Chapter 15 - Just Give Me A Reason

Cut skin heals. Hair grows back. Nails. Liver.

The human body adapts and regenerates. If you give it time, let it breathe, isolate it. It recuperates. Ready to conquer the world again.

They say emotional and psychological wounds should be treated like any other physical wounds.

So maybe, if we give ourselves time, let ourselves breathe, step away from chaos, we'll eventually heal. Ready to live another day - and another and another.

Maybe.

Just maybe.

"Oh! Thank God!" Callie said, exhaling sharply. Relieved to hear the knock on the door. The 911 dispatcher sent some people over to the apartment to help. The brunette is sweating, stressed, and exhausted all at the same time. Having her surgical hand stuck in the garbage disposal equates to a threat to her career — and for that matter — her life.

"Coming!" Sofia yelled out in the door's direction then turned back to her mom.

"I'll be right back, Mama." Not waiting for Callie's response, the little one rushed to the door.

Callie feels helpless. She really wanted to make it up to Sofia and do something special. It certainly didn't include calling 911 on a school morning. Just when Callie thought she's doing everything right. Making a living as an attending in a new hospital, in a new city, took a lot of her time and energy. Being a doctor is as much of a full-time job as being a single mom. Sofia misses school, comes in class late, tucks into bed by a babysitter. To Callie, she is failing motherhood in flying colors.

In emergencies like this, first responders are usually paramedics, police officers, or firefighters, whoever is the nearest to the location. Sofia opened the door and was greeted by three firefighters.

"Hi, NYFD. You must be Sofia?" One of the firefighters asked. She's with two more guys who are holding medical supplies and some tools.

Sofia nodded, shocked to see them. She knows some people are coming over, but she did not expect them to look like this.

"I'm Vicky. We're here to help your mom."

Vicky, the captain, and her team were all wearing their station uniforms. Vicky is right in front of Sofia, but her eyes are on Steve. He's about 6'2" with arms that could lift up a bus. Someone would've mistaken him to be Dwayne Johnson but in his early 30's. Frankly, he could be his long-lost younger brother. Sofia is used to seeing people in lab coats and blue scrubs, but this is different.

Sofia went from shocked to scared. Vicky saw the look on Sofia's face so she tried to appease the kid.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't be scared." Vicky continued as she leaned down to Sofia's eye level to get the kid's attention.

"Has anybody ever told you you're brave? You did a great job looking after your mom until we get here."

"Where is she, anyway? Can you show us?"

Sofia let Vicky and her team inside their house. The kid led the way towards the kitchen where Callie is.

"She's in here," Sofia told the firefighters then gestured to her mom.

"They're here. Everything's gonna be alright. " Sofia told Callie, giving her a hug.

The little one managed to grab Callie's phone from the counter before stepping aside to give Vicky's team the room to work on her mom.

"I'm Dr. Callie Torres, it's in between blades. I can feel it bleeding and it hurts. It really hurts." Callie, not wasting any more time, presented her case to Vicky's team as soon as she saw them.

"I'm Vicky. You're a doctor?" Vicky introduced herself as she placed the medical kit on top of the kitchen counter.

"Surgeon...at Langone. I haven't slept for almost …" Callie checks the time, then raises her eyebrows in surprise.

"36 hours."

"Please get my hand out of this thing." Callie pleaded. She's getting more uncomfortable having strangers over their house while wearing nothing but a robe, than having her hand grind into pieces.

"Dr. Torres, I'm Steve. How long have you been stuck?" Steve asked while filling up the forms on a tablet. Callie tried her level best to answer all the questions. But how much more patient can she be?

As soon as he finished jotting down the incident details, Steve went under the sink to unplug the garbage disposal. Dave puts on latex gloves then pulls out a syringe and vial of painkillers while Vicky looks over the sink with a flashlight.

"We can't just pull you out. We need to dismantle the disposal first. " Vicky informed the brunette.

"Tell me something I don't already know," Callie responded, grumpy.

"You still have sensations in your hand, right?" Vicky asked again, ignoring Callie's sassy attitude.

"I'm in pain! So, yes, I can still feel something." Callie confirmed, pissed that she was even asked that question.

Sofia heard Callie raising her voice. That tone is awfully familiar to the little girl. In Seattle, both her moms used to bicker almost every night. That was way back when they were living together in a house. The one with a swing set which all three of them used to love.

The little brunette stepped further away leaving her mama with the firefighters. She sat on a couch in the living room just across the kitchen area. Sofia's far from the situation but not too far to see what's going on with her mom. Sofia then dialed Arizona through Callie's phone. The kid is so scared. She doesn't understand why Callie is so pissed and frantic. The poor kid thinks her mom is mad at her and seeing her snap brings back a lot of bad memories of her moms' divorce. No one is there to make her feel better. Her first instinct was to look for her other mom.

"Ma'am, I'm Dave. I'm gonna give you something for the pain, okay?" Dave informed Callie while pulling up her sleeve to inject a dose of painkillers.

"Didn't I mention that I'm a surgeon? I need my hands." Callie reiterated. To her, it seems like Vicky's team is taking their own sweet time before actually attending to her hand.

"You are in luck. Vicky here is the best medic in New York. You're in safe hands." Steve chimed in while kneeling down beside Callie checking the situation under the sink.

"Right." Callie couldn't care less about what Steve said. All she cares about is not being stuck.

"I assume you know that time is a factor here." The brunette told Vicky then looked at Steve beside her. Making Steve aware that he needs to work faster.

"The more your hand stays in there, the more we compromise the circulation. We'll get you out as soon as possible." Vicky gives Callie a hint that they know what they are doing without taking any offense. Though the captain is feeling the pressure of having a doctor as a vic.

Doctors are the worst patients. They're such know-it-alls. They're entitled to it. They're doctors. They are supposed to know everything. Still, it doesn't make Vicky's team's work any easier.

"How long can you dismantle this thing?" Callie turned to Steve again. She's starting to feel lightheaded. It's hard to know now if it's from the lack of sleep, the painkiller or if her hand is getting more and more infected by the minute.

"From what I can see..." Steve replied, looking intently at the pipes under the sink.

"Can you do it in under 45 minutes?" Callie interrupted Steve's slow thinking.

"We will," Dave confirmed as he bent down to help Steve pull the disposal apart.

"We'll make sure you keep all of your fingers, Dr. Torres." Vicky guaranteed, sensing how anxious and fatigued the brunette must be.

"I was making my daughter some breakfast - Sofia dropped a little shoe. It was instinct - I tried to grab it and then my wedding ring - It's stupid." Callie started talking. It helps her get her mind off the pain and fear of losing her hand. She can't believe how she managed to put herself in this situation.

"Well, hang in there, okay? We'll do our best." Vicky reassures Callie as she gives her a sympathetic look. Being intuitive that she is, the brunette felt the sincerity to Vicky's sympathy.

"ALL RIGHT!" Steve yelled suddenly, startling Callie.

"I got the first disposal basin out!"

"GOD! Can you not do that please?" Callie howled. Her heart skipped a beat. Steve scared the hell out of her. She almost thought her hand got sliced or something far worse than that.

"Steve!" Vicky glazed over while getting Callie's vitals. Steve grinned and ducked. He was just trying to say something positive to break the ice.

Meanwhile, Sofia managed to get a hold of Arizona on the phone. It was still early in the morning and it seemed like a slow day at Grey-Sloan's Peds and Fetal wing. Arizona is studying the OR board with a whiteboard pen in hand, and looking at her surgery scheduled for the day. Then her phone rings.

"Callie?!" Arizona told herself while looking at her phone screen. She then immediately picked up the call, unsure why her ex-wife was calling this early.

"Mommy! It's me." Sofia responded across the phone line.

"Oh hey, little miss. How're you? You're on mama's phone? What's going on? " Arizona asked softly, surprised to hear Sofia's voice.

"Not good," Sofia said, uncertain what to tell her mommy.

"What do you mean? Where you at? Where's mama?" Arizona asked rapidly, trying so hard to keep her calm. She needed more than just 'not good'.

"Her hand got stuck in the sink. I think it's my fault. I'm scared, mommy." Sofia said and started to cry. She's been holding it in so as not to draw Callie's attention to her. The kid has no idea what to do and where to put herself in the situation. She's too young to understand what's at stake that's causing her mom's temper. All she knows is that her mama looks scared so she gets the same feeling too.

"Oh, honey. I'm sure it's not your fault. Can you tell me what's happening now?" Arizona asked her daughter softly. Her heart breaks hearing Sofia cry and she isn't beside her to comfort her daughter. She's also so worried about what could've happened. The little one told Arizona that Callie tried to save her Barbie's shoe and the next thing she knows is that her mom's hand never came off. And now, the NYFD are in their apartment trying to help Callie pull her hand out.

But why was it there in the first place? It's unlike Callie to do such a thing. Arizona thought. Arizona wanted to know more so she asked Sofia to just keep the line on so she could hear what's going in the apartment.

Callie looked around to find Sofia as she noticed the kid wasn't around the kitchen anymore. She vaguely saw her sitting on a couch but did not notice that the little girl was on her phone.

"There she is." Callie whispered to herself. Vicky couldn't help but hear.

"I don't know which one's more stupid. Putting my wedding ring back on or sticking my hand in here for a doll's shoe." Callie chuckled, wiping the sweat on her forehead with her free hand.

"You're married? Do you want us to call your husband?" Vicky asked.

"Wife."

"Ex-wife, actually. We got divorced before Sofia and I moved here." Callie sighed.

"It's a mess. Everything's a mess. I'm so scared that I'll mess her up too." She gestured in Sofia's direction.

"And now...I might lose my hand and my career too..."

"My wife would always say I'm the strong one. But I'm not. I've been working my ass off, raising a kid alone, and running a household. You don't realize you need your other half until they aren't around anymore."

"That sucks. Wait, you were divorced - but you still wear your ring?" Vicky couldn't resist asking.

"I know. Stupid, right? You know, what? Pathetic might be the right word." Callie replied with a sigh of frustration.

"It's not stupid or pathetic. Sometimes things just get complicated and scary," Vicky negated. Steve and Dave overheard it and made them both look at their captain without Vicky noticing.

"This morning I was so nervous and - panicky...so I ran to the nearest pizza place to brush it off. And made love to the most delicious four-cheese pizza in New York." Vicky continued while Callie listened intently.

"I couldn't gather all the strength I needed to break up with my boyfriend...whom I share an apartment with. I was thinking - so do I break up with him and go homeless or be miserably sheltered?" Vicky said, making both of them chuckle. Talking really worked as Callie is now more at ease.

"You want her back, right?" Vicky asked. Callie didn't respond. She looked at Vicky and she just understood.

"You are not stupid or pathetic. It's frightening to be vulnerable, and it's okay." Vicky said. Steve and Dave looked at each other from under the sink. Both of them realized that their captain is opening up her story to a total stranger. A story they haven't heard before.

"You are strong." Vicky continued.

"No, I'm not." Callie scoffs.

"Are you kidding me?" Steve couldn't help but interrupt and stood up to look at Callie and Vicky.

"Admitting that you're scared and still keep going is amazing. Look, my folks, wouldn't even handle raising a kid together as well as you do. And they're not even divorced. I mean, look at your kid. She's smart, she behaves, and - she seems like a good kid.

"You are strong and, I think, you're honorable. Single moms are the best." Steve said.

"Give yourself time. Love yourself more. You'll get there. You'll figure it out and get your family back together." Vicky told Callie. How impulsive of her to share such personal stuff with people she just met? Callie thought. Well, that's just how she processes things and it was worth a shot.

"All right. I think we're ready. I dislodged the last of the blades." Dave said.

"Alright, let's - uh - let's get you out. On three…" Vicky told Callie.

Vicky's team successfully pulled out Callie's hand. Her fingertips were in a dark shade of red from hanging too long with limited blood supply. She couldn't feel them at this point. Her wrist and palm are covered with cuts from the blades and there's blood all over her hand.

"Oh, would you look at that..." Callie said, holding her hand up while looking at the ring on her finger.

"Not a scratch!" She exclaimed and smiled, referring to her wedding ring.

Steve started cleaning all the blood from Callie's hand and then wrapped it in gauze. Dave put the disposal back together and put away the mess.

"You need to get it checked. It doesn't hurt now because of the painkillers we gave you. As soon as it wears out, it's gonna hurt a lot. I'd tell you to see a doctor but you already are the doctor," Vicky told Callie as she cleared the medical supplies out the kitchen counter.

"Yeah. I can take it from here. And...thank you." Callie replied, looking at Vicky and her team.

"...for saving my hand and my wedding ring - and the talk."

"Just doing my job. We saved your hand. Now, you can save your marriage. Go get the girl!" Vicky said, giving Callie a sympathetic smile. The brunette smiled back and thought, if only it was that easy.

Sofia is still on the phone with Arizona. The blonde heard Callie's conversation with Vicky and her team and immediately realized what April was trying to tell her all along. If she is being truly honest with herself, she has been in denial for the past few months since leaving New York.

Sensing that the NYFD are about to leave, Arizona asked Sofia, "How's mama doing now? Does she still look scared? And hey! Don't let her see you looking. We're just observing - we're observers. Like a - like a detective."

"Okay. Like a spy?" Sofia asked, innocently.

"Aah. Yeah. No. Uhm. Yeah. Sort of." Arizona totally thinks that this is bad parenting. She's setting a bad example to her daughter but she goes on with it anyway. This one time wouldn't hurt, would it?

"Uhmm. She looks much better now. She's smiling. She got her hand back. I can take a picture…" Sofia said, sneakingly looking at her mom who's still talking to Vicky's team as they prepare to leave the apartment.

"NO! No, no, no. She'll - We're on her phone...seems like everything's alright now. So - okay... can you look after your mom for me please? Make sure she's okay? I'll call you back as soon as I can. I just - I gotta go." Arizona told Sofia.

Sofia then hung up and did as she was told. She quickly ran up to Callie and made sure she's fine. Both girls didn't have the appetite to eat the pancakes so they ordered pizza instead.

Back at Grey-Sloan, Arizona is still standing in front of the OR board. Her eyes are on the board but her mind is in New York. What is she gonna do with everything she heard? Why did Callie put her ring back on? What about Penny? That's emotional cheating, right? Is Callie cheating on Penny for her?

"Did she say she needs me? 'Save our marriage', she wanted the divorce, why would she..." Arizona contemplates. She knows that the love that they have for each other is still there and always will be. The blonde couldn't make sense why Callie would still stay miles away and be with someone else if she wants to give them another try. It all doesn't make sense to her. There are a million why's in her head.

"Robbins, have you met the new resident?" Peirce came walking in on Arizona, interrupting her thoughts. She came in with Riggs who's updating a patient chart through a tablet.

"She is great. No, she's amazing. She's better than some of our attendings." Peirce continued, moving closer to Arizona, making sure she had her attention.

"Hold on a second." Riggs interrupted Peirce, taking offense to what she said, realizing he is one of Grey-Sloan's attendings.

"I didn't even know we got a new resident." Arizona, ignoring Riggs reaction, is surprised to hear about a new hire she has not heard of. She's on the board and is one of those people who review doctor's profiles before hiring them.

"Yeah, Webber just hired her," Peirce explained briefly and then noticed that the new hire is fast approaching.

"She's...Hold on." Peirce walked away for a quick second to get the new hire and introduce her to Robbins.

Peirce comes back behind Robbins. "Dr. Robbins, this is…" Pierce attempted to start the introduction.

"...Murphy!" Robbins exclaimed to her dismay. The universe couldn't be crueler to her these days.

"Dr. Robbins. Hi." Murphy replied, unamused of Robbins' disappointed look.

"You guys know each other?" Riggs asked Robbins, wondering. The blonde is mouth-opened shocked. Alternately looking at Riggs and Murphy.

"Uhm..." Robbins doesn't know how to respond to that question in the simplest possible way. What can she exactly tell them without recalling every tiny bit of detail about why she despises the fact that the new hire is her ex-fling?

"Yes." Murphy cut the awkward silence and responded instead.

Robbins turned from Riggs to Murphy. "Leah...Doctor...Dr. Murphy used to…" She said, stuttering.

"I used to work here." Murphy clarified.

"Yes." Robbins instantly confirms.

"I have patients," Arizona said then walked away leaving the world's most uncomfortable conversation.

She sprinted as fast as she could away. The woman who filed a disciplinary report to her ex-wife just because she got her heart broken is back. But why? At the end of the hall, Arizona spotted Richard talking to Catherine. She thought, great!

Without thinking it through, she cut in on their seemingly serious conversation.

"You hired LEAH MURPHY back?" Robbins asked Webber so loudly making Catherine Avery, part-owner of Grey-Sloan, have her attention.

"Why? Wha - WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Robbins interrogated Webber.

"Well, with Blake gone, it seemed like perfect timing," Webber replied hesitantly, looking at Catherine for support but the lady boss just stared at him blankly, waiting for how he would respond to the question too.

"I thought you fired her because she wasn't cut out to be a surgeon." Robbins reminded him, subtly insisting that he made a mistake.

"Yeah, why would you bring her back?" Catherine echoed Robbins' point. The blonde looked at Catherine nodding, liking the way she was being supportive of her.

"Well, she did the work to prove me wrong," Webber explained calmly looking at Catherine.

"...and Foster's Residency Director said she excelled there," He turns to meet Robbins' eyes.

"...and I think she deserved a second chance." He continued while Robbins and Catherine were staring at him like he was not making any sense.

"What? Don't you believe in second chances?" He asked, puzzled.

"NO!" Robbins exclaimed then walked away in disappointment. Catherine looks at Robbins as the blonde turns her back while Webber looks clueless, pissing off the ladies.

Catherine then looked at Webber with disapproving eyes. "I mean. Um!" She groans then walks away too, leaving Webber oblivious to what just happened in their conversation.

-break-

Arizona might've jinxed the slow morning at Grey-Sloan. On her way to check her patients' lab results, the blonde received April's page for a consult on a kid with possible head trauma. The redhead got a heads up on an MVC coming their way prior to that. So the peds surgeon then rushed to the pit to find Kepner and her consult.

As soon as she got to the ER, April immediately saw her, "Robbins! Good, you're here. Patient in trauma 2 needs you. Robbie Reeves, 12, MVC. He's got small scalp lacerations." The redhead said.

"Sounds neuro. There's Shepherd. She can handle that." Robbins replied, hopped her way to the ER nurse counter.

"Oh hey! I need to talk to you about something." Robbins said, leaning over to counter, changing the subject. She's not wrong about how the case sounds. Good thing Amelia and Owen are in the pit as well putting on their yellow trauma gown.

"About what exactly?" April asks as she picks up the tablet to update the ER board.

"Callie." Robbins grinned. She knows how tired April must've been hearing her talk about Callie all the time.

"I can't do this right now, Robbins - " April said, looking at Arizona with pity.

"...and Murphy's here! AGAIN!" Arizona said, rolling her eyes.

"What - wait, like for a visit? What's she doing here?" April asked.

"Exactly! I asked Webber the same question -" Arizona tried to tell April but they got interrupted by the kid's dad going ballistic.

"Okay. I really can't talk with you right now. If you're not gonna look at this kid - I'll go find you later. Okay? I gotta go." April told Arizona as she walked towards a pile of yellow trauma gowns.

The blonde smirked and let April do her job. Arizona really needs to talk to someone about this or her mind is gonna blow. So she thought of looking for Karev.

"Oh crap!" Arizona heard the beep on her phone and saw the 911 page from the NICU. She answered the page and ran as fast as her prosthetics would let her.

She attended to babies after babies and moms after moms. It made her forget about the strangest day she has been having. Once her patients were all good, charts updated, and signed, she could finally have her bite to eat.

The peds surgeon went into the cafeteria to grab some food. Luckily, she found Karev sitting with Pierce. Finally, some people she can talk to.

"Did Pierce tell you about her new favorite resident?" Robbins asked Karev as she sat on the lunch table and looked at Pierce. She took a sip of her juice while waiting for Karev's response.

"I can't operate, so I don't care," Karev replied while shoving food in his mouth. He was just stealing a quick second to eat before going back to get the biopsy result for a patient.

Arizona sips awkwardly out of a straw in her drink.

"I mean, technically, it's an old resident." Her exhale sounded stressed and familiar to Karev so it made him look at the blonde.

"Leah Murphy." Robbins continued.

"She's back?" Karev asked with a mouthful of food.

"I love her," Peirce confirms. Both Karev and Robbins looked at the cardio surgeon wondering what she exactly meant.

"Really great suture techniques, steady hands." Peirce continued.

'Steady hands?' - Karev and Robbins looked at each. Karev smirked and flashed a dirty look at Robbins. They both know how "steady" Murphy's hands were. Karev scoffed at the thought. The blonde almost choked up from her drink.

Shepherd coming from a corner behind Peirce, holding her food tray, joined them at the table. Robbins tries to catch her breath, forcing herself to keep it together.

Pierce saw Shepherd about to sit beside her and asked, "How are you?"

"Great," Shepherd replied with subtle sarcasm.

"Married. Newlywed of two months...going strong. Super strong." She continued, stabbing the lettuce on her plate with a fork and looking at her salad like it's her marriage that she's about to murder.

"Can Webber really rehire her? I mean, I am on the board." Robbins asked, looking at Shepherd but then turned to Pierce.

"What is the problem?" Pierce asked, unaware of what really is up with the blonde weirdly hanging up on the subject.

"We needed a new resident, and she's a good one," Pierce explained her point.

"Robbins slept with her." Karev blurted out.

"So did Alex!" Robbins instantly rebuttal, pointing to Karev. She then starts to stress-eat the apple on her tray.

"If you go there, be careful. She gets attached." Karev warned Pierce. This conversation made Amelia uncomfortable. She can't handle other people's issues when she's getting all stressed out on her own too.

"Excuse me." Shepherd then stood up with her tray and left their lunch table.

"Really? You and Alex?" Pierce asked. She couldn't believe how often residents and attendings could get too personal at this place.

"I mean, you were with Torres, right?" She continued.

"Yeah, we - we're…" Robbins tried to explain herself.

"Yeah, she did Boswell too." Karev just added fuel to the fire.

"Alex!" Robbins turns red.

"That was different! When Murphy and I - Look, we were on a break. Callie and I. And we were - we're seeing other people." She attempts to redeem her dignity to her colleague.

"No, you were seeing other people." Karev cut her off again, chuckled.

"Shut it!" Robbins yelled out.

At this point, Pierce couldn't take a bite of her food. There's too much gossip in the hospital and they're just talking about this one person.

"So you slept with an intern? And then she got fired?" Pierce tries to put two and two together.

"NO! It wasn't like that." Robbins deferred.

"I hate you!" She turned to Alex. He didn't mind. A beep prompted Karev to check his phone. He got paged back to the clinic so he got up with his tray and left. Leaving Arizona and Maggie to finish the conversation.

Robbins took a big bite of her apple hoping Maggie would let the subject go.

"So what really happened? Why was she fired?" Pierce asked.

Arizona then told Pierce almost the whole story. Why was she with Murphy while still married to Callie? The complaints. How Murphy did in her year at Grey-Sloan. The reason she was fired. Maggie went silent. She started to question her own judgment and became uncertain about Murphy. Taking advantage of the silence, Arizona geared to change the topic.

"Can I ask you a hypothetical question?" The blonde wondered.

"Do I have a choice?" Maggie asked, but was immediately ignored. Finally had the chance to actually eat.

"If you overheard your ex say things like 'they need you', 'wanting you to come to stay - in the middle of an airport', or putting their wedding ring back on - hypothetically, what would you do?" Arizona asked, leaving Maggie's face confused.

"I think it's romantic," Maggie said then took a beat to swallow the food in her mouth.

"Hypothetically," She clears her throat.

"I would go talk things through with this person. You know, rip off the bandage. You've known this person for years, I'm assuming." She continued, totally getting the vibe that Arizona is talking about Callie.

"So, I think - with all the bumps and bruises - you need to ask yourself. Is this relationship broken beyond repair? Or just bent? Hypothetically. Of course." Maggie stared at the blonde.

"You know what? I'm gonna have to leave you to it. Patient's scans are in." Maggie told Arizona while looking at her phone then she took off. The blonde attempted to make Maggie stick around for a little bit longer.

"Wait."

"Ugh."

-break-

Callie managed to steal a nap in an on-call room after she dropped Sofia at school. She stares at her phone, and wonders if she should call Arizona to tell her what happened to her today. Her hand is pulsating in ache as the painkillers might've worn off by now. Instead of calling, Callie decided to have her hand checked.

She approached the nurse station at Langone's surgical wing to sign herself up for some tests. Sullivan came walking by from a surgery he just finished.

"Torres, where've you been? Had too much fun last night, huh?" Pete asked, teasing, then he noticed that Callie's hand is wrapped up in gauze.

"Does this look fun? I don't think so." Callie showed Pete her injured hand.

"Ouch! What the hell happened? Come here. Let me see that, then tell me everything." Pete told Callie. He then wrapped an arm around Callie's shoulder, the brunette rested her head to Pete's chest as he held and escorted her to an exam room.

The brunette felt comfort knowing Pete is there to take care of her. She is exhausted from doing everything by herself. Feeling safe in someone's arms is the thing she never thought she needed.

Callie sat on the exam table while Pete pulled out a chair. He slowly unwrapped her left hand and noticed all the cuts from her wrist to her palm. Her fingertips are a mess. He couldn't help but notice that her finger looked like it used to be tightly wrapped around by something thin.

"What happened here?" He asked.

Callie sighed, "Uhmm...my ring got in the way. Then it got stuck in the garbage disposal." She explained.

"Jeez! Wait, what ring? You don't wear a ring." He asked again, looking confused.

"It was my wedding ring," Callie replied intentionally slurring her words, ashamed of admitting the facts.

"I'm sorry, what? Did you say your wedding ring?" Pete stepped back, looking all judgy.

"I know! I know! Atterman and I got seriously drunk last night. Things escalated and - " Callie explained further.

"YOU SLEPT WITH ATTERMAN?" Pete exclaimed, jumping to a conclusion.

"God - NO!" Callie hit Pete in the head playfully.

"Aww!"

"Why would I put my ring back on if I did? Moron!" She clarified, ridiculed by Pete's assumption.

"OK - okay. Whatever. We've all been trying to figure out why Atterman was all grumpy this morning. Missed rounds. Moved all her surgeries. Assign the minor ones to me. I thought she must be really getting old and tired." He told Callie.

"Hey! Be nice. That woman told me half of the things I didn't know about the woman I used to be married to." Callie defended Lena.

"Oh! So you and the amazon woman are a thing now, ha?" Pete teased the brunette again while tending her mangled hand.

"Me and Atterman? Really?" Callie asked sarcastically.

"Hell, no!"

"Wait. Do I really seem like the kind of person who jumps from one relationship to another? One bad decision to another?" She asked again.

Pete shrugs.

"No, really?"

"Am I crazy? Am I that impulsive? I mean it has been months since Penny and I - I thought… I was thinking, maybe we should go back with Arizona...to Seattle." Callie bombarded Pete, making him pause and look at her with caring eyes. He thinks that sometimes Callie cannot see that she is the one sabotaging her life.

"Look, you said you moved here not for Penny but for you and Sofia. For a fresh start. Now, have you actually started fresh?" Pete asked, putting on a serious face.

"Listen," He said, then held Callie's hands.

"I'm your friend and I love you. Heck, I think I'm more than just your friend. I'm your best friend in this place. But honey, you're still doing the same job, have the same issues, you're the same you just not in the same city. You know what you need?" He continued. His face beamed.

"Obviously, I don't," Callie said, head down, looking at her hand.

"Self-love! We're both off on Sunday. So, what do you say - let's all three of us. You, me, little Sofia. And get on a little trip. It'll be fun!" Pete said, excited at the thought of not being inside the hospital for once.

"Seriously?" Callie said, unsure but loves how Pete included Sofia in his plans. He is starting to feel like family. Her lips spread from ear to ear and thought. What did she get herself into?

Author's Notes: It takes a lot of time, energy, and heart for me to finished Chapter 14, and for that, every chapter. Every single one of them is well-thought-of in hopes of telling a great and well-deserved story for Callie, Arizona, and Sofia while also weaving it into the lives of actors who played them throughout season 13.

I greatly appreciate the engagement, enthusiasm, anticipation, and appreciation you let me see in your reviews chapter per chapter.

So so excited to hear what you think about this chapter and all the chapters ahead.

Enjoy!