Hey, so again, I apologize for the delay. I will continue to do my very best to keep these updates coming as quickly and as regularly as possible.
Holy. Fuck. Timothy Timothy? Timothy Robbins? Her wife's dead brother. That was impossible. Callie stumbled backwards with shock, awkwardly backing into a large metal shelf and knocking over everything on the third row. She grabbed it for support to stop herself from falling.
The door to the exam room whipped open and Sawyer's face appeared. She only had to look at Callie once to know that Callie knew.
It took Sawyer only a moment to shake off the shock of seeing her sister-in-law before her before her feet sprung into action. Lurching forward, Sawyer grabbed Callie by the elbow and pulled her into the exam room, slamming the door behind them. Callie backed up against the wall.
"Callie..." Sawyer started in what she hoped was a calming tone.
"Did she..." Tim asked, face pale.
"Hear everything?" Sawyer supplied. "I'm gonna go with yes."
"No," Tim breathed. "No, this is not happening. No, no, no - "
"Shut up," Callie cut him off, finding her voice at last. "Who are you?"
"I..." Tim started, looking at Sawyer and trying to gauge how much he should share based on how much Callie had heard.
Somehow reading his mind Callie snapped. "I heard everything. But I want to hear you say it."
"I'm Timothy Robbins," Tim sighed.
Callie considered this for a moment before shaking her head. "No. No, Timothy's dead."
"The marine corps faked my death," Tim replied.
"No," Callie argued again. "No. Why would they do that? Why - "
"He's like Jason Bourne," Sawyer supplied helpfully.
"I'm not like Jason Bourne," Tim argued. "I'm - "
"No. Shut up," Callie cut him off again. "You just - " she looked at Tim for a moment, thinking. "You stay here. You," she grabbed Sawyer's arm, "come with me."
"Oh-kay," Sawyer quipped, stumbling as Callie jerked her from the room.
Callie dragged Sawyer down the hall until she found herself outside of the same supply room Sawyer had taken refuge in after discovering Timothy's identity. Callie yanked open the door and unceremoniously shoved Sawyer inside before slamming the door behind him.
"Supply closet?" Sawyer mused. "You know, in this hospital, people are going to talk…"
"You're making jokes now?" Callie snapped.
"No. I'm sorry," Sawyer replied quickly staring at the floor. Truth be told, Sawyer felt like an immense weight had been lifted now that Callie knew the truth. The relief she felt was making her a little giddy. She bit her lip to stop any more inappropriate comments from sneaking out.
"That's Arizona's brother?" Callie asked, voice harsh.
"Yeah," Sawyer replied quietly. "Yeah, it is."
"And you knew this?" Callie demanded.
"I figured it," Sawyer supplied.
"How?" Callie asked shortly.
"The scars on his face told me he'd had plastic surgery. And when I noticed the scar on his shoulder he told me the scrambled egg story. The one Arizona told us about Tim's rotator cuff repair. And his eyes. When he takes out his contacts… They're the same as mine and…"
"Arizona's," Callie finished, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I wanted to tell you," Sawyer pleaded. "I wanted to tell both of you, but he told me that I would be putting you in danger. That you would be considered a threat to national security."
"This is not real," Callie breathed.
"I know it seems crazy Cal, but - "
"No," Callie cut her off. "No, there is just no way this is real. The marines fake his death and then send him back to his family? Think about it Sawyer. It makes no sense."
"Callie, I think he - " Sawyer started, but Callie cut her off.
"Lots of people get plastic surgery. And he could have heard that scrambled egg story anywhere."
"Callie, his eyes," Sawyer repeated, fixated on the one clue that had solidified Tim's identity in her mind.
"Lots of people have blue eyes. You can even have surgery to lighten eye colour," Callie replied. "To change brown to blue."
"Why would he get that surgery and then wear brown contacts?" Sawyer challenged.
"I don't know!" Callie shouted, slamming her hand against the wall. Sawyer took a like step back.
"Why would he lie about something like this? And then why force me to keep it a secret? I know Tim being alive makes no sense, but someone pretending to be him? I think that makes even less sense. It would be the most elaborate prank ever."
"Why are you so invested in it being Tim?" Callie accused.
"What?" Sawyer asked, bewildered.
"You called him Jason Bourne," Callie continued. "You're… romanticizing the whole thing. Like it's some cool story."
"I have barely eaten or slept in weeks!" Sawyer cried. "I feel sick to my stomach about this. This is not cool or romantic. This is real life. This is happening and I wish to god it wasn't but… it's him Callie. He… knows things about me."
"What things?" Callie asked.
"Just… stuff," Sawyer deflected. "After the Colonel added me to his military record he followed me for a week. To get to know me. That's why I thought he looked familiar. I saw him outside my apartment once."
"He followed you?" Callie asked, incredulously. "He could have learned things about Tim that way! Following god knows who else."
"Really?" Sawyer asked. "This is how you want to play this? You're going to stick your head in the sand and say he's a liar? Look Cal, maybe it's possible that it's a hoax, but there is a hell of a lot of evidence to suggest that it's the truth."
Callie was pinching her nose again, thinking. Finally she looked up. "Did you take the blood yet?"
"I – no. Not yet," Sawyer replied, startled by the sudden end to the argument.
"How many vials do you have?" Callie asked.
"Six," Sawyer replied. "Just like you said."
"Grab two more. And another needle kit," Callie ordered as she swept from the little room.
Sawyer hunted down the desired items and hurried to follow her sister-in-law.
Opening the door to Tim's exam room Callie was greeted with "You can't tell Arizona."
Sawyer, sprinting down the hall, slipped in behind Callie as she shut the door.
"Sit," Callie pointed to the chair Tim had vacated earlier, taking the one Sawyer had occupied for herself. She began the process of taking Tim's blood samples in silence, so Timothy pressed on.
"She can't know," Tim continued. "For one thing it'll devastate her, because after this repair I'll never see her again. She'll have to live her whole life wondering and worrying about me. Plus, if the government knew that you know, you'd all be in danger. They could consider you a threat to national security. You - "
"Stop talking," Callie cut him off harshly as she filled vials of blood. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't keep secrets from my wife. Especially not secrets like this. So if you think I'm going to lie to her you are sorely mistaken. But - " she continued as she filled the seventh vial, "I would also never tell her without being 100% sure." She finished with the last vial, removed the needle from Tim's arm and passed him a cotton ball to hold over the vein. "You, move. Sawyer, sit," Callie instructed, tearing open the new needle kit Sawyer had brought her.
"When I tell her, you're right," Callie continued, prepping Sawyer's arm to draw blood, "she will be devastated. But, if I tell her, and this all turns out to be some elaborate hoax, well, that's just about the cruelest thing I can imagine doing to my wife. So I will get proof, and then, if it is true, I will be able to lay this all out for Arizona so that there is no doubt."
She finished taking Sawyer's blood and placed the vial in the pocket of her lab coat along with the extra sample she had taken from Tim.
Realizing what Callie intended to do with the blood samples, Tim lunged forward, attempting to grab them from her pocket. "No. You can't do this. You cannot tell her."
Callie pushed him back. "I will do whatever I want. You listen to me. If you aren't Tim, then this is just about the most unbelievably cruel thing I can imagine someone doing. And if you are Tim… well this is still cruel. And you are an idiot. So get out." She pointed to the door. "I'll have your DNA test done in a few days and then I'll call you with my decision as to whether or not you can stay on this trial."
Tim paled at this. "But - " he started.
"No," Callie replied flatly, pointing again at the door. "Until I have that test. Get. Out."
Accepting defeat, Tim began to gather his things in silence when a knock sounded at the door.
XXXXXXXX
Arizona was rolling down the hallway feeling an odd combination of nervous excitement. According to Dr. Wong, everything looked fantastic and, assuming the blood work came back clean, she and Callie would be going back to Olympia tomorrow to make their baby. Equal parts thrilled and terrified at the thought, Arizona was mindlessly wandering the halls, killing time before her first surgery of the day. Yes, she should be charting, or some other mindless administrative duty that came with being the head of her department, but her mind was far to preoccupied with thoughts of tomorrow for her to be even remotely productive.
She'd been wandering for fifteen minutes before she realized she was standing outside of the daycare. She smiled to herself as she realized that, subconsciously, she'd sought out one of the two people who could calm her down right now. Pushing open the door, Arizona greeted Miss Amy with a big grin.
"Hey, Dr. Robbins, in for a visit?"
"Just a quick one," Arizona smiled, scanning the room for her daughter before a torpedo connected with her knees. "Omph," Arizona exhaled dramatically.
"Momma!" Sofia beamed as she extended her arms to be picked up.
"Hello big girl!" Arizona grinned, pressing a kiss to her little cheek. "Did you have fun with Auntie Sawyer this morning?"
Sofia nodded enthusiastically and Amy gave a little laugh.
"Oh I think she must have," the young woman joked. "She really didn't want Dr. Logan to leave."
"Really?" Arizona asked, feeling a little guilty. "How long did she keep her here?"
"About half an hour," Amy replied.
"Ooh. Were you trouble for Auntie Sawyer?" Arizona asked.
"No," Sofia replied innocently, shaking her head as squirmed to be put down. Arizona complied and Sofia quickly grabbed her hand and led her over to the corner where she had been colouring. Excitedly showing her Momma what she had been working on, Sofia pointed and babbled as Arizona nodded along enthusiastically. Handing her mother a crayon, Arizona began to colour when her phone went off.
"Robbins," she answered.
"It's me," Alex greeted.
"You're calling me?" Arizona asked confused. "I know we have surgery in twenty minutes Karev, I'll be there," she stated playfully.
"No, I just got Aiden's labs back. His white count is elevated. He has an infection."
"Damn," Arizona breathed, setting down her crayon.
"I started him on antibiotics so hopefully it's nothing serious and it clears right up. But we won't be able to go in - "
"For at least 24 hours," Arizona agreed.
"I just called so you didn't rush back here for a surgery we aren't gonna do," Alex supplied.
"Yeah, I appreciate it," Arizona nodded into the phone.
"No problem, boss," Alex replied, and Arizona could hear his smile as they ended the call.
"Well Sofia," Arizona smiled, turning her attention back to her daughter. Looks like Momma is suddenly available for lunch! What do you say? Do we have a date?"
Going off of her mother's leading tone Sofia nodded happily and extended her arms to once more be picked up.
Hoisting Sofia onto her hip Arizona added, "We should see if we can find Mami and Auntie Sawyer. They had trial stuff today so they're probably together. Maybe we can buy Auntie Sawyer a thank you lunch for the lovely morning we gave her."
"Auntie Sawyer!" Sofia agreed happily as she and Arizona made their way down the hall, stopping to get the exam room number from the nurses' station. Kicking out the wheels on her shoes, Arizona rolled down the empty hallway, much to Sofia's delight. Coming to a stop outside of the correct room, Arizona pressed a kiss to Sofia's temple. "Don't tell Mami," she whispered. "She's not too big on you and I rolling around together," she added as she rapped on the door before slowly pushing it open.
And I think that is as good a place as any to end this chapter.
Thoughts?
Leave me a review below!