If anyone read my last story, you probably would have read me saying that I was working on a little something to get me through my writers block...well, this is it. As it says in the summary, it is only four chapters long. It's kind of like a one-shot but a little longer, so it has been rolled into four chapters. The story will be completed in no more than two weeks, I can guarantee that. So there will probably be an update every 3-4 days, depending on my work schedule.
Anyway, here it is. And I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, or these characters y'all.
Arizona Robbins sighed heavily, letting her forehead drop forward to rest upon the cool glass of the vending machine that had happened to swallow her dollar only a few minutes ago. Even though she knew there wouldn't be, she let her hands fall into the pockets of her scrub pants, fruitlessly searching for some more change — which, of course, there wasn't.
It was almost comedic how awful the blonde's life had been lately, and this morning was just showcasing that fact even more. First of all, the Doctor from Miami, who was consulting on her Cadaver Bone case, was extremely late; five hours, to be precise. And then, the coffee cart on the first floor was closed — which Arizona thought was the most downright ridiculous thing in the world, because in the two years that she had worked at Seattle Grace, the coffee cart had never once been closed.
But the thing that topped that off, was secured firmly around the residual limb of her left leg.
Her prosthetic.
Staring down at the material of her navy blue scrub pants, a look of disgust quickly appeared on the blonde's face. Arizona hated it. She hated that she begged for her leg not to be cut off. She hated that Alex Karev ignored the fact that she withheld consent, and cut it off her leg, anyway. She hated looking at her leg—residual limb. She hated that, in the past five months, she hadn't once spoke about how she was feeling. She hated that everyone in the hospital looked at her differently. She hated the fact that she hadn't had sex in seven months — and probably would not have sex ever again.
And she hated the fact that she was thirsty and the damn vending machine swallowed up her money.
A heavy exhale was let out of Arizona's mouth. And before she knew it, her hand was forcefully pounding on the vending machine, causing a crashing sound to echo off the walls. She was angry, so unbelievably angry. And if hitting a snack machine took, even a tiny bit of that anger away, then she was going to stand here and do just that.
And then, even though the sound of her hand on the metal was overpowering in her ears, Arizona heard a low, husky, extremely sexy voice speak from behind her.
"What did the vending machine ever do to you?" the unknown voice spoke.
It happened almost instantly, her entire body was covered in goosebumps, and her heart began to pound in her ears. Ignoring the overpowering feelings all over body, Arizona laughed bitterly and turned around, about to unleash hell on whoever thought they were being funny.
But whatever Arizona had planned to say, completely fell back down her throat when she took in the sight of the owner of the extremely sexy voice. It was an extremely sexy woman, and she was smirking cockily at her. Arizona's blue eyes scanned down the length of the woman's body, taking in her gorgeous long, dark hair, and her expressive chocolate brown eyes that were twinkling back at her.
And that body.
That body spoke for itself. The stranger was clad in skin tight dark wash jeans, that showed off her curves to perfection. Blue eyes darted back up to the woman's gorgeous face, but before they could get there, they took in the sight of delicious cleavage encased in a simple dark grey jumper, topped off by the world's sexiest leather jacket.
"Are you okay?" Callie asked, her eyes finally meeting the stunning blue ones of the stranger that was, quite blatantly, checking her out. Not that Callie was caring. Only a minute ago, her own eyes had been unable to tear themselves away from the blonde's scrub-clad ass.
For a few seconds, all that could be heard, was the conversations of people passing by the two of them. Callie felt her palms start to sweat as she continued to stare at the blonde stranger. By the look they were giving each other, it was almost like they knew each other, but were struggling to place the other.
"Do I know you?!" Arizona inquired, her voice far more harsher than what she would have liked. That happened a lot lately, and no matter how hard Arizona tried not to be angry — she just couldn't stop.
Although the blonde's voice was harsh and angry, Callie only grinned in return. "No. You don't know me." A small frown formed on the brunette's face when the blonde simply shot her a dirty look and turned back to the vending machine. "Do you need some help?" Callie asked politely, coming up to stand directly on the blonde's left.
Arizona refused to turn and face the woman, instead choosing to keep her eyes trained on the tall object in front of her. "Unless you have the key to the vending machine, then no. I don't need any help." When a rich, throaty laugh filled the air, Arizona closed her eyes tightly, a feeling of sadness swarming through her stomach. Over the past five months, there had been many scenarios where Arizona despised that she lost her leg. And the situation the blonde was currently in, was one of those situations.
A stunning woman was about to hit on her. Arizona could tell from the way the Latina's eyes travelled up and down her body, the way the woman's husky voice was just a little bit suggestive when she spoke to her. Arizona wasn't an idiot, and she knew when she was being hit on, or about to be hit on.
But it didn't matter if this gorgeous woman flirted with Arizona — because nothing would ever come of it. Once the woman found out Arizona was an amputee, she would be gone in a flash. So Arizona didn't even want to be near pretty women, she didn't want to talk to them, she didn't even want to look at them. Because Arizona couldn't have pretty women anymore.
Because Alex Karev cut her leg off, and ruined her entire life — and her entire future.
"That's funny," Callie quipped, effectively breaking Arizona out of her dark thoughts. "You know you could always just put more money in the machine?"
The look Arizona gave Callie was almost murderous. "You don't think I thought of that?!" she snapped harshly, continuing to press the 'eject' button. When nothing happened, Arizona finally turned and faced the stunning woman next to her. "Do you have a dollar?"
"That depends..." Callie mused, leaning her side against the vending machine, a small smirk playing on her lips.
Arizona licked her lips in frustration, trying to calm her ever growing temper. "Depends on what?"
"Do you have a phone number?" Callie deadpanned. She watched on in amusement as the apparent feisty blonde blushed furiously and looked away.
It was the first time in five months that a woman had looked at Arizona like she wanted her. And despite the fact that she hadn't interacted with an attractive female in such a long time — the urge to flirt back, was almost unbearable. "You wont ever need my phone number." And for the second time in the past few minutes, Arizona turned away from the other woman, desperately hoping that she would just take the hint and walk away.
But the stranger didn't.
Callie smirked, even though she knew the blonde could not see her. "Okay. How about your name, then?"
Why wasn't this woman not giving it a rest? Turning around, Arizona glared at the brunette. "You're kidding, right?"
"I never kid when it comes to asking for pretty girls phone numbers," Callie said with an extremely straight face. "Or names, for that matter."
The look Arizona was currently receiving, was so intense she almost wanted to slam the Latina into the vending machine and just have her dirty way with her. "Look," she began with an overdramatic sigh. "I've had a really bad day, okay. And I don't have time to stand here and flirt with you, so can you just loan me a dollar, or get the hell out my face?" She was frustrated and pissed off, and the hot lady staring at her was not helping matters.
"Why are you having a bad day?" Callie asked, finding it strange that she genuinely wanted to know what was bothering the angry woman. She was completely drawn to the stranger and couldn't bring herself to walk the few short feet to the elevator.
"The coffee cart is closed, even though its never closed. The machine swallowed my money and my purse is in my office — and my office is on the sixth floor!" Arizona breathed out heavily, anger evident in her voice — like it always was these days. "And the stupid surgeon that's supposed to be flying in from Miami to consult on my case, is late!"
Callie couldn't help but grin widely upon hearing this information, because she was the stupid surgeon flying in from Miami. Which meant the stunning blonde in front of her, was Arizona Robbins. "Well, Arizona Robbins," Callie said, trying the blonde's name on her tongue. "I'm your stupid surgeon from Miami. And I can only apologize for my flight being delayed and having it disrupt your day."
Arizona stared at the woman she now knew she was stuck with for the next four days. "You're Calliope Torres?" She should have known the woman would be dirty hot — anyone that could pull off the name Calliope Torres was assured to be a looker. And this woman was.
An instinctive grimace formed on the brunette's face upon hearing the sound of her full name. "Callie is just fine," she corrected. Tentatively, like she was about to touch a rattlesnake, Callie outstretched her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said sincerely.
At the sight of the dazzling smile being sent her way, Arizona managed a timid smile in response. "Yeah," was the only response that seemed to want to leave her mouth. Thankfully, Callie did not seem put off and gripped her hand tight. Arizona was momentarily stunned at the feel of Callie's soft, warm hand in her own. It was her first real physical contact with someone, in five months — and it felt good.
Unbeknownst to the shocked blonde, Callie was having the same reaction to having her hand encased in her own. Once the handshake began to end, Callie couldn't help but softly brush her thumb across Arizona's hand. The response was a small hitch in the blonde's throat. And Callie knew that this was going to be a fun five days in Seattle.
"So, yeah, my flight got delayed from Miami," Callie stated apologetically, as she reached into her jeans pocket, withdrawing a dollar. Instead of handing it directly to the blonde, Callie chose to step flush against Arizona's body, reaching her hand around the side of her waist and slipping the money into the machine. Their bodies were almost completely touching, but it did not last long, because Arizona quickly cleared her throat and stepped to the side, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.
"What do you want?" Callie asked seductively, trying to hold back a smirk as Arizona's mouth momentarily fell open.
Arizona's mouth was suddenly drier than the Sahara. "Wh—what?" she stammered out awkwardly.
"From the machine." Callie indicated to the snacks enclosed in the machine. "What do you want?"
"Oh," Arizona said, almost sounding disappointed. "Water is fine." Nodding in thanks a few seconds later when Callie handed her the water, Arizona began to walk toward the elevator. Callie followed in silence, stealing sideways glances at the silent blonde next to her. Pink lips darted out to wrap themselves around the plastic top of the bottle, and Callie watched entranced, suddenly wishing that those lips were wrapping themselves around...
The elevator doors opened, and an older man in his forties burst out of them, bumping into Arizona before she knew what was happening. Callie was quick to act, however, stepping to the side and securing a firm arm around the blonde's slim waist.
"You good?" Callie asked, steadying the blonde on her feet.
"I got it," Arizona replied, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. But the smile was quickly replaced with a scowl when she felt the water that had spilled out, and was now seeping through her scrub top. "You are kidding me," she groaned quietly, looking at her soaking scrub top.
Callie looked at Arizona awkwardly, unsure if it was okay to smile or not. "You're not really having a great day, are you?"
"You have no idea," the blonde said harshly, stepping into the now-empty elevator, and slamming on the floor she wanted. Her jaw tightened harshly as she leaned against the back wall, hands clenching at her sides.
"At least you're hot?" Callie offered up with a smile. She didn't need to look at the blonde to know that she was scowling, but when she did look — she was right.
Arizona shook her head in annoyance. "You're here for four days because you need to be, okay?" She looked away when Callie turned to face her. "I don't need you to hit on me; I need you to do your job. I didn't want you, Callie — but I got you, anyway," she admitted angrily.
Callie was confused by the comment. And a little pissed off. "What do you mean you didn't want me?"
"I wanted McManus from Colorado to consult, but he was unavailable." Arizona couldn't help but feel guilty as a look of hurt appeared on the brunette's face. Why did she have to be such a bitch, all the time?
"So I was your last resort?" Callie asked bitterly, raising an eyebrow challengingly.
The elevator jolted, the motion immediately sending a wave of pain to the blonde's leg. "You weren't my anything," she said simply, refusing to look at the Latina, whose eyes were firmly fixed on her face. "The Chief suggested you, and I was desperate. So here you are."
Callie drew her teeth between her lips. "You're kind of an asshole. Anybody ever tell you that?" She didn't know why, but the fact that the blonde was being an arrogant bitch, only made her even more attractive.
Before Arizona could think of a response, Callie had quickly shot her a dirty look and escaped out of the elevator doors. Thankfully, no one stepped on, and Arizona allowed her head to drop forward in regret at the way she had just treated the beautiful stranger. Arizona hated that she was so god damn angry at everything and everyone.
And Arizona hated the fact that she was so unbelievably attracted to Calliope Torres, when she knew that she couldn't have her. Because she had lost her leg, and women that looked like Calliope Torres didn't go for women with one leg.
"She's a Class-A bitch, Mark," Callie vented to her old friend from Med school, as the sat in the cafeteria. That was the main reason Callie had chose to consult on Arizona's case — so she had the chance to see Mark and Addison. After fleeing the elevator, Callie had sent Mark a text arranging to meet in the cafeteria for lunch. And she had been bitching about Arizona Robbins ever since.
"Callie," Mark sighed out, shaking his head. "She lost her leg in a plane crash. I told you the story months ago."
The comment did not phase Callie, who only looked at her friend like he was an idiot. Why did losing a leg give the blonde the right to be a downright bitch? "So she's allowed to be an asshole because she's an amputee?"
Callie had heard the tragic story about how several surgeons from Seattle Grace had been involved in a plane crash. And how several had died, and one had lost their leg. It was terribly sad, but Callie didn't know why Mark was sticking up for the raging blonde.
Mark looked up from his sandwich. "She's not been the same since she lost her leg," he admitted sadly. "She's allowed to be angry, Callie."
"You know why she's probably so angry?" Callie asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer. Mark only stared at her in response, awaiting an answer. "It's because people look at her differently. It's because she thinks people feel sorry for her. It's because her friend and family probably walk on eggshells around her." Being an orthopedic surgeon, Callie had first hand experience in dealing with amputees and the anger they often experienced. "Do people here treat her differently?"
"Well, yeah, because..."
"Because she lost her leg," Callie finished, feeling the frustration start to overwhelm her body. "Do you have any idea how she must feel when people look at her like she's different? It's going to make her feel like she is different." The look of realization on Mark's face was almost comical, Callie thought. "I'm not blaming you; I'm only pointing out the obvious."
Mark looked thoroughly confused. "What's the obvious?"
"It's obvious that she hasn't spoke to anyone about what happened to her, and she's bottling up all this anger," Callie answered nonchalantly, like she was reading it from a piece of paper. "I'm guessing she didn't go to therapy after the crash?"
"No," Mark replied solemnly. "She used to be perky, annoyingly perky. And now..." he trailed of sadly. "Now she doesn't come out for drinks with us. She doesn't eat lunch with us. When she does talk to us, she stares off into the distance, like she doesn't even want to be alive."
The force of the last statement hit Callie like a ton of bricks. She didn't know why Mark saying that, caused an ache in the middle of her chest. "She needs to talk about it," was all Callie said, before changing the subject — well, kind of changing the subject. "What's her deal, anyway?"
"What do you mean?" Mark quirked an eyebrow.
"She single?" Callie asked bluntly, hoping the answer would come in her favor.
Mark dropped his plastic fork and shook his head forcefully. "No. No. No. You cannot try to hook up with her!" he said sternly. "She's vulnerable and broken. And I forbid you to go near her!"
"I'm not gonna marry the girl," Callie stated defensively, glancing at her watch. "I'm only asking if she's single. She's hot." She shrugged, completely unapologetic for finding the blonde attractive.
"She doesn't even look at girls anymore, anyway." Mark looked completely devastated by that fact. "So it's irrelevant if you decide to hit on her."
"I knew she was gay," Callie smirked confidently. Her earlier thoughts of Arizona staring at her chest were immediately confirmed. "I'm gonna go see the Chief and then go see the hot, angry blonde." She stood up from her chair, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "If I don't turn up for drinks, tonight, then Arizona's probably killed me."
"Great. Have fun with that," Mark offered up, giving his friend a thumbs up.
Standing outside the blonde's office, Callie nervously shifted in place, tentatively reaching her hand up to knock on the door. After a few seconds, a loud call of come in was heard through the door. Doing just that, Callie entered through the door, and then closed it behind her.
Arizona looked up from her desk, a look of shock on her face. "Hi," she said quietly. She hated the nervous feeling around Callie — she had never experienced that with women before. Callie smiled in response, her eyes darting around the office, taking in every little detail. Knowing it had to be done, Arizona let out a heavy breath and apologized. "I'm really sorry about earlier, and the way I treated you," the blonde said sincerely, her eyes empty and sad. "I just — I'm dealing with a lot of crap right now, and I shouldn't take my problems out on other people." Especially on hot, attractive females, she thought to herself. "So.. I'm sorry."
Despite being furious with the blonde only an hour ago, Callie couldn't help but want to rush forward and take the clearly devastated woman into her arms. "I get it. Don't worry about it." After all, it was the truth — Callie did get it.
Arizona nodded, managing a small apologetic smile. It was just then that she notice the navy blue scrubs adorning Callie's body. And how delicious they made the other woman look. "Nice scrubs," she mused.
"Yeah." Callie looked down at her body, her hands toying with the bottom of her scrub top. "I feel kinda naked without a lab coat, though," she admitted with a laugh.
Glancing toward the small wardrobe at the side of her office, Arizona stood up. "I have a spare," she revealed, opening the small door, to reveal several white lab coats.
Callie laughed out loud, and took one of the items of clothing from Arizona's hands. She tried her best to ignore the tingly sensation left on her skin when their hands brushed. "Why do you have so many?"
"I work in Peds," Arizona answered, her dimples popping for the first time in months. "Kids are sick on me all the time."
Callie was taken aback by the sudden smile on the blonde's face — it was positively the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen. And those dimples were enough to melt anybody's heart. "Are you okay?" She touched a hand to the blonde's forehead, earning a severely confused look in response. "You're actually smiling," she pointed out, only to have her hand playfully swatted away. "Something must be wrong." It was dangerous territory — Callie didn't know how the blonde would react to the comment.
Arizona, however, surprised the both of them and took it well. "Shut up," she said, another grin lighting up her face. "I can smile." It was such a natural thing...smiling. But, Arizona had found it so difficult, lately. She had found everything so difficult, lately.
Yet here she was, standing in her office, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she watched Calliope Torres roll up the sleeves of her lab coat.
"It's a pretty smile," Callie commented, brushing down the material of the coat, completely missing the way Arizona shyly looked up at her. "It fits okay."
"Mhmm," Arizona hummed in agreement. Before she even knew what she was doing, her hands were reaching out and tucking in the collar of the white material. The caramel skin of Callie's neck looked so inviting, Arizona thought, as her hands desperately fought to reach out and caress the tanned skin. "Why are you even wearing scrubs; you don't have to meet the patient till tomorrow?" And she regretfully stepped back, out of Callie's personal space.
Callie immediately missed the warmth of the blonde's body so close to her own. "The Chief gave me privileges," she said, grinning. "For the next five days, I'm officially a doctor at this hospital."
Five days with Callie Torres — Arizona figured she could definitely work with that. "That's great. What else did he say?" She found herself hoping that the Chief told Callie the same thing he told her, yesterday.
Callie's cheeks were suddenly flooded with a hint of color. "He said you were to show me around the hospital," she admitted, silently wishing that Arizona would go along with it. "But it's fine, I can find my own way around. I'm sure you're very busy."
Fighting valiantly to hold back a relieved grin, Arizona nodded, before grabbing her pager. "No, I have a free afternoon because you were so late," she teased lightly, leading them both out of her office.
Arizona didn't know if it was a good or bad thing, that the two of them seemed to get along so well. They had been chatting — and flirting — for over an hour, as Arizona continued to show Callie around the hospital. Realistically, the tour should have consisted of only the main parts of the hospital, but after ten minutes, it became clear that both women were enjoying the others company.
A bit too much, perhaps.
Callie had lost count of the amount of times she had caught Arizona staring at her cleavage. And Arizona was constantly on the receiving end of Callie brushing her arm as she told a story, or feeling their hands lightly touch as they walked next to each other.
"You've been Head of Department for two years?" Callie asked in awe. Arizona was young, and already she was running her own department — it made Callie incredibly jealous. Arizona certainly didn't look that much older than her.
"Yeah," Arizona answered simply, giving a nurse a polite smile as she walked past. "I was in Africa for two years and then I got offered the job here."
Callie was becoming more impressed by the second. She had discovered that Arizona was top of her class at Hopkins, made Chief Resident, and was already Head of Department. "Why were you in Africa?"
"I won the Carter Madison Grant, a few years ago." When Callie didn't respond, Arizona looked up. She laughed at the look on Callie's face — it was somewhere between impressed and shocked. "What?" she smirked, tugging on the brunette's lab coat, as Callie continued to stand and stare at her.
"That's pretty amazing," Callie said sincerely. A young male doctor approached them both, and Callie immediately felt Arizona stiffen next to her. Looking to her left, she found it extremely alarming when she noticed that the blonde's jaw was clenched firmly in place.
"Karev," the blonde greeted Alex, but refused to look at him. "What's up?"
Callie looked the younger doctor up and down, hardly believing that this was who Addison had been sleeping with, for the past few months. He was attractive, but he just wasn't what Callie was expecting.
"I, uh — I just wanted to know if I could scrub in on your Cadaver case on Thursday?" Alex asked tentatively, looking a tad uncomfortable.
Arizona glared at him, her blue eyes intense. "You read up on the surgery?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"You read up on every single detail of the patients chart?" It was a surprise to Arizona when she did not feel that angry with Alex standing in front of her — usually, she wanted to repeatedly hit him with a brick.
Alex squirmed under his boss's scrutinizing stare. "Yeah."
"Fine." As much as Arizona couldn't bare to even look at him sometimes, he was still her resident and she trusted him impeccably in the OR. "Two O'clock. OR 2."
Alex nodded in thanks, a smile lighting up his entire face. And then he turned to Callie, but before he could say anything, Arizona quickly stepped in. "Walk away, Karev. Right now!" She didn't want his eyes dragging over Callie's body like she was a piece of meat.
Callie watched on in amusement as he did exactly as Arizona told him. "That's who Addison has been sleeping with?!" she asked in shock, her voice reaching a level higher than its normal range.
Arizona giggled, and began to lead them to the ER. "That's Alex." That was the person who cut off her leg.
Five Months Ago
"What if the infection spreads?!" Alex demanded, his voice close to breaking. "You're not dying on me because you don't want to live with one leg!"
Arizona closed her eyes tightly, leaning back on her pillow, the pain in her leg becoming close to unbearable. "You're not cutting off my leg," she wheezed out, her fists balling at her sides. "Nobody is cutting off my leg!"
"You'd rather die?" Alex asked harshly, looking at Bailey, who was stood in the doorway, for support.
"I-I withhold consent," Arizona revealed, her eyes now shining with tears. That comment made Bailey charge into the room, a stern look on her face. "I give nobody permission to cut off my leg."
Bailey watched on, terrified, as the Peds surgeon struggled for breath. "You're not being rational, Arizona. People can live as an ampu—"
"Don't say it!" Arizona spat harshly, feeling her heart begin to beat faster by the second. "I'm not losing my leg. I'm not losing my leg." She was fighting harder to stay awake, the intensity in her chest was becoming too overpowering. "I'm not losing...my..."
Alex rushed forward in a panic as the blonde suddenly stopped talking, the sound of the heart monitor ripping through the room. "NO! NO! Wake up. Wake up." He pressed a hand to her neck, feeling sick at the feeling of the barely there pulse. "It's her leg," he said, looking at Bailey. "We need to cut it off!"
Bailey stood, frozen in place, tears brimming in her eyes. "She withheld consent," she said dumbly.
Alex looked like he had just been slapped. Hard. No words were forming from either of them, and at that moment, the Chief appeared in the doorway. He paled when he took on the sight of his Peds surgeon crashing. "What the hell happened?!"
"She withheld consent. We're not allowed to cut her leg off, and the infection spread," Bailey stated, her voice dead of any emotion.
The Chief shook his head solemnly, his hand going to his head. "Oh my god."
"What is wrong with you people?!" Alex spat, kicking up the wheels of his boss's bed. "She is going to die — do you realize that?" Before either of them could answer, he continued yelling. "Are either of you going to physically stop me from cutting off her leg?"
Two quiet "no's" filled the air, and Alex pushed the bed forward, passed the two older surgeons. "I'm cutting off her leg," he whispered to himself.
"That's kind of an odd couple," Callie mused, entering through the door to the crowded ER. "Don't you think?"
Arizona didn't really think much of it, she had seen far weirder couples in her time at Seattle Grace. "Not really," Arizona commented. She was positively entranced by the disgruntled look on Callie it took her a few seconds to notice the trauma coming into the ER.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" a man entering through the door yelled. There was a young child in his arms, and as Arizona got closer, she realized several bite marks had took severe chunks out of the little boys arms. The bones were visible, and looked severely damaged.
Arizona, followed by Callie, rushed forward to the boys side. "Okay. He's lost a lot of blood; he needs surgery, right now. Somebody book an OR," she said in a rush, barely pausing for breath.
"What happened?" Callie asked, gently touching the ripped flesh of the child's arms.
"A dog," the father answered through his tears. "I don't even know whose dog it was. He was playing and then I heard him screaming..."
Callie nodded, not needing the man to finish. Arizona looked at the nurse, who had just put the phone down. "Is there an OR free?" the blonde asked desperately. The nurse nodded once. Arizona turned to Callie, a hopeful look on her face. "Scrub in with me."
"Of course. Yeah," Callie answered.
"Dr. Robbins," the nurse, Andrea, called out quietly, before the Peds surgeon could leave the ER. "The only OR available, is OR 3." The was a look of sheer dread on her face as she said it.
Arizona's face paled completely upon hearing the nurses words. It took a split second for her to feel physically sick. She didn't even notice that she had took a step backwards and grabbed Callie's wrist in a vice-like grip.
Callie looked from the nurse and then back to Arizona, who looked beyond terrified. She let her gaze drop to Arizona's hand that was holding onto her own for dear life. What could be so bad about OR 3?
Inhaling a shaky breath, Arizona had no idea how she managed to form a proper sentence. "I don't operate in OR 3, so you need to find me a different one, or this kid is going to die!" She was shaking in anger, and in fear.
"There's no other OR's available. I'm sorry," Andrea apologized. By now, everyone in the ER was staring at the blonde doctor, waiting for the outburst that the knew was about to come.
And it did.
"I have a deal with the Chief!" Arizona snapped, her eyes shooting daggers at everyone who was looking in her direction. "He knows, I know, and everybody in this god damn hospital knows, that I can't go into OR 3!"
Arizona couldn't go into a room, where she knew that, months ago, her leg was amputated in that room. She felt her heart rate quicken every time she went near the door.
"Get me the Chief!" Arizona demanded, finally letting go of Callie's hand and stepping toward the nurse.
"He's in surgery," came the quiet response.
Arizona slammed her hands forcefully down onto the desk. The movement immediately made Callie rush to her side. "PAGE ALEX KAREV AND GET HIM DOWN TO DO THIS SURGERY. RIGHT NOW!" Arizona fumed, her voice was deathly close to breaking despite it sounding so angry.
Just as the nurse picked up the phone, Callie intervened. "Don't page anybody," she said, begging the nurse with her eyes. "Dr. Robbins is fine. Give her five minutes to calm down. Do not page Alex Karev!"
Callie dragged the blonde into the nearest trauma room before she had a chance to protest. Arizona began pacing immediately, her voice shaky and desperate. "I can't go into that OR, Callie," she declared, leaning her head against the wall opposite the door, facing away from Callie.
"Why?" Callie softly requested, coming to stand behind the terrified blonde.
Arizona shook her head, refusing to say the words. "You won't understand." No one understood.
No one.
"Try me." Tentatively, Callie touched a hand to the blonde's shoulder, gently coaxing her into turning around. When Arizona did turn around, Callie felt her heart shatter — Arizona looked broken. More broken than Callie had ever seen a person look.
And so, Callie hugged her, because she knew it was what she was supposed to do. Her arms wrapped tightly around the blonde's waist.
Arizona was rigid in the embrace for a few seconds, completely terrified at the thought of someone physically touching her. No one had touched her in five months. She pushed her mother away when she tried. She told Teddy to get to hell. She told Bailey that she never wanted to see her again.
No one was supposed to be touching her. So Arizona was confused more than anything, when she found herself wrapping her arms around Callie's neck and burying her head into the brunette's neck.
And suddenly, Arizona wasn't scared of going into OR 3, anymore. In that moment, Arizona wasn't scared of anything.
Other than the fact that Calliope Torres made her heart pound like it was about to break through her ribs — that was just downright terrifying.
Everything about Arizona was overwhelming, Callie was struggling to focus. All she could seem to realize, was that the skin on her neck, where Arizona's lips were pressed against, had erupted in goosebumps. And they were increasing with every inhale and exhale that the blonde took.
"I'm okay," Arizona admitted in a whisper, her lips brushing against the soft skin of Callie's neck.
Callie fought against the groan that ached to leave her lips. "You sure?" She pulled back, bringing them out of the hug, but leaving their faces painfully close together.
"Yeah," Arizona nodded, taking a step back. "Sorry. I'm sorry..."
"Don't," Callie pleaded, giving the blonde a reassuring smile. "Maybe apologize to that nurse, though."
Arizona managed a laugh, even though the air was thick with tension. "I will." She gave Callie one more smile before walking slowly to the door, holding it open for the Latina, who was right behind her. The nurse in question was no where to be seen, and Arizona reminded herself, internally, to find Andrea as soon as she scrubbed out.
The ride up to the OR was painfully silent. Both women's thought were going a mile a minute, stealing sideways glances at the other when they thought they weren't looking.
If there was a poster for sexual tension — they would both be assured to be on it.
When directly outside the OR 3 scrub room, Arizona's entire body went rigid, her blood feeling cold as it ran through her veins. Alex Karev stood in this room, five months ago, before he cut off her leg.
Seeing the OR board a few feet away, Callie grabbed the pen, before walking to stand in front of the still blonde. Quickly, she used the pen to draw a number one next to the number three.
Arizona screwed her eyes up in confusion, a deep laugh tumbling from her pink lips. "What the hell is that?"
"That," Callie indicated to the scrub room behind them, "is OR 13." The smile that took over the blonde's face was gorgeous. So undeniably gorgeous. And Callie was so painfully attracted to the woman in front of her.
Arizona continued to laugh; the sound was like music to Callie's ears, and a grin lit up the Latina's face. "Okay." Arizona took a deep breath, turning to face the scrub room door. She was locked in place, however, staring at the door, unable to actually cross the threshold.
From behind the blonde, Callie placed a gentle hand on the side of the smaller woman's waist. "Nothing is going to happen to you in there," she earnestly insisted, letting her other hand rest on Arizona's shoulder. "I promise. Trust me."
Blue eyes fluttered closed as Arizona allowed Callie's words to float through her entire body. The result of Callie just being there, standing behind her, her hands softly placed upon her own body, was soothing and relaxing. Instead of verbally answering, the blonde only nodded, knowing that Callie would follow her straight inside, anyway.
To the blonde's surprise, the scrub room felt...normal. It felt like OR 2 felt. They scrubbed in silence, Arizona refusing to take her eyes off her hands. And Callie openly glancing at the blonde, looking worried.
Upon entering the OR, Arizona kept her eyes trained on the table where she knew was where she lay five months ago before her leg was amputated. She knew if she stared any longer, the unavoidable tears would begin to prick at the corners of her eyes. But she didn't want that; too many tears had been shed over the past few months, and right now was not the time for more.
Stepping to the opposite side of the table, directly across from the blonde, Callie gave Arizona an encouraging nod. Arizona smiled, even though she knew that Callie could not see it.
It was fine. Everything was fine. Callie was here. And she promised that nothing was going to happen. That was enough to get Arizona through the surgery. So she sucked it up and she got on with it.
"Scalpel," Arizona said confidently.
Arizona smiled, entering the scrub room behind Callie, who also had a smile on her face. "That was good," she said, sounding a little bit shocked. "You're really great." The surgery had been a complete success, the two of them managing to work together — extremely well — to restore full function in the child's arm. There would be scars, they both knew that, but Mark could work his magic at a later date.
"Glad you picked me as a last resort?" Callie teased, rinsing the suds from her hands.
Arizona rolled her eyes playfully. "I said I was sorry," she insisted, glancing sideways at Callie. She was scared that the ortho surgeon was actually upset, but the teasing smirk on the Latina's face told her otherwise. "You're not a last resort; you're very talented, Calliope." She managed her most charming smile.
Callie leaned sideways on the sink, finding herself enthralled by the way her full name managed to roll off Arizona's tongue. "We're good together." She took a step forward and began to dry her hands on the towel that Arizona was already using. The urge to be close to the blonde was overpowering. And the urge to flirt was even stronger. "It's easy to see why you're head of department," she smiled, looking down at the towel when their hands seemed to accidentally brush under the soft material.
Arizona was so distracted by the first comment and Callie's hands touching her own, she barely registered the second comment. She internally berated herself, telling herself to get a grip, to stop thinking and just flirt back. Women used to through themselves at her, she was so used to flirting and she was so good at it — but now...now, it was non-existent.
Or so she thought.
"Very good together," Arizona insisted, her tone flirtatious. Feeling Callie's eyes on her, Arizona looked up, a shaky breath leaving her lips when she realized that their faces were inches apart.
Glancing down at the blonde's lips, Callie couldn't help but notice how soft and inviting they looked...like they would cushion perfectly against her own. "Do you have plans tonight?" she huskily asked.
And with that, Arizona was back to being a fumbling mess that could barely manage to form a coherent sentence. "What — why?" she stammered out nervously, swallowing heavily.
"Mark said a few people were going to the bar across the street, for drinks," Callie replied, letting their hands brush once more. "You wanna come?"
"Oh." Arizona hadn't been for drinks since the accident. She had barely left the house, save for work, really. And she wanted to go, she wanted to hang out with her friends and Callie — but she couldn't. "I have early morning rounds," she half-lied, plastering on a tight smile. "Maybe some other time."
Despite expecting the answer, Callie still felt disappointed. "How about Friday?" She knew by the look on the blonde's face that she wanted to say yes, it was just getting her to say yes, that was the clear problem. Callie knew it was a matter of confidence and insecurity.
"Um, I — maybe." With a smile, Arizona reluctantly took a step backwards, putting some distance between herself and the gorgeous woman.
"I'll told you to that." Callie disregarded the towel before stepping backwards to exit the scrub room. She gave the blonde a mega watt grin and a small wave. "Goodnight, Arizona."
Arizona found herself returning the smile. "Goodnight, Calliope," she softly said. And Callie was gone. And Arizona was left standing alone, in a scrub room, with the biggest smile on her face.
It was the first time in five months that Arizona left the hospital with a smile on her face.
Next chapter should be up by Thursday-ish. If anyone reading this is a reader of Permanent Transfer, I'm letting you know that I have been working on a new chapter. I had about 5,000 words written and when I tried to refresh the page, I lost about 4,000 of that. It's a set back, and I'm so, so pissed off — especially after not having the motivation to write it. After I've finished editing and writing this story, I shall go back and start working on PT.
Have a Happy New Year, when it comes!