Hello my babies! Your reviews make me sooo happy, so please keep them coming! Also, I swear I will not abandon my other fic, I just have more ideas for this one at the moment but in the following days you will get an update on that one as I well.
To those asking why I decided to make Arizona have both of her legs…well, I was never a fan of that storyline. Also, in the show they seem to have forgotten she doesn't have one leg and it's never addressed or even visible anymore. But, she will have some problems with it still. She had a traumatic experience and most people that go through something that big and require that amount of surgery experience pain and issues throughout their entire life. So, it's not like she was in a plane cash and her main problem was a lost shoe like Yang lol.
Here it goes.
'Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you.
I'm not alone, tell me you feel it too
and I would run away with you.
'Cause I've fallen in love with you;
no, never, I'm never gonna stop
falling in love with you.'
Runaway – The Corrs
Chapter 11
The days went by and both women were finding it harder and harder to be just friends. They were constantly looking for one another and having lots of unnecessary consults and touching. They just couldn't help it. However, while it wasn't one sided at all, Arizona constantly found herself being the needier one in her own words. She had really tried hard not to text, page, call Eliza but she just couldn't. There was something incredibly magnetic about her and with each passing day she found herself more and more infatuated by her.
This whole situation reminded he of when they were teenagers and she was trying to be Eliza's friend because, back then, she didn't even know what her feelings for her meant. She remembered wanting to be around her all the time and how much she enjoyed just looking at her beautiful face while not being able to say so openly or to act on her feelings and that was exactly how she was feeling right now. It sucked. It was horrible and almost excruciating at times.
The worst part? Eliza seemed unaffected by it most of the time. Sure, they were those stares, hugs, subtle touches and little moments but in general she seemed stoic around her. She constantly wondered if Eliza had this constant craving for her as well. She had no idea if the brunette felt it. Sure, she thought she did…most of the time that is, but how could she really know it? Besides, stupid Jessica was so damn present even if she wasn't. She sent cute little texts, pictures of their pets and once even sent her flowers to the attendings lounge. Roses. Freaking roses…anyone who knows Eliza knows that her favorite flowers are peonies. She would've sent her peonies, even if roses are the universal flower for love. Actually, this was the worst part. Jessica being so attentive and apparently oh so charming. She hated her.
She was exhausted and it wasn't even lunch time. Thinking so much was getting the best out of her. She decided to rest a little bit on an on-call room, it was a quiet morning and her next surgery wasn't scheduled until that afternoon. She laid down on the bed, feeling her muscles relax for the first time in hours; maybe even days.
She really wished she could go back to when things were simpler. When they had already confessed their feelings to each other and had no worry in the world. Well, no worry besides their parents not finding out about them just yet. She would give anything to go back to those days. Days where Eliza was hers. Days like the three amazing years they spent together as teens.
If she could turn back time, like Cher but not really, she would hold onto her. She would attempt the long-distance thing, she would apply to Stanford as well as of her other options. Why didn't she? It's only 40 minutes away from San Francisco. Maybe she had always been destructive, maybe she had been auto-sabotaging herself for the past 39 years without even noticing it. They could've made work and right now, Eliza would be her wife. Or not. She'll never really know.
If only she could turn back time, if she could find a way…
Summer 1994
Arizona and Eliza were laying down on the grass looking at the clouds. It was one of their favorite pastimes once the sun wasn't as strong anymore. They loved pointing at them and saying what they thought they looked like. It was a very silly game but it was their silly game. They laughed like maniacs whenever they played it. It was pure bliss.
"That one looks MC Hammer" Eliza said pointing at a cloud.
"How on earth does that look like MC Hammer?" Arizona said laughing at rolling to her side so that she could face Eliza. She was so damn beautiful, Arizona felt like she could stare at her forever. Luckily for them, they had found a spot far enough from prying eyes but they still had to be somehow careful.
"Look at the shape! Those are totally his pants, then torso and head!" she said, looking at the blonde with a 'Duh!' expression on her face.
"I think it looks more a pear." Arizona said laying again on her back and scrunching her nose. Eliza laughed and went to grab Arizona's hand. "Oh no, no…you can't touch this!" the blonde said taking away her hand up to her face and turning it side and humming the song's beat. "Hammer time!"
Eliza couldn't help but laugh at her adorably dorky girlfriend. Arizona joined her and suddenly they were both laughing so hard that their stomachs hurt and they had tears on their eyes. Every day they spent together was a blast. They had so much fun together, just the two of them. Feeling so much for another human being certainly scared them but it also delighted them and that outweighed the constant fear.
"I can't believe you just did that! You're such a dork!" Eliza said in between laughs.
"Takes one to know one!" Arizona said sticking out her tongue and rolling to her side again and then positioning half of herself on top of Eliza as she kissed her deeply and tenderly before gently caressing her cheek. "I can't wait until we're living together so that I can do this whenever I want to."
"It'll happen before we even notice, baby. We just have to wait a little bit longer." Eliza said, bringing Arizona closer to her and placing her arm around her shoulder as the blonde wrapped an arm around Eliza's stomach. Right now, they didn't care if anyone sees them. They just wanted to relish in the feeling of being close to one another.
"I really do want to be with you forever, Eliza. I love you so much it frightens me." Arizona said, felling the moisture of tears in her eyes.
"There's nothing to be frightened about, Phoenix. We will make it. We will be together forever. Just wait and see." The brunette said, stroking Arizona's hair and giving her a sweet kiss on the forehead.
"You sound so sure about it." The blonde said, nuzzling Eliza's neck and taking in her scent. She smelled like vanilla, lavender and something that could only be described as Eliza herself. To Arizona, she smelled like heaven and happiness.
"I really do love you Lizzie, so much."
"I love you even more, Phoenix."
"Not possible." The blonde said, shaking her head against Eliza's neck before placing a kiss just there.
Present day
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that anyone was here."
Arizona was taken out of her daydream by a familiar voice. She raised her head and scrunched her eyes at the sudden intrusion of light. While it was still early, she had closed all the blinds and made sure the room was somewhat dark for her to be able to rest her eyes.
"Oh hey, no don't worry. Come in. There's plenty of room for both of us here." Arizona said, gesturing with her hand for the other person to come in.
"I didn't mean to wake you up or disturb you. I'm just really tired. I really didn't get much sleep last night." Eliza said, walking inside of the room and closing the door behind her.
"Oh, you didn't. I was just resting for a little bit and daydreaming." Arizona said smiling at her.
"Was it a good daydream?" Eliza asked, looking at Arizona's eyes. If there was something she loved the most about Arizona's beautiful face it had to be her cerulean blue eyes. They were just mesmerizing which is why she tried to avoid them regularly.
"It was heaven." Arizona said, giving Eliza a sad smile.
"Good." The brunette said as she started to climb to the top bed. The on-call room was one of the smaller ones, with only one bunk bed in it but also one of the least concurred ones. People didn't usually go there since it was on the last floor and further from the surgical floor.
"You can lay here with me, you know? I don't bite. And I know you don't like top bunk beds." Arizona said. She really wanted to be really close to Eliza but at the same time she regretted her offer because being so close to her and not being able to touch her and hug her was going to be extremely hard.
"I do hate top beds. But I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Eliza said hesitatingly. She wanted to lay next to Arizona, more than anything…but she also wanted to be respectful of her relationship and laying down on a bed next to her ex-girlfriend who she is still very attracted to wouldn't be very respectful from her.
"I don't think you'd ever be able of making me uncomfortable." Arizona said, moving to one side and patting the other said of the bed so that Eliza would lay down next to her. She knew that what she was doing wasn't right but she just needed to feel her ex's presence close to her. She just couldn't fight it. She'll go back to being professional and respectful of the brunette's relationship later. It's not like they were going to kiss or anything. They were just going to innocently and platonically lay next to each other.
Eliza hesitated. She had laid down next to her friends and sister in law before without it meaning anything while being with Jessica. Arizona was her friend. Nothing was going to happen. It didn't have to mean anything. Except it did. And she felt guilty about it which is why she tried to avoid her or appear unaffected by the blonde's charm and effortless beauty but it was just too hard. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, however, because before she knew it she was sitting and laying down next to Arizona in the small bottom bunk bed.
Arizona scooted a little so that Eliza could have even more space and the scent of her suddenly hit her. She didn't smell like vanilla anymore, now she smelled fruity, flowery and slightly woody. And of course, she still had that overpowering hint of something that was only Eliza. She still smelled like heaven.
"This almost feels like a slumber party." Eliza said, trying to lighten up the mood. Being so close to Arizona was clouding her mind she could feel the heat radiating from her body and smell her sweet, sweet scent. She smelled almost candy like. She had always smelled sweet, but now it was making it harder for her to control herself. She wanted nothing more than to wrap an arm around her. Arizona Robbins would certainly always be her weak spot. She moved her arm so that it could touch Arizona's. She needed some sort of contact or she would self-combust.
'Why don't you just break up with Jessica and see what can happen between you and Arizona now that the timing and space aren't being bitches?' James had asked in the group chat she had with her brothers. He was so mature for some things and such a little boy for others. Breaking up a very serious seven-year-old relationship to 'see what can happen' with an illusion wasn't mature. Right? She couldn't just do it. Also breaking up at his age wasn't the same as breaking up at her age. She felt responsible for Jess in a way. As if breaking up with her right now just because she reunited with her first love would mean that she made her lose her time.
"Do you want me to order a pizza? Whoever falls asleep first loses and the other one gets to draw dicks on her face?" Arizona asked looking to the side so that she could see Eliza. The brunette smiled widely and Arizona felt her heart melting. How was it possible to be so freaking perfect? This was so much more than physical too. Sure, she was incredibly attracted to Eliza's beautiful face and body but it was her witty and enchanting personality what made her lose her mind. She was so similar to what she was when they were kids. She was, without a doubt, the most genuine person Arizona had ever met. And she loved that. Could she still be in love with Eliza? Was it possible that even after all these years she still loved this girl as much as she did in 1995?
"I'm always up for pizza, you know? Maybe we can go to a good pizza place sometime. I'm still new to Seattle, remember." Eliza said.
"Oh, no. I want to take you to this carnival themed bar called 'Unicorn'. Or, we can go to 'Narwhal' which is right by the side and it's basically the same theme except that the main subjects are unicorns of the sea instead of land unicorns. Very colorful. They have drinks with cotton candy infused vodka and grown up versions of root beer floats." Arizona said excitedly.
"Sounds disgusting." Eliza said scrunching up her nose.
"Hey, you did like the Atticus Finch drink even if it sounded weird, right?"
"Touché." The brunette said. They laid in comfortable silence for a little while. It felt good to be lying next to each other again. It felt right.
Their moment got interrupted by Eliza's pager. She was needed in the pit. Apparently, there had been an accident. This was her third emergency today and it wasn't even lunch time. She sighed. This was going to be a long day.
"I have to go." Eliza said standing up.
"I know." Arizona said starring right into her eyes. Eliza's eyes were her favorite part of the brunette. They were so deep and so green. Also, so full of life, truth and love. They had always been able to read her and she knew they were perfectly capable of reading her now to.
"I…I'm gonna go. We'll talk soon to go that place with disgusting cotton candy flavored drinks." Eliza said teasingly.
"Shut up, you'd love them. You'll see." The blonde said, gently smacking Eliza on the arm.
"Sure. Whatever you say, Phoenix." Eliza said finally standing up. "Maybe Kepner would like to come too." The brunette said, thinking that her new friendly acquaintance's presence would ease the tension between her and Arizona.
"Maybe." Arizona said, hoping April wouldn't be able to join them.
Eliza waved her hand and walked out of the on-call room.
Eliza was really liking Seattle. She loved working at Grey Sloan, she really liked her co-workers and she especially liked Jo Wilson. She was a natural in ortho and she was determined to win her over. Not that there was much of a fight but, her boyfriend, Dr. Alex Karev was trying to make her switch to peds. Which the young doctor also seemed to like but Eliza could be pretty convincing when she wanted to. She was playing all of her cards and she knew Wilson leaned more towards ortho. She said so herself, she was 80% ortho, 20% peds. Eliza's new mission was to turn Wilson into a 100% ortho kind of girl.
"Great work today, Dr. Wilson" Eliza said, coming out of the OR and patting Jo's back. Not only was the girl talented, she was also very committed, meticulous and had a lot of initiative. Eliza's way of teaching involved allowing her residents to lead simple surgeries and take big roles in more complex ones. It didn't sit well with some of the other attendings at the beginning since all of the residents now wanted to be on Eliza's service all the time and because they were demanding for the program to include Eliza's methods.
The ortho surgeon never really meant to create such a fuss. She just wanted to be able to teach her students the way she was used to teaching…she didn't expect them to go on an almost riot for all of the other attendings to allow them to take bigger roles. It all started when overachiever, Stephanie Edwards, saw Jo's name on the surgical board as a main surgeon for an ortho procedure. To say that hell broke loss was not enough. After that day, all of the residents fought to be on her service, even if they had no interest in ortho whatsoever. It was flattering in some way.
This whole incident caused a little bit of tension with some of the other attendings. Some of them were too arrogant to allow the residents take more actions and some, the brighter ones, like Arizona, April Kepner and Amelia Shephard were already allowing their students to take more action. Another reason why girls rule and boys drool. Except for her boys. Her brothers were awesome. Even if they did drool and stink.
The issue got so big that the residents even proposed her as the residency program chief which nearly made her faint. Nope. She may have developed an efficient way of teaching taking things from her mentor and other doctors she met or read about along her career but she was not qualified to take a role like that one. Most of the attendings though, didn't have an issue with her and her ways. Actually, only Jackson Avery and Maggie Pierce seemed to give her the cold shoulder and criticize how she taught, calling her method to risky and reckless. Quoting one of her favorite movies from the 90s 'As if!'.
However, all of others supported her and realized that allowing the future surgeons to take more active roles would be beneficial for them. Even Richard Webber, the residency program director and eminency in the field congratulated her told her that they should talk about the possibility of developing something together. Her brains and technique with his experience and heart could create something groundbreaking, he often said. So, yeah. Seattle was great.
But, she would be lying If she said that Arizona wasn't the main reason why she was loving Seattle so much. Over the past month or son, they had been hanging out a lot. She had only been able to go to Olympia to see Jessica once and it was taking a toll on their relationship. Sure, Olympia was only a little over an hour away but the Seattle traffic could get horrible and she very rarely had more than one day off in a row.
Besides, being the control freak that she was always one page away from the hospital. Jessica knew Eliza well enough not to take it personal though. But this was the first time in many years that they were living apart. She had a feeling that it was being harder for her girlfriend than it was for her, which again made her feel like a total jerk. But, her girlfriend was bound to visit her in a little over a week and stay in Seattle with her for five whole days. She was excited, she really was.
"Well, hello there Beyoncé." Eliza heard as she walked into the attendings lounge. Arizona was reading a journal and having a cup of coffee while Amelia Shephard checked her phone.
"Oh, shut up." Eliza said laughing and making her way over to poke Arizona on her side.
"Beyoncé?" Amelia said looking up from her phone.
"Yeah. She's the Beyoncé of orthopedic surgery, haven't you heard? Also, the residents clearly seem to think of her as some sort of Queen Bee. Queen Bey." Arizona said teasingly.
"I hate you." Eliza said going over to pour herself some hot water and grabbing some chamomile tea before sitting in a chair next to the two other attendings.
"You know that isn't true, Eliza Minnick." Arizona said winking at her. Amelia just watched the two of them interact with an amused yet curious look on her face.
"So, if you're Beyoncé what does that make me? I can't be Michelle Williams or Kelly Rowland. I think I deserve to be your equal." Amelia said "although, Beyoncé has no equal. Should I bow down?" she said, joining Arizona on the teasing of Eliza.
Eliza rolled her eyes at the comment and looked at Arizona "You're so gonna pay for this, Phoenix." She said, smiling widely and starring deep into Arizona's eyes.
"Bring it." Arizona said with a dimpled smile of her own.
Amelia cleared her throat before speaking. She was feeling very much like a third wheel. "So, who am I? Dr. Minnick."
"You're Amelia Shephard and I'm Eliza Minnick." She said, rolling her eyes again.
"Boo hoo, you're no fun." Amelia said, pouting.
"You can be Lady Gaga, Amy." Arizona said. "She's cool and kooky just like you and she's pretty much Beyoncé's equal."
"Yeah. Okay. I'll take Lady Gaga." The neurosurgeon said smiling "then who are you?"
"She's some singer that appeals to teenagers and sings poppy songs. She's Taylor Swift." Eliza said, earning a gentle punch from Arizona. "Ouch!"
"How is it that you're Beyoncé and Lady Gaga and I have to be Taylor Swift?" Arizona said pouting and Eliza had to fight the urge to kiss that pout away.
"Because that's how life works." She said. Then her pager went off. "Well, ladies. I have surgery. I have to go." She said, standing up and throwing the package of her granola bar away. "Hey, we're still on for tonight, right? For that Narwhal Unicorn bar thingy?"
"Oh yes we are. This time you're not escaping it." Arizona said.
"I don't know if I should be excited or scared." She walked over to the door and turned around "See ya later Tay Tay. Have a good day, Lady Gaga." And with that she was gone.
Amelia kept starring at Arizona before she finally spoke up. "I like her. She's nice."
"She is really nice." Arizona said.
"She's also very charming. Like really charming." Amelia said.
"Yeah. She's cool." The blonde said, not wanting to get into much detail with Shephard. She could see where this was going. Amelia was super nosy.
"Are you dating her?" the brunette surgeon finally asked.
"What? Why would you think that? No. No, we're friends. That's all." The blonde said nervously.
"Well, it seems like you're dating. You're talking about going to bars and have all these little inside jokes and let's not even talk about all the sexual tension going on between the two of you. It could've been cut with a scalpel!" Amelia said.
"You're wrong. She has a girlfriend. Eliza and I are friends. That's all." The blonde said, with a sad smile.
"Oh, so now I get it. She's in a relationship but you have a crush on her." She said, looking a little too much like Derek Shephard for Arizona's comfort.
"It's a little more complicated than that."
"How?"
"I really don't feel like talking about it, Amelia." The blonde said, as the other surgeon's pager went off. "besides, you're being paged."
"Saved by the bell, Robbins but I'm gonna get to the bottom of this." She said standing up. "And, for what is worth? She seems to have feelings for you too. Girlfriend or not."
Arizona was left alone to do even some more thinking. She let out a big breath and then tried to focus once again on her reading.
"I can't believe you really brought me here. I must really like you." Eliza said as she and Arizona entered a bar/restaurant that looked like something out of a Lisa Frank store.
"Shut up and enjoy it, Lizzie. You've been running away from it for weeks now. We've gone to many other places but now it's time for you to know 'Unicorn' in all of its glory." The blonde said as the hostess lead them to a table. She handed them menus they started reading them.
"Look, Unicorn balls and Narwhal balls are among the house favorites!" Eliza said.
"Well, I know you're not a big fan of balls but the Narwhal balls are actually quite yummy. Basically cheesy, garlic-y tots." Arizona said matter-of-factly. "Maybe we could share an order and then ask for something else. The hot dogs and burgers here are amazing too."
"Sure, order the balls." The brunette said teasingly "Maybe we could share a burger too? With a side of fries. I don't feel like eating too much, otherwise I won't be able to drink much."
"Sure, let's share."
"Oh look, how about the Magical Unicorn Burger? I don't even know what it has but I like the name." Eliza said.
"The Magical Unicorn Burger with fries and the Narwhal balls it is then." Arizona said giving Eliza her best dimpled smile. "What do you want to drink?"
"Most of these drinks sound like candy. I see why you like this place. I'm not much into sweet alcoholic beverages so I'll have The Skinny Unicorn. Gin, St. Germaine, muddled lemon & lime, grapefruit and dry cucumber soda sounds good. Better than fruit loop vodka and drinks with Fanta, anyway." Eliza said with a shrug.
"Was coming here a bad idea?" Arizona said. "I mean, you have been complaining for a while."
"No, no. Please, don't think that." Eliza said reaching for Arizona's hand. "This place is…interesting. I've never been to anything like it and I love that you're taking me to the places you like. I wasn't complaining."
Arizona held on tighter to Eliza's hand. Enjoying the skin to skin contact even if it was only through their hands. "I know you well enough to know that your wry tone is very easily confused with annoyance but I want you to enjoy yourself. I don't want you to feel like you have to come here and have fruit looped infused vodka drink just because I like it."
"Well, I enjoy going to places just because you like them." She said playing with Arizona's fingers. She then let go of the blonde's hand. "I'm sure I'll enjoy my Skinny Unicorn. It actually sounds pretty good. And there are others that sound good to."
"Good." The blonde said smiling, already missing Eliza's hand in hers. "I'll have an Americorn. It's bubblegum vodka, watermelon liqueur, sour, sprite, topped with blue raspberry vodka. Very sweet. Delicious."
Eliza thought she was going to die right there and then. Arizona was just so ridiculously cute. "You know what? Screw the Thin Unicorn. I wanna have the full Unicorn experience. Yours is still a little too much for me so I'll change mine to The Mule-I-Corn."
"You really don't have to, Eliza."
"But Phoenix! Who wants a Skinny Unicorn when they can have a horned mule? Besides, vodka, pomegranate liqueur, muddled lime, sour and ginger beer sounds like heaven in a glass." Eliza said giving Arizona one big smile.
"Okay then." Arizona proceeded to call the waiter so that they could place their order.
"Phoenix?"
"Yes, Lizzie?"
"I'm buying this time."
"We'll see about that…" Arizona said with a smirk on her face.
I hope you enjoyed it! All the bars, drinks foods and locations on this fic are real! That's part of why it takes me a bit longer to update. Because I want this to be as genuine as possible so I like to include actual bars or restaurants and know what they serve. Eliza's taste in alcoholic drinks is totally based on mine haha if you want to ever buy me a drink, you already know: sweet is never my first option. Not even my second.
