Chapter 9 - You're All I Need To Get By

When surgeons cut their patients and stitch them back up, it creates a scar. For some, it heals faster. For others, it takes time. Sometimes even if the wounds have long been healed, scars are left. It reminds the patients what they've been through...what they had to endure to heal. And sometimes, when they get hit on the same spot where they used to be cut open, they start to feel how the cut used to hurt.

They feel the ache again.

Like it has always been there.

Like it never really healed.

Sofia was rushed to a hospital a few blocks from the park. Arizona and Callie were in the ambulance with her. Both of her moms didn't even talk through the whole ride. Callie didn't let go of Sofia's hand while Arizona kept stroking Sofia's head.

As the ambulance approached the drop-off area, the paramedic went down from the front seats and gently pulled Sofia's gurney off the back. "Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres, 8 years old. She has head lacerations from the forehead and at the back. She's unconscious. She fell down and hit her head at the playground's hanging bridge." The paramedic said to the attending physician who then asked what the little girl's vitals were.

"Her vitals are stable. Umm...I think you should know that she had a minor brain bleed and a heart failure when she was a baby." Arizona interjected. This made the attending physician question who she is while they enter the emergency ward.

"Dr. Arizona Robbins - Pediatric and Fetal Surgeon at Seattle. I'm her mom. I'm with…" Arizona said but was cut off by Callie.

"Dr. Callie Torres, I'm also her mom. Her head lac needs to be checked and stitched up. She needs a head CT! Stat!" Callie ordered the attending physician while they were pushing Sofia's gurney to a trauma room.

"Whoa! Two doctor moms!" The attending said.

"Dr. Torres, Dr. Robbins...I'm Dr. Lena Atterman, orthopedic surgeon, and I'm in charge of the ER today. I'll take good care of your daughter, okay? I'll find you both after." Dr. Atterman told both ladies respectfully. "...and yes, I will order a head CT, Dr. Torres." The attending physician then called the assisting resident who walked with both Callie and Arizona to the waiting room.

As soon as they got there, Dr. Solivan, the resident, assured both moms, "Dr. Torres, Dr. Robbins...I'm Dr. Pete Solivan. Please wait here. Dr. Atterman and I will be with you in a few. Don't worry. Dr. Atterman is good at what she does…"

"You can't simply tell us not to worry! Just..." Arizona interrupted then sighed deeply. "Just...please take care of our daughter." Arizona irritatedly told the resident while restlessly pacing in the waiting room. She is so overcome with worry that she couldn't even get herself to sit down.

"Update us every hour, please. Thank you." Callie said calmly and politely as she took a seat, copping both her knees with her palms. Dr. Solivan nodded and said, "I know this isn't a good time. But I just would like to say...that I am a BIG follower of your work, Dr. Robbins - on maternal-fetal medicine. I mean, WOW! You rocked that crash course with Dr. Nicole Herman! That was unbelievable! And...I've seen your TEd talk, Dr. Torres. It was incredible how you were able to build cartilage from scratch. And how are you with the robotic limb project? That is …Uh! I don't even have the word it!" Dr. Solivan said, sounding so thrilled and totally fanboying all over the two renowned surgeons.

"There isn't much at the moment," Callie replied, utterly unamused. "You know, you can't give us an update if you're still here?" Arizona sassed Dr. Solivan. He took it as his cue to scram.

Callies scoffs at the attitude Arizona showed. "Hey...he's just doing his job." Arizona ignores the brunette as she continues pacing in the room. It started to make Callie uncomfortable. "Will you please just take a seat?"

The blonde sighed and forced herself to sit down beside Callie. Good thing the waiting room is spacious, with huge glass windows, looking over the north woods side of Central Park. Arizona looked out the window to stare at the trees. Callie tapped Arizona's knee and said, "She'll be alright. We were both there. It was an accident."

"How did you know I was...I...I'm sorry." Arizona told Callie. "No, please! Don't-don't apologize. I know...because you're fidgeting. And you look like you wanna smoke. So please...stop. And don't smoke. God!"

Callie exhaled sharply and put her face into both her palms. It has been a long day for her and Arizona doesn't even know half of it. She doesn't have that much energy left to handle Arizona right now.

"You were right," Arizona said as she turned to Callie. "I've been blaming myself for...for this...and...for the car crash and..."

"PLEASE! Arizona. Stop! I'm not blaming you on anything. Please, if you need to talk to ease your anxiety then, okay, we can talk. Not about this...I can't do this right now." Callie snapped, starting to lose her temper but tries so hard not to. And so they started talking about what Meredith told her. About Alex being charged with assault. How he got a decent lawyer and how Callie made that happen. They've exchanged possible options so Alex could still keep working while the trial is ongoing. Then the text Arizona got from April about the gossip going around on some turf war at Grey-Sloan. Some doctors were fighting over who gets Callie's ortho lab now that she's resigned. Maggie, Nathan, and Mer are in some sort of love triangle. Jo is pretty messed up and De Luca went back to work still looking like crap. This took both of their minds off worrying for Sofia a little bit until both Dr. Atterman and Dr. Solivan came back to update them.

"Sofia's doing fine. CT scans are clear. Her vitals are fine. We've stitched up her lacerations. They were superficial so you have nothing to worry about. She's still unconscious but that's normal for some cases of kids with concussions. We admitted her for observation until she wakes up. I can take you both to her now if you like." Dr. Atterman said and smiled at both Callie and Arizona who were both relieved. Then she gestured for them to follow her to Sofia's patient room.

After a couple of days of being admitted to the hospital, Sofia is now cleared for discharge. She didn't show any deficits and was back to her bubbly and playful self. It is the first great news Callie has ever heard in a week. And it is enough for her to get by.

Callie is exhausted from staying up late monitoring Sofia's condition and talking to the nurses coming in and out of her room. It made the brunette forget about the Penny situation which is great. Meanwhile, Arizona has been getting calls from Grey-Sloan every now then. Alex messed up a patient in Peds. He missed a sign of infection, and now Chief Bailey's pissed and has been asking Arizona if she can come back sooner.

Dr. Atterman came into Sofia's room to check in on the kid and sign her discharge papers. She caught Callie packing up Sofia's stuff inside while Arizona was outside by the door still on her phone.

"All set! You're free to go, Sofia. What do you say about that?" Dr. Atterman asked the little brunette. In which Sofia replied with a big smile and a greeting hug, "I'm feeling awesome, Dr. Lena! Thanks for taking care of me."

"Oh! Sweetie, it was all you. You were a very good patient." Dr. Atterman replied. She's not worried at all to release the kid. "Dr. Torres, can I speak with you for a moment?" Dr. Atterman told Callie who then turned her attention to the attending doctor.

"Sure. Is it Sofia?" Callie asked. "She's fine! She's got two doctors at home, and one of them is a Pediatric surgeon so I am not worried at all. I wanted to talk to you about a job, actually. Okay. Listen, I'm the head of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone, and Dr. Blake told me that..."

"Wait, Blake? As in Dr. Penny Blake?" Callie asked, stopping Dr. Lena Atterman from talking. She was surprised to hear Penny's name come up in their conversation.

"Yeah! Dr. Blake and I went to the same med school. We cross paths here once in a while when she isn't all caught up with the Preminger research. Anyway, I've looked you up and I am pretty impressed with you all your work. With your misshapen legs case, the first surgeon ever to build cartilage from basically nothing, and the robotic prosthetic limbs project. I have to say...I am shocked that Grey-Sloan let you resign," Dr. Atterman said, impressed with Callie's credentials. This made the ortho surgeon pull up a big smile. It has been a while since she heard anyone compliment her on a professional level. In fact, no one in Grey-Sloan truly appreciated how great of a doctor she is the whole ten years she's been there.

Callie didn't take Dr. Atterman's offer upfront though. She has a lot on her mind at the moment. Penny's name being mentioned didn't do much of a help. But the ortho chief was kind enough to give the Latina a few days to think about her offer.

"Here's my business card. Think about it. To say the least, Dr. Torres, it would be our honor to have Seattle's ortho goddess on our team." Dr. Atterman told Callie as she handed over her business card and left Sofia's room.

By the end of the week, Callie and Sofia have finally settled in a fully furnished apartment near the park. It has a modern rustic fireplace beside the entrance. There's an open space, cozy living room welcoming whoever walks in. The white brick walls added texture to the whole interior of the living space. There is floor to ceiling, wide, glass windows with blackout curtains. It's overlooking the park right across. Sofia has a big room all for herself. And of course, Callie took the master's bedroom. The apartment also has this spacious kitchen area with a bar counter that Callie loves. There are all-white kitchen cabinets with a separate fridge exclusively for wine bottles. It was the perfect space for the girls. It has the right balance of frowny and smiley as Arizona describes it.

Arizona has signed all the paperwork for the school that both she and Callie have agreed to. Sofia was so thrilled. The moment the young Latina stepped inside Barton's, she instantly loved it. Mostly because of the open playground with slides, swings, and sandbox. Plus, she was told that sometimes teachers allow kids to draw on their notebooks. Those little things are big deal makers for the little one. But the diversity, science programs, and curriculum of the school were the ones for her parents.

"Okay. So I've called in and scheduled the courier to pick up your boxes back at your place. I've emailed you the details and their contact info. I've made a shared calendar for both of us so I'd know Sofia's schedules as well as yours. That would make visiting schedules much easier. And oh! The movers' schedule is up there too. So make sure you're home when your stuff arrives." Arizona told Callie while standing by the bar counter at the new apartment, navigating through her laptop and checking the list from her planner notebook.

Meanwhile, Callie was just seated on a high chair by the bar counter beside Arizona. She's holding her half-full red wine glass while staring at her ex-wife like she's trying to memorize every feature on Arizona's face.

"And oh! Please do not do any heavy lifting when the boxes get here. I know you think you can do it yourself. But please...don't. Let them do all the work." Then the blonde turned to look at Callie, "Hey! Are you even listening to me? Do you need me to write these down?"

Arizona finally notices that Callie isn't paying much attention to what she's saying. The blonde is such a control freak sometimes. She has arranged everything from the plane tickets; to the itinerary for her whole stay in the city; to checking Sofia's school requirements four times including right before she handed them over; and now she's making sure everything's checked out and set for both Callie and Sofia before she leaves.

"Of course! Calendar. Movers. No lifting." Callie replies, mocking Arizona's little frantic mood, and then takes a big sip of red wine. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Callie kindly asked Arizona, her voice a little raspy, squinting her eyes a bit. The blonde was taken aback and got a questioning look on her face. She's wondering as to what Callie would want to talk to her about. Was this about Penny? Are they back together? Or maybe, that didn't work? Wait, is she gonna ask me to stay? All these thoughts quickly ran through Arizona's mind. She took a seat on the chair next to Callie while her gaze was locked into dark brown eyes.

"Look, we've worked together for years. On several occasions, I've seen you attend to emergency cases. I've watched you conduct surgeries under pressure, and sometimes with unexpected patient conditions." Callie said but then Arizona couldn't help but react, "Callie, I don't understand...wh-what are you trying to say."

"Sofia got into an accident and you froze. You never freeze. I think...on anything." Callie paused, gauging her ex-wife's reaction. "What...what happened to you back there?" Callie finally asked, her voice soft and subtle. She's a little unsure of how Arizona would take it. Callie doesn't want to get into a fight or argue with her. She didn't want Arizona to feel uncomfortable. They've never talked about how the car accident affected her. When Callie saw how Arizona reacted when she saw Sofia was hurt, the Latina realized that she never asked Arizona about how she felt, what she went through, and if she ever got over it.

"Ah. Wow. We're doing this now. Okay." Arizona said with a sigh and then cleared her throat to buy her a little time to think. And then she continued, "I still have nightmares about it sometimes. Dreams about the car crash, the woods, my leg. Sometimes it wakes me up in the middle of the night. It still does, every now and then."

"On most nights after the car accident, I'd see you in my dreams. Your body that went through the windshield, broken glasses and blood everywhere, the gasping sound you made, the helplessness I felt. I couldn't remember how we got to the ER, honestly. Everything went blurry after that. Then, I remember Mark and I bickering over who to save - you or Sofia." Arizona paused, and made an uncomfortable laugh. She recalls Mark telling her that they should choose Callie over Sofia.

"You don't know this...and I think...I think this is the first time you're gonna hear it."

"You know what Mark said when I insisted on saving Sofia?" Arizona looked at Callie with an awkward smile. Callie shakes her head.

"He said you can always have another baby. But we cannot have another Callie. He'd screw you again for another baby if that's what it takes, he said." This made both ladies laugh. They both know how Mark can be out of his mind sometimes. Both of them paused to catch their breath from the laughter. Their mind drifted into feeling how much they miss Mark.

Arizona continued while wiping a little tear from her eye from laughing, " He was right! We cannot have another you. You were unconscious for several weeks. Shepherd couldn't guarantee that you'd ever wake up. Or if you wouldn't have deficits if you did."

"I prayed. For the first time in a long time, I think in my whole adult life. I prayed...for you...and Sofia. They were all over you, trying to keep you alive. Mark has Lexie. You have everyone. And I?" Arizona exhaled sharply. She can feel the heaviness she felt during those times as if it was yesterday. Callie was just staring, listening intently to Arizona. She can't believe herself. After all these years, how could she not know what the accident must've been like for Arizona?

"And then, it came down to removing all the tubes they had on you. Mark and I didn't think you would like extraordinary measures when you…" Arizona continued but couldn't finish that sentence. "I-I wasn't able to sleep at all. I went back and forth between the ICU and the NICU for you and Sofia. Alex...Alex was the only one who looked after me and my patients then. Because I couldn't leave your side. I was so afraid that I'd lose you. You are the only one I have." Arizona could no longer stop the tears that had been building up in her eyes. Callie noticed this but she wanted Arizona to keep on talking because she has never let this all out, ever. Callie handed some tissues and began stroking Arizona back.

"It took me a while to get into a car again. You wouldn't notice because we had Mark to drive us back then...and sometimes I would bully you to do it." Arizona chuckled and continued, "I used to watch you sleep. To make sure you are still breathing beside me." She let out an awkward laugh while wiping her tears. "I would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. Sometimes when I jolt, it'd wake you up which always makes me feel relieved. Because I know you're breathing. The only thing that eases me to sleep then is when I move closer to you and feel you breathing."

"Creep?" Callie put on a big smile for Arizona to make things a little lighter. "Shut up! You do it too!? You watch me sleep for days after the shooting." Arizona rolled her eyes and teased Callie. "Alright! I did. Whatever."

"When I saw Sofia was hurt...it brought back all that, Callie. I console my patient's parents all the time and now...I..am that parent." Arizona pushed Callie's shoulder playfully. "...and it's your fault! You and your aching womb!" Both ladies' laughter filled the room. They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Both Arizona and Callie were puzzled as to who could that be. They are not expecting anyone. And they haven't told anyone the new apartment's address yet. Then Sofia came running from her room to the door, "I'll get it!" Sofia said, shouting while running towards the door. Callie tried to stop Sofia from running because she just got out of the hospital and because they have no idea who could've been on the other side of the door.

Callie didn't catch Sofia so the little one got to open the door. "GRANDPA!" Sofia excitedly greeted her abuelo, Carlos Torres. "OH! My beautiful granddaughter!" Carlos greeted Sofia with kisses and lifted her up to his arms.

"Dad?" Callie was shocked, wondering how he knew where she was. Even Arizona couldn't believe what she's seeing.

Author's Notes: Your comments and passionate response about knowing Penny is with someone else is incredible. I wasn't planning for that to happen, to be honest. Sometimes I feel like the story is writing itself, and I'm just typing the words.

Keep holding on tight because Callie Torres and Mr. Carlos Torres has some important story to tell in the next chapter.

You know the drill, please leave with your reactions on this one. :)