A/N: Well folks, it's time for the story to start winding down. We're not at the end yet, but we'll get there soon. I'll give you plenty of warning though! I'd like to have this story wrapped up before the beginning of the 5th season of Grey's, so there's still some time yet. Thanks to all of you who read this and leave comments and messages. They really are my inspiration and it's what makes this story so fun to write!
"No one ever said this was going to be easy." Callie was watching Erica fidget in the elevator on the way up to her mother's room, showing an uncharacteristic nervousness. After Miranda had discharged Erica, they'd showered and dressed in the lounge and were wearing the clothes Callie had stuffed into a bag for the two of them the night before. "But it's not a death sentence. Just be yourself. Don't worry so much."
It was hard for Erica not to worry. She felt edgy from the medication she'd been given last night and she was tired from not enough sleep. The intravenous liquids had killed the headache she'd gotten but the burst blood vessels in her face had caused her previously-healing bruise to swell and redden again. She looked like an accident victim and she was secretly wishing that Callie had remembered to pack her makeup case last night. "I don't know what to say to her." Erica finally responded, after she'd fingered the hem of her shirt long enough to make it wrinkle. "She's predisposed to hate me, Callie, and I don't know what to say or do to make her think any differently."
"What would you say to anyone else who thought that way about you?" Callie asked, trying to help Erica.
"I wouldn't say anything. Normally I wouldn't give someone who was predisposed to hating me the right time of day, let alone strike up a conversation with them."
"She said she wanted to try and accept us. She said she was going to make an effort to get to know you and to accept the two of us. So I don't think she's predisposed to hating you. Not anymore, anyway."
"I'm oddly comforted by that." Erica grinned for the first time that morning.
"No matter what happens today Erica, remember that I love you."
"I know you do. And I love you right back."
As the elevator doors slid open, Callie wrapped her arm around Erica's back and they walked off the elevator together. Callie's mother had been given a private room at the end of the hall. The room wasn't gigantic, but it was big enough for several people to visit a patient at one time. It was one of the few rooms reserved for VIPs or patients needing police protection. The Chief had apparently given it to Callie's mother because he considered her a VIP, a gesture that was not lost on Callie. She had to remember to thank him for that.
Callie had expected her father to be there already, as the rules for visiting patients in this ward were far more relaxed than in the intensive care unit, but he wasn't in the room when they arrived. Callie's mother was asleep in the bed, her oxygen mask off her face but still within arms reach. The two sat in the chairs between the bed and the window, making themselves comfortable as they waited for Maria Torres to wake.
"That's a good sign." Erica said quietly, pointing to the oxygen mask. "If she took it off herself, she's breathing quite well. She'll be up and about before you know it, Callie."
"I still have to make arrangements for her rehabilitative care. I don't know how I'm going to do that if my father won't speak to me."
"Maybe she won't need rehab, Cal. She's a fighter, your mom. If we get her up and out of bed today, and start walking her around a little bit at a time, she'll probably be ready to go home after about a week."
"But will she be able to fly?" Callie asked.
"No, probably not for a few weeks yet. The pressurization in the airplane can be dangerous. In rare cases, it causes blood clots."
"So I'm going to have to find somewhere for her to stay then, if she's not going into a rehabilitation center."
"I just figured she could stay with us, if you wanted her to." Erica had been thinking about this on and off for the last day. She knew it would be incredibly uncomfortable to open up their home to Callie's mother (and presumably Callie's father, since he'd probably want to stay with his wife), but it was the right thing to do. Not only could Callie's mother recuperate in the comfort of someone's home, but she and Callie could spend some quality time together. And maybe, just maybe, it might give Callie's parents better insight into their lives.
"Erica, I could not ask you to do that. But thanks anyway."
"Why not, Callie? I mean, we could just ask her. She'll have at least a week here in the hospital to get to know me, and we can see if both of your parents want to stay with us until it's safe for your mom to fly home. It will give you some time to spend with her and maybe it will help to bring your dad around to see how normal our lives are."
"There's no way that my father is staying with us. Not unless by some miracle he decides that he's one hundred percent all right with our relationship. It's one thing to be kind-hearted; it's another to let someone so abusive to stay with you."
"Callie, I really want for you and your parents to become a family again. And I want to be the bigger person and open up my home- no, our home- to them. If they need a place to stay, they're welcome. If they would prefer to stay somewhere else, I won't take offense. I'd just thought that maybe it would be a good thing for you to have them around for a little while. I know how much you miss them between visits."
"We'll see, Erica." Callie leaned over and pecked Erica on the cheek. "You're absolutely amazing. I can't thank you enough for even thinking of all of that."
"You're welcome." Erica said, giving Callie a genuine smile and taking her hand into her own.
The two were sitting in a comfortable silence when Cristina Yang came in to do rounds. "Good morning Callie, Dr. Hahn." Cristina said crisply. "Callie, your mother had a good night last night. Today we're going to try her on some solid foods and if she feels up to it, I'd like to get her at least sitting up out of bed, if not walking for a few minutes."
"Thanks Cristina, that sounds great." Callie watched as her mother was woken by Cristina. Callie had to keep her gaze fixed on the ground because she almost laughed at the total lack of bedside manner Cristina displayed in waking her mother. Callie understood the need to be professional, but Cristina really took it to the extreme. Callie had never once woken a patient during rounds by poking the patient in the shoulder and practically yelling in their face, but that was precisely what Cristina did.
"Good morning, Mrs. Torres!" Cristina barked, less than six inches from Callie's mother's face.
Erica wrinkled her brow when she saw Mrs. Torres jump up out of a deep sleep, and she bit her lip from saying anything when she saw the start increase in heart rate on the monitor besides the bed. Cristina had essentially just scared the daylights out of Mrs. Torres and now she was going to take her pulse and blood pressure? They were both going to be through the roof! "Dr. Yang, might I suggest that you wait a moment before you take Mrs. Torres' vitals?"
Cristina looked at Dr. Hahn with a confused expression. She had other patients to attend to, she didn't have time to sit and chat this morning, even if those patients were screaming three- and four-year-olds down in pediatrics. "Dr. Hahn?" Cristina asked, unsure of why she was being asked to refrain from taking the patient's vital signs.
"Dr. Yang, you startled the patient when you woke her up. As a result, her pulse and blood pressure are going to be abnormally high. I saw the monitors when we walked in this morning, and her stats were at least ten percent lower before you tried to scare her half to death."
"Oh." Cristina mumbled, stepping back and looking at Mrs. Torres, who was glaring at her. "Excuse me, Mrs. Torres. I didn't mean to startle you."
Callie's mother grunted before she turned and looked over at Callie, giving her a warm smile. "Good morning, mija."
"Hi mom!" Callie grinned from ear to ear. "How did you sleep?"
"I was actually rather comfortable until just a moment ago." Turning towards Cristina, Mrs. Torres gave her a half-smile before continuing. "Perhaps you'd like to carry an air horn with you, doctor. You might find it a faster and more efficient way of waking your patients."
Cristina actually blushed. "I'm sorry Mrs. Torres. I really didn't mean to startle you."
"Well, tomorrow's another day. Perhaps you'll do better then." Maria rolled onto her back and offered her arm to Cristina so that she could place the blood pressure cuff around it. Cristina took the vitals with skilled ease and marked everything down in the chart at the foot of the bed.
"Mrs. Torres, if you feel up to it today, we'd like to get you at least sitting up outside of bed. Perhaps even taking a few steps around the room. Also, we'd like to try you on solid food today. The sooner we get your strength back up, the sooner we can send you home from here."
"That would be nice, Doctor...?"
"Yang. Cristina Yang."
"Thank you, Dr. Yang. Now, if we're through, I'd like to catch up a bit with my daughter."
"Certainly, Mrs. Torres. I'll be back throughout the day today to check on you." And with that, Cristina headed out and towards her dreaded pediatrics rounds.
Truth be told, Maria Torres had not been sleeping when Cristina Yang had walked in. Cristina had indeed scared the living daylights out of her, but it was because she had been lying there with her eyes closed, listening to Callie converse with Erica. She didn't know Cristina was approaching and her rough manner had truly frightened her. She was frustrated by the interruption because she was enjoying listening to Callie speak with Erica. Erica wanted her to come and stay with them, despite everything that had gone on a few days prior. That showed good character, and it showed how much she cared about Callie. She liked Erica already, but was still unsure of how to handle her being Callie's lover.
"Mrs. Torres, please allow me to apologize on behalf of Dr. Yang. She's my student, but I haven't really had the opportunity to give her remedial lessons in bedside manner." Erica said with a weak smile.
"She's your student, Erica?" Maria Torres attempted to start a neutral conversation as she turned her attention to the blond sitting next to Callie, and took in both the sight of their hands (which now rested in Callie's lap) and the glaring bruise on the blonde's cheek. Little did she know that Cristina Yang was anything but a neutral conversation topic.
"Yes, Mrs. Torres."
"So you allowed her to help with my surgery?"
"Actually, Mrs. Torres, I was incapacitated while giving you CPR. As a result, I was unable to perform your surgery. Dr. Yang did your surgery under the supervision of the surgical chief, Dr. Richard Webber."
"You were incapacitated? Is that- is that when you received your injury?" Mrs. Torres was referring to the bruise that Erica so desperately wished she had been able to cover up with makeup this morning.
Erica turned a fierce shade of red when she responded. "Yes, Mrs. Torres. But Dr. Yang has been taking excellent care of you, despite her antics this morning." Unconsciously, Erica's hand went to her cheek and rested on the bruise there. The bone underneath was still fractured; it would be weeks before it healed, but she was faring well despite it. Erica tried to think of something else to talk about, anything else than the topic of Callie's father and how he came to give her a concussion.
"I had no idea that CPR could be so... dangerous." Maria replied, clearly expecting more of an explanation from Erica.
Sensing Erica's distress, Callie jumped in. "Mom, Dad kicked Erica in the face when she leaned down to do rescue breathing on you. He knocked her out, fractured her cheekbone, and gave her a concussion so bad that she spent the night of your surgery as an inpatient here. She also spent last night in the emergency room due to post-concussion syndrome." Callie ignored the gasp that game from her mother. "Erica has been on medical leave and will be until next week, because she cannot perform surgery with a concussion. Despite that, she's been monitoring your care and making sure that you are all right. She's also been taking care of me while she's been hurt, making sure that I'm all right too."
"Your father did that to her?" Maria asked, astounded at the news.
"Yes. He became so violent that he had to be removed from the room by hospital security, and when they could not control him, the police were called in. He was arrested and spent the night in a holding cell."
Eyes wide, Maria looked from her daughter to Erica and back to Callie again. "I don't know what to say..." Maria began. "Erica, my husband is not a friendly man, but I've never known him to become violent. I'm-" Maria shook her head, unbelieving what she'd just heard. "I'm sorry for what he did to you. No one deserves that."
"It's all right, Mrs. Torres. I'm sure that if you had been awake, you would not have allowed the situation to spiral so far out of control."
"It's not right. Has he apologized to you?" Maria asked.
"No, Mrs. Torres. But I haven't gone out of my way to place myself in your husband's good graces, either. My concern is with the way he treats your daughter. I have a tendency to speak what's on my mind, and when he hurts your daughter, I don't hold back. That's wrong too. I'm sorry for that as well."
"Don't be sorry for defending my daughter." Maria looked at Erica, and was happy with what she saw. This woman had obviously taken both physical and verbal abuse from Callie's father, but she was still glued to Callie's side. She seemed honest and dedicated. Looking to Callie, Maria asked, "Is there anything else that I should know about?"
"Not really, mom. We don't need to talk so much about that stuff. There are so many other things to talk about."
"Calliope, if something else went on while I was sleeping, I would like to know about it."
"Dad just won't speak to me. When he does, he does nothing but yell at me. I can understand why, but he won't even give me a chance to make things right. He's completely cut me out of his life, emotionally, physically, and even financially. I can live without the finances, but I want my dad back. The dad I grew up with- not this guy who has taken his place."
"Ah, mija. No one ever said that this was going to be easy." Maria said.
Erica grinned, and Maria was puzzled. "Is something funny, Erica?"
"Your daughter told me the same thing in the elevator this morning, when I was nervous about meeting you. I was just…" Erica paused, trying to show that she wasn't making fun of the two of them. "I was just impressed by how similar you and Callie are."
"Well, she is my daughter." Maria said as she smiled at Callie. "And we'll work together on getting her father to come around. All three of us, won't we?"
All Callie and Erica could do was beam with happiness. It wasn't going to be easy to win over Jesus Torres, but it was clear that the two of them now had a third ally in the fight.
