So um. read and review and do what you do.

"And my cat has completely ignored me for days now, and it just... My self-worth is nonexistent and..."

Callie Torres pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Her 3 o'clock appointment, Drew Muntz, was hardly the highlight of her week. Even as a therapist, she fought hard with concentration the moment words began flowing from his mouth, and ultimately (roughly fifteen minutes into the sessions), she found herself staring blankly at him, smiling and nodding as his increasingly dull stories became background noise to her daydreams. She looked down at her notepad and had to suppress a chuckle at the notes she'd been pretending to take for the past hour; a mindless doodle of a stick figure beating its head against a wall. Fitting.

As Drew sucked in a breath to carry on with the depression of his cat's neglection, she jumped at the opportunity to interrupt.

"I definitely feel as though you've made excellent progress since our last session, Drew, despite the minor setbacks along the way," she managed to contain a highly unprofessional snort, "So I'm thinking we can knock the down to a once-a-month basis, barring emergencies."

He looked horrified at this suggestion and leaned forward quickly, "But Doctor Torres, I don't know if-"

"Trust me, Drew. You're ready," Callie cut in, smiling sweetly with her jaw clenched.

"Well.."

"You can see my secretary to set up our next appointment," Callie said, standing and walking to open the door for him, wishing him a good afternoon as he walked by her, still looking unsure.

She shut the door quickly and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling only slightly guilty for it.

She walked back behind her desk to look over a new patient scheduled to come in shortly. Arizona Robbins, a 28 year old female just coming back from a long, long stay in Iraq. She didn't know much else than that other than that, truthfully. The call to setup the appointment had come from her brother, Timothy, who was too broken up about the situation to say much more than "She's just not Arizona anymore." She'd done her homework, contacting Arizona's fellow Marines and Sergeants. Which is how she found out Arizona had been taken prisoner of war for 8 weeks. What happened during that time, no one knew. Arizona had bottled up and bottomed out, in more ways than one.

To say Callie was intrigued would be an understatement. Being pretty renowned in her field, she had seen her fair share of PTSD victims. They were all the same yet all incredibly different. She felt odd saying it, but it fascinated her the way a human could stay so locked back in a traumatic event that their current reality became unrecognizable. Her heart ached for Arizona, even without meeting her or knowing any of the details. This case she was nervous excited for. Cases like this played a large part in her decision to become a therapist.

She sat the case file aside, having read it so much she could recite it word for word. Honestly, she was at a loss on how to prepare and begin what would most likely be an extensive case, one she'd be on for at least a year, if not more.

A knock at her door and her secretary (and good friend) Cristina Yang poked her head in.

"The Robbins chick is here. Well, she's physically here. Mentally? Let's just say i don't think she's aware there are more things to look at than the floor."

Callie chuckled and rolled her eyes, telling Cristina to send her in. She saluted playfully and turned back to the waiting room.

"Doc's ready for ya, Robbins."

Cristina disappeared and a few seconds later a petite blonde woman shuffled in, staring intently at the floor and sitting on nervously on the couch in front of Callie's desk. Her knee immediately began drilling a hole in the floor.

"Arizona," Callie said quietly, "I'm Dr. Torres. Or Callie. Whichever you prefer. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The blonde nodded in acknowledgment, still looking at the floor.

"You know, I may not be a supermodel, but I'd like to think I'm better to look at than my dusty floor," Callie chanced a joke, and Arizona smiled feebly, looking up at Callie for a split second before her eyes darted back down, but just long enough for Callie to decide Arizona had the most gorgeous blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry," Arizona finally spoke, leaving Callie anticipating more to the sentence, but stepped back in when there wasn't.

"What are you apologizing for?"

Arizona shrugged and let out a nervous laugh.

"I'm not very good at eye contact."

"That's okay," Callie replied, leaning forward slightly and taking in the full effect of Arizona's self-protecting body language.

It was silent for a few moments before Callie spoke again.

"Why are you here?"

Arizona made to form a few responses but eventually shook her head.

"I don't really know."

Callie nodded, before getting out of her chair and rounding the table to sit opposite of Arizona on the couch. Arizona unconsciously shifted further away, leaning to the right and pressing herself into the arm.

Expecting such a reaction, Callie scooted closer, and as the blonde attempted to move again, Callie gently, but firmly, grasped her wrist and Arizona flinched violently.

Callie felt a tug in her heart but kept her hand on Arizona.

"You're going to have to trust me if I'm going to help you," Callie said, her fingers feeling just how fast Arizona's pulse was pounding by the sudden physical contact.

"I'm sorry," was again the reply and Callie chuckled quietly.

"From now on, those two words are banned from this room."

Arizona gave no indication that she'd even heard Callie, and Callie let go of her wrist, feeling somewhat successful when she didn't attempt to move further away again.

"Look at me," Callie requested, barely more than a whisper.

Arizona darted her eyes to Callie's again before looking away, but Callie was silent until Arizona looked back, her eyes wary and defensive, but Callie smiled warmly anyway.

"You don't have to talk today. You don't even have to think today. The only thing I want you to do today is realize you can trust me. Nothing bad will ever happen to you in this room, ok? It's going to be just you and me for awhile, and it's important that you understand that I'm only here to help. That's all. I'm here for you."

Arizona mustered up a small smile while nodding slowly, and Callie saw the slightest indication of dimples before Arizona was looking away again.

Callie nodded and smiled to herself, noticing Arizona's nervous leg had at least slowed down.

She had a feeling she and the blonde were going to be spending a lot of time together in this room.