It was close to midnight when Callie was awakened by a gentle nudge. Jolting awake, she saw Bailey standing patiently over her, still dressed in her scrub cap and blue gown. "How is she?" Callie asked, as she felt Riley and Sofia waking beside her, looking up intently at Bailey for an update.
Bailey smiled and began her report, "The surgery went well, and she's in recovery. I had to repair some tears in her liver, and her spleen had ruptured from the impact, so I had to remove that, but there was no significant damage to any of her other organs." Callie let out the breath she'd been unconsciously holding, burying her head in her hands as tears of relief flooded over her.
"What does that mean?" Sofia asked with worry, scared that her mother's tears meant that something bad had happened. Bailey cradled Sofia's face in her hand gently, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb, "It means that your mom is gonna be just fine." Sofia relaxed, a wide smile crossing her face, she looked over at Riley, who was also smiling in relief. "She'll have to stay here a few of days, and it will take a few weeks to recover, so you'll have to be gentle when you hug her and make sure to help her a lot around the house."
"Can we see her?" Riley asked quietly, her eyes pleading with Bailey, who shrugged and smiled, "I don't see why not. She should be waking up any minute. Just remember to be gentle. And she'll need her rest, so not for too long." Callie nodded, and looked from Riley to Sofia, who both indicated that they understood. Callie grasped the handles of Riley's wheelchair and followed Bailey, Sofia right beside them.
When they reached Arizona's room, the sliding glass door was already open, and they were all thrilled to see that Arizona was already awake, looking to a resident to was checking her vitals. "Momma!" cried Sofia, running into the room. Callie was about to enter with Riley, when a new resident stopped her, looking at Riley and explaining, "Sorry, but only family is allowed in the ICU after visiting hours."
Bailey looked like she was about to ream the resident, but Callie responded quickly, "She's my daughter." The resident muttered an embarrassed apology, and Callie looked nervously down at Riley, unsure of how she would respond to that statement. But Riley was looking up at her with a small, but genuine, smile. "Come on, let's go see Momma," Callie whispered in her ear, pushing Riley into Arizona's room.
Sofia was already sitting on the edge of Arizona's bed, holding her hand tightly, "I'm so sorry, Momma. About what I said earlier—"
Arizona cut her off with a firm squeeze of her hand, blinking the tears from her eyes, "It's okay, bug. It's okay." Her voice was weak and raspy, but clear. Tears rushed from Sofia's eyes, "I love you, Momma." Though her face was pale and bruised, Arizona smiled warmly at her daughter, "Oh, I know. And I love you, too. So much, bug."
Bringing her eyes to up to see Callie and Riley entering, Arizona looked up at them with a loving smile, "Hey. How are my girls?" Callie placed a hand on Sofia's shoulder, and Sofia nodded, stepping back and releasing Arizona's hand after a final squeeze so that Riley could take a turn.
Wheeling herself up to the edge of the bed, she looked into Arizona's blue eyes, her own eyes filling with tears. Arizona slowly reached forward a few inches and placed a hand on Riley's head, cringing slightly at the movement, but smiling gently to hide it. "I know this must've scared you," she whispered to Riley, who looked away, nodding as a couple of tears rolled from her cheeks. "I'm sorry," Arizona said remorsefully, hating that Riley had witnessed this, especially after her traumatic car accident. Riley gave her a watery smile, "It's alright. I'm just glad you're okay."
Arizona nodded, "I am okay." She smiled warmly, "And I love you so much." Riley nodded vehemently, "Me too."
With a glance over at Bailey, Arizona asked, "Sofia, Riley, why don't you both go back to the waiting room with your Aunt Bailey and give me a moment with your mother?" Reluctantly, the girls nodded, and after sharing some final "I love yous," followed Bailey from the room, leaving Arizona alone with her wife.
Callie rolled a stool up to the side of the bed, tenderly taking Arizona's hand in hers and kissing it tenderly. She held Arizona's gaze for a moment before dropping her head onto the bed, sobs overtaking her body. Arizona gently ran her free hand through Callie's hair, "I'm okay, Calliope. I'm okay."
After a few minutes, Callie's sobs finally subsided as she lifted her head up to look into Arizona's eyes, "I love you so much," she whispered, her voice still strained and wet. A tear slipped down Arizona's cheek, "I know, Calliope. I love you, too."
Callie laughed, breaking the tension, "I swear to god, between the car crash, and the plane crash, and then this car crash, we've got to be done with all of this crap by now. Don't you think?" Arizona chuckled, but winced, her abdomen hurting when she laughed. She looked up at Callie, her eyes drooping. Seeing the exhaustion in Arizona's eyes, Callie set her hand down gently, "Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
"So, the girls bought some la-and and a road sta-and out on highway one oh nine," Sofia sang as Riley played her guitar, taking over the next line, "They sold Tennessee ha-am and strawberry ja-am, and they don't lose any sleep at night." The exchanged a look, singing the next like in unison, "Cause Earl had to die!" Sofia was about to jump into the "Na na na's" when she saw Bailey walking down the hall; instead, she signaled to Riley, who instantly hid the guitar under Arizona's bed.
"I did not just hear musical instruments and singing about murder in my ICU," Bailey chastised, looking at Sofia and Riley who grinned sheepishly, but Arizona just beamed at them; she loved that her girls had prepared a song for her to make her feel better.
"I just need to check your incision site. You should be clear to go home tomorrow, if all goes well," Bailey reported, and Sofia and Riley cheered in the corner. Arizona grinned, "Thank god. I can't wait to get out of here, and get back to work—"
"Hold up, not so fast," Bailey interjected, holding a hand up in a 'stop' gesture. "I said nothing about getting back to work, because you will be at home resting for at least another two weeks before you can even consider easing back into work, slowly," Arizona rolled her eyes, but Bailey raised her eyebrows, "Don't you roll your eyes at me! And you two," she turned to Sofia and Riley sitting on the other end of the room, "I know how she is. She's going to get bored and want to work on little projects around the house, so you both have to watch her and be extra helpful. Got it?"
"We got it, Aunt Bailey," stated Sofia with a nod, giving her mother a knowing look. At that moment, Callie entered holding a small suitcase in her right hand, followed by Meredith and Zola, who immediately walked over to sit next to Riley and Sofia.
"How's she doing?" Callie asked Bailey, leaning over and giving her wife a quick kiss on the lips before turning her attention to her doctor. "As I was saying," Bailey began, "She should be able to come home tomorrow, provided that she spends the next couple of weeks resting and taking it easy."
"Oh, that will not be a problem," Callie reassured Bailey, giving her wife a stern look, "I'll make sure she doesn't lift a finger." Bailey nodded, seemingly satisfied, "Well, good. Now visiting hours are almost over, so…"
"Oh, we're just leaving," Meredith interjected. Callie turned to Riley and Sofia, "Alright girls, say goodnight." The girls went over and said their goodnights to Arizona, then Sofia discretely fetched the guitar from under the bed, putting it in its case and carrying it out as the two of them followed Meredith and Zola from the room.
Bailey looked sternly at Callie, "And you—"
"I'm staying here tonight. I've already requested a cot," Bailey rolled her eyes. "You are the worst patients ever! With your musical instruments and sleepovers in the ICU." Arizona laughed, giving Bailey a genuine smile, "Oh, you know you love us, Miranda."
Bailey smiled genuinely, before smugly replying, "I sure do. Because if I didn't, you would be sleeping in an on-call room tonight." Callie smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Bailey."
Standing up straight, Bailey addressed Arizona, "I'll see you in the morning." And with that, she left the room, leaving Callie and Arizona alone.
Taking caution not to disturb Arizona's incision site, or any of her monitors or IVs, Callie climbed onto the bed next to her, and Arizona rested her head against her shoulder, "You know, you don't have to stay here again tonight. I'll be okay, and the girls should be sleeping in their own beds."
"Are you kidding?" Callie responded casually, "It's like a week's worth of sleepovers with Zola. Those girls are in heaven." Arizona laughed lightly, looking up at Callie, "Well, do you want to sleep in your own bed? I mean, you must be exhausted—"
Callie cut her off by placing a kiss on her lips, "I sleep better when I'm near you." Arizona's smile widened, and Callie gently placed an arm on her shoulder, bringing her delicately to her side.
"So…" began Callie, taking Arizona's hand in hers, "I called Riley's social worker today." She felt Arizona shift against her as she waited patiently for her wife to continue, "And I told her that we wanted begin the adoption process."
Arizona turned to face her wife, ignoring the pain in her side caused by the sudden movement, "Calliope." Her eyes filled with tears as she beamed up at her wife, "Thank you, Calliope." But Callie shook her head, "Don't thank me. She's our girl. I know that now." Arizona nodded, leaning in and touching her forehead against Callie's, "I love you so much."
Callie held her cheek in her hand, gently brushing her wife's blonde locks behind her ears, "Me too."
Laying gingerly back on the bed, Arizona returned her head to Callie's shoulder. Thinking about her beautiful family. she closed her tired eyes and fell asleep.
Arizona walked back into Johns Hopkins followed by Timothy after what had been one of the most fun and exhilarating days she'd had in a long time. Shortly after Timothy had surprised her with a visit, they had left the hospital, hopping a train to DC, where they spent the entire day exploring the Smithsonian Museums and the other quirks of the city. The pair had even found a shop to rent some roller skates and skated up and down the National Mall. After making their way back to Baltimore, they had crashed on Arizona's couch, falling asleep watching movies before the alarm had awoken them rudely, telling Arizona that she had to return to work and Timothy that he had to catch his plane back to base camp.
"I guess you're not exactly well rested for your shift, huh?" said Timothy cautiously as they entered the hospital; he didn't want his surprise visit to interfere with her work too much. But Arizona shrugged casually, "I'm never well rested for my shift. I don't think I've been well rested since I started my residency." She smiled up at her little brother, "I'm also not sure I've had such a wonderful day since starting residency. I'm glad you came. Can you believe that in all the time I've been living in Baltimore, I've never gotten a chance to explore the Smithsonian?"
Timothy shook his head woefully. "That's a damn shame, Zona," he teased, crossing his hands over his chest. He then looked at her sincerely, "Seriously, though. You've got to go back and explore more. We barely scratched the surface and you deserve to take a break now and then." Arizona nodded, "Maybe when I finish my residency I'll take another trip over there."
She stopped in front of the locker room, turning to her brother with a sad smile. This was it. She had to clock in and go to work, and he really needed to leave and catch his plane. She hesitated, not quite knowing what to say. She had never been good at good byes.
"Oh! I almost forgot," Timothy exclaimed, pulling his pack off his shoulder and rummaging through it until he found what he was looking for, pulling out an old polaroid camera. "We need to take a picture. Dad got me this for Christmas, but I'm so bad at remembering to take pictures in the moment. And you're even worse."
Arizona groaned, "Do we have to Timothy? I haven't showered in three days. I'm a mess," she whined, self consciously adjusting her messy ponytail. Just then, Amelia walked by and, having overheard the last bit of conversation, chimed in, "Yeah, I can tell." Arizona glared at her friend, but Timothy beamed at the opportunity, "Amelia! Take a picture of me and Zona, would you?"
Arizona rolled her eyes but Amelia beamed, grabbing the camera and directing it at the two of them. Squeezing his sister tightly against his side, Timothy cajoled, "Come on, Zona. Smile!" After rolling her eyes in mild annoyance, Arizona relented, breaking into a genuine smile as Amelia snapped the photo. As it popped out, Amelia handed it to Timothy, but he handed it to Arizona. "Something to remember me by," he stated melodramatically, earning him a slug on the arm, "Oh, shut up. You'll be fine." She refused to believe anything else.
Checking her watch, Amelia cringed, "Yikes, rounds start in one minute. You coming?" Arizona nodded, "Yeah, go on ahead. I'll meet you in a minute." Knowing she wanted a moment alone with her brother to say good bye, Amelia turned and headed down the hall ahead of her.
The moment they had both been dreading since Timothy arrived had finally come. Leaning over, Arizona wrapped her arms around her brother's waist tightly and he hugged her back with equal force. They didn't say anything—they didn't have to. They already knew everything they needed to know.
Finally, Arizona pulled away, holding back tears as she said, "Take care of yourself." Timothy nodded, casually saluting her as he walked away, "Until we meet again, Zona." And with that, he turned and disappeared around the corner.