Arizona's road to recovery following the amputation of her left leg has been a rough one on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, but the process received a jump start when Bailey baited her back to Seattle Grace to help with a case.
With the assistance of a prosthetic, Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) took a giant step forward when she indirectly turned her anger about the loss of her limb toward Bailey and angrily made her way to the hospital, bringing a huge smile to her wife Callie's (Sara Ramirez) face in the process. It was the first major positive sign of her return to form that will continue Thursday when she makes her official return to work.
"Initially, Callie's really trying to not get in the way of Arizona's first day back," Ramirez told The Hollywood Reporter during a visit to the Hollywood set Wednesday.
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Callie's support is par for the course this season, which has seen the doc navigate the emotional fallout of a broken promise to Arizona that she would ensure she kept her leg.
"Callie is trying to help from a distance and has some safety nets planted out in case anything goes wrong," Ramirez says. "She's trying to help her wife, but from afar because she doesn't really fully understand what it is her wife needs."
While nobody expects her to be 100 percent back in the saddle immediately -- and in classic Grey's form, not all will be smooth sailing -- Arizona's return will at first feel almost seamless with the peds surgeon also reuniting with Alex, who unbeknownst to Arizona was the one to perform her amputation.
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"She almost folds right back into the hospital," Ramirez says. "She's kind of just back and Callie is still working with Derek and eventually you'll get to see Arizona and Callie work together at the hospital, which will be nice."
With Arizona's professional life nearing a full recovery, there's still the couple's personal life that's yet to really be addressed considering the verbal and emotional woes the duo has been faced with in the aftermath of the deadly plane crash.
"After she comes back to the hospital, you'll definitely see outside of the hospital that they try taking baby steps toward what they remember having," Ramirez teases, noting that Alex's role in Arizona's amputation is always in the back of Callie's mind. "They have to deal with the fact that it's not as easy as they'd hoped. It was getting rough there for a while but Callie continues to show up and to try as best as she knows how because she loves her wife."
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"The tragedy makes the lighter, funnier, intimate moments so meaningful and so much more powerful because the audience is so hungry for it when it finally comes," she says of "Calzona's" story line.
That opportunity could arise at Bailey's (Chandra Wilson) wedding when Callie and Arizona discover some new things with each other. "We have some fun, light moments to look forward to," she says with a smile. "Maybe some rekindling."
How do you think Arizona will fare on her first day back? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
