"We good?" Arizona asked Maria, a few days after they'd got back from her dads. She'd woken up to find her wife wasn't beside her, which although didn't come as a shock considering Maria could be a bit of an insomniac, it did worry her when she knew her back pain had been worse lately.
"Yeah, I'm good. I just couldn't sleep so I came down here to lay."
"Back pain?" She asked, feeling concerned and sat down beside her wife.
"Yeah." She answered sighing.
"Oh sweet. Are you going to take a sick day then?" Arizona answered, hoping the answer would be no because she'd really like a day where they were both at work together.
"No." Maria answered, she'd had far too many sick days after the complications that had arisen from her pregnancy. "I'm just going to do consults and research. I really can't cut today."
"I know Ri." Arizona answered. "Do you want a massage?"
"No. I'm too sensitive right now."
"Okay lovely. I'll get you some breakfast and your meds, hopefully they'll start to make you feel better. "
"They're not really working right now but thankyou."
"That's okay." Arizona answered and ran her fingers through her wife's hair. "You stay here and rest up till it's time to leave. I'll get the twins ready too."
"Arizona." Maria said guiltily. "You don't have to."
"Sweetheart, I can see how bad you feel right now. I just want to help." She reassured. "Anyway, I enjoy looking after you and the twins." She continued.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Arizona answered, still playing with her wife's hair.
"Okay." Maria answered and smiled. "Thankyou."
"That's alright Ri." She answered and got up to get breakfast for the pair of them aswell as Maria's medication before going to sort the twins out for a day at daycare.
Once Arizona had got everyone ready and in the car she helped Maria up of the sofa and put her arm round her as they walked to the car, in order to provide both some mental and physical support. "Have the meds done anything?" She asked.
"No." Maria grumbled, the pain putting her in a bad mood.
"Oh darling. I presume you'll more be hiding away in your office than doing consults then?"
"Yeah. I'll try to be." She answered, hoping it would just ease off a little.
"Good. If Dad dies can I come see you?"
"Arizona." Maria answered comfortingly. "You can come see me the second you hear. You know that."
"I know. I just don't like disturbing you if your doing a consult." She responded. "Thankyou, mom phoned earlier and said she thinks it's a matter of hours."
"Sweetheart. Come hide out in my office with me if it gets too much." Maria answered, knowing all too well what it was like to lose a parent.
"Thankyou Ri." She answered. "Do you think your back being worse could be pre-menstural."
"Could be." She responded. "I hope so. If not I'm going to have to ask Callie for an MRI."
"I hope so too sweetheart." Arizona answered. "How are you feeling otherwise?"
"Not well." She answered. "I have cramps and I'm nauseous."
"Sounds Pre-menstrual." Arizona answered, with them both arriving to work soon after and Arizona making sure to park as close to the main hospital entrance as possible so Maria didn't have to walk too far.
"I'll see you later." Arizona said, hugging her wife once they'd both dropped the kids off at daycare and had to go to their separate departments.
Maria also wished her wife goodbye and slowly made her way to the ENT department. Finding Alice to give all of her surgeries for the day to. "Alice?" Maria asked, greeting her in the ENT department.
"What do you need from me?" She asked, Maria looked really ill.
"I need you to do all of my surgeries today." She answered and leaned against a wall for support. "I'm going to lie down in my office and work on some research." She continued. "Call me if you need me for a consult, but I can't do surgery today."
"Okay." She answered, agreeing to what her superior asked of her. "What's wrong?"
"My back's acting up, I'm really nauseous and I have cramps." She answered simply.
"Oh Maria. You don't look atall well." She said. "I'll try not to disturb you."
"Thankyou. Can you tell Jackson where I am aswell."
"Of course I can." Alice answered. "I hope you feel better soon."
"Thankyou Alice." She answered before going to her office and laying on the Sofa with a blanket over her and her laptop, so she could do some research.
Jackson came in to see her around an hour later. "Are you okay Ria?" He asked, seeing her on her Sofa looking really unwell.
"No." She replied. "Can you just leave me today unless it's urgent."
"Of course I can." He replied. "Do you need anything?"
"No, I just need to be left alone." She replied.
"That's okay. I can do that." He answered. "I'll come check on you again at lunch."
"Thankyou Jackson." She replied. "I just need the day, hopefully I'll be doing better tomorrow."
"I hope so too Ri." He said and left her, being careful to shut the door quietly behind.
Maria spent some time trying to focus on her research before deciding she'd try and have a nap but kept her phone turned up incase anyone needed her, knowing she was meant to be treating actual patients.
Arizona got a call from her family early in the afternoon, she was in the middle of doing a consult and had to step out to answer knowing it was her family. Taking the bad news, she put on a brave face to finish the consult and then went over to ENT to find Maria.
"Can I come in?" Arizona asked, knocking on her office door.
"Yes Ari." She answered.
"He's dead Ri." She said, starting to tear up as she went into her office.
Maria smiled weakly to try and comfort her and made space for Arizona on the sofa. "Come snuggle with me." She answered.
"Thankyou." Arizona said cuddled herself into her wife on the sofa. "How are you feeling now?"
"Not good." She answered and comforted her wife by running her fingers though her hair. "We'll go home at 6 and then the twins can cheer you up."
"Thankyou Maria. I don't know how I'm going to get through the rest of the day." She answered.
"Well cuddle with me or a while and then go back."
"Okay." She answered and cried softly into her wife who continued to comfort Arizona for as long as she needed and around an hour later let Arizona get back to her work and she continued doing her research.
Arizona put on a brave face for the rest of the day, watching each minute pass until she could go home. She'd lost people she'd loved before, but never a parent, and although she knew it was coming it still really hurt.
As six-o-clock came Arizona was happy she was finally able to remove the façade of perky Dr Robbins she had covering all of the emotion inside of her.
"We ready to go?" Maria asked, meeting her with the twins down on the Peds Ward.
"Very." Arizona answered and smiled weakly, Maria being able to see behind the false smile to see the true emotion she was feeling.
Once they got home, Maria ordered Pizza's for them as neither of them were up for cooking and she put the Twins down on the floor so they could play for a bit.
"Josephine can roll over." Arizona noticed and smiled. Watching her babies develop definitely helped how she was feeling right now.
"She can." Maria answered and smiled, having noticed she could roll the other night but not wanting to wake up Arizona. "Hazel looks like she might start rolling soon aswell." She answered.
"She does." Arizona said, looking at her other daughter. "Are you feeling any better?"
"A little." Maria answered. "Hopefully I'll be able to cut tomorrow."
"You should be able to." Arizona answered, snuggling herself into her wife. "Your so comforting." She answered.
"I'm glad honey." Maria answered. "It'll get easier." She told her, rubbing her wife's back.
"I know." She answered. "I just don't want to work. But I've had so much time off from my surgery."
"Arizona." Maria said. "I'll be there for you when it gets too much."
"Thankyou Maria. I know. Can you do a couple of surgeries with me if your well enough to cut tomorrow."
"Yeah, of course I can. Whatever you need Ari."
"Thankyou, It'd be nice to have you in the operating room with me." Arizona answered. "I'm just going to go to the loo." Said, suddenly realising her urge to pee.
"Okay. I'll be here when your done." Maria answered and let her wife get up to go to the loo.
Once Arizona got back she snuggled herself back into her wife until the Pizza's came. After which they both ate the Pizza's and watched a happy movie to try and make Arizona feel a little better.