The light of the morning finds you sleeping in my bed
And it's not like the stories, it's never like what they said
I know who you want me to be, but I'm just not there yet
Yeah, the broken road's always been home and it's so hard to forget
Arizona POV
*Beep Beep Beep* I wake up in my office to the sound of my pager going off...I'm glad I kept this sofa Dr Herman stole from the attending's lounge...it is super comfy, so comfy the storm outside didn't wake me up! Even with a comfy sofa, it still doesn't beat waking up in a nice bed with the woman of my dreams, who again, stole all my sleeping thoughts. Will I ever get over her? It's been three years.
I check my pager and it looks like everyone has been paged to the ER so I grab my lab coat, stethoscope and a bottle of water and make my way down.
Arriving in the ER, I join Karev and Amelia who are hanging out by the desk.
"Hey, anyone know what's going on?" I ask.
"No doubt it's something to do with this storm" replied Alex.
"Bailey and Hunt are heading down to brief us all" added Amelia.
"Not another storm..." I mused, not my greatest moments.
"Speaking of storms any idea what's going on with them?" Amelia asked whilst nodding to the other side of the ER.
I follow her direction to see Callie and her perfect Penny in a somewhat heated discussion by the looks of it, scowls on faces, hand gestures (and not the loving kind). Some small part of my inside is cheering but the bigger part is still just upset and lost that Callie moved on so easily after she broke my heart all those years ago.
Wait for me now
Will you wait for me now?
"No idea and who cares?!" Replied Karev.
"I care...I care too much unfortunately" was my reply.
"Arizona you need to let us take you on a night out, have a few drinks, let your hair down and just have some fun" said Amelia who then spotted April coming in with supplies "Hey Kepner, night on the town looking for some ladies to entertain Robbins sound good?!" Shouted Amelia, which drew the attention of a certain Latina in the room who looked our way making Amelia grin.
"Count me in but let's get through this storm first! Bailey is just behind me" responded Kepner.
"Ok people listen up, as you can hear outside there's a nasty storm. we've got at least 24 casualties heading our way in the next 10 minutes from two coaches that crashed into each other from the wind. Expect more people coming through those doors as well so let's stock up the medication, blankets, water and someone call the blood blank and have them prepare everything they have. It'll be a long few hours, all I ask is you treat who can as best you can. Be on your A game and don't kill anyone or you'll have me to answer to! Well what are you waiting for people...move!" Bailey's instructions...always to the point.
"I'll go and notify the blood blank" said Kepner.
"We'll take the med cabinets" Karev said nodding to Amelia who was checking her phone.
"Meredith is on her way in with all the kids & will drop them at day care" Amelia let me know.
"Great thanks, I'll go get the blankets!" I said and we all went our separate ways.
I head towards the supply room to get the blankets & laugh when I realise it's the one me and April got drunk in after the fundraiser, I can't believe she asked to try on my leg I chuckled at the memory.
I might think too much, drink too much, stay out too late
I know I'm just a fool, but I swear I can change
I can't steal you the stars
But I can give you this second hand heart
All your friends think I'm hopeless, they don't understand
That this imperfect love can start over again
It's been broken apart
Will you still take my second hand heart?
"Oh hey" of all the closets in the hospital!
"Hey yourself, everything ok?" I ask Callie.
"Yeh just on the water stocks, you?" She replied pointing at the water bottles.
"Blankets" I said pointing behind me "oh Meredith is on her way with the kids and will drop them at daycare, I'm going to head up after and see Sophia"
"Thanks for letting me know. So you're going out soon looking for ladies huh? Sorry I couldn't help but overhear Shepard back there" said Callie avoiding eye contact.
I ponder to myself why she's asking this, she hasn't bothered before and as she's not looking at me, I can't read her face "Maybe, it depends how the next few hours go and if I have any energy for dancing, a few cocktails would be nice though. I haven't been out in a while!" I let her know.
"Good, that's good to hear, that uh, that you're having fun" Callie said quietly and looked away again.
"Calliope, are you ok?" I ask, not missing the little hitch in her breath or how fast her head snapped my way.
"Um not re" suddenly my pager beeped a 911 cutting this conversation short.
"Sorry 911!" I told her grabbing a basket of blankets to take with me and running out the closet, not before turning and looking back at my ex-wife who was now looking up to the ceiling with her eyes closed.
After almost six hours of non-stop patients, we had all managed to work as a team, do our jobs and fixed everyone that came through the doors, Bailey was happy which meant we were all happy. Whilst it was quiet I thought I'd go visit my beautiful daughter, grabbing my water I head to the lifts and close my eyes for a few seconds.
Yeah, the light of the morning finds you sleeping in my bed
And it's not like the stories, it's never like what they said
And I know who you want me to be, but I'm just not there yet
Yeah, the broken road's always been home and it's so hard to forget
The doors open again but I keep my eyes closed knowing I'm not at the right level yet. Before the doors close shut I faintly heard Bailey calling out to Webber asking him why he was running...weird I thought...As soon as the doors close I can sense who it is, not just her unique scent of cocoa butter body lotion and strawberry shampoo but I just know it's her.
"Hello again" I say
"How did you know it was me with your eyes closed? I'm just heading to see Sof" Callie asked me curiously.
"I'm heading there too. I always know when you're around me, it's like my sixth sense, when we were together and apart" I reply but then realise it may not have been the right thing to say so I open my eyes, to my surprise she's smiling a little.
"Yeh I know what you mean" she replies.
"So things with Penny are going ok? You've got that happy smile" I ask.
"I wasn't thinking of her just then" Callie replied smirking but then her face went blank "Things with Penny aren't great to be honest. We've been arguing for a long time now and it's always just little things like if I don't want to go out but she does, she gets pissed off easily. After working a 16 hour shift when I'm not even on call, the last thing I want is to go out, what's so hard to understand about that?! She's also got really messy, not cleaning up after herself and expecting it to be done when she's back from her shift...it's my house!" Callie vented whilst I stayed silent just staring at her and her beauty...whilst listening of course.
I might think too much, drink too much, stay out too late
I know I'm just a fool, but I swear I can change
I can't steal you the stars
But I can give you this second hand heart
All your friends think I'm hopeless, they don't understand
That this imperfect love can start over again
It's been broken apart
Will you still take my second hand heart?
"...and she's still pissing Meredith off which is affecting mine and Meredith's friendship which I hate because I miss our tequila and cheeseburger nights! I just, I just don't know what's going on" She finishes.
As soon as I went to reply there was a loud noise, the lift shook and the lights flickered then it stopped...great!
"Oh my god what's happening?" Asked Callie who was nervously pushing buttons trying to get the lift moving again.
"It must be the storm, it's knocked out the power. It'll be ok though, the emergency lights are on in here, the alarm is ringing so people will be aware someone is in here. I have a bottle of water luckily so we'll be OK." I tell her calmly.
"No it won't be ok, you know I don't like feeling trapped in small spaces! I'm freaking out already!" says Callie who starts to pace.
I approach her and put my hands on her shoulders stopping her in her tracks and getting her attention, she looks at me and, at first I hesitate, just staring back at her gorgeous brown eyes. Then I notice her deep breathing.
"It's ok, you're ok, just breathe. Nothing bad is going to happen inside this lift ok? Just focus on me and breath in, breath out, breath in..." I instruct her and slowly her breathing comes back to normal then she looks at me and silently thanks me so I move back away from her and offer the water I had, she takes a few sips and gives it back.
"So you need to keep talking so I don't panic again. So what's going on in your life at the moment?" Callie asks me.
"Oh apart from saving tiny humans that haven't been born yet and their mothers?! Not a lot really, there's nothing exciting to shout about." I reply lamely.
"What that's it?! No exciting news on the lady front?" She asks me.
"Callie...we don't need to do this!" I reply.
"Yes we do because we're stuck in a broken lift and my love life is in tatters so I need to know at least one of us is happy at the moment!" She says with a serious tone. I look at her and decide to sit down on the floor, she does the same opposite me.
"Well about a few weeks after you introduced Penny to us all, April and Amelia said I needed to start putting myself out there. At first I just laughed it off because I was happy just working and spending time with Sofia. A few weeks after that I was lying in bed at home and remember something I was told on one of my shifts a while back. I accidentally came across this wonderful old man called Abe who told me about how he had fell in love again and he never thought he would after his wife had died. He had come in with his girlfriend of five years and he had an engagement ring with him. He reminded me that it's ok to move on and fall in love again, it may not be when we expect it but that's the joy of love" I had to pause and smile at the memory of Abe then a lone tear formed and rolled down my cheek "so the next day I decided to go out, to my surprise I also had a wingman!"
"Let me guess, Kepner?" Callie enquired.
"Nope!"
"Amelia?"
"No" I smiled, she wouldn't guess.
"Karev...I bet he'd love a lesbian bar!" Callie laughed.
"Wrong again but that would be funny. It was Richard." I tell her and laugh at the shock on her face.
"Richard Webber?!" She asks incredulously.
"The very one and he was a good wingman I've got to give it to him! He'd go make conversations with random people and then bring them over to join us for a drink" I tell her smiling at some of his lame lines to get people to join us.
"Did it work? Did you meet anyone?" She pushes further.
"There were a few nice women that I talked to over the weeks and one or two second dates but nothing ever came of it" I tell her honestly.
"Well...why not?" She's digging for more...time to be a good man in a storm and keep up the honesty. I take a moment before continuing and look at her, she stares back at me.
If you let me show you, I could love you the same
And I can't steal you the stars, but I can try every day
Oh, you know they'll never tear us apart
And I'm just a fool, but I swear I can change
I can't steal you the stars, but I can try every day
And you know, you've got my second hand heart
"Because none of them were you" I tell her truthfully and her mouth drops slightly.
I let her take in what I've said and wait for her to say something. After a few minutes of awkward silence she looks at me with watery eyes.
"Arizona what do you mean? It's been three years and you haven't met anyone because of me?" She asks me.
"Correct. It's been three years since you wanted to be free and happy, I already was free and happy being with you, being your wife and you left me. So I went from being free and happy to alone and sad...for three years" I tell her truthfully but starting to get a bit agitated and upset at everything that happened in the past and bringing it all back up again.
"Arizona...I didn't...I don't know what to say, I thought I was doing the best for both of us..."
"It's fine, I'm fine, I'll be fine" I say to her.
You might think too much, drink too much, stay out too late
I know you've been a fool, but I swear you can change
I can't steal you the stars
But I can give you this second hand heart
All your friends think I'm hopeless, they don't understand
That this imperfect love can start over again
It's been broken apart
Will you still take my second hand heart?
Callie makes her way over to sit next to me, my body tingles when her arms rests next to mine.
"Can I ask you something?" Callie asks.
"Of course" I look at her and she looks intently into my eyes like she's trying to figure something out.
"Do you still love me?" There's the million dollar question.
"Honestly?" I check with her
"Please?" She nods
"I've never stopped loving you. I've never stopped being in love with you and I probably never will stop. I can't help it Callie" Tears have started rolling down her tanned cheeks "I can't stop myself or my feelings, my heart wants you, my body wants you and my soul wants you. It's been that way since we first met and the feeling never went away for me. I know I made mistakes and jeopardised everything but I regret all the mistakes I made. So much so that I've never been able to move on from you because I feel I still need to make it up to you. I've still got a lifetime of love for you Calliope, nobody else, just you. I've never met anyone like you, you captured me with those eyes and your heart and I've never been able to look away or even consider moving on from you, ever. I've not slept with anyone, heck I haven't even kissed anyone since our last night together all that time ago. You were it for me, my one true love, my happy ever after and I lost you." I let out a big sigh after getting this big weight off my shoulders and only then notice we're both crying now.
"You haven't even kissed anyone in three years?" She's asks through the tears and I laugh at her question.
"That's all you picked up from all of that?! Seriously?" I ask her in disbelief and she smiles that beautiful smile I love.
"No, no I heard you and Arizona" she takes my hand and rubs her fingers over mine which makes me close my eyes "you never lost me."
I look at her with a question hanging on my lips but before I could ask I felt her lips brush mine, I'm sure I had died and gone to heaven, her lips were my heaven. I pull away just enough to look at her to see she's got a look of love in her big brown eyes so I smile and crash my lips into hers. This kiss full of passion and need, three years is a long time and she just flicked her tongue over my bottom lip which also flicked my libido back on which I had long lost. I kneel up and put my leg over Callie who I'm now straddling, running my hands through her hair, her hands holding my hips just like they used to, oh my god! "Calliope" I whisper between kisses - she just holds me tighter and kisses me harder, nipping my lip with her teeth which she knows is one of my favourite things, sending electricity and heat through my body. We can't stop kissing, hands are everywhere, our tongues fall into a rhythm of massaging the other and I think this is enough to make me explode.
"Oh my god I've missed this, I've missed you so much" Callie pants which surprises me so I put my hand on her chest so I can look at her whilst we're catching our breaths.
"What do you mean? What about Penny?! Is this just a moment of madness for you or something?!" I start to move off but Callie's strong hands keep me in place.
"Since you were so honest I guess I should be too...we split up two weeks ago, this morning she was trying to get me back but I ended things. I ended things because over the past few months I fell back in love with you Arizona." She tells me and I smile my best dimpled smile back at her.
"I was free and happy for a while and enjoyed meeting new people because that exciting buzz came when you first start seeing someone new but honestly, it was never as good with anyone as it was with you. With you I had that buzz every morning I woke up to you in my arms, every time we kissed, made love and just doing things as a family with Sofia. Arizona, Penny was jealous because she'd catch me off guard staring at you or talking about you to the others and it made her uncomfortable and she realised before me that I was in love with you still! So she told me and then everything I had been feeling for a while made sense. I was avoiding going out with her, choosing to work or go out with Grey instead just so I didn't have to be with Penny. All along I still wanted to be with you Arizona."
Without saying anything, with silent tears running down my own face, I leant in to kiss the love of my life again and if felt like I was coming home. It was a slow and sensual kiss, making up for the past three years and putting all our emotions into the kiss, sighing with content every few moments.
And I'm just a fool, but I swear I can change
And I can't steal you the stars, but I can try every day
Oh, you know, you've got my second hand heart
And I'm just a fool, but I swear I can change
And I can't steal you the stars, but I can try every day
Oh, you know, you've got my second hand heart
We hadn't even realised that the lift had started to move again until the lights came back on and the humming noise started. We both parted, stood up and looked at each other with big grins. Thank god the lift was working, we may have done something in there which should be done in a bed!
"So"
"So"...we both started and laughed.
The lift opened on the daycare level and we both headed out of the lift.
"So Calliope, would you like to go on a date with me?" I ask her with butterflies in my stomach.
"Aren't you going out looking for ladies with the others tonight?" She teases me.
"I've already found the perfect woman so no, no going out for me" I tell her which earns a beautiful smile.
"I'd love to, maybe cocktails and dancing that you mentioned earlier?" Callie asked me.
"Sounds perfect, now let's go see our baby girl together!" I intertwine our hands together as we walk in and see Sofia who looks at us together, holding hands, she smiles and runs over to us so I pick her up, she puts her arms around the two of us bringing us into a group hug.
"I love storms!" She tells us.
"Yeh, this one I'm a fan of" agreed Callie and smiled at me "Abe was right you know, the joy of love being unexpected" which made me laugh.
"How about we go to the coffee shop and get hot chocolates?" I ask my two favourite girls.
"With marshmallows?" asks our little munchkin.
"Of course!" I reply putting her down and taking her hand, she grabs Callie's at the same time.
Callie looks at me and smiles "this will be our first date" I grin and look at her and Sofia then Callie leans closer and whispers in my ear "this is our first date because when I mix alcohol, dancing and you, I won't be responsible for taking you home and doing things that will have you naked and screaming my name...and I don't sleep with anyone on the first date" she says seductively sending a shiver from my ear to my lady place. Holy shit, hello labido you old friend!
My mouth agape, I just stare at her until a tiny arm is tugging me to move. I come back to my senses quickly and start walking with my family, cheeks flushed and feeling a bit hot under the collar.
"That second date better betomorrowCalliope" I tell her as we walk away hand in hand from the daycare, all three of us smiling but Callie chuckling at the state she's got me in. Finally, I'm free and happy again.
From the nurses desk on the day care level, Richard Webber reveals himself from behind a journal smiling and chuckling until Bailey spots him and marches over.
"Richard Webber why on Earth did you put the emergency stop on the elevators in the middle of a storm?!" Bailey asks demanding answers.
"Because Bailey" he points to the Robbins-Torres family "I'm the best wingman ever!" He says still chuckling and walking away with a skip in his step.
**** FIN ***
Song Credit - Second Hand Heart - Ben Haenow ft Kelly Clarkson