Summary chapter two

Arizona's POV

For the next few days most of my thoughts were taken up by a certain Latina ortho surgeon. Her bright smile and dark hair stayed pictured in my mind which left me with a smile.

Okay, that was cheesy.

But it was true. I couldn't get Callie Torres out of my head and I hadn't even had a handful of conversations with her yet. From what my new friend and colleague, Teddy, had told me about her, she could use some people in her corner right now. First her husband cheated on her and then her girlfriend completely left her? I felt bad. But if being her friend was what it took to help her get over being upset, then I'd be the most awesome friend.

"Cristina Yang is driving me nuts." Teddy sighed as she set her tray down next to mine and collapsed into the chair across the table. She grabbed an apple from the tray and began to eat it.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah? What's she done now?" I'd heard all about Cristina Yang, multiple times. She was a brilliant surgeon, more talented that any resident this hospital had ever seen, but over confident and risky.

"She keeps questioning my approach on everything, as if being in the desert for two years saving people somehow makes me an incompetent doctor." She huffed, moving on to her salad and stabbing it angrily with her fork.

"Hey. The salad is not Cristina Yang. It never did anything to you."

Just then, Mark Sloan came walking over, and I smiled as I saw Callie trailing behind him wearing a smile. "We're sitting here." He announced and sat down, and I just shrugged and turned to Callie.

"So how has the day been in the life of an ortho surgeon?" I asked conversationally as I sipped my juice.

"Fabulous." She replied slightly sarcastically, making me smile. I continued to eat my lunch while I listened to everybody else's conversation, which mostly revolved around surgeries or gossip. It spread like wildfire in this place.

But no lunch break ever lasts long for a surgeon. About fifteen minutes after Callie and Mark joined us my pager went off indicating that some tiny humans needed me. I'd had one major patient in my week and a half here, Jackson Prescott, and even though it was difficult he' pulled through and we'd successfully performed a liver and intestine transplant on him.

The hardest thing I found about starting my new job was proving myself. Specifically to Miranda Bailey, who doubted me from day one just because I didn't agree with her approach. However she seemed to warm up to me once Jackson was better and we were good now.

Later that day I received a text from Teddy informing me that she and some other doctors were going out for drinks at the bar just across the street. Joe's, I believed it was called. I was told that there were always people from the hospital there after their shift so whenever I was done I was to just make my way over.

Before I left the hospital I quickly splashed my face with some water to wake me up more. I barely got any sleep anymore because half the time I was afraid to go to sleep, and the other half I would wake up in a cold sweat with my heart beating a hundred miles per hour.

"Phoenix!" Mark shouted out to me as I entered the bar, reminding me very much of my best friend Nick. I squinted through the strange lighting of the place to see him standing by the bar with Teddy and Addison Montgomery waving at me. I smile as I approached them, calling to the bartender, who by the way was surprisingly called Joe, for a white wine.

"Sloan!" I called back in the same tone making him laugh. I sat down beside the bar and greeted Teddy, Addison and Callie with a hug. I had trouble pulling away from Callie; I'm not ashamed to admit.

As the night wore on I felt myself becoming more relaxed, and after my third or fourth glass of wine Mark deemed me too boring and started ordering Tequila. Now from my student years I knew that mixing drinks was not a good idea, so I decided to go and hide in the bathroom before the shot competitions started.

I sighed as I walked into the grubby bar bathroom, wrinkling my nose at the strong smell of urine mixed with alcohol filled my nostrils. The first thing I noticed was Callie standing by the sink hastily wiping away what were clearly tears and I frowned. "Are you okay?" I asked, deciding to address the fact that there was something wrong.

She turned round to face me. "Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm… I'm fine." She stumbled over her words, making me smile.

"People talk." I blurted out, slapping myself internally. Who says that? Oh, right, me. "Where we work, they talk. A lot. So for the sake of being honest, I think I should tell you that I know things about you." Really? Could I sound any more like a nosy teenage girl? "Because people talk."

Her face dropped more and her shoulders slumped. "Oh. You mean..?" She asked referring to George and Erica and everything that had happened. I nodded. "Terrific." She mumbled sarcastically.

"It is, actually! The talk." I exclaimed, trying to get her to smile. "People really like you over there. They respect you, and they're concerned, and interested… They really like you. Some of them really like you." I whispered, finally getting a smile from her. It was a nice smile, even if it was forced. "It's just, you look upset, and I thought you should know, the talk is good. And when you're not upset, when you're over being upset, there'll be people lining up for you." I finished, and she laughed sarcastically, as if the idea of people being interested in her was ridiculous.

"Wanna give me some names?"

What I did next surprised me. In a dirty bar bathroom, without even knowing her properly, I leaned in and kissed her. I kissed her! I remember one time I'd done that before in high school at prom, and the person had run away. Great. But Callie showed no signs of running.

I never really understood what people in the books and movies said about your heart flying and butterflies in your stomach, and I always just guessed that it was fake, or that there was something wrong with me. But here in this smelly bar bathroom I felt my heart fly and there were butterflies the size of Texas in my stomach. I drew back and took a deep breath.

"I think you'll know." I smiled brightly before casting one last glance at her and walking out of the bathroom to join our friends again. Apparently that whole scene had lasted longer than I thought it had, because Mark and Cristina Yang, who seemed to have joined us, were having an intense shot drinking competition. I laughed and rolled my eyes, resuming my place beside the bar with Teddy as we watched with amused faces. Well, she watched, I kept sneaking glances at Callie who had also re-joined us, and I found myself getting caught more than once.

"Oh my God, you like her!" Teddy exclaimed too loudly for my liking, as if she had no idea that Callie was right next to us.

"Teddy, shut up!" I hissed in her ear and she gave me an apologetic glance, mouthing 'sorry' to me. I quickly shot Callie a quick look to see if she had noticed, but she seemed pretty clueless, or she was just pretending not to hear for the sake of my embarrassment. "I'm going." I announced, standing up and grabbing my bag. I had work tomorrow so I couldn't afford to drink any more than I already had, and as my thoughts were completely consumed by Callie Torres, I staying here wasn't really relevant.

"Me too, me too!" Teddy exclaimed as she followed me out of the bar. "You know, I'm not really that sorry." She said in an even tone as we exited the bar and I cast a quick look around the place to see if there was anyone who could hear.

"I kissed her." I admitted suddenly and she just stood there in silence. "In the bathroom, I don't even know what happened, but I just… I dunno." I rambled and she began to smile.

"Your idea of picking up girls is kissing them in dirty bar bathrooms?" She snickered as we began to walk, and I scoffed and slapped her gently on the arm.

"Not usually!" I exclaimed. "But what does this mean?"

"Do you like her?" Teddy asked sceptically as we stopped just outside the apartment building. She only lived three floors down.

I thought for a moment. "Well… Yeah." I said, only just realising it myself. I liked her! Oh crap… "But I don't know if I want anything…" I trailed off, remembering everything that had happened in Baltimore that led me to moving here. "I don't know if I'm ready."

Teddy frowned. "How come? You clearly like her. Not to mention you kissed her." She pointed out, making my sigh. Teddy had no idea.

"I just don't know, Teddy." I snapped and we halted just outside her door. "Look, I'm sorry okay? Just give me time to think."

She nodded understandingly. "Just don't take too long. Callie Torres deserves answers."

I could see him out of the corner of my eye. A tall, hooded figure walking behind me, whose face I couldn't see and whose footsteps were in sync with mine. Without glancing back again I quickened my pace as much as I could without being too obvious, urging myself to stay calm.

My heart started beating faster when he also sped up, my hands starting to shake as I realised he was walking faster than me. He kept his face hidden the whole time.

I broke out into a run, suddenly hyper aware of every single danger concerning this situation, sprinting as fast as I could towards the nearest safe place I could find. My apartment.

He was too fast. A strong hand grabbed my hair from behind and yanked me back. I struggled and kicked him but he was completely unaffected by my useless attempts to defend myself.

"Not so fast." He hissed into my ear.

I woke with a start, my heart flying faster than any hummingbird, sheen of cool sweat covering my face. My breathing was nearly out of control and I worked desperately to get it under control.

Once the room had stopped spinning I leaned back against the pillows of the bed, running my hand through my hair and exhaling deeply.

"I'm at home." I told myself firmly. "I'm in bed, and safe. I'm okay."