The Song Remains the Same

Chapter 17

It was another half a day before the plane was found, six hours beyond that before they were out of the woods and on their way to Boise. Callie and Arizona were both at work, though Ellis had restricted each to paperwork only. She came herself to find them, poking her head into their lounge and interrupting the tense silence. “Dr. Torres, could we?”

“Just tell me, Ellis,” Callie requested wearily, pushing herself to her feet.

“The survivors are en route to Boise Memorial,” Dr. Grey reported briskly without even a glance toward Arizona.

Callie's eyes closed. “How many casualties?” Arizona asked when it became clear that Callie couldn't speak the words.

“One so far,” Ellis told her, gaze moving slowly between the two. “Charles Percy.”

Callie looked up, dark eyes wide. “So Owen isn't -?”

Their Chief of Surgery's face softened sympathetically but she didn't smile. “He's alive. But he's critical.”

“I'm going. To Boise, I'm going.” There was no arguing with the tone in Callie's voice and Ellis nodded.

Arizona cleared her throat but Callie was already mentally gone, planning rapidly. “What happened?” Arizona asked hoarsely. “To everyone... Do they know yet?”

Ellis' lips pursed. “Early reports are sketchy at best. Everyone is scraped up but we heard Yang had a dislocated shoulder, Kepner a laceration on her thigh, neither serious.”

“What about Alex?” Arizona asked, anxiety getting the better of her patience. “Dr. Karev?”

The older woman's lips tightened. “His femur was badly broken in the crash. It's not good.” Her face fell further. “And Dr. Avery's hand is injured.” In her world the son of Catherine Avery's precious surgical hands were worth infinitely more than a Peds fellow's leg. “They'll be in Boise in a few hours and we can get a clearer picture of what's going on.”

“I need to go,” Callie announced again. “Ellis, are you -?”

Their Chief nodded. “I'll make sure the helicopter doesn't leave without you. Meet in my office in an hour.”

“Thank you.” Ellis was gone without saying more and Arizona let out the breath she'd been holding. It still felt unreal, all of it. Percy was dead, the others were hurt, seriously hurt. Callie had her mind focused on Owen, on the injuries that directly affected her family, and Arizona couldn't fault her for that. The rest of it felt like it could wash her away, though. She wasn't close to any of the others in the crash except for Alex, but it was still upsetting that something like this had happened to people they worked with, people she saw in the halls every day.

Arizona was a professional, able to put her emotions aside to do what she needed to do. Which, at this moment, was whatever Callie needed her to do. “Callie, what -?”

Callie was already moving, shifting her weight between her feet, one hand straightening her papers while the other dug for her keys. Both hands were occupied by working a key off the ring before she thought better of it and dropped the whole thing in her palm. “Here.” She handed it to Arizona, distracted by the thoughts going a million miles an hour in her head. “There should be plenty of food in the fridge for tonight, and if I'm going to be gone longer I'll let you know, of course.”

It hadn't been stated aloud, but apparently what Callie needed from her was for her to stay with her kids while she went to Boise to check on their father. Arizona weighed the keys in her hand, holding her breath again. She could handle one night, maybe two with Callie's kids. She liked them, they were good kids, they liked her. It wasn't how she expected to get a key to Callie's house either, but it was a big statement about how much her girlfriend trusted her. Enough to leave her children in her care for at least a day, probably longer. “Oh-kay,” Arizona breathed softly. “I can handle things here.”