Title: Good Man In A Storm
Author: Gina
Pairing: Callie/ Arizona, Callie/George
Rating: NC17 (later chapters).
Summary: AU Calzona. George breaks Callie's heart and leaves her alone and broken. Can Arizona restore her faith in love and be her good man in a storm. Set somewhere around season 4.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fiction, nor do I have any rights in regards to them. All characters belong to ABC and Shonda Rhimes.
A/N : Comments always appreciated.
Callie's POV
Two weeks had passed and I still felt as if I were in a dream. The paper's George's attorney had spoken about had arrived. I had signed them in all the appropriate places and checked the box that had stated I wanted no spousal support. I said very little about it to Arizona who had periodically been checking up on me. She however never pressed me to talk and I was incredibly grateful for that. She sensed correctly that I was still upset by the shock of the dissolution.
My pager beeped with a 911 page from the ped's floor. I started speed walking to the ped's floor hoping that Arizona would be on the same case I had been paged for…..she was one of the few people whose presence actually cheered me up these days.
Once I reached the ped's floor I walked to the nurse station and smiled at the nurse standing closest to me "Hi. I was paged about 10 minutes ago."
"Yes Dr. Torres you are needed in exam room 104" she smiled.
"Thanks" I walked off to find the room number she had mentioned.
I entered to find a scene that inspite of my medical training made me shudder. A small boy of about 3 years was laying on the bed in a critical condition surrounded by a group of junior residents and nurses.
"What do we have?" I asked authoritatively.
"Travis McLean, age 3, brought in from a high speed car crash about 20 minutes ago, suffered asystole at site but revived by paramedics on the way, mother was DUI so did not strap him in his car seat properly so he was propelled forward on impact. Has several broken ribs, crush injuries and compound fractures in both legs due to being pinned under the seat, concussion and swelling in the brain, ruptured left lung, ruptured spleen and severe internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity." Karev summarized the case.
Just as I was about to order them to move him to the OR Arizona came running into the room.
Arizona's POV
"Get me a portable ultrasound now." I ordered Lexie Grey.
As soon as I saw the little boy lying there I knew it was going to be a hell of a tough fight.
Lexie brought me the machine and I used it to quickly assess his internal injuries. I knew immediately his abdominal bleeding was critical and we had to get him to the OR immediately if we had any chance of saving him.
"Page Dr. Shepherd and let's move him to OR2 stat. Karev and Grey you are scrubbing in." I ordered before heading to scrub room Calliope right behind me.
We stood side by side in the scrub room washing our hands and preparing for the surgery. "Don't worry Arizona. We'll save this little boy." She smiled reassuringly at me.
"We sure will. Time for you to be a rock star Callie." I gave her a thumb's up before heading into the OR. I had to believe we will save this little boy….we just had to…..I couldn't handle another tiny coffin.
Four hours later I stormed out of the OR, ripped my scrub cap of my head and washed my hands under scalding hot water. I needed to feel something other than anger. Once I had calmed down a bit I headed down the hall to find Mrs. McLean.
I saw a red haired woman sitting with her head in her hands. "Mrs. McLean?" I questioned.
As soon as she looked up I could clearly tell she was still heavily hung over.
"Yes. Who are you?" she slurred.
"I'm Arizona Robbins, we just operated on your son Travis. I'm sorry to inform you but your son is in a coma. We managed to repair all his other injuries but brain trauma was severe. We are hopeful once the swelling in the brain reduces with the medication he will wake up but he is still in a critical condition." I explained.
"When can I take him home? I gotta get to my job." She looked at me with glazed eyes.
Something about her look was deeply familiar and set me off.
"Did you even listen to what I just told you? You are keen to get to your job so that you can have money to buy your next drink. But is a bottle of patron worth your son's life?" I questioned her angrily.
I am not sure what else I would have said or done in my current state but I was saved by a pair of strong hands grasping my shoulder firmly "You are needed for a consult Dr. Robbins" and then led me away.
Callie's POV
As soon as we were finished with the surgery I knew something was off with Arizona. I worriedly followed her and when I caught up with her I saw her screaming at the patient's mother. Arizona is one of the most professional people I know so something must have been very wrong for her to react like this. I walked over to where they were standing and quickly led Arizona away.
"Are you ok?" I asked her once we had reached the locker room.
She seemed to have calmed down a bit by then. "Thanks for helping me out there Callie. I am sorry you had to see that. I am fine now."
I could tell this case had deeply upset and saddened her and my every instinct was to be there for her. I decided what I had to do.
"Get ready. We are going out for dinner." I told her.
"Callie, I'm not in the mood for dinner. Let's take a rain check."
"Believe me it will help. Don't you trust me?" I pulled out the puppy dog eyes.
"Yes I do. Fine, let's go get changed and then we can go." she huffed.
I simply grinned in response.
Thirty minutes later we were in my car driving to Canlis…which Arizona didn't know as it was a surprise. She was quite and withdrawn and that made me sad…I missed the perky and cheerful Arizona.
Once we pulled up at Canlis her face lit up a little. "Wow Callie, how did you manage to get us in here? You have to usually make reservations well in advance." She asked surprised.
"Not if Mike Canlis is your father's old friend" I grinned before leading her inside.
Arizona ordered pizza made with warm duck and I ordered cappelletti with fresh tomato and basil. Arizona had seemed to relax a bit and I asked her the question that had been plaguing me fr the past hour.
"Why did you react to Mrs. McLean like that? It was a bad case and it affected all of us but why did it you affect you more than normal?" I asked putting my hand on hers.
I could see her gulping back tears. "Talk to me Arizona." I urged.
"My sister in law Joanne is an alcoholic. When we had Travis on the operating table all I could see were Aiden and little Danny laying open bleeding on my operating table. What if one day Joanne drives drunk and forgets to strap in Aiden or Danny? With my brother Danny gone it's my job to protect those little boys. What if I can't protect them from their own mother?" she sobbed.
"With you on their side they'll always be safe. They are coming out in two weeks so you can see for yourself that they are safe." I assured her.
"Thanks." She hiccupped. The waiter came to take our order for dessert and we decided to share an enormous piece of chocolate cake dripping with homemade whipped cream.
I noticed Arizona staring at me intently. "What's wrong?" I laughed.
"I have a funny question to ask you Callie. Don't get nervous. It's nothing intensely personal and my feelings won't be hurt if you say no. I thought I'd ask in case there's a chance I could talk you into it." She paused. "What are the chances of your getting a couple of weeks off from work?"
I suspected what she was going to ask and I was highly flattered. I knew how much her nephews meant to her and the fact that she wanted to introduce them to me and have them spend time with me made me feel warm and wanted. "It's not impossible." "I have about two-three weeks saved up." I smiled.
"Do you think the chief will let you off on a fairly short notice? I was wondering if you would like to join us on our camping pilgrimage. If not I'll respect your sanity and judgement. This is not going to be an easy trip being stuck in a car all day with two small bickering boys, eating nothing but burgers, hot dogs and fries for two weeks and sleeping on the hard ground at Lake Tahoe." She rambled.
"Sounds perfect." I laughed.
"Think you can get the time?" she asked looking hopeful.
"I don't know. I 'll definitely ask."
"If not two weeks join us at least for a week." She insisted.
Arizona's POV
Callie laughed at my persistence and promised to talk to the chief tomorrow.
"Can I ask you something?" I said.
"Sure." She nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me about George earlier?"
"I don't know Arizona. I was embarrassed I guess. Part of me felt like a failure when George left." She replied. I nodded as I understood where she was coming from but it would have saved me some grief of she had told me. I had been torturing myself for falling for a married woman but it didn't matter now. After the way she had been here for me today all I wanted was to spend some time with her and the boys…..my favorite people in the world.
I saw her biting on her lower lip in thought and I laughed. I knew what she was worrying about.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"You are. I can see the wheels turning in your head. You are freaking about sleeping arrangements aren't you?" I giggled.
"Yes." She grinned. "I trust you but…"
"Well you shouldn't trust me." I laughed. "I mean have you seen you?" she giggled at that and the sound was music to my ears "But I also have a healthy fear of my mom so we'll keep it respectable I promise. You can have your own tent and I'll sleep with the munchkins." I assured her.
We drove back to the hotel then and I couldn't wait to know whether the chief would give Callie the time off.
Callie's POV
As we walked to our rooms Arizona noticed I was looking a little upset. I was feeling a little upset as I wanted to tell Arizona about the baby and not mislead her but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to tell her. I knew she liked me and I guess I was scared that she would be angry about the baby and I would lose her….I mean as a friend.
The next day I spoke to Chief Webber about some time off and then immediately texted Arizona "I can come. He gave me two weeks off-C."
"Yay. That is super awesome. Meet me in 15 at the coffee shop. We'll celebrate with Vanilla latte's and poundcake-A." I couldn't help but smile at her cute response.
I had the trip to look forward to and I couldn't wait to meet the boys. I just hoped I would fit into my jeans in two weeks.
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