Sorry for the wait again guys, I'm finally finished up my job, and have a few weeks before I start my training for the new one! I've got studying to do, but I'm going to try to update as frequently as possible :)
Enjoy!
Previously
Arizona sighed tiredly.
"Don't worry about it. I have two days here before I need to get back on an aircraft with her." She joked.
"And then you'll only be one night away from seeing me." Callie winked, making Arizona smile.
"I can't wait."
Chapter 14
Callie knocked on the door of Teddy and Arizona's apartment, trying her best not to seem impatient when the door didn't open straight away. When it did, Callie was greeted by Teddy.
"Hey, come on in. I told her I'd just buzzed you up."
"Thanks Teddy."
"No problem. You might want to take these." The pilot winked, handing Callie a large mug of coffee and a brown bag from Dunkin Donuts.
Callie chuckled, taking the items and gently pushing Arizona's door open. Despite it being after 4pm, Arizona was still in bed.
"Hey sleepy head. I come bearing coffee and donuts. And myself obviously, which is the best part."
Arizona smiled sleepily, reaching to switch on the bedside lamp and sitting herself up.
"God I missed you." She said, ignoring Callie's waiting lips and grabbing the coffee from her hands. She took a tentative sip, and sighed in relief.
"Uh…excuse me?" Callie balked, feigning offence.
The blonde grinned widely, quickly depositing the hot beverage on the bedside table before pulling Callie onto the bed with her.
"I'm kidding. I missed you most of all." She assured as her lips met Callie's.
"You're sure?" Callie contested, grinning against Arizona's lips.
"Because I could leave you and your coffee alone…I'm sure you'll be very happy together."
"Don't you dare." Arizona chuckled, stealing another quick kiss.
"Although, kidding aside, the coffee we have onboard is awful."
"You didn't have any in Germany?" Callie asked, snuggling closer.
"No, just beer. And Apfelschörle. I could drink that every day until I die."
"What is it?" Callie queried.
"There's a small bottle in the fridge, I got some so you could try it. It's basically apple juice with soda water, but the way they make it in Germany tastes better than anywhere else." Arizona explained.
"It sounds good."
Arizona nodded, her hand covering her mouth as she yawned widely.
"God, jetlag sucks."
Callie smiled, leaning in to kiss Arizona's cheek.
"Well you're still adorable. Especially with that bed hair. Hot."
The blonde giggled, trying in vain to bring some sort of order to her tresses.
"What do you want to do tonight?"
The question surprised Callie.
"I thought you'd be too tired to go out anywhere."
Arizona nodded, stifling another yawn as she reached for her coffee.
"Oh I am, but we could have some dinner here or something. Teddy has to go to the airport for some simulator training…Ooh! We could invite Mark! I want to set him up with this girl I work with, Lexie. I think they'd hit it off."
Callie beamed. Arizona had mentioned briefly about a possible hookup for Mark, but she hadn't realized that her girlfriend was quite so serious about the idea. The thought thrilled her.
"I think he'd love that. He comes across all macho and sex-hungry, but I think he really just wants to settle down."
"I hope he does." Arizona nodded.
"Tell him I'll break his penis if he hurts Lexie."
Callie snickered, taking her phone from the pocket of her jeans.
"I will."
Yo,take-out tonight at Arizona's place. We're inviting one of her flight attendant buddies. You in? x
Trying to set me up, Torres? Is she hot?" x
Callie smiled, shaking her head as she handed her phone to Arizona. The blonde typed a reply.
Very. And super sweet. Please come! :) A x
I'll be there. With wine. 7ish? x
Arizona handed the phone back, her head leaning on Callie's shoulder as she watched her type her reply.
"So, 7. I should probably go home and get changed and wash the smell of hospital off." She pocketed her phone again, stretching as she rose from the bed.
Arizona frowned.
"That means I need to get up too, doesn't it."
"Eventually." Callie chuckled, bending to kiss Arizona's forehead, and then her lips.
"I'll see you later."
"Wow, you scrub up well." Callie joked as Arizona let her in again a few hours later. The blonde was now dressed, wearing a pair of black leggings and an over-sized beige sweater that hung loosely from one shoulder.
"You don't look so bad yourself." Arizona grinned giving her girlfriend the once over. Callie had changed into black jeans and flowing red blouse.
Arizona waved Lexie over from her place on the couch.
"This is Lexie. Lex, this is Callie."
"It's lovely to meet you." Lexie smiled shly. Callie nodded, taking Lexie's hand in hers. She was just Mark's type.
"It's good to meet you too."
As promised, Mark arrived with a variety of wines and beers, and the foursome had ordered three large pizzas to share. Mark had initially spoken to both Arizona and Lexie about their work, but as the evening went on, it was obvious that there was interest on both sides.
Arizona refilled Callie's glass, emptying another bottle and returning to her place on the couch.
"I make a good match maker, don't I?" She grinned, speaking quietly.
"You sure do. I don't think I've ever seen Mark interested in girl this quickly. Nice job."
Their night wasn't a late affair, Mark had an early surgery the next morning and Lexie needed to pack for her trip to Amsterdam the following evening, so they thanked Arizona for her hospitality and left. Together.
Callie's grin threatened to engulf her entire face.
"Arizona…I love her, she's like perfect for him. Thank you so much for this. Seriously."
Arizona grinned, locking the front door and moving to Callie, snaking her arms around the surgeon's waist.
"I know how you can express your graditude." She whispered, her lips tracing soft kisses along Callie's neck as her hands began to remove Callie's blouse.
Callie couldn't ignore the familiar and welcome sensations her girlfriend's touch ignited.
"Arizona…we can't."
"Sure we can. Teddy won't be home for a while yet." Arizona's mouth moved to meet Callie's as she took a plump bottom lip teasingly between her teeth.
The brunette struggled to maintain a steady breath as Arizona's hand inched up her torso, nimble fingers sneaking underneath her bra.
"Arizona…" Callie pouted, running her fingers through loose blonde curls before gently pulling her girlfriend away.
"I have such an important day tomorrow. The Mercy West people are coming."
Now it was Arizona's turn to pout, which Callie couldn't stand, so instead she kissed the moist, waiting lips.
"I can stay, but I really need to sleep."
The blonde huffed playfully, folding her arms across her chest.
"Can we at least sleep naked?"
As a result of sleeping through nearly all of the previous day, Arizona awoke long before Callie the following morning. With still a half hour before the surgeon's alarm was set to go off, Arizona pulled herself out of bed and towards her bathroom. When she was done, she reached for her short, cotton robe, tying it in place before quietly opening her bedroom door and tiptoeing to the kitchen.
"Gooooood morning." Teddy grinned, eyeing Arizona's robe and utter lack of other pajamas.
Arizona rolled her eyes playfully.
"Grow up Teddy."
"I'll hand it to you, you guys were very quiet last night. Or had you tired yourselves out by the time I got home?"
The flight attendant laughed as she took a handful of grapes from the fridge.
"We just snuggled. She's got a long, important day today."
"Aw, you're already at the 'being comfortable with naked snuggling without sex' part? You two are so cute." Teddy gushed.
Arizona shook her head, tossing a grape at her roommate.
"Do you want me to include you in my grand cooked breakfast or not, Theodora?"
"Oh hell no, I've got to fly a plane today, Robbins. I'd rather do so without food poisoning." Teddy chuckled, downing the last of her coffee and dodging another grape missile.
"Rude!"
Arizona was busy cracking eggs into a cup and trying to rescue stray pieces of shell when Callie emerged from her room, blinking sleepily. She had stolen a pair of Arizona's shorts and a blue hoodie.
"Something smells nice."
"I'm making a mushroom and bacon omelet; could you recue the toast? Our toaster is a bit fierce." Arizona explained, kissing Callie's cheek as the brunette cuddled her from behind.
"Sure babe. It seriously smells amazing already. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Arizona grinned, passing Callie the butter.
"I knew you'd probably not get a chance to eat for a while at work, so I figured that eggs were a good idea."
"You were right. Do you want me to get the coffee started?"
Callie had only been at the hospital for a few hours, but already the Mercy West staff were making her want to tear her hair out. They didn't know where anything was, they were unfamiliar with the hospital's protocols, and some of them were just plain rude.
Callie was overjoyed when her pager blared a 911 call to the pit. Rushing down, she donned a yellow overall, pulling gloves on as she waited for the ambulance to arrive.
"What have we got?" Yang asked, fixing her long hair into a messy bun.
"22yr old in a motorcycle accident. That's all I know."
Cristina sighed.
"I hope his heart is mangled, then I can hide in the OR for the rest of the day."
"Cristina!" Callie gasped.
"Oh come on, like you want to be stuck in the pit with the Mercy West weirdos. Don't tell me you're not hoping that all of his bones have been pulverized."
The ortho surgeon shook her head, chuckling quietly.
"You're awful. You're right, but you're awful."
As luck would have it, Callie got her wish, while Cristina moped around in the pit awaiting further traumas. The motorcyclist's leg had not only been injured on impact, but the force had shattered the man's knee, snapped the femur like a twig, and caused a vast degree of damage to the surrounding nerves and tissue. Callie had asked Karev to assist.
"Get comfy, Karev. We'll be here for quite a while."
Alex nodded. He'd seen the state of the leg and practically begged Torres to let him scrub in. As they were beginning to clean the debris from the leg, the swoosh of the automatic OR doors caught their attention.
"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Fischer. What do we have here?"
Callie had been briefly introduced to the Mercy West attending this morning; a respected orthopedic surgeon with far more experience than herself. She described the man's injuries and awaited his advice as a nurse handed him the patient's chart.
"So once you've finished the debridement you'll move on to the amputation. I'm assuming his family has been notified?"
Callie nearly dropped her instruments.
"The what?" She looked up from the leg, the light from her headrest illuminating Dr. Fischer.
"I don't plan to amputate. I'm going to finish the debridement, set the femur and stabilize the knee before consulting Dr. Shepherd with regards to the nerve damage. I'll salvage what I can, then when he wakes up I'll give him his options concerning the probability of a knee replacement."
Dr. Fischer sighed.
"That all sounds like it will take far too long, and for what might be a very poor outcome. It's best if we amputate, so if you are not willing to, then I'll be taking over this patient's care."
Callie scoffed.
"I don't think so. That might have been how things were done over at Mercy West, but here, this patient is mine, and if you want to kick me to the kerb and change his treatment plan, you'll have to go through Chief Webber."
"I don't think so, Dr. Torres."
"Well I'm not stepping away from this patient without orders to do so from Dr. Webber, so I suggest that you find him."
Dr. Fischer sighed in exasperation, turning and leaving the OR.
"Can you believe that guy? What an ass." Alex mumbled.
"A very poor outcome? He's clearly never seen any of my work before." Callie huffed, adjusting herself in her seat as she continued the debridement. She worked in silence, eyeing the window to the scrub room for the arrival of Dr. Webber.
"Don't worry, Torres. He'll be on your side."
"I just bitched out a more experienced attending than myself. He's going to yell at me."
"Doubt it."
Alex had been right; Richard was horrified by Dr. Fischer's plan to amputate, and later congratulated Callie on a successful surgery. They would need to go back in, but for now, the patient was stable, and exceedingly happy that he still had his leg.
"He wanted to just cut it off, just like that?" Arizona gasped, handing Callie a large glass of red wine. She had decided to stop on her way to Arizona's to pick up pizza, much to Arizona's delight.
"Yeah. I couldn't believe it when he told me! Sure, his recovery is going to be hard, and I'm going to have to work with him for longer, do more surgery, but I'm going to fix his leg, not just remove it."
"That's because you're awesome." Arizona beamed, following Callie to the couch and opening the pizza box, savoring the scrumptious smell before taking a large bite out of her first piece.
Callie chuckled.
"Because I saved a man's leg or because I brought pizza?"
Arizona swallowed, her expression serious.
"Definitely because you brought pizza."
As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.