"It's fine, Amelia. Don't worry. I understand it completely. Thank you for being honest with me, though" – Arizona said, feeling sad, but trying to be comprehensive.
"Of course. You deserve nothing but honesty, to say the least. I just wanted you to know that it's on me. You're the best thing that happened to me lately. I just need to put my head in order" – Amelia tried to soften the situation.
"I understand. Can I say something, though? If you allow me" – Arizona asked.
"Always" – Amelia answered.
"Don't let someone take off your light. You're a delightful person and a very caring one. Don't let anybody tells you otherwise" – Arizona said, making Amelia cry – "I should go now. Maybe we'll see each other tomorrow at Maggie's dinner. Take care, ok?"
Arizona gave Amelia a quick hug and left. She was honest: she understands Amelia's reason. But that doesn't make it any less sad. She went to her hotel and decided to sit at the bar to have a glass of wine. She really needed to turn her mind off before going to bed.
"A glass of Chardonnay, please?" – Arizona ordered and the waiter rushed to the other side to get her order.
"I'm sorry to bother; can I just introduce myself for a minute?" – A young, hot woman sat beside Arizona with a shy smile on her face. She looked young but was perfectly dressed up and had a light accent that reminded Arizona of Callie when she spoke to her parents (or even when she was mad and turned off her English to be properly mad in Spanish).
"Uhm, yes, sure" – Arizona answered, caught off guard.
"I'm Mel López. I was at the Conference and attended your talk and I just wanted to say that you have amazed me. I tried to find you afterwards to congratulate but couldn't and when I saw you sitting here, I just couldn't miss the opportunity" – Mel said.
"Oh, thank you so much. I'm Arizona Robbins" – Arizona introduced herself making the other woman smiles.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Robbins" – Mel handshaked the blonde.
Arizona was impressed with Mel López. She was a very gorgeous woman. She looked like she was in her early 30s, maybe even late 20s. She had a light hazel-brown, very long and straight hair, light emerald green eyes, taller than Arizona.
"Nice to meet you, too. But tell me, are you a doctor? What were you doing at the conference?" – Arizona asked, curious.
"I am. I mean, I'm still a resident, though. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself the right way I guess" – Mel explained.
"Oh, and what's your choice?" – Arizona asked.
"General surgery. Hopefully" – Mel said.
"Great choice. What hospital?" – Arizona asked
"I'm transferring to either Boston or NY, will know next week" – Mel explained.
"Oh, great! I live in NY. Let me know if you need contacts in the city" – Arizona offered.
"Thank you very much. I will leave you now, already took too much of your time" – Mel said, while getting up from the barstool.
"No, wait. You don't need to go. I mean, you can go if you have something better to do, of course. But if you don't, please stay. I can use the company to finish this glass" – Arizona pointed to her wine.
"Sure, of course. I will join you, then" – Mel smiled and ordered a glass of wine for herself – "Hi, can I have the same one, please?"
"Tell me, why were you interested in my talk? I mean, it was purely fetal surgery, I was not the talk doctors wanted to watch" – Arizona joked.
"Well, first of all, I've known your work and knew it was going to be a great talk. Besides, there's so much that we, doctors, don't know about this field. It's amazing how much we can learn from professionals like you, Nicole Herman, Addison Montgomery. Even if we're not OB or fetal surgeon" – Mel said.
"Thank you. It's nice to hear that. At least I wasn't competing for attention with Meredith Grey" – Arizona joked again.
"Yeah, well, in that case it would be hard for me to choose. I mean, everyone who wants to be a general surgeon idolizes her" – Mel stated.
"And you should, she's brilliant" – Arizona agreed.
"Do you know her? I mean, in person" – Mel asked.
"Meredith? We're friends. Good friends. We've worked together for years. We were together at the plane crash, for God's sake" – Arizona said, taking a sip of her wine.
"Plane crash?" – Mel asked, surprised.
"Oh my God. When did you started your residency?" – Arizona asked, laughing a little bit.
"2 years ago, but in Mexico. I just moved US" – Mel explained.
"Oh… that's why. If you lived here in Seattle you would know. There was a plane crash years ago, when worked at Grey Sloan. We were at a private jet to get to Boise for a major case, and the plane crashed. Lexie Grey, Meredith's sister, died. Mark Sloan, who by the way was the father of my child, died afterwards. Derek Shepherd almost lost his hand. Cristina Yang lost her mind for weeks. I lost my leg. It was horrible. That's why the hospital changed its name" – Arizona told Mel, who was perplexed.
"Wait, hold on. That's true? We've heard something about it when we started the residency, some "Great 5" history but I thought it was an urban legend!" – Mel exclaimed.
"Well, it's not. I'm the living proof, you can tell your friends" – Arizona said and showed her prosthetic leg.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Dr. Robbins" – Mel was sympathetic, but not scared by the fact. If anything, she started to look differently to Arizona, not only as a medical idol, but as an interesting woman.