AN : Hey guys!
So what happened! Gun shot, scream! The answer is in that chapter!
WARNING : I'm not a medical expert and the situation I describe in that chapter are surely not really compatible with real pathology.
It's a fiction, so please be lenient!
I'd like to thank everybody for the follow and the fav.
The reviews are great too, but I need more! I need a lot of them. So please, leave me one if you like the story.
I really love to write this story all twisted and all the cliffhangers. That's my thing !
But the most important is that thanks to it I meet Alina who is an awesome friends to me now!
I'm already working on the next story, and I'd like to work with people. So if you're interested, contact me via PM.
I let you discovering what happened and I wish you a pleasant reading!
...
People, running everywhere, falling on the ground. People screaming, people shoving her without care not bothering if she was injured... A smell which reminded her of that horrible day when Gary Clark shot Dereck in front of her and her friends. She fell back hitting her head heavily on the sidewalk in the process.
That's the nightmare she was living with open eyes.
She wasn't sure if the person she was yelling at was really Arizona. How could it be her? She was dead right? April had cried so many times for her loss. She had blamed herself for so long, thinking she had let her down. She was at her funeral.
But her first instinct was to rush to that person. She was feeling it in her veins: it was her.
As she ran to her, she noticed that another person was lying on the ground a few feet away, she also saw a bunch of men wearing black suits rushing to the laboratory. They seemed to be carrying a person.
And as she reached the lying body, she heard another gun shot. She turned her head and saw a man across the street holding a gun. He had an empty gaze and was standing alone in the middle of the people who were fleeing the scene. April gasped and witnessed the man dropping the gun and walking quietly in the opposite direction.
She shook her head and focused back on the person she thought was Arizona. She was lying on the sidewalk, still wearing a hood.
April slowly approached her, kneeling down as she took out her phone and dialed 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" a voice said.
"I'm Dr. April Kepner from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. There's been a shooting in front of the Laboratory. There are at least 3 injured people. I think the shooter is gone but bring the police and ambulances!" April said as she grabbed the black hood and took it off from the person on the ground. At first, she wasn't sure about who she was discovering as the person was bleeding from her head and her hair were partially covered with blood, but when she reached her face, she burst into tears.
"Oh my god... No! No!" April screamed. In a split second she cooled down and focused on Arizona's state. Blood, there was a lot of blood on the ground but she was wearing black clothes and it wasn't easy to locate the injuries. She carefully rolled her body on her back and began a professional check on her friend's body, all the while stopping herself from crumbling.
She didn't notice the two bodyguards behind her who were calling Stanley Becker. Everything was happening so fast, everything was crazy and the last thing April noticed was that Arizona was breathing even if she had lost consciousness.
...
"You're just a jerk!" Carlos Torres yelled at Becker as the two men were driving to the hospital. "You knew that she was gone and you didn't try to locate her? You knew that man would be here! What's your problem?"
"Mr. Torres! She was totally out of control. I never thought she would do that! What was she going to do? Kill him? Threaten him? I thought she was just running away..." Becker said. "I had 6 men looking for her, everywhere! She disappeared between 4 and 6 this morning, she must have had an accomplice out there."
"You told me you were watching all her doings!" Carlos snapped. "I can't believe what just happened!"
The rest of the ride remained silent between the two of them. They parked their car and rushed to the hospital entrance. Becker met one of his men and stopped.
"Is she okay?" Becker asked.
"I don't know, they won't tell me. I think she's in surgery right now." The man replied.
"Shit! Let's get in. I need to talk to Bailey!"
...
Moments earlier.
Owen, Richard and Meredith were waiting for the ambulances. There were 4 victims and they had already prepared the rooms to treat them. It was a quiet day in Seattle. The ER hadn't been busy and the sun was warming the surgeons, standing in the arrival bay.
"What are we waiting for?" Joe and Stephanie asked, joining the three attending surgeons, accompanied by Isaac and Deluca.
"There's been a shooting. 3 victims, 2 in critical state." Meredith replied.
They didn't have to wait long as the first one arrived and the paramedics got out, giving them a highlight about the state of the victim.
"28 years old male. He was shot in the stomach. He's conscious and reactive." The paramedic explained.
"Okay I will take this one, seems to be just a superficial injury." Richard said, grabbing the charts and helping to move the gurney forward. "Carson, come with me!"
"I'll take the next one!" Owen said as the second ambulance arrived.
"50 years old male. Unconscious. He's been shot twice in the heart area. His heart stopped on the road we resuscitated him once."
"Edwards! With me! DeLuca! Get Pierce!" Owen yelled, entering the ER with the paramedics as the third ambulance arrived.
"I got it!" Meredith said as Jackson was arriving with Karev to help.
As the doors opened, time froze. First, they all looked at April who got out of the ambulance with a paramedic. Meredith looked at a puzzled Jackson as she reached the gurney, discovering Arizona Robbins, who had been supposedly dead for months, lying on it.
"What the..." Meredith mumbled but immediately placed the professional face back on. "Talk to me Kepner.
"She's unconscious but responsive. She's been shot in the shoulder and in the lower back. Her head had fiercely hit the sidewalk because she fell from a few steps."
"Ok... I don't know what's going on, and it doesn't matter. Wilson, Page Sheppard and book an OR!" Meredith said as she helped to get the gurney in the ER.
...
After seeing Arizona the day before, and after the 'I love you' the woman told her just before she left the room, Callie had taken a few days off. She had received a dark look from Bailey when she had asked for the favor, but the chief of surgery understood that she needed time to process her meeting with Arizona.
She was at the park with Sofia and Zola. She had picked them after their day at the school and the two little girls where playing together while Callie was sadly sitting on a bench. She was replaying her talk with Arizona.
It had been rough and tense and it hadn't turned out the way Callie thought it would, but it had also been really relieving to see her, to be sure, concretely that she was alive. It wasn't just words, it was real.
Callie knew that Arizona was broken, surely more devastated than she was after the plane crash. She knew it the second their eyes had met. The little spark in the blue eyes was absent and they were darker than usual.
But she was alive, she even told her that she loved her. But she felt that the 'I love you' sounded like a good bye. And so, since the morning, she was having a bad feeling.
She sighed and closed her eyes for split of a second when her phone buzzed.
"Listen Bailey, I told you I was taking my day off..." Callie said, responding to the call. "And you agreed yesterday!"
"Callie, I'm not calling for that. You need to come. Now!" Bailey said.
She immediately understood that something was wrong. The tone in Bailey's voice, the feeling that didn't leave her since the day before that something bad was about to happen...
She called the girls and ended their game earlier than expected and rushed to her car.
...
Becker was perambulating in the hallways, his phone hooked to his hand.
"How didn't you see her? You've been watching her for days; you were supposed to recognize her!" He yelled. "You're just a bunch of morons!"
That's when Callie arrived, running and holding Zola's and Sofia's hand. She stopped and asked a nurse to take the little girls to the daycare. She then turned to Becker and snatched the phone from his hands.
"What happened?" Callie said. "You were supposed to protect her! You ..."
"Calliope..." Carlos Torres said as he stood up from the bench he had been sitting on. "Don't let your emotions take control."
He took his daughter in his arms and made a sign to Becker to walk further away. Breaking the embrace, he left his hands on Callie's shoulder, looking directly in her eyes.
"She's strong, she's going to be okay."
"I need to see Bailey!" Callie simply said, walking away and looking for her friend.
Bailey was waiting for her next to the ER doors. She knew that Callie was going to try to get in.
"Callie, you're not going in there." Bailey ordered.
"You can't stop me Bailey." Callie said, firmly.
"Yeah, I'm going to!" Bailey said, approaching the brunette and grabbing her arms, forcing her to follow her to the attending's lounge. Without a word the two women walked to the room.
Bailey opened the door and Callie entered, roughly taking her arm out of Bailey's grip.
"You know you can't go, and by the way, you wouldn't be helpful." Bailey said.
"Can you at least tell me...?" Callie asked.
"She's been shot in the shoulder and the back." Bailey said. "Grey and Kepner are working on her. She had a head trauma. Sheppard said the CT looks clean, she just needs to check on her when she will be awake and monitor her closely."
"What about the rest?" Callie asked in an almost professional tone.
"The shoulder shot is under control. It was deep and the bone is broken. The back shot is a little more problematic. They're working on it. I will keep you updated. But I don't want to see you around the OR!"
"Can I go and sit in the gallery?" Callie asked.
"I'll go with you." Bailey said as she opened the doors and left the room with Callie.
They were on their way when two police officers stopped them.
"Are you Dr. Miranda Bailey?" one of them asked.
"Yes. What's going on?" Bailey asked.
"You're the chief of surgery Right?"
"Yes. But what's the point?" Bailey nodded.
"We need you to lead us to Arizona Robbins' room."
"She's in surgery right now. What's the problem?" Bailey asked, as Callie looked at the two policemen in wonder.
"She's under arrest for attempted murder of Stewart Roney."
...
"This is insane!" Jackson said as he walked through the hallway with Alex.
"Yeah..." Alex whispered. "Seems like a James Bond scenario. But it's real, and it's our friend."
"You knew she was alive? You didn't seem surprised when you saw her..." Jackson asked.
"Yeah, I knew..." Alex confessed as they passed the room where Owen had been treating the second patient. They stopped a minute and looked through the windows.
"Time of death: 6.28." Owen said, putting back the defibrillator palettes on the engine.
Owen sighed, disappointed at not being able to save his patient. He signed a chart and got rid of his gloves and left the room, meeting Alex and Jackson in the hallway.
"Is it one of the men who was injured like Arizona during the shooting?" Jackson asked Owen who wasn't aware that Arizona had been found on the scene and that she was alive.
"What does Arizona have to do with that shooting?" he asked the two other surgeons.
"Oh that's right, you weren't there when the third ambulance arrived..." Jackson explained. "It turns out that Arizona is not dead... I don't know all the story yet but Karev knew about that."
"I don't know everything, but apparently she had been in the witness protection program." Alex quickly explained.
"You mean with the FBI?" Owen asked still under the surprise of the news.
"Yeah, that's it, the FBI and all that crap." Alex said.
"So Arizona was injured?" Owen asked worried.
"Yeah. Apparently it's under control, but she's still in surgery. Grey and Kepner are working on her." Jackson informed.
"I'm gonna check on her." Owen said.
"I will go with you." Alex replied.
...
Callie was in her office with her father. Even if Bailey had reassured her, she was nervous. Arizona was still in surgery and her back injury was apparently tricky. The bullet was located near her spine and the surgery was going to be difficult.
Becker was talking with the policemen and Callie was waiting to know what all that story was about.
"I can't lose her Dad..." Callie whispered.
"You heard your friend. She is out of danger."
"I know, but there is still a risk that she might stay paralyzed..." Callie said. "And what if she's sent to jail!"
"She won't be! She has done nothing!" Carlos interjected as Stanley entered the room.
"Hey..." He said hesitantly, feeling Callie's and Carlos' unsatisfied glance on him. "I just talked with the police officers."
"And so?" Callie asked, still looking at the lawyer with anger.
"She's been caught on a footage taking a knife out of her pocket and walking towards Roney." He explained.
"So what... Maybe she wanted to do it but someone else had the same idea and used a gun... And by the way, he's safe... So nothing can prove that she wanted to do that!" Callie snapped.
"That's it, she's being charged with attempted murder. And as far as Roney is concerned, he's dead."
Callie gasped at hearing the news. How was it possible? Why did nobody seem to know it?
"He was shot too. And one of your colleagues wasn't be able to resuscitate him." Becker explained. "But the good news regarding the situation is that, I can promise you that Arizona won't be charged. They have the shooter on the video too."
"You promised me once that nothing will happen to her or her relatives and see where we are now!" Carlos grumbled.
"And who killed him?" Callie asked.
"They don't know yet, but they're working on it." Becker said. "Now we just have to wait for Arizona to wake up and then give her the good news!" Becker said enthusiastically.
Callie looked at Becker with a puzzled glance. "What are you talking about?"
"It's over!" Becker smiled. "She's free from everything now! He's dead!"
"You must be kidding right!" Callie snapped! "Do you have any idea about her psychological health? And it's not over! She may be paralyzed! And has she lost her parents, she's been stalked and threatened for months, he ruined her professional career and I don't even want to talk about what our daughter is going through! So don't you dare say it's over!"
...
There was too much light when she opened her eyes.
She was blinded by the light and immediately she felt the pain and exhaustion.
It was not really exhaustion it was rather drowsiness. She knew that sensation all too well. After her amputation she had been on painkillers for weeks and she woke up with that kind of foggy mind.
She swallowed and tried to move. And that's when she realized that something wasn't normal. Her legs seemed unresponsive, her left arm was wrapped in a sling and her right hand was handcuffed to the hospital bed.
As everything had been crazy around her for weeks now, she took a few seconds to get her thoughts together. She sighed and noticed that she was in a hospital room, and she knew these wall colors and these items a little too well. She was at Grey Sloan Memorial.
But why was she there?
Focusing on the last event she could remember, she realized that she was in a plane with Becker, and Carlos Torres. Was it a few hours ago? A few days? More?
If she was in the hospital, Roney had surely something to do with that. She focused hard to try and remember but nothing came to her mind. She suddenly heard a voice saying "She's awake!" and saw Meredith entering the room with Amelia. The two surgeons were smiling and Meredith checked her vitals, grabbing a tablet when Amelia approached with a light.
"Hey there! Just a few routine exams, alright?" Amelia said softly. "Follow the light please... Okay, great."
"Can you squeeze my finger?" Stephanie said, looking at Arizona with a compassionate smile. "Yeah, that's great Dr. Robbins! I told you! You're immortal!"
"What's your name?" Amelia asked her.
"Arizona Robbins..." She replied with a raspy voice.
"What's your last memory Arizona?" Amelia asked.
"I was in a hotel in Seattle, but I don't know when that was." Arizona confessed.
"Based on the data I have, a little more than a month ago." Meredith explained.
"What happened?" Arizona asked, a little scared by what her friends were about to tell her.
"You were shot, twice." Meredith said. "Then you fell on the sidewalk and your head hit the ground heavily. I think that was the cause of your blackout."
"You have a head trauma, but no internal bleeding. We'll monitor you closely for the next 72 hours, but I'm sure it's nothing serious." Amelia explained.
"You received a bullet in your shoulder. We were been able to take it out. The second one was in your lower back." Meredith explained lowing her gaze.
"Did it touch the spinal cord?" Arizona asked, confused because she didn't seem to feel anything in her legs.
"It reached it but it didn't impact it." Amelia continued. "The surgery took a long time because there were some splinters and we had to take them all out without touching your spinal cord."
"There was some complication but we don't know yet if there would be any aftereffects." Meredith said. "I don't think so though. I'm confident. It may take a few days, but you will walk again. Trust me."
Arizona simply nodded, tears watering her blue eyes. That's when it came to her mind that Meredith and Amelia were supposed to believe that she was dead.
"Can you tell me how it happened?" She asked, lightly sobbing.
The three doctors looked at each other awkwardly and Amelia decided to talk first.
"You need to rest now..." She said. "There's no need to rush things. Did you want me to call Callie?"
"No... No way... I don't need to see her... Can you call my parents? They must be worried." Arizona asked.
"I'll do that..." Amelia said, squeezing Arizona's arm and leaving the room with her two colleagues.
The three women walked away in silence. That was a lot to take in. They were happy that their friend was finally alive. They were relieved she had made it through the surgery despite of the serious injuries. But in Arizona's mind, a lot of things hadn't happened.
"How is she?" Callie asked meeting Amelia and Meredith who had puzzled expressions on their faces. "Oh no... Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay."
"She is, actually, she's awake, she's responsive. Her vitals are great. She seemed to have trouble feeling anything in her legs but as we told you, we were expecting that, at least for a few days." Amelia said. "But she's suffering from partial amnesia."
"What kind?" Callie asked, seriously.
"Her last memory is being in a plane with your father and the lawyer." Meredith stated.
"Oh no... Don't tell me..."
"She doesn't know about her parents..." Amelia said, biting her lips. "You know what we said about short term amnesia. It can be forever or she may remember everything soon..."
"Can I see her?" Callie begged.
"She's resting now, and she said she didn't want to see you." Meredith said. "But she was really confused, so I think that she will be happy to see you when she will wake up. If you want to that is."
"Of course I want to!" Callie said.
"Okay, then I'll take Sofia tonight and we will see you tomorrow." Meredith said. "Call me, if you need anything!"
She placed a friendly hand on Callie's shoulder and walked away, followed by Amelia.
...
Callie had spent the night in a chair next to Arizona's bed. She had watched her for hours. Even if the blonde was sleeping, Callie was more upset than the previous two days. Arizona was more vulnerable than she had ever been and seeing her like that was tearing Callie apart. There was no anger or aggressiveness in the sleeping form of Arizona. Of course, she was injured, the left side of her face was pretty beaten up, but she seemed peaceful, Thanks to the morphine.
Callie eventually fell asleep, her hand resting on Arizona's handcuffed hand.
She dreamed a lot that night. She dreamed about her life with the woman she loved and who used to be her wife. They were happy. They had everything to live the most amazing life. And suddenly, Callie woke up with a start. It took her a few moments to realize that she was in the hospital and that Arizona was alright, at least for the moment.
She smiled, looking at her and squeeze her cheek softly. The touch was light and soft, but it made Arizona move her head. Callie immediately took off her hand from Arizona's face and looked at her, afraid to have woken her up.
Arizona opened her eyes slowly, and turned her head towards Callie. She smiled at her without speaking, just silent tears rolling down her face.
"Hey..." Callie whispered. "You okay?"
Arizona shook her head no, and Callie knew immediately what was happening.