AN: Ok, here it is. It's a little short because I realized that my plan for this chapter would make it suuupppper long, which means it would have been another week or so before it was ready to post, and I didn't want to make you guys wait that long. So, here is the first part. The next chapter(s) will be out pretty soon.
My hands shook slightly as I slipped the key in the door and stumbled to push it open. I heard a small giggle from Arizona at my klutziness. I shot her a quick glare before swinging open the door. "Surprise!" I gripped Arizona's hand as our friends all screamed at her entrance. Her eyes doubled and she whipped her head around to gape at me. A wide and pleased grin slid across my face. "Happy Birthday, babe."
Arizona narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, before no longer being able to contain her broad smile. "You planned all this?" She gestured to the cheesy streamers, the huge table of booze, and the giddy group of friends huddled in my living room.
I nodded, "Sure, I wanted to do something nice for you on your birthday…Do you like it?" We hadn't been together all that long, and this was our first birthday celebration as a couple. I had no idea how she would react to a surprise party.
She quickly leaned over and crashed her lips to mine, earning a quiet moan from me, and loud whistles from the guys. I grinned cheekily at her when she pulled back, "Of course I like it! I didn't even think you knew it was my birthday until this morning when I told you."
"Yeah, well, I'm full of surprises. Plus, I'm awesome." I smirked at her eye roll, and led her into the room. "Now, let's get your party on, birthday girl."
"Cake first!" Avery yelled and bolted to the kitchen.
I groaned, "Ok, since Avery's a toddler and apparently cannot wait to have cake,
I guess-" I didn't bother finishing my sentence, because I realized that Arizona had sprinted off right behind Avery with a delighted squeal. Rolling my eyes, I let Mark sling his arm around my shoulder as we headed into the kitchen. When I reached Arizona she grinned brightly and handed me the lighter.
"Please, please, please light the candles. Also, this cake is awesome and perfect!"
I laughed as I flicked the lighter and carefully lit the three candles on top of the bright red fire truck cake. "Well, lucky for you, the bakery makes fire truck cakes for eight year old boys."
"Shut it, Calliope. I'm amazing and the best damn driver in Washington, so I can have a fire truck cake if I want one…and I do." Her dimples popped and her face glowed in the dancing light cast by the colorful candles. "Alright, everyone shut up so I can make a proper wish." She scrunched up her nose and tilted her head, carefully considering her wish. After a few moments, she gave a swift nod and turned toward the cake. Her gaze flicked up to mine as she lowered her head level to the candles. Her blue orbs locked with mine, twinkling with candlelight and mirth. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as we smiled unabashedly at each other. The way the flickering light played on her face, the loving smile she was aiming at me, the contentment I experienced just by looking at her, and way her bouncing, golden curls framed her face all filled me with an unexpected and wonderful joy. She winked at me, then puffed her cheeks up, letting out a steady flow of air, extinguishing the candles in one swoop. "Yay! Check out those fire fighting skills."
"Yeah, next time you can just go blow the flames out on a burning building," Karev smirked.
"Oh, Karev. You have so much to learn." She giggled, aware that no one understood what that was supposed to mean.
As Avery eagerly cut up the cake, I pulled Arizona in close to me and looped my arms around her waist, "So, what did you wish for?" I smiled as I kissed her cheek, pulling back only enough to look into her eyes.
"I can't tell you, or it won't come true, genius." Arizona scolded through a toothy grin.
I scoffed, "Yeah, that's why wishes on candles don't come true. They get revealed before they can happen." I rolled my eyes and laughed again when I saw her pout.
"Nah, uh. No disbelieving in wishes. It's my birthday and I say you have to believe in my wish." Her tone was petulant, which I found utterly adorable.
"Ok, fine. But, you should probably tell me what it is, so I can recognize when it comes true, thereby giving me no reason to ever doubt again." I didn't think that would really work, but it was worth a shot.
Arizona contemplated for a minute before shrugging, "Sounds fair, I guess. Plus, I think it's ok to tell your wish to your girlfriend." Seeing me nod in agreement, she moved in close to lay her lips on my ear. I warm shiver trickled down my body as her hot breath ghosted over my skin at her words, "I wished for you."
Grinning into her neck and squeezing her tighter, I returned the favor, letting my lips graze her earlobe, "You got me." Lost in the sincerity of the moment, it took me a second to realize my mistake. Crap, I walked right into that one.
She pulled back suddenly, smirking. "See! Birthday wishes do come true!"
I laughed and shook my head, "But, it was true before you made the wish, so does it really count?"
"Of course it does, Calliope," She huffed in exasperation, "I want it to keep being true, for a very long time." Her expression softened and got slightly more serious.
I leaned in to let my lips brush against hers, grinning against her mouth, "As you wish."
"Torres!" A harsh yell snapped me back to the present.
"What?!" I barked back at Owen.
"Sorry, but I've been saying your name for the past minute…what's going on?" Owen face displayed concern as he worked quickly on the young girl in the stretcher in front of me.
My leg jiggled violently, displaying my anxiety, "Uh…I need to get to the hospital." I couldn't say it out loud. I couldn't say that Arizona might be… No. I don't know anything, yet. I ran from Avery before he could tell me anything. That probably wasn't wise. I sucked deep breaths into my lungs and slowly released them, desperate to calm the storm that was raging inside of me. I had to keep composed until I knew there was something to freak out about. My head started to ache from the beeping and movement of the vehicle, "Damn, Altman, could you drive any slower?" I snapped at the driver.
"Yeah, Torres, I could." Her disapproving glare met me through the rearview mirror.
"Seriously, what's wrong?" Owen pushed a clear liquid into the girl's IV.
Glancing down the girl's body, I finally took in her injuries. She was going to have a rough recovery, burns covered her body and it was clear she had inhaled a lot of smoke. "Is she going to be ok?" I numbly asked.
"It'll be tough, but they should be able to patch her up at the hospital."
"What's her name?" Focusing on her hurt less.
"She has a bracelet that says Irene."
"Irene…" Becoming impatient again, I turned toward the front of the ambulance, "Teddy, I'm not kidding about the speed. You competing in the senior Olympics or something?" I knew how I sounded, but the visions plaguing my brain of a broken Arizona severely lowered my ability to care about rudeness right now.
"Yeah, I got a gold in beating with a cane, I'll pull over and show you if you don't give me a damn good reason why you're talking to me like that," Teddy's eyes flashed through her reflection, daring me to keep going.
"Arizona was in that explosion…and she's…I don't know…" I managed to spit out, my voice just above a whisper.
Teddy nodded solemnly, mumbling, "And, I'm speeding up…"
Once we screeched to a halt in the ambulance bay, I burst through the doors and hit the ground running. I was several feet away when I slowed my steps and turned around. I jogged up to Owen and Teddy, "Thank you."
I was already on my way weaving through the doctors rushing outside, when I heard Teddy call out, "She's the only person that can drive almost as good as me, take care of her."
I pushed into the ER and skidded to a stop in front of the nurse's station, "A woman was brought in, a fire fighter, I need to see her."
"Name?" The nurse curtly asked.
"Arizona Robbins." I held my breath as the nurse checked her records.
"She's in trauma room three, you can wait-hey!" I didn't bother listening to her as I frantically searched for the right room. Spotting number three, I surged through the door, panting with fear and apprehension. I felt my heart plummet as I took in the empty room. She wasn't here. Did the nurse give me the wrong room number? Was she moved because she was ok? Was she moved because she's dead?
I spun around and grabbed what looked like an intern, "Hey, there was supposed to be a woman in here, where is she?"
The girl looked scared, "She, uh, was just brought up to surgery."
I didn't know if I should be relived or more worried. At least, she was still alive. "Which OR?"
"Uh, I, uh, don't know. I could go check…" She sounded hopeful with the suggestion that she leave my immediate presence.
"No, I'll find it." I had been here enough times with Erica, that I was pretty familiar with the surgical wing. She used to sneak me in to watch surgeries from the galleries all the time. I rushed toward the doors leading to the stairwell, there was no time to wait for an elevator. I puffed air from my lungs as I lunged up the stairs two at a time. My legs started to ache and I was quickly losing control of my breathing. After what seemed like an eternity, I ripped open the doors to the right floor, and quickly began scanning the area. I just had to figure out which one she was in. Luckily, it took about four seconds to spot someone I knew and who would get me where I needed to go, whether it was allowed or not. "Yang!"
The short woman spun toward my voice, "There you are! Damn, did you crawl here?"
"What?" I said, confused and mildly panting.
"Hahn told me that I couldn't scrub in until you got here, so that I could fill you in while she got to work. And, I want to start." She looked unimpressed and impatient. She always looked like that, which is one of the reasons we always got along. Erica strongly dislikes her, she was a pushy, arrogant, and needy intern. However, she was brutally honest, drama free, and hilarious, so her and I had a decent relationship.
I shook my head, trying to figure out what she's telling me, "Wait. Erica's operating on Arizona?"
Christina sighed and finally adopted an appropriately somber tone, "Yes. She came in with a piece of metal impaled through her upper chest. CT showed that the piece nicked her heart and lung, but somehow she didn't bleed out. Her lung collapsed and she lost a lot of blood. Dr. Hahn is in there now trying to repair her injuries before her body can't put up with the stress anymore…I need to get in there to help, but I'll come out to give you an update as soon and often as I can…I'm sorry, Callie. I know that she is your…friend?" Christina led, sincere but unsure.
"Girlfriend." I dazedly corrected.
Christina nodded softly before turning toward the OR.
My heart pounded in my chest and my vision was getting a little blurry. "I-is she going t-to be o-ok?" I stuttered out, just barely catching Christina before she walked through the door.
She looked down, then brought her eyes up to mine, "We're going to do our best."
AN: Yes, I do realize that this is also a cliffhanger, but seriously I wanted to post something now and the next part still needs some work. But, it's started, so hopefully it won't be too long. Let me know what you think, even angry reviews make me write faster.
