In The Mind's Eye II, The Sequel

Disclaimer: This is an AU story that combines The Godfather and Greys Anatomy together. I borrowed these characters, I own nothing.

Chapter Six

When It Hurts So Bad

"Don't be scared. I have no idea how many times I've said it. The intern stands over a patient with a scalpel or a needle or a clamp, afraid to make the first move. They're scared. They know what to do, but they just need that little push. Don't stop. Don't hesitate. You can't be scared of what's next. Do not let fear get in your way. That's why we don't operate alone. There are attendings and nurses and interns. Those O.R.s are full of people. So in the cases where somebody actually does get hurt, nobody has to go through it alone."

It had been well over a week and Callie had not awakened. She was in a medically induced coma. The brunette was still on the ventilator, still requiring assistance to breath. The large bed that had been flown into Renown Hospital in Reno was big. Immensely large for the brunette's size. It was a special bed designed to rotate patients from side to side. That particular function was important in the disease that Callie now had. The unfortunate diagnosis the brunette received a day after her car accident was ARDS.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occurs when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. More fluid in your lungs means less oxygen can reach your bloodstream. This deprives your organs of the oxygen they need to function. ARDS typically occurs in people who are already critically ill or who have significant injuries. It can develop within a few hours to a few days after a trauma occurs.

Many people who develop ARDS don't survive. And, of the people who do survive ARDS, some recover completely where as others experience lasting damage to their lungs.

Arizona sat as she watched her wife sleeping. They were still in ICU, and by the looks of it, they would be here for several more days. The blonde's days were running together. Phone calls flooded in as family and friends were calling to check in on Callie.

Gavin and Monty had not yet been able to see their mama, and that made for some very upset little boys. Arizona stayed with Callie during the day, and at night, either Carmela or Tom sat with Callie while Arizona went home to be with her children. And, let's not forget the unborn Gabby in all of this. She too was feeling the effects of a nervous mother as she tumbled inside of Arizona's belly.

Feeling Gabby "elbowing" her way around inside of her expanding stomach, Arizona shifted to get more comfortable. The last week or so, it seemed that Arizona was showing more. A lot more actually. And over the last week, Gabby had been quite active. Deciding to stand to relieve some of the uncomfortableness that she was experiencing, Arizona walked around the ICU room. It was a large room equipped with a television and recliner for family members.

From day one, the Torres Family had been accommodated by the hospital staff here at Renown. They allowed Callie to have visitors around the clock. That was a policy that most ICU's didn't allow. Maybe it was because the staff knew the Torres Family. Maybe it was because they felt sorry for Arizona in her condition, with the pregnancy and all. Or, maybe it was because Callie had a disease that most of the time...was fatal, and the staff tried to extend a little comfort to the family.

Knowing a spouse is going to die is a difficult thing to watch. On one hand, you become numb, detached, and things don't quite make sense. This person that you have slept with every night, that you have confided in, that is your sounding board, isn't there. They are not coming back. It is nothing that can be fixed. It's like losing both hands if you are a mechanic, losing both legs and being a football player: it can make you or break you. It comes down to your character, who you are to dwell in your loss or start on a new path and take on the challenge. Mechanics are underrated-the best use the mind more than just changing parts. Football players can be great coaches. Adaptability is the key to passing through a loss of something you would commonly think of as indispensable.

Moving beside Callie, Arizona took her wife's hand and placed it on her belly. "You wanted this baby so much. It was your dream, our dream to have a little girl. You can't miss this Callie. You can't miss out on your dream." Tears traced the outline of the blonde's blue eyes as she poured her heart out to her wife.

The doctors had attemted to wean Callie from the ventilator over the last couple of days. The longer the brunette stayed on it, the worse the outcome would likely be. Today, as Arizona held onto Callie's hand and placed it onto her growing bump, the nursing staff once again came in to begin the process of weaning her wife from the ventilator.

"Don't mind us. We are just going to turn the pressure down." The tall red head told Arizona.

"Thanks. I hope it works today." Arizona replied as she held Callie's hand. It had to work today. There were not going to be many more...todays, if it didn't. Hearing her cell phone vibrating on the table beside her chair, Arizona reached over and grabbed it. It could be the boys. They both called every day while their mommy was at the hospital. Looking at the number, Arizona realized it was Tom calling.

"Hello?" The blonde answered quietly.

"How is she today?" Tom asked. He was still in town and was staying at Callie and Arizona's home. He helped look after the boys with Carmela, and tending to some of Callie's business affairs. The only thing was, Callie's signature was no long available on several necessary pieces of important documents. Documents that were about acquiring a couple of new casinos, document that needed signing to purchase and sell some land, and one very important document that he needed signed the most...A purchase agreement with a business partner in Cuba.

"She's the same Tom. They just turned her pressures down on the vent, so maybe she will start to breath on her own soon." Arizona's tone sounded somewhat deflated. She was tired. Her body ached, and her emotions were really starting to get on edge. And, she was now in charge of...everything. That in itself made the blonde a little uneasy. After all, Arizona wasn't quite accustomed to running multi-million dollar companies. And, the Torres Group, as well as Torres Enterprises was just that.

"She will get better. I believe that. I'm going to need your signature on several documents. I thought I would come by in an hour and get you to sign them." Tom hid nothing from Arizona. Explaining the process and aspects of the business to her over the past several nights, Tom did his best to prepare and show Arizona exactly what was going on.

Oh, how the roles had changed. The financial decisions had fallen into Arizona's lap. The blonde had determined in her mind that she could run Callie's affairs. But, when and if Callie woke up, oh there was some serious conversations that would be taking place, once the brunette got better of course. Because Callie wasn't out of the mafia. On the contrary, she was in deeper than ever...and if Arizona wasn't careful, she would be dragged down in the process.

"Sure. I'll be here," Arizona said. She would, as usual go over documents and sign what needed signing. Everything was now in her hands...she held the pen. She signed the checks. She made the decisions. The easy ones, and the not so easy ones. Arizona was essentially...Callie. What a strange turn of events indeed.

Walking into the ICU room, Dr. Hart smiled at Arizona's gesture of placing Callie's hand on her stomach. "She can hear you," the older doctor said. It is widely believed that a patient in a coma could still hear what was being said around them.

"I hope she can," Arizona replied. The blonde surely hoped Callie had heard everything she had said to her over the last week.

Dr Hart smiled as he looked at Callie's chart and her pressures on the ventilation machine. "Well, it looks like we may have a small miracle happening."

Smiling at the blonde doctor, he continued, "She's breathing on her own."

At that moment, there was nothing, absolutely nothing you could have given Arizona that would have made her feel anymore proud. "Thank God," Arizona breathed out. It was a significant turn of events. This was the first time that Callie had been able to have the pressures dropped and her body to compensate and breath a little in its on.

"We will get there. Slowly but surely we will get there. I will come back in an a few minutes and if she continues to hold her own, we'll turn it down more."

Walking outside, the doctor made some notes in Callie's chart. Arizona now had a few uninterrupted minutes with her wife again. And she took that opportunity to encourage her unconscious wife to fight. "You can do this. If you will do this today, they can lessen the sedation Callie. Then you can wake up. I need you to wake up. I want to see those brown eyes." Once again, the tears fell from Arizona's face.

"Monty and Gavin miss you. I miss you. Please come back to me." Arizona stood and caressed her wife's hand. It was true, she did miss Callie.

"I am sorry. I am so..." sobs began as the blonde lay her head on Callie's chest, "Sorry...I'm so sorry Callie. I feel like I'm responsible for this. I do. I need you to wake up. There so much we need to say. Please come back to me."

Dr. Hart heard the tearful pleas of the brunette's grieving wife as he enters the room. "I'm sorry to barge in, I need to check the pressures again." As he looked, he was amazed. Callie's heart rate was good and the brunette was continuing to hold her on.

"It's still good. She's fighting. Aren't you Callie?" Looking to Arizona the doctor explained what he was going to do. "We are going to lower the vent again, and continue little by little until we get her weaned. I've got a good feeling about this Arizona."

Tears of joy were on display. The doctor felt good about the progress Callie was making. And that gave Arizona a little more hope.

Tom entered as the doctor stepped out, and Arizona explained what was happening. "So she might wake up today?" Tom asked.

"I hope so." Seeing the folder of documents in Toms arms, Arizona asked, "Is that what you wanted me to sign?"

"Yes. But we can do it later." Seeing Arizona drying her eyes, Tom didn't want to push the blonde at this moment. He could tell that she was emotional and needed some time to get herself together.

Shaking her head, Arizona responded, "No, let's go ahead and get it taken care of. Can you pull that bedside table over here?" Arizona sat in her chair beside Callie's bed while Tom lay every piece of paper out for her perusal. She needed to survey what was in front of her. Arizona never signed anything without first knowing the ins and outs.

As she looked over the documents, the blonde signed several, as they were self explanatory. Coming across a contract that required her signature, the blonde asked what this was about. "Explain this please. I'm a little rusty on these things," Arizona joked as she toyed with the ink pen in her hand.

"Well, this is a contract that Callie was going to sign. The Torres Group will be acquiring two hotels and casinos in Cuba and refurbishing them. Since the ban on Cuba has eased, we are the first to enter and put some roots down in that country." Tom answered.

Nodding, Arizona asked, "So there is nothing shady going on here?" Arizona wanted to know because, just last night, she had given the "okay" to fulfill an agreement that Callie had made with a Cartel in Mexico. The agreement was that Torres Enterprises agreed to house their "shipment" in a couple of different locations, until it could be dispensed for sale in a few weeks.

Flashback

"NO! I will not agree to that Tom." Arizona's stance on this was firm.

Sighing, the lawyer tried to help Arizona understand that, she had no choice. The agreement was already in place. She was just finalizing the okay. "You don't really have a choice here. It's too far into the process to back out now."

"I could go to prison for this Tom!" Arizona screamed as her face became rather flushed. The blonde had worked her whole life as a doctor. An honorable profession. Years of medical school, college loans, and residency, all to be thrown away by fulfilling Callie's business venture.

"Tell them that I am in charge now and I refuse." Arizona argued. She wanted to part of this drug smuggling operation whatsoever.

"It doesn't work that way. If you refuse, they would consider that reneging on a contract and, there would be grave consequences. Besides, this isn't the first time that Callie has allowed this to happen, and technically, you are already tied into it anyway." Tom spoke the truth once again. Because, like it or not, Arizona was tied to all of Callie's dealings. The good ones, as well as the bad ones.

Arizona held the power of attorney. Everything went through her. She was the one responsible for whatever happens now...good, or bad. That's a scary feeling to say the least.

Arizona was not happy about this, but what could she do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, but to say, "Okay."

The blonde gave the okay to go with this operation for the next few weeks. As she sat and looked over several documents, the Arizona wandered...'How does Callie do this?' It was not a normal occurrence for Arizona. She never had ran a mafia family until now. The decisions, both easy and hard, now sat on the blonde's shoulders, and she began to get a little view into Callie's world. It was a small window that was opened for Arizona to view, but the picture from the other side was vastly mysterious.

"Has Callie tried to get out of this? I mean really tried?"

"Yes. But it's just not that easy, it takes time." Tom replied.

"How long has Torres Enterprises been doing this with the Cartel?"

"Seven years." Tom answered. Wow. Seven years? That's a little deep into it. Arizona thought that maybe Callie had gotten sucked into things somehow. Maybe even fallen into the trap. But seven years?

"How can you not get out in seven years?"

Tom immediately cleared up any misconceptions the blonde had about just up and quitting this sort of thing. "Arizona, when you have been in as deep as Callie has, you can't just walk away. This is minor compared to what the Family has been involved in. And, although technically it is illegal because we are housing it for distribution, I promise you, a lot worse has been done. But, you can't just up and quit. You have to try and back out slowly, invest your interests elsewhere...like Cuba. Then, slowly distance yourself as best you can without setting off any alarms. But you never just, up and quit. That's how you get killed."

Yes, Arizona was being schooled in the same method and direction as her wife was by Carlos. Tom's explanation made sense to Arizona. Callie could not just stop participating once she was in this deep. Some level of connection must still be maintained in order to save face with other Families and Cartels. Arizona sat at her dining room table as Tom answered a call and thought, 'Callie really was in a bad situation. A situation that she couldn't just walk away from easily.'

End of Flashback

"No. Nothing shady is in these documents." Tom answered. It was the truth. This deal in Cuba was so far was an honest and important investment for The Torres Group. It was not anything drug related. It was completely legitimate in nature.

As she finished signing, the doctor and a nurse came in once again and turned down the pressure more. This process had been ongoing for over an hour, and Callie was responding well. Slowly but surely, Callie was on her way to breathing unassisted. Things were looking up Arizona hoped. They had too. Because, they really couldn't get much worse at the moment.

"We are going to disconnect the ventilator in a few minutes. I've turned it down to almost zero and she is breathing on her own. In a few minutes, we will turn it off, and extubate Callie." Dr. Hart told the blonde. That was a miracle indeed. One that Carmela had been praying for and one that Arizona knew they all needed.

"That sounds great." Responding to the older doctor that had helped Callie though this difficult time, Arizona handed Tom the folder back.? This was it. The moment everyone had waited so long for.

"You want to call Carmela and tell her?" Arizona asked Tom. She knew the older woman would want to know and get here as soon as she could.

"Yes." Stepping into the hallway, Tom told Callie's mother the good news. Well, the almost good new. It hadn't actually happened yet, the brunette was not awake, but everything was headed in that direction very shortly.

As the nurse lowered the sedation, Callie began to arouse and tried to grab at the tube that was still in her throat. She wanted it out. Certainly it was painful, and still under some sedation, the brunette was not aware that she needed to be calm and not fight. Giving the order to restrain Callie, Dr. Hart had the nurses tie her hands down. A team of trained doctors were on standby by, just in case they had to intubate Callie again. Most often, that doesn't happen. But it is better to be safe, that sorry.

The fighting and pulling of the restrains continued as Callie was growing more and more restless. The breathing tube was uncomfortable. What do you do when it hurts so bad?

Stepping beside her wife, Arizona whispered in Callie's ear. "Hey, its me. I need you to calm down. I know it hurts honey. But they are about to take the tube out in just a minute. And then it won't hurt anymore. You just need to calm down. Can you do that for me?"

The brunette heard her wife's soft, sweet voice. That voice had always calmed Callie's tumultuous spirit. Callie nodded just slightly as she turned her head toward Arizona and opened her eyes. She understood. She heard. It was blurry, but there was a mass of blonde hair standing next to her side. Callie knew the owner of that voice and that hair. She knew her well.

"There's those beautiful brown eyes. I've waited to see those eyes for a while," Arizona smiled as she brushed Callie's hair from her face. "I'm right here Callie. And, I promise, I'm not letting go." Callie gently nodded again as she felt Arizona's hand slid into hers. Arizona's grip was a tight one. No matter what, she would not let go again.