Author's Note: Fast forward about a year and a quarter from season 6, episode 10.

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy. Damn.

Good morning, Seattle! It's another cloudy March day here in the city. Expect rain, rain, rain all day long. Thanks for tuning in to KUBE 93.3 Radio. Your favorite hits are coming right up…

"Ugh!" Arizona groaned loudly as she slammed the button to turn off the blaring radio. Why Callie chose that as her method of waking up, she would never understand. Arizona rolled onto her back, only to find her girlfriend still fast asleep, seemingly unaware of the noise that had just filled the room. "Seriously?" Arizona said out loud. She sunk back down into the sheets, so her face was just inches from Callie's. "Wake up sleepy head," she said softly, putting a hand to Callie's face, stroking her cheek with her thumb. Callie stirred slightly and Arizona placed a gentle kiss on her girlfriend's forehead. Callie woke with this gesture, smiling before she even opened her eyes. She loved it when the first thing she saw was Arizona's face. "Morning," Arizona whispered cheerfully, as always. "Morning," Callie greeted back, wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist, pulling her close and eliminating all space between the two. Callie kissed her gently, but the kiss still had all the fire behind it. That was always the way it felt between the two of them. Like they would do it that way for the rest of their lives. "As much as I would love to stay in bed with you all day, we gotta go," Arizona whined. "Yeah, yeah," Callie complained. She watched as Arizona climbed out of bed and headed for the shower. She propped her head up on her hand, staring at Arizona's back, which was clad in one of Callie's old t-shirts. She smiled widely and took a deep breath, Arizona's scent still lingering. Callie rolled over to her side of the bed and swung her legs over to touch the floor. She sat on the edge for a minute, and then looked down towards her bedside table. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, as her thoughts swirled around the object tucked inside the bottom drawer. 'Maybe today's the day,' she thought to herself. Callie shook her head free of all her thoughts and began to get ready for work.

The day at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital started out normal, not too busy. A little before ten, Arizona was doing charts in her office, when her beautiful girl came busting through the door. "Hey, baby, what's-" Arizona was cut off, by Callie forcefully shutting the door and closing the blinds. She turned to face the desk, and Arizona caught the look of panic in her eyes. She stood up immediately and started towards her. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Arizona puts her hands to Callie shoulders, but she brushed past them to go sit on the sofa. "There's been a car accident. Twenty year-old male suffering internal decapitation. Incredibly uncommon, survival rate is less than 1%. He's a vegetable right now. Stable, but he's a freaking turnip. Chief wants me to pull off the surgery for the press, a surgery that only been successful a dozen times, if that. I think I might kill him if I try. I think this is out of bounds for me," Callie voice had begun to shake and she put her head in her hands. Arizona tried to take in and process all the information that had just been relayed to her in record time. "Calliope," she began, rubbing her girlfriends back. "I can't do this," Callie interrupted, "I'm not good enough." "Hey," Arizona jumped quickly. "Don't talk about my girl like that," Arizona said sternly, kneeling down in front of Callie. She put her hand under her chin and picked Callie's head up to bring their eyes together. "Calliope, look at me. You are incredible. Better than great. Incredible. You're not the Attending Orthopedic Surgeon at this hospital for no reason. Don't you ever doubt yourself. If this surgery is going to happen, you're the one that's going to pull it off. Calliope, you amaze me every day, you know that? Every day that I'm lucky enough to watch you work ends in awe. The compassion, the devotion, you give to this job is unprecedented. The strength you have is inspiring." Arizona takes a little step towards her so that she's a few inches from her face, just like this morning. "You can do this, I know you can. Go in that operating room and make some history." By this time, Callie had tears in her eyes. Arizona had her hands on either side of Callie's face and Callie draped her hands over her girlfriend's forearms and squeezed them lightly. "Thank you," she whispered. "You always do for me what no else can, you know that?" Arizona smiled lightly and pressed her forehead to Callie's. "I love you," she says and kissed her forehead lightly.

Callie had begun the excruciatingly long surgery nearly six hours ago, and was just now getting to the hard part. She took a deep breath and flexed her sore fingers. "You alright Dr. Torres?" Lexie Grey asked. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Dr. Grey." Callie had been replaying Arizona's little speech over and over in her head since the surgery began. 'Arizona's right, you can do this. You can do this,' Callie said to herself over and over again. She began her work again and became confident that she was going to pull the surgery off. She began to relax a little, when suddenly, a wild beeping could be heard from the heart monitor. Callie looked over to it, then back at the patient, only to realize she was now covered in blood. "Damn it!" she yelled, as doctors and nurses helped her get the patient stable. After what seemed like an eternity, three shocks to the heart, and countless pints of blood later, the patient was still alive. Barely. When everyone in the room had caught their breath, Lexie looked over to Callie. "Dr. Torres, are we going to continue?" she questioned. "Dr. Torres?" Callie couldn't hear anything. 'This is too much. I can't do this. I was wrong for even attempting this. I'm done.' Callie was panicking now. She couldn't hear or see anyone or anything around her. She could only process one thought right now. She needed her. "Someone page Dr. Robbins," Callie demanded. "Dr. Torres," Lexie said quietly. "Now! Someone get her in here now!" Callie yelled.

Arizona had just finished her last round of patients for the day and decided to take refuge in an on-call room to wait for Callie. She said her surgery should be done by 7PM, and it was almost 8, so she figured Callie was on her way out any minute. She plopped down on the hard bed, throwing her hand above her head, hoping to catch some sleep. Just as her eyes began to drift shut, she felt the vibration of her pager rock the mattress. "Oh, come on," she complained loudly, not wanting to move. She jolted up as soon as the words on the pager registered in her brain. 911 OR1. "Calliope," she under her breath before she took off running down the hall.

Arizona was met by a scrub nurse outside the door. "What's going on?" Arizona panted, out of breath from running. "Dr. Torres has requested your assistance," the nurse said sweetly, but Arizona could tell by the panicked look on her face that something was very wrong. Arizona scrubbed in as quickly as she could, and entered the OR. The room was silent, except for the very slow beat of the patient's heart on the monitor. Arizona looked around, until her eyes finally met Callie's. The fear in her eyes was unmistakable. Arizona knew that fear; it was the same fear she had when she operated on Wallace, the fear that maybe you're not a good enough surgeon for this, maybe you're in over your head. "Dr. Torres," Arizona began, walking toward her, the other doctors and nurses making way for the high ranking attending. "Is everything ok?" Arizona knew she had to put on a professional front for the others in the room and she hated it. She kept cool until she got right next to Callie. Arizona took in the sight of her girlfriend standing over a patient, scalpel in hand, covered in blood. Shaking. Shaking and surgery have never been the best of friends. "Dr. Torres," she said softly so not many could hear. "Take a step back," she whispered, putting an arm around Callie's waist to pull her away from the table. "Nurse Riley, could you?" Arizona gestured to the nurse to remove the tools Callie had clenched in her hands. She did so, and Arizona got right next to Callie's ear. "Baby, look at me." No response. "Calliope, look at me," she demanded. Callie painfully shifted her gaze over to Arizona. "Good, now take a breath. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and just relax for a minute," Arizona whispered to her, placing her hand of the small of Callie's back, rubbing gently. Callie did as she was told. "Great, now we talked about this Cal. How all this doubt, all this fear, it's all in your head, baby. Stop thinking about everything that's going on right now, it's just you and me, right here." Callie's breathing slowed a little bit, showing Arizona she was relaxing slightly. "Ok, now focus on this patient lying here, right now, in this moment. You can save him, you can change his life. You've got to trust yourself, you know you can do this." Callie nodded, closed her eyes, and took another deep breathe. She looked Arizona straight in the eyes one last time, then took the step back towards the table. "Scalpel," she called. With Arizona by her side, she knew what needed to be done.

The rest of the surgery went on without a hitch, and nearly twelve hours after she had begun, Callie had saved a life. Arizona met back up with Callie in the locker room, preparing to leave. Callie was sitting on a bench, changing out of her scrubs. Arizona could tell she was exhausted as she walked up behind her girlfriend. Arizona sat straddling the bench and leaned into Callie's shoulder. "I am so proud of you," she whispered. She put her hand on the back of Callie's neck and kissed her temple. The brunette leaned into her slightly and smiled. "Let's get you to bed," Arizona suggested. The exited the locker room and began heading for the doors. "Dr. Torres," the Chief called from behind the women. They both turned around sluggishly. "Incredible job. That was one for the books." "Thank you, sir," Callie said smiling slightly. "See, what did I tell you," Arizona said happily, her arms finding their way around Callie's neck. "You're incredible."

Callie and Arizona are quietly making their way through the darkened hospital corridors. It was nearly midnight and Callie hadn't said much since leaving the OR, but Arizona understood why. The stress and pressure of that kind of situation become unbearable, and Callie probably needs a little time to recover. Instead of badgering her with words, Arizona simply takes her hand, lacing her fingers with her own. Callie looks to her and smiles softly at the gesture. They continue walking a short distance, when Callie begins to slow her pace. Arizona drags along with her, knowing she's tired. Callie suddenly comes to a stop. "Come here for a sec," Callie says softly, almost inaudible. Arizona agrees, following Callie close behind. After a short detour, the women end up in the surgical wing once again, in front of the doors to OR 1. Callie opens the doors and walks into the sterile, almost pitch black environment, releasing Arizona's hand. Arizona takes a few steps inside, leaving Callie to begin pacing the room.

"Cal," Arizona whimpered. "What are we doing in here? Twelve hours in the OR isn't enough for one day?" Arizona joked, laughing lightly. Her smile turns to a look of curiosity as she watches Callie circle the outside edge of the operating room, lazily running her hand along the familiar equipment, confusing Arizona even more. When Callie doesn't respond, Arizona furrows her brow and summons her again, more serious this time. "Calliope, are you okay? I know it's been a long day, you're exhausted. Let's get you home, take your mind off all this." She says sweetly. Callie pauses, leaning up against a metal cart.

"The first time you kissed me, my heart stopped. Everything stopped. It felt like I had taken a breath for the first time. You know I think about that moment almost every day?" Arizona looked completely perplexed. "I-" Arizona starts. "And to this day" Callie cuts her off, still pacing lightly around the OR, "I still get that goofy feeling in my stomach whenever I see you. You put me back together, Arizona. You saved me in more ways than you will ever know. Even today, you saved me, right here in this room. I got scared and you were right there for me, by my side. And it blows my mind everyday that you picked me. Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning, and you're lying next to me, I have to take a moment and convince myself this isn't a dream." Arizona looks completely dumbfounded as Callie takes a few steps forward, still leaving several feet of space between them. "All my life, I've seen the movies, read the books, and heard the stories about incredible true love. The kind that changes a person, makes them better, and all that mess about happily ever after. I never believed it. Ever. But then you happened. I'm changed, Arizona. I'm better, and we deserve our happy ever after. These past two years have been the best I've ever had, so I can't imagine how incredible you would make the rest of my life."

Suddenly, five loud clicks and blindingly bright lights fill the room, as the huge overhead lamps above the operating table beam on. "What the –" Arizona says startled, her eyes squinting to protect them from the lights. She turns around to quickly glance at the lights, and just as she is about to turn back to her girlfriend, a shimmer catches her eye. With a double-take, her gaze is brought to the now brightly lit operating table. She peers at the table, noticing an object on it, and walks towards it, wanting to discover the incredibly shiny distraction. She gets within about four feet of it when tears begin to fill her eyes. Arizona puts a hand to her mouth as a brilliant engagement ring stares back at her. "Oh, Calliope," she turns back to where Callie was standing; only, now she has to lower her eye line to about knee level. "Arizona," Callie begins on bended knee. "I love you. I don't ever want to live without you. You changed my life," her voice breaking, Callie takes Arizona's hand and stands up to face her. "Marry me?" Callie takes both Arizona's hands in her own and stares into her blue eyes, searching for a reaction. Arizona stares back at her, taking in everything that has just happened. Then, in almost a whisper, one word slips from her mouth, the only word Callie needed to hear right now filled her ears.

"Yes."

So, whatcha think? One-shot? Continue?

By the way, all the medical stuff, total shot in the dark. I know a few terms here and there due to an Anatomy class taken in high school, but for the most part, I'm totally guessing. I guess we're all not as fortunate as Shonda to have medical consultants on our writing staff. Oh well.

Sorry if the proposal method was totally lame, just popped in my head, so I felt the burning desire to put it on paper.

Anyways, let me know what you think. Thanks for the time, always appreciated.

-J-