"That's me." The blonde grinned nervously. "I was wondering where Owen was at, but it'd be nice to say hello to the woman keeping Owen smiling like a fool every time we talk."
Callie was speechless. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh well, see, Owen's kind of behind bars at the moment for abusing me and our children but it isn't his fault. I'm sure he could use someone like you to talk to about all this 'cause I surely don't understand an ounce of this whole thing. By the way, I thought you were a boy...'
"It's, uhm, nice to meet you too." Her voice genuine and kind. She sincerely wanted to be okay with this, but why was Callie never told much about Teddy to begin with? Thoughts raced through her mind. What if she'd been cheated on, to top everything off? Her stomach twisted in knots.
She continued to smile before asking, "So, where is the ol' bugger at anyway? I've never seen anyone other than him answer his skype, and he hasn't answered in days."
Calliope laughed hesitantly before biting her lip out of anxiety.
"He... it's a really long story." Suddenly it was like the room was filled with the most uncomfortable feeling; it was filled with the knowledge of a secret. A dark secret. Something that Teddy probably shouldn't hear right now, or from her.
Callie looked at Teddy's face and knew that she knew something was up.
"Well, I may have just introduced myself to you, but I have this knack for reading people. What are you not telling me?" A hint of worry was in her voice.
"He just... won't be here for a while. He should probably tell you himself. It's not fair of me to bud in like this."
She saw Teddy's face drop. "He told you, didn't he?"
Callie's head cocked to the side, her face rendering confusion. "Told me what?"
After realizing Callie knew nothing of what she'd mentioned, Teddy internally scolded herself. "Oh, darn, I... I have... my platoon is getting ready to start a shift and I should really go with them. When Owen gets back... I... tell him to skype with me?"
And with that, the line had been cut and the blonde, lightly tanned skin woman was off of the computer screen. She was probably normally quite pale, but being in Iraq must've made her skin darker than usual.
Callie's body tingled purely out of nerves. What was Teddy hiding from her and why was this so abrupt? She was far too kind, and she knew of her when Callie herself barely knew anything of Teddy. There were too many unanswered questions and it made Calliope anxious. Before she could think of that for another second, her phone buzzed. She jolted in her chair, practically falling off, but managed to find a way to stablize herself and answer her phone.
"Hello?"
Callie listened on the other end as the police continued to give her details about the hearing that afternoon. All she could think of was not wanting to be alone through it all. Her mind drifted to Arizona. Maybe she would be able to come to the hearing. Maybe she wouldn't have to be alone. But Arizona was a Peds Surgeon. She was busy with little children all day making them better, not a 24 hour comfort service. Well to children she was, but to Callie, she was just a friend.
Butterflies fought through the barriers she'd been trying to build up when she thought of Arizona. None of her attempts at this were working. Every single thought she'd have of this woman ended up in some kind of amazing yet annoying and distracting shot of nervousness deep in the pit of her stomach. Waking up on her lap was probably the best feeling in the world. Of course, that was probably supposed to be a thought in some kind of alternate universe.
"Mrs. Hunt? Are you there? Can you make it for three?"
"Oh... oh, yeah that's fine." And with that, Callie ended the call and flopped herself onto the large couch in the living room.
Her body ached all over. And of course the one person she felt that she needed couldn't be with her.
Or could she?
Callie found herself dialing the recently familiar number she'd been dialing a lot lately.
"This is Arizona Robbins, I'm not able to get to this very important call of yours. Leave a message and number and I promise I'll get back to you. If it's an emergency, page me."
Callie's fingers flipped the phone shut and her fingers drummed against the slick metal of the device. Should she page her? She knew she needed someone. And not just anyone, either. Someone who she could rely on and so far, Arizona was proving to be a fantastic candidate for that.
She found herself punching in Arizona's pager number and within a few moment's Arizona was calling Callie.
"Callie?" Arizona's voice was rushed and out of breath; worried even. "Are you okay?"
"Arizona. Are you busy?"
"Well, I just finished my final scheduled surgery for the day, but I'm also on-call tonight. Are you alright?"
Callie cleared her throat before explaining to Arizona about the hearing and how she'd need someone there. This wasn't something to toy around with and it made her nervous enough to have to explain what her husband had done to her. She wasn't sure she was ready to share it with one person let alone a whole court room.
Arizona fully understood. Having to share something that was so deeply personal; a secret that was supposed to remain just that, was now being forced to be exposed. "I don't know how long I can stay, but I will do my best to be there as long as possible. I just have to finish a few post-ops and I'll be there in just an hour."
Callie and Arizona shared idled good-byes before hanging up, leaving Callie to dress up appropriately for court. She made sure to wear formal dress pants accompanied with a white blouse and grey vest to give her a hint of fashion in her 'ready to explain everything about her personal life' attire.
Callie stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her vest before moving to a mirror and analysing herself. She eyed her tear stained face, before looking at how... formal and regal she looked. She wasn't used to having to dress like an adult. Her usual outfits pertained to either skirts and dressy tops as opposed to what she would rather wear. Either way, this nor her usual look, really ever showed off how she wanted to dress. She wanted tight jeans, sexy shirts, and those really awesome bad-ass leather jackets. She wanted to be bad-ass.
Most of the time, when she was at work, she was bad-ass, but she was never really thrilled by fixing hearts. Wasn't that just the weirdest? Saving a beating heart never really gave Callie a thrill; the one thing that was meant to keep anyone alive, never gave her a thrill.
Callie shook her head and lifted up the white collar of her blouse, popping it up slightly.
That would have to be as 'bad-ass' as she could pull off for now.
Arizona watched as Callie sucked in a sharp breath as she watched Owen make his way to the bench from her across the room, his hands cuffed, his face drooped and full of pain.
Arizona wanted to help Callie; she wanted to hold her close and try to help make her know that everything would be okay.
But they barely knew each other. And there was no way she could pull her in for a hug while her husband was waiting to be sentenced.
Instead, Arizona grabbed Calliope's hand reassuringly. Their fingers didn't link, but their palms touched. She watched as Callie glanced at the instant physical connection. Arizona was somewhat surprised that she hadn't pulled away.
Before they knew it, the judge had made her way to the seat behind the desk. Her face wasn't angry. It remained emotionless as the case was read out. It was interesting to watch a judge do their job. They had to remain focused; unbiased. They needed to listen to all the facts and make sure that their judgement was correct. They were the ones to enforce the law.
Most of the time, the doctors were the ones fixing those who disobeyed the law. It was actually kind of funny how their jobs coincided.
"Mr. Hunt; you've been through plenty of tests, plenty of doctors who've examined your mental stability," The judge began. "And from the records that we've seen..." The judge glanced at the dark-skinned Latina who's face was full of nothing but worry, fear, and confusion. "You've been sentenced to remain as a patient in the psychiatric ward of the nearest hospital. However, you are unable to be a patient at Seattle Grace Mercy West, so it will have to be another one close by. Hunt, you've proven you are not fully recovered from the events in Iraq. Although we commend you for your duties, you need to find a way to fix or at the very least get help for the now diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."
The judge glanced around before continuing.
"You are not able to see any of your children until you've been assessed by your main psychiatrist, and for at least a year after that you will only be allowed supervised visits. As for Mrs. Hunt, you will remain the central guardian of your children. You may choose to see Mr. Hunt out of your own free will, but the children are not allowed to accompany you. Court is dismissed."
And with that, the gavel was pounded against the wooden block and the judge made her way out of the court room.
Owen's head collapsed in his hands before tears began to spill from his ice blue eyes. Callie could practically feel hear heart shatter within her chest. Suddenly, she felt her hand being squeezed gently.
Callie looked over to Arizona who was smiling lightly. Her eyes drifted to Owen who was being lead out by security guards, then back to Arizona. The two stayed in the same spot on the bench in the now empty courtroom. Calliope dropped her head to Arizona's shoulder.
The two of them remained in silence, Arizona using her thumb to stroke the back of Callie's hand. There were no words that could be said to make this situation any better, so they did just that. Left themselves alone in a room with no words and for them in that moment, was enough.
