What Happens chapter two

Callie comforts Arizona after a nightmare about the tiny coffins

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Her eyes snapped open to reveal the darkness of their bedroom, but she could barely make out anything around her. She glanced over to the alarm clock on the night stand, and from what she could see through her sleep filled eyes is was thee in the morning. She frowned to herself, because she'd just worked a fourteen hour shift, so she had no reason to be waking up in the silly hours of the morning.

Despite her confusion, her thoughts were answered when she received a sharp elbow to she shoulder from Arizona, and she immediately knew what was going on. Arizona was having another tiny coffin nightmare.

These didn't happen very often anymore. Maybe every few months or so, and when they happened they were horrible, but Arizona had told her that they were much more frequent before she met Callie. Back when she didn't really have anyone, so it was so much easier to become attached to children and their parents. Sure, every patient she ever saw she considered important and any loss hit her hard, but it caused the nightmares more when she had gotten to know the family, and how big a loss it was to them.

The blonde tossed and turned in her disturbed slumber, a sheet of cold sweat covering her forehead. She mumbled unintelligible words in her sleep, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips slipping into a half pout.

"Noooo…." She moaned, rolling over to stuff her face into the pillow as if to tune out the dream, and her legs kicked feebly. The tone of her voice broke Callie's heart.

She placed a gentle and comforting hand on Arizona's upper arm and shook her gently. "Arizona, sweetie, wake up." She tried to wake her up. "It's just a dream."

It took a few more minutes of comforting words and gentle shaking before Arizona's eye darted open and she sat up pin straight, her eyes searching the room wildly for recognition. As soon as she became aware of where she was and what was going on, she raised a shaking hand to her forehead and leant back against the pillows, her face scrunching up with tears.

"Hey, shhh…" Callie felt like she was cooing to a young child, but she understood. What it was like to have a nightmare. You aren't aware that it's not real, and when you wake up you genuinely feel like a child again. Defenceless and vulnerable, and needing comfort. The speed of your heartbeat is impossibly fast and it's damn near impossible to sleep again.

"He died…" She choked out, turning into Callie's embrace and letting her emotions take over.

"Who did, sweetie? Tell me everything." Callie said softly, running her fingers through Arizona's hair. This was a motion her mother always did when she was little and upset, and she knew it was one of the most comforting thing ever. It took Arizona a few minutes to respond, whether it was from to many tears or the thought of the story, Callie didn't know.

"Micah… He was four. He was born at twenty five weeks, and he had all sorts of disabilities. He was talking about this special school he was going to after the summer, and how they were going to this summer camp… He was so excited…" She rambled and Callie pulled her closer.

"Oh, Arizona…" She sighed. It must be horrible for her. Their own situation with had been just the same, if not worse, but Sofia was a happy and healthy four year old who loved Frozen. It was scary sometimes to realise that one wrong move could have caused a whole different path for her life, and it was something she remembered to thank god every day for.

"I just kept thinking about us… I almost lost you both…" She started to cry again and that set her off for another good five minutes.

"Don't worry… We're all fine…" Callie whispered into her ear.

It took another while for Arizona to completely calm down. When she did, they both cuddled up tightly and it wasn't long until she had fallen back to sleep, although Callie noticed that her hands were still shaking.

She, as carefully as she could, slipped out of Arizona's embrace, trying not to wake her. She did so successfully, before getting up out of bed and tiptoeing across the room, not bothering to close the door behind her.

The sight she as met with when she cracked open the door to Sofia's room melted her heart. Sofia, completely and utterly out of it, was sprawled out in a very awkward position across the bed, her by now very destroyed teddy bear, fuzzy, dangling from her grasp. Callie could just make out the steady rise and fall of her chest through the darkness, and the sight made her smile. Arizona was right. Not even a full five years ago she and Sofia had been battling for their lives, and now they were here. Perfectly healthy, perfectly happy.

"She's kinda perfect, isn't she?" Callie jumped as Arizona walked up behind her, obviously having woken up at Callie's absence. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying but the look of happiness on her face was unmistakeable. Callie wrapped her arm around her shoulders and nodded in agreement.

"She definitely is."

"I see she's back into that purple thing." Arizona giggled, pointing out Sofia's purple pyjama op and matching bottoms.

"Yup. Although she did mention something the other day about buying red socks…"