Arizona woke not long after Callie had got back. She smiled at Callie as she caught the scent of the shampoo that Callie always used. Callie smiled back at her weakly, trying not to let on too much. Arizona's head was killing her, feeling like no amounts of sleep could make the pain go away.
"Callie" Arizona spoke, breaking the silence in the room. "I need to use the bathroom". Fear wreaked through Callie. She'd have to explain to Arizona why she couldn't just get up on two legs and go to the toilet, because she didn't have two legs.
"Arizona, I'm sure there is a catheter in you" Callie thought quickly and Arizona nodded and lowered her head back on the pillow. "I bought you some pictures" Callie took out 4 frames from her bag. Arizona scanned each one. A photo of their wedding, a family photo with Mark, both seemed familiar. But a photo of Callie and Arizona at April's wedding to Mathew had Arizona's face screwing.
"I- I don't remember that" Arizona stuttered.
"There's a lot you don't remember Arizona" Callie sighed, looking at the blonde who was still staring intently at the third frame. The fourth photo was a photo from Sofia's 3rd birthday party. "See" Callie lifted it up to show her and a tear fell down the blonde's cheek.
"Wh-what is that" Arizona cried.
"Sofia's third birthday party" Callie said looking with apologetic eyes.
"I don't understand" Arizona looked away from the photos. Callie put them back in her bag to avoid any more distress and over-analysis from Arizona.
"I'm going to tell you why you're here Arizona, if you want me to stop at any point just say, but you need to hear this" Callie started apprehensively, Arizona blinked out another tear and nodded. "Okay well, I'm not really sure where to start but, you were hit by a car and that's why you're here. You have brain swelling and a chip on pelvic bone which will heal with bed rest because it isn't too serious. Your brain swelling however is a little concerning" Callie paused and took a deep breath, Arizona's expression hadn't changed, she just looked stunned. "Arizona, we suspect you have amnesia, I've spoken with Amelia, and that's why I brought the photos to see if you remembered and how far back, your memories should come back Arizona, but there is another thing. You and Mark were in a terrible accident, you weren't alone, Meredith, Cristina, Derek and Lexie were there too. You were in a plane crash 3 years ago. All of you, you were stuck in the woods for 4 days. Lexie, she- died out there, and Mark well, he- he passed once you were all back here, his injuries were too severe and he had used all of his fight but you, you Arizona you fought. We, we fought over something" Callie took another deep breath, she was really about to tell her wife. Ex wife. That she had lost her leg, for the second time. "Arizona you had complications, you were crashing, we were faced with a life of death situation with a consequence, you lost your left leg. The infection was taking over and we had to act quickly before it took over your bloodstream" she stopped as she could see the pain in Arizona's eyes from what she was being told, tears flowing down her cheeks, that was enough information for now. Arizona looked down for the first time to see the outline of her missing leg underneath the blanket. She laid back and let out a sob, Callie attempted to move closer but Arizona shook her head, she couldn't handle it right now. Callie had barely touched the surface with what memories Arizona was missing.
Arizona hadn't spoken, her and Callie sat in silence for most of the day. She had a thousand thoughts rushing through her head which made it ache. How many years of memories was she missing, what could she remember. She questioned herself with so many thoughts, everything just seemed broken and disjointed, nothing in her mind made sense like every memory had a bit missing or just wasn't quite clear.
That evening Amelia came back to Arizona's room, she read the tear stained cheeks on Arizona and the dark circles under Callie's eyes as a warning. "Hey Arizona, I'm going to take you for a scan, is that okay?" She asked, offering a smile. Arizona stayed silent, her gaze fixated looking straight passed the brunette who was speaking. Amelia moved into her sight line and still no reaction. "Arizona" she spoke again, moving closer to the bed shooting a glare at Callie.
"She's been like this all day," Callie stated. Amelia nodded, two porters entered the room to wheel Arizona down to the mri scanner. Callie decided to stay in Arizona's room and wait for her there. She'd seen Arizona's heart break today, she couldn't bring herself to mention Derek, or the divorce. That would kill her. She'd spent her day thinking about when Arizona would be discharged, it wasn't Callie's job to look after her. She didn't have to, but strangely a large part of her heart still beat for the blonde she'd spent so many of her prior years with. She could take care of Arizona and hope her memories came back. Arizona wouldn't be able to work until she remembered, she didn't even know that she was foetal surgeon now. Callie could move back to the house they bought together, like nothing had changed, but what if Arizona did remember that they were split up. What if she didn't want Callie.
The mri scan room was dark, Arizona hadn't even moved an inch like not a hair on her head had moved all day, she felt frozen, frozen in time. She completely blocked out anyone that was talking to her, like she couldn't hear them over her own thoughts. She felt bad for Callie, what kind of a wife could she be if she couldn't remember what her own life was like, what if she didn't like her life. She was stopped in thought when she realised she was being moved off her bed and onto the scanner.
"I- I can do it" she rasped after having not spoken all day. Amelia smiled and a faint part of Arizona glinted in her eyes. She's in there.
The scan wasn't too long and after a short amount of time Arizona was back in her room. Amelia had explained that the scans were good. The swelling was going down, but the brain has a funny way of working. It protects itself from what it feels like it doesn't need in order to heal itself. By blocking out its most painful memories the brain would actually be doing itself a favour. This saddened Callie however, Arizona had been through so much, she knew, she was there with her for most of it, but the last thing she remembered was Sofia as a baby, and probably their wedding. Could it be that was her last happy memory. All being well Arizona could be discharged in the morning as long as she passed a psych evaluation. She needed to be assessed on whether she could cope with the information about herself that she was missing and attend weekly meetings to keep up with her progress and log any memories she might be having.
Amelia left as it was getting late, everyone needed sleep. They were in for a long road of recovery but Callie wanted to help Arizona as best she could. She had text Meredith that afternoon to ask if Sofia could stay there for a while, explaining Arizona's condition. Arizona who pushed her dinner around the plate until it combined into a pile of mush. She needed to look after herself but today was just too much. She laid down in bed looking over to Callie, who was reading a magazine she'd found earlier in the day. "Callie" Arizona spoke finally "would you stay again tonight?" She asked, none the wiser that if she had all her memories this request would be crossing so many boundaries they had made over the last year. She probably wouldn't have asked at all if she was thinking straight, but she wasn't and Callie couldn't make her feel anymore lonely than she probably did.
"Of course, do you… want me to… hold you" Callie, unsure of her own offer but Arizona sleepily nodded in reply. She climbed into Arizona's bed and let the woman make herself comfortable next to her.
"I'm sorry I'm an awful patient" Arizona spoke as the mental exhaustion from the day took over her body, her eyes rolling back into her head.
"You have nothing to be sorry for" Callie whispered but the blonde was already deep in sleep.
