AN: this one kinda switches back and forth between Callie and Arizona's POV. I put notes in the story so hopefully no one gets confused.
Callie's POV
Five days. In exactly five days Bette Porter and Kelly Wentworth would leave Seattle for good, and not that I didn't wish them well, but I was beginning to get antsy never knowing when to expect one of them to pop up around the corner. I woke up today like a happy little badger seeing my world with a whole new set of eyes and what I saw was good. I was on a big case this evening which I could totally rock out on, Arizona finally caved and started talking to me. Granted the only reason was because she couldn't go twenty four hours without telling someone about her day and I was the only listening ear available. A kid was mimicking wrestling moves and accidentally chocked his sister into a coma. She had to tell the family their daughter would probably not regain full brain function if she survived.
Arizona tilted her head onto my shoulder as we lay in the attending lounge area.
"The whole time he just kept crying about not wanting to go to jail. Then his parents, they told him it wasn't his fault. They blamed their own daughter."
We all get cases like this, usually once every other month or so. A patient comes in with their family or friends and despite what they are going through you just want to punch the jerk relatives in the face. I thought about Ruthie who's boyfriend just walked away guilt free after pressuring her to lose all that weight, and the bride-zilla I worked on with George. I know that I get angry; I know that I let it show, but somehow by day's end I always find a way to push past it. Arizona is a little different; it scars her internally to see people be so blindly selfish and hurtful toward each other. There's nothing I can do to fix that, so I just let her rest her head on my shoulder for a while. We don't have much time though, she has to be back in with the little girl to remove the surgical wire that was keeping her air passage open during surgery. She doesn't budge and I can tell by my watch she is running late.
"hey…babe" I say giving her a soft nudge.
"Callie stop moving I just got comfy." She whispers back
I give her a look that lets her know it's time to go which seems sufficient in getting her off her butt. Sitting upright now she looks at me earnestly, her big blue eyes batting like a little Precious-Moments doll.
"I can't go back there. What if I yell, Callie I'm not a yeller!" She looks at me pleadingly.
"Arizona no! I…I couldn't even if I wanted to there's nothing orthopedic about the case."
"Ohhh," she whines "but you're such a good screamer" Arizona protests
"I am not going to yell at a patient for you, no matter how icky they are being. Now just go, and I'll do that thing you like later on to cheer you up ok."
She smiles as we walk gleefully out the door half way down the hall I give her a kiss and a pat on the back before seeing her off. No later than she is in her patient's room does Mark snake around the corner behind me. He's got this look in his eye that tells me he knows something I don't want him to know and he's just taken the first bite out of a juicy red pear. He's definitely playing too closely with the whole fruit of a forbidden tree angle. But I endure him anyway; what can I say he's like a symbiotic parasite. (Ok I know that sounds bad, but I've been living with Cristina for a long time and according to her twisted doctor speak this is a good thing.) I guess she was right too, we do tend to feed off of each other.
"Mark, Arizona and Lexie both ordered us not to be around each other until you explained that little incident at my place" I warn him while looking around to make sure neither of our girlfriends are approaching.
"Oh come on, that childish little thing isn't going to last." He takes another bite from his pear.
"Besides," he adds "I want to know what thing Arizona likes that you are planning on doing. I thought I knew all your things."
I am infuriated at this moment, how had he heard me? Was he stalking me? Should I have taken this Mark thing a little more seriously? But I guess I can't blame him for all this. I've never been one for boundaries, neither of us have really. Over the years we've developed this sort of open relationship where any conversation is fair-game at any time and any place, but I was beginning to think maybe that needed to change.
"Mark there are some things you cannot know, and that is definitely one of them."
"but…" Before he can finish I get scared at the sight of one of the new interns whothat looks a lot like Lexie and dart away from him.
"Is it in Spanish?" he calls after me and I giggle at the desperation in his voice, my little man-whore is not so reformed after all.
Arizona's POV
Lexie Grey was my resident today which was all sorts of happy news since she genuinely loves children, unlike a certain someone who is a bit too manipulative for my taste. She had to assist me in the surgery so she saw how mangled little Darcy's larynx was from the pressure her brother had exerted on it. She was there to place the surgical rod that would help keep Darcy's epiglottis from collapsing in on itself. She held her own the whole time, never once looking like she might lose composure or storm out of the room in some grandiose manner. That was the job though, the job where you're not allowed to feel for anything or anyone because patient care comes first. So when we both had to head back in to the patients room and put our smiles on I knew exactly what was behind hers and I'm sure she knew mine too.
I keep an eye on her parents as I remove the surgical rod making sure not to hide it from them. Parker, her older brother looks at the rod in wonder.
"Cool!" He exclaims completely aw struck. His parents respond with a soft chuckle
"Boys will be boys, right Dr. Grey" Eliot, the girls father, exclaims
His son just permanently altered the course of his daughter's life by effectively strangling her for a good three minutes. While his little girl lay there fighting for life he was tussling the boy's hair and grinning, as if to say this sort of misery was a birth right for women, as if his daughter weren't of the same blood as him. Lexie turned her back to the whole thing; she didn't want to believe what she was seeing and neither did I. But this was my job and today there was so much to do, so much that I didn't have time to even think about being angry. This was the hard part, harder than all the surgeries, harder than the swallowing of emotions; this was the part where I had to deliver the bad news.
"Mr. and Mrs. Booth If we could just speak with you for a moment" I begin while looking off to the side to make sure Hank and Aaron are in place. Lexie hears the cue in my voice and turns back around to help me explain things.
"It seems Darcy suffered a great deal of trauma, and regrettably given what your son Parker has admitted to…"
"Wait what are you trying to tell me?" Mrs. Booth interrupts, I pause to address her concern but Lexie continues the speech anyway.
"Seattle Grace Hospital policy is to contact social services in any case where abuse or neglect is suspected. We ask that you remain in the hospital away from the patient at this time."
The Booth's both look at us stunned, Mrs. Booth grabs on to Parker as if he were a life preserver and she were lost at sea. Now it's Lexie's turn to break she looks down at the floor to avoid direct eye contact.
"We have two security personnel ready to escort you to a waiting area until further notice."
With his eyes full of tears Mr. Booth looks up toward me as if to slice me open with x-ray vision.
"You're acting like we're criminals, they were just messing around. Parker can be a real handful sometimes, Darce knows that, but she's always trying to play with him anyway. You're not going to take my son away, they were just messing around."
I watch as both parents well up with tears and I wonder where those tears were when their daughter stopped breathing, or when her heart rate was so elevated during surgery we thought she might have a stroke on the table.
"They'll take Darcy too sir." Lexie declares shocking me and everyone else in the room.
"Should social services suspect anything, and I bet they will, they will take both of your children. You know that right? Your family includes that little girl, Darcy is your flesh and blood and they will take her away just as quickly as they take Parker."
I look outside toward the two burly mammoths of men standing at either side of the door. Hank is on the right and Aaron is standing to his left. Hank looks up at me and I give him a nod so they know Lexie and I are ready to go. The door swings open and I walk out with Lexie trailing behind me. Hank and Aaron make a swift and subtle move inside the room and we're finished.
That was my last case so Lexie and I both got to head home a bit early, I guess that was one bright spot to take out of this whole situation. I walk off to the attending locker room and don't even bother looking behind me until I notice Lexie isn't following me anymore. Glancing over my shoulder I notice the young resident with her head resting against a wall. Her pale white cheeks have turned a wintery rose color from all the crying she's been doing. I think to leave her and let her have her space, but something tells me she doesn't want that.
"Hey I know, it was a long day; it gets better." I start
"No, it's not that" she gestures over to the patients room "I mean that's bad too but, it's not that"
""Then what is it?" I ponder
She looks off to the side as if she's embarrassed, then her eyes move back toward me.
"It just, it kinda reminded me of Meredith today. Whenever she talks about our dad I just can't picture it, I could never picture anyone neglecting a child like that…I'm sorry I lost my temper in there."
"I've seen worse" I console her with a pat on the back.
"Hey Lexie, I think we're headed in the same direction today; do you wanna ride together maybe we can grab a coffee on the way."
Lexie looks puzzled and I figure it's because she doesn't know if it's a nominal offer or not.
"I would have offered alcohol but I didn't know if, you know, with your dad…but I'd really like you to come." I say in a fumbled attempt to clarify things.
"I'd love that Dr. Robbins" she says with her perky smile of acceptance in full affect.
"Dr. Robbins, can I ask you something about Callie?" she squeaks hesitantly as we walk toward the locker rooms.
"Not if it involves Mark Sloan, George O'Malley, Erica Hahn or any combination of the three."
"It doesn't " Lexie sighs in relief.
"It's just, how much do you like her. I mean do you just like, like her a lot or is it love or something."
Now I'm just confused. She continues this rambling conversation all the way out to the parking lot though.
"It's just that mark, and I know I said this wasn't about him and it isn't even though it kind of is, Mark loves Callie. He won't say it but I know that's how he feels."
"Love how exactly?" I ask while pausing to find my keys
"That's just it, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you I need something to compare him against."
I really don't want to answer her, but something in me takes pity on the poor girl.
"I don't know how Mark feels about Callie, but I can tell it's not what he feels for you. You make him a less shallow person and from what Callie tells me, that is a pretty impressive feat."
Callie's POV
I can't help but be excited about the show I'm about to put on, I still have the image of Arizona's face when I did this the first time. We were having a date night and she got the idea that we should take turns revealing secret talents, that's how I found out she is incredibly flexible. She did this thing where she bent over backwards in to a perfect arch, then she folded herself into a pretzel and finished it off with the splits. So it's my turn and I am racking my brain to think of something when I suddenly remember my prop box from the wetlands expedition I took over the summer. I go to my closet to retrieve it and start putting on pretty elaborate shadow puppet show. Midway through my shadow puppet version of Peter and the Wolf I realize how long the story is and decide to stop much to Arizona's chagrin. Turns out the girl really enjoys a good shadow puppet show.
So tonight I figure since she's having such a bad day I'd do one of her favorite fairytales "The Princess and the Pea" last time I did this it ended in her begging for an encore and promising dirty things in exchange, I don't expect it to be much different this time either. That all changes when I hear the door open and see her walk in toeing Lexie behind her.
"Before you say anything I just want to let you know that Lexie and I both had a very long, very stressful day and I was just telling her how great my girlfriend is at cheering people up, which by the way is one of the many things I love about you." Arizona explains without even letting me interject.
I really don't have the energy to object so I cave easily, which she probably knew I would do.
"alright, but Grey if you tell anyone about this I swear to every patron saint in that hospital chapel…"
"My lips are sealed" she does a little lock and key motion across her lips that I internally roll my eyes at.
So I escort them over to the sofa and set up the lights to start the show. They are still kind of sulking about their day, but that soon changes after I ad lib a few scenes in the story. At first they just show soft smiles, then a few faint giggles, but eventually they are just tickled to the point of hysterics. By the time the story is over they've made so much noise I wouldn't be surprised if I started getting angry letters from the other tenants. Then there's a knock at the door. I look through the peep hole to see Mark leaned up against the door frame.
"Torres Open the door, I know Lexie's in there. I'd recognize that loud cackling anywhere."
We all roll our eyes at his insensitivity. No sooner do I let him in than he's got his hands hoisted to his hips like an angry mom.
"Oh so now you can hang out here but I can't"
"I'm not the one who's in love with her" Lexie retorts still giggling from before.
"I'm not in love with Callie" Mark says firmly.
Arizona and I retreat to the kitchen, we can still hear them but it gives them the feeling of privacy.
"Then why couldn't you answer me before" Lexie wonders in confusion.
"I couldn't answer before because I didn't know what I was feeling. I'm Mark Sloan, I don't tell women I love them and I don't waste time delving in to my feelings. I love Callie, that will always be true I love her like a sister."
"You'd have sex with your sister?" Lexie looks a little disturbed
"No, ew, that's not what I meant. I mean I never really had any kind of family except for Derek and uh Torres is like family for me. She invites me over on holidays and asks me how I'm doing… I'd beat up any one of her exes if she asked me."
"You'd beat a woman?" Arizona calls out from the kitchen and I have to cover her mouth to keep her from saying anymore.
Dispite his poor choice of words I get what Mark is trying to say, and it's honestly one of the most touching things he's ever said to me.
"It's ok Mark" I announce walking out of the kitchen, "I get it, and I feel the same way, in a less incestuous woman beater type way, but still basically the same."
He smiles in relief and so does Lexie. If I didn't know better I would say it almost looked like Mark was going to hug me, but he shook it off in classic manly Mark way and took Lexie by the hand.
"So what was all that noise from before?" He asks to no one in particular
"Oh Mark Callie…" Lexie starts before remembering that she promised not to tell. "She does this amazing thing that I can't tell you about"
Mark looks over at me stone faced "Is this the thing from before? Callie your gonna tell me what it is"
"I don't have to tell you a thing" I jokingly retort
He calls my name in a warning tone and I know he means business, luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, Lexie tries to smooth things over
"Oh Mark it's no big deal she's just really gifted with her hands"
"I'll say." Arizona agrees and we both smile at the not so subtle innuendo that Lexie completely misses.
Mark looks totally peeved by now and I almost want to let him out of his misery, but I decide that stiring the pot a little more will be more entertaining.
"Oh well, you know when you're stuck in the middle of the forest for a month you have to come up with something to entertain yourself."
I watch as the vein in his forehead pops out and he turns as red as an angry Yosemite Sam.
"Torres! What did you do to my girlfriend" He screams while lunging at me but I dart off behind the couch calling for sanctuary as I go. A rather lack luster chase ensues with Lexie and Arizona trying their damndest to block him off as I move between the coffee table and the probably didn't help that every time he asked what was going on I responded with "I'll never tell" doing my best Britney Murphy impersonation. Eventually it ends after Arizona is finally able to convince him that we were indeed talking about a puppet show.
I know she'll never be 100% on Mark, but after today I think Arizona can finally see that he would never be a threat to us. I give her a quick peck on the lips as Mark and Lexie head across the hall. As the door closes she turns to me with a question in her eyes.
"Callie, are you ever going to answer me?"
I want so badly to tell her, but it would ruin my plans and I have great plans. Instead I give her another kiss and wipe a loose curl from her face.
"Let's go to bed, it's late" and she does, however reluctantly.
The last couple chapters are longer than usual I don't know if that is good or bad. Please Review It feeds my creative juices.
