The Truth Behind Arizona's Past (4/?)

[sgafirenity]

Title: The Truth Behind Arizona's Past
Author: sgafirenity 
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Summary:This is following the moment at the end of 6.18. It’s going to resolve the baby issues these two are having by bringing up some of Arizona’s past.  There is something in Arizona's past that is the reason she doesn't want kids. What could it be?

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and thecharacters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of theoriginal material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in afictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual

Author's Note: Okay so this one has somewhat of a cliff hanger sort of. I'm really into the cliff-hangers, I don't know but it does reveal some more of Arizona's past. The ending is sad so watch out for those of you who cry easily.

Next chapter will reveal a LOT. It will really explain why Arizona doesn't want kids. First enjoy Chapter 4.

Oh and I should say I don't have any medical knowledge besides what I hear/see on Grey's Anatomy and what I read on Wikipedia. I also don't have a beta so mistakes are all mine.


CHAPTER 4 - MATT'S RESEMBLANCE

Callie and Arizona rush into the ER wearing their dark blue scrubs looking for the patient they were paged for.

"Oh good, Dr, Robbins your here," Avery rushes up to Arizona unaware of Callie behind. He knows of Arizona's talents of getting a kid to stop screaming and was too eager to get her to get him to stop.

"What do we have?" Arizona looks at Avery sternly turning off all the hurt and fear she was feeling mere minutes earlier.

Walking along side Arizona towards trauma 1, "We have a 7 year old boy with what looks to be a broken arm. We're not a 100% sure that's it's broken because of his age so we paged Dr. Torres too. Do you know where she is-"He looks up and finally see Callie following them, "Oh Dr. Torres, I didn't see you there."

Callie shakes off the fact that she was basically forgotten, "Do we know what happened?"

"Um..." he nervously looks at the chart in his hands. "His parents said he fell down the stairs because he was too excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought him. Apparently he hit the ground pretty hard and was complaining that he couldn't move his wrist anymore."

"Alright," Arizona nods as Avery hands her the chart before entering Trauma 1 with Callie and Avery following behind. Putting on a smile she looks towards the screaming boy, "Hi..." she looks at the chart to see his name: Matthew. "Matthew....I'm Doctor Robbins, the Paediatric surgeon on-call, this is Dr, Torres." She points to Callie who is on the other side of the bed.

From where Callie is standing, without touching the boy, she observes his arm and sees some swelling surrounding his wrist.

The little boy stops his crying to look at the cheery happy blonde woman in front of him, "My name is Matt." Sniff. "My arm.....it really.....really....hurts."

"Okay, well we're going to give you something for the pain." She looks over at the nurse coming in with an IV bag and needle. She looks back at Matt with a glint in her eye, "The thing is we have to put this needle into your arm to give you the medicine."

He begins to whimper again, "I don't like needles."

Arizona places a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Well see this isn't any normal needle."

"It isn't..." he looks at her curiously.

She shakes her head, "No it isn't. See by letting this nice nurse put this in your arm you'll become an honorary member."

He looks at her intrigued a smile tugging at his lips, "Member of what?"

She leans in close so he thinks only he can hear and whispers, "A secret society."

"A secret society?" He whispers back, "For what?"

She leans back, "That's classified."

"What do you mean it's classified?" The boy furrows his brow as he is completely unaware of his pain now.

"You're not a member of the society so I can't just tell you what it is. It wouldn't be a secret then....now would it?"

He sighs in defeat, "No."

"Now I'm not going to lie to you Matt, becoming a member of this society, it's a little painful. It will pinch when it goes in but that's how it works. Plus one little pinch gains you....let's say two lollipops from me. Let's think of it like an initiation. If you pass, you will join the society, how does that sound?" She looks at Matt seeing his face light up.

His blue eyes gleaming and to Callie's surprise the boy has dimples as well. He looks a lot like Arizona except he has brown hair instead of blonde. What a coincidence? Does Arizona have a child I don't know about? She questions this as the needle is being put into his arm.

As Arizona said, it pinched a little bit but with his excitement he barely even felt it. Who wouldn't want to have a needle be put in them if they got to join a secret society?

"There, all done." She pulls out two lollipops from her pocket. "These are for you."

He happily accepts them, "So when do I get to hear about the society?"

"You will as soon as you let Dr. Torres here," She motions to Callie on her right, "examine your arm and then I will tell you about the society, deal?"

He nods crazily as he looks over to his left at Callie.

"Okay Matt, could you hold out your arm for me to look at?" She asks calmly hoping he won't start crying again.

He looks at Arizona and she slightly nods. "Okay, as long as you don't hurt it."

"I won't," she answers him as she gently examines his arm trying not to hurt him more.

*********

After examination of the arm she comes to a conclusion of his arm.

"It looks to me like he has what is called a 'Greenstick Fracture'." His parents look at her confused. "It most commonly occurs in children because their bones aren't fully developed yet. The bone hasn't quite broken but it has partially broken. We should probably get an X-ray just to be sure but if I'm right, he'll need a cast for a couple of months for it to heal." She looks at Matt, "but we'll make sure it's a coloured, maybe blue." His face lights up. "The best thing about a cast Matt is that you can draw on it with markers or put stickers on it."

"Really?" He asks excited for his cast.

Callie nods, "Ya." She turns to Dr. Avery, "Set him up for an X-ray for his left wrist. Page me when you get the results."

He nods, "Okay."

Matt turns back to Arizona as Dr. Avery leaves the room, "So are you going to tell me about the society now?" He looks at her anxiously.

Arizona looks at Callie before looking back at Matt, "Well you see this society isn't for just anyone so you should be very happy you got in."

Callie leans in closer to Matt and whispers, "She lies, I found a way around the system to get in without doing the initiation first." She winks at him.

"You did?"

"Ya, but don't tell Dr. Robbins," Arizona looks at her curiously wondering what she just whispered to their patient, "Because I could get in a lot of trouble."

"What are you two whispering about?" She looks between the two.

Callie stands up straight, wide-eyed, "Nothing. Please continue with what you were saying."

Arizona eyes Callie, "Anyways, as I was saying, not everyone can get into this society." Callie and Matt snicker at Callie's earlier comment. "So when you do get in, you get a special certificate to prove you are in the society."

"Awe....just a certificate," he whines.

Arizona shakes her head, "Not just that but when you are part of the society, special things happen to you without you even realizing it."

He looks at her wide-eyed, "Like what?"

"I don't know. It's different with every person. For me, I met the most wonderful person in the world," she makes eye contact with Callie. "In more ways than one, this person has changed my life."

His smile widens, "Really? So that could happen to me. Something great will happen?"

She nods, "Sometime down the road your moment will happen. Something special or incredible will happen. However you have to be patient, it could come at any moment. Could take hours, days or even years, you just have to be patient enough to wait. Trust me the wait is worth it."

Callie's smile widens knowing that who Arizona is referring to is her.

"Anyways, Dr. Torres and I will come back when you've had your x-rays done, sound good Matt?" Arizona asks looking at the little boy.

He nods cheerfully, "Okay."

With that Arizona and Callie exit the room.

As they turn a corner out of earshot of any nurses Callie finally breaks the silence, "Thanx for that back there."

Arizona smiles slightly, "Well, it's true." She stops in her tracks to look Callie right in the eyes. "You mean a lot to me. I would hate to lose you."

"Speaking of losing me, are you going to tell me who this 'him' you were referring to earlier," Arizona turns and begins walking again. Callie catches up to her and stops her, "We have to talk about this."

"Ya we do, but could we talk about it later. I'd rather not do this here at the hospital." She looks into Callie's brown eyes pleadingly. Maybe just maybe she will take the hint and back off.

Callie sees the look in her girlfriend's eyes and drops the subject to something more cheery, "So, secret society huh?"

That dimple smile that Callie loves so much appears, "Ya, and no laughing it's a real society. What I want to know is how you got in without my knowledge. I am the leader and yet, I didn't know you were a member. How come that is?"

Seeing that she is clearly joking Callie plays along, "Oh you are not going to crack me Arizona. Just know that I have my ways of getting into secret societies." She wraps her arm around Arizona's shoulders.

"I see." She glares at her. "Well you should know that you have missed some events....some good events." Her eyebrow rises up mischievously.

"Oh ya, what events would that be?" She asks playing along with her little game.

"I think you can think of what kinds of events," her smile turns to a grin as Callie realizes what she is talking about. This brings a slight blush to Callie's cheeks.

*********

After forty-five minutes, Callie and Arizona walk back into Matt's room after being paged that the x-rays were done.

Callie walks up to the side of his bed with her supplies for a cast, "Alright Matt, I was correct with my diagnosis and you will need a cast." She turns to his parents, "He'll have to keep it on for a couple of months. If it heals quickly, it could turn into weeks. That means no gym for a while, and he must keep it elevated as much as possible." She turns back to Matt, "Okay buddy that means no climbing trees or running down stairs anymore, alright?"

He nods before looking over at Arizona, "Do you have my certificate Dr. Robbins?" He looks at her noticing that she looks a little lost.

Arizona can't help but stare at the little boy. Not until now did she see the resemblance. For the first time since she got on this case she took the time to look at the boy. His brown hair, combined with his blue eyes, he looked too familiar. He looked like someone, a little boy she used to know. A patient she couldn't save. A patient they wouldn't let her save.

She sees his mouth moving and realizes he's talking to her but by the time she snaps into reality he has stopped talking, "I'm sorry what did you say?"

"I asked if you have my certificate," he asks.

"Right," she pulls out a rolled up paper from her pocket. Handing him the paper, "I now announce that you are an honorary member of the secret society of Seattle Grace - Mercy West Hospital Max." She smiles showing off her dimples as he unrolls the paper.

Matt looks at it all excited completely missing the fact that she just called him Max.

His parents however noticed. His mom speaks up, "Um...his name is Matt."

"What?" Arizona looks at her confused. Did I not Say Matt?

The woman steps closer to the bed coming to stand next to Callie who is prepping his wrist for the cast. "You just called my son Max....his name is Matt."

Arizona looks at her shocked, why did I do that? He's been gone for so long. "Oh, I'm sorry; I have another patient named Max." She apologizes, "I have another patient who looks similar to Matt. I must have just gotten the names mixed up. It's been a long day. I'm sorry about that."

Callie looks over at Arizona confused. Arizona doesn't have a patient named Max. Why is she lying to a patient's mother? Who is this Max? Her eyebrow furrows in confusion and she knows Arizona sees it. She can tell because Arizona averts her eyes from Callie's stare.

"Alright, well I guess you don't need my help do you Dr. Torres?" She asks not wanting to be stuck in a room filled with more awkwardness.

Callie shakes her head, "No, there's really nothing else you can do Dr. Robbins." Still looking at her quite confused as to why she lied.

She nods slightly, "Okay, well Matt, I guess it was nice meeting you." She brings a bright smile to her face, "It's nice to have a new member to the society," she says as she sticks out her hand.

He pulls his gaze away from the very colourful certificate and shakes her hand, "Nice to meet you to Dr. Robbins. Thank you for this," he raises the certificate, "and the lollipops."

"You are very welcome. Just make sure you don't lose that now because if you do....well how will you ever prove you were in a secret society?" She raises her eyebrow questionably.

His smile widens, "I won't. Thanx again."

She then pulls out a stick from her pocket, "Here." She hands him a smiley face sticker. "This is for your cast. It's for you to remember me by and for you to look at whenever you feel in pain or just want to feel happy."

He gawks at the sticker, "Thank you Dr. Robbins." He turns to his parents, "Mom Dad, look what Dr. Robbins gave me?"

"We see that Matt, now why don't you let Dr. Torres finish putting your cast on so that you can stick it on?"

"Okay," he gives up as her looks on at his sticker.

Arizona looks at Matt again looking at the resemblance of the little boy she used to know. Emotions overwhelm her and she feels the need to leave, "Alright.....I guess I'll just leave you to put the cast on him Dr. Torres." She looks to Callie holding back the emotion she is feeling.

Unfortunately Callie can see right through her and can tell something is wrong. She watches Arizona leave but can't help but go after her, "I'm sorry I will be right back, okay Matt?"

He nods his head as he looks on at his certificate and sticker.

"Arizona!" She calls after her. Callie can tell she has heard her when she freezes in her step. "Are you okay?" She asks her coming around in front of her trying to look her in the eyes but failing miserably.

She nods, "I'm fine. Go, do your job, I'll be at your apartment. We'll talk then, okay?"

"Okay," she agrees even though she doesn't like leaving her girlfriend when she is clearly upset about something. What could she be upset about? Is she still upset about her dream?

Callie unfortunately does as Arizona said and goes back to put the cast on the little boy while Arizona walks away from Callie without even a glance.

*********

Callie walks into her apartment just as the sun is rising and the light from the sun is lighting up the apartment. Light bouncing off the fridge in the kitchen, off the stool her beautiful girlfriend is sitting on. As she steps farther into the room, she notices something in her girlfriend's hand. It looks to be a picture. It looks to be a wallet size picture, the same size as the one Callie keeps with her at all times of Arizona.

She approaches her girlfriend, placing her jacket and purse on the couch. "Who is that?" She looks at the picture as she sits down in the stool beside her.

Arizona finally looks at Callie, face filled with tear stains. She had clearly been crying, her eyes all puffy, "This is Max." A tear falls down her cheek at the memory of him.

"Okay," she wipes away the tear with her thumb as it falls down her cheek. "Who is Max? Was he a patient of yours?"

Arizona shakes her head, "No, he wasn't a patient of mine. They wouldn't let me be his doctor." She looks back at the picture as the memory of not being able to help him comes rushing back.

"There has to be something you can do for him...." tears fall down her cheeks. "I mean he's only 2 years old, he hasn't experienced life yet." She holds back a sob, "You can't let him die."

"Dr. Robbins, there isn't a cure for the Alexander Disease, you know that. I would bet you did a TON of research too. Your doctor instincts kicked in and you hit the books, you probably know more about this disease than I do. So you know there isn't a cure." He places a hand on her shoulder in hopes of comforting her.

"NO! I won't believe it! I can't lose him, I can't. Please," she begs. "Please save him Dr. Simmons."

Just then they hear the code blue alarm go off in the room she had just come out of. Dr. Simmons and her run towards the room. They try and try to bring him back, shocking him over and over again until they give up....the flat-line echoing throughout the room.

More tears fall from Arizona eyes, "I couldn't save him. He died." A tear falls on the picture she is holding. A picture of a cute little boy with bright blue eyes and dimple smile just like Arizona's only he had dark hair.

Callie leans closer placing a comforting hand on her back and rubbing small circles hoping to ease her pain. It does somewhat as she feels her release some of her tenseness. "Arizona, was he more that a patient?"

She finally looks back at Callie again, "He....he was....." A sob is let out not being able to say it out loud.

"You can tell me." Callie urges on wanting to know what is causing so much pain in her girlfriend.

Another tear falls down her cheek, "Max was my son."

I bet none of you were expecting that. Leave me A Review about it.

--SGAFirenity--