Arizona sat in the bathroom, exhausted, another sleepless night. The stabbing pain, where her leg should be ruining any thought of getting to sleep. A light sheen of sweat rested on her forehead as she lay on the cool bathroom floor trying desperately to get her breathing under control, so she didn't wake her sleeping wife or child. Not that her wife was anywhere near her since the accident Callie had been staying at Mark's apartment opposite too repulsed to spend time with her crippled wife. Not that Arizona was surprised, she felt nauseous every time she looked down at the stump where her leg had been.
It had taken everything she had to get this far into the bathroom, her chair to noisy, instead she had been forced to use her crutches. Something that was quite dangerous with her rubbish balance. Soon she'd have a fake leg, it was frustrating waiting for the swelling in her remaining limb to reduced before she could be fitted for her first prosthetic even getting to the bathroom was difficult.
Tears ran down her face as she remembered yesterday not making it to the toilet having Callie finding her on the floor in a pool of urine, being thrown into the shower. Everything was wrong, Callie had promised she'd keep her leg, Callie had promised. She'd woken up to find her leg gone. Then during her recovery when she had needed her wife she'd found her with Derrick, with Mark, Sofia, or working leaving very little time with her. Callie was right, this was her life now, but it didn't have to be hers or Sofia, they should be happy, be free not burden by caring for her. Arizona sighed she felt like such a burden.
Since being discharged the time spent together had dropped, Callie left early to go to work and came home late. Often a nurse or intern came to help her to any appointments. Callie kept arranging home nurses that Arizona fired, she didn't want nurses, she wanted her wife. Even though she hated her. It was so confusing on the one hand Callie and Sofia were everything, the loves of her life, they gave her air, on the other hand, Callie had cut off her leg. Who did that to their wife? Who promised them they'd save their leg and then cut if off, took the scalpel and sliced through the flesh of their wife?
She closed her eyes just for a second feeling resting her head against the toilet, the pain eased as the coolness of the floor eased the flames of pain. Suddenly Callie was there shaking her awake.
"Arizona are you okay? Did you fall? Can you get up the apartment it's on fire we have to move?" Callie said, Arizona blinked her exhausted brain trying to process what her wife said.
"Fire" she repeated as Callie pulled her off the floor, noticing for the first time the thick smoke that was billowing into the room. Callie lifted her carrying her onto the wheelchair in the bedroom.
"Sofia" Arizona cried sitting in the chair
"She is next" Callie promised wheeling her wife into the lounge leaving her parked by the door going to get their daughter easily lifting the toddler out her crib.
"Okay let's go" Callie ordered handing Sofia to Arizona before grabbing the wheelchair handles again. They reached the stairs and both Callie and Arizona realised the problem. The elevator was a no go, not with the fire, Callie could carry Arizona or Sofia but not both, not down 5 flights of stairs.
"Take Sofia and go, I'll bum shuffle" Arizona ordered. Callie hesitated,
"I can get your crutches" Callie offered,
"I can't balance on the stairs with them yet. Callie she is a prem her lungs can't handle the smoke; I'll be right behind I promise" Arizona ordered tears streaming down her face this might be it the last time she saw her family.
"Arizona, I love you" Callie said kissing her lips for the first time since the crash, it wasn't meant to be a goodbye, but it felt that way.
"I love you to Callie, I forgive you for breaking your promise," Arizona cried, holding her wife's hand taking in every feature of Callie, every feature of Sofia. "I forgive you, just save our daughter. I love you both" she ordered. Pushing Callie's hand away coughing,
"Tell me you forgive me when we are all outside, together" Callie replied, not wanting to leave, Sofia coughed drawing their attention away from each other,
"Go" Arizona ordered again edging down the first step to prove to Callie she could, Callie nodded patting her wife's shoulder,
"I'll come back" Callie promised taking their daughter down the stairs disappearing into the smoke. Arizona edged down the stairs one at a time, living on the 5th and top floor she knew nobody would come and help her, she was on her own. The smoke was getting thicker as she approached the 4th floor, breathing was becoming harder as every breath was filled with smoke. Only 3 months ago she had been in a plane crash and coughed up blood from a PE. Now her already damaged lungs were struggling to oxygenate, and she was beginning to feel lightheaded from the hypoxia. Stubbornly she continued Sofia firmly planted in her mind. She had lost a father, Callie had lost a her best friend, they didn't deserve to lose anyone else. Reaching the landing she stopped bum shuffling and started crawling to the next set of stairs. The landing was covered in burning debris, Arizona ignored the pain as she crawled through even when she could feel the fire burning her skin. Her skin was melting, even as she tried to get through it, there was no other choice not if she wanted to see her wife and daughter again. Passing through the flames she continued to shuffle, continued on her mission to escape.
Finally, she reached her next set of stairs resorting to bum shuffling again.
Every time she dropped a step, she stumps caught the step below sending agonising pain shooting up her leg. This is not how she was going to die. She didn't survive a plane crash to die in a fire. She was going to get to the ground level, see her wife and daughter again and never let them go. Just 4 flights of stairs left.
With each step she spoke a name, reminding herself who she was fighting for, Sofia, Callie, Sofia, Callie, Sofia, Callie. Finally, she reached floor 3, the fire was here too. In the race to escape the flames and smoke Arizona was losing. She paused on the landing, was it worth fighting, she'd fought for so long, since the plane crash and a small part of her wondered if Callie would be better off without her, without the burden of a disabled wife. Whether Sofia would be better off without a crippled mother.
With the smoke getting thicker Arizona began crawling along the floor, if Callie wanted to be without her, she'd have to tell her. Suddenly in the smoke hands grabbed her,
"Arizona" it was Callie,
"Sofia?" Arizona questioned coughing,
"Outside, safe" Callie replied turning around, "Jump on" Arizona didn't argue putting her hands around Callie's neck, Callie lifted her up putting her arm around Arizona's good leg easily lifting her wife up.
"You didn't have to come back" Arizona said,
"I did" Callie replied not arguing, "I lost Mark, I am not losing you, you are everything to me"
"Callie, Sofia needs a mom, she needs at least one parent" Arizona protested, not wanting to be left behind, but not wanting her daughter to become an orphan. Callie sighed,
"Then hold on tight, I know you don't trust me, I know I screwed that up, but I saved your life, and I will keep saving your life because I love you and I can't be happy without you. I need you and Sofia needs you, so you don't get to die, you don't get to leave us" Callie ranted stepping carefully down the steps. She could feel her wife sobbing, so despite the smoke continued, this might be her only chance to talk and be listened too.
"I love you so much, it hurts. When Alex said you were septic, I tried everything, you were on quad pressers and your obs were getting worse, I know you said you'd rather die, but I can't let you go. I can't let the woman I love die, not if there is something I can do" Callie was crying by this point the smoke burning her eyes, breathing was becoming harder, as they reached the second-floor landing.
"I love you too Callie, I'm glad you came back, I still forgive you" Arizona coughed, before going limp falling off Callie's back. Callie had firm grip of her wife's leg and tried to right her as she fell failing. Arizona landed headfirst on the landing; Callie immediately was there checking her airway.
"Come on Arizona" she muttered coughing herself, the smoke was thick, black and hot. There was no sign of fire she could see but visibility was only 1 metre. More importantly Arizona wasn't breathing, Callie took a breath before forcing air from her own lungs to her wife's praying it worked, praying it oxygenated her enough to wake her up. "Come on please God" Callie prayed taking another breathing forcing it into her wife. Before starting CPR. "Come on Arizona" she begged. "Don't leave me, I need you"
Am I evil? I always thought Arizona in a wheelchair in a 5th floor flat what if there was a fire? My friend said don't worry Callie will save her, but what about Sofia I replied, she can't carry them both, and so the fic was born.
Please review I love reading them.