A/N: Okay a few notes after your comments ;-)
Brain is probably the most mysterious organ, people with brain bleeds can remember something that happened 20 years ago but could not remember what they had for breakfast 3h ago, and Arizona has learned so many new medical things in the past 3 years as well so her medical memory is not referring to the past only and that is why they are trying to make sure Arizona's brain is really working well medically.
It's too soon for Arizona to go into PT, her body can't take it yet, Amelia was still in charge of her post brain surgery recovery in the last chapter, so the walking was still part of Amelia's methods for getting Arizona better.
Amelia is the better Shepherd in my book ;-), I just feel like she has a bit more of a genius mind than Derek, I mean to be able to become a brain surgeon after battling with addiction, you have to be crazily talented apart from working hard to get there, and later on Grey's she also proved she had more out of the box ideas for surgical approaches..., anyway we all have different favorites, don't we… ;-).
Okay, next chapter…
CHAPTER 7
Callie felt like a few seconds of silence that filled the room went on forever. She looked at Arizona and spoke softly.
"Maybe it will trigger some memories…"
Arizona nodded her head, "Yeah," she whispered.
"Okay, but considering her leg, can she go home?" Amelia asked and looked at Callie.
"Well, there's nothing we need to do about her leg, she just needs to be more careful about it and not overdo it."
"Okay, well then, sure, you can go home," Amelia said with a smile. "But you need to rest and you need to take it easy, because if you overdo it, nausea and dizziness can easily appear," she added and observed Arizona who was lost in thoughts.
"You are reluctant to go to a place that you don't remember calling home, it's understandable," Amelia offered with sympathy, "but it might be crucial for your memory… to be in the surrounding that can trigger your mind to remember," she assured. "However, if you don't feel ready, you could go with your parents of course, the important thing is that you do need someone to help you out in the beginning, you cannot be alone, if you get dizzy and fall and hit your head it might be fatal, you can't risk that."
"Right…" Arizona replied, nervously squeezing her index finger. The hospital room felt like a safe haven, but going to the apartment, with Callie…, her head was suddenly in a spin of freaking out.
"Would you like to go with your parents?" Callie asked trying her best to sound supportive and not desperate for Arizona to say no.
Arizona chuckled, "I haven't stayed with my parents since high school, so yeah I'm not particularly crazy about that option, plus I don't want to move across country… I was actually thinking I would rent an apartment when we came to this point… umm… I just… when I think of home I see my apartment which I guess I don't have any more…"
"Yeah, you don't but umm…, your parents have rented a place, I'm sure they can prolong the lease and stay longer," Callie explained.
"My parents were planning to go back home on Monday, I doubt they could prolong the lease on such short notice and I don't want to make them change their plans, they are almost packed already."
"Well, going back to the apartment you were living in before the crash is medically the best option anyway," Amelia informed, "but if you don't want that, you could go to a physical therapy spa..."
Arizona wrinkled her nose, "I think I prefer at least some kind of home surrounding to another hospital place…"
"Okay then, I'll come back later to give you some instructions and bring your discharge papers, and then you can go home later today."
"Okay," Arizona said pensively.
"Thank you Amelia," Callie said watching Amelia leave and then looked at Arizona. "Look, you don't have to come to our apartment, I understand, and I'm sure your parents would be more than happy to stick around."
"Honestly, I really don't want to stay with my parents, it would be like going back to high school years… it makes sense to go home with you it's just… I wish I had some time to process it… you know, it's just so sudden…"
"Yeah, I get it, well my dad has placed a few grab bars around the bathroom and inside the shower to help you move around on your own, you can sleep in the bedroom and I'll sleep in the living room and just imagine waking up to Sofia's giggles every morning. I can confirm that it immediately makes you get up with a smile on your face. We can give it a try for a few days and you can take this time to think of something else if you feel uncomfortable."
Arizona smiled thinking about spending more happy moments with Sofia. "Okay," she whispered.
"Okay," Callie repeated with a smile, managing to hide the storm of emotions that was forming inside her body. "I'll give you some time to process this now and go organize some things."
Arizona nodded her head.
When Callie left, Arizona stared at the wall in front of her for a few moments, suddenly everything changed, she had started feeling so comfortable around Callie and now she felt all nervous again. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down by listing all the reasons why this was a good idea.
Callie's head was in a frenzy too as she hurried towards Bailey's office, she found her in one of the corridors and immediately called her.
"Bailey, I need bones! I cannot be so close to her anymore, wanting to touch her and kiss her and not being able to do that. And now she's freaking out about going home with me! I need some broken bones to fix or I swear to God I will break some, just to be able to fix them!"
Bailey gave Callie an annoyed stare. "Don't talk nonsense! Learn to deal with it Torres! She's alive, so how about you focus on that!?"
"She's supposed to go home, and she doesn't want to go with me! I mean, of course she doesn't! I'm a stranger to her!"
"Has she said that?"
"No, but I could see it in her eyes, she's freaking out!"
"Of course she's freaking out, the hospital room has been her safe haven for the past seven days since she woke up, she had all the support she needed, she had time to adjust to the situation, she had some alone time to think about everything, other people coming and going, and now when she goes home it will mostly be just the two of you, it's normal she's nervous about it, I would be worried if she wasn't."
Callie sighed and closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply. "Right, you are right…" she said with another deep breath. "It's just… today has been a real roller coaster and I don't know how much more I can take… it's hard…"
Miranda smiled compassionately, "I can imagine…," she said as she put her hand on Callie's arm. "Hang in there. Just be there for her and find a way to be there for yourself as well. Focus on the important things, getting her better and hopefully she will also start remembering more things about your life together."
Callie nodded her head.
"I'll see what I can do about the broken bones," Miranda said softly.
"Thank you," Callie replied with relief.
"When's your birthday by the way?" Miranda asked.
"What? Why?"
"I'm getting you a punching bag!" Miranda teased making Callie laugh out loud.
After her conversation with Bailey, Callie went outside to get some fresh air and calm down a bit. Okay, Bailey has a point, just calm down and let's take this one step at a time. Step one, get her better physically and then we'll think about the rest, she led a conversation in her head. She stayed outside for a few more minutes before deciding to go back to Arizona's room. When she came there Amelia was giving Arizona some papers to sign and some instructions for her recovery and check-ups.
"I'll be sticking around the hospital for a while longer so if you need anything, you know where to find me," Amelia said looking at Callie.
"Okay, thank you so much for everything, Amelia," Callie said offering a smile to Amelia.
"Yes, thanks, you are my number one Shepherd surgeon," Arizona said with a smile and Amelia laughed out loud.
"Tell me that again, when you get all your memory back, and I will believe you," she replied with a wink.
"Deal," Arizona said through laughter.
"Okay, one more thing before I leave, because I have a surgery scheduled. Now don't freak out, we need to touch this topic."
Both Arizona and Callie looked at Amelia with a puzzled look on their faces.
"Sex is allowed just so you know," Amelia said and watched both of the women's expressions change.
"There will not be…, we will not…," Callie stuttered and turned to Arizona, "I, ummm… you don't have to worry about that…, Amelia really!" she finally said with protest turning her head towards Amelia.
Arizona's head would have maybe started freaking out but she was much more amused by Callie's reaction now, and the panic that could have been there was now replaced by intrigue and even slight arousal because she suddenly had images of Callie's body on top of her own, dancing in her mind.
"I said don't freak out," Amelia said through laughter. "I'm just saying that medically sex is allowed, nothing too strenuous but you don't have to worry about it being dangerous. Certain touches that lead to an orgasm are perfectly fine. And before you say anything else, you would be surprised what little things can trigger memory and before you know it, you are suddenly in bed. So in case that happens, it's totally fine."
"Thank you Amelia, we'll keep that in mind," Arizona said with amusement preventing Callie from saying anything else.
"Okay, I need to go now, good luck with everything and don't overdo on the walking Arizona, I'm serious!"
"Yes, don't worry I have learned my lesson today."
"Okay, see you next week for the check-up then, and if everything goes well, you can also start going to physical therapy after that."
"Okay, great! See you next week," Arizona said.
"Bye Amelia," Callie said as Amelia left the room.
"Callie, you can relax, you know…" Arizona said smiling softly.
"I just… I don't want you to freak out…" Callie admitted.
"I'm not going to freak out…, I've had some time to process the news, and I realized that this is the best option for now, so I'll be fine."
"Okay," Callie said with a smile but still feeling nervous.
"Hey, I heard you were leaving!" Alex said as he appeared at the door. "That's great news Robbins, I will miss our brain-storming evenings though."
"I'll make sure to recover fast and come back to work as soon as possible."
"Deal, I might still stop by the apartment and bother you occasionally."
Arizona laughed, "Great, I'm sure I'll end up being lonely when Callie goes to work."
"You can stop by while I'm there as well you know, or are you afraid of me?" Callie teased making Alex laugh out loud.
"Only interns are afraid of you," he said with a chuckle and Callie thanked God Alex came to loosen them up a bit.
"Dr. Torres," Miranda showed up at the door. "I have a hip replacement for you, wanna do it?"
"Oh yes!" Callie's eyes sparkled.
"Great, OR 2, in thirty minutes!"
"Perfect!" she turned back to Arizona, "Okay, I'll go take care of that and when I'm done we'll be going home."
"Okay," Arizona said and smiled. Excitement that Callie felt not escaping her inspective eyes.
"She's nervous," Alex noted when Callie left.
"Nervous? I though she looked very excited about the surgery."
"Oh yes, that too, but she's nervous about you, that's why she asked Bailey to fix some bones."
"I heard she had a meltdown in the hallway," an intern who had come into the room voiced his take on the situation and both Arizona and Alex looked at him.
"Interns don't comment on the stupid hospital gossip with their attendings, you should know that! And what are you even doing here?" Alex said staring at the intern.
"Ummm, right sorry," the intern stuttered, "Dr. Shepherd sent me here to help Dr. Robbins pack if needed."
"Fine, but don't believe everything you hear in this hospital. Hospital talk always blows things out of proportion."
"She had a meltdown?" Arizona asked looking at Alex.
"No, it wasn't exactly a meltdown, she just asked Bailey to give her some bones to fix because you were freaking out about going home with her and she was having trouble dealing with it."
"I wasn't freaking out…" Arizona whispered, "I just… I didn't expect it… I wasn't prepared…"
"I'm sure it's fine Robbins, this whole situation is not easy for either of you, but you'll be fine, come on, you're getting out of hospital, that's reason to celebrate!"
"Right," Arizona smiled, "how do you even know what she said to Dr. Bailey?" she still asked.
"I was around the corner filling out charts, they didn't see me, but I heard their conversation," he explained casually as he reached into his pocket. "In any case, here's my number, you can call me any time. So if at some point you start freaking out, I'll bring you cases to occupy your mind."
"Great! Thanks Alex," Arizona said with a smile.
When Callie came back Arizona was all packed and ready to go.
"Oh, I wanted to help you pack…"
"They sent an intern to take care of it."
"Okay, well I still need to get Sofia but I thought maybe we could go together and pick her up?"
"Oh yes, I'd like that," Arizona said and smiled. Is it bad that I'm using Sofia as a buffer between us…?, Arizona thought.
"Okay, let me get a wheelchair."
They went upstairs to pick up Sofia and half an hour later Callie was putting the keys inside the lock and opening the door to their apartment.
Sofia was happily nestled in Arizona's lap, clinging to Arizona, obviously needing to feel her mama close and Arizona didn't mind.
When they entered the apartment Callie came in front of Sofia.
"Come here munchkin."
"Mama," Sofia protested.
"We will get mama onto the sofa and then you can sit next to her again, okay?"
Sofia giggled, "Sofa," she said and Callie smiled.
"Yes, baby girl, now go crawl a bit until I help mama out of this chair," she said as she put Sofia on the floor and she started crawling around happily.
Callie helped Arizona get up and they walked slowly to the sofa. When Arizona sat down she looked around the apartment a bit, while Callie called Sofia.
"Sofia, sweetie, come here, come to mommy."
Sofia giggled and happily crawled towards the sofa. When she reached the table, she used it to slowly get on her feet and then held on to it as she walked wobbly closer to Callie.
"Well done baby!" Callie smiled and lifted Sofia in her arms giving her a few kisses. Sofia giggled and wrapped her arms around Callie and then noticed Arizona on the sofa.
"Mama!" she called and stretched her arms towards Arizona.
Arizona smiled, "You want to come here baby girl?"
"Mama!" Sofia repeated and Callie placed her down, next to Arizona. Sofia quickly crawled up into Arizona's lap and settled there clapping her hands happily.
"Careful Arizona, she might hurt your leg…" Callie warned.
"It's fine, don't worry, I'll be careful."
"Okay, do you need anything? I'm gonna start preparing dinner."
"I'm fine, I'll just play with Sofia."
"Okay," Callie said and walked to the kitchen. Arizona played with Sofia and avoided making eye contact with Callie. Callie noticed Arizona was feeling a bit uncomfortable so she just decided to focus on the cooking and let Arizona get adjusted to the surrounding.
After a while Sofia went back on the floor and started playing with her toys as Arizona observed Callie humming happily in the kitchen. She watched in awe as the Latina clearly knew what she was doing.
"Do you always hum when you cook?" Arizona asked.
"Oh, was I humming? I didn't even notice… apparently that's what I do yes," Callie explained and laughed softly.
"You seem like you know your way around the kitchen, I haven't miraculously turned into a chef, have I?"
Callie laughed out loud, "No you haven't, but I have taught you a few tricks, so now you actually make us dinner sometimes."
"I do?" Arizona asked with surprise.
"Yes, ever since I told you how sexy you look when you are studying the recipe and blowing some air onto the food that's being cooked before tasting it, you've been doing it more often," Callie said with a happy smile.
Arizona smiled but felt nervousness appear in her abdomen and Callie realized her words made things worse with Arizona feeling awkward.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that…"
"It's fine, I just feel a bit… well… it's overwhelming…"
"I know…, it's overwhelming for me too…" Callie admitted. "Let's just take it one step at a time, okay? Dinner will almost be ready, I'll get Sofia to bed while you take a shower and the first evening will almost be over."
Arizona smiled, "I like how you make it less tense with your casual tone, thank you."
Callie smiled and then felt Sofia's hands on her legs.
"Mommy, hungwy," Sofia said as she stood up.
Callie smiled and took Sofia in her arms, "Aww, baby you are hungry, okay let's set the table and have dinner."
Fifteen minutes later they were sitting at the table smiling at Sofia who was happily munching her food.
"Is she always this happy at the dinner table?" Arizona asked with amusement.
"No, I think she's just excited we are both here, it's been a while…"
"Right, it's really nice to see her happy and giggly…"
"Yeah," Callie said as she caressed Sofia's hair.
"The food is really amazing Callie," Arizona commented.
"That's just because you've been on IV and hospital food for the past three weeks," Callie teased and Arizona laughed.
"I'm sure this is not the first time I have commended your cooking."
Callie smiled, "I like to cook," she shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sure that all food is better when it's done with love."
Arizona smiled at the comment and felt herself start to relax a bit. She looked at Sofia and felt warmth around her heart when Sofia yawned and all she wanted was take her into her arms and lie on the bed with her until she fell asleep.
"I'll go and get her ready for bed," Callie said while softly wiping Sofia's mouth. "Let me show you the bedroom and the bathroom and you can maybe try to walk around alone, let's see if my dad's grab bars will help."
"Okay," Arizona agreed and Callie took Sofia in her arms before offering one arm as support to Arizona.
They walked slowly to the bedroom and Arizona let go of Callie and tested walking around the room holding onto furniture and additional grab bars Carlos had put up.
"This is amazing Callie! It means so much that I can move around on my own, needing help is so hard."
"Yeah, I know, I was…" Callie started and then stopped herself. She cleared her throat before she spoke again. "Go take a look at the bathroom, let's see if you can get into the shower, I placed a chair inside so you can sit down and shower on your own, and we put anti-slip mats everywhere."
"Wow, this is…, my God, I have to thank your dad, Callie this is perfect! I can do everything on my own!"
Callie smiled, "Great! My dad will be happy his idea worked!"
"This is perfect, I was so afraid of how I would take a shower but this is amazing!"
"Okay, then, you got this, right? I can go get Sofia ready for bed and put her to sleep."
"Yes, I'll be fine, I'll take a long shower," Arizona said with a smile and leaned forward to place a kiss on Sofia's cheek. "Good night baby girl," she said and caressed Sofia's cheek.
"Say good night mama, see you tomorrow," Callie said as she took Sofia's hand and waved it at Arizona.
"Niwt mama," Sofia mumbled.
"If you need anything just call," Callie said.
"Okay, thanks," Arizona smiled and watched them leave the room.
Sofia fell asleep quite fast so Callie took care of the dishes while she listened to the water running in the main bathroom. It soothed her mind to hear that sound, this felt like home, hearing Arizona in the shower, she was finally feeling like her life was coming back, it was far from being the same but at least she had something to look forward to. Arizona would be here, close, she would see her every day, in the morning and in the evening, she would hear her in the shower…, thinking about this made Callie smile.
Arizona stepped out of the bathroom and heard Callie moving around the kitchen. It had a weird soothing effect on her knowing that Callie was around. She remembered how much she was freaking out when Amelia told them she could go home but now she felt so surprised that she felt calm. She liked the apartment and once her nerves settled down she actually started feeling much more relaxed. She walked slowly to the door and leaned against the frame looking at Callie.
"Hey, you managed it all by yourself? How was the shower?" Callie asked smiling broadly.
"Yes, the bars and the chair are really helpful, thank you, it really feels good to be able to shower on my own."
"Great I'm glad!" Callie said with a smile.
"I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed, maybe read something for a bit," Arizona informed.
"Okay, sure," Callie said and followed into the room as Arizona walked over to the bed and got under the covers.
"If you need anything let me know, I'll be in the living room."
"Are you sure you'll be fine on that sofa, it doesn't really look that comfortable for sleeping?" Arizona asked.
"Don't worry, I've spent many nights on that sofa during my resident years, it's very comfortable."
"Okay."
"I'll leave the door open, is that okay? Just so I can hear you if you need anything."
"Yeah, it's fine," Arizona smiled, "I feel like a child that you are tucking into bed," she commented with a chuckle.
Callie laughed out loud and Arizona stopped breathing for a second. There it is again, that fluttering sensation that takes my breath away, she thought as their eyes met briefly and Arizona had to swallow hard. My God this woman is so intense, and she's so different now, much more relaxed and I feel like her eyes are penetrating deep inside my soul…
"Well, then I should tuck you in properly," Callie said and started walking closer slowly. Arizona observed her the whole time while her heart was beating so fast in her chest that she thought Callie was definitely going to hear it.
Callie sat down on the bed and leaned forward.
Arizona saw Callie's lips getting closer to her and she closed her eyes waiting for the fluttering sensation to start again. She separated her lips slightly and stopped breathing. She felt a palm on her right cheek and soft lips touching her left cheek. She exhaled softly as she heard Callie say, "Good night" in a whisper that vibrated from her left ear straight to her abdomen causing the now familiar butterflies to start the movement of their wings.
"G..." Arizona started but her vocal chords could not form any sound so she cleared her throat and tried again, "Good night," she whispered as she watched Callie get up and walk out of the room.
Arizona closed her eyes and listened to her own heart thumping inside her chest. I wonder what it would be like to really get lost in those lips… she thought trying to get her body to start breathing normally again.
Callie stepped outside and went into the kitchen to hide from Arizona's view. She leaned back on the kitchen counter and closed her eyes. She touched her lips and let out a heavy sigh, If I could only feel her lips on mine again, she thought before she pushed her body off of the counter and walked over to the couch.
A/N: I know you all want them to kiss but after the awkwardness of the day and both freaking out a bit, there's no way they would kiss now, but I promise the next chapters will only get better ;-).