Ten Blade

12.11

"Well... it's, uh... it's a big... it's a big ask. And I wouldn't ask, but I need someone who knows me and my kid." Callie explained, as the younger surgeon moved to check the child's feeding tube. "And we went through our pregnancies together, so who better than you for that? A-and I need someone people trust with kids, and you're the... well, you've known me for a long-"

"Callie." Helena chuckled at the rambling. "What do you need?"

"No, wait, hold on." The ortho surgeon tried, lifting up her right hand to stop Helena from interrupting. "Ok, I also know that you have a relationship with Arizona, with all your Dimple Duo-ness and all. A-and I don't know if she's already asked you, but..."

At that, Helena sighed, closing her eyes. "You're asking me to take the stand for you, for your custody thing?"

"Oh, God, thank you!" Callie exhaled in relief.

"No, wait, I don't... Callie, I love you. You know that. We're family, and you were Mark's person a-and you've lived with me... I love you. But I also love Arizona." Helena tried to explain. "So I don't know how I can... I can't pick sides. If there's a way I can figure out how to do this without picking sides, I'll do it, ok? But I just... I need time to figure out how to do that."

"Ok." Callie nodded. "I- ok. Thank you."

——

"Huh? Callie asked you?" Arizona asked Helena, as the two had lunch together. "What did you say?"

"I said what I'm saying to you. That I'm not picking sides." Helena took a bite of her apple, already done with her main dish.

"So you're not testifying?" Arizona narrowed her eyes at the shorter doctor.

"No, I-I am. I just said that I'm not picking sides." The younger attending nodded. "Look, I-I love you. You're my mentor, and my fellowship colleague and we went through a whole lot of plane-crashy, child-and-limb-losing things together. I love you. I love you and I love Callie. And I will not let that 'and' turn into a 'but', because they are not mutually exclusive. So, instead of not testifying for either of you, I'm testifying for both." Helena explained. "If the both of you are ok with it, I'll testify for both. If not, I won't testify for either. Because there is no way I can pick between the two of you, let alone the one I should help get custody of your child. So, are you ok with that?"

"Ok..." Arizona nodded. "I-I'm ok with that."

Just then, Penelope Blake approached the table the two sat at, as Helena took another bite of her fruit. "Dr. Robbins?"

"Blake. What do you want?" Arizona let out, a bit exasperated, making Helena furrow her brows.

"I just got the labs." She muttered.

"You are everywhere! She is everywhere." The blond turned to Helena, whose eyes widened. Quickly, she filled her mouth with a big bite, trying to avoid being part of the situation. "It's like she's a spy for Callie."

"Listen..." The redhead tried.

"What?! Did you hear enough? Do you want us to just go over anything for you, so you can report back that I'm incompetent, and that I miss things as a doctor and as a mother?" Arizona rambled, standing up with her paper cup of soda and her tablet. "I mean, what else? What else? You know what? Hey, do they know about the fake leg?! Cause I'm definitely not the best runner in a crisis. So why don't you go back and report that to them and just back off of me. Just back off!" As the last sentence came out louder than expected, most of the cafeteria stopped to stare, as Arizona left.