February 2, 2011
Dr. Kelly had been shocked that Derek knew their Jane Doe. He gave the neurosurgeon a more detailed history of Arizona's journey from Africa to Vancouver. She had been one of the victims of an explosion when a taxi was hit by a gas truck. They think she had been standing far enough away to survive, but the blast caused her to fly back and hit her head. The doctors in Malawi had treated her cuts and broken bones and did their best to stop the bleeding in her brain. She had no ID, but apparently there was a one way ticket from Lilongwe to Vancouver in her jacket pocket, which had been badly burned, along with the majority of Arizona's right arm, and the only part of the name they could make out were the letters s-a-r. So they called her Sarah and once she was able to travel they sent her to Vancouver Gen. The local authorities had done everything they could to learn her identity, but nothing turned up.
"Sarah" was the hospital staff's favorite patient. She was polite, friendly, and despite her ordeal, quite perky. Dr. Kelly didn't want to send her out into the world with no money, no family, and no hope, so he called Derek hoping the renowned neurosurgeon could think of something they hadn't.
That's how Derek found himself at Sea–Tac waiting for Arizona's flight to arrive. The plan was to take her back to Seattle Grace, set her up in a room, run some new scans, and fix whatever was causing her amnesia without anyone in the hospital finding out. The Chief knew of course, as did Meredith, who would be helping him, and Bailey, because, well, Bailey was someone you wanted on your side at a time like this. He didn't want to keep Arizona a secret from anyone, but he knew the stress from the staff could do more harm than good. Also, the hospital was having a hard enough time with the news of Arizona's death and he didn't think they could handle it if she never regained her memory and was lost to them again.
A group of people made their way down the escalator toward baggage claim and Derek scanned the crowd for a flash of blonde hair. He felt a rush of emotion in his chest when he saw her. They hadn't been exceptionally close, but she was a part of the Seattle Grace family. They worked tough cases together, she came to holiday dinners, and he could always count on her to cheer him up. Seeing her again filled him more relief and joy than he could express.
"Dr. Shepherd, I presume," she said walking up to him.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"They said you'd be dreamy and you are the dreamiest guy here," she said with a grin.
He smiled at her and laughed. "Well, Sarah, are you ready to get your memory back?"
"You betcha."
/ / /
The late hour allowed Derek to sneak Arizona into her room without being seen. He had her sign the necessary paperwork and walked her through the tests he would need to do before he could come up with a plan.
"Is there anything else I can do for you Sarah?" he asked focusing on using her new name. There were a number of times on the drive over where he almost slipped and called her Dr. Robbins.
"No, I think I'm okay."
"Great. Well, Dr. Grey will be in soon to take you to CT. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
Not long after Dr. Shepherd left the door opened again. Dr. Grey, Meredith she said to call her, came to take her for her tests.
"Slow day, huh?"
"Why do you say that?"
"In Vancouver, the hallways were always full of people. Doctors and nurses running around or patients taking a stroll to break up the time spent in their rooms. I got used to the noise. It's so quiet here."
"It is a bit of a slow day," Meredith lied. She couldn't tell Arizona that they'd practically had the floor cleared until they were done in CT.
They chatted throughout the process and on the way back to her room. Meredith was shocked by how Arizona-like "Sarah" was acting. If it weren't for the missing memories, Meredith would swear nothing had happened. She filled Arizona in on all the hospital gossip, since the blonde didn't have much to offer in way of conversation. Of course, Arizona had no idea who any of the people she was talking about were, but she could tell the Peds surgeon loved the conversation.
Meredith settled Arizona back into her room and stayed so she wouldn't have to eat dinner alone. Her pager went off signaling the scans were ready and she stood.
"I've got to get those scans to Dr. Shepherd. Make sure you get some rest tonight. Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Bailey will be by in the morning."
February 4, 2011
News of a secret VIP patient spread through the halls of Seattle Grace like wildfire. For the past few days, floors had been cleared and testing rooms were off limits for periods of time. The Chief had told the entire hospital to leave the patient alone and that he would blacklist anyone from surgery if they went snooping.
"It's gotta be someone famous," Cristina said in between bites of her salad.
"I hear it was some foreign diplomat that was flown in from Vancouver," Alex responded setting his tray down and sliding into the chair across from them.
"You guys heard the Chief. No snooping."
"Come on, you know you're curious."
Meredith just shrugged. "I've got more important things to worry about. Like real surgeries."
Cristina scoffed, but dropped the subject. Meredith sighed. It was tough keeping this from everyone to begin with, but now the whole hospital was on high alert for the mysterious patient. She knew sooner or later someone was going to find out. Her pager blared and she picked it up before Cristina could sneak a look.
"Gotta go, guys."
/ / /
"So wait, she married a patient? That's dedication. Is he hot?"
"He's pretty cute," Bailey said with a chuckle. She was telling Arizona the latest from the Seattle Grace gossip mill.
"Any news on Sloan and Lexie?"
"Word is they were caught making out at Joe's last night. No confirmation on if they're back together yet."
"You tell me as soon as you know."
"Will do."
"How's my favorite patient this morning?" Derek said as he and Meredith entered the room.
"Ready for some good news."
"Well, I think I can help with that," he said pulling out her scans and clipping them to the light. "You see these two splotches there? Those are small brain bleeds. The doctors in Africa tried to fix them, but they didn't have the resources to get it all. They're both in the memory center of your brain and I think that is what's causing your amnesia."
"So you can fix it?" Arizona asked trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"I believe I can fix the bleeds, yes. I'll have to go in twice. The bigger one needs to be dealt with now and then once you've had time to heal we'll go back and get the second one. After that, we'll be able to see if that's the cause of the amnesia."
"So you're not sure if the surgery will help me get my memories back?"
"Not entirely, no. But those bleeds have to be fixed regardless. We'll worry about everything else once those are healed."
She sighed. She was hoping for better news, but she trusted Dr. Shepherd and had faith that he'd fix her.
"When do we do the first surgery?"
"Tomorrow morning, if that's okay with you."
She mustered her best dimpled smile. "Let's do it."
February 5, 2011
"Did you hear about the secret surgery Shepherd is doing on that mystery VIP patient?"
"Nope and I don't care, Mark," Callie said signing off on a chart and handing it back to the nurse.
"Oh, come on! I know you find this exciting," he said following her down the hallway.
"Maybe I'd find it exciting if the patient had broken bones to fix, but since they don't . . .," she shrugged.
Mark seemed to let the subject drop. "Hey, Lexie and I are going to try that new Thai place tonight. You should come with us! It'll be good for you to get out. I promise you'll have fun."
"Mark, my idea of fun does not involve watching you and Lexie make googly eyes at each other while you play footsie under the table. I just want to have a quiet night at home with a glass of wine and my DVR."
"Callie, all you do is have quiet nights at home," he said softly. "I know the past couple of months have been hard, but you need to get out more. It's not healthy staying cooped up in your apartment."
Callie stopped and tried to muster her deadliest glare, but she was too exhausted to even try. Instead, she just sighed and met his eyes.
"It's been two months since she died Mark. Before that it had been six months since she left. I know I've been in a funk for a long time, but if I didn't get over her leaving in six months, I'm certainly not going to get over her dying in two." Her voice sounded more agitated than she felt, but she was just so tired. Tired of the sympathy looks and empty platitudes. She knew everyone meant well, they were all dealing with the loss of Arizona, but she needed people to stop giving her those looks filled with pity.
Mark didn't try to go up against the wall she built. They'd had this conversation many times in the last two months. "I'm not saying you need to. I'm just saying that I'm here if you need me."
/ / /
"How are you feeling Sarah?"
"I'm awesome."
Derek chuckled and nodded toward the anesthesiologist. "In a minute Dr. Warren is going to put you under and we'll get started."
She nodded and tried to relax. "How long is this going to take? Bailey will kill you if you make us miss Castle."
"We'll be done with time to spare."
"Sarah, can you count down from ten for me please?"
"Ten, nine, eight, sev . . ."
"She's out."
/ / /
"I think we got it all," Derek said setting the suction tube on the tray. "Why don't you close her up Dr. Grey."
"Wait a second, Dr. Shepherd. What is that dark area to the left of the bleed site?"
Derek peered through the scope to the area Meredith indicated. "There's damage here the scans didn't show. It looks like a large cerebral contusion," he said exploring the tissue with a probe. The monitor blared and he removed the probe to prevent further damage.
"She's in vfib."
"Get Altman in here now!"
/ / /
Teddy rushed into the OR and assessed the situation quickly. She was able to stabilize the patient without cracking her chest and gave Shepherd the go ahead to finish his surgery. It wasn't until she was confident the patient was okay that she looked at the woman on the table.
"So this is your VIP, huh?" The first thing she noticed was the blonde hair. When she reached the woman's face she thought she was hallucinating. Then Derek spoke and Teddy was sure she was going to be sick all over the OR floor.
"Dr. Altman, I need you to understand how important it is not to tell anyone."
Teddy took deep shuddering breathes to keep from hyperventilating. "I-I can't believe you hid this."
"Dr. Grey, will you please escort Dr. Altman out of the OR? I will finish up here and meet you in my office."
/ / /
"I don't understand why you didn't tell me. Didn't tell Callie!"
"The stress alone would have overwhelmed her, Teddy. She has no idea who she is and the last thing she needs is a bunch of people crying all over her trying to force her to remember. Besides, we need her to stay in the dark because if she starts to remember we have to be sure that she's actually remembering and not just believing the stories people tell her."
"I don't think you understand. She is my best friend. I thought she was gone, Derek. I even went to Africa to try and recover her body. Do you know how hard it's been? She was dead," her voice cracked. The tears she tried to force back flowed freely down her cheeks and she swiped them away with the back of her hand. "Is she going to be okay?"
"She's out of the woods for now. We got one of the bleeds and fixed the contusion. In a couple of days we'll go in for the other one and then we'll have a better idea if she'll regain her memory."
"C-Can I see her?"
Derek sighed. He wanted to keep the team small, but now that Teddy knew it would be pointless to try and stop her from seeing her friend. "Yes, but only as her doctor. She doesn't know who you are."
Teddy just nodded. She felt like she had spent the last few hours outside of her body. The pain of losing Arizona had almost been too much to bear. She went to Africa because she knew she'd have to see the body to really believe it, but that didn't help. For weeks, Callie had given her this look, silently begging her to say that she'd seen Arizona alive and well in Malawi. She'd felt guilty then, but couldn't imagine how she'd feel now that she had to keep the secret that Arizona was alive.
/ / /
Callie didn't know how she ended up at Joe's that night. Apparently, Yang rocked her surgery that day and wanted to celebrate. Somehow she agreed to go after Mark said he'd be there after dinner with Lexie.
"You want another drink?" Hunt asked her after downing the last of his beer.
"Sure. Thanks."
They had all been surprised when she showed up at the bar. Yang was already three drinks in and gave Callie an approving look when she sat down at the table with the rest of the surgeons. "You're welcome," she had said, the words slightly slurred. She then erupted into a fit of giggles and followed Meredith to the dance floor.
Now the crowd was bigger and rowdier and Callie kept watching the door waiting for Mark to show up. She wanted him to see her there so she could go home. Hunt set her drink down with a smile and she thanked him. Callie glanced up as the door opened, but it was only Teddy. The woman walked right up to the bar and quickly downed the shot that was placed in front of her.
"Looks like Teddy had a rough day," she said taking a sip of her drink.
Meredith stiffened beside her and followed her gaze to Teddy as she made her way to their table.
"I don't know why because I rocked that heart. All she had to do was watch," Cristina mumbled from across the table.
"How many have you guys had? I need to catch up," Teddy said throwing back her drink.
"You okay?"
Teddy nodded while avoiding Callie's eyes. Cristina mumbled something else and Meredith tried to hide a giggle.
"Don't you have patients you need to see?" Teddy asked Meredith. The venom in her voice was unmistakable.
"Yeah, didn't you operate on the VIP today? You didn't screw it up, did you?"
"Alex!" Meredith scolded.
Teddy glanced at Callie horrified then pushed her chair back. "I can't be here."
"What was that about?" Callie asked as she watched her go.
"Rough day," Meredith replied taking another sip of her drink.
/ / /
It was close to 1:00 AM by the time Callie made it back to her apartment. She had bought out the subletters shortly before the news of Arizona's death, but two months later most of her boxes remained unpacked. The brunette couldn't even bring herself to sleep in the bedroom so she spent her nights fighting for sleep on the couch.
It was times like these she would miss Arizona most. Most nights after drinking at Joe's would be spent ripping each other's clothes off on the way to the bedroom. After, Callie would pad into the kitchen wearing nothing but a sheet and grab some cold pizza for them to share. They'd laugh and talk about the most random things as their buzz wore off. Arizona was always the first to succumb to the hazy affects of the alcohol and would nuzzle into Callie's neck with a trail of soft kisses.
Tonight all the alcohol did was make it harder to focus her brain on anything but Arizona. Callie started to cry as she burrowed deeper into her blanket. The rush of memories tore open the scab she was desperately trying to heal as the cries turned into sobs. How was this ever going to get better?
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I'm glad you like the story. I'll do my best to make updates fairly regular.