Chapter 7

Cristina Yang was minding her own business updating some charts near the nurses' station when she heard something that piqued her interest.

"Have you seen the woman with Chief Hunt earlier? The one he was hugging real tight? I've never seen the Chief smile that big," asked one of the new surgical interns. Cristina didn't know the intern's name because she hadn't worked with this one yet. She's part of the new batch of interns that started just a few weeks ago. I'll call her Nosey.

Another intern responded, "I did! Have you seen her dress? It's probably worth several thousand dollars! Not to mention the shoes. They were Blahnik's! Do you think that's his girlfriend?" Okay, this one I will call Gossipy. And no, that's definitely not his girlfriend because… Well, I'm not sure what we are right now. But definitely he won't go looking for someone else.

"No, I don't think so. I heard Greg mention that Hunt is seeing someone, but also a doctor here," said another intern. Ralph. He reminds me of Wreck-It-Ralph. Oh gosh, I hope his hands aren't as destructive as it is for the real Wreck-It-Ralph. And damn right Hunt is seeing someone! At least he got his gossip right.

Nosey said, "Really, who?"

But Cristina no longer heard the answer to that because the mouthy trio already walked away. She was startled when Meredith Grey sidled up next to her.

"So…" Meredith said.

"So… what?"

Meredith rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on. I know you heard what they said."

"I did. And I don't care," said Cristina, trying and failing to act disinterested.

"Really? So you don't want to see this mystery woman they were talking about?"

"Even if I did, I don't know where to find her."

Meredith snickered and lowered her voice, "Oh, I know. One of the new nurses on my floor mentioned that she is in Owen's office waiting because he got called for a consult."

"Why didn't you say so? Let's go!"

As the two women went to the floor of the Chief's office using the stairs, they bumped into Arizona who was just exiting the elevator.

Cristina was the first to spot her, "Hey, Robbins."

"Oh, hi Cristina, Meredith," Arizona responded, looking up from some papers she was holding. "Please don't tell me you're here to talk to Owen too."

Cristina was determinedly walking towards their destination. So Meredith was the one to answer, "You're looking for Owen?"

"Uh, yes? I need to talk to him about the budget for my department. He's preparing the annual budget plan this week, right? He needs to submit the overall plan to the Board early next week."

"Okay," was Cristina's simple answer.

Arizona looked at her curiously but knew better than to pry, so she turned to look at Meredith instead.

Meredith knew what Arizona wanted to know, but she was not about to divulge that her best friend wanted to see the woman the interns and nurses were gushing about, so she kept her mouth shut.

When they reached the bridgeway, Cristina immediately spotted the woman who was indeed waiting inside Owen's office. The woman was sitting down and facing away from the glass window, so she really couldn't see much.

Just then, they saw Owen walking towards his office from the other end. And what happened next spurred Cristina to walk faster, with the two other women closely following behind her.

Owen was inside his office starting to take off his clothes! He took off his lab coat, untied his neck tie and was now lifting his polo shirt from being tucked in his belt and pants.

The three women were incredulous! Really? Owen and the woman wouldn't even hide what they were doing?! The windows were wide-open for god's sake!

Arizona decided that among the three of them, she was the one with the perfect excuse to halt this "tête-à-tête"! Now she understood why Cristina and Meredith were looking for Owen; they probably heard about his "date." So as soon as the three of them reached the office doors, she knocked quite loudly. "Dr. Hunt, open up! I need to talk to you."

The trio expected Owen to scramble clothing himself before opening the door. But to their surprise, the door immediately opened with Owen still in his shirt, albeit the top two buttons were opened.

"Dr. Robbins, what can I do for you?" Owen politely asked, confused as to why Arizona, Meredith and Cristina were at his office doors. "Dr. Grey, Dr. Yang, did you need something as well?"

Arizona let out a relieved breath that she didn't have to see more of Owen that she had absolutely no interest in seeing. "I wanted to talk to you about the Peds budget. Do you have time to talk now?"

"Umm… Could this wait until tomorrow? I – uh, I have plans," Owen said.

Arizona was affronted. She understood that as surgeons, free time was precious. But to be blown off by the Chief of Surgery to get lucky? Now that was insulting. Even she – with her numerous exploits – wouldn't think to do that to a colleague. Her expression must have shown her distaste because Owen immediately tried to explain.

"Look, Dr. Robbins…" Owen said. But he was cut off by someone else.

"Owen, it's fine."

The three women and Owen all whipped their heads towards the voice that came from inside the office. And stopping beside Owen by the doorway was none other than Callie Torres.

"Callie?" all three women said simultaneously.

Callie smiled politely to Arizona, Meredith and Cristina, "Hi!" She then turned to Owen, "I can wait in the lobby. If it will take long, I can just go back to the hotel. I can wait for you there if you finish early enough."

Seeing that the mystery woman was Callie, Cristina felt her earlier agitation dial down. Even though it looked bad that Owen was practically undressing in front of Callie, she knew with 100% certainty that there wasn't anything nefarious going on between the two of them. Okay, Owen cheated on her when they were married, but he wouldn't sleep with someone else now while also sleeping with her. And Callie? Callie just wasn't wired that way. Cristina had utmost respect and trust for Callie. She knew Callie wouldn't sleep with Owen. So what in the world was happening here?

Cristina eyed Callie. Her ex-roommate was wearing a dress. The only instances she remembered Callie wear a dress were on dates (both with Hahn and Robbins) that require you to be dressed up, weddings (her own included, though that didn't pan out), and the gala night. Now here she was in Owen's office impeccably dressed and styled. Actually, for someone like Callie, this should scream overdressed. But there was something different in the way her ex-roommate carried herself, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

All these thoughts were swirling inside Cristina's head. So she wasn't quite sure what drove her to ask such an inane question, "What the heck are you wearing?"

Before Callie could open her mouth to respond, somebody else answered.

"Miss Callie is wearing a Monique Lhuillier midi length dress in Iris Blur Printed Lace with a halter neckline. Her shoes are Manolo Blahnik black satin slingback sandals with crossover straps and stiletto high heel. Her only accessory is her stud earrings – a mix of yellow and white gold in a fluted design cast, with a single white diamond at the center."

Meredith was considering the man who spoke. He was tall, even taller than Owen, with a swimmer's build. He was wearing a fitted white long-sleeved polo shirt folded to his elbows and dark blue jeans accentuated with a brown leather belt. His shoes were brown loafers. He was quite easy on the eyes.

"Hi, I'm Steve. Miss Callie's personal protection officer," he introduced himself. "I'd offer to shake your hands, but I need Miss Callie to take these off me first."

Callie then dutifully took the box from his hand, "Thanks, Steve. I forgot about this."

"Yeah, I noticed it just as I was exiting the parking lot. Papa Torres would have been disappointed if you forgot to give this to the intended recipient."

Arizona was standing there bewildered. Firstly, Callie had a personal protection officer? Was that similar to a bodyguard, just fancy terms? Why did she need a bodyguard, was she in trouble? Secondly, she was wearing high end stuff now? She looked over Callie and noted that her overall look really suited her. Callie's hair was also tied in a loose bun with some tendrils delicately framing her face. Her ex-wife was by no means a slob, but she wasn't this… fashionable? Stylish? And she certainly didn't spend too much on her clothes. Between the two of them, Arizona had the more "upscale" clothing. Callie's usual get up were plain-colored blouses and jeans. On certain meetings, she'd wear a silk blouse and slacks. And all these were leaning towards the dark colors – blacks, greys. She'd occasionally wear red or purple, as those colors really suited her. And lastly, Papa Torres? Seriously?

"Yep, I would have been reprimanded." Callie then turned to Owen and said, "This is for you, from my dad."

Owen took the box, "Please send him my thanks. Wait. I can send him a message later. What is this anyway?" He opened the box and peeked inside. "Nice!"

"What is it?" Cristina asked.

Steve, ever the busybody, was the one to answer, "Louis XIII de Remy Martin Rare Cask Grande Champagne Cognac."

"Okay, that was a long ass name to just say cognac," Cristina said. "But you'll share it with me right? That sounded expensive!" she asked Owen.

Owen smiled indulgently at Cristina, "Of course I'd share it with you."

"Why is Callie's dad giving you an expensive bottle of cognac?" Meredith astutely asked. Thank you for asking that question, Meredith, thought Arizona.

Callie, Owen and Steve all looked at each other, but no one immediately answered.

Callie just said, "Owen did my father a favor a while back. He hasn't forgotten and just wanted to express his gratitude." She turned to Steve to probably break the sudden tension in the air, "Hey, you need to run. You'd be late for your date."

Steve looked at his watch, "Crap, you're right. I'll go now. Have fun at yours!" He looked at the other surgeons, "Nice to see you again, Dr. Hunt! And nice meeting you, Doctors. Though I didn't get your names now that I think about it. Anyway, bye!" He quickly walked away from the group.

"He's not on duty tonight?" Owen asked Callie.

"No, I gave him the night off."

"You're a nice boss."

"Pffft, not really. If he went with us, he'd just end up bugging you," Callie said. "Oh, wait. We've been sidetracked. You have a meeting. So what do you think? Should I wait in the lobby? Or…"

Arizona interjected, "If you're going out, we can discuss this another time." She really wanted to discuss the budget tonight, because she would be swamped with cases in the following days. But she also didn't want to derail their plans.

"Callie can come with us while she's waiting for you and Owen to be done," Meredith offered.

But suddenly, hers and Cristina's pagers blared. "Oh sorry, it's an emergency for our patient earlier. Catch you later, Callie!"

Cristina was still looking oddly at Callie and Owen but walked away without any further word.

"Well, there's that. I'll just wait in the lobby. See you later, Owen. No rush, just take your time."

Callie walked away, leaving Owen and Arizona.

"Well, come inside then. Let's discuss," Owen offered.

It took Owen and Arizona 30 minutes to discuss the Peds budget. Arizona wasn't thrilled with the outcome of the discussion because Owen did not want to commit to the additions she was asking for, but at least he said he'd consider it while looking at the overall budget plan.

"Okay, thanks for bringing this to my attention, Dr. Robbins," Owen said as he stood up.

"Well, thank you for delaying your plans for the night to accommodate me," Arizona said. "Umm… What is Callie doing here anyway? Are you offering her a job? Because the Board should know that, right?" She wanted to smack herself. That was not a subtle at all.

Owen sent a look at Arizona that she could not decipher. "No, no. I'm not offering her a job. We're just having dinner."

"Dinner? Do you know she has a boyfriend? Henry Campbell. Apparently a multi-billionaire. The kind that appears on lists of richest people in the world. And you were undressing in front of her…"

"Yes, I know she has a boyfriend," Owen said chuckling a little. "And well, I was just planning to change my polo shirt. I have a tank top on. You've seen how Callie looked, right? I didn't want to look scruffy at dinner with her while she looked like a million bucks."

"Oh."

"And don't worry, Dr. Robbins. My intentions with Callie are purely honorable. Henry would probably kill me otherwise, if Cristina hadn't gotten to me first," Owen said. "We're just two friends catching up."

I'm not worried, Arizona internally denied. But why was she bothering with this topic anyway? It was none of her business. So she also stood up and bid goodbye to Owen.

She was quite pre-occupied as she walked towards the elevator and bumped into someone as she turned the corner. "Sorry!"

Luckily, the person she bumped into had more balance than she did because she felt someone hold her arms to prevent her from landing on her butt. She looked up to say her thank you when she abruptly stopped.

"Callie." Calliope, she thought.

Callie looked Arizona over to make sure she was balanced before removing her hands from her arms. "Sorry about that, I was looking at my phone and not where I was going." She looked around and saw that her phone skidded a few steps away from them when she dropped it to prevent Arizona's fall.

Did it suddenly get hot in here? Arizona thought to herself as she looked towards Callie who was turned away from her, bent at the knees to pick up her phone. Sue her, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from her ex-wife's ass. Ex-wife. That term threw ice cold water through her thoughts.

Callie checked her phone over and thankfully found that the screen wasn't cracked and appeared to be working fine as she pressed some buttons. Once done, she turned back to Arizona who she noticed looked like she had seen a ghost. Well, she had seen me. And I'm a ghost of the past. She winced as her heart sank. She remembered Arizona telling her that she didn't mind if she went back to Seattle and to the hospital, but it looked like that was just lip service. She definitely didn't look too thrilled now. Better get out of here.

"Sorry again. Umm… Bye!" She didn't wait for Arizona to acknowledge her and walked away as fast as she could, or as fast as her heels would allow her to.

"It's really great to see you again, Callie," Owen said as they both settled down at their table in the Archfield hotel restaurant. "How long has it been since we last saw each other, maybe nine months?"

Callie smiled, "Yeah, give or take. A lot has changed, huh?"

Their maître d approached and showed their wine list. Callie and Owen placed their orders before continuing their conversation while looking over the menu.

"You look great. Healthy and happy."

"Thanks, Owen. I don't look like death has come calling recently anymore, right?" Callie said with a sardonic smile. She still remembered how she looked when Owen saw her last. It was after her divorce with Arizona got finalized. She was a mess. She was the one who initiated the divorce, but what else was she supposed to do at that point?

Owen offered a small smile, "Yes. But more than that, you look a lot more settled. How are things, really?"

"Well, I am still working at Mass Gen for a few more weeks. Then after that, who knows?"

"I'm surprised Mass Gen agreed to just a six-month contract for someone your caliber. I would have thought they would try to lock you in."

Callie smiled, "They did. They wanted at least a three-year contract. But I wasn't really in the right headspace to decide at the time they offered. I probably gave them the impression that I was a bit of a nomad, what, with leaving Seattle abruptly then practicing in Florida for a couple of months before leaving for vacation, then back again. I'm actually quite surprised they still wanted me after that."

"Don't sell yourself short, Callie," Owen said. "You know your capabilities. Any hospital would be lucky to have you, including Grey-Sloan."

"Oh, please! That would be a disaster. Let's not go there."

Owen opened his mouth to refute Callie's statement, but the maître d came back with their drinks and took their dinner orders. He ordered steak, while Callie ordered salmon.

"Anyway, how are things for you? I hope my appearance wouldn't give you trouble with Cristina. For a moment there, I thought she'd pull my hair," Callie said in a teasing tone.

Owen chuckled, "Not really Cristina's style."

"Well, it's good to hear I wouldn't get my hair pulled out from my scalp. You might be a main topic in the hospital's rumor mill tomorrow though. I've seen some of those notorious gossips around your office earlier."

"Fancy making up a story in case I get asked about your appearance?" Owen light-heartedly offered.

Callie thought for a bit then glibly answered, "We're actually married with a daughter named Allegra. She has your hair color and lips. She got my eyes and cheekbones. I was in your office today because I just came from my OB appointment and found out we're having twin boys."

Owen laughed at that. "Wow, that was very specific."

Callie carefully considered Owen before saying, "Ever think that maybe in an alternate universe, we may have liked each other that way and our lives would have been less complicated?"

They both laughed at the absurdity of Callie's statement.

"So in this alternate universe, am I still in Trauma and you in Ortho?"

Callie shook her head, "You'd still be in Trauma, but I would probably be in Cardio. You seem to have a thing for cardio surgeons anyway, you know, with Cristina and Teddy…"

"Shut up," Owen laughingly said. "This conversation just took a very weird turn."

"It's fun though!" Callie insisted while grinning. She moved the conversation along. "How are things with you and Cristina, really?"

Owen let out a sigh, "It's complicated. It's like – we're together, but not together. Does that make sense?"

"If it were any other couple, I'd say it doesn't make sense. But for the two of you, I understand." Callie reached out and patted Owen's hand that was on top of the table. "I really hope things work out for you, in whatever form that may be."

"Thanks, Callie," Owen said sincerely.

Before either of them could come up with another subject, their food arrived. Just in time.

They made idle chatter as they were eating, until Owen mentioned the party in New York Callie and the GSMH board members attended. "When they got back to Seattle, all I heard about was seeing you and your boyfriend."

"Yeah, it was quite a surprise seeing them there."

Owen considered his words carefully, "How are you? Did you talk to Arizona?"

"It was fine. We talked very briefly," Callie said, taking a sip of her wine.

"Callie…"

Callie put down her wine glass and looked directly at Owen, "What?"

"Are you okay? It couldn't have been easy being surprised, seeing Arizona after more than a year."

"I said it was fine," Callie responded dismissively.

Owen just stared at Callie, willing to wait her out. He knew he risked having Callie get angry and walking away, but the topic of her ex-wife was something that Callie had been avoiding. He thought it was unhealthy, the way that his friend was not talking about it. She used to be very open, at times too much, about her thoughts and emotions back when she was still working at Grey-Sloan. But every time he asked her about her ex-wife during their bi-weekly phone calls, Callie was incredibly tight-lipped about it. He had experience about not wanting to talk about some stuff, and it blew up in his face. He didn't want the same for Callie.

He was there the day Callie drank and medicated herself to oblivion.

After the phone call where he told Callie that Arizona was seeing Leah Murphy a mere week or less after she left Seattle, he arranged his work affairs in order and took an emergency leave. He didn't tell anyone then, but he went to Miami on a blind mission to seek Callie out. He didn't know her address and she wasn't answering her phone, so he took a shot at going to the Miami Archfield Hotel. As luck would have it, Carlos Torres was there that day. Owen introduced himself to the man and told him that he was Callie's friend and wanted to check up on her. Carlos knew of him because Callie had mentioned Owen to her father a number of times during their weekly phone calls, so Carlos offered him a ride back to their house. When they got there, Carlos went upstairs to get Callie. Owen was startled when he heard the man shouting for help, and he immediately sprang into action.

They were able to bring Callie to the hospital; and as Owen was able to note the kind of liquor and medication that surrounded Callie when they found her, the doctors were immediately able to employ the proper protocol in saving her life. Owen stayed with Carlos the entire time they were waiting for Callie to wake up. Lucia came in later too.

When Callie woke up, she looked around the room to see her parents and Owen keeping vigil around her bed before asking what happened. It was Owen who explained that they found her unconscious in her room. He didn't say any more than that, but Callie's eyes were wide with realization. After that, Callie asked them to leave. Her parents didn't want to, of course, but Callie was adamant. Owen convinced Carlos and Lucia that the three of them could stay just outside the room.

Given the reason for Callie's hospitalization, her doctors had her talk to a psychiatrist. Up to this day, Owen didn't know what Callie said to psych, but it was judged that she wasn't a suicide risk that needed to be put on constant monitoring. He persuaded Carlos and Lucia to go back to their house for the night and come back the following day. Callie was expected to rest throughout the night, and she didn't look like she was going to change her mind about allowing them inside the room anyway. He assured them he would stay at the hospital with Callie and would contact them if necessary.

The following day, Carlos and Lucia returned. Callie was already awake, and they went inside her room expecting to be asked to leave again. They were surprised when their daughter addressed them directly,

I'm sorry. It won't happen again.

They asked why Callie did it, but she wouldn't give a straight answer. She just kept repeating that it won't happen again. No matter what they asked, Callie's response remained the same.

She then turned to Owen and said,

Thank you, Owen, for saving my life.

And from then on, their friendship blossomed and strengthened. He couldn't stay in Miami long, but Callie reassured him that she would call and update him if that's what he needed to be able to leave with some peace of mind. He agreed and left two days after.

Aside from Callie's continued insistence that she was fine, Carlos personally assured him that he would keep him updated on Callie's recovery. He thanked Owen several times for saving his daughter's life, and insisted that it was a debt he would gladly repay for the rest of his life. In fact, Owen got a surprise when he got to the airport and his ticket back to Seattle was upgraded to first class.

Callie kept her word and more.

At the beginning, she texted him every couple of days just to 'check-in', letting him know that she was recovering and had not thought to harm herself again. Owen called her once every two weeks to ask her how she was doing. These phone calls were awkward at first because they really did not know what to say to each other. Sure, they were already friends before Callie ever left Seattle, but that friendship was mostly forged by their shared connection of Cristina and the close working relationship between Ortho and Trauma.

As time went on, they gradually built their friendship based solely on the two of them. They took turns calling each other, talking about many different things. Callie was initially reticent with her words, not wanting to be too much for Owen. But Owen was a patient man; he was able to coax Callie to talk more bit by bit. It started with Callie telling him more about the notable things she did during the week. She accompanied her mother in her meetings for her various charitable works. She also sometimes joined Lucia in her morning yoga class, but no one could accuse Callie of being a morning person. She and her father also spent some quality time together – Carlos would take Callie on their yacht, or they would both learn how to play golf.

On the other hand, Owen started sharing some things about himself with Callie as well. He talked about why he signed up for the Army and his experience overseas. He didn't tell her all of the explicit details about what happened to him out there, but he shared more than he had ever done with anyone else other than Teddy and Cristina. He talked about his family. In fact, Callie talking about what she did that week with her mother or father inspired Owen to see his own mom more often. He had no excuse not to see his mom; after all, she just lived in Seattle. He felt comfortable talking with Callie. He was even able to tell her about seeing Dr. Emma Marling and the subsequent end to that relationship.

Through their phone calls and text messages, Owen was able to note how Callie's emotional state progressed. She was taciturn in the first few calls, but as time passed, she became open again. Not like how she was when she was still in Seattle, but Owen was glad to see improvement nonetheless. And for the year that Callie was away, he could only recall two times that Callie ever said something about Arizona.

The first instance was when she told him that she already gave her family lawyer the go ahead to file divorce from Arizona. And the second one was when the divorce was finalized, three months after she filed. The process was smooth because the divorce was uncontested, and they only had to wait the mandatory 90 days before it was granted and finalized. He was sure that Carlos Torres's connection aided the speedy development. He took a couple of days and visited Callie in Miami again, and he was heartened to see that while Callie still carried an air of melancholy, she was more alive than the last time he saw her.

Other than those two instances, Callie Torres did not speak of Arizona Robbins to him at all.

So here he sat, Owen waiting for Callie to say something, anything, about seeing Arizona again after a year.

Callie sighed. She understood Owen's concern, but there was really nothing she could say about seeing her ex-wife again. It happened, that was it. "Owen, seriously, this is getting old. I'm not talking about Arizona because there is nothing to talk about. We're no longer part of each other's lives. So we bumped into each other, no big deal. We were civil, had a small chat."

"Okay, okay. I will leave it for now," Owen said. However, at the back of his mind, he was still concerned as to how Callie appeared to have moved on from what happened to her marriage. Aside from not talking about Arizona, it seemed like Callie just dusted herself off after her hospital stay and pushed forward without ever looking back. She went back to work, albeit part-time, around a month after her attempt. Then, she went on vacation before going straight to Mass Gen to work on a short-term contract. Now here she was, seemingly unaffected with her ex-wife's sudden appearance in her life.

Owen knew that Callie possessed great inner strength. He was witness after all as to how determined she was to regain full use of her faculties after getting into a car crash. Well, there might have been a few bruised egos in the physical therapy department along the way, but she still did it in a shorter span of time than expected. She held herself together through her family's abandonment. But for Callie to appear completely unaffected with Arizona just didn't seem right to him; he just couldn't explain exactly why. He promised himself that he would keep a close eye on this, though to be fair, he didn't expect the two to cross paths frequently anyway.

"So… I assume things with Henry are becoming very serious now?" he asked. "I remember you told me that the two of you were avoiding going to functions and events because as soon as you do, news about your relationship would spread fast in your social circles."

Callie smiled, as she often did when thinking of Henry. "Yes, we are. I love him, Owen."

"And does he love you, Callie?"

"He does," she answered. "And he treats me well, Owen. Don't worry."

Owen smiled at his friend, "That's good to hear, Callie. I'm happy for you. But you have to let me meet him, assess if he's good enough for you."

"Getting all protective over me now, Hunt?" Callie teased.

"Well, someone has to. And you know I lost a sister, Callie. But you… You're like a sister to me now," Owen said sincerely.

"Thank you, Owen," Callie responded with just as much sincerity. "Well, this got too sappy quick."

Owen chuckled, "It did. But let's discuss your lovelife maybe later, over drinks. For now I'd like to hear about your plans after your contract with Mass Gen is up."

The following week found Owen in a meeting with the Board of Directors along with Dr. Catherine Avery. It was their annual budget planning, and he had just presented his proposed allocation across the different departments. He knew the discussion would extend to another meeting given that the board members have several questions and suggestions. He would need to incorporate all of those in a revised budget that he would present again in a few days.

"If you could submit the revision a day or two before our meeting so we could review them, that would be great," Catherine said to Owen. She turned to the rest of the attendees and spoke, "Okay, that was the expenditure part. Let's proceed with some of the remaining topics for income generation. What's the update on our Ortho department?"

It was Jackson that spoke up, "I spoke to Dr. Smith; he said that the renewal of our contract with the Mariners and Seahawks have stalled. The response he got from both teams was that they were waiting what happens with their other prospects, though he said he had no idea what they were referring to. He doesn't think they'd suddenly switch to Seattle Presbyterian since our Ortho department is still regarded higher than theirs."

"Our finances will take quite a hit if we lose out on those contracts," Derek said with worry in his tone. The others agreed. They all looked at Catherine waiting on what she had to say.

Catherine pursed her lips then let out a little sigh, "If my sources are correct, they are waiting on what Dr. Torres would do next."

"Torres? You mean Callie?" asked Meredith.

Catherine nodded.

It was Miranda who spoke next, "What do you mean they are waiting on what Callie would do?"

"My understanding is Dr. Torres's contract at Mass Gen is up since she signed on for less than a year only. Both teams are waiting if she would make Seattle her home base again. And even if she didn't, they are willing to work with her in any capacity that she would be agreeable too, even just as a consultant. It seems Dr. Torres is fully-trusted and well-liked within the teams and their management."

"And do your sources know which direction Callie is leaning towards?" Cristina asked.

Catherine anticipated this question, "I actually tried to ask around, but it seems nobody is sure what she's going to do next. She has offers in a number of hospitals – nationally top-ranked hospitals, mind you. I know with some degree of certainty that Hopkins is throwing the bank at her because they want to build up their Ortho department, which fell a bit in last year's Ortho rankings. Though oddly, it seems that Dr. Torres is not that interested in them. Mass Gen is also vying for her services. But word around is that she might choose something from New York because Henry Campbell's US business headquarters is there. The Hospital for Special Surgery is currently #1 in Ortho hospital ranking, so they have the best shot to land Dr. Torres. Cedars-Sinai is trying as well, in tandem with trying to lure Dr. Addison Montgomery to come out of private practice."

Cristina let out a whistle, "So she's not hurting for options then."

"No, absolutely not. But my worry is if she decides to open her own practice here in Seattle."

"Why is that a worry?" asked Meredith.

Catherine massaged her forehead before responding, "Because if Dr. Torres opens up her own practice here, she would surely land those contracts from the Seahawks and Mariners. So we already lose out on that income stream. Depending on how big her intended practice would be, she could very well take a chunk on our regular Ortho procedures. Sure, maybe she'd request for surgery privileges here in Grey-Sloan, but her mere name alone would attract patients to her directly, not to our own doctors."

Meredith turned to Owen, "Do you know what Callie would do next?"

"Hang on, why would Dr. Hunt have any idea on what Dr. Torres's decision would be?" Jackson asked.

Cristina piped up, "They're really chummy."

Catherine raised her eyebrow, "Really?"

"We're friends," Owen said.

Meredith was the one to speak up this time, "Callie was here visiting Owen last week."

Through all these, Arizona was keeping quiet. She could only see one solution to this conundrum, and she was waiting to see who would figure it out as well.

Finally, someone said it. It was Derek.

"Why don't we just offer a position for Callie here?"

The others murmured their agreement.

Miranda supported this, "It wouldn't hurt to try, right? Maybe we can offer her a good package. If she agrees, then it's almost guaranteed the sports teams would engage with the hospital. We can offset her salary from there if her rates are now too high compared to her previous salary here. We may not be able to offer the same amount as the other institutions are offering, but we can make the benefits more attractive."

"She has a point. Maybe offer flexible hours? Her own lab? Assured research funding?" Meredith said.

Catherine considered all these. "Hmm… I agree. Now that I think about it, even her association with Henry would be good for our hospital."

"Uh, excuse me?" Owen exclaimed, insulted on Callie's behalf. "What does her relationship have to do with Grey-Sloan?"

The others were looking at Catherine curiously too.

"Well, since she's openly with Henry now, it won't take long for their respective social circles to know. If one of those millionaires suddenly needs an ortho procedure, who do you think they are going to? They'll go to Dr. Torres. Not exactly because she's Henry's girlfriend, but because her name would now have a recall outside the medical community. And when they check her credentials, they'd know she is also highly-regarded in the medical community," Catherine explained.

The rest were appeased with her explanation until she continued. "However, I will also not deny that given her relationship with Henry, the hospital might attract more donor interest too." She looked around the room and saw several affronted expressions. "Oh, come on. I'm not saying that's all Dr. Torres is worth. I am merely being a realist and seeing this from the business side. Let me be clear so you can put away your pitchforks – Callie Torres is a gem of a surgeon. Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital would greatly benefit if she would come back into the fold, with or without her multi-billionaire boyfriend."

She looked towards Owen, "So, Dr. Hunt, please prepare a salary and benefits offer for Dr. Torres as soon as you can."

Owen shook his head, "I respectfully decline to do that, Dr. Avery."

"And why is that?"

"Like I said, we're friends."

"That didn't stop you before from negotiating her contract as Chief of Surgery."

Owen conceded the point. "Okay. But now it's no longer appropriate because I know most of her employment offers and the avenues she is looking into. It would not be decent of me to prepare our offer." What he didn't want to say was that aside from what he verbalized, he was sure that if he was to talk to Callie about it and be the one to give the offer, Callie would most likely accept not due to how good the offer would be, but because of her misguided gratitude to him for saving her life. He wanted Callie to decide based on what's good for her, not because of her unnecessary need to repay her supposed debt.

"Very well. Jackson, prepare the offer and send it to me for review before we reach out to Dr. Torres. Move with haste because she might decide soon; we don't want to miss our chance," Catherine said.

Jackson nodded.

The meeting was adjourned after a few more hospital concerns were discussed.

Arizona looked at her watch and briskly walked towards the elevator.

Arizona was frantically knocking at the door before she heard someone from the inside, "Come in!"

She went inside the room and without any preamble blurted out, "There might be a chance that Callie is coming back to work here. And I don't know how to feel about it."

Her therapist, Dr. Katharine Wyatt, looked up at her and said, "Sit down then. Where do you want to begin?"