A/N: Italics indicate Arizona is unconscious and experiencing dream/hallucinations.
"Callie, I know it's bad, but please promise that you won't amputate," Arizona pleads.
"I-I-I won't Arizona, I promise that I won't amputate," Callie replies tearfully.
Alex, Bailey and Hunt exchange worried glances and Hunt pulls Callie aside. "That's not a promise you can make Torres, I'm taking you off this case. You can't be her doctor, she's your wife."
"I'm the only one who can make that promise and keep it, you will not take me off of this case!" Callie replies angrily. "Follow me Karev, we're saving that leg!"
Inside the ICU, Bailey is going over Arizona's injuries and adjusting her pain meds. "You don't think she can do it, you think I'm asking too much?" Arizona asks.
"This type of infection can kill you Arizona, you're barely fighting off sepsis as it is." Bailey retorts, "And your white count is dangerously high, if we take the leg, the infection goes with it," she points out.
Arizona wakes up frightened in the dark room. Surprised that Bailey isn't there, since she felt like she was just talking with her. The blonde tries to move to look around the room, but all she manages to do is send a searing pain through the left side of her body, she cries out.
"Hey, hey, I'm right here, what's wrong? What do you need?" Callie asks coming over to her and taking her hand.
"Calliope, I-I-I can't move, why can't I move?" she asks gasping for breath and frightened.
"You're still in traction, your pelvis fracture is still healing," Callie reminds her.
"What about my leg?" Arizona asks.
"Your leg?" She asks confused, "It's fine, Mark sutured the lacerations and they're healing nicely, I don't think there will be any scarring," Callie explains.
"What about the infection?" Arizona asks, looking at her carefully.
"It was minor, your white count has returned to normal," Callie replies confused by Arizona's questions.
"Don't lie to me Calliope, I know it's bad," she says softly before falling back asleep.
Another week has passed and Arizona's been in and out of consciousness, the subdural hematoma seemed to have resolved, but now Callie's afraid there's something else going on with her wife's head injury.
"Derek, she woke up really confused. Please re-examine her?" Callie asks when he shows up a few hours later.
"Yeah, sure. But it could just be the pain meds causing the confusion," he points out.
"What if.." she begins to ask.
"Callie, go lay down and get some sleep in an on-call room. I'll do some tests, if there's something wrong, I'll find it," he says confidently.
"Derek?" Arizona mumbles his name as he begins to examine her.
"Just checking a few things, how are you feeling?" He asks.
"Head hurts," she says wincing.
He shines his penlight in her eyes and smiles at her, "I think it's time to get some new scans," he says.
"Hydrocephalus," she says before slipping out again.
"Derek, what's going on?" Meredith asks entering the CT control room.
"There's swelling in her brain, I need to put in a shunt to relieve the pressure and her white count is elevated again," he replies. "But her acuity is high, she actually diagnosed this herself."
"She did?" Meredith asks confused, then she looks around the room, "Where's Torres? Have you told her yet?" Meredith asks.
"Not yet, she's sleeping. Would you go wake her up, I want to get in there right away," he says worriedly.
"Yes, of course, Derek. I'll go get her and we'll meet you in the OR," Meredith replies.
"It is serious, and we're not sure exactly what caused it but what's important is that we caught it quickly and Derek is fixing it," Callie says updating Arizona's parents.
"But she's okay?" Barbara asks.
"Yes, she is stable," Callie replies trying to project more confidence than she feels.
"Callie?" Mark says entering the waiting room with Lexie right behind him. Since they won't let Callie in the OR, Mark promised to attend everyone of Arizona's surgeries. "They're moving her to recovery now, everything went fine."
Callie stands up and falls into his arms, "I just need to see her," she says tearfully.
"I know", he says taking her hand, "Come on, I'll take you."
"Mr and Mrs Robbins, I'll stay with you and answer your questions until Dr Shepherd gets here." Lexie says sitting down with them.
"I need Callie, no one touches my leg," Arizona screams in the ER. I do not consent to treatment, I do not consent to amputation!"
"Dr Robbins, if we don't remove your leg, the infection could kill you," the doctor says firmly.
"My wife is the top orthopedic surgeon in this area, she can save it," Arizona says tearfully.
"Derek, what's going on?" Callie asks panicking when Arizona's monitors start beeping.
"Arizona, you're safe. You are at Seattle Grace," Derek says calmly, taking her hand and nodding to Callie to do the same.
"Arizona, I'm here too," Callie adds caressing her arm and squeezing her hand.
Her eyelids flutter and open briefly, but not long enough to focus. Her breathing evens out and her heart goes back to normal.
"Derek?" Callie questions.
"Just talk to her, keep her calm. I'll be right back." He says before turning to leave.
"It's not common, but I believe that the combination of anesthesia and sedation is causing her to enter into a stressful dream state; it's likely that she's reliving the trauma of the accident." Derek is explaining to Callie and Arizona's parents why he's keeping her sedated.
"So wake her up Derek, the stress isn't good for her," Callie replies.
"You're right that the stress isn't good for her, but waking her up isn't the answer. She needs to rest and heal, so I am suggesting that we put her in a medically induced coma for at least a week. It will allow her brain to rest and her body to heal." He explains.
"What if she doesn't wake up?" Daniel asks.
"Medically induced comas aren't like other comas, you take the medicine away, the patient wakes up." Meredith interjects.
"If you think that's what she needs, then do it," Barbara replies.
"A week. One week?" Callie asks him, tears threatening to fall.
"One week, then we'll bring her out of it and reevaluate her," he promises.
"Can you bring her out of the sedation first? I want to tell her what we're doing," Callie asks.
"We can, but Callie, this will affect her short-term memory, she won't remember it," he points out.
"Hopefully she won't remember the accident either," Barbara remarks tearfully as her husband wraps an arm around her.
The week flies by and Callie visits a few times throughout the day. Daniel and Barbara visit with Sofia and let her lay on the bed with her mom, but the blonde doesn't even know that she's there.
"Her labs came back clean. The infection is all but gone. The swelling in her brain is gone too. I think it's time to bring her out of it," he advises Callie.
"Okay, can we do it this afternoon?" she asks.
"I don't see why not," he replies. "I'll check my schedule and let you know what time."
"Okay, she's coming out of it," Meredith says checking the monitors and noting the changes that indicate the medically induced coma is wearing off.
Callie sits on the side of the bed holding Arizona's hand and rubbing her arm. "Arizona, hey wake up baby," she says softly leaning over her.
"Arizona, darling. It's mom, wake up honey," Barbara says from the other side of the bed.
"Just give her a little time," Meredith replies confidently, moving to the end of the bed to check the blonde's reflexes to make sure that the sedation has dissipated. Callie glances down to watch her and nods when she sees the expected responses.
A few minutes later Derek reenters the room and notes that the blonde is not yet alert, so he begins checking everything that Meredith just checked. "Well, everyone reacts to this differently, she'll wake up shortly," he replies confidently, "Dr Grey would you join me for a moment?"
Meredith glances at Callie and then steps outside to talk with Derek.
"Why isn't she waking up?" Meredith asks worriedly. "Everything is normal, she's breathing on her own, she's responding to stimuli," she points out.
"Meredith, you know as well as I do that every patient reacts differently to sedation," he reminds her. "She'll wake up when she's ready."
