A/N: Good Morning Fan Fiction World. I need to address a few things here. This is a long note so stay with me.
The name of the story that is similar is "He ain't heavy (he's my brother)" by Pinktrixie. I wasn't sure whether or not I should mention it, but I feel after some of the things I have seen/been messaged I should.
The author did not ask me to take The Call down. All she asked was that I note the similarities between our stories. I made the decision to stop the story.
I looked through my library and I don't think I have read her story. It is 100% possible I have though. I think I have read over 100 Calzona stories since I was pregnant a year and a half ago.
I need to make one thing crystal clear…. ANY bullying of fellow authors is unacceptable. That was not my intention when I posted that chapter 3 update. The reason I said anything was because I always promise not to leave stories unfinished and I didn't want to do that to you. If it comes to my attention a specific person is bullying anyone you will be blocked.
I am not going to read that story now. I might circle back once I finish this. However, I think that you guys should read it if you haven't. Read it and review. Show the author some love. Writing is time consuming. The ideas that we put on to paper take time and effort. I have nothing but love for every other author on this platform. One comment said it best. We don't get paid for this lol. This is a hobby.
I think the reason I reacted so strongly to the idea that someone thought I took something, is because I also do photography. I have had people take and edit my photos and take ownership. I would never want someone to think I took their art, yes this is art, and claim it as my own.
Listen, I am a 29-year-old mother of 2 perfect boys and married to a great guy. This is something I do for me. No one else. Your reviews make me so happy, even when they don't like where I am going with a story. Callie and Arizona were very important to me growing up. Especially Callie. I resonated SO hard with her story and her journey. That is why I write and why I still love them after so many years of them being gone from Grey's.
With that being said, I am going to continue this. BUT I am changing a lot of the details. I will acknowledge that many people told me the stories were similar. I am not okay with that. So, I rewrote a bit and changed the direction. I am going to outline the major changes here.
Tim will no longer be a POW. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't expand on that. Just stick with me.
Tim is a surgeon. Think, Owen Hunt Army trauma surgeon. I love stories with Tim and Arizona working together, my favorite is "The Ride".
Tim's legs were not injured. It will be his hands (important for surgeons). Think Derek Shepard post plane crash injuries. Callie delivers an epic monologue to the insurance person about Derek's hand. I love it so much.
Tim's legs will still be in bad shape, but it won't be from trauma. It will be from being a stowaway in a cargo plane.
I am reducing the amount of time he was gone. It won't be 8 years; it will be 5. I just want to change his age to make him a tad younger.
Other than that, I am going to stay in the same generally idea of where I was going with this. Chapters 1 and 2 will be reflected to update the 5 things listed above.
3 Years Ago
"I'm going to miss my plane. You take care of yourself."
"No. No. Please. Please. I can-"
"You stay here and be happy and I'll go there and be happy"
Present Day – Seattle, Washington
"Sofia come on baby; we need to get ready to go." Callie had just finished feeding her daughter her breakfast and the 2-year-old had begun to throw her toys all over the living room.
"Mama. Punzle!" Sofia turned and put her hands on her hips. For being a little over two, the girl had a mean streak.
"She is in your bedroom, baby." Callie watched as Sofia took off towards her bedroom in search of her coveted Rapunzel doll.
Callie was about to call out to Sofia when her pager interrupted her.
"Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres! 911 We have to move baby!" Callie yelled to her daughter after reading the page. 911 to the ER. In her short life Sofia had learned what 911 meant and ran out of her room.
"Got her. 911 let goooo!" Sofia yelled as she ran towards the door. Callie quickly closed the door and was grateful when she saw Mark heading out as well.
"Dada!" Sofia yelled when she saw her father walking out of his apartment.
"Sof!" Mark replied with a smile. A drunk hook up almost 3 years ago gave her the best gift of her life. Her and Mark were a fantastic team with their daughter. He was such an amazing father to her. Callie still thought of the blonde who broke her heart in the airport every day. But Sofia made that pain melt away with just a smile. Mark had fought back against her middle name being Robbin, but he ultimately gave in. Callie had always pictured her children being with Arizona. But she obviously felt differently. She left her in an airport and never looked back. She even heard the blonde re-upped in Mawali for an extra year. So, Callie was trying to move on.
"Dada 911. Goooo!" Sofia lifted up her arms and Callie laughed as Mark put Sofia on his shoulders and headed out towards the hospital.
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Walking into the OR Callie heard Owen Hunt barking commands at people.
"Torres! Thank God. Trauma 1. Now!" Callie had never seen Owen like this before. She glanced at Mark and he nodded at her, confirming he would take Sofia to daycare.
She quickly threw a trauma gown over her street clothes. "What do we got?" She asked as she stepped into the room.
"John Doe. Came via helicopter. He was found at the Army airbase. Seems he was a stowaway on a plane. Crush injuries to his hands, a bit of frostbite, seems to have some other broken bones. Clear internal injuries. Not sure of neuro status, waiting on Shepard." Owen called out.
Callie was assessing the man's legs. She went to cut off his boots off when something fell to the floor. She picked it up and noticed what they were. "Hunt, we've got dog tags." Callie held them up to the light and all she could make out was a 'R' and a "Y". "They are really damaged. I can't read them."
Owen Hunt grabbed them to take a look. "These are trashed. I have never seen any in such bad shape." Owen was squinting at them when the monitors around them started beeping loudly. "He's crashing! Someone get a crash cart." Hunt yelled. Everyone was working on their designated area when Hunt yelled "Clear". All hands left the body and Callie watched as the man on the table's body jumped at the shock that just ran through him. "We got sinus." Teddy called. "Let's get him to the OR, now!" Owen yelled.
Callie ran to the front of the gurney and started pushing towards the OR. The man on the stretcher had blonde hair, she could tell. It was so dirty it looked brown. His face was covered in cuts and bruises. He had clearly been through a lot. Whenever she saw someone in the service she thought of Arizona. She was so passionate about service men and woman having such a long family history of it. She shook the thoughts of the blonde away and pushed ahead, determined to help this man.
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"This guy has been through it." Teddy mumbled.
"Thinking POW?" Owen asked.
"Yeah." Teddy solemnly replied.
"His legs have broken and healed more than once. I am going to have to rebreak the left. The right is so in better shape though. Just a cast should be sufficient. The hands though. Well, they are pretty bad. The left seems to have frostbite pretty bad, but not to the point of no return. The right is badly broken. I am thinking some nerve damage as well. I am going to reconstruct the whole hand. Give him the best shot for full mobility." Callie replied.
The three worked in silence for the rest of the surgery. A little over halfway through Derek came in and confirmed again, neurologically the patient was good. Mark had come in and sutured the cuts that were on the man's body.
Scrubbing out everyone was quiet. The damage to the man's body made it clear he had been through some really tough times. The fact he survived let alone made it back here was a miracle.
"The cargo plane was from Afghanistan." Teddy whispered. Callie watched as Owen wrapped the fellow soldier in a hug. Trying to be respectful of the situation, Callie slipped out of the room and headed towards recovery.
She finished updating the patient's chart and took a quick look around at the other post ops on the floor. Nothing too crazy. It seems the John Doe was the most exciting thing to come in that day.
As she headed to the cafeteria she couldn't help but swing by daycare and grab her daughter to join her for lunch.
"Mama!" Sofia ran towards her mother. She loved it when she visited her at daycare. "911 ok?" the carbon copy of Callie asked.
"Yeah baby. He will be." Callie signed her daughter out of daycare and headed for the cafeteria. She set Sofia up with her lunch and crayons and sat down for the first time in 5 hours. She sat and laughed with her daughter while they ate and soon the rest of her friends joined them.
"How is GI Joe?" Mark asked. Callie knew he didn't mean it negatively, but the look he received from Teddy and Owen were less than kind.
"The JOHN DOE is okay. I checked on him and everything looks good." Owen replied. He really couldn't stand Mark Sloane. He cheated on Teddy, who was now his girlfriend. So, the guy had to be an idiot.
"What is the situation with his hands, Torres?" Teddy asked. Concern evident in her voice.
"I am headed up their after lunch. But I think the left will be fine. I started to reconstruct the right, but his body needed a break. I am going to monitor him closely. I hope to go back in soon and finish.
"What weconstuck mean?" Sofia asked looking up from her coloring.
"It means when you have to rebuild something." Callie explained. Her daughter had been around medicine and hospitals all her life. Mark and Callie decided early on that they would be open and honest with the medical questions she asked.
"Like blocks." Sofia replied, turning back to her picture. The table laughed. Grateful for the bit of comedic relief. "Yes baby, like blocks." Callie kissed her daughter's dark hair.
"I am going to check on him now actually. Mark, can you take Sof back to daycare?" Callie gathered her things and kissed her daughter goodbye. "I will see you tonight baby girl."
Callie headed to her patient's room and was surprised to see that the nurses had already come in and gave him a sponge bath. She was struck by despite all the cuts and bruises, the man was very good looking. He had beautiful blonde hair. He was very thin, but you can tell he was once fit and athletic. He had to be about 6 feet tall. Maybe mid 30's. He was handsome.
She was brought out of her observation by a nurse entering the room to replace the man's bandages. "Dr. Hunt and Dr. Altman said he is highest priority." The nurse commented. That explains already being cleaned up.
"Absolutely. Please, go ahead. I am just checking some things." Callie allowed the nurse to work. She couldn't help the familiarity of the individual lying in the bed in front of her. She turned when she heard a cough come from the bed. She rushed over to the man and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but that was clearly the wrong move. The man jumped causing her to lose her footing and fall backwards.
"Woah woah! What's going on in here?" Owen Hunt came barreling in the door.
"Stop!" the patient yelled, in a hoarse voice.
"Soldier. Soldier. You are in the hospital. You are in Seattle, Washington. You are okay, Soldier. Major Owen Hunt here. I got you." Callie watched as the man fell into Owen's arms and sobbed.
"I-I'm back?" He asked between sobs.
"Yes. You are safe, soldier. At ease, son. I got you." Callie watched in awe as Owen comforted the man with such compassion. It caused a lump in her throat.
"What is your name son?" Owen asked.
But before he responded he remembered someone had fallen. He turned to look at her and apologize and Callie froze. She knew those eyes. She could place them without even trying. But there was no way. He was dead. Arizona buried him.
"I-I am so sorry Ms." The man replied. But Callie just shook her head. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
"My. My name is Timothy Daniel Robbins. I am in the U.S. Army and I have been in Afghanistan for 5 years." The man replied.
Callie stood stock still. No one really knew of Arizona's family history. No one knew she had a brother except her and Mark. So, she wasn't surprised that Owen didn't react to the name.
"T-timmy?" Callie whispered. She was surprised to see the two men looking at her.
"Yes?" The man questioned. "H-how?" Tim looked at her with confusion written on his face.
"A-arizona." Callie whispered.
"My sister. You know her? Where is she?! Is she a surgeon here?!" Tim was spitting questions out quicker than Callie could respond. She was shocked. She couldn't move. Couldn't blink. Tim was alive. He was alive an in front of her. She went to respond but the monitors around started beeping. Tim was having a panic attack it seemed. All of this being too much.
"Arizona! Arizona!" Tim yelled. The room quickly filled with nurses as they administered some sedation to calm him down. She watched as the eyes as blue as the ones she had loved for so long closed and Tim calmed down.
"Torres. What the hell?" Owen cautiously approached Callie. "Robbins has a brother?" Owen asked.
"Had…well. I. I guess she has? I don't. Owen he died. He died over there. They buried him. How?" Callie mumbled.
"I don't know, Torres. But he kind of looks like her." Owen was shocked.
"Yeah. His eyes. They are hers. Can we keep this quiet please? I need to contact her. I need to contact her parents." Callie started to pull her phone out like calling Arizona was the simplest thing in the world.
"Do you need me to do it?" Owen asked. Well aware of the history the two women shared.
"No. It has to be me." Callie replied. "I will keep you posted. Don't let anyone in this room and please, Owen. Do not say anything to anyone." Callie pleaded. She smiled at Owen as he nodded his head confirming he wouldn't.