Title: Frontlines

Author: captstarbuck

Rating: T

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

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: My take on Callie and Arizona in NYC at the time the pandemic hit

Editor/Beta: pensco_927

Frontlines

Chapter 7 – Day After Day Part 3

Saturday night, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. 2020

Day 11 and 12

Callie gave herself one day to breakdown. After sitting with Arizona most of Saturday, she went to the hotel room and let it all out. She alternated between bouts of tears and bouts of rage. Every time her phone rang or beeped with a text message, she checked it, and if it wasn't the hospital, she ignored it. She just needed a few hours alone where she could just feel everything.

After one last crying jag, Callie pulled it together. She needed to take control and she needed to be strong. She would remain positive and somehow keep the faith that Arizona would get better, she had to; there was no other option for Callie to consider.

Sunday morning, as soon as she entered the hospital, she went back to chapel. She prayed that God would forgive her for her momentary loss of faith. She prayed for Arizona to get better, and for Barbara and Daniel to not have to suffer the loss of another child. She prayed to God for Sofia not to lose another parent. Finally, she prayed to God to help her keep strong and keep her faith.

Once she left the chapel, she checked in on Arizona. There had been no change overnight and as much as Callie wanted there to be an improvement, she took it as a positive sign that her condition hadn't worsened. She sat beside Arizona's bed for a few minutes, then she had to leave to work. She promised the unconscious blonde that she would be back later in the day.

They hours seemed to fly by for Callie. Taking care of the endless stream of patients kept busy and distracted from worrying about Arizona. Well, there were a few moments where her thoughts drifted to Arizona, but Callie was determined to separate her work from Arizona. She was never again going to act as Arizona's doctor. She was going to be her support and her partner, nothing more.

After her shortened shift ended, Callie went to her office. She called Barbara and Daniel with an update, then spoke with Sofia, who was deeply distraught over not being able to see her mommy or even speak to her. Callie consoled her as her heart broke at seeing how upset Sofia was. She put on a positive face for her daughter and didn't quite lie to her, but she didn't tell her the entire truth either.

Upon completing that call, she made another call to her own parents and gave them a quick update. It still amazed her that her mother had finally come around after all these years. Lucia Torres had accepted Callie and became a loving Abuela over the past three years. She'd even accepted Arizona, and sincerely welcomed the blonde into her home and heart. Callie had never found out what had changed her mother's mind, but she was grateful, and she was especially grateful now knowing that her parents were saying daily prayers for Arizona's recovery.

She fired off a quick email to her friends as she had promised to keep them informed about Arizona, even if there weren't any changes to report. She supposed no news was better than bad news.

When she finished with her tasks, she decided that this would be her new routine. Chapel, work, phone calls, emails and then she would spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with Arizona.

She entered Arizona's room and nodded to Latoya, who seemed to be standing sentry by Arizona. Callie pulled up a chair and sat down. She hated that she couldn't see Arizona's face and couldn't hear her voice. At least when Arizona had been hospitalized after the plane crash, they could talk to one another. She placed her hand on Arizona's back and gently stroked it.

"You should talk to her," Latoya suggested softly. "She might be able to hear you. We've all been talking to her when we're in the room."

"I will."

"I'll give you two some time alone," Latoya said, checking the monitors before she prepared to leave the room. "If you need anything, there will be one of us at the nurses' station."

"Thanks, Latoya."

Callie waited until the nurse left the room before she could bring herself to speak. She waited a few minutes, trying to decide what to talk about. Normally, she'd talk about her day, but she didn't think talking about patients and what she'd been doing was a good idea.

"So, I've been thinking," Callie began. She then smiled, remembering the long running joke the two of them had whenever one of them would say that. As soon as the words were out, the other would say 'Good for you'. It was a dumb joke, but right now Callie would've given just about anything to hear Arizona tease her.

"Yeah, I know, good for me," she continued. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I get it. I understand now why it was so awkward at the Center's opening. You weren't sure how to introduce me to people. You settled on 'girlfriend' which seemed silly, and trite. Introducing me as Sofia's other mother wouldn't have told the whole story, and calling me your partner would've sounded like I was in business with you. And lover? That would've been totally inappropriate at the time."

Callie took a deep breath. "We are so much more than girlfriends, Arizona. We're Sofia's mommies, and we live together. And we are not just each other's medical proxies," she rambled. "I want more. I want to call you my wife, and I want you to call me your wife. I want to get married again, Arizona. This is it for me. You're it for me." She closed her eyes in an attempt to hold back her tears. "As you said before, I love you and love you me, and nothing else matters. We're together, so when this crazy pandemic is over, we're going to get married." She leaned in closer. "But you've got to fight, Arizona. You've got to get better for us to do that. Will you do that for me and Sofia?"

Tuesday April 21, 2020

Day 14

As she sat beside Arizona's bed, Callie heard her phone beep. She reached into her pocket and saw that she had a message from Barbara. She opened the message, then the attachments. She began to chuckle as she swiped through the photos that Barbara had sent. She tucked the phone back in her pocket after viewing them all one more time.

"So, I had an interesting call with your mom today," Callie said, once again placing her hand on Arizona's back. It wasn't much, but that little bit of physical contact was everything to Callie.

"It was 'spa day' at your parents' house. The colonel's hair was getting too long for his liking, and they're all being super careful down there, so your mom had to give him his usual brushcut." Callie laughed. "I can't imagine his hair growing out. It's always so short, but apparently he didn't have time to get a haircut before the lockdown."

Callie smiled again, thinking about Barbara's story. "Well, I guess that kind of snowballed into your mom trimming Sofia's hair, even though she wanted short hair like her grandpa. I bet Nicole was egging her on, too. She'd really get a kick out of us being shocked by that. A month with your parents, and Sofia's trying to turn into a little Marine.

"Your mom decided to do something different for Sofia, something fun, so she turned the kitchen into a spa. Not sure how she convinced Nicole, but she gave her a pedicure and a manicure. With the lockdown and all, Nicole hasn't been able to get to a salon to have them taken care of."

Callie was warmed by Barbara's kindness. "She even gave Sofia and your father – yes, your father – a mani-pedi. After Sofia painted her own nails, she somehow persuaded Nicole to let her paint her nails as well." Callie grinned. "And here's the kicker, your dad let Sofia paint his toenails! Can you believe it? I guess our daughter used her Torres' charm and Robbins' dimples on him, and he couldn't say no."

Callie laughed out loud. It felt good to finally laugh at something.

"Of course, she had to use a nice sensible navy blue. No bright red for him." Callie moved closer to Arizona. "So, you see, honey, you have to get better so you can see for yourself."

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Day 16

After five days, Callie truly felt comfortable with her routine. The hardest part of her day was having to leave Arizona each night. Penny and Rita had started to accompany her back to the hotel, both of them deciding on their own that they wanted to make sure Callie was taking care of herself. They didn't outright say it, or force it, but Callie sensed their watchful eyes and was both touched and grateful for it.

It was weird for Callie to be friendly with Penny. Up until the pandemic, they'd had no reason to see each other as they were in different departments. The few times that they did see each other on the surgical floor, or in passing, they were civil, even cordial to one another. She'd always believed Penny was a good person. It was just that she and Penny weren't a good fit, no matter how hard they'd tried.

Callie supposed Penny having a girlfriend made it easier on the redhead. And she liked Rita, too. She thought they were both good for one another, that they made a good couple. If the pandemic hadn't hit, Callie thought they'd probably not even give each other much thought. Now, they were friends. Well, maybe not friends, but more than acquaintances, and Callie truly appreciated their support.

"So, I did a thing, Arizona," Callie said as she sat down. "Remember Shirley from Social Services?" Callie then giggled. "Did you know her last name is Temple? Her name is Shirley Temple." Callie giggled again. "Yeah, I don't know what her parents were thinking when they named her. And if it's her married name, well, I would've kept my maiden name. I hear the name Shirley Temple and I think five year old blonde girl, not a sixty year old African American woman who's almost as tall as I am."

Callie tried not giggle again, certain that if anyone came into the room and saw her, they'd think she'd totally lost it.

"Anyway, I've been in touch with her. She's got a bunch of kids in a group home that their parent or guardian has died, or is currently in the hospital. All of the kids were just scooped up and put into quarantine and now they're stuck in the group home."

Callie looked away for a minute, then back at Arizona, or rather the back of Arizona's head.

"I got the ages and clothes sizes for all the kids and ordered a bunch of stuff for them. Clothes, games, school supplies, tablets and the like. I know we usually discuss and agree on bigger purchases, but I had to do this, Arizona. Those kids don't have anyone right now, some maybe permanently. I just wanted them to have something nice, let them know somebody cared."

Callie blew out a deep breath against her mask, causing it to puff out ever so slightly. "So, all of this got me thinking. Now don't get all insulted, but we're getting older, honey. We're both in our forties. I know we talked about having another kid, but I don't think it's medically wise for you to carry. And I know we discussed getting a surrogate, but do we really want another baby? Do we want to be in our sixties when our kid graduates from high school?" She blurted out, "And… and I think having baby now is just being selfish."

The brunette slowly began rubbing Arizona's back once more, needing the contact. She wondered how much Arizona could actually hear and she hesitated before she continued.

"What do you think about becoming foster parents? There are so many kids out there who need a home, a loving home. We could do it. I know we could. And Sofia, she's a good kid. She's caring and thoughtful and she'd be a great sister, even if it's just as a foster sister."

Callie smiled. It was a small smile, half sad and half wistful. "I hope we can talk about this when you get better, Arizona. And I'm saying 'when', not 'if'. You will get better."

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Day 18

It had been just over a week since Arizona had gone on the ventilator. Callie was still following her routine, though at times it was a real struggle. Alone in her hotel room was when she felt it the most. She refused to watch television, not wanting to hear or see any news. She didn't need the new to tell her how bad it was, although the COVID crisis did seem to be getting a little better. Other than a few spikes here and there, the daily cases seemed to be going down, and the daily death count seemed to be dropping as well. She could only hope it was a trend, and when she went to the chapel, she prayed for it to be true.

She did find a new distraction on line, but she didn't want to tell Arizona about it just yet. It had started as something to distract her when she was missing Arizona, but after five days, it had become almost an obsession.

Her shift over, Callie decided to speak to Arizona about her new found 'hobby', even though Arizona was still sedated and unconscious.

"Hi, honey," Callie said brightly.

If Arizona had been awake, she'd have known by Callie's voice that the brunette was up to something, or had already done it.

Callie first shared the updates from her parents and Sofia. She watched Arizona's monitors when she said Sofia's name and saw a slight spike. Maybe she can hear me, Callie wondered.

"You know, Sofia has really loved being around your parents. She seems to be thriving with them. The circumstances are lousy, but it's been great for all of them. I think Nicole might be going a little crazy being cooped up with them, but I haven't heard anything to worry me."

Callie smiled when she thought about something Barbara had told her. "I did hear yesterday, however, that she and your dad have a very heated trivia competition going on. I guess your mom found an old Trivial Pursuit game. She and Sofia came up with new rules. Sofia picks a random card, your mom reads all the questions to your dad or Nicole. They get two points for every right answer, and if the other one gets the missed question right, they get a point. Sofia is keeping score and learning a lot of trivia. I guess Sofia's also having trouble deciding who to root for. It changes daily."

"But that got me thinking the other night," she said. "How great would it be if Sofia could see them more frequently? I know, I know, she already travels a lot to see my parents, and to see yours. But I have an idea."

Callie placed her hand on Arizona's hip. "I think we should move. And no, not from New York, just out of our apartment and into a house. A big house. The perfect house," she gushed. "A house with a guest house for your parents. They're not getting any younger, you know. I mean, your dad is in great shape, but he just turned seventy-eight, Arizona. Having them with us would be good for them and Sofia."

Callie took out her phone and began swiping through the properties she'd bookmarked. She'd spent hours of her time each night looking for the perfect home. There were several promising homes not far from the city, and Callie couldn't wait to check them out.

"I know we can't be looking for homes yet. I mean, let's face it, with the pandemic, I don't think anyone is working right now anyway. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long, but I really think this is something we could consider." Callie looked over the options she'd selected. "I think a two story would work for us, as long as the master suite was on the first floor, at least three more bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms, and of course, as I was saying before, a guest house for your parents."

She put her phone away. "I know we were being careful about money, but we don't have to be. With the sale of our apartment, and my trust fund, we could own a really nice house, Arizona. And yes, I will use my trust fund if needed. When they sold off so much of the business, I got a huge share of it. I know I never told you about it because having lots of money wasn't that important to you. But Arizona, I'm like really rich, and this is what I want to do."

She leaned back in her chair. "It's just something to think about, okay? Our apartment is great. I love it. But I want a real home, with a yard so Sofia can run around, and maybe have the dog she's been wanting for years. Just, don't shoot the idea down right away. Think about it when you're better and maybe we can find our new dream house."

Author's Note: Just one more chapter and an epilogue (at least that's the plan).