Widow Robbins
Chapter 4
Addison Montgomery stood in the middle of the walkway leading to the main entrance of Seattle Grace Hospital. She inhaled deeply as memories of this place, her failures, threatened to overwhelm her senses. She couldn't allow herself to get caught up in the latest drama, not this time. She just needed to get in, get out, and be back in California as soon as possible. A soft but husky voice interrupted her musings.
"Excuse me, but are you Addison Montgomery?" a slender woman with wavy bordering on curly blonde hair and radiant blue eyes stood before her holding two cups of coffee.
"My reputation precedes me, I see," she responded with a large smile.
"Actually, the older Grey sister asked me to give you this. Said something about juju before she scampered away." The stranger held out one of the coffees. "Also, I just wanted to say I read your article on the correlation between cervical squamous cell carcinomas and placental abruption and would love to pick your brain a bit."
Addison's right eyebrow moved upward. "Not many people bring up that article. That's one of my hidden gems if I do say so myself," she said with an impressed nod. "I feel at a disadvantage though because you know who I am and I…"
Before she could continue, the ringing of a cell phone interrupted them. The bubbly woman pulled her phone from her pocket and frowned at the display. "I'm sorry but I really need to take this. I'm sure I'll see you later." She pivoted quickly and walked away talking animatedly on her phone.
"I didn't get your name!" Addison called but got no reply. She looked at her coffee, sniffed it and sipped slowly. At least Meredith had gotten her coffee order right. With another deep breath, she steeled her reserves and strode confidently into the hospital.
Her bravado was quick lived when she found herself crashing into a resident outside of the attendings' lounge, spilling her coffee all over herself and a white lab coat in front of her. "I'm sor-"
"Hey! Watch it, will ya?!" the short tempered response flew from Callie's lips before she could register who crashed into her. She wiped her hands futilely over the spreading brown splotch.
"YOU ran into ME, Torres," Addison retorted sharply.
Callie's hands stilled as she registered Addison's voice. "Oh my God, Addison!" She wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." She held the woman out at arms length to look her up and down. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just a glutton for punishment, I guess, but also, duty calls."
As they talked, Erica Hahn stepped out of the lounge. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she noticed their close proximity. "Replacing the widow so quickly, Cal?" Her snarky comment had a sharp bite to the tone.
Callie took a small step away from Addison. "Jesus, Erica, how many times do I need to tell you. I can have friends other than you. This jealousy act is getting old. We aren't in junior high."
Erica rolled her eyes and pushed past the pair. "Excuse me but some of us have lives to save."
Addison's eyebrows drew together as she witnessed the interaction and watched Erica's retreating form. She cocked her head in the cardiac surgeon's direction. "What's her problem? She knows we're friends."
Callie blew a pent up breath upwards. "She's jealous cuz I've been hanging out with the new peds fellow. They don't like each other much but I haven't been told the full story yet. They seem to have a complicated past from working together at Seattle Pres."
"I see the drama hasn't stopped since I was last here," Addison commented with a wry smile.
"Never," Callie laughed.
"I need some new scrubs before I meet with Richard."
"Big case?"
"Yeah. High risk pregnancy for mother and child. I think it's a friend of Richard and Adele's." She gestured for Callie to follow her into the attendings' lounge, even though Callie wasn't an attending. "I thought I'd be working with Kenley but he assigned me someone new, someone I don't know. Rogers? Robinson? Something like that.."
"Arizona? She's great!" Callie said, sitting down on one of the benches. "You'll really like working with her."
"She's the peds fellow?" Addison's curiosity was piqued.
"Yeah." Callie looked around the room. "Kenley's always singing her praises and the chief really likes her."
"Hmmm," Addison mused, pulling on a clean scrub shirt. Callie's enthusiastic endorsement of the peds fellow had her wondering what was up with that.
Callie glanced down at her watch. "Shit. I have surgery in thirty minutes and I still need to get a clean lab coat," she said, standing up. "Lunch later?"
"Absolutely. I'll find you."
"Great!"
# # # # # # # # # #
After meeting briefly with Richard, Addison headed for Dr. Kenley's office. Even if he wasn't working on the case with Addison, it was simple courtesy to speak with him first.
"Knock, knock," Addison said from the opened door.
"Addison!" Dr. Kenley said, immediately getting up from his desk. "I didn't expect you until tomorrow."
"Thought I'd come a day early." She entered the office and met her former colleague for a hug. "The rumor mill tells me you've assigned me your rock star."
"Yes, she is. I was so pleased that I was able to steal a fantastic peds surgeon away from Settle Pres for the fellowship here."
Before he could continue, the lady with the coffee from this morning tapped on the door jamb. "You paged, Dr. Kenley?"
"Were your ears burning, Robbins? I was just telling Addison here all about you. Montgomery, this is the future of pediatric surgery. Dr. Arizona Robbins," he boasted proudly.
Addison held her hand out towards the surgical fellow. "It's nice to meet you. Properly this time." She gave a sly wink as she smiled broadly.
Arizona's cheeks reddened as she grasped the other woman's hand to shake. "I'm so sorry. This morning was so chaotic. One minute I'm minding my business in the coffee line and the next, the Grey girl shoves coffee at me with a hurried explanation and push towards you. And then you were so nice and then the babysitter called and I realized I hadn't introduced myself. And…"
Addison's smile widened as she listened. "Take a breath, Robbins."
"Sorry. I tend to babble when I'm nervous. It's just that your reputation precedes you."
Thinking about Callie and Erica's reaction to Arizona, Addison teased, "as does yours."
"Excuse me?" Arizona's smile tightened.
Seeing the wary look on the younger surgeon's face, Addison said, "Jordan was just telling me what a fantastic surgeon you are."
"Oh. Oh, um, thank you?"
Dr. Kenley clapped his hands. "Well it looks like you two are already getting along swimmingly. I'll let you get to it. If you need anything, I'm here 'til one today." He ushered the ladies to the door and bade them farewell.
"I thought we could review the scans and charts before we meet with the patient," Addison offered as they walked down the hall together.
"Sounds like a plan," Arizona agreed.
"How are you liking Seattle Grace so far?"
"It's okay," Arizona stated carefully.
Addison chuckled at the way the response was dragged out slowly and deliberately. "That doesn't sound very convincing."
Arizona blushed as she realized her blunder. "It's just that part of the hospital's appeal, aside from not having to move, was their emphasis on being a teaching hospital. However, it seems all the attendings are more concerned with their own fragile egos than with actually teaching the residents." She shoved her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. "At least that's my observation in the past month."
Addison took a few moments to reflect on what she'd been told. She tried to find fault with the statement, but based on her own experiences, she found none. "Maybe you'll be the one to lead the change." Small talk was quickly dropped as the duo immersed themselves in their profession.
After reviewing scans and test results, ordering more up-to-date tests, meeting with the mother and then brainstorming, the morning had quickly passed by. Addison had to admit that Arizona Robbins was living up to Kenley's praise. She was confident, smart, and her interaction with the patient was impressive. She thought Arizona's perkiness was a little annoying at first, but the younger woman's enthusiasm quickly won her over.
For Arizona, working with Addison was a dream, once she stopped being star struck by her. She'd heard rumors around the hospital about her, but dismissed them. She liked Addison. She was a good teacher, smart, sure of herself and Arizona also enjoyed her wit.
"I'd like to have someone from cardio included." Arizona said as the two women walked down the hall.
"Hahn?"
Arizona forced her expression to remain neutral, but Addison caught a glimpse of distaste on it.
"No, I'm thinking a resident, Yang in particular. I think it would be good for her."
Addison chuckled. "Good luck with that. Yang doesn't like children or OB-GYN."
"I'll talk to her, if you'd like."
"Have at it." Addison laughed.
"I think I can convince her. I think she'll jump at the chance. After all, it is a heart," Arizona answered with a smile.
"Well, here's your chance," Addison said, nodding toward Cristina Yang who was checking out the OR board.
Arizona gave Addison a nod before she headed over to Cristina.
"See anything interesting, Dr. Yang?"
Her response was a polite and distant, "Dr. Robbins."
Arizona scanned the board and saw two cardio surgeries scheduled for later in the day with Hahn's name, but Cristina's name was not written as the resident. She'd heard talk that Erica was being particularly hard on the resident, frequently excluding her from surgeries and assigning her to labs or post-op. Arizona thought it was a waste of the younger doctor's talents.
"I have a surgery that I think you might be interested in," ArIzona said, still looking at the board.
Cristina considered the woman standing beside her and the offer. She'd heard the talk about Robbins being a superstar surgeon and that there seemed to be some animosity between her and Hahn. Those were both a check in the plus column. Peds surgeon, though, was a check in the minus column. Still, she hadn't been in an OR in what seemed like forever. That was another plus. She also thought about Callie's new-found friendship with the peds surgeon, which despite being a little weird, had also put her roommate into a better mood AND it meant she was not seeing Hahn as much. That was a plus and a minus because Callie was a badass and not some sugarplum fairy that rolled around on skates.
"What've you got?" Cristina finally asked.
"Dr. Montgomery and I - "
"Wait. Are we talking about a gynie-peds surgery? Uh, that would be a no."
Arizona smirked. "I'll be operating on a newborn's heart. Have you ever assisted on one of those?"
"No, but Hahn's never going to allow me in the room with all of you," Cristina replied with dissatisfaction.
"Dr. Hahn has nothing to do with this case. I will be performing the surgery and could use the assist. Still not interested?" she questioned with a bright smile.
Cristina couldn't believe her ears. This newbie wanted HER? "No, I'm definitely interested."
"Great. I'll let you know when we're meeting again. Surgery is scheduled for next week unless the mother goes into labor early." Arizona looked at her watch and saw that it was after noon. She wondered why she hadn't heard from Callie. "I'm going to grab some lunch."
"Thank you for the opportunity, Dr. Robbins."
Arizona waved her off and then kicked out her heelies and rolled away.
# # # # # # # # # #
Arizona paused in the doorway of the cafeteria, trying not to be too obvious as she looked for Callie. She spotted Addison first, then Callie sitting opposite of her. They were engaged in a very animated conversation and Callie was laughing.
"Oh look, Callie has friends other than you," a voice beside her sneered. Arizona turned to her right to find Erica standing there with a tray in her hand. "I think I'll join them," Erica added.
As Erica walked away, Arizona thought about sitting with them, but decided against it. She didn't know Addison well enough to intrude on her lunch with Callie (and Callie seemed to be having a good time) and she certainly didn't want to sit with Erica Hahn. Without much thought, she quickly bought a sandwich, a bag of chips and a drink and headed for her tiny office. Once there she realized what she'd purchased and wondered what she'd been thinking. I don't even like sandwiches she thought as she grimaced on the first bite.
"Cam said I was cheating at hopscotch and told me to 'drop and give me ten'." Callie laughed.
"Drop and give you ten?" Addison laughed. "Where did she ever come up with that?"
"Arizona's dad is a retired Marine colonel," Callie explained. She'd been delighted to find out that small piece of information about Arizona. She was a private person and didn't share too many personal details about herself. This little snippet came about when Arizona had explained why the girls were wearing red Marine Corps t-shirts one day.
"Mind if I join you?" Erica asked, setting down her tray and not bothering to wait for a response.
Callie gave Erica a polite, almost cool smile. As she looked across the room, she saw Arizona and waved, her smile becoming more genuine. That smile quickly fell as she watched the peds surgeon leave the cafeteria.
"You can go one lunch without the widow and her rugrats," Erica snarked as she opened her bottle of water.
"Widow? Rugrats?"
"Yeah, Arizona's husband died while she was a resident at Seattle Pres.."
Erica nearly choked after taking a large swallow from the bottle. "Is that what she told you?"
"No. Arizona doesn't talk about it, and I can't say that I blame her." Callie took a sip from her drink. "It's such a heartbreaking story," Callie continued with a sad look on her face. "I overheard one of the nurse transfers from Seattle Pres talking about it. Arizona's husband sometime after the twins had their second birthday," Callie explained.
"Is there really nothing else to discuss? Movies, books, hell I'll even talk politics if it means I don't have to hear about Saint Robbins anymore," Erica groused.
Callie stabbed at her lasagna. "This jealousy you have about Arizona is exhausting."
"Can you blame me? This is the first time I've gotten to have lunch with you since you set her munchkin's arm over a month ago. Every time I DO see you, usually at the bar, all I hear is yet another story about her and her kids." Erica pushed her tray towards the center of the table, her appetite long gone. "She dominates the conversation even when she isn't here!"
Callie huffed loudly. "I've TOLD you I have friends other than you. I need to be able to spend time with them."
"She's the only one you're spending ANY time with now. Even Sloan commented the other day about how he has barely seen you lately."
"He's too busy chasing after Little Grey to care," Callie retorted. Addison's eyes widened at that last comment.
"You act as though Tinkerbell walks on water."
"Can I help it if I find it amazing that she completed her residency, and was chief resident, while being widowed with twin toddlers? I barely survived getting divorced during my brief stint as chief resident."
Addison listened to the women's argument escalate. "Ladies…" she started to interrupt, but was ignored. The more she heard the more it sounded like romantic jealousy and not friendly bickering.
"It's not amazing. It's survival. And you didn't have to tolerate the grieving resident and her insane mood swings."
Callie sat back and crossed her arms. "Enlighten me then. You seem gung ho to put me in my place. Tell me what you know."
Erica pushed her seat back from the table. "It's not my story to tell. When you're ready to hang out with the rest of your friends, maybe I'll be there."
Callie and Addison watched the cardiac specialist walk stiffly away. Addison whistled softly. "That was interesting."
Callie sighed softly. "I'm sorry about Erica. She's not usually like that."
"It's normal to be angry when you feel replaced. She's trying to fight for her spot. I can respect that," Addison said, choosing her words carefully. "It's how I felt towards Meredith for a long time."
Callie's eyes widened at the insinuation. "I'm not- Erica's not-. Nobody's gay or or or having feelings, Addison. We're all just friends," she stammered.
Addison stood and gathered her trash. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I would tread carefully with Erica. A woman scorned and all that," she said with a wink as she left Callie alone to ponder what the hell just happened and what Addison thought she saw.
# # # # # # # # # #
The remainder of the week passed relatively quickly. Arizona impressed Addison with her knowledge and skillset inside the OR and out. By the time Friday rolled around, Addison realized that there was little that fazed Arizona. Surgical complications were met with stoicism and a steady hand. Pediatric floor pranksters were met with a laugh but admonishment.
"Nice work in there, Robbins," Addison said as they scrubbed out of an emergency surgery.
"Thank you, Dr. Montgomery," Arizona responded with reddened cheeks from the unexpected compliment. She was still a bit awestruck working beside the renowned surgeon.
"Please, if we're going to be working so closely together, it's Addison."
"Thank you, Addison," she repeated with a grin.
"With how well this week went, I think a celebratory drink is in order. Join me?" Addison stretched her arms over her head as she worked out some of the muscle strain from standing over the operating table.
Addison's movements caught Arizona's eye, and she couldn't help but give the older woman a side glance. Addison was certainly a stunning woman. Arizona's thoughts quickly drifted to Callie and her beauty and she smiled to herself. When she realized she was thinking about Callie in a not-so-appropriate way, she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Something wrong?" Addison asked, noticing the confused look on Arizona's face.
"No, just tired," she answered with a half-smile. "You were saying?"
"Come out for a drink. We can discuss the deep dive you did on my articles in preparation for my visit," she teased.
"Did Callie put you up to this? She's been trying to get me to the bar since we met." Arizona turned off the water, dried her hands then leaned against the sink.
"Do you have something against bars?" One of Addison's eyebrows rose slightly. She found it interesting that Arizona's first reaction to going out was bringing up Callie's name.
Arizona shook her head. "Not particularly. But I have two impressionable children at home. It doesn't look good for me to be at the bar every Friday night."
Addison nodded slowly. "That's understandable. But if you want to make friends with the doctors and nurses here, your best bet is to at least put in a brief appearance from time to time." She held her hands up to prevent an interruption. "Just something to consider and maybe we could also talk about your bright future in maternal -fetal medicine."
Arizona's jaw dropped. "My what?!" she squeaked in surprise.
Addison grinned as she held open the door. "You're a natural, Robbins. The future is yours for the taking."
Arizona stepped into the hallway. "There's no…you're kidding me. Are you…you can't be serious. I just started my fellowship in peds," she protested.
"Meet me at Joe's and you'll discover I don't joke about career paths." Addison laughed as she patted her shoulder and walked away.
Arizona stared down the hallway dumbfounded at Addison's words. Without stopping to think she blurted out, "Yes!" She jogged to catch up with the other surgeon. "I mean, I have a couple post-ops, but I'll stop over as soon as I'm done."
# # # # # # # # # #
Three hours later, after post-ops and a call home to say goodnight to the girls, Arizona headed over to the bar across the street. She'd heard a lot about this bar, and tried to ignore the gossip that accompanied it. It seemed that there was always some drama or another that started or ended in the bar.
Addison hadn't said if anyone would be joining them, but Arizona hoped Callie would be there. She felt terrible that she had been too busy to text her sole friend at the hospital and also, a little guilty for accepting Addison's drinks offer when she had rebuffed Callie for so long. When she reached for the door handle of the establishment, she said a quick prayer that Erica Hahn would not be present. She knew Callie had a big heart but couldn't understand the friendship with the head of cardiothoracic surgery.
With a deep breath, Arizona stepped into the small vestibule leading into the bar. From her vantage point, she could search the various groups of people scattered at booths, tables, dance floor, pool table, darts area and of course, the bar undetected. She saw Addison seated at a table near the darts talking to a man whose back was to the door. She noticed Callie standing in front of the dart board preparing to throw.
Arizona was about to head over to the ladies when she noticed Erica wrap an arm around Callie's shoulders and lean close to her ear. The gesture was far too intimate for a pair who claimed to be "just friends". This was a stupid idea, she thought bitterly as she dug through her pocket for her cell phone.
She pivoted quickly to hurry out of the bar, only to bump into Miranda Bailey. "Oh! Bailey. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…"
"Leaving so soon, Dr. Robbins?" the smaller woman inquired.
"I…uh…I…" Arizona's face reddened as she struggled to find a suitable excuse for her hasty departure.
Bailey looked past the pediatric fellow and noticed Callie grasp Erica's arm and forcibly remove it from around her shoulders. The pair seemed embroiled in a heated argument. She had noticed Arizona's aversion to and how frequently she was seen with Torres. With an all-knowing nod, she stepped aside. "I'm sure something pressing is taking you away from us tonight. Something with your kids, I presume," she said, giving Arizona an out.
"Right! Right. I should go. Tell Addison, I'm sorry, please." Arizona waited for Bailey's nod before darting out the door. Once outside, she leaned against the brick facade and hung her head. Disappointment coursed through her. She knew Callie was friendly with but never dreamed they were that close. Maybe letting Callie close is a mistake, she thought as she pushed away from the building and headed towards her car.
Meanwhile inside the bar, Callie stepped away from Erica. "What the hell are you doing?"
Erica stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean? I was telling you that the winner buys the next round."
"You put your arm around me and had your lips so close to my ear I could feel you speak!" Callie exclaimed. "You were in my bubble!"
"Your bubble?" Erica scoffed . "You've been spending too much time in peds."
Callie waved her arms around herself. "Yes! My personal space," she replied, ignoring Erica's comment about peds.
"In case you missed it, personal space has never been a factor for us until now. Hell we were all in each other's personal space on the dance floor last week."
Callie opened and closed her mouth a few times as she struggled to come up with a response. She shook her head to clear it. "That's not the point."
"It IS the point, Cal," she said softly, taking a step forward. Her shoulders slumped when Callie stepped backward.
Addison and Mark watched the pair from a nearby table. "What's the deal with those two?" she asked.
"Who? Callie and Erica?" Mark shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing to tell really. Callie is the only person Hahn's let behind that icy exterior."
"Every time I've seen them together this week, they've bickered like couples do."
Mark laughed loudly. "Callie gay? With the ice queen? In your dreams, Addie."
Addison sipped her extra dry martini in thought as she continued to watch Callie and Erica argue back and forth. Finally, Callie held both hands up in a back off gesture and walked away from the blonde, weaving her way through the crowd to get to the bar. Mark started to stand but Addison put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here. I've got this."
She stood and walked confidently to the corner of the bar where Callie stood. Bailey sat on the other side of her. Addison ordered another drink before addressing the orthopedic surgeon. "What was all that about over there?" She jerked her head in the direction of the darts area. "You and Erica were looking pretty cozy…until you weren't."
Callie ran her hands through her hair. Her thoughts were jumbled after arguing with her best friend. Erica was right. There normally wasn't an issue with personal space. However, tonight was different. Addison had told her Arizona was coming to join them tonight. Callie had found herself wishing for a different blonde wrapping their arms around her and whispering huskily into her ear. That hope scared her so it was easier to pick a fight than admit it. Instead of answering Addison's query, she knocked back a shot of tequila.
Addison drummed her fingers on the bartop, looked around the room and glanced at her watch. "I thought Arizona would be here by now," she said with a frown.
"I'm not surprised she ditched. I've been begging her for weeks to join us and she keeps giving one excuse after another," Callie grumbled as she lifted her beer to her lips. "How'd you manage that anyways?"
"Batted my eyelashes and stroked her professional ego, of course."
"Of course." Callie rolled her eyes. Surely, Arizona wouldn't fall for something as simple as that.
Addison frowned as she checked the time again. "I was really hoping to talk to her about maternal -fetal medicine. I know she's in peds but she's got so much natural talent with the mothers and always seems to be two steps ahead of my thought process."
"Are you two talking about Robbins?" Bailey questioned from her seat.
"Yeah. She was supposed to be here," Callie said.
"She was. I ran into her on my way in. She had her phone out and was in a rush to leave." Both Addison's and Callie's postures slumped in disappointment. Bailey continued, "Maternal -fetal medicine is impressive, but that's a lot to juggle for a pediatric surgery fellow who's a single mom to twins getting ready to start school." She took a sip from her drink. "And I'm sure Dr, Kenley would have something to say about that as well."
Callie finished her beer in silence as she half-listened to Addison and Bailey's conversation. Now that Arizona wasn't going to be out, her enthusiasm for staying at Joe's was gone. And she certainly wasn't going to stick around for anything else Erica had to say.
"I'm heading out," she said, setting her empty glass on the bar.
"So soon?" Addison asked.
"Yeah, I've got to work tomorrow, early shift."
She nodded at the two women, slung her purse over her shoulder and walked out. Addison and Bailey exchanged a look, but remained silent.