Thanks for the reviews! Sorry, it's been a long long while. Just started a new uni course and it is so much more work than what I thought it was going to be. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to update a little more regular.
"Hey kiddo" Callie smiled as she woke from a nap on the couch. Work was hectic and Angelo was still unconscious and unable to be interviewed. They were working on a witness who had come forward before their boss ordered Callie and Teddy home for a little bit to come back a little more refreshed so it might help them crack the case. Sofia smiled back at her mum.
"Hey mum" she smiled.
"You don't look so good" Callie got up from the couch and felt her daughters head. "Are you sick?"
"No…just exam stress I guess" Sofia shrugged. "Any news on Angelo?" she asked, trying to divert the situation away from her. Besides talking about something else took her own mind off what was going on with her. She hadn't told anyone yet, not Casey, not any of her friends and definitely not her mum.
"He's still unconscious, we've got officers at the hospital there to notify us when he wakes up"
"Poor guy, Nicole must be in pieces" Sofia pulled a worried face.
"She is" Callie shook her head a little bit. "I just wish we had a good lead on whoever did this" Callie sighed. She looked worn out with the stress of trying to figure out who beat up her friend and left him for dead.
"So you don't yet?" Sofia raised her eyebrows. "But you will know soon right?"
"We think Angelo was targeted or at least knew he was about to be hurt. When we found his phone it showed he was just about to ring us" Callie trailed off. "And god I hope so" she continued, praying that once Angelo was awake he would be able to provide the answers to the gaps.
"Oh, god" Sofia replied. "So whoever did this is still out there, ready to do this to someone else"
"Yeah" Callie nodded. "But so far we believe Angelo stumbled upon some danger and tried to call us so it looks like only witnesses could be in possible danger. We're interviewing one this afternoon actually"
"Good" Sofia smiled. "With any luck you'll find them and the Summer Bay can go back to being the quiet little town it's known as" she laughed. "I'm going meeting Maddie, Zola and Evie I'll be back later tonight"
"No Casey today?" Callie raised her eyebrows. "You guys have a fight?"
"No" Sofia shrugged. "I just want an afternoon of girl talk" she smiled shyly.
"Well have fun, I'll see you tonight sweetie" Callie smiled, kissing her daughter on the cheek as she got ready. "I love you"
"Love you too mum" Sofia smiled back sheepishly, watching Callie leave the room and get prepared for work. Sofia brought her knees up to her chest. She'd been feeling sick since she'd discovered that she was pregnant, although couldn't be sure if it was the beginning of morning sickness or just her reaction to the news. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a big glass of water, taking big gulps until the glass was empty before heading out to meet her friends.
"So you were walking your dog when you came across Mr. Rosetta in the national park?" Callie glanced down at the witness statement that the witness in front of her first completed when the police discovered Angelo's unconscious body. "What time was that approximately?"
"It was around 8:30" responded the female. "I wrote this all down"
"I know" Callie smiled at the woman to put her at ease. "We're not here to interrogate you, we just want to make sure we have all the information we can get"
"Okay" the woman exhaled, looking a lot more relaxed. "Is he alright now, the bloke who was beaten?"
"He's being taken care off in the hospital" Callie told her. "When you came across Mr. Rosetta, were there any other people in the area. People who looked suspicious?"
"No" The woman shook her head. "I screamed, I remember I screamed so loud and a couple of other dog walkers nearby must have heard" she trailed off as she tried to recall the story. "He was just lying there, he looked like he was dead" she broke off. "There was no one there who looked suspicious" she confirmed.
"Okay" Callie nodded. "Thank you for your time" she smiled gratefully at the woman as she terminated the interview. She was annoyed that no more information had come to light and now the police had to wait until Angelo was awake and more importantly if he even remembered what had happened to him. She joined Teddy in their office as the witness was led out the doors of the police station.
"I wish we had the person who did this to Angelo in custody right now" Teddy muttered angrily.
"How are you doing?" Callie asked. In the accident, she had forgotten that Teddy and Angelo were once a thing a long time ago and by the looks of it, her friend wasn't doing well with the investigation.
"Me?" Teddy asked her. "I am fine" she told Callie without looking her in the eye.
"You know you don't have to work this case. I'm sure everyone would understand if you wanted to work on something else or even take a little time off"
"Callie…" Teddy interrupted. "I'm here because I want to work the case. Whatever happened between me and Angelo all those years ago is over. He's my friend and I want to know who could hurt my friend like that" she snapped, leaving the office and shutting the door with a bang.
"Don't we all" Callie muttered to herself. She took a seat down at her desk when her phone rang. It was the hospital, telling her the news she'd been waiting for. Angelo was finally awake.
"He can't remember anything?" Callie asked the nurse again to make sure she was hearing right. "As in he can't remember a single thing on who he is etc?"
"No" Derek Shepherd interrupted coming into the room. "Angelo has suffered a severe blow to the head and it is often the case that patients cannot remember the details of their accident for quite some time. Some never remember at all. He has good neurological function and his memory is in tact on the whole. Angelo is suffering from retrograde amnesia where he will struggle to remember what happened right before he was struck on the head. Only time will tell if he will ever be able to remember" he finished. Callie glanced around at Angelo who was lay on the hospital bed, staring into space at the empty wall in front of him.
"Thanks, Der" Callie mumbled as Derek and the nurse left the room, leaving them alone. She walked over to the bed and sat beside Angelo.
"Hey" she smiled warmly. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I was in a fight and lost" Angelo grimaced. "What happened to me?" he asked. "Where's Nicole and George? Are they alright?"
"Yeah" Callie nodded quickly. "You were on your own when the attack took place, Nicole's been here by your side all night and they sent her home for a rest"
"Okay" Angelo tried to nod but winced at the pain in his head. "Do you know who did this to me?"
"No" Callie shook her head. "We're interviewing witnesses and we're trying to see if there's any CCTV images that can give us a lead" she glanced at Angelo who looked perplexed. "You were found in the national park by a dog walker around 8:30 in the morning"
"I only ever go to the national park with George…" Angelo responded firmly. "I don't know why I would have been there"
"We'll keep looking out. Has Derek been in and spoke to you?"
"I might never know why I was attacked?" Angelo added. "Yeah" he added glumly.
"We will find who did this to you Angelo" Callie promised him. "One way or another we will find out who did this, okay?"
"Okay" Angelo nodded. Callie opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by an ecstatic Nicole pushing George's buggy into the room. She flung her arms around Angelo and Callie stood up with a smile on their face.
"I'll leave you guys to it" she excused herself from the room and walked down the hallway. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket to receive a text message from Arizona.
Looking forward to seeing you tonight
Callie smiled at the text and responded quickly how she couldn't wait either. Things with Arizona were only going from strength to strength and with everything happening at work, Callie found that being with Arizona was a nice distraction from what was going on in Summer Bay. She walked out of the hospital doors and got in her car. She was exhausted already but her working day was far from over, there was video footage to be watched and the other dog walkers to be interviewed. One way or another, they had to find out who attacked Angelo and why.
Arizona was smiling at the text she'd just received from Callie when Tim walked into the room, having just woken up.
"It's 12pm" she laughed at her brother's dishevelled state. "You're as bad as Casey"
"Yeah" Tim mumbled pouring himself a bowl of cereal. "What's got you in such a good mood anyway?" he questioned.
"Nothing" Arizona tried to lie but the smile on her face wouldn't disappear.
"It's alright, I don't want to hear about the chick your banging" he laughed. "There's just some things a brother shouldn't hear about his baby sister"
"I really like her" Arizona blurted out. "A lot"
"Woah who and you and what have you done with my sister?" Tim laughed. "She must be really something if you managed to get feelings for her"
"Yeah" Arizona's smile widened. "She really is". "I'm going to go to the hospital this afternoon and see how Angelo's doing, do you want to come?"
"Why?" Tim asked, trying not to look shady.
"He's our business partner" Arizona reminded him. "And he's nice, he didn't deserve what happened to him"
"Have they found out who did it to him yet?" Tim asked worriedly.
"Nope" Arizona shook her head. "So this afternoon?"
"I don't think it's a good idea, I mean he probably doesn't even want us there"
"He's more than just our business partner" Arizona pointed out. "He's our friend too and friends don't just hear about other friends getting attacked and do nothing about it"
"I can't go" Tim shook his head. "I'm busy"
"Doing what?" Arizona eyed him suspiciously. "Why won't you come with me?" she glanced at her older brother who was looking more on edge as each minute passed by. The penny dropped.
"Tim…" Arizona began. "Tell me you didn't attack Angelo" she lowered her voice. Tim couldn't look her in the eye and certainly didn't answer. "Tim" she repeated with a raised voice, making him jump.
"I'm sorry" Tim told his sister, finally looking her in the eye. Tears had sprung to his own eyes and Arizona put her own head in her hands.
"You idiot!" she yelled shaking her head. "Why would you do that?"
"It's a long story…" Tim began. "Please sis I really am sorry"
"Oh you're sorry?" Arizona questioned. "Well I guess that makes it okay that you beat a man, a man who was our business partner, our friend and a father to a young boy to near death. Because you're sorry" she shook her head. "I never thought you would stoop this low"
"He was going to grass me up" Tim told her.
"YOU NEARLY KILLED HIM" Arizona yelled.
"I know and I'm sorry" Tim told her. "You can't tell anyone about this"
"And if Angelo remembers? What then? Are you going to tell him that he can't tell anyone either?"
"I'll figure something out" Tim reassured her. "I never meant for any of this to happen"
"Yet somehow it did" Arizona replied, a look of disgust present in her eyes. "I hope the money was worth it" she added sarcastically. "What was it this time, alcohol? Drugs?"
"Drugs" Tim glanced down at the floor ashamed. "Dope" he confirmed. "It was a one off thing, I swear it was just a quick way of making money"
"It's always a one off thing" Arizona shook her head. "Stealing alcohol, dealing drugs…but it never is just a one off thing"
"I can change, I want to change" Tim stammered. "We came here for a fresh start so let's do it, let's start over again somewhere else. We could go to Europe, or America…"
"No Tim" Arizona replied. "You need to take some responsibility for what you have done."
"If you tell the police, I'll never speak to you again for the rest of my life" Tim warned her as Arizona reached the door.
"Maybe that's not such a bad thing" she responded, slamming the door shut behind her.
Arizona sat on the beach, kicking the sand with her toes and watching the waves. She was still trying to figure out what to do. She was torn between her loyalty to her brother and being a morally good person. She truly believed Tim was sorry this time, unlike the time where the alcohol had been stolen when Tim acted like he had no remorse at all. She knew there was no way on earth, Callie or Teddy would let the case go cold, they were determined to find out what happened to Angelo and why it happened. Arizona was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Sofia coming to sit beside her.
"Hey" Sofia smiled. "Mind if I sit?"
"Go ahead" Arizona gave the girl one of her bright smiles and pushed all thoughts of her older brother to the back of her mind for the time being. "You okay? you seem a little quiet" she asked Sofia who nodded.
"Just stressed out you know with exams and stuff" Sofia responded.
"Must be tough. Casey is too" Arizona commented. "Just think of how close Summer is" she smiled.
"The only thing that's getting me through" Sofia laughed. "Is Casey up?"
"I doubt it" Arizona smirked, making Sofia laugh. "I think we both know how long that kid can sleep for"
"Yeah" Sofia smiled. "Well I'm going to go find my friends for a bit, let off some steam before mum makes sure I revise" she laughed rolling her eyes. "I'll see you later" she walked away.
"See you later" Arizona called after her, watching Sofia walk further away. Once again her thoughts were about her brother and what to do. If Arizona did keep a secret and Callie found out she knew the entire time it would be the end of their relationship. But telling the police would be the end of her relationship with her brother, the guy who had helped put food on the table when times were the hardest. It would break their mother's heart if Tim was sent to jail. Arizona pondered for a couple of moments more. She knew what she had to do.
"Sofia, you home?" Callie called out into the house as she returned home from work. "I come with pizza"
"Yum" Sofia beamed coming through into the kitchen and kissing her mother on the cheek. "How was work?"
"Nothing new" Callie pulled a face. "We're still trying to pull footage from the national park entrance so hopefully once we have that we'll have a narrower suspect list"
"Is Angelo awake yet?" Sofia asked.
"Uh huh" Callie nodded with pizza in her mouth. Sofia grabbed two plates out of the cupboard. "But he doesn't remember the attack, Derek says it's normal after a trauma"
"Wow" Sofia shook her head.
"So how was your day with the girls?" Callie asked. "Get much studying done?"
"Maybe" Sofia winked. "We played pool and grabbed milkshake and burgers from the diner…" she told Callie about her day. "And then we studied"
"That's my girl" Callie wiggled Sofia's cheek, laughing as she wriggled away in pretend disgust.
"Ugh mum" Sofia giggled. "Are you home tonight?"
"I have to nip into work for an hour or so but then I'll be home" Callie told her daughter, remembering her plans with Arizona. "Why?"
"I thought we could watch something together. A nice girly film or something?" Sofia asked.
"You want some mummy and Sof time?" Callie smiled raising her eyebrows. It had seemed like a long time since Sofia thought it was cool to hang out with her mum.
"Not if you're going to be gross about it" Sofia laughed. "You go and do what you have to do first…I'll pick a film out"
"Actually…I'm free now" Callie smiled, after reading a text from Arizona rescheduling their plans. "But I'm picking the film…"
"Pick something good then, I swear if I have to sit through another musical…" Sofia groaned heading to the couch with Callie in anticipation for their girly night together.
It was a hard decision for Arizona. She walked back into the apartment she shared with her brothers. Casey and Tim were on the sofa's playing video games on the xbox. Arizona watched the scene, glad to see for the first time in a long time the two of them seemed to be getting along. She knew Tim struggled with the fact that Casey wasn't their full brother but she would never see Casey as anything less. Upon seeing their sister, Casey turned around and flashed her a big goofy smile. Tim on the other hand glanced at Arizona as though he was trying to figure her out.
"Hey sis" Casey smiled. "Fancy a game?"
"Yeah right…" Arizona laughed. "Casey can you go upstairs for a minute, I've got to talk with Tim okay?"
"Sure" Casey smiled. "I should ring Sof anyway, she's been acting super weird all day" he shrugged it off.
"Women…eh mate" Tim laughed as him and Casey high-fived one another. Casey took his phone out of his pocket and dialled Sofia's number as he left the room. Seeing that Casey was out of earshot, Tim began to talk.
"You didn't tell the police?" Tim asked figuring this was the case. "Thank you little sis"
"Tim…" Arizona began to talk before there was a knock on the door. "I have to explain something…"
"Explain what?" Tim shrugged as he answered the door. Teddy was on the other side with a different officer. Arizona was sort of glad not to see Callie's face on the other side of that door for the time being.
"Tim Robbins you are under arrest for the assault on Angelo Rosetta. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence" Teddy spoke, placing the handcuffs on Tim. Tim turned around to Arizona.
"You're going to regret this" he snarled at his sister before he was shoved into the back of a police car and led away to the station for questioning.
Callie and Sofia had picked a film out when Sofia's phone had rung. It was Casey so she was upstairs taking the call whilst Callie finished off the last of their pizza. She was exhausted and actually a little worried that they were never going to find who did this to Angelo. She shut her eyes momentarily as she reflected on the day. She knew some of her fellow colleagues were working the night shift and she didn't envy them one bit. She needed a break and spending the night with Sofia seemed to be the answer.
She then began to think of Arizona and why she cancelled last minute. It wasn't like Arizona to cancel plans last minute. She had texted a few times since trying to reschedule but hadn't received any reply. But Summer Bay was a small town. It wasn't going to be that hard to find Arizona and ask her why she was being a little off. Callie's phone rang when her eyes were half shut. She answered the phone, half hoping it was Arizona ringing to explain why she cancelled.
"We've arrested Tim Robbins for the assault on Angelo Rosetta" Teddy told her quickly.
"On what grounds?" Callie asked sitting up straight. "Are we sure? Do you need me to come in?"
"There's plenty of officers here" Teddy responded. "Besides you're not on the night shift rota this week anyway"
"Did he have anything to say?" Callie asked.
"He hasn't said a word" Teddy replied. "I've got to be quick as we're going in to interview once his lawyer arrives"
"What evidence is there?" Callie asked.
"He confessed to Arizona Robbins. She told us the whole thing" Teddy responded. "Callie, I've got to go now"
"Okay" Callie exhaled. "I'll see you tomorrow" she ended the call, thankful they had found who had attacked Angelo and a little disheartened that Tim Robbins was behind it. She felt stupid for not considering him as a suspect in the initial investigation. Callie remembered that Teddy told her it was Arizona who handed him in to the police which more than answered her questions about why Arizona was avoiding her. Callie took her phone out and tried ringing her girlfriend a few times, each time the call was rejected and it was clear Arizona didn't want to talk tonight. Feeling deflated, Callie gave up. She glanced at the movie that was still on pause for a few moments more.
"Come on Sof" she called out up the stairs, waiting for her daughter's response. "Or we'll never finish this film tonight" she continued. Sofia didn't respond, so Callie went up the stairs to Sofia's room figuring that Sofia hadn't heard her. "Sofia?" Callie questioned knocking gently on the door before entering the room. "SOFIA!" Callie screamed entering the room to see her sixteen-year-old daughter collapsed on the floor.