The Song Remains the Same

Chapter 29

Callie always took a moment alone after surgery, regardless of the outcome, but she took two before she went to face the Robbins. Taking an extra minute to let her hair down, Callie breathed deep. It had been a long procedure. Arizona had left the gallery early on and Teddy had been called away by her own surgery. She'd seen the best part though.

“Do you want to go talk to the family, or should I?” Cristina asked, businesslike as usual.

Callie could see the exhilaration a surgery like that gave her student. Cristina was likely still so hyped that it had slipped her mind that their patient was like family to her own girlfriend. “I'll do it. You can come if you want.”

Cristina's phone rang even as Callie spoke and she eyed her boss. “Actually...”

“Go ahead,” Callie told her with a nod. “I'll take care of talking to the family. You can handle whatever that is.” Cristina was scrubbed out and at the door when she spoke again. “Yang.” The other woman paused in the doorway. “Very good work today.”

Left alone, Callie sighed and squared her shoulders. Time to go have a difficult conversation.

The elevator down to the second floor was empty but the waiting room was not, heads popping up all over the room as families waited for news of their loved ones. The Colonel spotted her first, rising to his feet. Callie was surprised to notice her own father sitting in the chair beside him. Her sons were sitting on either side of Barbara Robbins. And Allegra was overseeing everything from Arizona's lap, her partner apparently dozing. Her lips quirked when Allegra whispered to her, though.

“Mommy!” Blue eyes popped open at Angus' greeting but Arizona couldn't stand up with Allegra balanced on her knees.

“Hey, guys,” Callie answered him. “I didn't know you were here.”

“They insisted on seeing Arizona,” Carlos said as he rose to his feet, greeting his daughter with a light kiss on the cheek. They hadn't sat through the entire surgery, but had pleaded to come back after finding out that everyone was still waiting at the hospital. “And we're going to let tu madre talk to Arizona and her parents, right?” he reminded the kids pointedly.

Callie backed her father up with an arched eyebrow and a quietly cleared throat and the boys dutifully slid off their chairs. Allegra followed only after she squeezed Arizona in a tight hug, whispering to her before she let go.

“Should we sit?” Callie asked as the kids left and even as Arizona got to her feet. The Colonel was still standing but Barbara gestured for Callie to take the seat beside her.

Following her professional instincts she kept standing but stepped in closer. “Nick's alive.”

Barbara sucked in a relieved breath but Arizona and the Colonel were both still holding theirs, waiting for the rest of the pronouncement. “But his heart is weak. We got the tumor but his heart is compromised.” Barbara gasped again, reaching for her husband's hand. Arizona's jaw went tight, her eyes distant. “We've already started the search for a donor -”

“How long does he have?” asked Daniel, his voice hoarse.

Callie tore her eyes unwillingly from Arizona’s expression to meet his eyes. “Weeks. But he's -”

“Weeks? Weeks?!”

“Dad,” Arizona interjected before he could really get going. “How high up the list is he?”

“He's near the top,” answered Callie, tone soft, trying to keep them both calm. Nick's situation was bad, but it wasn't hopeless, not yet, and he needed to get that sense from his family. He wouldn't be able to get it from her. “He's going to be tired, need medication, and a lot of rest.”