The following day, I returned to the hospital around an hour later than I normally meet up with Dr. Torres. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe I thought I could convince her that replacing me was the exact wrong thing to do. Even though I knew that was anything from the truth.
As I was walking towards her office, I spotted Olivia, one of my favorite orthopedic nurses. She stood right outside of Callie's office.
"Hey Olivia, have you seen Dr. Torres?"
"Actually yes, she is right around the corner at the charge desk, next to the med room," she said with a smile.
"Great, thanks" I said.
Everything after that conversation happened in slow motion, so slow that I remember every detail. I remember looking behind my right shoulder and seeing Mr. Warren, the man that was so upset with Callie all those weeks ago. Somehow for reasons I still can't recall, that abbreviated glance was enough time for me to notice that Mr. Warren had a gun tucked in his left jacket pocket. I also noticed the recurrent limp he complained so frequently of, a complication of numerous failed hip replacements. Discretely, I turned back around and picked up my pace. Shortly thereafter, I heard him stop Olivia.
Excuse me miss, have you seen Dr. Calliope Torres?" He said, almost too kindly.
She must have remembered him, or noticed the gun as I had.
"I…I haven't seen her" I could hear her voice trembling as I rounded the corner, finally catching sight of Callie.
"Are you sure about that?" Mr. Warren asked more firmly.
She paused briefly; I was fifteen feet away from Callie. A cold sweat rolled over me as Callie made eye contact with me.
"Yes" I could hear Olivia whisper. Moments later, I heard a gunshot, and a body drop to the floor. At the same time, I grabbed Callie, stole her badge and flashed in front of the medication room.
"What the hell was that?" Callie screamed, as I practically shoved her through the door. I knew Mr. Warren was close. I heard the steps, the screams in his wake, gunshots...
"Shut up!" I covered her mouth, pushing her and myself into the room. Though there was a small window in the door of this room, no one could get in or out without a badge. Of course he could steal a badge. I prayed he wasn't bright enough to think of this. I shoved her behind a crash cart and knelt down beside her. She looked absolutely petrified. Beautiful, but petrified.
"I need you to be silent" I whispered, more gunshots, more screams, she closed her eyes and began shaking.
"Listen to me. Mr. Warren is out there. He has a gun. He is looking for you. I will do anything and everything to protect you, but you need to be quiet and you need to stay still. Can you do that for me, Callie?". She continued to shake, but she nodded ever so slightly.
With that, I turned the lights off and we rode out the storm together, tucked in the tiniest corner of that med room, hidden behind a crash cart. We were there for minutes, hours, I am not sure. I do know she shook the entire time, despite my attempts to console her. I held her, like a human shield. As the gun shots played on ever infrequently, as I heard Mr. Warren shrieking Callie's name, asking for her and only her, my only thought was to keep her safe. Even when I heard the dogs barking and the police firing shots into Mr. Warren's chest, I wouldn't disclose our location. I needed her safe. And in this little corner, she was safe. It was only when the police had evacuated the entire building, and Dr. Owen Hunt came knocking on the med room door, that I attempted to stand up. Even then, Callie grabbed my hand in hesitation. She wouldn't let me go anywhere near that door.
"It's ok," I whispered, lifting her chin with my finger, locking eyes with her. "It's Owen, your husband, you are safe"
She nodded ever so slightly, her eyes still wild with fear. Holding hands, we opened the door. Owen was standing there, arms crossed, looking intensely at Callie.
"Jesus Christ Callie, we have been calling for you for two hours now. There's no way you didn't hear Mr. Warren shot, it was 20 feet away from this door! Do you have any idea how long we have been looking for you?" With that, Callie went white and vomited. Owen dropped his head and sighed.
"I'm sorry, I'm just glad you are safe. I was so worried." He hugged her closely. She stiffened, still clutching my hand.
"Arizona, thank you for staying with her, I think you are free to go. We are evacuating the hospital, with the exception of necessary staff and the victims of the shooting". Owen said, holding Callie. She suddenly back away from him and looked at me wide eyed panicked. He looked at her puzzled initially, but then relieved, like he was off the hook.
"You know, Arizona, I know this is a lot to ask, but would you mind taking Callie back to our apartment. Maybe keep an eye on her for a couple hours? Clearly she is in shock and I don't want her home alone. I will be here all night and most of tomorrow I'm sure. Lots of trauma, lots of carnage, lots of PR to deal with" He said quickly, "Here's 100 bucks. Get Chinese or something" He said handing me a 100-dollar bill.
"Sir, I don't know..." I said stumbling over my words.
"Please" Callie said, pleading. I don't know if Owen or I were more stunned by her first words since all of this.
"Of course" I said with a small smile.
"Thank you Arizona. Callie, keep your phone on you, I will call you when I can. Stay home tomorrow, relax. We can talk about everything tomorrow" Owen said, walking away, his phone already to his ear.
We slowly began heading towards my car. There was blood everywhere, shells of bullets all over the floor. It was all so surreal. We had been so close to a tragedy, silent observers hidden behind a wooden door. Truthfully though, the only thing I really remembered after that, fear, uncertainty and shock aside, was leading Callie through the chaos surrounding us, her hand in mine.