Chapter 7: Arizona's Joey

"Did she just say "Joey"?" Meredith asked, wondering if she heard her right.

"Yeah, so?" Alex asked disinterested.

"Oh Joey" Amelia said getting on the same train of thought as Meredith.

"Wait a minute" Jackson said catching up to them. He came over and joined them at the table. "You don't think that Joey" he said pointing in the direction of where she'd been standing, "is…"

"Arizona's Joey" Meredith said finishing his sentence. "I mean, it has to be right? What are the odds that Arizona meets a Joey who's a trauma surgeon and then we meet another Joey who's also a trauma surgeon just a few days later?"

"I can't believe it" Amelia said dismayed. "Jo was right". Arizona walked into the lounge and went over to the coffee pot.

"Oh, come on" she groaned. "Who drank the last of the coffee and didn't restart the pot?" she asked looking around.

"Sorry" Jackson said shrinking with guilt. She glared at him and shook her head. "Here you sit down" he said giving up his seat, "and I'll start a fresh pot".

"Why thank you Dr. Avery" she said mockingly. He chuckled and went over to start a new pot of coffee.

"Oh, hey" Alex said looking up from his charts again, "How'd the atresia baby go?" he asked.

"Good, he's in recovery" she said sliding her scrub cap off. "You owe me".

"Yeah, yeah. What's new?" he said dismissively.

"So, have you heard from her?" Amelia asked looking at Arizona. "Did she call or email?"

"No" she said sadly.

"Maybe you should try to look her up" she suggested.

"With what?" she asked doubtfully. "I don't even know her full name".

"But you know her name is Joey and she's a trauma surgeon and in the army" she said listing the facts she knew. "Maybe you can find her just from that".

"Or you can find her in the OR" Alex said under his breath, receiving a swift elbow from Meredith.

"I- I don't think I'm going to try to find her" she said with a shrug. "If she reaches out to me then great but if not, then you know" she raised her shoulders for a moment then let them fall, "it just wasn't meant to be". Jackson came over and set a fresh cup of coffee in front of Arizona. They'd had coffee together enough times that he knew how she liked hers. "Thank you" she said over her shoulder as he took a seat in the chair behind them. Arizona checked her watch. "I gotta go. I have a consult". She got up from the table and took her coffee. "See ya later" she said as she made her exit.

"Maybe we should just tell her" Amelia said wanting to see a happy ending. "I mean she has to be the same person. It's just too big of a coincidence for her not to be".

"Or maybe we should leave it alone" Jackson suggested.

"I'm with that" Alex cosigned.

"You're both such guys" she said with contempt.

"She said she'd find her and, for whatever reason, she didn't only to end up working at the same hospital with her. She doesn't wanna look for Arizona. Arizona doesn't wanna look for her". Amelia gave him a blank stare. "Look, they're both surgeons working in the same hospital. They're gonna run into each other sooner or later. Probably sooner than either of them is ready for. We should just let it happen and not force anything. Now shut up" he said annoyed. "I have to get through reading these charts". He got another jab from Meredith and Amelia threw a chip at him.

"So how about the fireworks between Maggie and the new doc?" Jackson asked with a chuckle. Alex groaned and slammed his folders shut before getting up from the table, grabbing his charts in hand and storming out of the lounge to the sound of Meredith and Amelia laughing. "Something I said?" Jackson joked.

"He has some big case report to write on some of his patients" Meredith said, explaining his frustration with their talking. "He needs to focus".

"Sounds like Maggie was…"

"A jerk" Meredith said interrupting him. They all laughed. "I had a big clash with her on her first day over a patient".

"Yeah but that was different" Amelia said remembering the story.

"Was it?"

"Yeah" she said assuredly, "you didn't disagree with her because you thought she was incompetent to do her job. You were doing what you thought was best for your patient".

"Yeah, that's true" she said with a shrug. "She thought it was because I didn't like her because she wasn't Cristina".

"Was that part of it?" Jackson asked.

"No" she said simply. "I would've said the same thing to anyone, including Cristina. Cristina wouldn't have just taken it though" she said with a chuckle. "She would've barged into my surgery to do the echo bedside".

"Sounds like Yang". They continued chatting amongst themselves. Eventually, Meredith left to go to surgery then Callie came in. Jackson left for a consult then DeLuca came in. Others came and went throughout the afternoon. Joey finished her surgery on Mr. Houser, added her notes to his chart and then checked on him in the ICU. By then, his wife had arrived and was sitting by his bedside. She was worried that he was still intubated but Joey assured her that it was normal for a patient to remain on a ventilator for a while after surgery. Once the anesthesia had worn off, she was confident he'd start to breathe on his own and they'd be able to remove him from the vent. For now, it was important that they let him rest. She told her she would check back in before she left for the day then left her to sit with her husband in private. She decided to go out for lunch to explore the neighborhood near the hospital. When she returned, she ran into April who offered to show her around more of the hospital before they went back to the ER. They hadn't gotten to go to the media room or skills lab before surgery so she took her to those first. She was really impressed with their setup. The military hospitals she'd worked in were great but they weren't as state of the art as Grey Sloan. A media room full of screens to look at multiple imaging scans at the same time would be a big help in creating a more nuanced operating plan. The digital operating table in the skills lab on four was her favorite. She could do any procedure with the digital patient and could practice as many times as she wanted. They left the skills lab and April asked if there was anything in particular in the hospital she wanted to see. The layout of every floor was generally the same. She thought she'd be fine to find her way around if she had a general idea of where everything important was. All of the miscellaneous parts, she was okay to learn over time.

"Well, the patient rooms are on two through five". They stopped at the elevators, joining others who were already waiting. "Internal medicine, dietary, family and dermatology are on two" she said as they got on the elevator. "General admits are on three with Peds, OB/GYN and the nursery. If you ever need a meeting with the chief, her office is on three just past the catwalk. The NICU, CCU, ICU and the burn unit are on four. Oncology, psychiatry, the psych ward and infection disease are on five" she continued as they rode down to one. They got off the elevator on their floor and headed back to the ER. "There's a couple coffee carts outside the different entrances. You can't miss them. I mentioned before the cafeteria and lecture hall are on two. We have a smaller room on two that we use for presentations and press conferences". They reentered the ER to find Teddy and Owen had made it back from their surgeries.

"Hey, you get the grand tour?" Teddy said hoping she'd seen everything she wanted to see. She really wasn't interested in being a tour guide.

"Yes" she said with a nod, "Dr. Kepner's been really helpful".

"Oh, you can call me April" she said casually. "She rocked her first surgery" April bragged for her. She had ended up scrubbing in on Mr. Houser's ex-lap. Joey didn't really need the help but April had nothing else to do so she didn't object to her tagging in.

"Great" Teddy said pleased she was doing well on her first day. She was her first outside hire as chief of trauma and she'd really pulled for her with the chief over the other candidates. She wanted her to do well. "Well, you can jump in and start seeing patients. Just let one of us know if you need anything".

"Ok". They all went their separate ways. She had a full day and saw plenty of patients. She even got in on another trauma but wasn't needed for the surgery. She and April went up to the ICU together to check in on Mr. Houser before they headed back to the attending's lounge. It had been more than long enough for the anesthesia to wear off but he still hadn't woken up and wasn't triggering the vent. She ordered a neuro workup to assess brain function and decided she would stick around until the workup was complete. Amelia looked over his scans and didn't find anything to explain why he hadn't woken up. No clots. No bleeds. Reactive EEG. All they could do now is wait and see. They walked back to the attending's lounge which was full with everyone getting ready to go home for the day. She'd met quite a bit of the surgical staff that day and, with the exception of Dr. Pierce, she got along with everyone.

"Popular" April noted as Joey's phone chimed for the fourth time in just a few minutes. Joey laughed.

"Only tonight" she said putting her phone back in her pocket after checking her messages. "I'm, uh, meeting some guys from my unit at the bar across the street" she said as she put on her jacket. "I haven't had a chance to spend much time with them, you know, since I don't live on post. I thought it'd be a good way to build some camaraderie" she explained. "And if all else fails, at least they'll like me for the free drinks". April laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll appreciate that" she said pulling her own jacket on. "Do you mind if I tag along?" April asked.

"No" Joey shrugged. "I mean if you don't mind sharing space with some rowdy soldiers".

"What about…" she said pointing over her shoulder to the others.

"The more the merrier" she said indifferently. April went over to Amelia, Meredith, Alex and Teddy. Joey grabbed her gym bag from the floor and put it on her shoulder before following her.

"You guys wanna grab a drink with us?" April asked hoping they'd want to come too. "Joey invited the guys from her unit over to Emerald for free drinks".

"Oh, free drinks" Alex perked up. "I'm down". Joey laughed.

"I'm just paying for my guys" she said shaking her head. "You're on your own".

"Lame" he said as he shrugged into his jacket.

"I could use a drink" Amelia said raising her hand. "You coming?" she asked Meredith. "Maggie can go home and be with the kids" she said offering her services.

"Ok" Meredith said a shrug.

"Teddy" Amelia said looking to her for an answer.

"Yeah, let me just make sure Owen is okay to be alone with the kids" she said pulling her phone from her pocket.

"Jackson" April said getting his attention as he came out of the bathroom. "You wanna get a drink with us?"

"Uh…" he hesitated.

"Come on man" Alex said interrupting his thinking process, "Don't leave me alone with all these women".

"Alright" he conceded. "But I can't stay long. My mom is watching Harriet". They started bantering back and forth about how Joey should pay for everyone, not just her army guys. She suggested that they should pay for her seeing as how she was new and they should be making her feel welcome. April was talking but her voice was drowned out by the sound of another voice that was very familiar to her ear.

"If you had told her that she couldn't go then she wouldn't have turned in the permission slip" Arizona said as she approached the attending's lounge.

"Why did you even sign it if we agreed she wasn't going?" Callie asked.

"No, we" she said gesturing between them as they passed over the threshold, "didn't agree. You" she said pointing to her, "didn't want her to go and I said that was fine but that you had to tell her. You didn't tell her so she turned in her permission slip". Amelia nudged Meredith with her elbow and pointed to Joey who was now staring at the beautiful woman she'd spent hours talking to several nights ago. The woman she hadn't planned to see again, at least not so soon.

"She couldn't have turned it in if it wasn't signed Arizona". They stood there staring at Joey who was staring at Arizona. Her reaction confirmed it for them. She was definitely Arizona's Joey.

"I signed it because I wanted her to have it in case you came to your senses. If you would've told her over the weekend that she wasn't going, she wouldn't have handed it in" she said as she angrily took off her lab coat. "Don't blame me because you couldn't follow through and by the way, you're still being your father" she joked. They'd all stopped talking to watch Joey watch Callie and Arizona go back and forth about Sofia's camping trip.

"Would you stop saying that?" she asked annoyed. "I am not being my father. My concerns are perfectly reasonable" she said defensively. Arizona laughed.

"That they'll sneak off? Callie, they're eleven. And it's not some lax summer camp. It's a supervised school trip".

"Arizona, Callie" April said interrupting their argument, "we're going to the bar for a drink. You wanna come?".

"No, I ca…" Arizona stopped abruptly when she locked eyes with Joey for the first time since the night they met. "Hi" she said softly.

"H…" Joey cleared her throat, "Hi" she said softly. The smile that made her stomach do back flips appeared on Arizona's face.

"What, uh, what are you doing here?" She was genuinely shocked to see her there. She wondered if she'd come to find her like she said she would.

"I, uh, I-I" she stammered and let out a nervous laugh. "I work here…. now". Arizona's eyes widened.

"You… oh" she said in disbelief. "This is the job?"

"This is the job" Joey nodded.

"Wow" Arizona said excitedly. "That's great. Congratulations". Joey couldn't help but laugh and smile. Her perkiness was still so far from Joey's usual type but her smile was contagious.

"Thank you" she said reeling in the smile on her face. "So, you, uh, you own... this hospital?" she asked nervously. Arizona nodded.

"Well, just partly, you know" she corrected. "I'm just one of the owners".

"You didn't mention it was... it was this hospital".

"You didn't mention this was your number one choice" she countered. Joey chuckled and nodded.

"That's true" she said scratching her head. "I guess I didn't". Her phone chimed again. She took it out of her pocket and checked the message. She was late for drinks with her guys. "I have to go" she said with a twinge of regret. Though it was a surprise to see her again, it was welcomed and unexpectedly refreshing after a long day. "So I guess I'll…. see you at the bar?".

"No" she said shaking her head. "I can't. I'm with Sofia tonight".

"Oh, ok" Joey said with an understanding nod.

"Sofia is m…"

"Your daughter" she said finishing her sentence. "I remember". Everyone watched them intently. Their exchange was awkward but not painful. There was a sweet nervousness between them. Teddy leaned over to Amelia.

"Is that the same..." she asked quietly. Before she could finish the question, Amelia answered.

"Mmmhmm" she mumbled softly.

"Ohhh" Teddy was making the same deduction that Amelia and Meredith had made this morning. It made sense to her now. Arizona had told them that she was a trauma surgeon in the army who had done her residency in Hawaii. She'd seen her resume from when she was reviewing candidates for the attending job. She couldn't believe she hadn't put it together before. April and Callie were the only two left in the room who didn't have any clue of what was going on. The gossip chain had surprisingly not updated them on the Joey/Arizona situation.

"Well, um, another time then". Arizona nodded. She stepped past her to leave.

"What's your name?" she asked abruptly. Joey turned and looked at her with a raised brow. "Joey, I know but…. what's your name?"

"Johanna" she said simply. "Johanna Rajah".

"Arizona Robbins" she said pointing to herself. "I guess you don't have to find me now".

"I guess not" she said breaking eye contact with her. "I have to… I have people waiting. I'll see you sometime". She didn't wait for Arizona to say anything else. She turned and left the lounge to head over to the bar.

"Who was that?" Callie asked pointing over her shoulder at Joey. "Arizona" she said snapping her out of her reverie.

"Huh?" She was staring after Joey even though she was out of sight. "Yeah?" she said looking at Callie.

"Who was that?" she asked again.

"She's, ummm…. she- she's Joey" she stuttered. "She works here. I have to go" she said going over to the closet to hang up her lab coat. She grabbed her bag and quickly disappeared into the bathroom to change.

"So we heading over or…" April asked interrupting the awkward silence.

"Yeah, I'm ready" Amelia said pulling on her jacket.

"Totally" Alex said heading for the door. The others followed leaving Callie there dumbfounded.

"What the hell did I miss?"