Hey everybody, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter.
I wanted to bring back the happy Arizona because she's had a couple of rough chapters recently So this chapter is just some lighthearted fun before we get back to some pretty sweet medicine in the next chapter (I think...Haven't written it yet).
As always, Grey's Anatomy does not belong to me. Neither does McDonalds (you'll see). And all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!
Arizona gracefully swung into the NICU on her crutches, accepting the pink gown from her nurse with a nod of thanks. She leaned the crutches against the wall as she donned the garment and looked over at the incubator that housed Callie and Mark's daughter. She was surprised when she noticed not only the father, who she'd expected, but another surgeon to be present. Retrieving her crutches, she made her way over to them, both heads shooting up when they heard the rhythmic click of her approach. "Dr. Montgomery, how are you?" She greeted pleasantly, placing herself beside Addison before nodding her head at Mark in acknowledgement.
The redheaded obstetrician looked at her in surprise, honestly not expecting to see her best friend's ex-girlfriend show up in the NICU, on crutches no less. "I'm well. Thank you." She leaned back and saw, hidden behind the pink gown, the reason why the peds surgeon was using a walking aid. She shot a surprised look at Mark as Arizona lifted the hood of the incubator and smiled down at her tiny patient.
"Hi Cutie Pie. You're getting so big. Yes you are." The blonde used a finger to stroke Sofia's tiny cheek before getting to work.
The plastic surgeon's eyebrows shot up as he heard Arizona's interaction with his daughter, "Robbins, where is your prosthetic?" Mark asked as the peds surgeon made several adjustments to the machines surrounding the infant.
"It needed a repair." She said simply. She put in her stethoscope and listened to little Sofia's chest as Addison stood in confusion, apparently she was the only one surprised to find out that the peds surgeon only had one leg.
Satisfied that all was well, Arizona gave Sofia's belly a little tickle before shutting the hood and slinging her stethoscope back around her neck. As she grabbed the hand grips of her crutches, she looked back up at the other two doctors and provided more of an explanation. "A patient kicked me, I fell, it broke and then Stark found out, which means everyone will know soon anyways. Oh and then he tried to get me fired."
"What?" Both Addison and Mark asked in surprise. "He can't do that." Addison continued.
Arizona simply shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still working aren't I? Apparently the Chief dislikes Stark just as much as I do. Anyways, I have more patients to see. She looks great by the way Mark." The blonde nodded down to Sofia who was sleeping peacefully. "You know we usually keep preemies until their original due date, but we may not have to with her. We'll play it by ear and see how Callie's recovery comes along. I'll be back to check on this little one tonight." She backed away slightly from the incubator and tore off her pink gown. "It was a pleasure as always Dr. Montgomery." She nodded her head before turning and exiting the NICU.
Once the clicking of crutches faded down the hallway, Addison looked from where the blonde had exited back to Mark. "What on earth happened to her?"
Mark sighed as he reached a hand into the incubator to stroke the sleeping baby's cheek. "It's a long story. But she is now helping Callie with PT and she saved Sofia's life…So despite our past differences, and the fact that she probably…well definitely still hates me, I owe Arizona Robbins a huge debt of gratitude."
Addison nodded her understanding, looking down at Sofia once more with a grin before giving Mark a firm pat on the shoulder. "Okay so yeah, I'm still not used to you playing this mushy father who is excited about his kid's diapers. So you have fun with that. She's amazing by the way. And I'm going to go see Callie now." The redhead gave her friend an amused smile before turning in her designer heels and heading out the door.
"The things you do to get me to visit." A familiar voice sounded from the doorway of Callie's hospital room.
The brunette on the bed looked up from her book, a huge grin spreading on her face. "Addy!"
Addison matched her smile and pushed herself off the doorjamb, kissing Callie's forehead before occupying the chair by her bed. "How are you feeling Sweetie?"
"I'm doing better now. I still get tired really quickly but I should only be here a few more weeks. And Sofia's good too. Have you seen my daughter? She is delicious." The brunette reached for her phone to show off pictures of her new child.
Addison laughed, taking the proffered phone and looking at the picture before handing it back to Callie. "I actually just went and saw her in the NICU. I was on my way to see you first but Mark intercepted me. She's beautiful Callie. And Dr. Robbins said she's doing great."
Despite her fatigue, the woman in the bed perked up at the mention of the blonde. "Arizona was there?"
"Yes. Do you know she calls your daughter Cutie Pie?" Addison studied her friend closely. The last she'd heard, she was supposed to be angry at the pediatric surgeon out of loyalty to the brunette. But now, after what Mark had said in the NICU and the way Callie was acting, she wondered what was going on between the pair.
Callie couldn't help the smile that spread on her face at the thought of Sofia and Arizona interacting. "Well Sofia is the most adorable baby in the world." The new mom said proudly.
The redhead chuckled and nodded her agreement. She continued to study Callie for another moment before speaking, "So what is going on between you and the peds surgeon anyways? Last I heard it was all 'She left me. I hate her. And now she's back like nothing happened'," Addison repeated statements Callie had made during a phone call several months ago.
Callie looked ashamed. "I may have been a little harsh. A lot did actually happen to her. And well…"
"I know. I saw." Addison squeezed her friend's hand. "Apparently her department head found out about her leg and tried to get her fired."
"What!" Callie sat straight up, wincing as the sudden movement strained her still healing incisions. "Addison what…"
"Careful." The neonatal surgeon guided her friend back down to the bed. "Robbins is fine. In surprisingly good spirits actually." She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "I'd be pissed if I were her, but she came to check on Sofia and then left to check on her other patients like nothing had happened." She gave a comforting smile as Callie relaxed, looking even more exhausted than she had a few minutes prior. "You still love the peds surgeon don't you?"
Callie rubbed her eyes and sighed. "It's complicated. Especially now with the baby and Mark. We've both hurt each other pretty badly so right now we're working on becoming friends again." She settled back in her pillows, looking up at her old friend.
Addison rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "If it is meant to be, it will work out." She saw the brunette yawn. "Why don't you get some rest. I'm going to go stare at your daughter some more. I'll be here when you wake up."
"You'll bring pictures?" Callie asked sleepily, smiling as Addison nodded. "Good. And then you can tell me all about California okay?"
"Okay Sweetheart. I look forward to it." The redhead stood and placed a kiss on Callie's head as the exhausted woman's eyes slipped closed and she fell asleep.
"Dr. Grey, what do you have for me?" Arizona had been paged to the image room by her resident. She assumed it was about Benji Mason's scans when she saw CT images on the light boxes that lined the room.
Lexie turned as the older woman entered the room. She'd heard the gossip that had made its way around the hospital but that didn't lessen the surprise of seeing the blonde sans a leg. Quickly standing from the computer, she offered her seat to the attending surgeon. "Do you need a chair Dr. Robbins?"
Arizona waved her off as she made her way to the light box. "I'm good. Thank you. Are these Benji's scans?" She ran her eyes over the images.
Lexie was by her side in an instant with the lab work and the patient chart. "Yes. His Lipase was positive, so you were right about the pancreatitis. But there's something else." She led the surgeon over to the light boxes that showed coronal sections of the abdomen. "Radiology report came back with radiopaque findings in both the head and uncinate process of the pancreas."
The pediatric surgeon zeroed in on the structure in question and immediately recognized the reported pathology. She had that familiar twisting feeling in her stomach that she got whenever there was bad news. "Oh God…" She murmured. "We're going to have to take out half of this kid's pancreas."
Lexie sighed, understanding the implications of what Arizona was saying. She stepped closer to the image, studying the tumors. "Would you be able to leave enough of the endocrine tissue to keep the kid from becoming a diabetic?"
Arizona shook her head sadly. "Look at how the tumors spider web out. We'll do a biopsy but even if they're benign we have to take out the whole section. I'll tell the parents." She sighed. "This is the part of the job that I really hate." She spoke softly to herself before addressing her resident. "Lexie, can you get us on the OR schedule for tomorrow morning. As early as possible?"
"Will you be able to operate by then Dr. Robbins."
The blonde looked at her curiously before looking down and remembering why she was on crutches. "Right…Better make it after 8:00 am. Do Benji's pre-op labs and make sure he's NPO after midnight." She started to exit the room before turning back to face the brunette. "Thanks Lex."
Callie was woken around 1:00 in the morning by an annoying clicking noise. She groaned as she opened her eyes, but immediately felt less irritated when she saw a familiar blonde standing in the doorway. The clicks continued as Arizona approached her, turning on the bedside lamp. The now wide-awake brunette registered the crutches that supported the blonde and she remembered what Addison had filled her in on when she had come back for dinner. "You look like you had a rough day." She murmured gently as Arizona sat in the chair by the head of the bed.
"Ugh. You don't know the half of it." She propped the crutches against the wall before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "Give me one second Callie." She hit a number on speed dial and held the phone to her ear as she deposited a bag of fast food on the nightstand. There was a click when the other person picked up. "Hey Teddy? Yeah, I'm not going to make it out tonight. Sorry. Yeah. Pause. Yeah. I know. I have to operate at 9:00 am. Pause. Have fun. Pause. Oh a guy huh?"
Callie listened to the half of the conversation she could hear, unable to stop her grin as she heard the blonde gossiping with her best friend.
"Okay, well don't do anything that I wouldn't do. Pause. True…Okay maybe do something that I wouldn't do. Bye Teddy." She hung up and slipped the phone back in her pocket before addressing the woman in the bed. "Sorry about that. I was supposed to meet Teddy at Joe's, but…" She shrugged, reaching into the fast food bag and pulling out a box of chicken nuggets.
Callie laughed, "So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Arizona had come to see her in the middle of the day before and they usually talked during Physical Therapy about mundane stuff but this was Callie's first late night visit from the blonde.
"I'm staying in the hospital overnight so I can operate on this kid. Plus I just checked on Sofia and so I decided to come see you. She's great by the way." Arizona bit off half of a chicken nugget, murmuring contentedly as she chewed.
Callie laughed again. "Arizona, just because you work with children doesn't mean you have to eat their food."
"Hey." The blonde fussed, her mouth full of processed "meat". "Leave me alone," she swallowed, "It's comfort food."
"And what's wrong?" Callie couldn't help but be reminded of the conversations they used to have while dating. She saw the other surgeon pull her sound leg up, resting her heel on the edge of the chair before reaching for another piece of fried food.
"I had to inform some parents that I would be making their kid a diabetic in the morning."
"Oh…" Callie said sympathetically, reaching over and squeezing the blonde's hand before looking at her with a teasing smile. "Yet you're eating McDonalds. Isn't that a little ironic?"
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine, tease me. And you won't get your food." She popped another nugget in her mouth.
Callie's grin widened as she scooted up in the bed. "You brought me food?"
"Mmhmm." Her mouth full, she reached into the bag and handed the brunette a cheeseburger.
"No mustard?"
"No mustard." Arizona confirmed once she'd swallowed.
"You are the best." Callie excitedly opened her sandwich. "How'd you know?"
"I overheard Mark telling Addison that you wanted McDonalds and that he wouldn't bring it to you. And, since it seems to be my goal to be contrary to everything Sloan does or says, I decided I'd bring it to you. Plus, like you said. I had a rough day."
Callie gave her a sympathetic smile after she swallowed a bite of her sandwich. "I appreciate it. Though bringing a patient fast food is not very doctorly of you."
Arizona shrugged, "So?" A bright smile gracing her face as they traded easy banter. "I'm not your doctor. So hush and eat your sandwich."
Fluffy Calzona. Well there's some progress in their relationship. A lot of people asked for Addison and for Arizona interacting with Sofia, so I hope this satisfied.
Please let me know what you think! And like I said, the next chapter isn't written yet (they never are when I post) so if there's something you want to see let me know!