CHAPTER 3
Callie woke from the sun shining brightly over her face. The pounding in her head made the brightness of the sun excruciating. For a moment she almost forgot where she was, but reality quickly set in. 'Arizona' she said quietly. She turned over as fast as she could and found a sight before her that made her feel as though she needed to vomit. Arizona was lying on her side, blood stained hair stuck to her face. Callie's eyes scanned the woman's body and her doctor instincts kicked in. "Arizona? Can you hear me?" She tried. "It hurts." The woman whined. "I know. I'm going to move you to some shade so I can clean you up and see how badly you are hurt. Here. Put your arm around my neck." Callie pulled her arm over her shoulder and counted to three before lifting her. "OHhhhhhhhh!" Arizona screamed out. The pain rushing through her body from her leg was too much to bear. Her body went limp in Callie's arms, but the woman was strong enough to hold her. Callie took in their surroundings, trying to find a safe, dry place to put Arizona while she went in search of her friends. She found a small tree that cast off enough shade, and a soft patch of grass. To her right, there was a beach and she could see water for as far as her eyes could see. It looked as if they had landed in the middle of nowhere. How did we even get here? She thought to herself. They should have never even crossed an ocean. She shook her head, unable to even think about that right now. She sat Arizona down, and began to collect some giant leaves to make some sort of padding for her. "Ho-how bad is i-it?" Arizona asked, lifting her leg with her hands, whining in pain. Callie squatted down in front of her, pulling the material back once more, and looked at her leg. "I don't know yet. I'm going to go back to the plane and see if I can find some bottled water, and hopefully a first aid kit. I'll be right back." Callie explained. Arizona reached out quickly, gripping Callie's shirt with intense horror. "Please don't leave me Callie. Please don't." She begged, tears forming in her eyes. Reaching up and cupping the blondes cheek, Callie said, "I will be right back. I promise you. I will not leave you. I will be back before you even know it." Arizona nodded and shook her head up and down quickly. "Ok." She whispered.
Callie squeezed Arizona's hand and stood up. "I'll be quick." She said before walking towards the plane. Or half of the plane any way. The sparks had stopped, and the engine fan was no longer making noise. The smell of what she assumed was just fuel burned her lungs as she breathed. Several people were lifeless in their seats. A few spread on the floor. She had to turn away as she emptied the contents of her stomach. Wiping her face, she continued on. She climbed to the front of the plane, to the cock pit, and looked for the radio. When she found it, she pressed the button and spoke. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello? We need help!" she begged. But there were no sounds. Dead silence filled the air. She threw the radio receiver down and went looking for supplies. She found a few things she would need to make a splint for Arizona and some bottled water. She grabbed all the snacks she could find before stuffing them in a bag. One by one she went through the other passenger's luggage and found some medicine that a few people had. Luckily she found both antibiotics and pain medicine, knowing that Arizona would most likely need them both. Reaching for some pillows and blankets she left the plane to go back to Arizona. The sky was getting dark with clouds, and Callie knew that they would have to find a better place for shelter before the storm hit.
Throwing the stuff down, she knelt down by Arizona. "How are you feeling?" She asked, genuinely concerned. "I'm ok. Is anyone… is anyone else alive?" She asked, unsure of if she wanted to hear the answer or not. Callie just shook her head. She was a wreck on the inside, worrying about her friends. She wanted to go search for them badly, but she if she even cam e close to mentioning she was going to look, Arizona would practically freak out with worry. "We need to find better shelter. There's a storm coming and I don't think we will be safe out here. I'm going to look around, see if maybe there's somewhere we can be. I don't really want to stay inside the wreckage, but..." "No, I don't either. You go, and I'll wait here... obviously." Arizona said. "Ok, but here. You need to take this. Its antibiotics and we need to get them in your system before the chance of infection set in. Here's some water." Callie handed her the medicine and a bottle of water. "I have some pain medicine, but I think we should wait until we find a place to wait out the weather before I give it to you. If it knocks you out, I won't be able to move you very easily."
Once she had taken the medicine, Callie took off at a light jog and searched for a safe haven. On the edge of the sand, she saw a cave. Walking inside she saw that it wasn't very large, but would easily work for them for the time being. It would keep them dry and hopefully safe until help would come. She pulled a few branches over to have enough dry wood to make a fire if needed. She had found a few lighters and some matches on the plane and they would come in handy to make fires. Dusting her hands off, she walked back towards Arizona. "I found a cave over there." Callie pointed towards the beach. "It will keep us safe until we can figure out a plan, or until someone comes looking for us. I'm going to help you, and then I'll come back for our stuff."
Callie knelt down, once again placing Arizona's arm over her shoulders and helping her stand. Arizona looked around at their surroundings while they hopped over to the cave. Wreckage was everywhere, but there were no survivors in sight. "Jesus." Arizona said, taking in the sight before her. "I know. It's horrible." Callie said, struggling to keep Arizona standing upright. After what felt like forever, they were inside. Callie propped Arizona up on a rock before sprinting back to get their bags and blankets. She spread the blanket down on the leaves she had put down and threw some pillows down. "Here. You should lie down. You need to keep your leg elevated, it will—""I know. I'm a doctor too, remember?" Arizona said, interrupting Callie. She noticed that Callie kind of flinched at her words. While Callie was setting up their supplies, Arizona bit her bottom lip, silently debating with herself before reaching out and taking Callie by the hand.
"Thank you Callie. For everything. For saving me and doing all of this." She motioned towards their supplies and the cave. "You have been so nice to me, even after I was such a bitch to you." Arizona said. Callie laughed and smiled. "You weren't the only person who was being a bitch. And you're welcome. I don't mind helping you, really. I know you would do the same for me." "Since we are going to be spending so much time together, maybe we could call a truce." Arizona suggested and for the first time Callie saw her genuinely smile. Her dimples were out, even though she knew the blonde was in a great deal of pain. "I would like that." Callie replied. The sound of thunder clapped through the air. The winds were getting stronger and they could see the trees blowing outside of the cave walls. "It looks like the storm is going to be pretty bad. I need to clean your wound. I got these." Callie said, holding up a bag full of the small bottles of liquor they serve on the airplane. "This vodka will work as a great sterilizer. It's going to burn like hell, but it will do the job. And we need to keep it clean or we will have a whole other set of problems to deal with." Arizona looked down at her leg, not looking forward to the pain she was about to endure, but she would gladly take the pain over the risk of losing her leg. "Take these first." Callie said, handing her a couple of the pain pills she had found earlier. "I'll wait a few minutes before starting, so the medicine can kick in."
She took a seat next to the blonde on the blanket and reached for a bottle of water. Her headache was easing somewhat and she closed her eyes for a moment, leaning back against the rock wall. "Do you think anyone will find us in here? I mean…. If any one survived." Arizona said. "Once the storm clears, I'm going to go searching for signs of survivors. I need to build some sort of S.O.S. signal incase any airplanes come looking for us."
After a few minutes, the medicine started to kick in, and Arizona was feeling no pain. She grabbed one of the small bottles of wine, cracked it open and took a big swig. "Uh, you shouldn't drink while taking those pain pills." Callie began to say. "But you already know that." She added as she watched Arizona swallow the last drop of wine and toss the tiny bottle to the side. "At this point, I needed that." The blonde said, wiping her mouth. "I'm ready." Callie nodded and stood up. She grabbed the things she would need to make a splint, and got to work. Even though she was doped up, the pain was great and a few moans and tears escaped her. "I'm sorry. I'm almost finished. Hang in there." Callie said supportively. "Ahhhh!" Arizona yelled as Callie tightened the belt once more around her leg that now had a splint on it. "I am going to keep an eye on your circulation, but I think you will be ok. There isn't any nerve damage from what I see, and the break was clean. It's going to hurt like a bitch for a while, but the pain will subside. You need to eat something, or you're going to feel sick from—" "The meds. I know. Thank you Callie. Really." Arizona said, locking eyes with brown. "You're nothing like I thought you were. You are kind, and caring. I wouldn't even be alive without you. I don't know how I will ever repay you. I would die out here if you weren't with me. I could never survive this. Who knows, we may still die out here, but thank you. From the bottom of my heart."
The sky had grown dark, and the flashes of light from the storm were all that lit up the sky. Callie dug through the bag and pulled out some of the food she had found. "We can eat this for now." She said. The temperature dropped almost instantly as the storm picked up. It was cold enough that Callie started to shiver. "Here, come sit with me. We can share the blanket and our body heat will help keep each other warm." Arizona lifted the blanket and patted the space next to her for Callie to sit. She didn't hesitate to accept the offer as she was indeed cold. Once she was under the cover, Arizona snuggled up against her, and rested her head on Callie's shoulder much like she had when she was sleeping on the airplane. "Is this ok?" She asked, lifting her head slightly to look into Callie's eyes. The truth was, Callie suddenly couldn't imagine anywhere else she would rather be in this very moment. Being next to Arizona, it just felt so right. "It's fine." Callie said, pretending to not really care either way. They would wait out the storm, and then they had to start getting some sort of plan in motion. "The thunder filled the air like it was music. The two women talked about their plan to get rescued, and then eventually light conversation began. They talked about work, and how they both ended up at Seattle Grace. Arizona filled Callie in on her military upbringing and about how she had moved so many times in her life since her father was in the military. She lit up each time she spoke of her parents, or of Timothy. Timothy was who Callie had learned to be both Arizona's brother and her best friend. From the stories she was being told, Tim and Arizona had a bond much like the one she and her sister Aria used to share years ago. Callie felt a tinge of jealousy as she listened to Arizona speak of her brother. She missed Aria very much. But she knew that her family would most likely never accept her lifestyle.
When it was her turn to talk, she told Arizona about her family as well and how they had disowned her the moment they found out that she had been seeing a woman. Arizona sympathized with Callie, as she had known several people who had been through a hard time when their family didn't accept them. She wasn't sure how long she had been listening before she drifted off to sleep. The mix of Callie's voice, and the falling rain seemed to relax her like she had never felt before. Callie pulled the blanket over their bodies and snuggled into the blonde before letting nature's music lull her off to dreamland as well.