Chpt 12
Callie's POV
"So you seem a lot happier these days Cal. Things must be going good with Arizona" Teddy says as I walk up to the nurses station on the surgical floor.
"Teddy," I can't help but smile as she says Arizona's name "I don't remember feeling this way since I made my first cut in the OR. It's unreal"
"Well I certainly can see it written all over your face, and she certainly can't hide how she feels with those dimples showing constantly. Does her face ever get tired? she laughs as I notice Karev and Kepner running towards us at a roadrunner pace.
"Dr Torres, Dr. Altman" Kepner says trying to catch her breath. "You have to tell us everything"
"Yeah Torres" Karev adds. "Why didn't you tell me last night at Joe's? I thought we were besties" he puts his arm around me, as my eyebrow peaks in question.
"What are you two into now?" I look to Teddy who simply shrugs her shoulders in confusion.
"You mean to tell me that you have spent every waking minute with Dr. Robbins and she hasn't told you one thing?" Kepner is almost jumping onto the counter at this point.
"Told me what?" I look at Karev "What is going on?" I feel my heart start to pick up pace as I try to remember if Arizona had told me anything that would make these two even more wired than normal.
"Callie" Christina is now running, full speed ahead to where we stood. "Why didn't you tell me about Dr. Robbins" she looks angry at this point.
"Okay" Teddy interjects "Everyone take a step back and take a deep breath before your heads all explode" They obey. "Now, what is Dr Torres supposedly keeping from you all?"
They all start talking at once and all I can pick out is "Dr. Robbins" and "New head of Peds" as I put my hands up and take Kepner's shoulders in my grip.
"Everyone stop" I look them all in the eyes. Again they obey. "Now, Kepner, slowly"
"We heard that the chief offered Dr. Robbins the head of Peds position and she is still here even though she was only supposed to be here for a few days and ..." she obviously has been spending time with Arizona too as evident by her ability to ramble.
"Who told you that" Teddy asked as she eyes me for some kind of confirmation.
"Some of the nurses in the OR earlier were talking about how great they thought Dr. Robbins was and that they hoped she took the chief up on his offer." Karev added. "She would be a real asset to the hospital, and to my career, so if there is any truth, you guys better fess up now"
How could she have not told me? We have spent every night together since she's been here. She had checked out of the hotel even. There isn't always a lot of talking going on, but she could of at least pulled herself away to tell me something this big. It couldn't be true. Could it?
"I must have missed the memo for this meeting" Derek's voice brought everyone to attention as he stood at the end of the counter with a box in his hands. "What form of surgical procedure are we teaching our fine residents today Dr. Altman?"
"We were just leaving Chief" Christina says, pulling Karev and Kepner with her. They all look back at me with pleading eyes as I grit my teeth and smile at them. Is it true?
"They must have heard about Dr. Robbins" Derek says opening the box and looking proudly at the contents.
"What about Dr. Robbins?" I look to him for confirmation. It is true. Why didn't she tell me. I know why. She's not staying.
"The board has pushed for her to come on staff as the new head of Peds" He smiles at me. "Has she come to any decision Torres?"
Teddy glances back at me and mouths "Its true" before turning back to where Derek was rummaging with the box contents once more.
"I didn't know Derek" I sadly admit "We hadn't talked about it. Sorry" I feel sick that she didn't feel comfortable enough to tell me.
"Well if being the head of Peds at a top ranked teaching hospital, as well as the sizeable pay increase isn't enough to seal the deal, I'm sure these certainly will" he removes the contents and place them on the counter across from us.
"Sneakers" I am so confused right now. "You got her sneakers?"
"Not just any sneakers" He grins as he rolls them down the counter top to rest in front of mine and Teddy's open mouths. Rolled.
"You got her roller skates?" Teddy picks one of the shoes up to reveal the 4 wheels under them. "You think roller-sneakers or whatever these are will make her want to work here? She's probably gonna go back to Mount Sinai and tell everyone about the circus you are running."
"Ladies, Ladies" he walks over and picks up the shoes once more. "These are not regular sneakers. These, my surgical friends, are Heelies."
Okay. He's gone and lost it. He's so star struck by having Arizona here that he thinks putting her on wheels will make her wanna stay. Make her stay? I hadn't even wanted to think about her leaving, let alone entertain her staying.
"I spoke to an old colleague of mine who did some time in New York with Dr. Robbins on a Neuro case." Derek said as he rolled one of the shoes back and forth between his hands. "She wore sneakers like these everyday. Apparently she was known for it, and the kids in Peds loved that she could roll in and out of their rooms. Last year, a new president was elected to the board and forbid her from wearing them. Saying it was a hospital, not a roller derby arena."
I looked at Teddy who was obviously bursting at the seams. She caught my glance and started to laugh. I felt myself start as we both laughed until the tears streamed down our faces. As funny as it was, it made me fall for her even harder with the thought of her wheeling around the hospital, dimples and all.
"You laugh now, but wait until she sees these puppies" He looks at his watch as he looks to the elevator. She's coming. He's gonna give them to her now and then she's gonna know that I know about the position. Oh this is gonna be bad. I can feel it.
"Alright, well good luck with that" I say as I start backing away from the nurses station. "I guess I'll see you tonight at..." I stop short as I hit something hard and stumble a little as I turn to see what it was.
"Arizona" I gasp as I see her sitting on the floor, knees bent, resting on her elbows. "I am soo sorry, I was late for a pre-op and I was trying to tell Teddy about our plans for tonight and I was backing up slowly..."
"Can you at least help me up Calliope" she reaches for my hand as I take it and pull her to her feet again. "Thank you" she smirks as she leans in to kiss my cheek. She's really after coming around with the PDA in the last couple of weeks. No complaints here.
"Dr. Robbins" Derek is walking towards us with his box of tricks in hand. "I have something I thought might make your last day here even more enjoyable" he says handing it to her.
I'm stuck. I can't walk away now, Arizona will know something is up. I don't want her to realize I know about the offer. She didn't want me to know for a reason and I don't want to do anything to mess up what we have going right now. So I'm stuck. Teddy is even walking over to see the big reveal. I don't know if she's more interested in the roller skates or in my facial expressions and twitch right now.
I watch as Arizona takes the box and starts to open it. I can see she's excited. She's so hot when she's excited. All I wanna do now is take her down the hall to the nearest on call room and... loss of hearing.
"YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY, you got me Heelies!" she screams as she rips the shoes out of the box and and throws her arms around Derek's neck. All I got was a stupid box. Maybe I can get in it and hide. Damn. Too small. "How did you know?" She is admiring them just like a kid would to their first bike, or in my case, the board game Operation.
"I heard they were kind of like your trademark" He smiled proudly, winking at Teddy and myself.
"Thank you so much Derek." she moves to a chair and kicks off the sneakers she is wearing and begins to lace up her new shoes. Sorry, Heelies.
"If there is anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask" he says "And now, I have a meeting to attend. Doctors." He winks at us again as he heads down the hall.
"I gotta run to guys" Teddy says. "See you tonight at Joe's?"
"You bet" Arizona answers with out even looking up. Her eyes are sparkling now I'm pretty sure. It continues to amaze me how every little thing she does make me fall for her more. Which is why I have to ask her. I walk closer to her as she stands up and proceeds to roll, yes roll, into my arms.
"I knew he was sneaky, but this is too much" she says wrapping her arms around my neck. That was my in. Ask her Callie. Now.
"Why is he sneaky Arizona?" I look at her and smile to try and offset my nervousness. She realises now that she may have let it slip. She pushes her self back using my body as leverage, as she rolls back to her seat.
"I know I should of told you Calliope" she looks down as I anticipate this conversation to go south very quick. She's knows she should of told me, but she didn't want to ruin our last few days together, because there's no way she is taking this position and she didn't want to upset me.
"But I needed to think this through without having you influence any part of my decision" She looks up "I needed to base it on what was going to be best for my career and my life, without you being factored into the equation."
I felt my chest tighten as I knew what was coming next. This has been fun, and she'll never forget me, but her life and career is in New York.
"I ran every possible scenario in my head a thousand time, and always came up with the same ending. Over and over and over and over." She says as she stands again and rolls over to me. "This hospital not only has the leading Peds program in the country, but it has you. My life is different now. In two short weeks, I have felt things I never imagined I could. In working with the other doctors here, in meeting all the wonderful people your lucky enough to have in your life daily, and in being with you" she takes my hands in hers and smiles "and that's why I have decided to take Derek up on his offer and move to Seattle. I'm ready for a fresh start, and it starts here. I don't know where this is going, where you and I will end up, but I owe it to myself to see where it possibly could."
As I feel a tear roll down my cheek, her hands wipes it away gently as she continues smiling.
"I never thought it was possible for someone to come into your life as quickly as you did, and put a totally different spin on how you view yourself. How you view the world." her hand hadn't moved from my face. "No matter what happens from here on in, I will be a better and stronger person for meeting you Calliope Torres"
She leans in and kisses my tears, then my lips. Its only short, but full of passion. She was it for me. I knew at that moment. She was it.
"So..." she pushed off me again and rolled back. God, she was cute on those things. Thank you Derek. You are officially on my Christmas list. "You wanna come to New York with me and help me pack?"