Chapter 23
Unaware of the chaos she was causing, Zona continued to skate down the road she had found herself on, hoping to catch sight of something she knew or recognised, taking herself further and further away from home.
After skating for what seemed like forever Zona knew she was really lost. She was never going to see Mommy or Timmy or the Captain again. Never have hot food or a warm bed. Tears began running down her face at the thought of all the things she'd never have again, so much so she stopped skating, instead taking a moment to rest her little legs. She remembered watching Peter Pan with Timmy and the lost boys, how they had to fight pirates, but there had been no lost girls there, where did the lost girls go, did they become fairy's or mermaids or did the bad pirates get them.
Zona was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear the car pull up next to her. She did hear her name being called,
"Zona?"
She looked up, her vision blurry from the tears, arms grabbed her pulling her up and into an embrace,
"Zona what are you doing here? Where's Nurse B or Captain Dan" Zona recognised the voice, it was safe voice, from a safe person,
"Mommy and Timmy were sleeping, I went to see the horses, but then I got lost and Captain is fighting baddies, and I'm going to have to fight pirates or fish" Zona sobbed, holding onto Dr Mabel for dear life.
"It's okay, you are safe, lets get you in the car and try find mommy and Timmy" Zona nodded allowing Dr Mabel to wipe away her tears, "do you know where you live" Zona shook her head no, "Do you know your phone number?" She tried, again Zona shook her head no.
Mabel sighed, debating what to do. "I guess you get to come to work with me for a bit, while I try contact your mom" she decided, lifting Zona up carrying her to the passenger seat and fastening her in.
"Tell me about these horses" Mabel said trying to cheer Zona up, it worked as instantly the little girls face lit up.
"One is called Zeus and one is Titan, Zeus is brown, and Titan is grey. They are in there forever home cus there first mommy and daddy was mean, he hit them with a belt cus they have marks like me" Zona told her, Mabel nodded her heart breaking again, she hated how the 6 year old could recognise belt mark scars.
"And you went to see them today?"
"Uh huh, I asked mommy and she said later but it was later, and I had to tell Zeus about Captain leaving, cus he was going to miss him" Zona explained, "And he had to know Captain wasn't dead, but fighting baddies, in case he had bad dreams"
"And is it just Zeus having bad dreams?" Mabel asked knowingly, suspecting it wasn't the horses having bad dreams,
"Mammy died, and daddy became mad, and Michelle said her Uncle died fighting baddies, what if Captain dies, and mommy becomes mad" Zona said,
"I don't think your mommy would ever be like your daddy, she might be sad and worried because you disappeared, but I know she will never hurt you" Mabel promised, "And if she does, all you have to do is tell Mrs Thomas, or Doctor Edna and they will make sure you are safe"
"Mommy will be sad" Zona questioned worriedly. She really didn't want to make her new mommy sad.
"She will" Mabel told her, "She will wake up and find you gone, and she won't know where you have gone or if you are hurt, or if any baddies have taken you" she explained
"But I'm here" Zona said
"I know that silly, but mommy doesn't," Mabel said, "you can't' just go where you want without telling her"
"Daddy didn't know where Timmy or me was" Zona defended, her daddy hadn't cared, he only got more mad if they weren't there in the evening when he wanted to smack something around, otherwise he didn't care at all.
"I know, but your daddy was a baddy, he didn't look after you very well, whereas your mommy, she always makes sure you are warm and safe and not hungry, because that's what good mommies and daddies do" Mabel explained,
"Mommy is good mommy" Zona told her
"I know" Mabel pulled up outside the hospital, "Come on let's go call her, let her know you are safe" Zona nodded standing on her skates. Mabel sighed, ideally, she wouldn't be wearing her skates inside but skates were safer than no skates, "come on skater girl" she offered her hand, one to steady the girl, two to make sure she didn't get lost or wonder off again and three to make sure she didn't fall over. They entered via the ER, Mabel catching the nearest nurse in what looked to be a quiet department,
"Hey Porcha could you get me Barbara Robbins number, I have something that belongs to her" She nodded at Zona.
"Of course, Dr Franks" Porcha disappeared into her office returning with a piece of paper a phone number and address written on. Mabel guided Zona down the corridors to her office ringing the number, getting no response, she tried again, no response. She checked her clock it was time for rounds,
"Okay, Doctor Zona, let's go on our rounds" she suggested handing the young girl a white lab coat and stethoscope. Arriving at the Peds ward she was grateful to see Gloria the ward clerk at her desk
"Gloria, can you keep calling this number let Barbara know I have Arizona safe, and to pick her up from the hospital when she can, oh also to bring some normal shoes"
While Mabel charted and checked on patients Zona sat at the desk with Gloria 'helping'. Dr Mabel had asked her to draw a picture to put on the wall to make the sick children feel better a task Zona was taking seriously. She lasted a few minutes before finishing her task, now she just needed someone to give it too, walking away from the desk she made her way to the nearest room. A brunette girl lay her leg in a bright red cast.
"Hey, i don't suppose you can pass me the TV remote can you?" she asked, Zona shook her head no, as she walked in, mesmorised by the older girl. She was beautiful and so cool looking. Instantly Zona wanted to be her friend,
"I made a picture, would you like it?" she asked nervously, handing her drawing over,
"Yeah, I love drawing, is that you?" the brunette asked,
"Uh huh, and that's my brother, and that's Dr Mabel, she is really nice" Zona explained,
"Wow, your a good drawer" the girl complimented, making Zona's chest swell with pride, "I'm going to put it on my wall, then when I feel sad I can look at it and I'll feel better" the girl promised,
"What happened?" she asked curiously, she'd had a similiar cast on her arm from daddy, had that happened to her too?
"I was racing my sister on my bike, we are visiting, and were bored, it's always boring when we go with daddy to the hotel openings" the girl revealed with a mischevious smile, "I went to fast and hit the wall, but i won the race, and I got this cool cast, what about you?"
"I'm Dr Zona, I'm helping Dr Mabel on her rounds" Zona revealed proudly. "I'm going to be a doctor when I'm older"
"Me too, I want to fix bones" the brunette said,
"Cool, I'm going to do kids, maybe we can work at the same hosptial and be friends, and share lunch" Zona suggested, "We'll be the best bone/kid team ever"
"Yay," the brunette said, "You wanna sign my cast?" she asked, Zona nodded,
"I'm good at drawing, and I can do letters too" she said proudly.
"Can you write my name?" The older girl asked, "C...A...L...L...I...E" she spelt, as Zona carefully drew the letters on her red cast then underneath wrote Zona.
Mabel finished her ward round, only to find her assistant was missing again, sighing she found her ward clerk. Hoping this wasn't the third time the small blonde had escaped from the ward.
"Where is Zona now?" she asked
"She is keeping Miss Torres company"
"Any luck?" she asked Gloria who shook her head no,
"I'll keep trying, she is probably out searching for her doing her nut" Gloria noted, "I can call the police" she offered,
"We'll save that until after lunch, like you said she is probably out searching, I have skills lab anyway now Zona can help teach, she might be better than some of the interns anyway." Mabel reflected, "If not I'll drive by her address at lunch."
She entered Callie's room
"Hello Dr Zona, hello Callie"
"Dr Mabel, Callie is going to be a doctor too" Zona exclaimed joyfully, "we are going to be doctors together and friends,"
"That's great, how you feeling Callie?" she asked,
"Good thanks," Callie replied,
"Okay, now Zona we need to get back to work, let's go terrify interns" She offered her hand Zona taking it.
"Bye Callie," Zona waved, "I hope your leg gets better soon"
"Bye Zona" Callie waved back, as they seperated they both felt this strange feeling inside, almost a sense of loss, which was madness, because they had just met.
They arrived at the skills lab, 20 interns waiting outside.
"Okay, in you go," Mabel ordered watching the interns file in, "This is Doctor Arizona, she will be assisting me today" Mabel introduced. The class of interns were staring at Zona not hiding their interest. "So today we talk about Peds. This is not general surgery in miniature. These are the tiny humans. These are children. They believe in magic. They play pretend. There is fairy dust in their IV bags. They hope and they cross their fingers and they make wishes. And that's what makes them more resilient than adults. They recover fast, survive worse, they believe. In Peds., we have miracles and magic. In Peds., anything is possible... Right Zona"
"Right," Zona agreed, not really sure what she was agreeing to, but magic and wishes. "Dr Mabel is magic, and Dr Edna has magic pens" she said, seriously.
"That's right, I'm magic," Mabel nodded, "Also things on tiny humans are a lot smaller, and really test your surgical skills. So, you need to be more accurate, neater, these are scars that will be with them for a long time. In front of you is a suture pad, the smallest, neatest, fastest stitches win, you decide which one to close that wound, which will scar less. "Ready, steady, go" she ordered as all the interns ran to where the sutures were being kept. With a smile Mabel turned to Zona,
"What do you think you wanna try?" she suggested, Zona nodded, "Okay, as its your first day we might start with something simple. Let's listen to heart beats" Mabel got the stethoscope from around Zona's neck. Placing the earpieces in Zona's ear then the other end to her chest. "Can you hear a heartbeat?" Zona nodded, Mabel moved the end to her own chest "What about now?" Zona nodded again. "Is there a difference?"
"Faster" Zona said pointing at herself.
"That's right children hearts go faster than adults"
"Done" the first intern yelled.
"Alright bring it here" Mabel ordered, "Ah continuous over and over stitches, slightly sloppy, do them again"
The intern sighed, taking his suture pad back. "Okay Zona, listen to this" she brought over a manakin, "how does this heart sound"
Zona listened "quiet" she whispered
"That's right, this has muffled heart sounds"
"I've finished yes" Another intern cried,
"Mattress stitches but look at the tension on them sloppy. Try again" Mabel instructed. "Sloppy work leads to complications, like infection and scaring" she told Zona.
"I have scars" Zona said,
"I know sweetie, this is why this is important" Mabel said smoothing her blonde hair down. "No child deserves to have scars. Now we are going to play a game with the doctors. When they have finished they are going to pretend to stitch your arm, can you play pretend with them?"
Zona nodded, she liked playing doctor with her teddies too and she liked helping Doctor Mabel.
"Great, they are going to ask to stitch your arms, and all you have to do is decide if it sounds scary or magic. If it's scary say no, if its magic say yes. Can you do that for me?" she asked, Zona nodded.
"Done. Dr Franks. I'm done suck it." The young girl gloated dancing over.
"Suck what?" Zona asked her eyes sparkling, "lolly?"
"Yes, Dr McFadden suck what?" Mabel questioned an eyebrow raised,
"Definitely a lolly. I mean what else would you suck?" the girl blushed,
"What do we think of these stitches Dr Zona?" Mabel asked
"There aren't any" Zona replied poking it,
"That's because I buried my sutures, its more complicated but it gives a better finish and reduces scaring. Dr Smythe taught it me last week, I've been practicing it since" she said excitedly
"Good tension, hard to spot, great work" Mabel praised. "Now this is our patient, 6-year-old Arizona Robbins, she needs stitches I want you to explain them to her"
"Okay, Arizona, I need to stitch your arm, if you put it here, I can get started." The intern said sounding bored,
"No" Zona protested, folding her arms up tightly.
"Great stitches but failed on the final test. Not enough magic" Mabel said, as the next intern came up, again his stitches were passable.
"Okay, Arizona I have a needle and thread and they are magic, because they are going to make your arm so much better, it won't hurt because I have another needle with special medicine in that will make it all numb"
"No" Zona replied.
"And another final test fail. Come on guys think about the magic" Mabel encouraged as the next intern approached.
"I hate Peds, can't we just sedate her and then stitch her up"
"No!" Mabel exclaimed horrified, "next"
"But I didn't get to say no" Zona complained arms still folded, she was enjoying this game,
"I know sweetie," Mabel rubbed her shoulders as the next one approached. "Still too sloppy Sullivan try again with your sutures"
"Passable Granger, okay off you go"
"Hello, Arizona, right?" the intern knelt down, getting to Arizona eye level. Zona nodded, "okay, my name is Trevor, I hear you hurt your arm, how did you do that?" Zona shrugged looking at Mabel
"She fell over on her skates" Mabel told him, "And she hurt her arm"
"Can I have a look?" he asked, Zona nodded, holding out the arm that had previously been casted. "Ouch, it looks sore, I have special medicine that would make that feel better. Is that okay?"
"Will it hurt?" Zona asked
"A little but I can tell you are very brave, and I have a special medicine that won't make it hurt as much"
"Is it magic?" Zona asked, her blue eyes wide and focused on the doctor.
"Of course, only the best medicine for you" he promised
"Yes" Zona held out her arm, even though it wasn't cut she wanted to see the magic medicine he offered
"Well done we have a winner," Mabel announced, "And your prize is you get to scrub in on my transplant tomorrow"
"Yes" the intern cheered doing a dance around the skills lab. Everyone else stopped and started grumbling
"Second place is scrubbing in on my bowel resection" Mabel offered watching the interns try again for perfection before catching sight of someone hovering at the door. "Zona someone is here for you" She said to the child sat swinging her legs on the desk.
"Mommy" Zona cried joyfully skating over jumping into her arms. Barbara held her, finding herself sobbing.
"Zona I was so worried about you, anything could have happened, oh my baby" Barbara hugged her tighter.
"Mommy you are squishing me" Zona complained.
"Hush you, let me squish you longer, I thought you were dead or hurt, or worse," Barbara said, "How could you go wondering off like that," she complained, "My heart, was nearly broken"
"I'm sorry" Zona sobbed. "I didn't mean to scare you" she really hadn't, but now she had made mommy cry, she had broken mommy's heart, this felt way worse than when she upset daddy. She felt arms grab her from behind it was Timmy, he was crying too.
"You really scared us Zona" he said,
"I just wanted to see the horses" Zona said still crying, holding onto Barbara and Timmy tightly
"I understand, but you need an adult with you in case you get lost, like today, where were you?"
"I was at the horses, I wanted to tell Zeus about Captain leaving, so he knew to look out for baddies, and I saw a butterfly and I got lost"
"I picked her up on Church and 5th" Mabel interjected.
"Thank you, I dread to think what could have happened if you hadn't seen her, we owe you a debt, you should come over, I'll make dinner. Please I insist" Barbara said,
"That would be lovely" Mabel replied. "I'll call to arrange, as I have your number now"
"Come on trouble lets go home, Timmy, I'll drop you at school" Barbara ordered, "now say thank you to Dr Mabel for finding you"
"Thank you, Doctor Mabel, for finding me," Zona said hugging Doctor Mabel tightly.
"You are welcome, Zona but remember no wondering off, promise me, my magic might not work again finding you"
"I promise" Zona said solemnly. She meant it, she had made Mommy and Timmy cry, she had nearly been losted forever and had to fight pirates like in Peter Pan with the lost boys, it was only Doctor Mabel's magic that had saved her. She took mommy and Timmy's hands skating out of the hospital. They arrived at the school dropping Timmy off.
"Can I go"
"No sweetie, not today, I think after such an eventful morning its best you stay with me" Barbara said stroking her daughter's hair, as they watched Timmy go inside. Barbara wasn't ready to let the little girl out of her sight, not just yet. Instead Barbara drove home her mind spinning as to suitable punishments.
They pulled up on the drive, Barbara helping Zona out of the car, they entered the house, Zona removing her shoes sitting at the kitchen table.
"You scared me today, I didn't know where you were and that made me sad and worried" Barbara said, "There are bad people who would want to hurt a little girl and its my job to try and protect you but to do that I need to know where you are"
"I'm sorry" Zona apologised,
"I know, and I appreciate that. Now no skates or visiting the horses for a week, and we are going to write notes to everyone who helped look for you to say sorry, understood"
Zona nodded, sniffling as she began crying. "I just wanted to see the horses, I didn't mean to get losted,"
"I know sweetie, and I know it's hard because your used to just doing what you wanted, that you could be really good and get hit or really bad and not, but you are here now, and you are safe but actions like wondering off when you know you are not meant to. But you are here, and you are safe, and that's what matters. So, let's sit and eat lunch, then we can work on those letters, then we can start on the school work you missed."
Barbara reheated the mac and cheese from the night before, serving 2 portions.
"Now what did you and Dr Mabel do at the hospital?" Barbara asked, watching her little girl jump to life as she described the hospital, meet Callie, who was really pretty and had a bright red cast, and the teaching she had seen and the hearts she had listened to. Once eating was over, they sat and wrote the 15 letters,
Dear Xy
I'm sorry for getting lost, thank you for looking for me,
Love Arizona
Each then had a hand drawn picture on it. By the time they went to pick up Timmy from school Zona had only finished 8. Barbara made sure she did her best handwriting and best drawing for each card. After all this was punishment. Timmy came back after school, and sat at the table doing his homework,
"You scared me Zona,"
"I didn't mean to" Zona apologised,
"I know, I thought daddy had gotton you" Timmy said, hugging his sister again. "She didn't hurt you did she?" he whispered, Zona didn't look hurt, but this was the worst mistake they had made since moving in with them,
"I just have to write sorries, and I can't see the horses for a week, or go skating" Zona sulked, she knew it was a fair punishment, but she was still sad not to see her friends for another week.
"But she didn't hurt you?" Timmy checked
"No, she just cried a lot, I don't like it when mommy cries" Zona pouted, feeling her own tears come again,
"I know she cried a lot when we were looking too, she really loves us" Timmy reflected,
"I do, we both do, Captain and I. You are our kids" Barbara walked into the room, hugging them both.
"I love you too mommy" Zona said,
"I love you as well" Timmy added.
Zona is safe and we had a guest appearence from Callie, i plan a few more brief meetings before they meet properly,
let me know what you think