Ortho Goddess: Chapter XXVIII
Callie was nervous. Jittery even. She stood there waiting, fidgeting with the ring on her finger while she anxiously eyed the sliding doors in front of her. She was at the arrivals hall of JFK International Airport, waiting for Arizona and Sofia to arrive. The two were coming over for a weekend to go apartment hunting for when they would permanently move to New York in a couple of months.
Ever since Arizona told her she was moving to New York with Sofia, Callie had done some serious soul searching. It had been rough, being confronted with herself. But all in all, she was pretty proud of what she had achieved. She had managed to get some insights into herself and she had realized that she had in fact grown more into herself ever since she had gotten to New York. Yes, she had made some mistakes and pretty much fell flat on her face, but she was here and she was doing well for herself.
Admitting to herself that she missed Arizona in her life had been a huge thing. As scary as it had been, saying it out loud had been cathartic. And it was not as crazy as it sounded. For years, Arizona had been the most important person in her life. It had only been three years since their divorce and it was okay that sometimes she still felt that loss. It was okay that on a cellular level, her body still reacted to Arizona. And it was ironic that it had taken words from Emma to realize that.
Callie chuckled at her own thoughts. That was another thing she had learned from Emma. The Universe sure had its funny way to bring clarity.
Her inner train of thought was derailed by her squealing daughter. "Mama!" Sofia squeaked while running over to Callie and giving her a big bear hug.
"Hey baby," Callie had crouched down to be able to engulf her daughter in a big hug. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you more," Sofia retorted.
Callie kissed Sofia's forehead before getting up and focusing her attention on Arizona. Her blonde ex-wife smiled brightly when their eyes met. "Hi."
It was so tempting to tell Arizona she had missed her too. But she refrained from speaking her mind. It was not right. "Hey, you." Oh yeah, much better. Not.
Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie and pulled her into a warm hug, in which Sofia joined in.
"Ok, can we go house hunting now?" Sofia said when she was done with the hugging. Her remark earned her a chuckle from both her mothers.
"Why don't we first get you settled at mama's?" Arizona offered while she took hold of her suitcase.
"I like this place," Callie said as she looked around the spacious living room. "It's…..you."
Arizona smiled and flashed Callie a questioning look. They had been at it all day and nothing seemed to be good enough. This was the first time Callie managed to say something positive that actually sounded positive.
The raven-haired woman turned to her ex-wife and smiled. "It's bright and open and….well….you."
It made Arizona chuckle. "I am bright and open?"
"Like a ray of sunshine," Callie replied with a grin.
"I like it too," Arizona replied, ignoring Callie's comment for now. "Plus it's close to the school and your place as well. Perfect for Sofia."
Callie nodded and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the nearby park that she could also see from her apartment.
"Are we actually agreeing on something?" Arizona said after a short silence.
She broke into a smile at hearing her ex-wife's remark. "It seems like it," she walked over to pat Arizona on the shoulder. "We've grown."
"We sure have." By the tone of Arizona's voice, it was obvious it meant more than just a joke. "I'm glad we can do this," she added, her tone more serious as her eyes met Callie's.
"Yeah, me too." Those baby blues got her every single time. And the way Arizona was staring at her right now made a shiver go down her spine. It was like the blonde was looking straight into her soul. As if she was trying to read Callie's thoughts. "I'm glad you're here."
Arizona was about to respond, but she was cut off by Sofia barging into the room. "Mommy, I like this one! Come see my room!" Instead of going back to the response, she wanted to give Callie, she grinned and shook her head slightly. "She has that from you."
Callie opened her mouth to reply, but she knew Arizona was right, so she just stood there with her mouth hanging open for a good few seconds while she watched her daughter drag Arizona off into the hallway. Sofia seemed to be taking charge and she had to admit, it was kind of like her. Well, maybe very much so. And she kind of liked it.
She did not get to enjoy the feeling for long though. The sound of her phone ringing rudely disrupted her little moment of pride. She sighed when she saw who was calling her.
"What can I do for you, Chief?"
"Torres, you need to come in."
Callie had not really expected her boss to make a social call on her day off, but this was very unwelcome.
"An ultralight plane crashed into a group of spectators during an airshow, we need you in here."
She rubbed her forehead and nodded. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Callie sighed while hanging up and putting her phone away. She was not happy about having to tell Arizona and Sofia she was not going to be spending the rest of the day with them. She walked towards the sound of her daughter talking a mile a minute and leaned against the doorpost.
"And this wall is gonna be green, just like my room at home," Sofia said as she pointed at the largest wall of the room. "We can pick the colors together, mommy, just like before." The little girl was beaming and it made Callie so, so happy. The big girl next to Sofia seemed to be beaming as well and even though she had not really wanted it to, it did things. It made her feel warm inside and it made it even harder to leave.
As if she had some Spidey sense, Arizona turned to look at Callie. Her expression changed slightly when she saw the look on the dark-haired woman's face.
"Trouble?"
Callie nodded. "I'm so sorry, I got called in."
"It's ok." It truly was, Arizona understood. Callie had taken the day off and had already spent most of it with them. She could not really ask for more.
"I know I promised I'd cook tonight, but….."
"Say no more." Arizona held up her hands and shook her head. "Sofia deserves some real New York pizza after our long flight and long day. I'm sure you'll be able to cook for us some other time."
"Yay, pizza!"
"See?" Arizona said with a smile, honestly trying to make Callie feel better. "It's ok."
Callie smiled back and nodded. "I will definitely cook for you another time."
"Are you already leaving, mama?" Sofia looked slightly disappointed and walked over to her other mother, flashing her a heart-wrenching doe-eyed look. Something she had totally learned from Arizona, Callie was sure of that.
"I'm sorry, baby. I have to go to work."
Sofia wrapped her arms around her mother's midsection and hugged her tight. She was used to this now and mostly understood that sometimes her mothers had no choice. "I can stay at the hotel with mama," she said. "But you have to hurry back, ok?"
Callie closed her eyes for a moment before crouching down to be at eye level with Sofia. "I promise I'll come back as soon as I can, ok?"
"My things are still at the house," Sofia whined. "I need my things."
Dark brown eyes scanned the room as Callie contemplated her option. She got up and reached into her pocket, taking out her key ring. She took out two keys and walked over to Arizona, her eyes meeting her ex-wife's while she put the keys in her hand. "The one with the purple cap is for the front door, the one with the yellow cap is for the apartment door," she said quietly.
Arizona smiled and put her hand on Callie's. "We'll be fine."
Even though it was a simple gesture, Arizona's soft hand on hers seemed to ignite something. Like a bolt of electricity shot straight from the blonde's skin onto hers and back. Callie could see it affected Arizona as well. This was not her filling things in for someone else, this was recognition. She took a deep breath before taking a step back, removing herself from the gravitational pull that was Arizona. "Thank you."
While still putting on her lab coat, Callie made her way into the ER, the hustle and bustle engulfing her the second she stepped into the chaotic room.
"Torres, over here!" Chief Hansen called out. He barely ever got out of his office, so it must really be a big thing. "Thanks for coming in so quickly," he added while handing over a chart to Callie. "Multiple fractures, possible liver lac and fluids in his abdomen, I've already made an appointment for a CT." With that, he walked off.
Callie frowned. If he had done all those things, why did she need to look at this case? She walked closer to the patient and sighed when she recognized him. "Oh no."
"We've got to stop meeting like this," a weak voice groaned.
"Perez, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" The Yankees pitcher had a habit of showing up whenever she least expected it. But this, this topped it all. It was bad.
"So much for seeing a show on my hard-earned day off."
"You've got to stop trying so hard to see me," she teased while she quickly looked over the chart.
Perez laughed, but then winced as laughing seemed to hurt.
"I'll take good care of you, ok? Lieberman here is going to take you up for a CT and I'll make sure to book you in an OR and see if I can get doctor Caplan to assist."
"This must be my lucky day," the man said. "Both of you….that never happens."
Callie chuckled. "If you can still be this charming, your injuries can't be that bad." She focused on the resident that came running. "Lieberman, take this man to CT. Come to me with the results right away, don't let him wait."
It was not long before Callie was elbow deep in surgery. Emma had happily joined her and to complete the party, Anne had come in to fix the bleed in Perez' stomach. Fortunately, his fractures were not that severe and his throwing arm was miraculously unscathed. So apart from having to recover, there would be no serious consequences to his accident.
"Seriously," Emma muttered while she closed up Perez's ankle. "This man needs a babysitter."
Anne chuckled. "Are you volunteering?"
"Ah no, I'd like to be able to do whatever I do successfully."
Callie shook her head, quietly enjoying the banter. It kept her mind off the piles of paperwork she was going to have to do after they had treated all the incoming patients from this accident. And it kept her mind off Arizona. Today had been a good day. Even though she could probably never forget the pain she went through because of her, Callie realized that things had changed. She had changed and she knew Arizona had changed as well. Maybe they had both changed for the better.
It was not until the next morning that things started to slow down and Callie and Emma were sent home.
"So much for your day off," Emma said while she laced her running shoes. She had dressed up in her sports leggings and top, probably getting ready for a run or something.
Callie shrugged. "It's not like it's the first time ever that happened. And I think Arizona found a place she liked, so it's all good."
The blonde next to her looked at her intently with a mischievous grin on her face. "It sure looks like it."
She raised her eyebrow at Emma and crossed her arms in front of her chest after closing her locker. "What looks like what?"
"That everything is all good," Emma replied. "You look happy. Exhausted, but happy."
She smiled as a slight blush crept up her cheeks. "My daughter is back home, I feel whole again."
Emma's face looked like she was about to say something, but she refrained from it. "I'm happy for you, Callie."
Yeah, Callie was happy for herself too. The past few months had been crazy, life had seemed like one big therapy session and now things were starting to look up again. "Thanks, Caplan. Oh, and by the way," she said while she walked towards the door. "You owe me drinks, you were supposed to cover for me."
Emma chuckled. "I did not run a plane into a crowd of spectators, that's not on me. But fine, name the time and place and you're on."
Yes, it had been another good day. She remembered Emma's words from the other day and realized she could not control what was going to happen between Arizona and her. Thinking about it was okay, as long as it did not cause her too much grief. She would just have to take it as it came her way.
Lately, the good days were starting to outshine the bad ones more and more. After Emma left the locker room, Callie sat down on the bench and got out her phone. She sent a quick text to Arizona telling her she would be going home now and that Arizona could drop Sofia off. Callie could spend the morning with their daughter while Arizona could go take care of business.