A/N: Memories and flashbacks are shown in italics, hope it's not too confusing.
Arizona checks her phone after rounds and sees a message from Meredith that she's stuck in traffic, so she texts her back to see if she's made it in yet.
Meredith responds "Trauma 3" so Arizona continues to chart. Then she hears running outside her office, so she steps out in the hall to see what's going on.
"There's a code Grey in the ER, Dr Robbins," the charge nurse informs her. "I believe Dr Karev already responded."
"Can you find out if I'm needed? Otherwise, I'll stay here and cover the unit," she replies.
"Yes, Dr Robbins. I'll note that in the system," the nurse replies.
Finishing the charting from her morning rounds, Arizona heads out to the floor, "Has Dr Karev returned to the unit?" she asks one of the nurses at the desk.
"No Dr Robbins, we just got a note from staffing that he is out for the rest of the day," she replies hesitantly, then adds "Dr Robbins, the Code Grey was Dr Grey, she was attacked in Trauma Room 3, she's in serious but stable condition."
Shocked, all Arizona can do is nod that she heard the nurse, then she spins around and darts back into her office, closing the door behind her quickly and leaning against it a moment. She can't breathe, afraid that she's going to hyperventilate, she moves over to her desk and drops into her chair, bending over her knees she takes a few deep breaths. Feeling a bit more composed, she grabs her computer and finds Meredith's chart in the system. Oh my god, how could this happen inside the hospital, she asks herself before grabbing the phone and calling Alex.
"Hello?" his voice is broken and stressed. but he answers on the first ring.
"I just heard. Where are you?" she asks.
"I'm in the surgical lounge waiting for her to get out of surgery, Arizona it's bad. Really bad," he says. Instantly she's alarmed all over again, because she's never heard Alex this broken before.
"Alex, I'm on my way, okay?" She says shutting her office and rushing to the elevator, flashing the charge nurse her pager as she goes by the desk so they know she's heading off the unit.
Entering the lounge a few minutes later, she's stunned to see Alex's tear-stained face. "Have you heard anything yet?" Arizona asks.
He shakes his head no.
"I'll be right back." Arizona says squeezing his shoulder before slipping out. She pauses in front of the surgical board and spots the hastily written surgery with Hunt, Webber, and Pierce written in as the surgeons.
Standing in the gallery looking down she can tell that they have her stabilized medically, but she can tell that there's still a lot of concern regarding her injuries. Arizona can't take seeing Meredith on the table so she steps out into the hall. Bending over taking deep breaths until she is composed enough to go back in and update Alex.
"They'll be out soon. She's stable," she informs him. Then sitting down beside him, she turns and asks angrily, "What the hell happened in that Trauma room? Why was she alone?"
"I don't know, she came in with him on the ambulance and he had a head wound, they were waiting for a neuro consult, when he had a seizure, the nurses stepped out to get fresh linens to clean him up. They think that he got up after that and attacked her," Alex explains. "I don't know what I should do, should I call the nanny, should I have her bring the kids here?" He asks Arizona.
"Not yet, let's hold off and wait until Pierce is out of surgery. I think the two of you should decide that together. You're still her emergency contact right?" Arizona asks.
"Yeah, I mean they had me sign the surgery forms, so I don't think she changed them," he replies.
"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going back up to cover peds and you're going to wait for her to get out of surgery and keep me posted," Arizona says calmly, hiding the panic that she feels.
"You guys are really close friends now, how are you so calm?" He asks.
"Well, It helps that you're not," she replies, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Alex, she's going to be okay. She has to be, those three kids are not losing their mom" Arizona replies, bending down to kiss his cheek.
Back in her office, Arizona sinks on to her couch and breaks down, still unable to believe that Meredith was attacked here in their hospital. After a few minutes she wills herself to regain her composure, before heading out to visit with the Peds staff to let them know that Alex will be in and out for the next few days and they should page her with any and all emergencies. Then she heads down to Callie's office.
"Hey, how's she doing?" Arizona asks when the brunette looks up at her.
"Oh my god, Arizona her jaw is wired shut, she's lost her hearing, I fixed her dislocated elbow, but her knee and ankle may need surgery. I just can't believe this happened here," Callie says tears flowing freely.
"I know, I know. Thank god she's alive though and she'll recover her hearing, right?" Arizona asks.
"Yes, Jackson thinks she will, but my god, have you seen her yet?" Callie asks.
"Not really, I looked into the OR to check on her, but I couldn't really see anything." Arizona admits. "But I just wanted to let you know that I am going to be covering Peds for the next day or so for Alex, so I wanted to make sure that you were okay with keeping Sofia." Arizona replies.
"Yes, of course, it's my week. Wait, you are just going to stay here then?" Callie asks.
"With Meredith and Alex both out, we're down two surgeons, so I am going to let Bailey know that I am available to help cover general and peds this week," Arizona explains.
"Uh, wow, I hadn't even thought of that yet," Callie says softly to herself. "Uh, Arizona, please let me know if there's anything you need, okay?"
"I will," Arizona replies before turning to leave.
"Hey, I was just coming to look for you, Karev is…" Bailey begins talking as soon as Arizona approaches her.
"I've already removed Alex from the call sheet and instructed the Peds staff to page me for anything and everything," Arizona says cutting her off. "Now, can I help cover General too?"
"Uh, well I just posted a temporary position on the PRN board Statewide," Bailey replies.
"Callie's got Sofia this week, so I'll just stay as much as you need me for the next 48 hours," Arizona offers.
"Well thank you Arizona, that will be a big help, I'll let you know as soon as we get this covered," Bailey promises.
A few hours later, Arizona stops by the ICU to check on Meredith. She spots Alex outside in the hall so she approaches him, "Is she awake at all?" she asks.
"She's just in and out," he replies. "Go in and see her, I'll stay out here. I can barely look at her right now without wanting to go kill that guy," Alex confesses
Arizona ducks into the room and gasps at the sight of Meredith's bruised and bandaged face. She starts to talk to her, then remembers that she can't hear, so she leans over and kisses her lightly on the forehead and rests her hand along her face in a gentle caress.
Meredith's eyes flutter open at the contact and she panics, the monitors start beeping. Arizona pulls back to let Meredith's eyes focus so she can see her face, a flicker of recognition crosses the bruised face and bloodshot eyes, but then the eyes close again. Gasping in fear, the blonde turns away from the bed to give herself a moment to recompose before she leaves the room.
"I'm covering general and peds for the next 48 hours," Arizona informs Alex as she approaches him in the hall, "please let me know when she's more alert. Otherwise, I'll come back in a few hours to check on you both, okay?"
"Arizona, she'll be okay," he says putting an arm around her. "She's survived too much for this... " his voice cracks, "she'll be okay," he repeats firmly.
"I know, just don't let her wake up alone, okay?" Arizona says, "promise me that you'll stay here and if you need to leave page me and I'll stay with her."
"Okay, I'm not going anywhere. I already called Yang, but she's in the middle of a medical trial so I had to talk to Ross. Pierce has temporary custody of the kids in event of an emergency, so we're working out a schedule with the nanny," he informs her, "she just went home to stay with them tonight."
"I think that's good, they're used to Maggie being there and that will help them adjust. You guys need to let them know what happened, but they can't see her like this, it will really scare them," she reminds him.
"They're used to you too, so don't be a stranger, Arizona," he reminds her.
"I couldn't stay away from them if I tried. Please let me know if they need anything," she replies softly, giving him a light hug before leaving.
Back in her office, she locks the door and slumps to the floor breaking down again. Pulling her phone out she tries to read the messages they exchanged last night but it's too hard. Memories of the past six months flood her mind.
"Arizona?" Meredith says answering the door with the baby on her hip.
"Callie has Sofia, so I wanted to check in and see if I can help you with anything," Arizona offers stepping inside the house.
"I'm sorry it's such a mess. I can't seem to get anything unpacked," she says embarrassed by all the boxes surrounding them.
"Well, let's pick a room and get started," Arizona replies smiling brightly.
Arizona spent every night that first week helping Meredith get settled in the house and by the weekend, Arizona insisted that Jo and Alex come over and babysit so she and Meredith could go out to lunch.
Smiling at the memory of that time spent really getting to know each other after working together for so many years. They both were surprised at how much they had in common. It soon became obvious to Arizona that she was developing a crush on Meredith, which was about the time she came back to work.
"When does it get easier?" Meredith asks bursting into Arizona's office one day.
One look at her friend and immediately the blonde realizes that she's talking about losing Derek.
"It doesn't get easier, not really," Arizona says softly. "You kind of get numb, so it hurts less," she explains.
"There's no where in this hospital that doesn't remind me of him," Meredith admits tearfully.
"I know," Arizona replies taking her into her arms and comforting her.
The sound of her pager buzzing, shakes Arizona from the memories. Checking the pager, she get up and steps into her bathroom to splash cold water on her face to try to reduce the puffiness from crying before responding to the page.
"Chelsea, would you alert the ER that I am on my way," Arizona calls out as she passes the nurses station.
Finishing up the emergency appendectomy on a teenager, Arizona finds herself passing by the ICU on her way to recovery.
"How is she?" Arizona asks the nurse at the desk.
"Dr Hunt is keeping her sedated tonight," the nurse replies.
Entering the room, Arizona gently shakes Alex's shoulder, "Hey, you should go sleep in an on call room, Hunt's keeping her sedated tonight," she reminds him.
"I can't leave her alone," he replies. "I wasn't there when it happened, so I have to be here now."
"Okay," Arizona replies watching him close his eyes again, before walking over to the bed and leaning in close to Meredith's face, "I'm here and I'm not leaving this hospital until you're awake. You're not alone, you've got Alex and you've got me," she whispers softly, believing that even sedated, Meredith can feel the vibration of her words and the touch of her lips on her face.
Another memory flashes through Arizona's mind. Taking her back to an early afternoon, unpacking and organizing Meredith's kitchen. Meredith went upstairs to change Ellis and after an hour, Arizona went up to check on them and Meredith had fallen asleep in the rocking chair in her bedroom while Ellis was awake and babbling away. Gently Arizona took the baby and laid her down in the crib, then she bent close to Meredith's ear and woke her up enough to help her out of the chair and onto the bed. When Meredith woke up later in her bed, she marveled that the blonde was able to do that without waking her up. Arizona laughed and joked that it was one of her superpowers.
Giving the nurse the order to move the boy out of recovery and into a room, Arizona stops in the waiting room to let the parents know that their child will be moved up to Peds soon and suggests that they go get some sleep and come back in the morning.
In her office, she locks the door and then heads into the suite and lays down on the bed to get some rest herself.
"Hey, you fell asleep," Meredith teases.
"Is the movie over?" Arizona asks confused as to why they are on the couch with the tv off.
"You fell asleep, I'm not watching it alone," Meredith replies.
'"I'm sorry. I should just go home. I'm too tired to watch a movie tonight," Arizona says sitting up on the couch.
"You're too tired to drive home, so stay here," Meredith says placing a hand on her leg.
Panicking a little at the touch, Arizona's eyes open wide. "No, I'm good to drive," she says nervously.
"Arizona, the movie hadn't even started before you were sound asleep. You're not driving, just come upstairs and sleep with me, it's a big bed, you won't even know I'm there," Meredith jokes.
Once the lights were off and they were in the bed on their separate sides, Arizona admits to her, "Uh, Meredith I'm not used to sleeping with another woman like this, so you know I think I should apologize upfront in case I uh, get too close," she mumbles nervously.
Meredith laughs, "Arizona, it's okay, we're friends. I don't mind a little spooning between friends, ask anyone, they've all been spooned by me, it's part of being my friend you know."
Waking up the next morning with Meredith wrapped around her, Arizona has to admit it was the best night's sleep that she'd had in months. And when Zola and Bailey came in the next morning they weren't phased by finding them in the same bed.
Waking up alone at the hospital, Arizona can't go back to sleep so she dresses quickly and heads to the ICU to check on Meredith. Alex is coming out of her room when Arizona arrives.
"Alex, what's happening?" she asks worried.
"Uh, nothing. They just delayed the next dose of sedative so they could do a neurocheck," he replies, as Edwards exits the room.
"Wait, Edwards? Where's Shepherd? Why isn't she here?" Arizona asks confused to see the resident taking care of Meredith and not the head of Neurology.
"I told Dr Shepherd that I would follow Dr Grey's case, Dr Robbins. Dr Grey is important to me, don't worry, I've got this," Edwards says confidently before walking away.
"Well, she's confident at least," Arizona remarks. "But where is Amelia?"
"I don't know, the last time that I saw her she was sitting on the floor of the trauma room in shock crying," Alex replies angrily. "Hey, you should get in there before they sedate her again," he adds.
Arizona enters the room and goes over to Meredith and lays her hand on her arm and softly rubs the skin, her eyes flutter open and Arizona looks for some sign of recognition from her. Tears pool in Meredith's eyes and spill down her face causing the same effect on Arizona. The blonde leans in and says "You will be okay," then kisses her forehead.