The week had been pretty hectic. Between getting Sofia to school, working full time and popping in and out of Meredith's room I was surprised I had even had a chance to sleep. Arizona and I hadn't spent much time together since the night of Meredith's accident. Anytime we had spare we were either caring for her kids or hanging out in her room in attempt to keep her from going crazy. We had all been where she was and speaking for myself, the thing that got me through was my friends and family.
"Zola, Bailey. Say goodbye to your mom. Aunt Amelia will be wondering where you kids got too." The young kids ran and hugged Meredith tightly causing the Grey prodigy to wince slightly. "Goodbye babies" she muttered before kissing them both. "Ellis" she said as she put her arms up to take the youngest from my arms. "Come to mama" she said to the infant as she held her close and kissed her small head over and over again.
"I'll bring them back in the morning" I promised as I took Ellis from her and I held her close to my chest. Meredith looked in pain and not just from recovering but because she couldn't be with her kids.
"Thanks Callie" Meredith said as she waved to the kids and blew them kisses one by one.
I dropped the kids off back at home and helped Amelia settle them into bed. Zola and Bailey went straight to sleep but Ellis took a bit of convincing. I then headed around to Arizona's place to say goodnight to my own little girl.
I let myself in to find Arizona sitting on the couch with a glass of red wine in her hand. "Is Sofia awake?" I asked as I closed the door behind me and placed my handbag on the table by the door.
"No. She had an early night. They did athletics at school today so she was pooped" Arizona informed me as she stood to her feet and headed for the kitchen to prepare another glass of wine. "How is Meredith?"
I slipped off my coat and hung it from the coat rack before heading into the kitchen, kissing the side of Arizona's head and grabbing the glass of wine she prepared for me. "I don't really know. She isn't really talking about it." I explained as I sipped my red wine and sighed with satisfaction. Wine was exactly what I needed.
"Have the cops found the guy?"
I shook my head as I headed to the couch like the place belonged to me. "They haven't found him and Meredith isn't able to give much description but she did say he was tall, light skinned and she remembers him smelling of whisky so I guess they will check the local bars for camera footage."
Arizona followed me to the couch and sat at the opposite end of the two seater her wine resting on the arm rest with the support of her hand. "Did she say why she was there?"
"She didn't really say anything about that but she did keep saying something bad was bound to happen. I'm not entirely sure what that means but other than all the mystery she seems to be doing alright." I sipped my wine again before resting it on the small side table by the couch. "How was your day?" I asked.
"Was good. That kid Freddy I was telling you about is cancer free. Telling his mom was honestly amazing. I can't even explain how happy it made me. He is 6 and had cancer for 5 years. He is cancer free and the chances of him relapsing is so slim." Arizona's 'super magic smile' was spread all across her face. Her happiness radiated and I couldn't help but smile back.
"I'm glad" I said sincerely as I took in every inch of her happiness. "You deserve a win" I added as I reached over and grabbed her wine and placed it aside.
"Is this what I get for being a winner? I get my wine taken away from me?" she teased as I slowly leant over her and stopped her with a kiss. "Mmmmm, I like the winner's circle" she whispered against my lips before lying down on the couch allowing my body to full cover hers.
"Sofia is asleep" she reminded me as she placed her hand on my chest to stop me from kissing her. "We shouldn't."
"I'll be quiet" I promised as I kissed her neck lightly.
"I don't want you to be. I want our first time to be perfect. I want you to be so loud." Arizona pushed my face up so I was forced to look her in the eyes. "I want it to be perfect. I don't want to be worried about our daughter walking in" she chuckled lightly as she kissed my cheek and pushed me slightly. I grumbled and sat up on the couch.
"Are you working tomorrow night?"
Arizona nodded.
"What about Friday?"
Arizona nodded again. "The only day I have off is Sunday and I know you are working."
I grumbled as I reached for my wine. "We are never going to have sex" I said before taking a large gulp of my wine.
"What about next Wednesday? We both have the night off for Sofia's school play. Karev could take her for the night and you and I could be alone" Arizona suggested.
"You say that now but come Wednesday, after you've seen our girl up on the stage you'll hate that idea."
Arizona snuggled into my side and just rested her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her and kissed her head. "It'll happen" I reassured her. I think the thing that concerned Arizona most was not that we weren't having sex but instead the idea that having sex confirmed our relationship.
I finished my glass of wine and snuggled with Arizona for another hour before departing. If I didn't leave then, I was never going to leave.
The next morning, I was woken at 4am by my phone buzzing nonstop. It took me a quick minute to come to terms with my surroundings and what was happening. I finally picked up my phone and in a husky morning tone I responded with hello.
"Dr. Torres, it's Dr De Luca. Meredith has crashed twice in the last half an hour. We brought her back and she looks stable now but I thought you'd want to know. I couldn't get a hold of Karev or Hunt." The young handsome doctor explained.
"Okay yeah. I'll be in, in a bit." I responded before turning off the phone and lying there for a minute with my eyes clothes. I quickly swung out of bed after realising if I lay for any longer I was going to fall back asleep.
I arrived at the hospital 25 minutes after the phone call. I headed straight for Meredith's room and she seemed to be quite perky for someone who had technically died twice. "De Luca, can I have a word with you outside?" I asked sternly.
"Callie. You can do it here. I'm a doctor. I deserve to know what's going on with my own health."
I thought for a moment before finally speaking out. It seemed I didn't have much of a choice. "I got a phone call about half an hour ago saying you crashed twice" I explained as I headed to Meredith's side and checked her monitors, her stats and anything else that might explain her miraculous recovery.
"So. I'm alive now. The kid did well to keep me alive." Meredith said with a swift smile to the young champ that was on again off again with her sister.
"It's not that I'm concerned about. You crashed twice but for some reason you have more colour in your cheeks than you've had all week, your vitals are way up which was the only real reason we haven't discharged you. Your scar even looks better. You crashed twice tonight so your body should be absolutely exhausted but you look…. You look incredible Mere."
Meredith looked at De Luca a silent code that got him to leave the room. I didn't really pick up on what was going on until De Luca excused himself respectfully. "What's going on?" I asked curiously.
"You're going to think I'm crazy because patients tell me this crap all the time and I never believe it but it's just the realest thing. I didn't know I crashed, I just thought I was sleeping. I saw Derek. He was so real. I touched him and he smiled. He talked to me. It was like one minute I was drifting off to sleep and the next I felt more energy than I have for months."
I sat down on the seat beside her and I took her hand. Many doctors wouldn't have believed, but I did. I had been through a similar feeling after my accident and I hadn't told anybody because it was next to impossible to explain.
"You think I'm crazy" Meredith muttered.
"No. No I don't. I believe you. I remember after my accident I saw all sorts. I dreamed so much. I don't even know how to explain it to myself let alone explain it to you."
"He told me he loved me and he missed the kids. He said Ellis was a beautiful name for their daughter. He told me everything I wanted to hear. He told me it was alright to move on and that just because he is gone, doesn't mean my life has to stop."
Tears were flowing down her face now, she swiped at them but she couldn't stop crying. I just held her hand and listened. Medically her recovery made zero sense but most doctors believed the brain was a powerful healing tool.
Meredith and I sat in one another's company making small talk to stop her from crying. I told her all about the latest hospital gossip and some of it even made her laugh. The morning residents came around for rounds which was my cue to leave. I had a busy surgical evening ahead of. At this rate, I couldn't even foresee getting a lunch break.