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 that I didn't make it clear in the last chapter. Ana was Callie's dead girlfriend's sister. They met again while Callie and Arizona went to Palm Beach visiting Malena's grave. Ana was abandoned by her husband and then decided to have a baby on her own. Callie's mother volunteered to help taking care of her.
All mistakes are mine, sorry about that.
Chapter 66
A line of doctors were waiting by the ambulance bay anxiously, especially Callie.
Quickly jumped in Arizona's car and heading back to the hospital after being told that Ana was on her way to Seattle, Callie's heart was beating like crazy the whole time. The blonde didn't really know how bad the situation was, Addison just informed her that Ana and the baby were in danger and the pregnant woman asked to go to where Callie was. By the time the OB surgeon called Arizona, they were about to get on a medic flight.
With time to spare, Arizona suggested Callie to freshen up in the attending's lounge washing off the tiredness and hangover after days of soaking in vodka. In the meantime, Arizona was running around getting the team ready, making sure the room was prepared, contacting the hospitals in LA and Palm Beach to get the records of Ana's tests and scans… She was keeping herself busy, because she knew she couldn't stand the thought of being near Callie, seeing her worried to death for her friend, like now standing next to her, but not able to lay a hand of comfort... She would if she could. But she just wasn't sure if the brunette would want that.
The siren was wailing around the corner signaling the patient was almost there. Out of reflex, Callie reached for the soft hand that she had held for a thousand times. Arizona was surprised, but she squeezed the hand tight nevertheless, silently relieved that Callie still seek for her when she needed support.
The door of the ambulance opened, the first one came to view was Lucia with a sleeping toddler in her arms. Callie dropped the hand in hers and ran to help her mother getting out of the vehicle. Quickly took Henry in her arms, she watched the paramedics unloaded Ana on the gurney with Addison followed behind.
"Mom, why are you here?" Callie stepped aside giving room to the surgical team getting everything settle before rolling the gurney to the hospital, she looked between her mother and Addison. "And why is Henry here?"
"It happened so fast and I couldn't find an overnight babysitter, so your mother offered to take care of him." The redhead surgeon answered while gesturing Mark to take some personal belonging out from the ambulance.
"Uh… okay…?" The brunette nodded uncertainly. She had questions but that could be asked later. Leaning forward the gurney, she could see the patient was out cold. "She… is she alright?"
"We had to sedate her. Her BP was elevated during the flight." Addison put a hand on Callie's shoulder pulling her out of the way gently. "I'll fill you in later. Arizona, is the room ready?"
"Yes, the room is ready. Herman and Altman are studying the scans right now." Arizona answered quickly, as she walked next to the redhead entering the hospital right behind the team.
"Callie, Mrs. Torres, let's go to the attending's lounge first. We can see Ana's after they settled her in, okay?" Mark suggested, and the mother and daughter followed.
"Mom, what's going on?" Callie asked as they walked down the hall, hoping that her mother could give her some answers.
"Ana wasn't feeling well, and the doctors in Palm Beach kept saying that everything was alright." Lucia made a grimace recalling the unpleasant memories with the checkups in the first hospital. "I was pregnant. I knew how it looked like being pregnant. Heartburn and fainting and weight lost were not one of those. So, I called Addison. And we went to LA so Addison could keep a close eye on her."
"When was that?" The brunette frowned. Why didn't she know any of these?
"About a month ago." Lucia said quickly. She knew her hotheaded daughter wouldn't like this.
"A month ago?" Callie exclaimed, made the sleeping child in her arms startled. She lowered her voice this time. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Your father said you were stressed out because something happened with Arizona's family." The older Torres woman entered the lounge while Mark holding the door for her. She went straight to the couch to make some space. "And Ana didn't want to bother you…"
"Bother me? What are you talking about? She's like a sister to me. She…" Saying Callie was stunned was an understatement. If not for the boy in her arms, she would be screaming at her mother right now.
"I know, Callie." Lucia cut her daughter off. Carefully taking Henry from Callie, she put the sleeping boy on the couch and used her own scarf as a comforter. "I was taking care of her. Addison was taking care of her, she was fine… But Addison said Ana needs surgery for her heart. Dr. Bennett was ready to do the surgery but Ana kept denying it. She said she couldn't do anything that would put the baby in danger."
"Then you should have called me, let me talk some senses into her." Callie watched her mother taking care of Henry in awe. In the meantime, she was still pissed off of being kept in the dark about Ana's condition.
"She wouldn't allow us. And yesterday it got really bad, Dr. Bennett said both her and the baby would die if they don't do the surgery quickly." After making sure Henry was comfortable, Lucia stood up and facing her daughter. "Then Ana insisted on coming to here. She said she needed to talk to you first."
"She shouldn't be transferred like this. I could go to LA." The young Torres hissed under her breath. She would have taken the first flight to LA in a heartbeat.
"Don't you think I've tried? We all tried to convince her but this is what she wants. She wants to come to you." The mother sighed. "She wants to talk to you before undergo the surgery.
"I'm going to see her now." Callie sighed heavily. She needed to find out what was going on in Ana's head. "Are you coming with me?"
"I am tired, so does Henry." Lucia looked over the couch watching the little sleeping angel lovingly. "I made a reservation in Archfield and I should probably bring him to there first. I don't want him to be sleeping in the hospital. You know, Addison is really nice. She invited Ana and I stayed in her house for a whole month. The least I can do for her is to take care of her son. I'll come back tomorrow morning. Arizona has arranged that Henry can stay in the daycare."
"She should have the surgery before it turned this bad." Teddy frowned as she looking at the scans before her. "The infection of the valve is serious. You see here? The left side of her heart is swollen. And has already developed an emphysema pulmonum."
"And you don't need me in this case, Addison." Herman chipped in. "You're capable of taking the baby out yourself. You don't have to bring the patient to here."
"Don't you know I know all these?" Addison flopped down on the office chair with a defeated sigh. "Sam has proposed the surgical option the time she arrived in LA. We even had the team set up in St. Ambrose. But the patient refused the surgery. Heart surgery means she'd have to undergo bypass and has to take the baby out. She insisted on wait until the baby's in full term, or at least passed 30 weeks. We've tried to control the infection medically. It worked for a while but…"
"Replacing the valve is the only option." The cardio surgery turned to her peers saying firmly. "And travelling her under this condition is just making it worse."
"I know that!" The redhead answered annoyingly. Of course she had explained it to Ana. "But it was the patient's order. She wasn't in mortal danger yet and she was able to make the medical decision, what can I do?"
"Couldn't you get consent from her next to kin? I mean, have you talked to her husband? The baby's father?" Herman looked up from the charts. She knew very well that all pregnant women put the baby's life before theirs. As a doctor, Addison should find any possible way to convince the patient to save their own life first.
"She's divorced. Single mom. And her father is an alcoholic that Ana doesn't want him in the picture." Arizona answered for the OB surgeon.
"Then who's her health director?" Teddy looked between the blonde and the redhead.
"She made Callie her health director." Addison met with Arizona's shocking face. "That's why she wants to come here."
"She wants Callie to decide saving her life or the baby's." The blonde swallowed hard.
"Hey," Callie asked softly when she saw the pregnant woman on the bed stirred from her sleep. "How are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Want some water?"
Ana smiled weakly and nodded her head.
"You should have called me, you know?" The brunette picked up the tumbler from the table, bringing the straw to Ana's lips carefully. "I'll go to LA immediately. Save you the trouble of flying in to here."
"I know how busy you are, Callie." Ana said between ragged breathes. "And you and Lucia have done a lot for me. I don't want…"
"I'll smack you if you say you don't want to bother me." Callie tried her best to pull her lips to a smile, taking deep breath after deep breath to hold her tear at bay. "This is what sisterhood is about."
"I know." A smile found the way to the pale face. "Where is your mom?"
"She and Mark took Henry to the hotel for the night. You remember Mark? He wants to say hello but I told him to let you rest. He'll come by tomorrow morning." The brunette picked up Ana's hand stroking it tenderly, and the pregnant woman nodded her head.
"I miss him too. See? Everyone's here. I should come here sooner."
"Yes, you should." Callie looked deep into Ana's hazel eyes and sighed. "My mom said you refused the surgery. You need this, Ana. Doctors won't suggest that lightly if it's not necessary."
"But having the surgery when my baby was just 23 weeks meant I might lose her. Have I told you this is a girl? I can't risk her life." Ana simply shook her head. Callie opened her mouth but a pair of visitors interrupted her.
"But you're risking your life, Ana." Arizona said as she entered the room, with Teddy next to her.
"How bad is it?" Callie asked the duo hurriedly.
"According to the latest scan, the valve is completely defeated. Ana needs a valve replacement, and quick. And we may have to remove some of the heart muscles, depends on how many of them are infected." Teddy passed the tablet to the brunette. A furrow formed between her eyebrows as she started to read the scans. "I'll need a new set of scans. An intern will come to send you to have the CT scan later."
"What would happen to the baby if I have the surgery now?" Ana stared at her new cardio surgeon, she knew the answer though.
"I have done a couple of valve replacements without putting the patients on bypass. You condition is severe, I am not sure if this can be avoided." Teddy said to Ana and Callie. "If I have you put you on bypass, or if the baby has late D-cell during the surgery, Addison will take it out."
"My baby is only 28 weeks. I can't bring her to the world when she's not ready." Ana stated determinately, holding the hand in hers tightly. "I can wait. I made it to now with the meds, I can make it for another 2 weeks."
"No Ana, the medicine is not working anymore. I don't even think you can wait for another 2 days." The cardio surgeon took a step closer. She turned to the woman sitting on the chair. "Callie, you're a surgeon. You see that from the scans and you know the longer we wait, the bigger risk it's gonna be. As the patient's health director, you need to make the call."
"You appointed me to be your health director?" Callie looked at Ana in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Can you give us a moment?" The pregnant patient said to the two doctors. No need to waste anymore times hearing the things that she already knew.
Teddy nodded and turned around, and Arizona followed reluctantly. She threw a backward gaze to the brunette, but Callie had her focus on the woman in bed.
"Callie," Ana took another deep breath before looking at the woman she loved as her second sister. "You know I can't rely on my dad. And you know I have no one else. I hope you don't mind if I put you in this position."
"I don't mind, Ana. I will get you anything that you need. And I will support you, but just listen to me." The brunette placed a gentle hand on the baby bump. "You can have another baby. But if anything happen to you…"
"No Callie, you don't understand. I need to save this baby." Ana cut her off quickly.
"I know, you want to have a baby and you can try again after you get healthier. The problem you have with your heart right now can be fatal. What's the point of having the baby if you're dead?" Callie said desperately. She remembered Arizona had told her that almost every mother insisted that saving the baby before their own life. This was mother instinct. But in this case, she doesn't see why saving the mother's life is not the priority.
"I can't have another baby. I don't want another baby, Callie. I can't lose her." Hazel eyes quickly filled with tears and rolled down the pale cheeks. Callie reached out and wiped them off tenderly.
"Yes, you can. You're still young. You can have another baby…"
"No Callie, you don't understand." The young woman grasped Callie's hand and exclaimed. "This is not just my baby. It's Malena's baby. I have lost her. I can't lose her baby too."
After being asked to leave Ana's room, Arizona and Teddy went back to Herman's office and going through the records with Addison once again. Not that those surgeons loved to cut people open. Contrarily, they hated it especially when a baby was involved. However, they all came to a conclusion that the patient needed a valve replacement and it had to be as soon as possible, like tomorrow. They just hope that Callie was convincing enough to make Ana understand it.
The team went their separated ways once they set up the plan. Addison went to Archfeild checking on her son; Teddy found an on-call room trying to reserve her energy, and Arizona... She wasn't sure if Callie wanted to see her, she wandered to Ana's room anyway. Callie may have broken up with her, but that didn't stop the blonde for caring for the woman she loved.
Walking into the room, Arizona was surprised that the brunette was nowhere in sight. Picked up the chart on the table, the doctor found that an intern had taken Ana to the CT and returned. The woman was sleeping soundly in her bed after Addison prescribed something for her to get some rest.
Arizona sat down on the chair and waited, but minutes passed by, Callie still hadn't returned. It was so out of the brunette's character that she wouldn't camp out in this room. After asking around, Arizona found the familiar raven hair woman was sitting on the front row bench of the little chapel alone.
Walking deeper inside, Arizona could see that Callie was having her head down, hands entwined in a twist under her chin, obviously sending a pray to the god above. Sitting down on the bench across the aisle, the blonde smiled shyly when Callie was startled and looked up.
"I am sorry." Arizona whispered. "I didn't mean to intrude. I just want to see if you're alright."
"Thanks." The brunette smiled bitterly. "I just... I don't know."
"I just came from Ana's room. She's sleeping." The Fetal surgery fellow twisted her lips, saying with sympathy. "She wants you to make the decision for her, huh?"
"No, it's not about that. She is going to have the surgery. She knows that." Callie sat up straight, staring at the cross on the wall in front of her. "She knows that the baby would die with her if she doesn't do it."
"That is... good." Arizona was surprised. She through it would be harder than that. "28 weeks is premature, but there's a very good chance it'll survive."
"I hope so. This baby means the world to her." The brunette nodded, not taking her eyes off of the wall.
"Of course, but if anything happened..." The blonde knocked on the wooden bench. "She can try again once she's healed."
"She... I don't think she'll survive if she lost this baby." Callie shifted and gestured the blonde to sit next to her. Arizona moved across the aisle willingly.
"It would be hard to overcome this, but..."
"Ana was depressed after the divorce. She had a really hard time." The brunette sighed. "She missed the happy time, where she had a husband that loved her, and a sister that cared about her. She and Malena were very close."
Arizona listened quietly. She had never once jealous of Callie's deceased girlfriend. But seeing the sadness in the sorrowful brown eyes, she couldn't help to wonder if the brunette would miss her like she missed Malena right now.
"Before Malena undergo chemo, she had her eggs harvested. And Ana has custody of the eggs after..." Callie wetted her lips and breathed out heavily, trying to hold her emotion within.
"Are you saying..." Putting two and two together, Arizona gasped.
"Ana used Malena's egg to get pregnant." The brunette turned to the woman next to her and nodded. "She wants to have her sister in her life again. After several failed attempts, this baby is the last egg left."
"That's why she refused the surgery, in order to keep this baby alive." The blonde stated the obvious.
"Even that means risking her own life." Callie turned back to the cross. "She said, she doesn't care if she died, she just needs to make sure her sister's baby is healthy and being taking care of."
"How can she do that if she died?" Arizona mimicked the brunette, staring at the cross. "The risk of this surgery would be much lower if she would have done it sooner. The baby may have R.D.S. or getting septic, it's terrifying but chances are..."
"She doesn't want to take that chance. Don't you get it?" Callie cast a sidelong glare irritatingly. "She wants to keep Malena's baby."
"So you're saying it's a wise idea to postpone the surgery?" Widened blue eyes stared back incredibly. Callie shut her eyes tight and sighed deeply.
"No, that's not what I mean. What has done is done, okay?"
"I am sorry. I don't mean to upset you." Seeing the anguish on the caramel face, Arizona felt a clench in her heart. She wanted to pull the brunette in her arms and kiss away the sadness, but she couldn't. Rubbing her hands on her own laps, the blonde stood up. "Okay, I'll leave you alone."
"No, I'm not upset with you, Arizona." Watery brown eyes looked up. Her heart was aching because of Ana, adding to the pain she had suffering from what happened between her and the blonde, Callie found herself hard to breathe. "Just... the whole situation is so mess up."
"She's here now. Teddy is a good surgeon. And Addison and I are going to do everything we can to keep the baby alive." Arizona stood by the bench, had her hand on the back. "But why does she fly in here? I've heard that Sam Bennett at St. Ambrose is also a capable surgeon."
"She... she knows the risk of this surgery. In this status, the survival rate is low. There's a 40% chance that she won't come out of it." Callie shifted in the seat, facing the woman fully. "Maybe even less since she has waited for so long. She wants to make sure there's someone will take care of this baby after she died. She's here to bring the baby to me."
"What?" The blonde exclaimed with her mouth agape wide.
"If anything happened to her, the baby would go to her father who can't even take care of himself. Or she will be sent to the orphanage..."
"Then she should have had the surgery sooner." Arizona cut her off, saying matter-of-factly.
"Yes, it's too late. But what have done is done, Arizona." There had no point to go back to this discussion. The tightly knitted together brows saying it loud and clear.
"Then what? Are you... are you going to keep this baby?" The blonde swallowed hard, she was afraid to hear the answer.
"I really don't know." Callie turned back to the cross on the wall. "This wouldn't be an issue if she and the baby come out from the surgery well. But she wouldn't agree to get into the OR before we found a lawyer to get everything settled."
"This is... blackmail!" Arizona took a sharp, shocked intake of breath.
"Arizona..." Callie sighed, brought a hand to massage her throbbing temples. She knew Ana was being manipulative, for a good reason. Arizona just made it sound so much terrible.
"She is holding her own life and the baby hostage, Callie!" The blonde took a few steps, standing right in front of the distressed woman.
"Don't say it like that..." Callie lifted her head up and pleading with her big brown eyes. "She just wants to make sure the baby's in good hand if there's anything happen to her."
"So you're really gonna do that?" The blonde melt into the haunted eyes, her voice softened.
"I... I don't know." Eyes still locked together, Callie shook her head lightly.
"Callie, taking care of a baby is a big deal, okay?" Taking a heavy deep breath, Arizona sat down next to Callie again. "God forbid, if Ana doesn't make it, there's the system that we can put the baby up for adoption..."
"What are you talking about?" Caramel face scrunched together as she heard the suggestion.
"Having a baby is not like... having a dog. You know it. That's why you're hesitated." Arizona paused briefly trying to gather her words. "Yes, we've talked about having babies in our lives. But right now, you and me... we have a lot to deal with for the moment. Bringing the baby in our lives isn't the right time."
"There has not 'we' in here, Arizona." It pained her heart to say it, but Callie couldn't help to take it out of the blonde. "I've told you, you don't need to worry that my life is going to drag you down."
"I've never said that you're dragging me down, Callie. Stop putting words in my mouth!" The fury that had piled up in the last few days quickly found the way back to the blonde. She shot up from the bench looking down at the vexatious woman. "You're going to raise a baby alone? With no job, no partner? You quitted being a doctor!"
"I have a pub! I can go back to the Horizon..." Ragging brown eyes glared at infuriate blue, Callie wasn't going to back down but Arizona quickly cut her off again.
"Working as a bartender until 3am! How are you going to take care of an infant?"
"I'll find a way! I always do!" Truth to be told, the brunette had no idea. And fighting with Arizona now was not going to help at all. She walked around the shorter woman heading toward the door.
"You're being irrational, Callie!" Arizona followed behind the brunette. She was not going to let Callie walked away from her again. "Is it because it's Malena's baby?"
"What?" Callie swirled around, shocked to find the anger in the blue eyes was replaced by sadness and misery.
"You know it's not the right time to have a baby but you're still going to do it." The blonde dipped her head to hide her redden eyes, she asked again in a lower voice. "Is it because it's Malena's baby?"
"Arizona..." The brunette fixated on the woman. She didn't know what to say. Until Arizona's pager broke off the silence between them.
"It's 911 from Ana. We need to go." Arizona held the pager in her hand, rushing through the door with Callie followed right behind her.