AN: Basically a filler chapter until I get to the good stuff.
"He said our marriage wasn't worth saving."
"Are you sure that's what he meant…?" It was a dumb question, since she had once been told basically the same thing. But, this wasn't about her right now.
April rolled her eyes, "What other way is that supposed to mean?"
Arizona shrugged helplessly. She didn't miss those days, wondering what the next day would bring for her marriage. "I'm sorry April; maybe he just needs some time to get used to you being back."
"I don't care what he needs, I'm not giving up on us…I can't." They had taken their lunch to Arizona's office, and April had been furiously stabbing into her salad bowl before the blonde finally addressed the issue. What'd the lettuce ever do to her?
"I know, I get it, I really do. Don't give up, at least not yet."
"What's scary is that it kind of feels like it's over, he doesn't want anything to do with me. And I keep on remembering all the good times, even standing in that smelly church and getting married. Even when we didn't tell anyone, and when we found out we were preg-"
"Keep on thinking about them," Arizona interrupted. "Don't ever stop thinking about the good times."
April looked up at her desperately, "Did that work for you?"
What do you think, Kepner?
The blonde chuckled bitterly, "It worked…til it didn't."
After guiltily opening up her window and smoking 2 and a half cigarettes the other night, Arizona had brushed her teeth extensively before removing her prosthetic, trying to hold back the tears. Callie was in her house, probably passed out by now, but not before confessing that it was hard to see the blonde with another woman.
It's not like the Latina had walked in on anything inappropriate, but she said it still hurt. And that hurt Arizona, as much as it pained her to even admit to herself.
By the time she made it to sleep and woke up the next morning, Callie was already gone. The blanket and pillow had already been put away, and the leftover six pack that had been sitting on the coffee table was in the fridge.
It had already been almost two days and she hadn't seen the brunette since. Arizona knew that Callie had been off that day, and was currently in back to back to back surgeries since arriving earlier this morning. Not that she looked or anything.
And she didn't expect an explanation from Callie. She really didn't. Maybe a 'hey thanks for letting me into your house in the middle of the night to sleep it off,' but not an explanation as to why she said what she had said. Arizona didn't even know what to say about it, other than 'oh boy.' Pretty short thought for someone who rambled on a daily basis.
She kind of wished that Callie had never said anything. Maybe now she wouldn't have this dull ache in her chest. The truth was, Arizona didn't want Callie to feel like this. At first Arizona wanted Callie to be happy with the blonde, but she had received a reality check, and decided that if the Latina couldn't be happy with her wife, Arizona at least wanted her to be happy, by herself, or with, whoever.
If the fetal surgeon thought too much about it, her hand would start itching for a brick so she usually stopped there.
##
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID.
"Wow Alex is right; you really do talk to yourself."
She rolled her eyes, "Karev needs to mind his own business. And who doesn't talk to themselves?"
"Everybody talks to themselves, it's just that when you're insulting yourself you kind of want to do it in your head," Meredith commented, updating her chart before setting the tablet into a dock.
"Yeah, I'll try to remember that for next time," Callie answered dryly. The two surgeons finished up at the nurses desk before making their way to the attending's lounge to refuel on caffeine, especially the brunette. She had intentionally put herself in back to back to freaking back surgeries and was regretting it right about now. Callie was absolutely exhausted.
She had pathetically sneaked out of Arizona's while the blonde and Sofia were still sleeping, without an explanation. And at the time, Callie honestly didn't have one. Showing up there in the middle of the night wasted was embarrassing, and what she said before passing out was even more mortifying.
It was the truth though. It was hard seeing Arizona with someone else. Should she have admitted that? Fuck no. But she was drunk, and Arizona was there, still taking care of her and making sure she was comfortable for the night. Callie would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed, but still, now things would be even more awkward and fake than they already were.
And still, she couldn't figure out for the life of her what exactly this meant now.
Meredith handed the Latina a cup before reaching for the coffee pot, "You're so lucky you were off yesterday. I was paged 3 hours before my shift because of that accident on the highway. I definitely can't drink like I used to."
Callie chuckled, "Yeah, it was definitely a good thing I was. We're getting old. At least we're still hot," she shrugged, pouring a generous amount into her cup.
"Yeah, but now instead of being considered just hot, we're MILFs, or cougars, which still just means that we're old."
"Well when you put it that way," the brunette rolled her eyes before plopping down onto the couch. She inwardly groaned, her legs turning to jello. "Where did all the time go?"
"To this hospital."
Callie nodded slowly, "Yep, and each other."
Meredith eyed the ortho surgeon, "You talk to Arizona yet?" The general surgeon vaguely remembered that night. It was kind of hazy after she threw up in Alex's car and then passed out, but before, she definitely recalled cabbing it to Arizona's and Callie demanding to talk to her ex wife. And sloshing water all over the place.
"No, but I need to," the Latina sighed. "I just don't know what to say. I'm embarrassed that we even showed up there. I can't believe you talked me into that."
"Seriously? I did not talk you into anything. I was trying to talk you out of it!"
"Well my drunken state told me that it was a good idea."
"And my drunken state told you it was a bad idea." For some reason knocking down a wall in her house sounded like a good idea, but even drunk Meredith knew that the Latina showing up at her ex-wife's house was a big no-no.
"Whatever, I still need to talk to her. I sneaked out early that morning and I've been in surgery all day today to avoid her. What the hell do I say to her?"
Meredith shrugged, "I don't know, sorry I showed up at your front door and confessed that I'm still in love with you?"
"I didn't actually say that I was still in love with her. I just got all emotional and admitted that it was hard for me to see her with Dr. Castro."
"Define emotional."
"I think I might have teared up a little, and there was some…touching," Callie winced. She downed her coffee and stood up, her limbs protesting. "I have to go talk to her before I lose my mind."
Meredith held her cup up, "See you later, try not to look like a crazy person again."
Callie groaned during her walk to the elevator. She smacked the button aggressively before groaning again.
"Geez, what'd the elevator ever do to you?" Owen asked.
"Apparently not move slow enough," she answered, stepping in.
He eyed her warily, "Um, are you okay? Did any of your surgeries go bad?"
"No," Callie sighed. "All of them went great."
"Then what's wrong with you? And why are you heading to the Peds floor?"
"Because….I'm an idiot and need to apologize to Arizona for making a complete ass of myself the other night," she stated reluctantly.
"Riiigghhttt," Owen trailed. "Joe's."
"Wait," she turned to him. "What'd you hear?"
The redhead shrugged, smirking, "Nothing, just that you and Grey had quite the time there. By the time I got there you two were already gone, but Joe did fill me in on your antics. But what does that have to do with Arizona?"
"Me and Mer took a cab to her house and I insisted on informing her that I was not jealous."
"Ohhhh," he answered thoughtfully, "Dr. Castro, yeahhh, she's-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm all done hearing about the sexiness of Dr. Natalie Castro this week."
"I was going to say she's a great surgeon, but now that you mention it…" Although he strictly had eyes for another neurogoddess lately, it honestly couldn't be denied. It seemed like this place definitely wasn't short on attractive surgeons.
"Um what did I just say?" she exclaimed, slugging him on the shoulder.
Owen flinched, "Okay, okay. You do sound kind of jealous though." The Latina groaned for what felt like the thousandth time today. She exhaled thankfully as the door opened onto her floor. She breezed off the elevator without a backward glance. Callie cracked her knuckles, forcing one foot in front of the other. Her heart was racing, palms sweating, and all of a sudden she had a sudden urge to pee.
"Get your shit together, Torres," she muttered, stopping. Arizona's name hung brazenly on the door. Callie took one more deep breath before knocking on the wood firmly. She heard a perky 'come in' through the other side. The brunette smirked slightly before turning the knob and opening the door slowly. She peeked her head in before entering.
Arizona was seated behind her desk, books, magazines, and random papers scattered across it. The blonde's attention was focused on the computer though, black framed glasses perched on her nose. Her eyebrows were scrunched as she perused the screen thoughtfully. Callie had always thought it was impossible to be sexy and adorable at the same time, until she met Arizona Robbins. She honestly didn't know how she did it.
"Hey." Callie blinked before meeting questioning blue eyes. Arizona was looking up at her expectantly, a small smirk forming on her lips.
The Latina cleared her throat before taking a seat across from the fetal surgeon, "Hey."
Arizona leaned back in her chair, "Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah, yeah I'm fine," Callie nodded before shaking her head. "Actually, no, I'm not. Arizona, I'm so, so sorry about the other night. I-I don't know what came over me."
Arizona sighed before removing her glasses, "Callie-"
"I'm sorry you had to take care of me. It was inappropriate and psychotic coming to your house in the middle of the night. I'm an adult, I shouldn't have been getting so drunk on a weekday and just showing up like that." The blonde scrutinized her slowly.
God I hate when she does that, Callie thought. It had always left her unnerved, like her ex-wife was deconstructing her layer by layer. It was extremely exposing but kind of comforting at the same time. Like Arizona knew what she was leaving out, but still acknowledging it.
The two women continued to stare at each other intently before the blonde shrugged slightly, "Its okay."
"Okay…?"
Arizona nodded, "It's okay. We've all been drunk before."
"Soooo, that's it?"
"That's it," she answered before standing up, placing her hands in her pockets. "Look yes it was a little strange. But, we share a child, we run and work in a hospital together. Things have been weird between us, but that doesn't mean I'm going to kick you out when you're too intoxicated to make it home on your own.
Callie stood up, "Thanks, I guess. So we're good?"
"Yep," Arizona answered, her dimples on full display.
"Okaygreat," the brunette sputtered before turning robotically and reaching for the door handle.
"Actually, one more thing Callie."
Callie sighed before turning around. She eyed Arizona carefully, who still wore a playful smile, her blue eyes twinkling mischievously. "How exactly did you know where I live? You haven't been there before."
"Um, well, you see," Callie mumbled, wringing her hands. "Deluca was at Joe's too…so…I demanded he tell me where you live or else I'd put him on explosive diarrhea patients for the next month." She had to hand it to the intern though, he tried desperately to withhold the address, his loyalty to the blonde was actually kind of sweet for not even being officially moved in yet.
"Wow," she chuckled, "sounds like you were on a mission."
"Yeah, well…I get pretty determined when I need something, especially with all that tequila I went through, you know…" Their eyes met, and there it was again. That feeling.
Arizona nodded, "I know."
##
"It looks like he's got a huge epidural hematoma, somebody page neuro. Wilson get the head prepped and shaved," Maggie directed before putting her attention back to the table.
"Yikes," Arizona commented, carefully repairing a kidney laceration. "Bet he'll twice before doing that again."
The two surgeons were currently in the middle of an emergency surgery including a 16 year old Max Bridges. Apparently the kid thought it would be a good idea if he took his dad's prized motorcycle on a joy ride while his parents were at work. Slick roads, inexperience, and plain stupidly resulted in heavy internal bleeding, cardiac wall rupture, a broken leg, and now a brain bleed.
"Yep, although I'm not sure his parent's will ever let him out of their sight, let alone drive anything like, ever."
"I had a boyfriend who rode a motorcycle. He was super hot but an even bigger jerk," Jo said, flipping on the shaving clippers.
"Oh my god, if Sofia ever did something like this I would actually kill her myself," Arizona shook her head, stitching the kidney.
Maggie chuckled, "No, she'll be smarter than that. By the time she got on a motorcycle she would have already done extensive research on all the mechanics of it. Then she would form her own biker gang and none of us would ever know."
"That is…horrifyingly accurate," the blonde answered, her face paling. "But not if I can help it. I remember when me and my brother used to ride dirt bikes when we were living in San Diego. We had been riding every weekend for 2 months before my parents found out. Man they were pissed."
"You on a dirt bike?" Maggie asked, looking up from her site.
Arizona laughed, nodding, "Don't sound so surprised. I actually won a few races before we got caught. It was pretty exhilarating, the adrenaline rush was so addicting. Not quite like operating, but definitely a close second."
"Hey guys, what do we got?" a voice said. Arizona looked up briefly. Natalie exited the scrub room and was drying her hands. She made her way to the row of light boxes, examining the scans.
"From the brief look I got, CT shows an epidural hematoma. Motorcycle accident," Maggie answered.
Natalie nodded before getting gowned and gloved. "Geez, well I'm going to need loupes and head lamp please."
"All internal bleeding looks controlled, just got to remove the spleen but other than that I should be done soon."
"I'm almost done too," Maggie said. "Wilson, are the patient's parents here yet?"
"Yeah they just got here a few minutes ago."
"Great, hopefully we'll have some good news for them."
Natalie nodded. "I should be able to get this bleeding under control and hopefully we get some brain activity in his EEG. What made this kid think this was a good idea?" she asked, removing part of the skull and dropping it into a pan.
"I don't know, why don't we ask Dr. Robbins?"
Arizona groaned, "It was a long time ago."
"You used to ride motorcycles?" Natalie asked, looking up from the brain briefly.
"Dirt bikes."
"So what exactly did your parents do when they found out?" Maggie asked.
"Well for starters, they dragged me and my brother off the track by the ear, literally. Then we got our doors removed from our rooms, our car taken away, a ridiculously early curfew and we had to get up at the crack of dawn every morning for PT with my dad. For 6 months."
Natalie whistled while Maggie laughed, "Wow, 6 months?!"
Arizona nodded, "Yep, the Colonel runs a tight platoon. It was Tim's fault anyway. First he thought he'd challenge me, that there was no way I would be able to get on a bike and actually be good. Then he convinced me that bikes were a real chick magnet."
"Was he right?" Natalie asked.
"Pretty much," the blonde smirked. "I got 6 dates out of it."
"Did you at least get a girlfriend?" Maggie asked, running staples down the patient's chest. "I mean, 6 dates in 2 months, you had to have been official by then."
"No I meant like 6 separate dates," Arizona answered, examining the entire area, checking one last time for any stray bleeders.
Maggie gawked, "With 6 different girls?"
##
"So you were always this charming," Natalie commented. Pierce had already left, which left the two attendings and resident in the scrub room.
Arizona chuckled, wringing her hands, "My moves were definitely a lot smoother back then."
"I'm not so sure about that. You're doing pretty good from what I've seen," the brunette answered, wiping her hands off.
"I'll take your word for it."
"Please do."
Jo looked up slowly from the sink. Apparently the two women had forgotten she was still in the room. Alex was right; there were some serious suggestive flirting between the two. Jo had to give the blonde props though. Since she split up with Callie, the resident hadn't seen Arizona this carefree and fun before. It was a good look. It seems her boyfriend had been onto something, placing that bet with his friend.
"Alright, I'm going to go update the chart before checking in on him," Jo stated, flashing an awkward grin before leaving.
Natalie laughed nervously, "That wasn't appropriate, I'm sorry." She fiddled with her scrub cap on her head.
"No it's okay. Jo's good, she's not going to say anything. Plus I've seen her naked so she has no room to give me crap ab-" Arizona stopped abruptly. The neurosurgeon was eyeing her questioningly.
The blonde mentally face palmed herself, "I mean not on purpose. We used to live together and I was about to get in the shower one morning and then she walked in…aaand I'm not making this sound any better, am I?"
Natalie shook her head slowly, smirking, "No, but that's okay since I already know she's in a relationship with Dr. Karev."
"Right, I probably should have led with that," Arizona chuckled as they exited the scrub room.
"Probably," the brunette agreed, laughing with her. "So do you have your daughter tomorrow night? Because I was thinking if you're free…I could take you to dinner."
"Yeah," the blonde blurted out. "I mean-yeah, that'd be great. And no. I mean-no I don't have my daughter and yeah to dinner."
Oh my god shut up.
Natalie laughed again. She was really too adorable. "Okay great. Eight o'clock tomorrow night? Just text me your address and I'll pick you up."
Arizona nodded, "Okay, sure. That sounds great."
"Great."
"Great." Seriously?
"Do you have time for lunch?"
The fetal surgeon chuckled, eyeing the brunette slyly, "You don't give up, do you?"
Natalie shrugged. "If you read my credentials, you'd understand."
Arizona nodded, grinning, "I did, and I do…" she faltered, "But I can't. I've been on my feet too long and I need to go sit down and rest my…my-uhh-my leg." Arizona had accepted the fact that she had one leg. Yep, she was all done with that. But it didn't make it any easier or less awkward divulging that fact to someone new. And sure, the hot surgeon probably already knew about it, but actually saying it, out loud, was something that made the blonde a lot more uncomfortable than she thought it would.
But, as she looked up, she didn't see any awkwardness or hesitation, or her favorite, pity. Natalie looked a little concerned, sure, but other than that, she kept direct eye contact with the blonde, her green eyes never wavering.
"Okay, yeah of course, get some rest," Natalie nodded, giving her a warm smile, "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Arizona said before tilting her head and making her way to the elevators. She only had to wait a second before the doors opened. She exhaled gratefully before selecting the button for her floor.
Sooo, that went well. I guess. I mean, she didn't start stuttering or run away to a nonexistent meeting…
"Dr. Robbins."
Arizona looked up expectantly. Natalie held her arm out, preventing the doors from closing. They shared a long look, almost sizing each other, considering the other's next move. The brunette slowly brought her arm to her side. She sighed slightly before giving Arizona a small smile. Small, but nevertheless, sincere.
"I don't care about that either."
##
Most surgeons hated labs. Absolutely hated them. They hated research labs, skills labs, anything that wasn't an operating theatre was just, irrelevant. They even sound boring. You go to a skills lab to learn surgical techniques, hone in on your medical genius, but not actually operate. It drives them crazy until they get gowned and gloved and actually do.
Research labs are just a snooze fest. They're definitely necessary, but strongly avoided until the absolute late minute. You look through a microscope half the time you even spend in there, and when you actually find something worth reporting, you just note it and go on to the next piece of the puzzle. But Callie absolutely loved the lab.
It was kind of nice because it was practically empty most of the day and she didn't have to worry about anyone bothering her or wanting something. Because it was a lab. It was her quiet space. Her time out corner. Sometimes she would sit on a stool and just make things. Weird contraptions out of scraps of metal that made no sense, but somehow still held answers. She hated that people referred to ortho surgeons as carpenters, but on occasion, they were right.
But this, the robotic leg she had put literally her heart and soul into, this wasn't it. This wasn't carpentry, or a god forbid, a hack job. This was…something. Callie wasn't quite sure even now what it was, but it was definitely something else. It was different than anything she had ever done, ever.
Derek came up in her mind quite a bit every time she looked at it. Although she was kind of a bitch and he was kind of an ass about it, Callie couldn't help but cry when Dan Pruitt took his first steps with the leg. She and Derek used to sit in this lab for hours, before it was even real, giving everything for the look on Dan's face, for the looks on others faces.
Owen came to mind, too. And of course, he was an ass as well. Tunnel vision and compartmentalizing weren't always a good thing. The trauma surgeon had his own ulterior motives, whether he knew it at the time or not. But, so did Callie. She needed something to be good too.
"Don't stare too hard, you might break it."
"And ruin years of money and hard work, not a freaking chance," Callie snorted. When she was still growing cartilage, Arizona and Mark used to occupy her lab. The blonde would bring Chinese food and casual conversation, maybe a little second base every now and then. Mark would bring his big head and bullshit problems. There was that one time with Bailey, but Callie was sworn never to speak of it again.
Then it was Derek, and Owen, sometimes Jackson. And now, Amelia Shepherd. Amelia wasn't quite as well versed on the project as her late brother, but still just as innovative and nuts enough to want to pick it up and help in any way she could. The hard part was basically over, and now all that was needed was more funding, and some tweaks every now and then to fit the patient.
Amelia tossed her salad and bottled water on the table before inspecting the leg up close. Her eyes glanced back and forth, up and down. Callie could practically see the brain activity coming out of her ears.
"I remember Derek telling me about this thing," the neurosurgeon mused. "At first I thought he was just pulling my leg- no pun intended. Buuut; he was right, it's just, extraordinary. I'm honestly surprised you were able to get this working so fast."
Callie smirked, "Yeah, I had a lot of time on my hands. It was a group effort though, I couldn't have done it without him."
Amelia nodded before grabbing a stool and popping open her late lunch. "So you got any new patients getting fitted?"
"Yeah actually. There's a couple of vets coming in sometime next week for tests. Then I have others who already have the leg coming back in the week after that for follow-ups, just to see how everything feels and if there are any changes I have to make."
"Cool, I'd like to be there for them if that's okay."
"Yeah that'd be great. You sure you have time though? You don't have any inoperable brain tumors to resect, do you?"
"Haha," Amelia deadpanned. "But no, not at the moment. It's weird, not having to do everything."
Callie rolled her eyes, "That's what happens when you're a department head. Everything you don't have time to do, or don't need to be there for, you just palm off to your attendings."
"Trust me, I know. I read through every single one of Derek's research notes today with no interruption."
"Wow, I just left the OR like 20 minutes ago and I've been here since 7."
"I did a couple of consults and one basilar skull fracture but other than that, nada," Amelia commented, taking a sip from her water. "Which tells me two things. One, I need to get a life, seriously. And two, Natalie's stealing my thunder."
"I don't think it's considered stealing if you gave it to her," Callie answered nonchalantly, bending a small piece of sheet metal into a startling 90 degree angle. She threw it back in the bin before grabbing a hammer and crushing dried cast plaster. Powder and pieces flew in the air, scattering her work table and onto the floor. The other woman looked on in surprise.
Amelia eyed the ortho surgeon slowly, a mischievous smirk forming on her lips, "So it's true."
Callie scoffed, "What's true?"
"That you hate our wonderful new addition to Grey-Sloan." There were some other things that were looking more factual by the second, but Amelia liked to let shit hover in the air for awhile before beaming it at somebody.
The Latina dropped her hammer before reaching for another empty leg cast, "What makes you think I hate her? She's great, right? You can trust her to handle surgeries that you can't do yourself. And apparently she's like, a badass surgeon or something, and everyone else loves her."
"Mmhmm. You loved her too at one point, since you and everyone else on the board approved hiring her."
"I wouldn't say love," Callie muttered, the table shaking as she continued crushing plaster after plaster. "Her resume spoke for itself."
"I know," Amelia answered, throwing away her trash. "And I know you hate her and all, but she's going to be a big help to me as far as neuro funding and cutting edge surgery goes. Along with the fact that I actually have the time to sit here and eat my meal without getting paged. She could be a big help to you too, you know."
"Don't see how but I'll take your word for it."
"If there's anyone that understands nerves the way my brother did, it's her."
Callie chuckled sardonically, "Well she's got enough of them."
"Okay, really?" Amelia snickered, "what is it with you? We were having a normal conversation and ever since I brought Castro up you've been going all Thor on inanimate objects."
"Nothing's wrong with me. If I want Dr. Castro's opinion about this project, I'll ask her. But I don't need to, because you're doing it. Not her."
"Right."
"Right."
"Rrriiiiiiigghht."
"Can we talk about something else, please?" Callie asked desperately, tossing her hammer aside and looking up into innocent eyes. There was just something about Amelia Shepherd that spelled out trouble. Not trouble really, but the woman always looked like she had something clever up her sleeve. Like there was always something amusing going on behind those blue eyes just begging to be released.
Amelia blinked before standing, straightening up her lab coat and making her way to the door. She shrugged, "Nope, I think I'm going to get back to doing absolutely nothing with the rest of my day," she pulled open the door, "Oh and you might want to get laid or something, because this whole," gesturing to the Latina's face, "jealous look you got going on isn't really working for ya."
A retort was useless, because just like that the neurosurgeon was gone. Callie huffed before cleaning up the table. She really needed to snap out of it. She thought after her visit to Arizona's office earlier she would feel just a little bit better about herself, but apparently that was to be determined.
Their conversation had been, good. Or maybe not. It had been a typical situation where they both said too little and not nearly enough of what needed to be aired out. Callie mumbled and sometimes stuttered her way through, and Arizona stood there, accepting anything and everything just to get out of the situation; all the while flashing her perfect smile to manifest some sort of friendliness and understanding.
Everything had changed, but some things were still the same.
The brunette gave the robotic leg one more inspection. She thought of Arizona too.
##
Absolutely nothing actually turned into a good thing. Amelia strolled through the hospital, taking in things she had never paid attention to in her time here. There were people walking around in scrubs that she never recognized, and vending machines that she had never noticed. The art on the walls were, well they were ugly. She made a mental note to mention this Meredith later. Amelia even had enough time to stand in line for coffee.
Which worked out perfectly, because just as she made her way up to the counter, she recognized her newest co-worker off to the side, waiting for her own hot beverage.
"Dr. Castro, you're a busy bee today, I'm surprised to see you here."
Natalie chuckled, "Yeah well call it your lucky day. I got 2 more hours and then I'm tapping out."
"That's nice, working the rest of your shift before running before the hills," Amelia paid for her caramel macchiato before standing next to the other woman.
"Wow you're like the 5th person to bring up 'running for the hills' since I've gotten here."
"Yeah well," she shrugged, "it's a valid comment. I had to visit here like twice before actually signing a contract."
"I'm happy to be here," Natalie replied, "honestly. I never thought I would say it, but this totally beats brain mapping for the president."
"I never thought I'd hear someone say that, aside from Derek," Amelia said. The two women smiled to themselves.
Natalie grabbed her coffee from the barista, "He was definitely right. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a big honor to be asked to step in like that, and Derek did give them a great recommendation, but he was right. It's a great project, but surgeons aren't built for that."
"If you're not cutting, actually saving a life with your own two hands, nothing ever really feels right," Amelia commented, taking her coffee as well. Out of all the reasons she had to get sober, that was definitely an important one. No one likes junkie hands, and Amelia didn't like not operating.
"You got that right." The two neurosurgeons stood at the elevator briefly before the doors opened. Natalie selected the Neuro floor.
Amelia glanced at her co-worker before looking ahead, that same shit eating grin on her face. "So, it was your number on Arizona's arm." It had taken all of one work day before hearing the news through the grapevine. Amelia simply put two and two together.
"Does everybody know about that?"
She laughed, "Yep, there's no reason to be embarrassed. Everybody knows everybody's business around here."
"I'm learning that. I honestly didn't know when we met that she worked here, though."
"That's okay, too. For what it's worth," Amelia started, the two stepping out of the elevator onto their floor, "Arizona needs her mojo back, and, if you're the girl to give it to her, have at it."
Natalie laughed, "We haven't even gone on a date yet."
"So? You will go on a date, and pretty soon you'll be swooning over her crystal blue eyes and perky disposition…if Torres lets you live that long." There was no soon though; the swooning had already commenced.
The other woman sighed, "Yeah she really doesn't like me."
"She might be picturing your face when she smashes cast plaster."
"That's just…great."
"Don't take it too personally, it's new for Torres to see Arizona like someone else," Amelia said, walking into the lounge. "Look, we're kind of a family around here. Everyone's been through a lot the past few years, and Callie will come around eventually, as long as you know that Arizona's part of that family, too."
Amelia's relationship with the blonde was pretty casual. A surgery here, consult there, random conversations sprouted along throughout the years. There was that one time at a fellow resident's house party that made the brunette realized just how wild the fetal surgeon could be. But she would save that hat trick for another time.
Arizona had definitely changed since their time at Hopkins. Before Amelia used to find her somewhat peculiar, although she had no room to talk. But her former chief resident was an outstanding surgeon, and from what she had seen so far, a woman who had been through a lot and was just trying to make her way back to the surface again. They all were.
Natalie nodded, "I understand. And I like her, I really do."
"Even though you might know her life story before the first date?"
"Even though I might. But like I told Arizona, I don't care."
Amelia evaluated the woman before her. She saw nothing but honesty in the other woman's face. It seemed that Natalie already knew what she was getting into, and was willing to jump right in.
"Damn. Well…this should be interesting."
