Title: Widow Robbins
Author: captstarbuck and pensco_927
Rating: T
Disclaimers: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual. (I don't own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy.
Summary: Resident Callie Torres has her world rocked when peds fellow Arizona Robbins comes to Seattle Grace. With a past that keeps tripping the pair up, what does their future have in store for them? AU/Canon divergent from late S4/early S5.
Note: For Verena who was there at the very, very beginning and for RJ who always provided an ear for brainstorming.
Chapter 1
Callie sighed as she moved another chart to the "done" pile and reached for another. It was a slow day and she was bored. She supposed she could've handed them off to another resident or even an intern, but she was trying to stay in Dr. Chang's good graces, even if she privately thought he needed to retire. He was still her boss, maybe not technically, but as head of Ortho, Callie still reported to him.
Her pager vibrated on the conference room table and she quickly grabbed it. She was needed in the ER. It wasn't a 911 page, but she didn't care. Anything was better than paperwork. She returned the charts to the nurses' station and quickly made her way down to the ER.
"What do we have, Grey?" she asked the young woman.
"Four year old with a possible broken arm or wrist," the intern answered as she handed the chart to Callie.
"Peds been called yet?" She quickly scanned the chart.
"Yes, but she's in surgery."
"She?" Callie asked, one eyebrow quirking up. "Where's Kenley?"
"He's off today. His fellow is in charge today."
Callie tried not to scowl. She liked kids. She even wanted to have some. Maybe. Though she certainly wasn't going to have them with Mark. He'd only been half-joking when he suggested that they could be parents together. She'd shot that idea down as soon as it was out of his mouth. Kids with Mark? He was a man-child who was pining after Lexie, an infant doctor.
Yes, she liked kids, but having to deal with the parents? Not so much. She hoped the peds fellow would show up soon. Dr. Kenley was good with parents, and Callie could hopefully assume the peds fellow was as well.
She brushed the curtain aside and entered the exam area, Lexie right behind her. She immediately spotted the young girl with tear stained cheeks who was her patient. The girl was sitting in what was most likely her grandmother's lap. An ice pack rested on her left wrist and hand. She had purple converse sneakers with a matching purple shirt, The shirt was adorned with some cartoon character that Callie couldn't identify, and Callie wasn't bothered by that. It wasn't like she was all that interested in what kids were in to these days. She left that up to the nurses and doctors in peds.
Callie glanced at the chart. "Vivian?" The girl nodded. "I'm Dr. Callie and I'm here to help you," she said kindly. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Vivvy and me was skating and she fell," another voice piped up.
Callie turned around to find another young girl sitting with what was probably her grandfather. She was wearing a Seattle Seahawks jersey that looked to be about two sizes too big and her bright green sneakers matched the trim of the jersey.
"Hush, Cam," the older man said in a gentle voice that belied the stern look on his face.
Callie bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. The outspoken girl was maybe, possibly, probably a twin, though her hair was blonde and "Vivvy" had light brown hair. Other than the hair color, they looked almost identical, especially their big blue eyes.
Turning her back to the pair, Callie rolled a stool over and sat down in front of the injured girl.
"I need to look at your hand. It might hurt but I'll try not to make it hurt any more," she explained.
After examining Vivvy's hand as gently and as carefully as she could (afterall she was a child), Callie stood up.
"I think there's a break, but we won't know for sure until we've got some x-rays," she told them. "Dr. Lexie will take you up to radiology to get them," she continued as she entered the notes into the chart and ordered the scans.
"X-rays?" the girl asked.
"Yes. Do you know what those are?"
"You're gonna take pictures of my arm."
"That's right," Callie replied, impressed.
"Mommy takes x-rays of kids," her sister, Cam added.
"Oh? Is she a radiologist?"
"No, she's a surgeon."
Lexie hung up the phone as she had called radiology. "They can take Vivian if we get her up there soon."
"Okay, then," Callie said. "If you'd like, one of you can go with Vivian."
"I'll go," the grandmother offered.
"It'll take some time," Callie said to Vivan's grandfather. She never did catch their names. "You'd have time to go to the cafeteria if you'd like."
"Can i get a pudding, Grandpop?" Cam asked.
"Maybe," he answered.
"Get me one, too, Grandpop," Vivvy asked as she sat in the wheelchair.
Callie shook her head in amusement as the family split up and went their separate ways.
# # # # # # # # # #
Richard Webber, currently the Chief of Surgery, had decided to observe the surgery the new peds fellow was performing. He'd only met her once after she was hired and he wanted to see if she was as good as Dr, Kenley said she was. He supposed he could've watched a simple surgery like an appendectomy but thought that this would be a good test.
Dr. Robbins' hands were rock steady as she carefully removed the small tumor on her patient's kidney.
"Rush that up to the lab," she said as she dropped the tumor into the specimen bottle. "It doesn't look malignant, but I want to be certain," she added. Before anyone could react, the sounds of the Imperial March rang through the surgical suite. Arizona knew by the ringtone that it was her father. It had to be an emergency as her father rarely called her at work.
"Please answer it," she said as she stitched up the site where the tumor had been.
"This is Dr. Robbins' phone. She's in surgery right now." After a moment, the tech said, "It's your father and he needs to speak with you."
"Put it on speaker,"
"Arizona?"
"You're on speaker, Dad. What's wrong?"
"We're in the ER right now. Vivian fell and may have broken her arm or maybe her wrist."
"Is she okay?"
"Just a few tears, but I think she'll be fine."
"I'll be down as soon as I finish. Give her a hug from me."
The call ended and Arizona returned to her patient.
"You want Dr. Torres if there's a broken bone," Bailey said quietly.
"Excuse me?"
"Dr. Torres."
"I thought Dr. Yang was head of the department." Even though she'd been at Seattle Grace for a few short weeks, Arizona at least thought she knew who the department heads were, and much to her chagrin, there was one she was not looking forward to working with at all.
"Dr. Chang is the head of Ortho," Bailey corrected before repeating, "Ask for Dr. Torres. She's the best in Ortho."
Arizona nodded her acknowledgement of Bailey's suggestion and continued stitching the internal incisions, acutely aware of the Chief of Surgery's eyes on her, judging her. She focused on making sure her hands were steady. She couldn't think of Vivvy right now. Vivvy was going to be okay. The child on her table needed her attention at the moment.
Richard had seen enough to be impressed by the new pediatric fellow. He stood and walked over to the intercom. He pressed the button and his voice rang through the operating suite. "Bailey, please close for Dr. Robbins. Robbins, go be with your child."
"Chief?" Arizona looked up, fear in her eyes that she'd made a mistake.
"Good job today, Robbins. Glad to have you here." he said with a smile before leaving the gallery.
Arizona released a pent up breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and stepped away from the table. "Page me when Nathan wakes up." she instructed the resident as she tore off her sterile apparel by the door. She rushed out of the room and down the hall to the elevators. As she waited, she couldn't help but think this hospital had the slowest elevators in existence. Finally, the doors opened to reveal her daughter sitting in a wheelchair chatting away with one of the residents. Barbara Robbins stood next to them. " Oh Vivvy, what did you do?" she exclaimed as she entered the lift.
"Mommy! took pictures of my bone!" the five year old bounced the best she could without jostling her arm.
"She did? Why did she do that?"
"Cuz Cam brokeded it!"
"They were playing in the driveway. I'm not quite sure what happened except the girls are blaming the other for Vivian getting hurt." Barbara explained with a sigh. "Your father has Cam with him. They went to the cafeteria while we got the scans done. I just texted him that we were on our way back to the room."
Arizona glanced at Lexie and noticed she held an oversized brown envelope. "You have the scans with you?"
Lexie nodded but before she could say anything the doors opened for the emergency room level.
Barbara pushed the wheelchair into the small curtained area where Daniel and Cammie waited. She helped the child onto the bed.
"Mommy!" squealed Cam as she jumped from Daniel's lap and wrapped her arms around Arizona's legs. "She fell. Vivvy fell. I didn't do it!"
"Yeah huh! You pushed me cuz you were mad I'm better at skates than you!"
"You were just goin' too slow. I was just trying to make you go faster."
"Enough, you two! Not another word," Arizona said as another headache from her bickering girls flared up. She moved next to Vivian's bed and grasped her daughter's hand as she examined the girl's forearm. It didn't feel surgical, but definitely broken. Where did Lexie go with those scans? she wondered.
The curtain moved to reveal Lexie and a dark haired woman in pale blue scrubs. Arizona allowed her gaze to slowly drift down the stranger's body before quickly snapping to her face. "I'd like to see the x-rays." Arizona's voice came out huskier than expected.
One perfectly shaped eyebrow raised slightly. "Oh, you must be the new peds fellow." said Lexie's companion who noticed Arizona's surgical attire and scrub cap.
"Yes, I am but -"
"I think it's a simple break. You didn't need to come down for that." the woman interrupted her.
"I'm the ped's fellow, Arizona Robbins." she said introducing herself.
"Robbins as in Vivian Robbins, Dr. Torres." Lexie whispered to Callie.
Callie paled as she looked into bright blue eyes which seemed to twinkle in amusement. She blushed as she offered her hand to provide her own introduction. "Dr. Callie Torres. Ortho. Obviously. I…uhhh…"
Arizona's gaze dropped slightly then refocused on her eyes. "The scans?"
Callie shook her head to clear the fog which had muddled her thoughts by simply looking in Dr. Robbins' eyes. What is that about? Why am I so rattled by the prettiest eyes I've ever seen? She cleared her throat. "Right. The x-rays." She moved over to the fixture on the wall and removed the films from the envelope she held. She turned on the light to illuminate the films.
"Is that Vivvy's bones?" Cam asked with keen interest. "Can I see?" she scrambled onto the bed to sit next to her sister.
"I want to see, too!" Vivvy pleaded.
"Can everyone see?" Callie asked. Upon confirmation, she continued. "This big bone is called the radius and the smaller one is the ulna. You, little miss, have broken the ulna." she paused to point to a fissure on the bone. "It's just a small crack, not even completely broken. This is called a simple fracture."
"Do I get a cast?" asked Vivvy.
"What if the bone is sticking out of the skin?" queried Cam.
"Yes you get a cast. A break with bone sticking out of the skin is a complex fracture. A lot of those types of breaks need surgery." Both girls were wide eyed at that possibility. "You don't need surgery but you do need a cast so your bone can heal that spot properly." Callie answered the children's questions. She looked towards their mother, who nodded her agreement of the assessment. "The most important question though is what color do you want for your cast?"
"Blue!" Cam shouted.
"It's my broken arm, Cam! I get to pick!" Vivvy demanded. "Not you."
Callie bit the corner of her lip to prevent herself from laughing out loud at the twins.
"What color would you like, Vivian?"
"Um, let me think." Her face scrunched up as she pondered her decision.
"Would you like purple to match your shirt and sneakers?" Callie suggested.
"Maybe. But I like red and orange, too. I just don't want blue," she said, shooting a dark look at her sister.
"Blue would match your pretty little eyes but I'll tell you what. I'll have Dr. Lexie bring us a few different colors to pick from, just no blues." Callie said with a wink as she and Lexie left the small area.
Arizona turned her attention to the two girls, intent to ignore the feelings which the hot resident had stirred in her that she hadn't felt for several years. She hugged her injured daughter and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I'm glad you're ok, Viv." She pulled back to look at both of her girls. "But you need to be careful when you're playing."
"But Mommy," Cam started to interject. Arizona silenced her with a glance and she and her sister hung their heads. Arizona sat on the bed and grasped a hand of each twin.
"I don't care whose fault it is or what specifically happened. All that matters is that you two are safe and healthy." She looked at her parents who were nodding along in agreement. "No screens when we get home."
"But Mommy!"
"That's not fair!"
"Keep it up and no screen time tomorrow, too."
Both girls wore matching pouts as they fell silent, Cam crossing her arms in a defiant pose. One look from her mother and she quickly unfolded them.
"I got you a butterscotch pudding," Cam whispered to her sister. "Grandpop has it."
"Thank you," Vivvy whispered back.
Arizona pretended not to hear them and she turned her head and smiled. The girls argued and fought frequently, just as she and Tim used to, but they still looked out for one another. For Arizona, that was the most important part of their sisterhood.
Callie stood at the curtain entrance with her cart of supplies and took a moment to watch the small family interact. There was something about the new ped's fellow that intrigued her. She couldn't help but notice there was no mention of a father, and she didn't see a wedding ring on Dr. Robbins' finger. Then again, she'd just come from surgery and surgeons removed jewelry before operating.
She pasted a smile to her lips as she entered the area. "Ok everybody, we need to make some room in here."
"I'll stay, Mom," Arizona said firmly as she looked over at the older woman.
Callie waited for the grandparents and uninjured girl to leave. "So, Vivian," she started.
"Vivvy," she corrected.
Callie smiled at her. "Vivvy, I brought purple," she said as she grabbed and held up a roll of colored bandage for the outer portion of the cast from her cart. "Orange, red, and" she paused to pull a different roll from her pocket. "I even found some zebra print."
Vivian's eyes widened in amazement. "For real?"
Arizona chuckled softly. The dimples in her cheeks deepened as she smiled. "You just made yourself a new best friend, Dr. Torres. Zebras are her current favorite animal."
"Wait'll Cam sees it," Vivvy said.
Time passed quickly as Callie went through the motions of creating a cast around the broken limb. During the process, Vivian's pain medication took hold and the girl slumped against her mother. Callie finished the wrap with the zebra print bandage.
"All done," she murmured as she yanked off her sterile gloves and deposited them in the nearby garbage can.
"Thank you, Dr. Torres," Arizona said in a low voice in an effort to keep Vivvy asleep..
"You're welcome." Callie smiled. "And it's Callie."
"Thank you, Callie." Before Arizona could say anything else, the pager on her hip vibrated. She deftly removed it and checked it without disturbing her daughter. "My patient's awake. I have to go."
"I'll stay here with Vivvy while you get your parents."
The two doctors switched positions, both trying hard not to look at one another.
"Thank you again, Dr. Torres. Callie."
"Go."
With one last lingering look at Callie who was now holding Vivvy, Arizona left the exam area.