Third update in a week, I'm surprised with myself :P But as they say, when the Muse is singing, you let it rip! :D
It's wonderful to know so many of you are reading it, it would be lovely if you left a word or two about it, so that I know I'm going in the right direction with the story.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Shonda, I'm just playing with them.
Happy reading!
"Are you free any time this week?" Ginny asked looking at Alex in the mirror, while she combed her long black hair.
"Aaa…as free as any resident can get. Why?" Alex replied as he picked up his T-shirt off the bed and smelled it, deciding that it would do just fine.
"Nothing much. I thought we could go check out a few apartments that are on sale. What say?" Ginny finished tying up her hair into a neat ponytail and picked up the compact powder to add finishing touches to her light make-up.
Alex stopped midway through pulling on his T-shirt over his head. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. Here was this girl, whom he hardly knew for 3 weeks and she was already proposing going house-hunting with him. He felt like he was being sucked into a whirlpool of emotions. Not that he didn't like Ginny. He liked her. She was great. But the entire reason for his liking her was that she had wilfully agreed to a relationship with no strings attached. And suddenly out of nowhere, she was asking more from him, so much more. And Alex was definitely sure that he couldn't do "more" right now.
Upon the lack of an answer from Alex, Ginny looked at herself in the mirror one more time before turning around to face him. "What?" she asked, obvious confusion writ large on her face.
That seemed to pull Alex out of his trance. He roughly pulled down his T-shirt over his head and began sputtering "Aaa…Ginny…This…isn't this…I mean…we…why the hell do we need to go house hunting?"
Ginny was standing with her hands on her hips, trying hard to figure out what was wrong with what she had said. Suddenly it dawned on her and she roared out with laughter. "Not "house-hunting" house-hunting silly." That seemed to visibly calm down Alex but he still looked confused. "Then what exactly does house-hunting mean?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed to put on his sneakers.
Ginny continued to laugh as she sat down beside him, to slip on her pair of heels. "House-hunting meaning I need an apartment to stay. I can't go on living in a hotel for the entire period of my contract, can I? And it's really boring checking out these apartments alone. SO…" she said standing up, and turning to Alex, "I was asking whether you would come with me? And help me out? You know ask the realtor all the important questions? I have the tendency of getting excited and skipping all the important stuff" She placed both her hands on his shoulder bent down to Alex's eye level. Alex looked up into her eyes. "SO?" she asked again.
Alex grinned as he shook his head "Yeah okay. If you promise not to freak me out again with such suggestions, I'll come with you."
Ginny rolled her eyes before standing up. "I would have asked Arizona, but you know…" she just let the sentence hang in the air as she moved across the room to pick up her purse.
"Even if she's busy, she would love to help you out" supplied Alex as he stood up and picked up his own bag from the bed. "And knowing her, she might even help pick out new furniture and wall paints."
Ginny laughed. She knew that was true. She could just ask her friend. But she also knew that someone would not be very happy if she did that. "Callie" was all she said as she picked up her phone and room keys.
Alex snickered as he followed her out of the room. "You still avoiding Callie in the corridors? She has you that scared?"
"Not scared." Ginny stated firmly as they walked towards the elevator. "I just don't want drama. And everything about Callie Torres screams drama." And she waved around her hands for the added emphasis.
Alex laughed but had to agree to that "Yeah well, she's had a fair share of it. But Callie's a nice person." Ginny gave him a look of disbelief as they stepped into the elevator. "Seriously, Ginny." Alex continued as he pressed the button for the lobby. "I know her."
"Meaning you've slept with her?" Ginny gasped.
Alex shook his head but smirked as he answered "Yes. But it's more than that. I've worked with her for long. And there are reasons why she is how she is." He stood there looking at Ginny with hands stuffed inside his pockets. Ginny considered what he was saying for a minute "You have to tell me all the stories." she grinned.
Their elevator dinged to a stop. As Alex exited out of it he chuckled "No way! I know that evil brain of yours." He tapped lightly on the side of her forehead.
"She deliberately makes my life at the hospital difficult, over rides my every decision, and yesterday at the meeting, she snickered at my specialty" Ginny was actually whining as she tugged on his sleeve.
"That's because you dated Robbins. And you don't make it very easy for her to forget that do you? Don't lie you actually enjoy trifling with her" Ginny screwed up her face in irritation but she couldn't keep the mischievous glint out of her eyes.
"Plus you're hot" whispered Alex as he bumped his shoulder against her. "Catch ya at…well catch ya when I catch ya" he grinned before waving her a goodbye and heading off towards his truck while Ginny smiled, shook her head at his illogical reasoning and hailed a cab.
"Calliope" Arizona's warning tone brought Callie out her reverie.
"What?" she sighed in irritation. "I can't even look?" She looked sideways at Arizona as she served out some salad onto her plate.
"That's not called looking, that's called glaring. And you promised you would try and give Ginny a chance." Arizona reminded her wife as calmly as possible.
"She, sitting there, eating lunch, talking and laughing with my friends and behaving as if it was all her life, makes it a little difficult you know" Callie sulked.
"It is her life" Arizona shook her head slightly. "Callie, you've gotta be a little lenient while she adjusts herself to her new surroundings."
"Why doesn't she get the pep talk?" Callie pouted in retaliation.
Arizona chuckled. "Think of her as Mark part two. Rash, instinctive, childish, impulsive…Ginny isn't capable of mature decisions. But you, you're a mother and a wife. You're a mature capable surgeon able of putting aside petty distractions and being the bigger person, remember?" she honestly hoped flattering her wife would help. And it did seem to work, because Callie actually smiled. But then she went back to pouting "Being mature sucks"
Arizona let out a loud laugh at that, and quite a few heads in the cafeteria turned towards her. She caught Ginny looking at her and she waved her hand. Ginny waved back in response before turning her head back to listen to what Teddy was telling Mark and Bailey.
"So?" she asked turning her head towards Callie. "What is your plan of action?"
"Be more tolerant of Ginevra Fontane" she still couldn't stop herself from stretching out the vowel endings. "Act mature." She nodded her head as she recited every point.
"And remember that I love you" added Arizona as she placed a chaste kiss on Callie's lips.
"There's no other option but to remove the uterus completely." Ginny didn't lift her eyes from the file as she gave her pronouncements.
"But…" Lexie began but then she shut up, thinking the better of it.
"But what?" asked Ginny, finally looking up from her file. "You either talk in full sentences or don't talk at all, is that understood?"
Lexie hung down her head. "Sorry Dr. Fontane."
"Now what was it that you were saying?" Ginny asked sitting back in her chair.
"Cassandra Stan, the patient," Lexie began in an uncertain tone "and her husband David, are childless and trying for a baby. It was during the fertility treatment that they discovered her cancer. Removing the uterus would completely destroy their chances…" Lexie looked so beautifully naïve as she said that that it tugged at Ginny's heartstrings.
She sighed before speaking "Now that, Dr. Grey is a perfectly logical point. And you would be a foolish doctor to overlook the point, and even more foolish if you were to be afraid and not speak out your reservations regarding a diagnosis." She offered Lexie a small smile. "Lexie" she waited till Lexie was looking up at her "Mr and Mrs. Stan can think of other options so long as Cassandra Stan is actually alive. If we don't remove the uterus, it will quickly spread into the cervix and eventually to other parts of the body, and then she may not even live. Rack your brains, we don't have another option." She paused, and Lexie realized that Dr. Fontane was right. As always, she thought to herself.
She looked at the woman sitting in front of her in awe. 2 weeks of working with this woman and Lexie had already learnt so much. Fontane pushed her to think. And while she had to admit that Fontane's teaching methods were a little unusual, she nevertheless got to work on interesting cases.
"So will you be meeting them in the morning?" asked Lexie, taking the file extended from Fontane's hands. Fontane looked up to the ceiling before looking back at Lexie "Yes, unfortunately I would have to talk to them. But you," she suddenly leaned forward in her chair and pointed towards Lexie "you better be there. When I start getting all technical and rude, I want you to balance it all out, ok?" Lexie smiled.
"Do you need anything else?" she asked opening the door.
"Aaa…coffee. A mug of steaming hot coffee to keep me awake and help me get through this shit load of paperwork." Fontane answered dramatically, her hands picking up and letting fall a bunch of papers lying on her desk.
Before Lexie could say anything else though, Arizona arrived at the door with two cups of coffee in her hand. "Hold the door Lexie." she smiled as she stepped around Lexie and entered the room "Dr. Fontane, I hope you are in the mood for Coffeeeee" she smiled her dimpled smile. Lexie let out a chuckle even as Ginny screamed a "God Yesssss".
"Good night Dr. Fontane, Dr. Robbins." Lexie said finally as she slipped out of the door and closed it behind her.
"So Lexie Grey, huh?" Arizona commented as she handed Ginny her cup and sat down on a chair. She lifted her legs onto the chair next to her and leaned back.
Ginny sipped the coffee with a smile on her face and leaned back in her chair. "She's good." Was also she offered as she got back to sipping her coffee.
"Ahan?" Arizona lifted her eyebrows.
Ginny just looked down with a shy smile before speaking "So I'm guessing this is a social call and not you stopping for a consult. So what's up?" she looked back up with a full blown smile.
Arizona accepted her evasion of the question and nodded her head slightly as she began speaking "I just wanted to know how you're settling in. How you like the hospital, the facilities, the people…" she tried to sound as casual as she could as she adjusted herself in her seat.
Ginny looked at her curiously for a second before she smirked "Is this about me and Callie?"
Who was Arizona kidding? Ginny knew her perfectly well and after all that they had been through, she could read Arizona easily. So Arizona decided to jump right to the point.
"Enough with the testing, Ginny. Callie's a good person. And you would see that if you gave her a chance and give up continuously teasing her." Arizona said with a serious expression on her face.
"Me teasing her?" Ginny replied incredulously. "Callie is the one who has a problem with me. She just can't get over the fact that you and I dated once upon a time, and now she's acting all jealous bitch around me. Even in the OR, mind you" Ginny scoffed as she put her coffee down on her desk and leaned forward. "Me. I'm just playing her game. I'm not gonna just stand there and let her undermine me."
"No, you're just gonna rub in the fact that we dated right. And announce to the entire OR our little stories." Arizona rolled her eyes as she dropped her feet to the ground and swivelled around in her chair to face Ginny properly. "You don't make it easy for her, do you?" she smiled when she saw Ginny hang her head and refuse to look Arizona in the eye.
"Ginny?" she said softly. "Ginevra" she tried again placing her hand on Ginny's. Ginny finally lifted her eyes to meet Arizona's. "For my sake, can you give Callie a chance? Be more tolerant and understanding. Her insecurities are perfectly logical, you know." Ginny crumbled under Arizona's penetrating gaze and nodded. "And you will never refer to her as bitch, in my presence or otherwise" she added before sitting back in her chair. Ginny scoffed "I can't promise that." She caught Arizona's mock glare. Or what she hoped was a mock glare.
Seeing Arizona sitting there in the office, and them finally talking about a personal topic, Ginny decided she had to take the opportunity and ask Arizona the questions that had been plaguing her. "Zona?" she said dropping her voice. Arizona noticed the immediate change in tone and demeanour. She sat up straighter "What?"
"Are you happy?" Ginny asked without beating round the bush. "Is this your dream now? Does Callie make you happy?" Ginny didn't know any other way of asking Arizona. She cared about Arizona. And in the four years that they had been apart, the Arizona she knew was completely replaced by this new version of her. It wasn't necessarily a bad version. In fact, Ginny had to admit Arizona did look healthier and happier, but she had to ask any way. Asking and getting a direct reply from Arizona herself would be the only way of putting her doubts and fears to rest.
Arizona was a little taken aback at the bluntness of the question. And she took her time answering it. But Arizona knew the answer-knew the answer, by heart. She closed her eyes for a moment and pictured Callie and Sofia in their living room and a smile crept on to her face instinctively. "Callie and Sofia, alive, healthy, smiling- that's my happiness, that's my dream. I'm living my dream Ginny, and I'm so happy. Sometimes, I'm afraid that if I let myself realize how happy I am, I may anger the powers that be, and then it might all be snatched away from me. Sometimes, I wonder if I deserve any of it…" Arizona felt tears swimming in her eyes.
Ginny leaned forward with a smile and clasped her hands. "You deserve it all, you hear me? You deserve every bit of it." Arizona lifted her hand and wiped away the tears even as they threatened to spill out of her eyes. "And I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get all the happiness you deserve. And if Callie is the reason for your happiness, I can live with that. I'll make sure to not give her hell." Ginny gave her an honest smile.
Arizona cupped Ginny's face in her hands "Thank You." Ginny closed her eyes at Arizona's touch. "She is great. And you two are so alike, once you realize it, you guys could be great friends…" Arizona continued in a soft but excited whisper. "There's nothing that would make me happier…" Ginny was beginning to say something when the door to her office opened.
"Hey, I was wondering if…" Alex Karev walked right into the office but lifted his head and spotted Arizona just in time to stop himself from uttering something scandalous and/or foolish. Like a deer caught in the headlights, he looked from Ginny to Arizona and back to Ginny, before settling his gaze back nervously on Arizona.
Arizona quickly pulled her hand away from Ginny's face and stood up. She was as nervous as Karev. "What is it?" she asked him in a cliped tone.
"Aaa..uhn…that…the" Alex's brain was whirring at high speed. No one at the hospital knew about Ginny and him. And he wanted to keep it that way. "The lab results!" he almost squeaked. He caught Ginny relieved expression as she too stood up behind her desk. Alex controlled his emotions before continuing "You said you wanted the lab results asap." He prayed Arizona would buy his lie.
It was a good thing Arizona was as flustered as Alex, because even though she couldn't remember ordering any lab results, she took the opportunity to move the attention away from her and Ginny. "And where is it?" she asked moving towards him.
"Nurses' station" he supplied, easily.
"Then why are we standing here? Come on let's go." Arizona almost pushed him out of the door physically before stopping at the door and turning back to look at Ginny. "Thanks Ginny. It really means a lot to me." Ginny smiled back in reply.
What Arizona didn't notice was Alex putting his head back at the door as well as he caught Ginny's eyes and grimaced before ducking out and waiting for Arizona to join him.
Ginny slumped down in her chair as the door to her office closed once again. She heaved a sigh of relief. Arizona had been caught up in the moment to not notice the odd appearance of Karev at her office. She would have to ask Karev to be more carefully. She didn't want the entire hospital gossiping about the new attending that was sleeping with the resident. She took the last slip of her now cold coffee.
So she now had a new plan. Act mature. Be more tolerant of Callie. And for Arizona's sake, Like Callie. Yeah, she could do that. She could totally follow the plan.
House-hunting? Could that lead to something? And I love seeing Ginny in the center of a triangle with Arizona, Alex and Lexie...and oh one of you mentioned Mark too...Lets see what the Plan is...and if it works out at all :D
Your reviews help me write better. Lots of love-G
