Chapter 26:
"You should call me for a consult more often, Ari."
The two women were slouching against the wall behind them as they tried to bring some sense of control to their breathing. Arizona's pants were bunched around her ankles while Callie's face was glistening with the evidence of their on-call room activities.
"Hmm, I probably should but I don't know if I could handle being thrown against the wall that hard all the time." the blonde replied laughing, eliciting a similar reaction from her lover.
Before Callie could continue their afterglow conversation, Arizona's pager beeped and brought both of them back to reality. Standing to her feet and bringing her pants up with her, the blonde lowered a hand to her lover and smiled.
"I'll return the favor later. Duty calls." she leaned towards her girlfriend and let her lips lightly caress Callie's. "You're super sexy when I'm on your face, though." She pulled away quickly and left the room before the taller woman could say anything.
The dark haired Latina leaned back against the wall and laughed as she stared at the door her lover had exited. Licking her lips briefly and without thought, Callie tasted the other woman and moaned softly to herself.
She glanced down and looked at the pager attached to her pants and sighed. "Why can't you ever go off when I need you to?"
Terri entered the hospital and looked around nervously. It was nearly eleven o'clock and she wasn't even sure if Arizona was working another overnight shift or not. She'd briefly considered calling ahead to check but had quickly decided against it. She'd not wanted to take the chance that she'd be unable to do what she'd planned. Finally coming to terms with the fact that the blonde had truly moved on and was not, at anytime in the foreseeable future going to be coming back to her, Terri knew she needed to say goodbye and part ways amicably.
She ran her fingers over the box tucked under her left arm and walked to the nearest elevator. Stepping inside, she proceeded to tap her foot anxiously as she waited to arrive on the peds floor. She planned on giving Arizona her parting gift, explaining the Traver's case to her and why she had recommended it and apologizing for kissing the blonde in her hotel room. Though trouble was something she'd tried to avoid when coming to Seattle, it had appeared to make itself known despite her best efforts to keep it at bay.
Terri wanted to wish her ex and her new girlfriend her best and get back to her own element as quickly as possible. She looked back down to the box in her possession and felt her breath catch in her throat. There were so many memories attached to the items in the small container. Those memories seemed, to Terri, to be from a lifetime ago. She'd come to terms with Hannah's passing. She'd accepted the horrible fact that her little girl was no longer in the world with her. Arizona, on the other hand, had not. She'd run from the veracity of her life.
The green-eyed woman, after two years, had her closure from her ex. She knew, without a shadow of doubt, that Arizona was never coming back to her. She knew that the blonde was happy and she now new what her reasons were for leaving in the first place. Terri hoped that once she talked with the blonde and presented her gift, that the other woman could finally get closure where Hannah was concerned. Everything would be full circle then.
The doors opened onto the Peds floor and Terri started to leave the elevator when a body blocked her path. Looking up quickly from her thoughts, the brunette came face to face with her ex's girlfriend, Calliope Torres.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." the raven haired woman said as she tucked her cellphone into her scrub pants.
Terri was slightly perturbed at the ortho surgeon's presence. She'd certainly not been expecting to see the hispanic woman when the elevator doors opened.
"Dr. Torres. I was ju-"
"Don't 'Dr. Torres' me. Were you coming to try to feel my girlfriend up again?
Terri took a step back and visibly swallowed a breath. The woman in front of her entered the elevator and the doors closed behind her. The green-eyed brunette watched as the doctor pressed the 'Emergency Stop' button beside her.
"She told you what happened?" Terri asked when brown eyes pinned her against the wall of the elevator.
Callie crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her girlfriend's ex. This was the first time she'd been able to actually take in the other woman's features. She wasn't staring at old photos or watching in shock as the woman hugged her girlfriend in front of her. In this moment, Callie was fully able to appraise the slender brown-headed woman.
She had to admit that Arizona had impeccable taste. Not only was Terri unnaturally beautiful, she also seemed to possess a strength of character about her that the latina couldn't place. The intelligence sparkling behind her emerald eyes told Callie what must have originally attracted her girlfriend to her in the first place. Terri was a catch. As much as it pained the dark skinned woman to admit, she couldn't deny the truth of it.
This woman, this green-eyed, tall, slim and fit brunette was her girlfriend's ex. Terri, Dr. Terri Clashe, a counseling psychologist, the woman who had been with and loved the same woman Callie loved now was her girlfriend's ex. She was the woman who had suffered silently when Hannah had died. A part of Callie felt for Terri. She wasn't the bad guy in any way. She was just her girlfriend's ex.
"Dr Torres?"
Glancing up, the raven haired woman realized that she had been asked a question and had yet to answer it. Terri's green eyes were cast in confusion and concern as they concentrated on her. The more she stared at the brunette, the more she felt her feelings changing. The woman in front of her was the woman who had kissed her girlfriend. She was the one who had caused so much upheaval in her life recently. Though, logically and rationally, Callie knew Terri was, for the most part, innocent, she couldn't stop herself from feeling angry and threatened by the woman.
"Yeah, she told me. She told me everything. Is that why you came here? You want her back?"
Shaking her head, Terri replied, "No. No, that's not why I came. Look, that kiss was a mistake. I never intended to-"
"Oh, please. You invite her to your hotel and nowhere in your mind did you think there was the possibility?"
Terri sighed and watched the Latina pace in front of her. Her arms were crossed, fiercly, over her chest and her shoulders were hunched with obvious tension. She knew, then, that Dr. Torres was scared. Her body language gave away the fact that she was feeling as if Terri was there to take something away from her. That something being Arizona.
"Dr Torres...Callie. I do love her but-"
Callie stopped pacing and walked closer to the brunette. Terri held her ground as the other woman advanced on her.
"You had her for seven years. I know everything that happened with Hannah and I'm sorry about that. I-I...no, you can't tell me that. Stay away from her. Whatever you came here for, just go."
Callie was breathing heavily while her eyes bore into the green ones in front her her.
"I'm not gonna do that. I love her, but she loves you, Callie. I'm not going to lie and tell you that I didn't toy around with the idea of Arizona and I having a second chance. You would have done the same thing were you in my shoes. I really am sorry for what happened. I came here to help her, Dr. Torres not-
"Help her? Kissing her when she was feeling upset was your idea of helping her?"
Terri pursed her lips and shook her head. The box under her arm slipped slightly and she readjusted her hold on it.
"What is that? Is that for Arizona?" Callie asked.
The brunette kept her eyes locked with her ex's girlfriend. "Yes, this is for Arizona. I came to say goodbye to her, Callie. Look, I know you and I will never see eye to eye, but believe me when I tell you that I didn't come here to cause problems. I came to get closure and finally put to rest problems that existed long before Arizona met you."
The Latina scrunched her eyebrows into a frown of confusion and stepped away from Terri. She wasn't entirely sure what emotion she was currently experiencing. Without a doubt, she knew she was angry. She wanted to take out her frustrations on the too perfect psychologist. At the same time, she was sympathetic to how Terri must have felt the last two years. When Erica had left her without notice, she'd been broken and hurt and lost. She and the heart surgeon had nowhere near the history that Terri had with Arizona. She could understand the situation.
"You're not here to try and get her back?" Callie asked.
"No." Terri replied emphatically. She watched as her words finally found a truth and a meaning for the other woman.
"Look, I do still love her. I won't lie about that. I've been pretty messed up since she left. A lot happened and I didn't have time to process it because I was so worried about Arizona. I came here to find my closure. I needed to know that there was no possibility of an 'us' anymore."
Terri paused and gauged Callie's reaction. The tall doctor was listening to her words with a look of relief on her face. Her shoulders were still tense, which told the green eyed woman that she was still on the defensive, but the arms across her chest had fallen to her sides.
Continuing while she had the other woman's attention, Terri said "I've gotten what I came for, Dr. Torres. I just wanted to...I just wanted to help Arizona accept Hannah's passing."
Callie searched Terri's face and placed her hands on her hips. "You recommended the Traver's, didn't you?"
"Yes." the brunette replied without pretext.
"Why? You brought all of this up for her. I've never seen her like she's been lately." the Latina inveighed.
The slender woman stepped forward away from the elevator wall. She ran the hand of her right hand through her hair.
"Exactly. You haven't seen her like this because you didn't even know about the situation. She didn't deal with anything, Callie. She laid in Hannah's room the day she died for hours. She refused to talk to me, her parents, our friends. I dealt with the arrangements and all the legal details. Arizona couldn't. The next thing I knew, she was accepting a job offer and here we all are. She never faced the truth, therefore, she never healed."
Callie was silent for long moments as the brunette's words sunk into her being; whispering their ill beheld truths. She'd known Arizona had gone through a rough time when her daughter had died, but she'd not known how closed off she'd been to everyone around her. Looking back on their relationship, the dark haired woman could see, now, how the blonde had used not talking about a situation as a coping mechanism.
Arizona had wanted to talk about poundcake and lotion instead of the baby issue. She'd told Callie she wasn't broken and that her life wasn't a psycho drama when Callie had tried to understand the blonde's behavior. She'd even broken up with Callie so that she wouldn't have to face her past. Terri was correct. Arizona did need help. She just wasn't sure she liked the idea of the blonde's ex being the one to give it to her.
"Okay, you're right. I don't know all the details. I only found out about all of this a week ago. But, she's talking to me about things. She's showing me a side of her I didn't even know existed. We'll get through this without your help.." Taking a breath and looking the other woman in the eyes, Callie continued "Now, tell me how recommending the Traver's was beneficial to her."
Terri looked down to the box in her hands. Her gift. A sad smile shadowed her features before she looked back up to the Latina in front of her.
"Here," she said, offering the box to the other woman, "give this to her for me, will you? I had planned on talking with her and explaining some things, but it's obvious that I don't belong here. I-I, umm, just give it to her. Please. My plane leaves the day after tomorrow, so, if she has any questions or...anything..."
She allowed her words to trail off as she felt the weight of the box passing from her to her ex's new current girlfriend. She couldn't tell the woman the things she wanted to hear. She couldn't be the one to fill in the missing pieces to the puzzle that was Arizona Robbins. It was obvious, by their exchange, that the blonde hadn't told the hispanic woman much at all about Hannah or her condition or her guilt over how things had come to pass.
"I don't...why are you giving me this? Did I miss something?" Callie asked as she looked down to the unassuming container in her hands.
Terri stepped around her and resumed the elevator. She let her fingers play idly with the buttons on the wall.
"Do you love her, Dr. Torres?" the green eyed woman asked without turning to face her.
"Excuse you?"
How dare this woman ask her that. First, Arizona had needed reassurance that she wasn't just another person in a long line of lovers and now her ex was asking if she really loved the blonde?
"She's stubborn, Dr. Torres. She'll fight you when she's scared. She'll hold to what she knows because she sees any form of change as something to be feared. Don't let her be stubborn. Don't do what I did."
Turning around, Terri met Callie's gaze and put her hands in her back pockets. The other woman was staring openly at her waiting for a further explanation of her vague words.
"Seven years ago, I was on top of the world. I had everything. Two years ago, I let the love of my life walk away because I thought I was doing what she needed me to. I thought I was giving her the space she needed to heal. I was wrong. I let her go and two years later she's still fighting the change. She's still refusing to acknowledge the basic parts of her life that made her who she is. If you truly love her, you'll fight for her even against herself. Don't be me, Dr. Torres."
The sound of the elevator beeping and the doors opening caused both women to jump slightly. Terri turned to exit the small space when she felt a gentle hand on her arm.
"I do love her and I'm sorry for everything. I'll give this to her and let her know you were here." Callie said the words and could barely believe she was the one speaking them. Here she was, badass Calliope Torres, being civil to her girlfriend's ex. The same ex who she'd spent a good part of her adult life with. The same ex she'd had a daughter with. The same ex who'd kissed her girlfriend in her hotel room not even a day before. Irony was a funny a thing.
Terri said nothing. Nodding her head once, she turned and walked away from the ortho surgeon. Callie watched her disappear from view and looked down at the box in her hand. She'd been complaining about all the drama she'd had pop up in her life in the past week and now, that drama had been placed directly into her hands. How...ironic.