began. "I want a house, a big house for us and all of our children. I want it to have a huge backyard so that the kids can run around and play with our dog. I want it to have a huge kitchen so you can cook your delicious meals for us. I want many bathrooms so no one ever fights in the mornings over who gets to go first. I want a fireplace in the living room and one in our bedroom so I can sit by the fire and have you next to me so we can cuddle or have amazing sex and enjoy our time off together. I want a big master bedroom with a huge bed because I'm sure we'll be spending quite a bit of our time in it. A big living area is going to be essential for all the parties we're going to host for our children and for our families and friends. I want a porch that wraps around the house so that we can sit and enjoy those rare beautiful Seattle days, or so that we can sit side by side and wrap ourselves in blankets as we watch the rain pour before us. Oh, and don't forget the chickens…"
"Sounds like you have it all figured out baby."
"I've thought about it, but that doesn't mean that we have to have everything exactly the way I say, this is your house too."
"I know, but the way you described it sounds just perfect for me. I don't know that I would change a thing."
"Really?"
"Really."
Callie walked back into the OR after scrubbing in for a second time. The femoral fracture shouldn't be too bad of a fix. She would need to insert an intramedullary rod and attach it to the bone with screws. She was nearly done with the procedure when the superficial femoral artery ruptured; sending the monitors into an erratic beeping chaos and silence from everyone in the OR for the split second it took to register what was going on.
"The SFA blew. We need to stop the bleeding now!" Callie yelled.
"Ok so picture this, I'm in Africa and everything's great. And the people are so nice and the clinic is amazing and I'm doing work that actually feels important, like I can actually see that I'm making a difference. But I'm crying, like constantly. And then this guy that I work with at the clinic finally asks me what's wrong and I say that I miss my girlfriend, like I REALLY miss her. So then he asks me if I want to go back. If they can replace me and then I open my mouth to say "no" but comes out weirdly instead is "yes". And so they did, and then I came back… You look really pretty..."
I slammed the door in her face. How did I do that? Why did I do that? She loves me. I stood there and listened to her as she rambled on about Africa and wanting to come back. My heart leapt with joy at seeing her before my very eyes, but then it slowly started regain its normal pulse. She put me through hell! But she loves me. She came back for me… and I slammed the door in her face.
God Arizona, please fight. You have to get through this. We're not done yet. We're not done…
"We're not done Arizona, you hear me? We're not finished yet. You have to hold on! You have to fight for yourself, for me, for our future together. I need you, and I'm not letting you go! Hold on for me!"
Several minutes passed as Callie worked on the ruptured artery before she finally got the bleeding under control. She silently thanked God that this was one of the arteries farthest away from the heart; meaning she had a little more time to work with to get the bleeding controlled. She performed vascular grafting on the blown artery once the bleeding subsided. Once she finished with the graft, she was able to return and finish the intramedullary rod insertion she'd begun before complications had arisen.
After Callie was finished with her part of the surgery and Arizona's status was carefully evaluated, it was decided that it would be best to wait at least another day for Dr. Bailey to perform the repair on the spleen laceration. Her body and heart had been overworked and she'd be better off with a break from the anesthesia. Ultrasounds would be performed periodically throughout the night and the spleen would be repaired in the event it got worse and could wait no longer.
Callie knew the spleen injury was the least of her worries now. The intracranial pressure was lowering, but it was still elevated. Though Shepherd seemed optimistic of no permanent brain damage, there was no way to know anything until she woke up. Because of the stress Arizona's body had been put under, the team of doctors thought it best to keep her in a medically induced coma to give her body more time to rest and heal. She was slowly improving; but she still had a long way to go.
Arizona was wheeled out of the OR and taken to the ICU where Grey and Yang would monitor her throughout the night while the doctors that had operated on her got some rest. After arguing with Mark, Callie insisted on staying with Arizona and sent him home. He knew she needed his support, and ended up staying in an on-call room to be closer and to check up on them both as the night progressed.
Daniel and Sarah Robbins had arrived at the hospital while Arizona was still in surgery. After spending some time in their daughter's room in the ICU and speaking to and comforting Callie, they had gone to their hotel to leave Callie with Arizona, knowing their daughter was in good hands.
Callie sat on the uncomfortable chair next to Arizona's bed and held Arizona's hand as she slept. She looked so very fragile with her body covered by tubes and casts; but she was alive. The surgeries had been considered a success. Arizona was alive and stable; and that's all that mattered for now. Callie felt relief flood her body as tears of gratitude streamed down her tired face.
"Gracias mi amor. Gracias por luchar como lo hiciste hoy. Ya verás que te vas a poner bien. Yo estaré aquí contigo, no me moveré de aquí. Te vas a recuperar, y juntas tendremos una nueva oportunidad. Otra oportunidad de vivir nuestras vidas, juntas para siempre. Te amo hoy, mañana, y siempre."
She held up Arizona's hand, still intertwined with hers, and kissed the back of her palm. She closed her eyes, placed her head beside Arizona's sleeping body, and welcomed the much needed sleep.
Translation: "Thank you my love. Thank you for fighting like you did today. You'll get better, you'll see. I'll be here with you, I'm not going anywhere. You're going to get better, and together we will have a new chance; another chance to live our lives, together forever. I love you now, tomorrow and forever."
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