Arizona and Callie were halfway through their night shift and they were still on a high from their date which made working a lot easier.
The ortho floor was quiet that night. All of Callie's patients were non-critical and asleep most of the night. There was one old lady who was in for a hip replacement and up a few times every night due to bad dreams. Each time the nurse would go in, tell the old lady where she was and that she had dreamed. Only that one time Callie did it herself because her patient seemed extremly confused.
When Callie went into the patient's room, she sat down on the bed.
"Mrs. Harris?" Callie asked and took the old woman's hand.
"Sarah?" Mrs. Harris asked, being confused about where she was and who was in her room.
"Mrs. Harris, it's me, Doctor Torres." Callie introduced herself although she had done it the very first day of Mrs. Harris' stay.
"What are you doing in my appartment, Doctor? Is anyone hurt?"
"You're in the hospital, Mrs. Harris. I had to replace your hip a few days ago." Callie explained. "You had a bad dream."
"Oh, okay then. Thanks, Doctor."
"You need anything?"
"I don't think so, dear. I'm fine."
"Good night, Mrs. Harris." Callie said and left the room, hoping Mrs. Harris would sleep through the rest of the night.
Arizona's night was different. Although most of the kids were sleeping quietly, there was one newborn in the NICU which had arrived to this world early and with underdeveloped lungs. Therefore the little girl needed to be monitored closely through the night. Arizona said in a chair next to the incubator with her feet pulled up and her back to the door. Such situations were always difficult to handle and Arizona hoped the little girl would make it through her first and critical night in her life.
Suddenly Arizona felt someone touch her shoulders. She turned her head around to find Callie standing behind her.
"Hey." Arizona whispered although it was unlikely that she would wake the little girl.
"Hey." Callie gently massaged Arizona's shoulders and neck. Arizona closed her eyes and leaned back against Callie's body. It felt good to be with her. Callie had become her place to come to rest over the last few weeks and Arizona didn't know what she would do without her.
"How is she?"
"Still critical but she's a fighter. If she makes it through the night, there's a good chance she'll make it." Arizona replied. "And I really need her to make it."
"I know. There has just been too much lately." Callie kissed the top of Arizona's head and kept massaging her neck. "I can take over for a while if you want to nap. You look tired."
"I don't know. I shouldn't leave her side."
Callie understood. She knew Arizona trusted her medically but she also knew how Arizona felt. The tiny humans were always special to her and she wanted to take care of them herself – even if it meant staying up all night.
"But maybe you can stay here with me for a while? I mean only if you don't have to be on your floor."
"I don't. I checked on Mrs. Harris and she is taken care of for now. I'd love to stay with you." Callie looked for a second chair to sit next to Arizona.
For a descent amount of time the two women sat there in silence, holding hands and watching the newborn girl. They were anxious that her vitals could change every minute.
Arizona tried to think of something else and her mind went to the perfect date she and Callie had shared earlier that day. Arizona was still in awe with everything Callie had planned. And then it began to dawn on her.
"Callie?" She asked without looking at the other woman. Her eyes were still on the incubator.
"Yes?"
"I would really like to be your girlfriend." Arizona didn't know what she had been waiting for. It had seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. Now all she wanted to do was to be with Callie in a committed relationship.
"What?" Callie turned to face Arizona.
"Calliope Torres, do you want to be my girlfriend." Arizona asked, looking at Callie this time.
"I don't understand. What happened to wanting to take things slow?" Callie asked, being confused. Not that she didn't want to be with Arizona but it kind of came out of nowhere. Their date had been beautiful and Callie had done a lot of thinking about how she should plan the date and still keep her promise to not cross a certain line. She had thought it had been enough for Arizona but maybe Callie had taken it too slow.
"I know this isn't some big romantic gesture and maybe I should've done it that way. But Callie, I really like you and I got the feeling that you like me too. When I'm with you I feel like home. I don't know what I have been waiting for. Maybe it was this moment right here but I think I'd like to take things a little less slow from now on."
"Arizona…"
"Oh God, I pushed it too far, didn't I?" Arizona interrupted.
"Arizona Robbins, I would be honored to be your girlfriend." Callie said with a smile and leaned over to seal it with a passionate kiss. Callie couldn't believe it, Arizona Robbins was now her girlfriend. The woman she had had a crush on but never had she imagined that she would actually be with her someday.
"I'm happy." Arizona stated and took Callie's hand in hers. "Looks good, doesn't it?"
"Everything I wished for was to be with you and look at us now." Callie pulled Arizona's hand to her lips so she could place a kiss on the back of Arizona's hand.
Right in that moment Callie's pager went off. "Urgh, you got to be kidding me." Callie pulled out her pager and saw that the nurse on her floor had paged her 911.
"911 on Mrs. Harris. Sorry, I got to go." Callie apologized and gave Arizona a sloppy kiss before heading out.
Callie, I'm worried. Pls answer if you read this.
Arizona had not heard from Callie in hours and their shift was about to end. As much as Arizona wanted to go look for Callie, she didn't dare to leave the newborn girl by herself in the NICU. She wanted to be there if anything happened. Maybe she got pulled into an emergency surgery, Arizona thought. In that case Callie would definitely text her back as soon as she could.
"Morning, Robbins." Karev greeted Arizona when he entered the NICU to start his shift. "How's she doing?"
"I watched her the whole night. Vitals were and still are stable. She is a real fighter, this one. Yang wanted to check on her this morning about her lungs." Arizona said and yawned.
"You should get some sleep."
"You okay here on your own?"
"I am. Don't worry. She will still be alive when you start your shift tonight. I promise."
"Thanks, Alex." Arizona said and turned to the door. Before leaving the room she turned back around. "By the way, Alex?"
"Yah?"
"Have you seen Callie by any chance?" She asked. "She was with me last night and got paged 911. I haven't seen her since."
"No, I haven't. Maybe she went home right afterwards?" Alex suggested because he didn't know it would be unlikely that Callie had left without saying anything – not after the moment they had shared last night.
"Yah, maybe she did." Arizona decided to leave it at that. There was no need for Karev to know the details. Word would get around soon enough. "Call me if anything happens."
Arizona didn't wait for an answer and left the NICU. On her way to the elevator she checked her phone once more. Still nothing. Arizona started to worry. She knew Callie would have come to her if she left the hospital. But where was she? Arizona took the elevator to the Ortho unit and asked around for Callie but the night nurses had already left and the others had not seen her. When Arizona asked what the emergency had been last night, she was told that Mrs. Harris had arrested in her sleep and could not have been resuscitated. Now Arizona knew where to look for Callie.
Arizona knocked twice on the door of the on-call room she and Callie had spent the night in a few days ago. When there was no answer, Arizona carefully opened the door and looked in. There she was on one of the beds, a tissue in her hand and her eyes on the floor.
"May I come in?"
Again Callie didn't answer. She just sat there sobbing. Arizona stepped in and closed the door behind her. She kept leaning at the door.
"You want to talks about what happened last night?" Arizona tried again. She was worried.
"It's just not fair." Callie said. Arizona moved towards her and sat down on the bed next to her. She slowly rubbed Callie's back to make her feel better. In fact, Callie stopped sobbing after a few seconds.
"You heard what happened?"
Arizona nodded. "The nurse told me."
"A hip replacement. That's what she was in for. She was fine beside that. She was fine when I left her." Callie lowered her head again. This loss hit her more than usual. To her it seemed just wrong that an old woman had been able to grew 82 years old and then had to die being in the hospital for a hip replacement.
"I'm sorry you lost her, Calliope. It's not your fault."
"It's just not fair." Callie repeated.
"Tell me what you need."
"I think I need to go home and get some sleep or at least hide under the covers."
It made Arizona sad to see Callie like that but she didn't know what to do. "You can do all that at my place if you don't want to be alone."
"No, it's not about you but I just want to be at my place in my bed."
"Yah, I understand. Let me at least drive you, okay?" Arizona offered although there wasn't a chance she would let Callie drive by herself. She was in no condition to drive.
Callie nodded in agreement. "Okay."
They walked to the parking lot holding hands. It was not how they had pictured the moment of them holding hands for the first time but it was just fine how it was. Callie got into Arizona's car and Arizona drove her home.
"You want me to come up with you?" She asked when she had parked her car in front of Callie's building.
"Would you? Just for a little while?"
"Of course."
So Callie took Arizona up to her apartment and got rid of her jacket and shoes.
"You want me to make you something to eat?" Arizona offered because she saw how exhausted Callie was.
"Thanks but actually, I think I just want to lie down."
Arizona nodded. She understood. It had been an eventful night.
"Would you spoon me?" Callie asked, being a bit shy. Of course they had done it before when they had spent the night in the on-call room but it had been more spontaneous then. This time Callie had to ask for it if she wanted to be held by Arizona. She knew Arizona was too thoughtful to impose on Callie.
Arizona smiled because she was kind of glad Callie wanted her to be there with her. She herself would have been reserved because she didn't want to push too far. Their relationship was still fragile and Arizona wanted to respect Callie's feelings.
"I would love to." Arizona said and took the hand Callie was offering. Callie led Arizona to her bedroom and started to take some things from her closet.
"Here." Callie handed Arizona some comfortable pants and a shirt. "If you want to change into something more comfortable. Also it might not be quiet your size."
Arizona thankfully took the clothes she was offered. "It will do. Thanks."
"I give you some privacy to change. I'll be in the bathroom changing." Callie left the room so Arizona could change. While changing she noticed she was getting nervous. She was actually spending the night – although it wasn't really night time – with her new girlfriend for the first time. To her the one night in the on-call room didn't really count. That had not been planned and they had not been girlfriends then. Now Callie had invited her to stay over, to spend the night in her very own bed.
Callie was nervous too. For the third time she tried to wash it off with cold water but it didn't help. She told herself that there wasn't anything to be nervous about. It was just sleeping together in the same bed. Nothing more. After repeating the mantra for a few more times Callie left the bathroom to see if Arizona was ready. She knocked on her bedroom door.
"Come in. I'm ready." Arizona confirmed.
Callie almost lost her mind seeing Arizona in her oversized clothes. She looked cute and sexy at the same time. Callie couldn't help herself and pulled Arizona into a tight hug and kissed her passionately.
"What was that for?"
"You looking cute in my clothes." Callie smirked. "I left you a spare toothbrush in the bathroom and a clean towel next to the sink."
"Spare toothbrush, huh?" Arizona joked.
Callie held up her hands. "There were two in the pack when I bought them."
"Just kidding. I'll be right back."
When Arizona came back to the bedroom, there was just a small light burning and Callie was already under the covers. When she heard Arizona approaching she held the blanket up to invite her into the bed. Arizona gladly accepted and curled up behind Callie and put her arm around her girlfriend. A barely noticeable laugh escaped her lips.
Callie turned her head to see what was going on.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to."
"What is it?"
"I was just thinking that I'm the luckiest person in the world."
And why is that?"
"Because my girlfriend is Calliope Torres and I'm cuddling with her in bed."
Callie didn't respond but moved in closer with Arizona and let her hand rest on the arm around her body. It was where she belonged. Slowly Callie and Arizona drifted into the dream world, holding each other.
"Arizona?"
What is that noise?
"Arizona!"
Who is calling my name? I'm sleeping!
"Arizonaaaa!"
Arizona woke up, her hear racing. It had not been in her dreams. Someone actually was calling her name. Now she realized. She was at Callie's and it was her who was calling for her. Arizona jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom where Callie supposedly was.
"What the…?" In front of the shower there were a few blood stains. Through the shower curtain, Arizona saw Callie sitting on the ground. There was some more blood inside the shower.
"Oh my god. What happened?" Arizona didn't know what to do. Medically it was easy, of course. But there was a very naked Callie in the shower and Arizona couldn't help her without seeing her like that. They weren't ready for that. She wasn't ready for that.
"It's nothing. I cut myself shaving my legs. It just looks that bad because of the water and I couldn't reach my towel without bleeding all over my bathroom floor."
"Let me look at it and then I'll decide how bad it is." Arizona moved towards the shower, still not knowing how to handle this particular situation.
"Just hand me my towel and then you may look." Callie instructed her.
Of course. It was that simple. I'm just too stupid. Arizona thought and handed Callie her towel. When she pulled back the shower curtain, Arizona almost tripped. Even with the towel wrapped around most of her body, Arizona saw enough to let her heart skip a beat. Callie had the most beautiful and soft looking tanned skin Arizona had ever seen in her life. She could just imagine what the rest of the Latina's body looked like.
"You done staring at me?" Callie joked. "Babe, I promise to show you more of it but can focus on my little problem here?"
Arizona blushed and looked away. "Oh God. I'm so sorry, Callie."
"It's fine. If you're not allowed to look who would?"
"Sit down again, please." Arizona changed the subject. "Where's the cut?"
Callie turned her leg so that Arizona could take a look. Callie had been right. It was basically nothing.
"Where do you keep your medical supplies? It's just a little cut but I want to disinfect the wound and then put a patch on it."
"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Arizona shot her a look that made Callie give in.
"Behind you. Second drawer."
Arizona took out the medical supplies and took care of Callie's cut. She made sure everything was perfectly fixed and then placed a soft kissed next to the band-aid.
"All done." Arizona held out a hand to help Callie get up. Callie thanked her with a kiss.
"I have the best girlfriend ever." She said and pulled Arizona in for a hug.
"Urg, you're still wet!" Arizona pretended to be shocked and pushed Callie away.
"Sorry! You want breakfast or lunch?" Callie offered.
"I'd love to. Just let me take a shower first."
"I go and put some clothes on and get things going in the kitchen. Just join me when you're ready." As much as she wanted to hop into that shower with Arizona, she knew it was too soon. So she gave Arizona some space and left the room.
