Fighting For Love

Bad News

It's been a couple of days since the accident and Carter still hasn't woken up yet. His vitals were the same as they have been, he wasn't improving. I did my daily checkup on him and he was still the same, if he didn't get better we might have to talk to the family about letting him go. It was always a hard talk to have with families but it's what we would have to do. Cara and Elena stayed in his room all day every day crying and praying that he gets better. It was hard seeing these families go through so much pain, but I know exactly how they feel. Not a day goes by I don't think about my brother Derek, I wish he was still here. After checking on Carter I went to an on call room to lay down for a little bit. I walked up to one door and heard someone crying inside, and I knew exactly who it was. "Hey Arizona, it's me Amelia. Can I come in?" I asked knocking on the door. The crying abruptly stopped and there was a faint "yes" I heard. I slowly opened the door and Arizona was sitting on the bed with her head in her hands and her eyes full of tears. She had been crying for a while because her eyes were very red and her cheeks glistened from the tears. I walked in and sat on the bed next to her as she wiped her eyes and cheeks. "Are you okay, what's wrong?" I asked. She opened her mouth but nothing came out so she took a deep breath and tried again, "Me and Callie are going to court over custody for Sofia." She stuttered. Now I understood why she was crying so much, she loved Sofia so much. Sofia was Mark and Callie's kid but Arizona was just as much a parent as both of them. She always wanted what was best for Sofia and would do anything for her. "I'm so sorry." I replied. I reached my hand out to hers and her fingers interlocked with mine. She lifted her head and looked at me with tear filled eyes, "Thank you. The last thing I want to do is put Callie or Sofia in this position but I can't just let her take my daughter to New York. Do you think this is a good idea?" She asked. Their battle was none of my business so I didn't really want to give my input but I told her what I thought, "You are an amazing mother Arizona. I see the way you take care of Sofia and she's so lucky to have you. You want to fight for her and I get that, I think your doing the right thing." I said. She smiled a tiny bit, I bet she found a little comfort knowing she was in the right. I'm friends with Callie and she's an amazing surgeon and amazing person, but she can't just try and take Sofia away from Arizona. She may be the biological mother but they both helped raise her. I didn't want to pick sides between friends but I agreed with Arizona. After a couple minutes Arizona tilted her head and laid it on my shoulder, that's when I felt it. I always got this feeling with her and I was never able to describe it, a mix of happy and safe. I wrapped my arm around her and the feeling grew bigger. Her being here in my arms made a rush of emotions go through me. I was happy she could confide in me with these things. I felt safe with her, she always had the best mood and even being next to her made me feel safe. She's an extraordinary person and being able to comfort her made me feel really good. She deserved the world and it hurt I couldn't give it to her but this is the next best thing. She deserved someone to confide in, she deserved all the love she can get. I wish we could just stay like this, but after a few minutes my pager went off. I didn't want to look at it, I didn't want to leave but I had to. I took out the pager and it was for Carter's room, my mind immediately went to the worse. He must be dying, or possible already dead. The last thing I wanted to do was leave Arizona but I told her I had to go. She understood and laid down on the bed and let me go. I rushed to Carter's room hoping nobody died and nobody was in tears. I got to the door and bursted in to see Carter sitting up talking to Cara, who had tears in her eyes. The sight was shocking, when did he wake up? I was confused so I walked in and checked his EKG machine and asked him some questions. He seemed fine, he was talking and said he felt fine. I took some more tests and waited for them to come back. I just checked on him an hour and a half ago and he wasn't improving, I was shocked he was okay now. While I was waiting for the tests to return I went and checked on Arizona and she was asleep in the on call room. I walked up and put the blanket over her, pushed her hair out of her way, and then left. After a little while the tests were back and everything was clean, it seemed strange but he was alive and okay. I was going to go back and give them the news when I saw Arizona running past me, she slowed down a bit and yelled " It's Cara!" What? What's wrong with Cara? She was completely fine these past couple days. I started following Arizona and when we got in Cara was on the floor with nurses all around her. "What's going on?" I asked. A nurse stood up, "She had a seizure" she replied. What? They had her on her side and I got down to look and see if her pupils were dilated. They were normal and her breathing was normal. Me and Arizona helped get her on a stretcher and took her up to CT. She stopped seizing and was just laying there but her breathing and pupils were still normal. There was a couple people in like for CT so I hoped it wouldn't take a long time. If Cara had neurological problems wouldn't they have noticed in the CT? Why was she seizing. We waited for about 20 minutes and were finally able to get Cara in the machine. We waited for the results and Arizona anxiously tapped her fingers on the desk. We was wondering why she still hadn't woken up yet but once the scans came back we knew why. She had a giant tumor in her frontal lobe. It was obvious it wasn't very new, but why didn't anyone notice it? "Hey Arizona, can you please go grab the files and charts for her. See what the head CT said." I asked her. "Sure thing" she replied and walked off to go get them. I got Cara out of the machine and she started waking up. I asked her a series of questions and she said one minute she was talking to her dad and the next everything was black. I immediately got her in a room and sent away a sample to see if her tumor was cancerous or benign. I had to explain the whole thing to her parents and they were just as confused. "She's never shown any signs of a tumor or any other neurological condition. How did this happen?" Elena asked with tears filling her eyes. This was hard for a parent to hear and I understood. "I had a brain tumor myself. It was benign and I got it removed. If Cara's tumor is benign it looks easily resectable. I will do everything I can to help your daughter." I assured her. She finished answering some questions and I left to check on Cara. I walked in and she was laying on her side and I could hear her crying. I walked up to her and rubbed her back, "Hey Cara it's Dr. Shepherd, are you okay?" I asked her. She slowly lifted herself up but bursted into tears again. "I-I'm scared. I-I've never had a t-tumor before. I-I've never r-really been sick." She stuttered trying to control her crying. Having a tumor was scaring but I can't imagine how a 10 year old felt right now. "I know it's scary but I am a very good surgeon and I will do everything in my power to help you. I promise." I said running her back and moving her hair out of her face. We talked for a little longer about what's going on and how the tumor will affect her. I was so busy focusing on her I didn't notice Arizona standing in the doorway. "I have to go talk with Dr. Robbin's, I'll be back later." I said. She unlatched her hand from my arm. "Did the tests come back yet?" Arizona asked, "No not yet." I replied. I started walking towards the stairs and noticed she was following. I got to the bottom of the stairs when she said "Hey, I just found some new recipes on Pinterest and bought the stuff to make them, do you wanna come over tonight and help me make them?" She asked. Immediately after she said that she started playing with her hair, which was a sign she was nervous. She never was the huge cooking type so it was a little surprising but of course I was going to say yes. "Sure, I'll go over when I get off work." I replied.