Title: (Not So) Sturdy
Author: A. Windsor
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13. Little language, kissing.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it's pretty useless. So please don't sue; it's not mine, I'm just playing!
Summary: Callie. Arizona. Snow. "In ortho, sturdy is sexy."
Author's Note: Secret Santa for Crazygorgeous13 on the Callie_Arizona lj community. Set next winter, when our girls will be reunited. Not really a Christmas fic, but set in early to mid December. Completely stand alone, but can be read as a prequel to my other future!fic one-shots.
Callie has a smile on her face from the moment she exits the elevator. From down the hall in her apartment, Freddie Mercury is belting it out about that "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", so loud she can hear every word even through the door. She pushes the front door in and is instantly reminded that she is in love with the most adorable woman in the world.
Arizona is perched precariously on a chair in the kitchen, stretching up to reach some of the extra paper towel rolls they store on top of the cabinets, shaking her cute little ass (mostly) in time with Queen's beat.
"Hey, Short Stuff. Be careful up there," she calls, knowing her voice gives away the smile that is currently plastered across her face. "You're damn cute, but I don't wanna have to rebuild any of those beautiful bones."
Arizona startles, blushing as she stumbles. Callie rushes to steady her, hands on her hips, looking up to see those dimples on full display.
"Hi, you."
"Hi," Arizona practically giggles.
"Why are you so damn happy?" Callie demands playfully, helping her off the chair but keeping her pulled close.
Arizona shrugs. "Christmas puts me in a good mood."
"That's not Christmas music."
"Well, I hear that all day in the peds wing. I need a break to preserve its specialness."
"Not sure that's a word."
"Sure it is."
"Like awesomeness?"
"Exactly."
Callie rolls her eyes and brings her hands up to cradle Arizona's warm cheeks and bring her in for a kiss. She tastes the sweet white wine on her lips as they slide tenderly against her own and she smiles into the kiss.
"You decided to have a drink or two before climbing up to the top of the cabinets? I was serious about not wanting to fix your bones."
"Do you really think my bones are beautiful?"
Arizona completely misses the point. How much of that wine has she had? Callie looks around for the open bottle to better gauge.
"Mm. Your bones are hot. Even here," she traces her fingers down the open neckline of Arizona's shirt. "Where your clavicle's been reconstructed."
"You can tell that?"
"Of course. What happened?"
"Teaching Danny how to climb a tree."
"Not a very good teacher, huh?" Callie teases, studiously ignoring her girlfriend's roaming hands in favor of learning more about a past she talks surprisingly little about, even when Arizona's skilled fingers slip under the hem of her shirt in search of bare skin.
"He never let me live that one down. It was at Camp Lejeune. North Carolina pines were not as sturdy as the live oaks I'd been climbing at Parris Island."
"How long were you in a cast?"
"I don't remember. It felt like an eternity when I was eight."
"I can imagine."
"Anything else freaky about my bones, Dr. Torres?" Arizona flirts.
"What happened to your nose?" She tweaks said nose playfully, earning a disgruntled glare from her tipsy girl. "There's no permanent bone damage, just a little battered cartilage. You must have been young."
"Oh," Arizona giggles. "I punched Corporal Kane's son in the face when I was ten. He punched me back. We both bled all over the place."
Callie laughs, imagining a fierce little fourth grade Arizona. Her heart hurts, in a wonderful way, with how much she wants one of her own.
"And your dad's reaction?"
"Yelling in public. Frozen peas and a pat on the back at home. And a lesson in how to hit hard enough that they won't hit back. My mom was a little horrified. Does the rest of my skeletal system check out?"
Callie grabs for her hipbones, pulling her pelvis flush with hers as she begins to trace a few kisses up the column of her neck. "Mm. Yes. Definitely. Very sturdy."
"Did you just use sturdy as a compliment, Calliope?"
"Yes! In ortho, sturdy is sexy. Promise." Her lips find the dainty cartilage of Arizona's ear, tracing the shell. "Did you save any of that wine for me?"
"You don't like white," Arizona counters breathlessly.
"I have to catch up to my drunk girlfriend somehow."
"I'm not drunk!" Arizona objects, pulling away, which won't do at all. "I just had two glasses. I was waiting for you. It's not my fault you took longer than I thought you would."
Callie laughs, and Arizona takes that opportunity to finally notice the wetness on the shoulders of Callie's jacket.
"Is it still snowing?" she asks brightly, wandering away towards the window.
Callie sighs and starts to shrug out of her leather coat, plotting how she's going to get the easily distracted blonde back on track. "Yeah, it's even started sticking."
"No, keep it on," Arizona orders, passing a dimpled smile over her shoulder.
"Well, that's a new one coming from you."
Arizona laughs warmly, deeper than the tipsy giggles she'd offered earlier.
"Let's take a walk!"
"Baby, it's twenty-nine degrees outside."
"That's not that bad," Arizona counters.
"If you're drunk," Callie grumbles, even as she starts to replace her jacket.
"Aw, my Miami girl," Arizona pouts playfully as she hurries to bundle up herself. "I'll keep you warm."
"You better."
"And I'm not drunk," Arizona arrives at her side with a fluffy warm scarf that she loops around Callie's neck. "I just love snow when it first starts falling."
Callie snorts and adjusts Arizona's warm hat so that it's no longer obscuring one eye.
"I know. Hopefully it doesn't snow too much, or I'll end up getting paged to surgically repair some dumbass's ankle."
"Just long enough for us to have a nice walk. Maybe I'll sing you Winter Wonderland."
"I thought you were taking a break from Christmas music."
"I'll make an exception to serenade you."
"Oh, you really don't have to do that for me."
"Ready?" Arizona asks brightly, extending a gloved hand.
Callie takes the hand and threads their fingers together, tugging her towards her. Her other hand finds Arizona's hip, tugging on the belt loop of her jeans. .
"Are you sure you don't want to do something a little... hotter?"
"That was a very unsubtle innuendo, Calliope."
"I'm going for effective, not subtle."
Arizona leans up and kisses her lips briefly. "You can warm me up after our walk."
"Still set on the walk, huh?"
"Yep."
"Awesome."
Arizona beams. "I'm so rubbing off on you."
"Obviously not until after our walk."
The crisp, cold air chases away the remnants of Arizona's tipsy, but the enchantment of freshly fallen snow has replaced it with a peaceful contentment. Her wine reinforcement seems to give her a little more protection against the brisk wind, but she snuggles in close to help keep Callie warm.
They stroll the quiet streets, careful to avoid the hospital. An inch or so of snow coats the whole city, making everything seem neat and clean and putting a soft damper on all of the usual noisy bustle. The snow is still falling, getting caught in their hair and eyelashes. They talk about their days, about their snow memories, about nothing at all. Callie's a little cold, but she's glad Arizona had this idea. It's nice to just be together, without any distractions.
Arizona pulls away as they circle back towards the apartment and leans down. Callie knows what's coming next before Arizona has even assembled an absurd little snowball from the meager snowfall.
"Oh, Arizona, no," she complains, smiling the whole time.
"It's not Christmas without a snowball fight, Calliope."
"Miami, Arizona. Christmas is mai tais and fireworks. Seventy degrees and sunny. And that is the most pathetic snowball I've ever seen."
Arizona pouts thoughtfully at her sad little arsenal and then a mischievous smile spreads across her face.
"Arizona..." Callie warns as Arizona inches towards her.
"Don't worry, baby. I'll warm you up."
A funny little mix of dread and lust pools in Callie's belly. Arizona lunges at her, handful of freezing weaponry sneaking under her scarf. The shock makes her react on instinct, and in her flailing on the slippery slush, she loses her footing.
As she goes down, she hears and feels a tell-tale snap in her left ankle, and the white-hot spike of pain brings a wake of nausea. The spike fades into an agonizing throb.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Arizona asks, obviously stifling her laughter. "I'm so sorry."
Callie opens her mouth to say: "No, I'm not okay; I broke my freaking ankle like a freaking dumbass. And no, the irony is not lost on me," but all that comes out is a low moan as she fights back tears. No. She's too badass to cry at a broken bone. Oh god, she broke her ankle.
"Calliope?" Arizona asks, all laughter gone from her voice as she crouches beside her. "What hurts?"
That's the voice she uses on her patients, but Callie's too busy fighting the urge to vomit to make a snide remark about her "boo-boo".
"Ankle," she grinds out through gritted teeth.
"Which one?" Arizona asks, hand dropping immediately to the boot-incased left ankle. Callie curses. "Yeah, okay. That one. I'm so sorry. Maybe it's just sprained?"
Her voice is sweetly hopeful, but Callie doubts that. Still, she obediently bites her lip as Arizona carefully unzips her boot. She gasps at the cold and the change in pressure. Arizona leans closer to examine the already-swelling joint in the low light and loses her footing, falling right on top of Callie.
At least it's her top half, Callie thinks, regaining her breath.
"Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news," Arizona says, arms on either side of Callie's shoulders, trying to find enough purchase to push herself up.
"There's good news?" Callie blows out a painful breath.
"Well," Arizona says sheepishly, "You've finally got me where you've wanted me all night."
Callie groans, and not in the good way.
"The bad news is I'm pretty sure that ankle's broken. Should I call an ambulance?" Arizona climbs off, careful not fall again.
"Oh god, that would be humiliating," Callie moans.
"I don't want to make it worse by trying to stand you up and walk. You can't operate on yourself!" Arizona counters, then takes a deep breath. "Okay. What if I call Mark to come get us? We're close to the hospital."
Callie's not sure that's less humiliating, but she needs Percocet, stat, so she just nods as Arizona whips out her cell.
"Uh, Torres?" Bailey exclaims, half exasperation, half concern. "Are you okay?"
"Blondie broke Callie's ankle," Mark grins as he carries Callie through the double doors of the ER, Arizona close behind.
"When you say it like that, it sounds like domestic abuse," Arizona complains, jogging to keep up with Mark's long strides.
"It was! With a snowball!" Callie bites back.
Yeah, this is definitely more humiliating than an ambulance.
"Your ankle is broken?" Bailey questions as Mark lays her on an exam bed.
The Nazi shoos away curious interns and resident, and Arizona draws the curtain before coming to take Callie's hand. Despite her annoyance, Callie welcomes the contact and squeezes her hand.
"Yes, everyone get in a good laugh. Ortho rock star broke her own damn ankle."
"I thought Robbins did it," Bailey struggles not to laugh.
Arizona pouts. "I'm sorry!"
"It wasn't her fault. It's just slippery out there. Look, I need a full set of x-rays and as much morphine as you can give me."
"Not so fast. You need ortho," Mark smirks.
"Who's the resident on call?"
"Gilroy."
"Oh god no," Callie makes a face. "Page Li. Now."
"Torres." Hunt sticks his head in. He smirks. "You okay?"
"She's gonna be just fine, Dr. Hunt. We have this under control," Bailey says.
"Plastics and General?" he asks skeptically. "And Peds?"
"We're paging Li," Mark informs.
"Gilroy's on call."
"That kid is not touching my bones. I can't fix my own ankle; Li's second best."
"Okay. I'll leave you to it."
"I'll go get your films ordered," Bailey says with a kind nod.
"And I'll go get you the good drugs," Mark says with a squeeze on her shoulder.
"Thanks."
Suddenly she and Arizona are alone, and Callie realizes Arizona's been far too quiet, just holding fast to Callie's hand and biting her lip.
"Hey," Callie says softly. "It's not your fault."
"Yeah, it kinda is."
"Arizona, you didn't push me down the stairs. We were just messing around."
"We should've stayed home and messed around your way."
Arizona has adorable puppy dog eyes.
"I won't disagree with you there, but I liked taking a stroll in the snow with my best girl," Callie pushes a faint teasing smile through the pain.
"'Best', huh? That makes it sound like there's more than one of us."
Callie kisses the hand attached to hers. "Never. You, Dr. Robbins, are one of a kind. Where else am I going to find an adult girlfriend so attached to snowball fights?"
Arizona smiles a little, dimples faint, and kisses Callie's temple. "I just don't like seeing you in pain. Ever. Especially when I caused it."
"C'mere," Callie grimaces as she shifts over just enough so that Arizona can sit at the edge beside her.
Arizona does, lifting her hip up so that she's perched facing her. She brushes loose hair behind Callie's ear and sighs heavily.
"I'm gonna be such a wreck when our kids break their tiny little bones."
Callie's breath catches at the casual, serious way she says that.
"Try not to tackle them on snowy sidewalks and I think we'll be okay."
"I can only promise so much."
But, oh god, she's already promised the world. Callie cups her cheek and brings her in for a warm, sweet kiss.
"Do you want the morphine or should I give you two a minute?" Mark interrupts with a laugh.
"Ha ha. Give me my drugs."
"Yes, ma'am."
Dr. Li grumbles about being paged but comes when he hears it is his colleague who requested him. He's arrived by the time the films are done, and he consults with the radiologist before coming to inform them.
"Good news," he grins, holding the x-ray up to the light since he knows she won't want to take his word for it. "It's broken, but no surgery. I'll set it and plaster it, then Dr. Robbins can take you home."
"Thank god. Not that I don't trust you, Adam. You're the only one I would, but..."
"I get it," Li nods. "Have a preference on color for your cast?"
Arizona's face lights up. Callie sighs.
"Whatever the lady wants."
"Oh, Calliope, really?"
"Yes."
"Pink?" Arizona suggests expectantly with wry lift of her brow that says she might be half-kidding.
"Arizona, that's not very rock star."
"Purple?"
"Big old gay stereotype. I like it. Yep. Much better."
"Purple?" Adam asks for confirmation, smiling at the exchange.
"Sure."
"Okay. I'll get you everything ready and be right back. How's your pain?"
"Better. Keep the meds coming."
"I agree. They make you very pliable."
"I was easy to begin with. At least, for you."
Arizona and Adam laugh.
"Morphine takes away your filter," Arizona says affectionately.
Li ducks out of the curtain shaking his head.
"We've completely switched places tonight," Arizona notes, her thumb brushing the back of Callie's hand that she holds. Callie only let go when they took her in to get x-rays, and the painkillers have only made her more clingy.
"How so?" Callie asks with a sleepy, content sigh, her words starting to slur a little as she leans back against her pillow.
"We started the night with me a little loopy and you worried about my bones."
"Still don't like you climbing up there. I can reach without a chair; just wait for me," Callie insists, eyes drifting shut.
"I'll keep that in mind," Arizona humors her. She leans forward and kisses Callie's cheek. "Sorry I broke your ankle."
"S'okay. Not your fault. But 'gonna tell the kids it was when this is a bedtime story."
Callie peeks one eye open with a teasing grin.
"Okay. As long as their momma is there to defend herself."
"Momma, huh?"
"Yes; it's what I call my mom," Arizona says defensively.
"No. S'cute. I like it. 'Gotta think 'bout what I'm gonna be called."
"We've got plenty of time for that. Just rest until Li comes to fix you up."
"'Kay. We owe 'im dinner for comin' in. Was nice of 'im."
"Sleep, Calliope," Arizona grins.
"'Kay. Did Mark really carry me five blocks in the snow?"
"Yes. Sleep, Calliope."
"Okay."
A pause.
"I'm a dumbass."
"Calliope."
"Goin' to sleep."
el fin