Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.
A/N : Sorry for keeping you waiting, here's the new chapter. As promised, the drama began.
Uh... all mistakes are mine, I do beg your pardon.
Chapter 59
After 10 days being inseparable with her fiancée, it was hard for Arizona to sleep alone last night. Callie's shift started in the late afternoon right after they returned to Seattle. It had been 16 hours since they parted, the blonde couldn't wait to go back to the hospital. Not just about going back to her job, but to meet with the first day 2nd year resident at the coffee cart outside the hospital as they had planned.
Striding toward the destination, she already spotted the familiar figure standing next to the coffee cart chatting with their friend.
"Hey, good morning." Arizona greeted the brunette with a kiss on the cheek, and a hug with Mark.
"Callie just told me all about the presidential suite." The man smirked between the two women. The nasty smile made the blonde blushed slightly.
"You told him about what we did?" Arizona asked in a low voice, and Callie shook her head immediately.
"No, I just told him the details of the suite."
"She doesn't have to. A private swimming pool with no one around? I can imagine what I would do in there." Mark laughed out. "Damn Torres, if I've known you're that rich and your father would spoil you like that, I would have..."
"I'm not rich." Callie cut him off. "And believe me, my father did that for Arizona because it seems like he loves her more than his own daughter now."
"Can you let it go already?" Arizona cast a sidelong glance to the brunette while seasoning her coffee. "You like the place."
"What are you talking about?" Mark asked.
"Cal's father suggested us to hold the wedding party in his hotel in LA, and Callie likes it there." The blonde answered before sipped her beverage with a smile. She knew what the brunette was going to say...
"I told you, I have to like it because you already promised my dad." Callie stuck out her tongue to her fiancée.
"So, LA huh?" The man interjected the happy couple's banter. "Pick a date already?"
"First weekend of December." Callie smiled to her friend. "You are invited, so make sure you'll get that weekend off."
"Oh, count me in." Mark grinned to his friends. His pager went off and he sighed after checking it. He turned to the ladies. "I have to run. See you later at rounds, Callie."
"So, you're in plastic today?" Arizona asked seeing the man ran away. She walked with the brunette into the hospital slowly. "How was your first shift as a resident?"
"I was able to be the first assist on Teddy's surgery last night. And Teddy commended on my stitches." Callie said with a broad smile. "She thought I learnt those from Cristina, but I told her I have a much better teacher at home."
"Well, you're a good student." Arizona couldn't help to pull the proud woman closer for a kiss, and Callie deepened it with a hold on the slim waist.
"I'm off at 5pm. How about I make dinner tonight, and we celebrate the first day of my residency?"
Arizona answered with a dimpled smile. Suddenly, a lower voice rang behind her.
"You must be the woman screwing my wife."
Callie looked passed the blonde head. There was a tall man staring at them with a hint of arrogance on his face. The blonde turned around with a squeak.
"Nick!" Arizona jumped into the man's open arms. Nick held her tight and spun the shorter woman around made her laughed out, placed a loudly kiss on the porcelain cheek after put her down.
"You're getting heavy, Phoenix. Put on some holiday weight?" Nick teased his friend, got himself a punch on the arm.
"Rude! I didn't!" Arizona turned to the brunette standing behind them. "Did I?"
"No, sweetie. You look perfect." Callie smiled to her fiancée, and stepped closer to the two friends, extended her hand to the man. "Hi Nick, nice to finally meet you."
But Nick didn't take her hand. Instead, he eyed the tall Latina up and down with a lopsided smile.
"Seriously, are you the woman screwing my wife?" The question from the man made Callie's jaw dropped and looking at her future wife for an answer.
"Don't be a jerk, Nick. You know she's Callie. I sent you pictures of her." Arizona was still hanging the biggest smile on her face. "And stop calling me your wife. We were 10 years old."
"Hey, it was a beautiful ceremony. And we had Tim officiated it." Nick put his hands on his hips, a childish pout displayed on his face that made the blonde giggled.
"Yeah, and you gave me a ring made of crabgrass." Arizona held up her hand showing off the engagement ring that was given by Callie. "See, this is a real ring, coming from a woman that I'm going to marry for real."
Callie put her hand next to Arizona's, raised her eyebrows with a broad grin when hazel eyes looked between the ruby ring and the sapphire one. Finally, Nick replaced the pout to a bright smile and pulled the brunette into a bone crushing hug.
"You win, hot stuff." Nick squeezed the woman before letting her go. He turned to his childhood friend with a wink. "You're right. She's really hot. No wonder she has you fallen head over heel."
"You told him I'm hot?" Callie asked with a self-satisfied smirk.
"The first time she told me about you, I think it was before you gals started dating. All I could hear was she's hot, Nick. She's like really sexy, almost dirty hot..." Nick sang out with an eye rolling, made the brunette chuckled and the blonde grunted.
"Stop embarrassing me." Arizona stopped the man before he could start with another story. "Why are you here anyway? Is that why you called me?"
"I talked with someone from the hospital a few days ago and asking for you, they told me Tucson was on a vacation in LA." Nick shrugged. "I was like, whoa, when was the last time she took a real holiday, not just traveling home to see her parents?"
"Why were you talking to the people from the hospital? And you're here now... Are you all right?" The dimpled smiled dropped. Arizona stared at her friend with concern.
"I'm fine." Nick waved his hand, giving the blonde a bitter smile. "It's my mom. She got accepted in Shepherd's Alzheimer clinical trial."
"Ruthie is here? And she's getting that bad?" Blue eyes went wide. Ruthie was like a second mother to her. Now she felt bad of not knowing the older woman was getting so sick.
"I didn't even know. The nursing home arranged it for her. And when she got accepted, they called me. I took the first flight back from Tibet and came here with her." Nick sighed heavily. He jerked his head to the side. "She got admitted yesterday, they're going to run some tests today and do the procedure tomorrow. I'm on my way to her room."
"I'll go with you." Arizona nodded. She turned to the brunette whilst her feet starting to move. "Callie, I'll see you at lunch?"
"Sure. Nick, I'll see you around." Callie gave the man a smile before they parted to the different directions. Nick said to Arizona as they walked toward the Neuro floor.
"Hey, we need to talk before you see my mom..."
"So you're telling, you, Mark Sloan, has a code? I thought it's your profession for giving women bigger boobs or bigger asses." Callie sat down on the lunch table with her tray of food in hand. Mark flopped down next to her.
"Plastic is not just about bigger boobs, haven't I taught you anything last year? I told you..." The plastic surgeon sighed as he was getting annoyed.
"Yes, I know Plastic is more than that. I'm talking about you, Mark Sloan." Callie stared at the man with a mocking smile. "Aren't you the pervert all for big boobs? And you just turned down a woman who wanted to have a double D."
"Did you see the uncertainty in her eyes? She's a solid B. With a good push-up bras she looks like a C cup." Mark held up his hands gestured the size of the patient they were talking about. "It matches her figure and she looks beautiful and proportional, and she knew it. She isn't doing that for herself. I can guarantee you that she is pressured by her boyfriend who likes a double D."
"And you have a problem with that." Callie frowned. "A woman gets a bigger rack to please the one she loves?"
"A woman shouldn't do anything to her body for someone else. A lot of people don't aware that oversize breasts cause physical problems, and psychological too. If she isn't prepared, it's just gonna be a bra full of regret." Mark shrugged a shoulder casually before took a bite of his apple.
"Whoa... I feel like I don't know you anymore." Callie propped her chin up by the elbow, looking at her friend with a newfound respect.
"There's more in here that you don't know." The man pointed to his own head with a wink. "And you think I stare at women's chests just because I like boobs. I observe for my profession, you know. I am good at my job because I know what size looks good on a body. And I always admire yours."
"Okay, I recognize you now." Callie laughed out, covering her V-neck with a hand. "Stop staring at my chests before Arizona arrived. She's going to hit you with a brick."
"Speaking of the devil," Mark lifted his head as he saw the blonde entered the cafeteria, with Nick and an older woman next to her. "Isn't that Nick? And who's that woman?"
"That must be Nick's mother. She is accepted in Derek's clinical trial." The brunette turned in her seat, seeing the trio settling on a table not so far away from them, instead of joining them. "And you know Nick?"
"Yeah, he came to visit Arizona a couple times over the years. Good guy." The man nodded, took a handful of fries from Callie's plate when she wasn't looking.
"Ruthie, I'm going to talk to some friends and then I'll get you some foods." Arizona smiled to the lovely woman whilst standing up, got a smile in return. "I'll be right back."
She nodded to Nick and then walked to where her fiancée was sitting. But Ruthie's exclamation stopped her track.
"Isn't that Tim? Timothy Robbins?"
Arizona turned around with wide eyes. Ruthie already got up from the chair and walked past her toward the direction where she was going.
Mark was half way shoving the fries in his mouth when the mother of Nick came to him with a big smile. He looked behind him checking if there was anyone else standing behind him. But apparently, Nick's mother was talking to him.
"What? You're not going to give me a hug?" Ruthie stood in front of the table opening her arms wide, waiting for a greeting hug from the boy she loved as her own son.
"Yes, TIM. My brother." Arizona ran to the table standing behind the older woman, trying to signal the confused man with her wide eye stare. "I can't believe you haven't come to say hello to aunt Ruthie."
"I..." Mark looked at the women with his mouth hung open. And from the corner of his eyes, he could see Callie was having the same mystified look as him.
"Tim, give aunt Ruthie a hug." Arizona tried again. "Our favorite aunt from the whole world. Who has known you since you were a child and now is here for the Alzheimer trial."
"Oh yes." Mark stood up from the seat slowly, still not so sure what he had to do but the stare from the blonde told him that he should play along. He pulled the old woman in his arms. "I'm sorry aunt Ruthie. And I'm so glad to see you again."
"I'll explain to you later." Arizona mouthed to the brunette while Ruthie was occupied by Mark.
"I'm so glad to see you too, Tim. I feel like I haven't seen you for so long." Ruthie pulled back from, in her eyes, Tim Robbins's arms. She caressed the man's face with a loving smile. "The last time I've seen you, you were in your uniform ready to be shipped off. You're back. And you're a doctor like your sister."
"Yeah, I... um... I'm back." Mark chanced a glance to the blonde who had her face fell slightly. He knew the real Tim didn't come back.
"And who is this lovely lady here with you?" Ruthie turned to the stranger who was looking at her the whole time. There was a cafeteria full of people and she was sitting here with just Tim... "Is she your girlfriend?"
"No," Arizona answered before anyone. "She is Callie and she is not Tim's girlfriend, she is..."
"You two are married?" Ruthie exclaimed while she saw the engagement ring on Callie's finger. She hugged Mark once again and then wrapped her arms around Callie before anyone could react. "I'm so glad to know Tim has found someone. I was always worried that this boy wouldn't settle down. But I have to say I'm not surprise that you are able to tie him down. This boy always has a thing for Latino women."
"Hey, is everything okay?" Nick saw the exchange from afar and finally decided to come to see what his mother was doing.
"Why didn't you tell me Tim is here and he's married to this lovely lady, Nick?" Ruthie threw her son a glare before sitting down next to Callie, holding the tan hand examining the ruby ring.
"Tim?" Nick looked around, meeting with the frowns between the two pairs of blue eyes.
"I'm Tim, it seems." Mark said under his breath, sitting back down on the chair next to the wife that he suddenly had.
The lunch carried on awkwardly. No one said much except Ruthie. Like any older relative in the family, she was fully invested in the couple that she just found out.
"We... uh... we're getting married in last December." Mark scratched the back of his head. He still had no idea what was going on and he just blurt out the first answer he could come up with from his mind.
"That's wonderful." Ruthie couldn't stop smiling. "Any kids?"
"Mom!" Nick tried to stop his mother. He knew very well that what the woman was going to say. She had been bugged him in the last few days since they were together.
"I know, I know. Doctors are busy. That's why you and Arizona still haven't given me any grand children." Ruthie turned her attention to her other side, patting Arizona on the knee gently. "Honey, I'm not rushing you, but with this head problem that Nick has to take me to here, I don't know how much time I have left to see my grand children."
Callie goggled at her fiancée in bewilderment.
"Ruthie, I..." Arizona swallowed.
"Okay, mom. I think it's time to go back to your room. Dr. Grey said she'll take you for another scan after lunch. We should go." Nick rose up from his seat, waiting for his mother to follow.
"Oh, already?" Ruthie pursed her lips, looked a little disappointed. She really wanted to spend some time with the Robbins. She gazed between the siblings hopefully. "You come to see me later?"
"Of course." Arizona got up and pulled the older woman into a hug. Mark and Callie gave her a tight smile, and both of them staring at the blonde intensely after the mother and son departed.
"You and Nick are going to have babies?" Mark asked before the brunette was able to come up with the question.
"Long story," Arizona sighed after took a sip of her soda. "About 10 years ago, I was in Baltimore and Nick was living in New York for his job, we both didn't go back to visit our parents often. Ruthie had a severe stroke that almost killed her. Her mind was slipping in and out when we all rushed to her bedside. Between the unconsciousness, she told Nick that she regretted that she wasn't able to see him settle down, getting married... So Nick took my hand and told Ruthie that we just got married and was coming to tell her."
"He what?" Callie screamed quietly.
"She was dying and that was her dying wish, what were we suppose to do?" The blonde slumped her shoulders, took another sip of the soda. "The doctors said it was a miracle that she made it. But she got so weak after that episode, Nick put her in a home so she wouldn't be alone without care. I went to visit her from time to time, but I didn't know Nick never tell her the truth until this morning."
"So she thinks you and Nick are married, for 10 years." Callie stared at the blonde implausibly.
"Ruthie's mental status declined since then but somehow she remembered that very well. Nick thinks telling her that we are not actually married may just confuse her even more. He loves his mother too much to see her being disappointed." Arizona took a deep breath, gazing at the round brown eyes hoping the brunette would understand.
"And that's why you want me to pretend to be your dead brother." Mark chipped in. And Arizona gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Mark. So many people in here, I really don't know why she'd mistaken you as Tim."
"And why do I have to be his wife?" Callie asked with annoyance in her voice. Not that she didn't want to help the seemingly nice old lady, but the idea of Arizona was married to another guy, and herself was married to Mark/Tim just didn't feel right.
"I'm sorry Callie. I was going to correct her but have you seen the smile on her face? She loves Tim as much as she loves Nick and me. How can I tell her Tim that is dead, once again?" Arizona slid to the empty seat between her and Callie. "Ruthie will have the procedure tomorrow and I think Nick is going to take her back home afterward. She won't see you two again. So, a little white lie doesn't hurt, right?"
"So do I have to camp out in her room? You know, my favorite aunt from the whole world." Contrarily, Mark found the situation hilarious.
"No no, just stay away from the Neuro ward." Arizona answered hurriedly. She didn't want to make it too complicated.
"And how about tonight? You're gonna stay here with her?" The brunette asked with a little pout on her face. She had plan for the night, for both of them.
"Maybe I'll stay for a while, but I'm definitely going to come home for dinner." The blonde leaned forward to kiss away the pout. She glanced at her watch after pulled back. "I have to go. I haven't done much work this morning, need to catch up on the paper works."
"Dinner at home? You're cooking?" Mark asked after the blonde ran out of the cafeteria.
"Yeah." Callie stood up from the chair, getting ready to go back to work. Mark followed behind her.
"Can I come?"
"Nope." The brunette threw him the answer over her shoulder, and then muttered under her breath. "Someone's gonna come tonight, but not you."
"Callie?" Arizona called out after opened the door to the apartment, smell of pot roast floating in the air. She had texted the brunette that she was on the way home a few minutes ago, but the living room was empty.
"Bedroom." Callie's voice came from the open door.
Arizona followed the sound to the bedroom, the sight in there waiting for her make her heart skipped a beat.
Callie was lying in bed on her side, wearing a black and purple lingerie that showcased most of her ample breasts, and the hem of it could barely cover the voluptuous curve that made her miles long legs fully in display. Featuring with the black silk robe and she knew she was as sexy as she could be. She smiled to the stunned blonde seductively as her hand ran down the lingerie slowly.
"Hey I was trying to find the toy you brought in Miami, but... Ahhhhh!"
The brunette screamed when she found her fiancée wasn't alone. Nick was there standing behind Arizona with an amused smirk. Fumbling to pull the comforter from the foot of the bed, Callie lost her balance and rolled off of the bed to the other side with a loud thud.
"Oh my god, Callie!" The suddenness made the blonde jumped and finally realized Nick followed her into the room. She pushed the man out of the door as hard as she could. "Get out, Nick!"
Closed the door behind her, Arizona ran around the bed and found Callie was on the floor holding her shoulder whining in pain.
"Are you all right, Callie?" The blonde kneeled down immediately, brushed the black tress out of the olive face trying to check the dark pupil. "Did you hit your head? Look at me?"
"My head is fine." Callie took a deep breath, rubbing her shoulder with a bitter smile. "I landed on my shoulder, but I'm fine."
"I am sorry, Callie. I am so, so, so sorry Callie." Arizona helped the woman got up from the floor as her mouth kept babbling on. "I should have told you that Nick is coming back with me. I am sorry."
"Well, you should." The brunette threw her fiancée a glance with a playful smile while rotating her shoulder and stretched her neck. The fall wasn't so hard. "Then I wouldn't put on a show for you and your friend."
"Callie, I am really sorry." Arizona apologized one more time. "Nick comes back with me because... I... uh... we... we have something to discuss with you. We should get out talk with him."
"You want me to go out there like this?" Callie looked down on the lingerie on her with an arch eyebrow. The blonde shook her head instantly.
"No no, you go get change. I'll see you outside."
Arizona walked out of the bedroom biting the inside of her mouth. Not surprise to find a naughty grin throwing to her from the couch that made her blush.
"Finished already? I'm impressed."
"Shut up, jerk!" She picked up a pillow on the couch flung it at Nick's face, but that didn't stop the laughing from the man.
"She's so damn hot. How could you get through a work day knowing that she's waiting for you at home like that?"
"We're not like this everyday." Arizona flopped down on the couch next to the man rolling her eyes. "It's her first day as a resident. We're just gonna... celebrate."
"Whoa, that's the celebration for a day of work." Nick shifted in the seating facing his friend fully, squinting at her with a grin. "Do I want to know how you gals celebrate on the big days like birthdays, or Valentine's days?"
"No, you don't." The blonde chuckled with her head shaking from side to side. "And can you please don't tease Callie about it? I really want her to like you."
"Why wouldn't she? I'm a delight." Nick put a hand on his chest as if he was hurt by the word.
"Nick..." Blue eyes narrowed at the smug smile.
"Fine, I'll do my best." The man answered with a sigh. As he rolled his eyes, he saw the door cracked open and Callie came out of it in a T-shirt and yoga pants. He couldn't stop his mouth. "Hey, you don't have to dress up for me, Callie."
A quick slap on his arm came from the woman sitting next to him.
"I said I'll do my best. This is the nicest I could come up with." Nick shrugged a shoulder, didn't even try to hide the mischievous smile on his face.
Callie tried to pretend that she didn't see the exchange from the 2 people on the couch but the radish red face gave it away. She noticed a traveling bag by the front door while she walked toward the kitchen.
"Nick you're staying for dinner? I made pot roast."
"Cal, can you come here for a second?" Arizona called out softly. "I have to tell you something."
The brunette sat down on the empty couch, looked between Arizona and Nick curiously.
"Tomorrow Derek is going to inject the medicine into Ruthie's brain, and then she can be discharged." Arizona explained the procedure, and Callie nodded. "But then, she'll have to go back in after 3 days for a checkup. It will be hard for her to travel back and forth in such a short time, so she and Nick will be staying in Seattle for few more days."
"Okay..." Callie trailed off.
"Nick planned to settle them in a hotel, but um..." The blonde looked over to Nick. She really didn't know how to explain to her fiancée.
"Since my mom thinks Arizona and I are married, she doesn't understand why we are going to stay in a hotel, instead of coming home to my wife." Nick continued for his friend.
"So, you and your mother are gonna stay in here? I think we can manage. We have a guest room..." Callie nodded again but the blonde cut her off.
"The thing is, Ruthie didn't know you and I are together. She thinks Nick and I are a married couple and live together, remember?" Arizona bit her lips, looking at the brunette nervously. "And she wouldn't understand why you're here too."
"You saying, you want to kick me out of our home?" Callie's voice came out quiver with shock.
"Just for a couple days." Arizona answered hurriedly She moved to the other couch sitting next to the startled brunette quickly. Holding the tan hand tight, she pleaded with her blue eyes. "Ruthie is like a mother to me. She has suffered a lot and I just don't..."
"It's fine, Arizona. I understand." Callie took a deep breath with her eyes closed. And when the brown eyes opened again, she plastered a smile on her face and looked back into the worried face. "I understand."
"Thank you, Callie." The worried face broke into a dimpled smile. Arizona pulled the woman into her arms and held her tight. "Just for a few days, you can stay with Joe. Maddie will be happy to have you there."
"Yeah." Callie agreed, but for just a second. She made a grimace when she remembered the loft wasn't available. "Wait no, I can't. Joe and Walter are in the middle of Maddie's adoption. The social worker has arranged the first home visit sometime this week. I can't be in there. 2 gay men and a woman live together won't look good in their report."
"How about Mark? He lives just across the hall. And my mom thinks you two are married anyway." Nick suggested, and Arizona looked at the brunette hopefully. Actually it was not a bad idea, then Callie didn't have to move away for too far.
"I'll go get Mark." Callie stood up from the couch. She sighed under her breath. "Guess he's gonna be invited to come after all.
Things don't go the way you want them to, ever.
Arizona was paged to the Neuro floor the next day. When she opened the door to the conference room, she found Derek and Meredith were sitting on one side of the table, and Nick was on the other side.
"Dr. Robbins, have a seat." Derek gestured her to sit down next to Nick. "I page you here because I know Ruthie is your family friend. I'm about to explain to Nick about the results of the tests, I think you'd like to hear it too. And you would be able to give him some opinions."
Sensing the serious in the Neuro surgeon's tone, Arizona tensed and she looked at her friend. Nick's face was pale like a paper, staring back at her terrifying.
"Ruthie has a brain tumor. It's a massive butterfly glioma." Derek passed the scans to Arizona. The blonde took it with a shaky hand. "Her symptoms, the poor judgment, difficult in words, memory lost and confusion with time and people... those look like Alzheimer but I think they are caused by the tumor."
"So my mom doesn't have Alzheimer?" Nick's eyes went wide. "But... but she had body check in the nursing home regularly."
"After the tests, we asked for the medical reports from there. Because of the symptoms are so similar to Alzheimer, the in house doctors in the nursing home didn't do a thorough check up." Meredith said with experience. "Normally they won't notice the unusual issues until it turned serious, or fatal."
"What are we gonna do, Derek?" Arizona made her voice quiver with fear studying the scan. She was not a Neuro specialist but she knew the size and the location of the tumor didn't seem good. "Are you gonna operate, take it out?"
"It's inoperable." The Neuro surgeon shook his head slowly. He looked at the son of his patient in sympathy. "I don't have confidence to remove it without risking Ruthie's life."
"So you are telling me, my mother has a brain tumor and there's no way to save her?" Nick shrank back with an involuntary gasp, brown eyes reddening at the edges. "Is she going to die?"
"I don't see any immediate danger for the moment. But it's growing. It's touching virtually every single brain structure. I'll do some more research and try to come up with a plan." Derek leaned forward, placed his entwined hands on the table. "But for now, operation is not an option. I suggest starting with localize radiation treatments, hoping it will stop the growth."
"Radiation?" Nick turned to his friend. His voice choked in his throat.
"Nick, I know there's a lot to take it. We can give you and Arizona some names of other Neuro surgeons. You should check with them, get a second opinion." Meredith interjected. Not that she didn't believe her husband, but she knew it was better for the family to have more information before making a medical decision as big as this.
"No, it's not necessary." Arizona took Nick's shaking hand in hers and squeezed hard. She gazed into the tearful eyes firmly. "Nick, Derek is the best. You should trust him. You can trust him. And we'll do everything we can to save Ruthie. We will."
Bit his lips tight to choke back the tear, Nick nodded his head.
"Dr. Grey will contact the radiology setting up the treatment. But for now, I don't think she needs to be hospitalized. She would feel more at ease at home with her family than staying in the hospital." Derek gave the duo a tight smile before leaving with Meredith, getting the treatment arrangement started.