Chapter 10

Notes: Feel free to throw out ideas/requests, I welcome them! Reviews make me write faster! Thank you all so much for the love and support!

Let's remember, while I may have a doctorate, it's in law, not in medicine. My google MD is probably not very good, but I tried my best!

Callie knocked lightly on the slightly ajar door leading into to room 346, alerting the patient and her family that someone was about to enter. She waited for a second before pushing the door further open so she and Arizona could walk into the room. Alexandra was awake, laying in an uncomfortable looking position on her bed. She was on her side, curled up into a crooked fetal position.

"Good morning Dr. Torres," Gabrielle Dianetti said with a smile from her chair positioned slightly off to the side of Alexandra's bed. Gabrielle had returned early that morning to relive her wife for a few hours to rest. Callie had checked in on Alexandra around 6 AM and Mackenzie Dianetti had already left.

"Good morning Mrs. Dianetti, how is everyone feeling this morning?" Callie asked as she walked toward Alexandra to check her vitals. Alexandra's oxygen levels had fallen to 23%.

"Mack said Alexandra didn't sleep well last night. She was struggling to breathe for most of the night. She's resting now, but she's in so much pain Dr. Torres," Gabrielle said gently as she ran her fingers through her daughters long dark curls.

"Alexandra's oxygen levels have dropped, so I'm not surprised to hear that. Dr. Grey and I spent most of last night reviewing the scans, and trying to come up with a plan to get Alexandra some relief," Callie started, grabbing Alexandra's chart off the wall toward the front of the small hospital room. She turned back to the woman, "This is Dr. Arizona Robbins. She's the head of pediatric surgery here. She's the best of the best."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Dianetti," Arizona said, moving forward toward the little girl's mother to shake her hand. The two exchanged a smile and a quick handshake. Gabrielle was tall, probably about 5'10 if Arizona had to guess, and absolutely beautiful. Her long dark hair was neatly combed, dark like Alexandra's, and curly. She was slim, with piercing green eyes. Alexandra looked just like her, Arizona decided that Gabrielle must have provided the egg used to conceive Alexandra.

"Likewise," Gabrielle told her, leaning back toward her daughter to resume gently combing her fingers through her hair. There was a long pause, neither doctor wishing to speak in case Gabrielle had something more to say. Gabrielle had to know that involving the head of pediatrics meant whatever was going on with Alexandra was serious. Moments later, the doctors' suspicions were confirmed, and Gabrielle spoke again, "Actually, I can't say I'm glad to meet you Dr. Robbins… I have no doubt that you're the best, being the head of the department and all. But that can only mean you found something on the new scans?"

Callie stepped forward this time, "I take it you and Mack didn't have much time to speak this morning?"

"No," Gabrielle answered simply, looking up toward the pair of doctors, "Mack was out like a light when I got here. I told her to go home and get some sleep and we'd meet back here around 10."

"Dr. Spalding and I reviewed the scans last night after they came back. We found an abnormal growth… a tumor, in her thoracic spine. Specifically, her T2 vertebrae. There were multiple smaller tumors surrounding the main tumor, called skip metastases. Dr. Spalding and Dr. Grey took a biopsy of it this morning. We won't have the results until Monday or Tuesday…" Callie replied, trying her best not to make it seem like the situation had already turned catastrophic.

Gabrielle cut the orthopedic surgeon off, "A tumor?! No, not again. She… Alexandra can't take anymore Dr. Torres. I – My baby…" she trailed off, looking down at her daughter as tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Gabrielle," Arizona began, walking over to stand beside the woman's chair. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I know this is scary for you. But, we do not have the results yet. These tumors could be benign. In the meantime, Dr. Torres has come up with a plan to correct Alexandra's scoliosis and kyphosis that I think we should discuss. There is hope."

Gabrielle looked toward Arizona, staring through her like she hadn't heard a word she said, "Cancer, Dr. Robbins. We thought we were past this, Alexandra fought so hard."

"The scans you provided from Dr. Holter in Maine – they were clear of tumors. Those scans were only from a few months ago, so even if the tumors do end up being cancerous, we will be catching it early," Dr. Torres offered.

"We'd only brought Alexandra home a few weeks prior to discovering the cancer…" Gabrielle said, clearly still zoned out from the conversation. "There were complications with her birth, and Alexandra was born almost two months early. She was small… she only weighed 3 pounds, but she was strong. Alexandra was in the NICU for the first two months of her life, until the doctors felt she was strong enough to come home with us. She had a lot of trouble breathing, which is just some cruel joke now if you think about it. She came into this world struggling to breathe, and here she is, years later struggling even harder. She was on a ventilator, and was fed through a tube for the first few weeks of her life. I couldn't even bring myself to hold her often… I – I gave birth to Alexandra… I blamed myself for so long. When we finally got to take her home, we were so happy. James, our son, was turning 3 in a month, and he was so excited that he was going to have his little sister home for his birthday party." Gabrielle paused to wipe her tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Callie and Arizona stood silently, listening to the woman speak. It was clear to them both that Gabrielle needed to talk. Truthfully, Callie had already learned most of this information from Alexandra's medical records that Dr. Holter had transferred over immediately from Maine, but Arizona hadn't had time to brief herself on the case before walking into the room.

"We thought it was nothing, at first," Gabrielle offered tearfully, "It was normal for babies to be cranky and refuse food… we thought. And then the lumps started popping up on her abdomen. We'd touch them, and Alexandra wouldn't even flinch. We brought her to the doctor, and they told us it was normal and probably nothing. We were living in Florida at the time, a rural city outside Tallahassee called Lake City… She suggested we wait and see if they go away on their own. We took Alex home against our better judgment. A week later, she was struggling to breathe again, and there were these tiny dark circles developing around her left eye… I remember, one night I even accused Mack of not paying attention while James was playing with Alex. I'd thought he'd accidentally hurt her." Gabrielle chuckled, but not in a happy way, more like a self-deprecating laugh. "I blamed my wife and son…" she said again, shaking her head. "The bruising on Alex's eye went away, and it seemed like the breathing problems were getting better… the lumps were still there, but we figured they'd go away in with time too. We moved to Maine a month later, and things didn't change. Alex was starting to bruise under her eye again, and Mack convinced me that we needed to take her back to the doctor for a second opinion."

"Neuroblastoma," Arizona mumbled softly under her breath. She'd hoped Gabrielle hadn't heard her, but she had.

"Yep. It took another month or so, but the doctors diagnosed her with neuroblastoma shortly after we'd moved to Maine… something about immature nerve cells creating rapidly growing cancer cells that were multiplying… fast." Gabrielle said with a nod of her head. "At first the doctors took a 'wait and watch' approach. They took tests, did some imaging scans, and watched, hoping that things would resolve themselves on their own."

"Did the doctors remove the tumor after that?" Arizona asked, jotting down notes on the pad in her hand as she listened to the mother explain what happened during Alexandra's first year of life.

"Yes. Alex had surgery at seven months. The tumor was located in her adrenal glands, and the doctors said it was relatively common in a baby her age. Dr. Holter removed as much of the tumor as she could, but it had spread," Gabrielle responded.

"So, she started her on chemotherapy?" Arizona asked, already knowing this was the logical next step before radiation.

"Yes. Alex did chemo up until she was about one and a half," Gabrielle answered.

"And that worked?"

"Yes, Alex has been in remission since just after her second birthday," Gabrielle answered, placing her hand on her daughter's tiny blanket covered leg. Gabrielle had brought Alexandra's things with her this morning. The typical blue and white blankets had been replaced with light pink sheets, and a bright yellow and white comforter covered in princess designs. Alexandra now had a few stuffed animals surrounding her in the bed, a stack of books on the piece of furniture beside the bed, and a few vases of new flowers with large balloons floating above them tied down by metallic pink strings.

"Alex was such a happy kid after that," Gabrielle continued. "She was so strong, and if you ask her now, she really doesn't remember much of it. Thankfully, all she remembers from her childhood were our monthly trips back home to Mack's family in Florida, camping trips in Acadia National Park, and boating out on the lake at our lake house in Vermont. We were a happy family. Our kids were best friends, and everything was just going so well, for a while. Like Mack told you, we didn't even notice that Alex's growth had started changing until our 4th of July trip down to Mack's family. Alex was turning 5 the next week, and we were really looking forward to some family time."

"What made you realize?" Arizona asked.

"We were at Panama City Beach, Mack's family lives on the beach out there. We'd had lunch, gotten ready to head down to the water for a while, and Alexandra was running across the sand with James, pulling at her clothes to get them off… She wanted to egg her brother on, so he'd start squirting her with his water gun…." She paused again, "They used to love throwing water at each other… anyway they could… Mack's sister is a nurse… she started pointing out that Alex's spine seemed to be curved the wrong way. We didn't think much of it, but brought her to her pediatrician when we got home… She was in a brace for 22 hours a day since she was 6. We'd put stickers on it, have friends and family sign it, like a cast, all to make her feel more comfortable with having to wear it. It barely helped, and then the surgeries started."

"At this point, Alexandra has had five surgeries," Callie informed Arizona. "A team of doctors have been working with me all night," Callie explained to Gabrielle, "to formulate a plan of attack at getting Alexandra her life back."

"How? I can't handle another surgery Dr. Torres. Alexandra has been under the knife too many times for a baby her age. I don't want to make her go back under the knife just to have it not work." Gabrielle said, standing up from her chair and beginning to pace.

"Mrs. Dianetti, this plan can be her last, if we're successful," Callie told her reassuringly.

"How? How do you know? I trusted Dr. Holter, and Alexandra is no better off than she was then. How, how do I trust you?"

"We take the surgeries other doctors run from. We specialize in taking the worst conditions, and giving our patients their quality of life back. We break bones, and restore them so that people can walk again. We give children five and ten years when their conditions should have killed them when they were under two. This hospital creates cartilage from scratch, rejuvenates lungs the transport board turns away into working lungs ready for transplant. We don't run, Gabrielle. And we won't run from Alexandra either. I think my method will work, and I think we'll be able to have Alexandra walking on her own, running and playing sports even," Callie told her passionately.

"What do you plan to do?" Gabrielle finally said after a few minutes.

"A vertebral column resection surgery," Callie said, "We'll separate Alexandra's spine into different sections, remove two vertebrae at the center of her spine, right in the center of her kyphosis, and straighten her spine as I rejoin the sections back together."

"And the risks?"

"If we don't do the surgery, Alexandra could suffocate. Her body is caving in on itself, pressing on her lungs. Her oxygen levels are dropping quickly. She's lost 2 percent since she arrived. If we do perform the surgery, which I recommend we do, we will be working very close to Alexandra's spine… which, as I'm sure you know can be risky. There is a chance that if we're not successful, Alexandra's breathing issues, growth issues, and spinal curve issues may be resolved, but she could be paralyzed."

"Paralyzed?! You want me to let you do a surgery that could fix everything, but land her in a wheelchair for life?! What kind of life is that for my daughter?" Gabrielle was yelling, forgetting that her daughter was asleep beside her.

"Mommy?" Alexandra whispered softly as she awoke from her slumber. Her voice was gentle, clearly pained, and it broke Callie's heart.

"I'm here baby, Mommy is here," Gabrielle said, leaning down over her daughter and kissing her head repeatedly. "Mommy's here baby."

"Why are you yelling?" She asked her mom through sleepy eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Gabrielle told her, running a hand down the side of her daughter's face. "Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins just gave me some news that wasn't too good, kiddo."

"Do I have to have another surgery?" Alexandra asked her mother sadly.

"I don't know baby, maybe," Gabrielle told her.

"What did Dr. Torres say? Where is Dr. Lexie?" Alexandra asked, looking toward her mother with concern painted across her tiny features.

"Why don't Dr. Robbins and I leave you two alone for a bit to talk about this?" Callie asked, placing a hand on Arizona's shoulder to begin guiding her from the hospital room.

"Thank you Dr. Torres, I think we'll need to discuss this as a family, before we make any decisions. Can you please check on us when you have the results of the biopsy?" Gabrielle asked, turning back to her daughter.

"Of course." Callie told her, leading Arizona from the room.

Once outside the hospital room, and out of earshot of the Dianetti family, Arizona let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She turned to face the younger doctor, "Do you really think you can do this?"

"Arizona, I was born to perform surgeries like this," Callie told her confidently. "Am I concerned about the risks? Of course. But if we don't do this, it's very possible that Alexandra won't make it to her next birthday. Her spine is growing so abnormally that she could very well be completely unable to take in oxygen and suffocate before she turns 12."

Arizona smirked and glanced around quickly. No one was in sight. She leaned up toward the taller woman and smiled, placing a quick kiss to her cheek. She turned her head slightly and pressed her lips up against Callie's ear. "That confidence…" she whispered, "is so goddamn sexy." She pressed another kiss to Callie's neck and quickly pulled away, composing herself. Callie was visibly shuddering when Arizona pulled away, stunned at the blatant display of affection in the middle of the hospital hallway. She was stunned silent, a stupid smile on her face. Arizona took another peak around, confirming no one had seen their exchange. Seeing no one, she smiled and started to walk away. "Call me when you get the biopsy results and let me know when the family decides about surgery. I want in," Arizona told her, walking toward the elevators. "I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my day off."

Callie stood, dumbfounded, in the same spot for a few moments before shaking herself free of the momentary trance Arizona placed her in and turning to walk away. After taking a few steps, she nearly collided with Lexie Grey who was emerging from the on-call room a few doors down.

"Oh, Dr. Grey, sorry about that. I was kinda in my own world there," Callie said with a laugh, stepping back to give the younger woman some space.

"No problem, I get like that too," she answered, fixing her scrub top. "I was just about to go check on Alexandra. I promised her I'd come see her after my nap."

"I just left there, let's give them some space right now. I just informed Gabrielle what we found last night, and she wants to discuss with Mack before they make a decision on surgery. I can't imagine them saying no, so we're going to keep working on our surgical plan. I could use the help, if you're interested."

Lexie nodded excitedly, "Of course. How did Gabrielle take things?" The two started off toward the research lab, chatting along the way.

Knowing Arizona was meeting up with Callie before heading out to spend the day with her brother, Christian found himself standing in the doorway of the penthouse he shared with Arizona for the last 6 months. They'd purchased it without seeing it just before their move to Seattle. Thankfully, both of them had loved the space, and were comfortable in the two bedroom, two bathroom space. Arizona had hired someone to decorate the space, and by the time they'd moved in, it was perfectly situated for the two of them.

It felt weird being there now, even though it had only been a day or two since Arizona had dropped the news of her infidelity, the end of their marriage, and her sexuality. To Christian, the space felt cold, distant, devoid of any love. It was the complete opposite of the happiness he used to feel coming home to his wife after work each night. As Chief, he was usually home before 5:30 PM. He'd taken to cooking, since moving to Seattle, and typically had a whole meal, sides and all, ready for Arizona by the time she'd get home a few hours after him. He smiled at the thought. He'd just purchased a new cookbook, and was slowly getting through it, using Arizona as his taste-tester.

Christian shut the door of the penthouse behind him, and shook the thoughts from his head. He was here for one reason, and one reason alone: he needed clothes, toiletries, the basics. He'd spent some time yesterday working with a realtor, looking for a new place to rent. Despite the breakup being fresh, he couldn't stand the thought of living in the same place as Arizona for any longer. It wasn't their home anymore. Even though he'd put down most of the down-payment on their mortgage, he knew deep down that letting Arizona have the place was the right move. He'd never be able to live there without her. His realtor had found him a cozy, furnished, one bedroom flat a 5-minute walk from the hospital. He'd spend two more nights at a hotel and move in on Tuesday morning.

Christian headed toward the bedroom door to the left of the penthouse, opened it, and walked through the threshold. He headed toward the closet, grabbed a black duffle bag from the top shelf, and tossed it onto the bed. Slowly, he began opening drawers, placing various items into the bag on the bed. As he was going through the drawer, pulling t-shirts out to pack, a photo on the dresser caught his eye. It was a photo of himself and Arizona on their wedding day. Arizona was in her last year of medical school, and Christian was already in his second year of residency at Johns Hopkins. It was the happiest day of his life. He picked the photo up, running his fingers down the right side, where Arizona stood, looking lovingly up at him. And, here come the tears, he thought to himself as his eyes started to water.

"This fucking sucks," he mumbled to himself as he hurled the photo at the wall. The frame shattered, sending chips of wood and glass careening across the bedroom floor. Not bothering to pick it up, he headed toward the bathroom to gather his toiletries.

Once he had sufficiently packed enough clothing, and taken a few suits from the closet, he jotted down a quick note on the notepad they kept on the kitchen counter, near the refrigerator.

Ace,

For better or for worse.

I will always love you.

Go on and be happy, we both deserve that.

Christian

He placed a manilla envelope beside the note, and exited the penthouse, locking it behind him for the final time.

Tuesday

June 15, 2010

11:33 AM

The weekend went on quickly for Arizona. Between showing Timothy the sights, eating way too much food, and spending a full day hiking Mt. Rainier with her parents, Monday came quicker than she'd anticipated. She had gone into work on Monday afternoon at 3 PM, and at this point she was about 20 hours into her shift. She'd been assigned a few 30-hour shifts to make up for the time off and catch up on her surgeries.

"Dr. Robbins, we just received the results of Alexandra Dianetti's biopsy," Dr. Grey said, as she walked up to Arizona – Callie, and Ryan in tow.

"Did you review them?" Arizona asked as she swiped the envelope from Lexie's hand.

"The tumor is malignant," Lexie answered, solemnly. Callie shook her head slowly, moving to stand in front of the two women.

"I – We need to go talk to the family, I'm sure Mack is back by now," Callie said. The brunette had learned the Dianetti's schedule by now. Gabrielle would come to the hospital every morning around 6 AM, after dropping James off at his friend's house before school. Mack would go home and sleep until 11, but was usually back by Alexandra's side by 11:15 AM. Gabrielle would stay until 6 PM, and then head home to take care of James, before restarting the cycle again. Mack spent majority of her time at the hospital, and had yet to deviate from this pattern.

Arizona studied the results, discussed a game-plan with the team, and it wasn't long before the four doctors found themselves heading toward the elevators to go up to Alexandra's room. Once inside, Arizona spoke first.

"Good morning, Alexandra, how is our favorite superhero doing this morning?" Arizona asked with a smile as she kicked her heelies into action and skated toward the bed.

Alexandra giggled, "Dr. Robbins!"

Arizona had come in a few times over the weekend to check in on the little girl. Something about this family, this little girl, had her by the heart strings. So, even though she was running all over Washington with her family, she still managed to slip in to see the little girl, just to check up or, on a good day, make her laugh.

"Yes, Miss. Alexandra, I still prefer skating over walking," Arizona told her, kicking her heelies back, and beginning a check up on the little girl.

"Mrs. and Mrs. Dianetti, can we speak with you outside?" Callie said, holding up the manilla envelope she'd taken from Arizona prior to entering the room.

"No," Gabrielle said weakly from her place in the bed. "No, I want to hear… Tell me."

Arizona opened her mouth to speak, but Dr. Spalding cut her off, "Alexandra, you are very brave. You are the strongest little superhero in this whole hospital, but sometimes it's better if the grown ups talk about things first –"

Alexandra cut him off, "I'm 10, not stupid... I know that means that… something is wrong." She may be weak, and in an extreme amount of pain, but the doctors had to hand it to her, she was a feisty one.

"Okay, okay baby." Mack said, leaning over to stroke her daughter's hair. "We can all talk together." She kissed the top of Alexandra's head, and then sat down in the chair opposite the bed. Gabrielle moved over to her wife, and sat down on the arm of Mack's chair.

"The cancer… it's back?" Gabrielle asked, her eyes already beginning to water.

"Yes," Arizona said softly. She turned to the young girl, and sat down beside the bed, taking the child's hand. She smiled weakly, and continued, explaining directly to the little girl, "Alexandra, you have stage 3 bone cancer. What that means is that your cancer is still only in your bone… Think of it like this, I know you like Harry Potter, and Dr. Lexie has been helping you read the books… the tumor we found when you first came in is Voldemort, but when he sensed that you were going to get stronger and brought your friends to the fight, he called out for the Death Eaters to come help… But, remember, you have the best team. You are the hero in this story, and you got the best team on board to help you, okay?"

"Oh, baby," Gabrielle yelped, as she clung to her wife, sobbing. Mack held strong, holding her wife, barely allowing the tears welling in her eyes to show.

"It's okay Gabby, it's okay," Mack said, rubbing her wife's back with her right hand, and holding her tightly with her left arm. "It's okay baby, we're going to get through this." Mack shifted, trying to move them closer toward their daughter to comfort her.

"Am I going to die?" Alexandra asked Arizona. The little girl didn't seem very phased by the news. Arizona chalked it up to her having spent much of her young life in and out of the hospital with various complications.

"No, you're not going to die, Miss. Alexandra," Arizona said with a smile. "The cancer in your bone can be operated on, and with some more medicine, you're going to be just fine."

Silence fell upon the room for a few moments as everyone registered the news.

"How long?" Gabrielle finally asked.

"It's not a how long, Mrs. Dianetti. Alexandra is going to be okay. This form of bone cancer has a 91% survival rate," Lexie chimed in, smiling at Arizona, "that's a better chance than Harry Potter had of surviving Voldemort's killing curse."

Alexandra smiled, "Okay. I think I can fight Voldemort… I always wanted to go to Hogwarts…" She trailed off, wincing in pain as she moved in the bed to look over at Lexie. "Can you read to me again?"

Gabrielle finally tore herself away from her wife, and crawled carefully into the bed beside her daughter. She carefully adjusted herself and wrapped the little girl up into her arms. "Alex, my sweet, strong girl, how about we have Mom read to us both? Mom can call Mrs. Thomas and have her bring James here to see you too? We can all read together. The doctors need to work so they can figure out how they're going to help you, okay?"

"Yeah, baby, let me call Mrs. Thomas and have James come and then we can all read together, okay? Dr. Grey has to get everything ready to make sure we can get you all better, okay?" Mack said, smiling down at her daughter from her place beside the bed.

"Okay Mom," Alexandra whispered gently as she curled up into her mother's arms. "Mommy, can we take a nap while we wait for James?"

"Yeah baby, close your eyes and Mommy will play with your hair until you fall asleep," Gabrielle answered, adjusting to begin running her fingers through the little girl's hair.

The group of doctors took this opportunity to follow Mack out of the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Robbins," Mack offered as she pulled her cellphone from her back pocket and started searching her contacts for James' friend's mom, Mrs. Thomas', phone number.

"This is my job, Mackenzie," Arizona answered reassuringly.

"Sometimes I feel like this is my fault," Mack admitted, looking at her feet. Mackenzie was tall, like her wife, 5'11 if she had to guess. She had short blonde hair that was always swept neatly to the right side of her face. She had light eyes, hazel, with hints of blue, green, and brown. She was muscular, slightly larger than Gabrielle, but undeniably handsome.

"Nothing you could have done would have prevented this," Arizona said, placing her hand on Mack's left arm. Callie, Ryan, and Lexie nodded their goodbyes to Arizona, said goodbye to Mackenzie, and excused themselves back toward the elevators.

"I – I'm the one who forced Gabrielle to use her egg for Alexandra… I was selfish, and – It's my fault Dr. Robbins." Mackenzie told her, threatening tears finally starting to fall from her beautiful eyes.

"Gabrielle didn't cause this either." Arizona pulled a small packet of tissues from her lab coat pocket and handed it to Mackenzie.

"Gabby didn't want to use her eggs. Her genes… she doesn't have great genes. Her family has a crazy history with cancer. Her mom, her grandma, her grandfather, her aunt, her grandma's three sisters, two of her grandmother's brothers, and four of her cousins have died from cancer. She wanted to use my egg again, make sure that our second baby looked just like James… I wouldn't let her. I begged, and begged. We compromised, we used her egg, and my… my brother's sperm," Mack explained, taking the tissues and using one to wipe her eyes.

"Mack, this type of cancer… there's no evidence that it's hereditary, and Alexandra's scoliosis and kyphosis, they aren't either. Alexandra was dealt a shit hand, but it was nothing either one of you did," Arizona told her gently. "You are doing everything you can."

"Thank you, Dr. Robbins… sometimes I just –"

"Sometimes you just need to feel too. You don't always have to be strong. Right now, you can be upset. The time to be strong comes later," Arizona cut her off with a smile. "Go cry. Go feel. Get your son, go be a family today. Dr. Torres booked Alexandra's surgery for Thursday… let's regroup tomorrow, okay?"

Mack nodded and pulled Arizona into a hug, "Thank you." She let Arizona go, wiped the last of her tears, and turned away to call Mrs. Thomas to see if she could swing by with their 13-year-old son, James.

Wednesday

June 16, 2010

6:02 PM

Callie hadn't spent real time with Arizona since her revelation a week ago. Between Callie's intense work schedule the past week, and Arizona's family being in town, neither had much time to dedicate to the other. Regardless, their thing had been shameless dirty sex for the last six months. There was rarely anything romantic, and if there was, it was a cute note left in a lab coat pocket, a stolen glance from across the hospital, an unexpected coffee delivery – nothing spectacular. For the most part, they had sex, talked about Arizona leaving Christian, talked about their surgeries, and ate a lot of takeout. Sure, they sometimes talked feelings, but it typically ended with Arizona freaking out for a few days after and ignoring Callie before giving in and throwing Callie up against a locked on-call room door. She expected something of the sort to happen again, but as the days passed, Callie found herself on the receiving end of nothing more than a few smiles from across the hospital and frequent run-ins over Alexandra.

What was unexpected, however, was that Callie actually enjoyed the space from Arizona. Sure, Callie had wanted Arizona to confess her love for her when they were in college, and sure, Callie had started to want that again after six months of sneaking around, but she also needed some space from all of that.

Callie was at home, cooking dinner for her roommate, Christina Yang. Christina had just finished telling Callie about the surgery she performed on a 32-year-old father of two that morning. He had been in a head on collision with a drunk driver on his way home from a late business dinner with his law firm. He had come in around 2 AM with a large piece of his car's windshield lodged in his chest – dangerously close to his heart. Christina had worked hand in hand with Dr. Altman and Dr. Hunt on removing the glass and repairing the damage. Carson Brentwood, the patient, had died twice during the surgery, with one rescue being due to Christina's own quick thinking. He's ultimately survived after 10 long hours of surgery – and will be just fine.

"Here you go," Callie said, placing a plate of baked balsamic honey garlic glazed chicken, roasted broccoli, roasted potato cubes, and a piece of corn in front of the cardio resident.

"Thanks," Christina said, picking up her fork and immediately digging into the food aggressively.

"Jeez Yang, when's the last time you ate?" Callie asked, turning off the oven and taking her plate over to the counter to eat her dinner.

"Lunch – yesterday," Christina answered her, shoveling food in her mouth. "This is fucking delicious, seriously, thanks."

Callie smiled, "You're welcome. You were a badass today, after all."

"I was a badass today. I was a cardio god," Christina said matter-of-factly, clearly overwhelmed by her own pride. "What's up with that girl?"

"You mean on top of the scoliosis and kyphosis? Bone Cancer. Vertebral tumors. Stage 3. I operate on the tumor tomorrow, I think I can get it all out without a problem. Chief Weston called in a favor from Dr. Minnick at Cleveland Clinic. She gets in tonight. We're meeting at the hospital in the morning to go over the plan – but Little Grey, Dr. Spalding, Dr. Robbins, and I have been working pretty closely with her over the last few days to devise our plan of attack. Shouldn't be a very complicated surgery, but with the placement of the tumor, it may be hard to access. We operate at noon," Callie told her as they ate.

"Minnick? Why do I know that name?"

"Surgical robot… she was all over the medical journals last year for her scoliosis research study," Callie explained.

"How did we get her on board?"

"We went to medical school together at NYU," Callie explained, "She owed me a favor."

"Why?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Ooh, this must be juicy! Tell me!" Christina said, her interest suddenly sparked enough to pause the shoveling of her food.

"I know you're going to tell Meredith, so Lexie will find out, but otherwise, keep this shit to yourself."

"Deal."

"First year of medical school, I was dating some second year law student, Amaya… she was at NYU too. Not that that matters… Anyway, turns out she was friends with Eliza. She told me Eliza was… experimenting with her sexuality and needed someone to test run. Amaya and I weren't serious – she was your type, always studying, didn't want anything serious. She wanted to graduate first in her class, a total gunner. We mostly just fucked for stress relief, took each other as dates to events… nothing serious. So she basically asked me to fuck her friend."

"Damn Torres, you were a player."

"Why'd you put that in past tense?"

"Touchè. Did you do it?"

"Of course I did it. She's easy as hell on the eyes."

"Good point. But damn, what a way to incur a debt."

"Worked out for me. She'll be an asset to the team. I really think we can get this girl's life back."

"Alright, don't get mushy with me now. But, I do want to sit in on this, I'll be in the gallery."

"I know it's just because the surgery is cool – I caught you looking at her scans last night – but I appreciate the support."

End Note: Sorry, this ones a little short and kinda abruptly ends. But, I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long. I'm trying here!

Anyway, I can't decide if I want this to be set just before the shooting, or a few months after. Let me know your preferences. I think my idea works a little better if it's before, but I have a solid plan either way.

Also, in my world, Mark and Lexie never broke up, okay? It's my story and they get no pain. Ever. I promise. They get to live happily ever after, everyone else is fair game.

Someone asked if I'm going to finish my other story. The answer is yes, but I want to finish this one first. It's got the most support, and everyone wants it finished so – I'm doing it… 10 years late, but better late than never.

Again, please leave any thoughts or suggestions you might have!