Thanks for the reviews! Sorry, there's only one teeny Calzona part in this chapter. There was a lot of things to focus on, all of which affect Calzona in later chapters! Hope you enjoy this next chapter :)
"I think I'm going to be sick" Callie's face was pale as she came closer to the ambulance crew who were preparing to lift Angelo into the ambulance. Admittedly, she still had alcohol in her system from last night which wasn't helping either, but the sight of her friend lying motionless on a stretcher was one of the worst sights Callie had ever seen.
"I'm uh I'm going to go talk to the person who found him" Teddy mumbled. Callie didn't know what to do, she knew Teddy and Angelo were once a thing so this must be hard for them too. It was going to be hard on the entire community once the news was out there. It was a quiet seaside town and this type of thing just didn't happen.
Angelo was found by a woman walking her dog about half an hour ago. Within 20 minutes everyone had arrived. The ambulance crew confirmed Angelo was alive, but barely. The fact that he wasn't dead yet would offer some comfort to his wife and young son, but probably not all that much. He'd suffered a blow to the head, Callie could see there was blood at the scene where the body was found. Angelo's car was nearby, unlocked and after a couple of minutes of searching his phone was found nearby. Callie picked it up, seeing that a call was about to be made to the police. She handed the phone to another one of the officers. She knew it must have been serious if Angelo was ringing the police as if it wasn't an emergency situation he would have called her mobile. Callie sighed as the sirens blared, taking Angelo off to the hospital. She braced herself for the news she had to tell his family. She hated this part, it was one of the worst things about the job.
"All I've got is that she found him this morning, there wasn't anyone in sight" Teddy came back to Callie.
"You sure you're okay to work today?" Callie questioned.
"What am I supposed to do Cal? Go home and cry to Henry about my ex-boyfriend being left for dead?" she raised her eyebrows. "I just want to find out what happened to him" she went off to talk to some other officers. Callie took out her phone and sent a quick text to Arizona. She was supposed to have the day off but this situation meant she needed to come in. Instead of spending the morning with her girlfriend, Callie would spend it trying to figure out why someone wanted to hurt Angelo Rosetta.
"You're lying" Nicole, Angelo's wife, shrieked once Callie sat her down and broke the news. "He was at the restaurant. He was working your party" she shook her head as tears ran down her face.
"Angelo wasn't there last night" Callie broke the news to her, wondering why Angelo felt he had to lie. "Is there any reason why he'd tell you that?"
"I don't know" Nicole bit her lip. She didn't make eye contact. Instead, she just stared into space, looking at nothing in particular. "We've just had a baby.." she shook her head again.
Callie knew she had to keep it together, although Angelo was her friend. There was no way she could crumble because then his wife would crumble even more. Instead, she patted Nicole on the back as she leaned in to cry on Callie's shoulder.
"I'll take you to the hospital if you want?" she questioned. She hadn't got any updates on Angelo's condition, she presumed he'd still be under the doctor's care. Teddy and another officer had gone to the hospital, whilst other officers stayed at the scene. Callie wanted to tell the news to Nicole herself. She'd known Nicole a long time and figured it would be best if the news came from her, rather than another Summer Bay officer.
"What about George?" she asked, referring to the baby she'd just had with Angelo. Callie could see why she didn't want to take her child to the hospital with her, just in case the worst came to the worst. God, it wasn't worth thinking about at the minute.
"Sofia can look after him for the day" Callie smiled. Nicole nodded slowly. She knew Sofia was sensible enough and had babysat a few times for a couple of people. She could be trusted. Callie followed Nicole upstairs to collect the baby.
"He cries when I cry" Nicole gave a half smile through her tears. "Please can you take him for now?" she asked. Callie nodded, picking up baby George and cuddling him close. He was too young to understand what had happened to his father and god forbid if Angelo did die he'd be too young to even remember what Angelo was like. Callie hugged him a little bit tighter.
"He's so young" Nicole gulped and immediately Callie could tell she was thinking the same thing.
"He's not going to die" she told Nicole firmly.
"None of us know that" Nicole replied, walking downstairs leaving Callie to hold the baby.
Tim woke late that morning. Pretty pleased with himself for the deal he made with Pirovic last night and a little annoyed that Angelo had nearly blown the whole thing. Tim didn't normally have a conscience, but all night he'd been tossing and turning wondering if Angelo was alright. Not that he was going to tell the police anything that had happened. This deal he'd just secured meant he'd have a lot of money for a bit yet.
This was money that he'd usually share with his sister and younger brother too. But Arizona had made it perfectly clear they didn't want his dirty money. Not that either of them were complaining back in Mangrove River. Tim almost wish they never moved to Summer Bay, that was when his relationships with his siblings began to deteriorate the most.
Tim thought back to when they were kids. When it was just him and Arizona. God, they were so happy, it was one of those childhoods where every memory was a good one, well until the end anyway. Family holidays, mum always with a smile on her face. Dad a little stricter but not too strict so he came off as mean. Tim could barely remember his dad now. It was rare having Daniel Robbins at home so when his father was at home, his mother always insisted they make the most of things. But there were secrets. Secrets Tim and Arizona were never to tell, their mother had an affair. That was when their childhood fell apart. Things were never the same in the Robbins family after that. Daniel and Barbara worked through it, but they all knew the love between them wasn't the same. When Barbara became pregnant for the third time, Tim admired his father for choosing to raise a baby that may not have been his. Casey seemed to hold together the Robbins family when he arrived. They all doted on him and Tim honestly believed things could go back to how they once were. When Casey turned two, Daniel went away to serve again and never came back. Tim shook his head; he didn't like thinking of those times. And besides thinking of his own dead father only made him feel guiltier about how things ended with Angelo last night. Maybe he was just getting softer.
Tim decided to act normal and walked through to the living room to get some breakfast. His sister was sat on the couch, engrossed in her phone like she was most times these days. She glanced over at her brother.
"You're up late" she commented, not making eye contact. "Late night last night?" she questions casually, knowing for a fact it was because he got back way after she'd seen Callie at closing time.
"Something like that" Tim mumbled. "How was the cop's party last night?"
"Oh so now you're interested in how your restaurant is doing?" Arizona raised her eyebrows. "It was fine" she shrugged.
"I'm surprised you helped out" Tim told her. "Cops aren't usually your best mates"
"We're not friends" Arizona snapped quickly. "I like Sofia, I wanted to help"
"Yeah, she's alright" Tim replied, accepting Arizona's answer. "Arizona, tell me how I can make things normal between us again"
"When you start keeping the promises you made" Arizona responded. "And start treating Casey better, he's your brother and I don't know it seems like you're always out to get him. He's just a kid"
"He's not our brother" Tim responded.
"Keep your voice down" Arizona shushed him. "I don't know if he's here but if he is I don't want you shouting your mouth off"
"But he isn't" Tim continued. "Or do you not remember?"
"Yes he is" Arizona spoke quietly but firmly. "He's our brother" she glanced up at her older brother. "So we may not have the same parents but our dad loved Casey just as much as he loved you and I. And so do I, I don't have some ridiculous preference for you because we have the same parents" she stood up. "I know you don't truly think Casey isn't a member of this family" she continued. "After dad died, we raised Casey together. You were good with him. Things can be that way again"
"I'm thinking of giving him a job" Tim told his sister. "Delivering pizzas at the weekend".
"I think he'd like that" Arizona smiled. "And maybe the two of you can start acting like brothers rather than a pair of acquaintances" she rolled her eyes. "We're a family, we stick together"
Tim nodded, walking into the kitchen. He wasn't sure how much of a family they were going to be if the truth got out about last night.
"Babies are cute" Sofia wrinkled her nose up at baby George. "Eww" she added a couple minutes later. "He just puked on me" she handed George over to Casey. "I'm going to go clean-up"
Casey held the baby in his arms. He didn't have much experience with kids and honestly, he felt a little nervous around them. Like they were going to burst into tears in his presence. When Callie came over with the baby, Casey's heart almost sank when Sofia wanted him to stick around and help her babysit. But he knew it must have been an emergency. Nicole had come in to hand over some supplies that they'd be needing for the day. She wasn't like her normal self and Casey and Sofia could tell she had been crying. But that was all they knew, Callie remained tight-lipped and told them they'd find out about everything later.
"There" Sofia smiled, coming back into the living room wearing a clean top. "You better not puke again Mister!" she cooed at George who gurgled in response. "You okay?"
"Yeah" Casey smiled. "Just thinking about what's happening with Nicole"
"She looked really sad earlier" Sofia recalled. "I hope she's alright"
"Yeah me too" Casey mumbled. "I wonder if something happened to Angelo" he continued, watching the way Sofia interacted with George. "You're good with him" he smiled.
"I like kids" she shrugged. "I always wanted a couple of siblings, I had hoped when mum and her ex were getting serious but eh guess I'm just destined to be an only child" she broke off as she handed George to Casey once more. Her hand flew to her mouth. "I need to go" she rushed through to the bathroom and Casey could hear his girlfriend retching. He shuddered at the thought of anyone being sick. When Sofia returned again she was pale.
"Poor baby" Casey murmured.
"Must have been something I ate" Sofia half smiled. "Right little guy, we better get you some lunch" she smiled down at George, holding him on her hip as they went through to the kitchen. She still didn't feel great, she'd eaten a lot of party food and something on that menu just didn't seem to agree with her. She put the thought to the back of her mind, hoping that focusing on other things would be enough to make her not feel sick.
"Any news?" Callie asked as Meredith came out.
"He should be fine" Meredith told Callie who exhaled a huge sigh of relief. "But that was quite the blow, what the hell happened?"
"We've got officers working on that" Callie pulled her to the side. "All we know that is told Nicole he was at my party last night, but I'm sure he wasn't"
"I know he wasn't" Meredith confirmed. "You got pretty drunk, but I was sober"
"Exactly" Callie nodded. "So for some reason he lied and ended up in the national park" Callie continued. "When we found his phone, it turned out he was just about to dial the police station" she added.
"So you think he was in danger?"
"Why else would he call the cops at that time?" Callie told Meredith.
"Good point" Meredith nodded. "Please tell me you know who did this to him?"
"No, but I will" Callie said, her face stern and unsmiling. "And they'll pay"
"Good, Derek's going to go and update Nicole"
"How long until he wakes up?" Callie asked.
"We just have to be patient, then we'll have to test his neurological function when he wakes up. Normally patients that suffer a blow to the head don't remember specific details. It takes time"
"Meanwhile whoever did this to Angelo is free to do it again" Callie sighed. "Unless we find any specific evidence that gives us our perpetrator"
"Sounds like the police have a lot of work on their hands" Meredith half smiled.
"You okay? It seems like somethings bothering you"
"I'm late" Meredith told Callie.
"Pregnant late?" Callie widened her eyes.
"I don't know" Meredith shook her head. "But I'm freaking out, my eldest daughter is sixteen I can't have another child"
"Take a test" Callie encouraged her. "And then go from there"
"Yeah" Meredith half-smiled again. "No point freaking out just yet anyway".
"Hey" Callie smiled, greeting Arizona at the motel that night. Work was long, the police were appealing for any witnesses to come forward and Angelo still hadn't woken up.
"You look tired" Arizona pouted, taking her girlfriends hands into hers. "Long day?"
"Yeah…" Callie sighed. "Angelo was attacked and left for dead"
"What?" Arizona questioned. "Are you being serious?"
"I really wish I wasn't" Callie sighed again. "I've been at the hospital and with Nicole most of the day, she's in bits"
"Do you know who did it? And why?" Arizona questioned.
"Not yet" Callie told her. "We're investigating a few leads and we've got to wait until Angelo wakes up to see if he remembers the attack"
"That's horrible" Arizona muttered as Callie sank into her arms. Arizona began stroking Callie's hair.
"Seeing Nicole like that made me realise I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you" Callie spoke a little quieter.
"Well I'm not going anywhere" Arizona promised her, gently kissing the top of Callie's hair. "I promise"
Her hands fumbled with the pregnancy test box. She was nervous, kids weren't on the agenda but being late had scared her into taking a test, just to be on the safe side. Five minutes to wait for the result, probably the longest five minutes of her entire life. Her heart was pounding, her stomach felt like it was twisted into knots. She couldn't be pregnant, she laughed at the idea of it. When the time came to turn the test over, she was so certain it would be a negative test. When the positive result glared back at her, she immediately broke down.
"Oh my god" Sofia whispered, as the pregnancy stick fell to the floor.