Title: Breaking at the Cracks

Chapter: Eleven - "Life After You"

Author: laurenxx3 (iheartcallietorres on ff)

Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Callie/Addison (friendship)

Rating: PG-13 [for now]

Summary: Callie's devastated after Arizona leaves for Africa and now has no job, no place to live and no prospect of either. Addison comes to the rescue and whisks her away to California.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes/ABC. I don't own anything. Any similarities to real life situations/persons are purely coincidental. Not for profit; for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I have absolutely NO medical knowledge beyond what I see/hear on Grey's Anatomy, so forgive me of any medical-related errors. Also, this is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Please let me know if you come across any, but I'm pretty OCD about grammar and spelling, so there shouldn't be too many mistakes. As always, comments are much appreciated (and will encourage me to write more fics in the future - *hint, hint*).

A/N 2: This starts off after 7x07 and will NOT follow the events past that, except for maybe a few small things. I will *not* include spoilers for future episodes. Please be aware that Arizona is not present in the first several chapters since I'm more interested in how Callie is coping post-airport scream-fest. I love Arizona to death, but I just don't think I could do the Arizona working in Africa plot justice. She is in Africa, but we won't see her until she comes back to the states. I'm not going to tell you how long that will be, however. ;)


Life After You

The last time we talked, the night that I walked

Burns like an iron in the back of my mind

I must have been high to say you and I

Weren't meant to be and just wasting my time

Oh, why did I ever doubt you?

You know I would die here without you

::~::Daughtry::~::

[Callie's POV]

"I'll be honest, Callie," Dr. Noble said after doing a quick examination of my leg and arm. "I'm going to try my damnedest, but you know the likelihood of you regaining full use of your leg is small. There's substantial damage to the femur and surrounding tissue. You're going to need several surgeries before you can even try and walk again. The good news is that the damage to your spine is superficial and will heal on its own in a few weeks. And your arm should be fine after it heals in four weeks or so. You may need to do some strengthening exercises before you're able to perform surgery again, but, barring any complications, I foresee no issues there."

I let out a breath of relief. Yeah, I was bummed about the possibility of not having full function of my leg again, but the idea of not being able to perform surgery for the rest of my life had been higher on my 'would seriously depress me' list.

I felt Arizona squeeze my hand. "When will her next surgery be?" she asked.

Dr. Noble reviewed my chart briefly. "I think I can go in tomorrow evening," she said. "I want to give the tissue a little more time to reduce its swelling, but don't want to wait too long. We stopped the bleeding in the first surgery, but it could begin again if we don't go in soon."

"What about my eye?" I asked, nervous about the answer. If my vision were compromised, I still may not be able to work. "My vision?"

Dr. Noble turned and gave me a sympathetic look. "Your cheekbone was fractured pretty badly, but it doesn't appear to have hurt the optic nerve. We can't be sure until we repair the cheekbone, which we'll do the same time we work on your leg. We'll also get a plastic surgeon to help to reduce scarring."

"Mark. Get Mark Sloan."

Arizona had taken the words right out of my mouth. I looked up at her in surprise. She shrugged. "He's the best," she said. "When it comes to plastics, I mean."

I tried to smile, but it hurt to, so I squeezed her hand. I glanced back at Dr. Noble who was looking at me expectantly. "Mark Sloan," I insisted. "He's here from Seattle Grace-Mercy West. And she's right. He is the best."

"When it comes to plastics," I heard Arizona murmur under her breath. I squeezed her hand again in reassurance.

"He's just outside, right?" Dr. Noble asked.

Arizona nodded. "The tall one with graying hair," she said.

"I'll talk to him now and see about getting him clearance for the OR by tomorrow evening."

"Thank you," I said.

As soon as Dr. Noble left, everyone else, save Mark, reentered the room, bombarding me with questions of "How are you feeling?", "Do you need any pain meds?", and "Are you thirsty?" I loved them all, really I did, but I was overwhelmed by all the people surrounding me. I'm not used to being the center of attention like this. And I was exhausted.

Lexie seemed to be the one who noticed how overwhelmed I was because she suggested that they all let me get some rest. I gave her a grateful look. I knew I liked her for a reason. That and she somehow seemed to tame Mark.

Everyone said their goodbyes, some, like my mother, taking longer than others. Finally, it was just Arizona and I in the room. She appeared nervous and unsure.

"Do, um… Did you want me to leave for a while?" she asked. "Because I can go and let you get some rest." She started to take a step back, but I grabbed her hand.

"Stay," I said. "Please."

"Are you sure?" she asked, still looking unsure of herself.

"Yeah," I said. "I love my family and friends, but they were smothering me. But you don't."

She smiled softly and sat down in the chair, still clasping my hand. Silence fell, a little awkward.

I finally couldn't stand the quiet any longer. "Have you really been by my side for three days?"

Arizona nodded. "I have. I would have been here sooner, but it was hell trying to get a flight out of Blantyre on such short notice."

"But you did it for me?"

"Of course I did," she insisted, voice full of emotion. She brought my hand to her lips, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. "I was so scared when I got that call," she said. "I knew I had to be here."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "But, what about the grant?" I asked, scared that her answer was going to be that she planned on being here for a few days or weeks, then was going to return to Malawi.

"Fuck the grant," she said quickly, then reddened. "I, um, I don't mean it like that," she said. "I just meant that if I have to choose between the grant and you, I choose you."

I looked away, not wanting her to see my tears. "You didn't at first."

I heard Arizona gasp slightly and I instantly regretted my words. I'm not sure why I said that. I was so glad that she was by my side, but I was still hurt that she'd left me behind. And I've always had trouble censoring my words, especially when I was on pain meds. "I-I'm sorry," I said, squeezing my left eye shut.

"No, no you're right," Arizona replied. I glanced over at her and felt my resolve crumbling at the sight of her. She had cast her gaze down to her lap. "I-I thought that it was worth it, you know?" she looked back up at me. "I mean, I saved hundreds of kids in Malawi who were dying from things as simple as dehydration and appendicitis. I was doing good. A lot of good. But when I heard that you were hurt… I-I realized how much I do need you. I guess, in the back of my head, I thought you would wait for me."

"I-"

"No, let me finish," Arizona said. "I know it wouldn't be fair to expect you to wait for me, but something inside me did. I can't explain it. When I thought you were going to… when Teddy told me that you were seriously injured, I finally realized that you may not be here when I returned. That you may not be waiting for me. Even if you… survived, you'd eventually move on and I wouldn't have you in my life any longer. I realized that I can't live without you, no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise. Because you, Calliope Torres, are too amazing to get over and I love you."

I didn't immediately respond, unsure of what to say. I licked my dry lips and opened my mouth to say something, but changed my mind.

Arizona took a deep breath and sniffled. She stood and stepped away. "I-I should go," she said and began to turn away.

I reacted quickly, gripping her hand tighter and preventing her from going too far. "No, don't go," I said.

She stopped, but didn't turn to face me.

"I need you," I breathed out, my voice failing. "I love you."

::*~*~*::

[Arizona's POV]

I'd meant every word I said and had been hurt when she hadn't responded immediately. I feared that she'd already moved on. She'd already gotten over me.

When she'd stopped my from leaving, my heart had raced.

"I love you," she said. I inhaled deeply and turned around to look her in the eye.

"You do?" I asked.

She gave a slight smile at my choice of words. "I do," she said.

I stepped closer to the bed and leaned down so that my lips were a breath away from hers. "I love you, too," I said, unable to hold back the tear that rolled down my cheek. I brushed my lips against hers, careful of her injuries.

Calliope groaned in protest when I pulled back after only a few seconds, but I didn't want to hurt her.

"So, you're not going back to Africa?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I called and talked to the head of the grant committee. I explained why I had to come back and, while he wasn't happy about it, he agreed to let me work from here. Research, training, raising money, that kind of thing. I'm not leaving again."

She worried her bottom lip, something that she'd always done when she was contemplating something. "I forgive you for leaving," she said. "I did that a while ago. With Violet's help. But I still have this nagging thought that you're going to leave again. I mean, everyone leaves. Why are you different?"

I felt my heart sink. But I couldn't be mad at her for not trusting me to stick around. How would I convince her that I was in this for the long haul?

"I'm different," I started off, "because I know that you're the one I belong with. I don't know how to convince you of that, but I'm going to try. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove that I'm here for good. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried. I'm going to stick by you through your surgeries and the healing process. I'm going to be in the gallery on your first surgery once you're better. I'm going to watch you become famous for your cartilage from jell-o research. I'm going to be here through it all. And I know you may not trust me now, but I'm not going to leave again. Not for the Carter Madison Grant, not for any other job offer that would require me to leave you, not for anything. I've experienced life without you, Calliope, and I gotta tell you, it sucks."

That brought a smile to Calliope's lips, which made her grimace from pain. "Don't make me smile," she admonished playfully. "How do you always say the right things?"

I grinned and shrugged. "I just say what I mean," I said.

She gazed up at me. "I can't say that I'm not still scared, but I'm willing to try," she said. "I have to. Because you're right. It does suck."

I laughed and kissed her softly. Once again, she groaned when I pulled away after only a few seconds. "I can't wait until I get sprung from this joint," she said with a pout.

"Hmm, why's that?" I asked.

"So you can help wash my back in the shower."

All that I'm after is a life full of laughter

As long as I'm laughing with you

I'm thinking that all that still matters is love ever after

After the life we've been through

'Cause I know there's no life after you

::~::Daughtry::~::