Foolish games, part 24
Characters: Callica
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Sorry this took forever to post! I've hardly had any time to write, be online or relax lately, so this took a while...
Callie was looking at the board, surprised at the lack of surgeries on it today. It was the perfect opportunity for her to get the mountain of paperwork done, which she desperately didn't want to do. She sighed, catching herself hoping they'd get a good pile-up coming in soon, and immediately reprimanding herself for thinking such a thing.
Dr. Wright came up beside her and let out a sigh of his own. The board reminded him that his day was full of burn victims and cancer survivors, all of whom he needed to perform reconstructive surgery on. He looked over at the Orthopedic resident, then at the board, seeing that she had a stressfree day ahead of her, unless a bus flipped over on the highway or something.
«Dr. Torres.» He nodded at her.
«Dr. Wright.» Callie's tone was a little questioning, seeing as Kevin Wright mostly ignored her.
«It must be nice getting benefits by sleeping with your boss, huh?» Smiling slyly, he raised his eye brows at her like he had simply asked her what she thought of the weather.
«Excuse me?» Callie thought she couldn't have heard it right.
«Yeah, you fucking Dr. Hahn, that must come in handy when the shedule is put together, right?» He grinned at her, as if he had just said something funny, before walking away, leaving Callie speechless, with her mouth agape, trying to think of something, anything, to say.
***
Erica let herself in and locked the door behind her. It had been a long day, she had hardly seen Callie at all and she was looking forward to finally spending some time home alone with her. The house was dark and she was disappointed, obviously Callie wasn't there. Just as she was trying to figure out why she had beat Callie home, as Callie's shift ended hours before Erica's, she heard a noise from the living room.
«Callie...?»
No answer.
She hung her coat on the rack and left her bag by the small table in the hallway, before venturing into the darkened house, flipping light switches as she went.
Entering the living room, she saw the small lamp next to the couch was on, but otherwise the room was dark. In the dim light she saw the contours of Callie lying on the couch. She heard a muffled snivel and rushed over to the couch.
«Callie?» She knelt down on the floor in her pin stripe pants, which she only ever wore for work, not caring if they got creased or dirty. Callie was facing the back of the couch, and Erica gently pulled Callie's hair back to see her face. The latina felt bad for making Erica worry, and she knew she wouldn't be any less concerned when she saw her red and puffy eyes. However, feeling Erica's fingers on her skin, Callie automatically turned towards her lover, her girlfriend, her anchor, and away from the shelter she had been hiding in for the last hours.
«Baby, what happened?» Erica's voice was full of concern as she leant down and planted a soft kiss on Callie's cheek, which was raw and moist from tears. Callie seized the opportunity to throw her arms around the blonde's neck. Breathing in Erica's scent, feeling her close and having her senses full of Erica always soothed Callie. Erica rested her cheek on Callie's, and let Callie hold her, wanting nothing more than to ease Callie's pain, whatever the reason for it may be.
Finally, Callie let go and tried explaning what had happened.
«He - he - he told me that - that I was lucky to, to, to be...» Callie's voice trailed off into a sob, and she sat up, while Erica sat down next to her on the couch, immediately putting her arms around the younger woman, stroking her back reassuringly, waiting for her to find her words.
«...To be... fucking my... boss, that it must help when... when the shedules are made!» She ended in a high-pitched whimper, barely getting the words out.
Erica's eyes grew wide as she pulled away just enough to catch Callie's eyes.
«Who.» She was so angry with whoever said such a thing to her girlfriend, that it didn't even sound like a question, more a demand.
«Dr. Wright», Callie managed.
«That fucking prick! How dare he say...!» Erica abruptly stopped when she realized that her anger and harsh words wouldn't make Callie feel any better. Closing her mouth, Erica let out a breath, trying to calm herself down, not wanting to make Callie more upset than she already was.
The blonde held Callie's gaze while rubbing her arms soothingly.
«You know that he is wrong. You know that I'm not your boss.» Erica spoke slowly and softly, being as gentle with Callie as she would be with a startled bird.
«You know that we're not in this for the wrong reasons.» She paused. «We're in a stable relationship. We're not doing anything wrong. He is wrong.»
«He thought---thought that I get benefits from, from... Like, like it was... Like I had a plan to... Like, like...» Callie's eyes widened, the tears spilled down her cheeks as she struggled to articulate what she was thinking. Compassion clear in her features, Erica waited calmly for Callie to get everything off her chest, wanting to be there for her in any way she could.
«As if this whole thing was just an act, as if my love for you... wasn't real», Callie finally managed. «He made it dirty.» She started sobbing again, leaning against Erica's chest, her shoulders heaving with her heavy sobs. The blonde held her tight, whispered soothing words and waited for Callie to calm down, while silently cursing Dr. Wright for what he had done to her.
Callie's sobs became less violent, in the end it was just an occasional snivel.
«Do people think I'm like that? Fake...» The disheveled-looking brunette looked up at Erica quizzically, finally finding the words she had kept to herself. «Acting?» She bowed her head as her voice became wobbly.
«That it's about benefits?» Tears started running over her cheeks once more.
«Oh my God, honey...» Erica cupped her face with both hands, and locked eyes with Callie, making sure she paid attention to what she said.
«No one believes that. Everyone can see our love is real.» She let her hands fall to Callie's lap and entwined their fingers.
«You know, a couple of weeks back, after a difficult surgery, you were waiting for me with a sandwich, remember?»
Callie nodded - in that sweet, childish way people do when they're trying to hold back the tears - but she wasn't sure where Erica was going with this.
«You said you knew how I often forget to eat after surgeries like that, when I've been in the OR for half a day, and I'm riding the high which surgeries give me... You had waited over an hour, just to give me a sandwich - my favorite sandwich, to make sure I would eat after surgery. The scrub nurses saw that. You should have seen the smile one of them gave me as I followed you down the hall. She had no doubt about how lucky I am. Neither did any of the others. Neither do I.» Those cerulean eyes looked right through Callie, making sure the brunette was convinced by her words.
«You're the best thing in my life, and if someone can't see the connection and chemistry we have, the ease we're surrounded by - - - They're just plain stupid.» A crooked smile played on the blonde's lips. Callie managed a smile, and this time it reached her moist eyes as well.
«Besides, if Dr. Wright doesn't understand that what's on the surgical board has to do with our patients and not about any connections the staff may have, he is just plain stupid.» Another nod from Callie before she shifted to lean her head on the blonde's shoulder. She closed her eyes when she felt Erica run her fingers through her hair and she could feel herself already relax. Erica was right, a blind person could see the love between the two of them.
«Erica... I don't know what I'd do without you.»
«It's good you don't have to find out, then.»
«You promise?» Callie raised her head and looked up at the blonde.
«I promise.» There was that sweet smile Erica never gave anyone else but Callie. In Callie's opinion, lips smiling that sweetly need a kiss, so she sat up just enough for their lips to meet. Kissing Erica was something Callie could spend hours doing, and it was still as new and exciting every time. She had never met anyone who touched her to the core the way Erica did. The blonde didn't even have to try, she just saw right through Callie and knew exactly what she needed to hear to keep her together. Just having Erica there with her erased all the bad moments from her day, and she couldn't understand how she had coped with her life before Erica. As Callie raised her hand to caress Erica's cheek as they deepened the kiss, Callie thought about how her life must have been incredibly pointless before Erica. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt Erica's soft, pink muscle roam her mouth and her arms embracing her tighter.
When they pulled away for air, neither woman let go, and they stayed in a tight embrace for several minutes, until Callie took Erica's hand and got up from the couch. There was a question in Callie's eyes which Erica knew she would always answer yes to. She got up and was instantly met by Callie's lips on hers once more. Just like that first time in the elevator, when their lips touched for the first time, Erica's whole body tingled. Callie crossed her arms in front of her body and lifted the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it off and dropping it recklessly to the floor. The mischievous grin was back on her face and Erica couldn't help but smile right back at her. She followed Callie upstairs, determined to show her with every fiber of her being that what she and Callie had was much, much more than just out of the ordinary.