The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona

The Dog Days of Summer Are Over

Arizona's POV:

We had a few more weeks of working until we headed off for our vacation near Mt. Rainer and we couldn't wait, especially Callie and I. We had been working so hard that Summer, it felt like we didn't get to enjoy much of the nice weather. Well, unless we were sitting at the ballpark, watching our daughter play softball.

The weather had started to shift at that point in August from hot days and warm nights, to warm days and cooler nights. One indication that Summer is ending in the NW, are the eastern winds that blow during this part of August. Generally our wind comes from the southwest or north, depending on the time of year. However, towards the end of the Summer, we tend to get the hot, dry, winds from Eastern Washington, which has a high desert landscape and climate. 

By the point the eastern winds reach Seattle, they are not as warm, but can inflate our temperatures ever so slightly during the daytime and help to cool us down more in the nighttime at that stage of Summer. I often joke, but call them our, "Santa Anna," winds of the Pacific Northwest. 

Callie's and my jobs had been hectic, but good. I had been awarded the grant I applied for, and was in the process of setting up the Peds clinic for children that needed surgery with financially challenged parents. Figuring out the staffing and all the logistics, on top of my normal surgical/clinical schedule, had been exhausting to say the least. However, as we were nearing the completion of everything, I was beginning to get excited about the opportunity the grant money was going to provide to a lot of sick kids in the Seattle area.

Callie had been busy as well that Summer with her current research which involved her developing an artificial knee replacement that would require less recovery time. She was incredibly hot when she was in her lab, so a lot of afternoons, I would eat my lunch in the lab and watch her work. She always laughed at me, but was also happy to have my brain to bounce ideas off of.

Even though things were going well, both of us were starting to burnout from all the demands we'd been handling. Neither one of us had really had much time off those two months and sadly, we hadn't had many weekends off together, at the same time. Usually one of us would get paged, or we were working on our current projects either in the lab, or in our offices.

That afternoon was no different, as I was working out of my office, trying to tie up some loose ends for the new clinic. I was deep in thought about the budget for the staffing pay when I heard a knock at my door. I had left the door open, but mostly closed, so I couldn't see who it was. Nonetheless, I quickly responded, "You can come in."

The door slowly swung open and much to my shock, there she was, standing in the doorway, my ex-girlfriend, Renee. My jaw must have hit the floor from the surprise of seeing her, because just then she asked, "Is it okay if I come in, Arizona?"

"Of course, Renee! I'm surprised to see you, but also super excited to see you. I have missed you since you moved and never thought I'd see you again. What brings you back to Seattle and the hospital?"

Renee started walking in as I started to stand up, when she casually motioned me to kindly stay seated. Renee sat in the chair in front of my desk she used to sit in when we dated and smiled her huge grin at me.

"I'm here to edit and work on the paper for my research with the Ophthalmology fellow that is co-authoring it with me. We figured it would be easier to do it in person, than to do it via emails. Plus, I just needed a break from my clinical schedule and missed being in Seattle."

"How long are you here, Dr. Schafer?" I was doing my best not to jump up and just give her a gigantic hug. It felt amazing to see her again and so unexpectedly.

"Probably another three or four days, just depends on how things go. After today's editing process, it's probably going to be four days it's looking like."