Callie's POV:
It was Thursday morning, finally, and the day I had a big procedure in the OR. I was working with a team of other surgeons and residents on one of the Seattle Sounders, our professional soccer team. He had fractured his left tibia and fibula during a match and had to be carted off the pitch, as a result.
So, he was pinning his hopes and career on our team that morning if he was going to be able to play professionally again. No pressure, right?
Arizona and I drove separately that day, but only because she was off early in order to pick-up the girls from her parents, later on. Since I knew I'd be about 10 minutes ahead of Arizona, I took a moment to get us both coffee from the kiosk near the garage entrance and waited for my wife to appear in the main lobby.
Sure enough, we locked eyes immediately as Arizona walked through the parking garage door.
"Callie! You are a godsend if that coffee is for me?!"
"Of course, Arizona! There's no one else I want to buy coffee for other than you, my love." I handed her the cup, as she smiled and kissed my cheek.
"I know you are just trying to be charming as you buy coffee for other people all the time. Nonetheless, I need the caffeine so I'm just going to say thank you, my love!"
I kissed Arizona's cheek and took her hand as we walked to the elevators and rode to our office floors. After a quick peck on the lips, we parted ways and started our work days.
I dropped my things off in my office and headed to the locker room to change into scrubs for the surgery I had scheduled in an hour. That morning, the soccer star was going to have an open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) procedure. Meaning, we'd need to open up the leg to re-align and put the bones in their correct position. Next, we'd be using various surgical tools (screws, pins, etc.) for reconnecting the bones.
It's usually a straightforward procedure, however, this player's leg was the result of an injury that shattered his fibula as his tibia pierced the skin. The bones were basically destroyed, but that's where my expertise came in to play. Rebuilding bones out of nothing is something I excelled at and loved doing. In fact, I had opened up the observation gallery to any of our staff or residents that wanted to watch.
My heart rate was up that morning, but not because of the caffeine. No, I was flying high on the endorphins I was already feeling as I got pumped up about the challenge that laid ahead of me in OR 3.
I was happy that morning that everyone and everything was ready to go and on time for a change. It's amazing to me how a VIP patient has a completely different experience than most of our other patients in terms of our readiness. Oh well, I was just thrilled for a change to start the surgery on time.
When all was said and done, the procedure took about two and a half hours. I would have been done in two hours, but the damage to the fibula was so great, that I had to place a rod I wasn't initially thinking I'd need to place. The joys of surgery sometimes is that we don't know exactly what's going to occur until we open someone up. It sounds archaic, but it happens a lot in my discipline.
As I scrubbed out of the OR, it was lunch time, finally! I was starving that afternoon since I only ate a couple of hard boiled eggs for breakfast at 6 am. Realizing I had my afternoon free, I decided to pick-up something from the restaurant a block away from the hospital campus.
It was a basic cafe that had a little of everything, but everything they served, was amazing. It was nothing fancy, but there was something about their burgers I loved. I decided to splurge that day and ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries to go. Once I had my food in hand, I opted to sit on one of the benches outside and eat my lunch. It was in the low 80's that late June day, with brilliant blue skies.
After a rocky start to my week, I finally felt like I could fully exhale. My "tough" surgery for the week was done and went off without a hitch. Madelyn was doing much better and her fever had resolved by that morning. We were no longer worried that her illness was RSV or something other than the flu.
And the events of my Monday night had been resolved and worked out with Arizona. Despite the fact that Arizona had forgiven my irresponsible ways, I still felt horrible about my over consumption of alcohol that night. Nonetheless, it felt like things had been worked out, so we could all move on.
After finishing my lunch and cleaning up my trash, I headed back to my office to work on admin tasks. I was in a good mood and decided to switch on some music while I worked.
I was about two hours into my stack of papers, when I heard a knock on my door. I looked up to see Charley peering in from the threshold of my open door.
"Well, hey there stranger! How goes it, Charley?"
I was smiling at Charley when I realized she looked like a scared rabbit trying to figure out her next move. 'That's odd,' I thought, so I invited her in.
(Recently she or I had started freely walking into our offices due to our familiarity from the sheer amount of time we had spent working together.)
"Charley? What are you doing out there in the hall? Come in and close the door." I motioned for her to grab one of the chairs in front of my desk.
Still looking hesitant, Charley walked in, but didn't shut the door like she normally does. She also didn't sit down and remained standing about 5 feet from my desk.
"Callie, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if this is a good time for us to talk?"
Charley seemed nervous as she spoke, which was completely uncharacteristic for the malpractice attorney who was always confident and if not, a little bit cocky.
"Totally, what's wrong, Charley? Did something change with the lawsuit? What's happened?!"
I was starting to feel the stress of Charley's presence as she looked frazzled.
"Callie, there's something I need to talk to you about and I'm not sure how you are going to handle what I'm about to say."
"In that case, why don't you close my door and take a seat? You might as well be comfortable if you have to give me bad news."
"Callie, what I need to say is not about the lawsuit, but about our interactions on Monday night. And, is there any chance you can join me in the conference room that is down the hall?"
"What's wrong with my office and why do we need a conference room? If you're going to, 'fire me,' then go ahead and do it here. No need to march me to a conference room for everyone to see my reaction or in an attempt to minimize it. Charley, you can't get rid of me, please! I've really enjoyed working on this case so if I've done something wrong, I'll fix it. Just tell me what I need to do."
"Callie, you've done nothing wrong and have been a consummate friend and knowledgeable physician throughout this discovery process of the case. No, I'm the one that screwed up and that's why I'm here. If you'll join me in the conference room, I can explain everything."
"Okay." I hesitantly grabbed my keys and put my cell phone in an inside lapel pocket of my lab jacket I was wearing. I've said it before and I'll say again. We basically wear our lab jackets so we can pack multiple items without looking like pack mules.
After closing and locking my door, I followed Charley to a conference room that's about 30 yards from my office. Once inside the room, Charley walked around and opened every set of blinds, before then closing the door.
"What's all this for, Charley?" I was confused why she had drug me into a conference room when we always met in our offices? And what was with her opening all the blinds? It felt like we were meeting in a fish bowl.
Charley sat down, across the table from me and said, "This is a result of something I did that I'm not proud of. In fact, since it happened, I've been racked with guilt about my actions."
"What did you do that I am unaware of? It can't be that bad!"
"Well, Callie, I don't know why I did it, but do you remember on Monday night when you tripped and fell on top of me on the couch?"
"Yeah... I am sorry about how klutzy I can be."
"I am guessing you don't remember or you would have said something to me that next morning. It's not like I really gave you the opportunity though Callie, since I literally ran off that morning before you had the chance to remember what happened."
"What do you mean Charley about, me not remembering? Remember what? That I drank too much and passed out on your couch?"
"Actually Callie, when you fell on top of me, I kissed you. It was late, I had too much wine and you were just too hard for me to resist in my stupor."
"You did..., WHAT!?"
"Okay, so that answered my question... you really don't remember us kissing because I thought maybe you wanted it too?"
"Charley, I mean this next statement platonically... While you are an attractive woman, you're unfortunately, not my type. My type is the gorgeous, sarcastic, intelligent, witty, blonde girl I married. Arizona is my type and the only woman for me."
"So, you don't remember the kiss we shared, do you, Callie?"
"Not at all, and I'm frankly disappointed you'd try to take advantage of me in such a compromised state! Charley, how could you? I thought we were friends?!"
Charley buried her face in her hands that were resting on the conference table in front of her. I could hear her softly crying, briefly, before she picked her head back up and tried to suppress her remaining tears.
"Callie, you were so beautiful and vulnerable that night, I don't know what came over me. When you fell on top of me, I felt my heart soar and thought for a moment that maybe you felt like I did. I immediately realized the error of my drunken ways and wish to God that I could take it all back, but I can't. I just hope you can forgive me so I can start proving to you how much your friendship means to me."
"Charley, I am glad you told me all this, but it's going to take some time for us to figure out our new ground before I can move on. I know you were drunk, but I guess going forward, we should keep our meetings less private."
"That's exactly what Arizona said too."
"Arizona?! What?! How does she know about the kiss and I didn't until now?!"
Charley stood up as she deeply exhaled and started slowly pacing while she talked.
"Well, Arizona cornered me this morning in my office and that's when everything came out. I didn't initially say anything to her, but it was like she already knew with the way she spoke to me. So, I decided to come clean since the guilt has been eating away at me."
"Ohhhh, I see. So my wife was able to fish all of this information out of you this morning?"
Charley nodded, Yes.
I wasn't surprised that Arizona was able to extract the truth from Charley regarding Monday night's events. When she gets tenacious about uncovering the, 'honest truth,' look out world! The woman is relentless and always knows exactly what to say and do. In mine and Sophia's opinions, she's better than most lie detectors on the market.
"Just how mad was Arizona with me when you two were discussing the events of Monday night? Oh my god, just when I thought I was having a good day!"
"Callie, I'm truly sorry for whatever discord I've caused between you and Arizona. I just hope that in time, you both can forgive me."
At this point, I could feel my good mood shift into a huge funk. No doubt that Arizona would no longer be letting me work on the lawsuit or for that matter, be within 10 feet of Charley going forward.
Not to mention, I had no idea what I would be coming home to that night. If Arizona hadn't said anything to me at this point in the day about Charley, she had verbal fireworks ready for my arrival home.
"Charley, what kind of mood was Arizona in when you last saw her today? Did she say anything about being upset with me?"
"Arizona seemed really quiet, like scary quiet when she left my office. She barely spoke, but just acknowledged my words before she left."
"She wasn't saying much? Oh great, she's furious then. Arizona tends to get quiet when she feels her words are no longer effective in conveying her point."
"Well, that's exactly how I would describe her demeanor before she walked away. I hope you two are okay and I'm sorry Callie about everything. If I could just go back..."
I stopped Charley before she could utter her 6th apology to me.
"Charley, it will get figured out between myself and Arizona, so no need to worry about us. You and I on the other hand, need to figure some things out."
"Like if you're still going to be an expert witness for me on this case?"
"Something like that, yes. In my gut, I want to see this case through, however, you must understand that I need to talk to Arizona first."
"Makes complete sense and if you are still interested in helping, I really need your assistance. In fact, I'll be lost without your advice, but will understand if you need to excuse yourself."
"I'm going to need some time Charley, to first figure out how to put my life back together. I need to make sure my foundation with my wife and family is secure before making any decisions that affect my girls."
"That's more than fair, Callie, and I understand. I'm sorry for what I've done and can only hope you believe me."
"I know Charley, but you need to give me a couple days, maybe the weekend, to think things through... I will have an answer for you by Monday if I can continue working with you going forward."
"I promise you Callie that nothing like that will ever happen again between us."
I nodded that I heard Charley's words, stood up from my chair and approached Charley before exiting the door. I stood next to her for a couple seconds before I patted her right shoulder a couple times, gave her a half smile and then left the conference room and Charley behind me.
I hurried back down the hall, unlocked my door and then promptly closed it after entering my office. I had my back against the closed door as I started thinking about what had just happened. I half-thought about calling Arizona, but knew if she was at work or with our daughters, that she would tell me to wait until we had a moment alone.
Not having any other recourse than to wait, I sat back down at my desk and attempted to work. Which became a complete joke as my mind raced through all the possible outcomes that could befall me that evening when I got home.
Maybe Arizona was not that mad about the kiss. Then again, maybe she was furious and I wouldn't blame her. I know if someone had kissed Arizona that I would be upset and hurt. Arizona has such a sensitive heart that I knew she was probably crushed when Charley told her what she did.
I looked at the time on my cell phone and realized that I needed to stick around that day till at least 5 pm so I could fulfill my office hours for that afternoon. It was kind of a jerk move on my part, but I purposely left my door closed in the hopes it acted like a deterrent. For the most part, it worked until an overly enthusiastic group of 2nd year residents bombarded me with a slew of questions regarding the surgery that morning.
Why is it when you have no where to be, nobody seems to want you? Yet, when you have someplace to be, people come out of the woodwork, demanding your undivided attention? That's what happened to me that Thursday night and prevented me from leaving till after 5:30 pm.
As soon as I wrapped up my impromptu Q&A session with the residents, I packed up my things and headed to my car in the parking garage. Before I backed out of my spot, I texted Arizona to let her know I was leaving. I figured it was also my subtle opportunity to see what kind of responses she was sending. I might be able to get a feel for what I was walking in to.
I didn't hear anything for 5 minutes when Arizona wrote back, "See you soon, Calliope."
Of course, in my usual way, I started over analyzing those four words she sent.
It was such a brief text, but Arizona tended to send me shorter texts when I drove for safety reasons. So that thought didn't solve the mystery of her mood.
After analyzing her text again, I realized she used my full name. Arizona generally only uses my full name when she's happy with me or upset. And I suspected after hearing about the kiss, that she wouldn't be in a good mood, so logically, I was probably going to get an earful since she was already using my full name. Great.
I half thought about picking up flowers or something as an apology before I realized, I actually had nothing to be sorry for. I wasn't the one that kissed Charley, she kissed me. By buying flowers, it would make it seem like I was the guilty one, instead of being the person that was caught in the crossfire.
By the time I pulled in our driveway and opened the garage door, I was no closer to an answer about Arizona's mood and knew it was time to face the music. My gut told me that I was likely in trouble for the kiss and I had already humbled myself to getting a tongue lashing from my wife.
I got out of the car and slowly gathered my purse and briefcase before going in the house. I was in no huge hurry for what I was about to encounter and took my sweet time getting inside.
Once inside, I set my things down near our hall table and stopped to listen. . . Nothing. For once I couldn't hear a single thing. Trust me when I tell you how strange it is to walk into the house of a 4 month old and 10 year old and to only hear silence!
I stood there for a few minutes and waited. Surely the girls and Arizona were home, the SUV was in the garage and the interior door to the garage was unlocked. We only unlock that door during the day and only if we're home.
"Sophia? Maddy? Arizona? Sweetie? Where are you guys? I'm home!"
My usual greeting is always met by at least Soph who loves to bear hug us when we get home.
'That's strange.'
I walked into the media room and saw nothing. Figuring they might be doing something more soundproofed, I went to the basement to check out the home theater. Again, nobody was to be found and everything was turned off downstairs.
Now I started to panic and think of all the worst case scenarios I could come up with. As I pondered over the plausibility of all the options, I realized what probably happened. My guess was that Arizona had gone to her parent's house to pick-up the girls when she decided to stay there for the evening while she cooled off. It was completely what Arizona would do and I don't know why I didn't think of it before.
I sat down on one of the overstuffed couches in the basement and sobbed. Just this afternoon I was riding high and felt like things in my life had fallen in line, much like the bones I had reset and realigned that morning. Now here I was, sitting alone in our dark home theater, feeling fractured.
After a few minutes, I wiped away my tears and resolved to go change out of my work clothes. At least if I was going to spend the night alone, I was going to be comfortable doing it I figured.
Once back upstairs, as I approached our bedroom door, I realized that the door was mostly closed, but I could also see light being emitted from the room. Once I reached the door, I slowly pushed it open to discover something that I wasn't expecting to see...
The room was aglow with electric candles and a lone gift box that sat on the bed. The white box had a red ribbon tied around it with a small card attached. The inside of the card said, 'Open me, you'll know what to do next before you find me...'