A/N: I'm loving the reviews. Keep them coming. Makes me want to write more. Also, I see a few of you are confused about who's the one that is g!p. It's Arizona. In chapter 2, I mentioned mark telling Arizona to knock Callie up. Lol. Anyways here you go friends...
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters, storyline, dialogues belong to their rightful owner. Shonda Rhimes and maybe a few other shows. Also spelling mistakes, and punctuations marks are mine.
Arizona POV
"Thank you Dr. Robbins on behalf of Medscape, we appreciate you taking the time to speak to us, and all the work you've done in Africa."
"No, thank you for allowing me to share with the world what can be done. Africa might be the first country, but there are many other countries that need the care that the US can give."
"Of course. So your article will probably be publish by the end of this month for next month."
"Awesome. Thank you again." I stand and shake their hands. After they leave I sit on the chair and look out the window.
I hear a knock on the door and Owen pops his head inside. "Did they leave?"
"Yes they did."
"Robbins tomorrow is lecture day, and I have an opening."
"Lecture day? You brought that back?"
"I sure did. So what do you say? Wanna inspire a room full of interns and doctors?"
"Yeah sure, I don't mind. As long as you have a way I can roll on the stage."
"You got it. I'll build a ramp and everything." He laughed.
"Sounds good. I'm actually becoming pretty bad ass on it."
"Perfect. You're the last to speak. So maybe 10-15 minute speech to close it out."
"Okay. Who else is speaking?"
"Bailey, Mark, Webber, Derek and you."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Hunt."
I grab the knee scooter and roll my way to my office. I open my computer to word document to type a speech, and I can't figure out what to talk about. I decide to just wing it. I make a slide show of the many pictures.
It's now after 6pm and I decide I could use a cup of coffee I roll to the coffee cart and I see Callie's girlfriend standing in line. I roll in line a few people behind her. "Hey Misty, I'll take my usual." I smiled.
"Of course Dr. Robbins." I move to side to wait for my order. I grab my phone to keep me busy while looking through my emails.
"Dr. Robbins?" I look up and I see Ashley.
"Hi, Ashley right? I'm sorry I only know your first name. If you could tell me your last name. That way I could better address you."
"Wow, you really are as sweet as they say. Well Ashley is fine. But my name is Dr. Ashley Miles."
"Well it's nice to officially meet you. Can I help you with something?"
"No."
"Oh okay??"
"Actually yes, you intimidate me a little."
"Oh?"
"I mean I don't find you as an intimidating person, but the legend of Arizona and Callie... it's intimidating."
I look at Ashley with a sincere look. "There's no legend."
"Yes, I hear all the stories from everyone around here, about how you met, and how you survived a gunman, and how you planned on having kids. How you two were so I love... I just really love Callie, and you intimidate me."
"Look Ashley, those things happened years ago. And Callie..:.she's happy. She told me herself and you don't need to worry about her and I getting back together. We're done. So keep making her happy, because she deserves that. There's no legend."
"Okay."
"Dr. Robbins. Your coffees ready." Misty calls out.
"Well it was nice meeting you. I'll see you around Dr. Miles."
GENERAL POV
It's the next day and Bailey, Mark, Webber and Derek had already shared their speech. Now it's Arizona's turn.
"Although all 4 of the amazing doctors who just spoke and shared their knowledge with us was amazing. We have the pleasure to listen to none other then our very own world renowned surgeon, and Carter-Madison award winner Dr. Arizona Robbins." Owen says proudly clapping his hand.
Callie is sitting between Mark and Ashley, her body goes tense. Although she was trying her best not to be mad at her ex girlfriend she was so proud of her for winning. Africa will always be a tough subject for her, but she also wanted to hear what Arizona was gonna share.
Arizona hops on the stage with her crutches. "Thanks Chief for that amazing introduction, but I think he hyped me up a bit too much. I wasn't always this world renowned surgeon you see on this stage today. Before this I was just a doctor who wanted to change the world of pediatric surgery. And I'm still just a doctor."
Arizona already has the whole room listening to her. She was always such a good speaker. Arizona always had a presence. She could demand an OR and she could capture people's attention when speaking.
"So 6 years ago, 2 years prior before I moved here I applied for the Carter Maddison Grant. I wrote my proposal and just so happened I won. When it came time to deciding if I wanted to accept the Grant, it was a hard decision to make, but I knew I had to go. The days leading up. I didn't want to go. You see when I applied for the grant. I was a totally different person. I just finished my fellowship at John Hopkins and became an attending. I just moved here to become head of Peds. I also didn't have people that I loved. So I wanted to stay and be happy. But this award was bigger than me. I was gonna save many lives." Arizona eyes connected with Callie.
"So let's fast forward to when I arrived." Arizona presses the button and picture of an old clinic pops up. It literally looked like a shack. The crowd makes an "ooh." Noise.
"Yes, that was my reaction also." Arizona chuckled.
Callie's eyes go wide not believing what she seeing. For some reason in her head she pictured Arizona on vacation.
Arizona presses the button and pictures of inside the clinic pops up. The foundation torn, the ceiling had holes in them. The walls had cracks running up and down.
"You see when I arrived I had an idea that it was gonna be perfect that I was gonna walk into a building kinda like this. Don't get me wrong. I knew it wasn't gonna be just like this. But I thought it would be solid. I thought the foundation was gonna be solid. When I arrived, my translator decided last minute not to come and the next one wasn't gonna come for another month. So I was stuck with people who didn't know much English. Once again a core in my foundation was rocked. I was in a structure, if we could even call it that, that could collapse at any moment with people I could hardly communicate with. I wanted to pack my bags and leave." Arizona picks up the bottle of water and takes a few sips.
"When the Chief asked me yesterday to speak, I had no idea what to talk about. As I share with you my life for the past few years, I want you to think about yours. Your reasons as to why you are who you are. What your beliefs are and are they strong enough to withhold anything? Or are you easily shaken? When a hurricane comes will you blow over? Or will you stand there and fight to be a good man in a storm?"
"Damn blondie can give speeches like no tomorrow." Mark whispers to Callie. To which Callie just nods her head. Fully engaged in what Arizona is speaking.
"With the grant I was awarded. I decided to knock down the building. Yes, I was scared because even though it was a piece of shit building. People relied on it daily. I had to draw pictures to the people who were gonna be working with me to communicate with them. One of the nurses that was there,"
A picture of a group of doctors and nurses pops up.
"Nurse Adah let us use her house for 4 months. Any major surgeries that needed to be done was held at a tiny hospital a village over. So I decided let's build a bigger clinic that could also do surgeries in them, with a solid foundation. To me there was no use in building a totally new clinic when the one we had was perfect. The people in the village knew where it was. It was central for everyone. The clinic just needed to be broken down to tiny pieces so we could rebuild it to what it was meant to be. Stronger."
A picture of Arizona and group of people from the village pop up. They're all covered in dirt and cement. Then a picture of Arizona laying in the middle of a newly concrete flooring pops up. And everyone in the crowd laughs.
"Hey laugh all you want, but don't come to me when you want someone to lay a new cement slab down." And to that everyone in the crowd laughs. Including Callie.
"Everyday was hard and I mean hard. We had to be resourceful. Even though I was awarded unlimited funds. Sometimes supplies would take weeks to a month to come. Seeing these children in pain also took a toll on my foundation. I doubted my decision multiple times a day. I probably quit being a doctor twenty times a day. I missed my family. I missed my home. Hell I missed coffee, but I kept telling myself that if I keep working hard, every sacrifice I made and every trial I would go through, would be worth it and that's true to a point."
Mark elbows Callie. Both knowing she's talking about Callie.
"So with the doctors, nurses and I along with a contracting business that the Carter-Madison committee flew in, we finally rebuilt the clinic. Also in case you're still wondering no my translator still didn't arrive. She arrived right when the building was finished. 4 months later."
A picture of children and families from the village pop up with a in front of a brand new clinic. Then another of Arizona and a group of kids pop up. "Awww." The crowd goes.
"Finally things were getting easier, until I hit my two year mark." A picture of a little boy and Arizona pop up. "You might be wondering why am I showing you a picture of this cute, handsome, and unbelievably strong boy. His name was Nuru. Which means born in daylight. And that's what he was. He was bright and sunny and always happy. But he was my first. The first child I lost. I've lost many children before too many to count. But he was the first child I lost in Malawi. Again I felt my foundation rattled. I wanted to come home to my safe place. My place of comfort. But I knew the person I was and the person I was becoming wouldn't just give up, so I pushed on."
A picture of children riding Arizona heelys pop up and the crowd laughs.
"Towards the end of my Grant. I realized something. We are all going through our own storms rather it's not knowing how we're gonna eat? How am I gonna pay my rent? Or how are we gonna survive internship? Or how are we gonna save this patient's life? You dig deep inside of yourself and remember your why, you remember your core foundations and if you can't, you dig deeper, you find new ones or you ride off of the other people around you until you find your own." Arizona voice begins to crack. And almost everyone in the room has tears in there eyes.
"Because every single time I wanted to give up, I wanted to be safe, I wanted it to be easier. I knew that nothing grows in my comfort zone. I knew I had to push myself to become better. Also, I had these people counting on me, cheering me on, believing in me, even when I couldn't believe in myself."
A collage of families pop up with Arizona. Silly pictures, happy pictures. Pictures of the scenery. Pictures of the doctors and nurses.
"I couldn't do it on my own, I needed them. You can't save lives on your own. You need your core, you need your foundation. You need your people. So with that being said, it's an honor and a privilege to be able to stand here before all of you today and let each and everyone of you know that you are part of my foundation, and you are my people. I'm grateful and honored to be back home with you. Africa will always be one of the best decisions of my life. I may have a few regrets, but being there will never be one of them. Even though I'm not there. I know that the people of Malawi and I built a foundation strong enough to withhold anything."
A video clip pops up ands it's Arizona walking through the market with a group of people and she's speaking the language and a little boy runs up to her. It's the same boy she lost, Nuru. She picks him up and laughs at something he says that he turns to the camera and says "I good man in storm." Arizona nods her head and hugs him and they both wave to the camera.
"Thank you for your time, and for letting me share some of my experience with you today."
The crowd stands up and claps for her. Giving her a standing ovation.
"Go Robbins!" Mark yells.
Callie POV
As I'm standing clapping for her. I don't know how I feel. All the things she shared today has my heart beating so fast. It feels like it's gonna beat out of my chest. I turn to Ashley and give her a fake smile. She smiles back at me.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yes of course."
"Who knew she could give such great speeches? She's amazing."
I nod my head, not answering her because I knew Arizona could give great speeches. I knew how amazing she was. I knew how much she cared for patients. But what I didn't know was how much she had to struggle. How much she wanted to come home. How much she persevered. How much of an impact she truly made.
"Dang roller girl stick got it." Cristina says out loud. "I remember when we still lived together and you were working late. I was crying over something Owen did. And you know what she did? She came in the room with Chinese and sat there and just watched a movie with me. She never questioned what was wrong. She just sat and watched a movie. She knew that's all I needed. Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't." Feeling awkward while standing next to my girlfriend while my friends talk about my ex-girlfriend.
"Don't forget about that good man in the storm speech she gave your dad." Teddy smiled.
"What good man in a storm speech?" I asked confused.
"Oh, nothing. Never mind." Teddy curses under her breath.
"Don't go quiet now Altman." Mark teases wanting to know.
"Shit. I thought you knew."
"No, I have no clue what you're talking about!" I snapped.
"Well maybe you should ask her." Mark says pointing to Arizona talking to a group of interns.
"No, I'm good." I say starting to walk away.
"Okay, well I want to hear this Goodman in a storm speech." Mark laughed walking up to Arizona. If I'm being honest. I really want to know also.
"Hey Callie, I know you want to hear what she said."
"No, I don't."
"It's all over your face that you want to know."
"I do, but it was a long time ago. I need to go I have patients." I give her a kiss and walking away to my floor. Once in my office, I lock the door and I finally let my tears go. Again crying over her. Do I want her back? Is she part of my foundation? Can we knock down what we have and rebuild it stronger than ever?
Then my mind goes back to her leaving me in an airport. Me standing and pleading. Then it goes back to me being depressed. How can I let that go, Then it goes to Ashley. Am I with her cause I love her or am I with her cause she's safe and comfortable?Being with her is totally different than being with Arizona. She always kept me on my toes. She always pushed me past my comfort zone.
"Fuck!" I pound my fist on my desk.