She winced in pain, gritting her teeth against the burning sensation that fired down to her very bones, but she refused to pull away. Only a few more minutes and it would be over… or at least that's what she kept telling herself. Every moment she felt her resolve wane she looked to her left and soaked in the sight of the terrified blonde who had her eyes glued to the seat before her. If she didn't feel so bad for her lover, Callie would have laughed at the irony of someone so afraid of flying deciding to take a leave of absence in Malawi.
The flight brought back memories for the Latina, of a time when she had packed only the bare essentials in a duffle bag and left a life of luxury behind. As the plane had climbed higher and higher into the sky, she had felt a heavy weight of her charmed life chip away and sink into the unforgiving ocean that separated Miami from Botswana. It had taken her nearly 30 hours of flying to finally arrive in Gaborone and then another few hours on the bumpiest dessert road before she was surrounded by the dingy smell of the hut she would call home for the next two years. Though her eyes had shut in a deep slumber the moment her head and hit the barely-there pillow, she remembered feeling more alive than she had felt in the last twenty years of her life.
Unfortunately, her girlfriend was not having quite the same experience, which meant her left hand had been sacrificed as a much needed stress ball. Swallowing a sigh, she leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to a pale cheek. The small smile that etched across her girlfriend's features was a small victory and it remained on her lips until the plane finally leveled out.
"Only 7 more hours before I try to break your hand again…"
Callie snickered as she moved the arm rest between them out of the way and drew her girlfriend into her warm embrace. "If you're going to end my surgical career while we fly over the Atlantic, the least you can do is buy me a hot dog."
Arizona looked up at the taller woman, quirking her eyebrow in confusion. "A hot dog? I just threatened to break your hand and all you want for compensation is a hot dog?"
"We're flying out of New York! Of course I want a hot dog!" She pulled the blonde tighter against her chest before breathing out a slew of hushed words. "Besides, I know you would never go through with it. You love what this hand can do."
Arizona flushed a comical shade of red as she swatted at the teasing woman behind her. This was going to be a long flight.
Thirty hours later, their plane began its final decent into Lilongwe International Airport. Arizona let out a calming breath as she stuffed the book she had been reading into her carryon. This was it. She was finally here. This was exactly what she had been dreaming of the moment she submitted that grant application. Well, that wasn't entirely true…
She looked to her right, catching the sight of the beautiful face she had woken up next to for almost two years. Leaning over, she gently brought Callie's seat upright, taking care not to wake the peaceful Latina. This woman, sleeping soundly beside her, was who made this dream so different from what she had imagined. She wasn't alone in this adventure. She had a partner and with every beat of her heart, she knew she wouldn't want anyone else by her side.
The minutes ticked by in a blur as they made their way off the plane and collected their luggage. All Arizona could think about was this is it. She vaguely felt Callie's hand help her into a Jeep. This is it. Her body jostled with the car as it traversed over bumpy dirt roads toward an isolated grouping of villages. This is it. A hand squeezed and a whisper coated her ear.
"Come back to me."
Startled out of her trance by the sound of her lover's voice, Arizona whipped her head to the side and locked eyes with patient chocolate pools. "W-what?"
Callie smiled at her innocence. "You haven't said more than five words since we landed and I'm pretty sure you're thinking hard enough to start making my head hurt. What's going on inside that beautiful brain, huh?"
The PEDs surgeon stared at her for a moment, drinking in her beautifully crafted features as all the questions that had been running through her mind came rushing back into four simple words. "What was it like?"
"Botswana?"
"Yeah."
Callie smiled, tightening her grip on the older woman's hand as she stared at their entwined digits. "It was tough at first, but mainly because I didn't really know what I was doing. I wasn't even premed in undergrad, so being thrown into a medical clinic in a third world country was pretty intimidating. I thought about asking for a transfer, but then I realized something… at least I had a science degree. That probably isn't too common, so they put me where they needed me and who was I to say I knew better?"
Arizona scooted closer in the cramped Jeep, soaking in every word that fell from the amazing Latina's lips. "How was the village?"
Their eyes locked briefly before Callie shifted her gaze to the passing dessert. "It took some getting used to – I was a city girl, remember? I had never lived anywhere other than a ridiculously huge mansion in a shamefully ritzy part of Miami and then when I moved out for college, it was into a stupidly huge apartment. Giving all that up to live in a hut for two years? Culture shock if ever there was one, but the good I could see myself doing made it worth all the adjusting I had to do."
"At least we'll be living in the hut together, right?" Arizona smiled at the embodiment of her affection.
The question hung between them as they simply stared at one another in a moment of silence, each thanking whatever God they believed in that there was a hand for them to hold in this journey.
"It's not going to be easy, Arizona." Callie's eyes remained trained on the woman before her. "Giving up everything you know and coming here alone to meld yourself into a completely new culture? It's tough. There will be days you want to do nothing more than throw down your scalpel and get back on that plane and then there will be days when you never want to leave."
"Except this time, you're not alone."
"No and neither are you."
Arizona leaned forward, resting her head lightly against the shoulder of the seasoned traveler and simply breathing in her calming scent. "I'm glad you're here with me, Callie."
The younger surgeon merely lifted a pale hand to her lips, too focused on the mop of blonde hair cascading down her shirt to notice the judging eyes of their driver in the rear-view mirror.
Two hours and miles of hot dessert later, they found themselves surrounded by a network of patchwork homes made of straw, stone, wood, leaves… it was an entire city built from the surrounding elements with a notable lack of the cold, metallic shine of an American town. Children ran to and fro, some playing what looked like a game of soccer in the distance and others helping with essential chores under the guidance of men and women. Arizona and Callie suddenly felt severely out of place.
The surgeons were startled out of their revere by the loud thud of their luggage being thrown at their feet. Before they could thank their driver, he sneered at them, spitting at their feet and speeding the Jeep back down the dirt path. Suddenly, the world grew quite. Turning to face the village once more, it was clear that they had been noticed. For an unknown reason, the attention did not feel welcoming.
"Dr. Robbins!"
A tall woman in khaki shorts and white tank top walked briskly in their direction, her black, curly hair cut short and framing her dark skinned face. Once she stood only a foot or so from the new comers, she extended a hand with a pearly white grin sparkling across her face.
"I'm Melissa Jones with the Carter-Madison Foundation." Her smile grew even wider as Arizona shook her hand. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you! And you must be…"
Callie stepped forward to shake her hand as she was addressed. "Dr. Callie Torres."
"Great! It was such a treat to hear we would be getting two surgeons for the price of one, so-to-speak!"
"You're staying in the village?" Arizona fixed the woman with a questioning gaze.
"Oh no, I live in Lilongwe, but I will be acting as your liaison with the foundation should anything come up. So let's get you settled!"
Without another word, the woman began to head in the direction of a cluster of huts. Shrugging, Callie bent down and grabbed their bags, following the overly perky woman and her girlfriend to what would be their new home for the next three years. She wasn't shocked by the accommodations – a stone home with a wooden door, straw roof, and wooden panels acting as removable windows – this was simply a larger version of what she had been given in Botswana. Inside, the furniture was modest consisting of handmade bunk beds, a wooden table, and two wooden chairs. Bunk beds…
"I know it's not much, but one of the best ways to understand the people you will be treating is to understand their living conditions. If anything happens to make these conditions unlivable, that's when you call me."
Arizona was mesmerized, continuously looking around the small home in wonderment. It was all so different from what she was used to – it was all so wonderfully unique.
"I hope you two don't mind sharing a hut. When your Chief told me he would be paying to send another surgeon, I sort of had to scramble to put this together. Believe me, it's not every day you hear that a colleague of one of our award winner's has offered to drop their entire life to move to Africa for three years."
The blonde surgeon immediately turned around. "What? Miss Jones – "
"Melissa, please."
Arizona sighed as she walked slowly to her girlfriend's side. "Melissa, we're here together because we're partners."
The ecstatic smile on the foundation worker's face remained unshaken. "Yes, quite the surgical team, I hear! Your boss raved about the two of you."
The two surgeons shared a worried glance before Callie spoke their fear. "What exactly did Chief Webber tell you?"
"Just that you two work exceptionally well together and that he thought this would be a fine opportunity for his future Chief of Orthopedic Surgery!"
The enthusiasm of a potential job promotion was lost on the Latina as Melissa's words tore into her, syllable by syllable. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Arizona's jaw drop slightly in shock, outwardly mimicking the internal battle Callie was fighting. Richard Webber had swept their relationship under the rug, had signed a blank check so they could be together, and he hadn't bothered to tell them.
"Melissa, I think there has been a bit of a misunderstanding." Arizona slipped her hand into a familiar, tan palm. "Yes, we're colleagues, but Calliope and I are much more than that. We're –"
The coordinator stared at their clasped hands as a flood of realization hit her like a drowning wave. "You meant personally. You're partners… personally."
"Yes."
Melissa closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. "No wonder your Chief didn't ask us to pay for you. That sly bastard… well, I suppose that's one way to make sure you actually get to come here."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arizona's grip tightened sharply on Callie's hand.
"You're joking with me, right?" The short-haired woman threw her hands in the air when she received nothing but blank stares from the surgeons before her. "You're aware of LGBT rights in Malawi, correct? Or rather, I should say the severe lack of rights. It's illegal here! Even as a tourist, you can be prosecuted and thrown out for being an "undesirable alien," but that's in the city. Lord knows what they would do to you here. We would have relocated you, Arizona. Plain and simple. This is a huge liability!"
The blonde woman scoffed. "Oh sure, relocate me where exactly? To some country where there are no hate crimes against homosexuals? Please tell me where one is and I'll move there permanently! Besides, countries that at least shy away from "lawfully murdering" same sex partners aren't usually 3rd world countries. If I wanted to sit on my butt all day in an air conditioned clinic, helping people who already have access to decent health services, I wouldn't have written that proposal!"
"Alright!" Melissa put her hands up, silencing the enraged surgeon. "Just keep your voice down and keep this on the down low. Do you understand? If anyone finds out about you two… you need to get in touch with me immediately."
Callie swallowed against the knot in her throat. She had known about the homophobia in villages like this from her time in Botswana, but back then, it hadn't directly affected her. She knew what she was getting herself into when she agreed to come with Arizona, but hearing it thrown in their face like this, being reminded that the love they shared was grounds for corporal punishment chipped away at her resolve. She had been thrown through the ringer before, had her family try to make her think what she and Arizona had was a disgrace, and it had almost paralyzed her. Could she do it again? For three years? Pretend she didn't love Arizona with every beat of her heart and every breath she took?
"We can be discrete. I hadn't met Calliope when I first wrote that grant proposal, so the laws against homosexuality weren't really of concern to me at the time. I know this complicates things, but we have no problem being professional with our patients."
"Oh I don't doubt that, Dr. Robbins. I just hope it will be enough."
Though her words had come out strong, Arizona could feel her confidence shake. Three years of hiding, of locking herself so far into the closet that she wouldn't be able to see the beautiful smile that made her heart sing. A consequence of bringing her lover with her into hostile territory… maybe she hadn't been wrong when she had considered leaving Callie behind.
A/N: So here is Ch. 2! I'm not exactly sure where this story is going, but I guess we'll find out together. Thanks for everyone who encouraged me to make this a multi-chapter story! Hopefully this didn't disappoint.