After the conversation with Meredith, Arizona spent the rest of the day charting and following up on her surgical patients. Exhausted, she is finally heading out to her car and, for a change, she is thankful that her parking spot is close to the door. Slipping into the driver's seat, she quickly puts the car into gear and backs out of her spot. But as she is navigating through the parking lot, she notices Meredith sitting in her vehicle alone with her head down. Concerned, the blonde pulls up beside her. Immediately realizing that she is crying, Arizona quickly unbuckles her seatbelt and goes over to the passenger side of Meredith's car.
"Meredith? What happened?" Arizona asks climbing up and into the SUV.
Meredith looks over at her. "Nothing, I just... sometimes when I am leaving, I forget. I'm walking out to my car, thinking of everything that I need to do after work and then it just hits me. Derek is gone and everything has changed. I just.. it's fine, I just need a moment, you don't need to stay."
Arizona bites her lip hesitating, but then she takes a breath and rapidly says, "I know what you mean. It's not the same exactly, but I know what it feels like to forget that your life has changed. That everything has changed. I mean, I still head to the daycare to get Sofia before I remember that she's not here," she admits quietly.
Meredith reaches over for the blonde's hand and squeezes it. Arizona pulls her in and wraps her arms around her. And they both take a moment enjoying the comfort of the other.
"I should probably get home. Amelia took the kids home hours ago and she's probably feeding them cereal for dinner," Meredith quips as they release each other from the embrace.
"Oh god, they'll be up all night," Arizona replies with a slight chuckle, watching the other woman wipe the tears from her eyes. "Are you sure that you're okay?"
"Yeah, by the time I get home, I'll have it all pulled together," she says punctuating her words with a small smile.
Arizona frowns slightly. Before this was the type of thing that would compel the two friends to go have a drink after work. But now they are both a little wary of each other it seems. "Okay, but call me later if you need to talk," she says before deciding that leaving is the better option. But she is a bit distracted by her own thoughts, and Meredith's vehicle sits higher than her own, she misjudges the distance down, landing awkwardly, all her weight shifting to her prosthetic, which causes her lose her balance and fall.
"Arizona!" Meredith exclaims, quickly climbing out of the car and darting around to find Arizona sitting on the ground grimacing.
"Are you okay?" She asks worriedly, kneeling down to check the blonde over.
"I'm fine, I just misjudged the distance and some how managed to forget that I'm missing a leg," she mumbles embarrassed as she begins inspecting herself for injuries.
"What can I do to help?" Meredith asks leaning in closer.
"I need to," Arizona begins to reply and then she groans as she realizes that her prosthetic has slipped away from the socket.
Meredith, realizing what has happened, moves in closer, "Let me help," she insists.
Arizona groans, but realizes that she has no other option, so she agrees and directs the other woman to stand in front of her.
Meredith straddles her legs, reaching down so that Arizona can grab her arms and pull her up. Once up on her foot, the blonde leans back against the vehicle.
"Thank you," she says softly.
"Let me look at you, now you didn't hit your head did you?" She asks placing her hands on either side of Arizona's face and looking into her eyes.
"No, I didn't hit my head. Meredith, I'm fine. I assure you, the only thing hurt is my pride," Arizona quips.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything," Meredith says biting her lip anxiously. "Let me take you home, obviously you can't drive now," she points out as she bends over to pick up the prosthetic.
Meredith pulls up to Arizona's house and notices that the lights are off. "Where's DeLuca?" She asks.
"He's still at the hospital," Arizona replies undoing her seatbelt. "Look, I'll be fine, just hand me my crutches."
The other woman walks around the vehicle and opens the rear door, pulls out the crutches and then helps the blonde out of the car and into the house.
"I'll just get your things," Meredith says before darting back out the door. Reappearing a moment later, with the prosthetic and Arizona's bag.
"Thanks Meredith," she says sincerely as the other woman sets everything down.
"Okay, so what next. Should we get you upstairs? Do you need ice or pain meds? I don't know much about prosthetics, is it normal for this to happen or what?" She questions rapidly.
"It happens, but it's not normal," Arizona replies from where she is sitting. "But you don't have to stay. I'll be fine."
Meredith looks at her skeptically and raises an eyebrow, before pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket.
"Hey, is Maggie there yet?" She asks when Amelia answers.
"She just got here. Where are you?" Amelia asks.
"I got held up, are you two good with putting the kids to bed tonight?" Meredith asks.
She waits as she hears Maggie and Amelia discussing it and then Maggie is on the phone.
"Hey what's going on. I thought you left the hospital, your parking spot was empty," Maggie points out.
"I did. But I'm going to be home late, so can you guys just take care of the kids?" Meredith asks impatiently.
Arizona shakes her head as Meredith ends the call.
"You could have told them," Arizona remarks.
"They don't need to know," she retorts.
"Do you not want them to know that you're here?" Arizona questions anxiously.
"No Arizona, I know that you are a private person and it would just make them hover over you tomorrow. They are both hoverers. They'll suffocate you with all their hovering," Meredith reminds her.
"Oh right," Arizona laughs softly, remembering the time Callie called her asking her to go over to Meredith's house after her accident. Because the woman had made them all leave the night before and she was home alone with three kids and she wouldn't let any of them help. It was the beginning of their friendship.
"Arizona, I am a doctor. Just let me look at it," Meredith argues. It's taken her half an hour to get Arizona to agree to let her help her up the stairs and now she's refusing any additional help.
The blonde groans. She hates feeling helpless, somehow it's easier to let DeLuca or Alex help her and on the rare occasion her ex-wife. She looks up again to see Meredith staring at her, arms crossed, not taking no for an answer.
"Fine," the blonde huffs.
"What do I need to do?" Meredith asks.
"Third door of my dresser, would you grab a pair of shorts for me?"
Meredith opens the drawer and pulls out the first pair she finds and offers them to the blonde, who snatches them from her hand. "Okay, just give me a minute to change and maybe you could get the cold pack from the freezer," she suggests.
"Okay, but you're sure that you don't need help changing?" Meredith questions.
Arizona glares at her a moment before dismissing her with a shooing motion.
A few minutes later, Meredith knocks lightly on the door, "You decent?" She jokes.
"Yes, but I forgot that I need my bag..." Arizona says as the door begins to open.
"This bag?" Meredith asks holding it out to her.
"Yes, thank you," she replies, not really looking up, because although it's been a few years, she's still not comfortable with people seeing her like this.
Meredith sees the angry redness where the socket used to be and she immediately drops to her knees to examine it.
"It looks worse than it is," Arizona says trying to downplay it. But she takes the offered ice pack and gently applies it to the stump grimacing when the cold hits her skin.
Meredith darts into the ensuite bath and returns with a hand towel and wordlessly lifts the cold pack, wraps it in the towel and carefully replaces it.
"Also, you have no food in your house," Meredith spouts off, earning her another glare from the blonde, "I looked because I was thinking that I could make us something for dinner," she explains.
"Without Sofia around to cook for, I just usually grab take out," Arizona confesses.
"Okay, so what do you want? I'll go get something," Meredith suggests.
Arizona squints at her a moment but before she can respond, Meredith continues.
"Quit being stubborn. I'm here and I want to help, let me," she says sitting down on the bed beside her. "It's not like you didn't do this for me when I was recovering," Meredith points out.
Arizona smiles slightly. It's true and she's positive that she pretty much said those words at that time too.
The front door shutting hard startles her. It's not like her sisters to be so loud this late, Meredith thinks as she listens a moment trying to figure out who it is. Opening her eyes, it hits her, she isn't at home. Remembering where she is, she looks over to check on Arizona, who is still sleeping.
Wondering if she should leave or stay, Meredith sighs and rolls over to stare at the blonde a moment. They've done this before, a few times after the attack, slept together in the same bed. But then that's always been Meredith's thing, making her friends sleep with her so she isn't alone.
"Hmm, you're still here. Did we fall asleep?" The blonde mumbles as she rolls over to face her, eyes still closed.
Meredith startles slightly, then recovers and whispers, "We must have. I think that DeLuca just got home," she admits softly.
Arizona smiles sleepily and Meredith realizes that she's not really awake, which makes sense since it's only been a few hours since she took the pain meds.
Lying awake, Meredith wonders what time it is and if she should head home or just stay. Before she can decide, the tv comes on downstairs and there's no way she's going downstairs and having an awkward conversation with an intern. But if she's staying she needs to get out of her bra and slacks. Sitting up she carefully swings her legs off the bed, which must have disturbed the blonde because she mumbles again and reaches out for her.
"I'm not leaving," Meredith says softly, giving her hand a light squeeze before slipping off the bed. She walks over to the dresser and removes her slacks then pulls on a pair of shorts from the drawer. Opening another drawer, she finds a t-shirt and slips it on. Grabbing her phone she then heads into the bathroom to send Maggie a text, letting her know that she won't be home.
When she comes back to the bed several minutes later, Arizona has migrated to the middle. Meredith shakes her head and smiles, before slipping in on the other side and nudging the blonde over.
"Sorry," she mumbles, eager to get back under the covers and into the warm bed. The best part of not sleeping alone, is the warmth of the other person, she thinks as she snuggles back in. Arizona must feel the same, because as soon as Meredith is comfortable, the blonde readjusts her position and throws an arm over her. Meredith feels her heart rate soar at the contact and for a moment she's convinced that her heart pounding out of her chest will wake the blonde up. But her breathing stays even and Meredith focuses on it until her heart rate calms down. This is definitely not anything like sleeping with Cristina or Alex, she thinks as she drifts back off.
The room is bright, when Arizona wakes up. She groans, because typically it means that she's overslept. Opening her eyes a little winder, she wonders why she is sleeping on this side of the bed. Fully awake now, the night before comes back to her. She remembers falling and Meredith bringing her home, convincing her to take pain meds after they ate dinner. She reaches for her phone to check the time and finds that it's not as late as she thought, it's just a rare sunny morning in Seattle. Wondering where the other woman is, the blonde looks around the room for any signs of her. Seeing none, she sighs and scoots over to her side of the bed where she left her crutches.
After a shower, Arizona is pleased that her socket slips right on and the prosthetic wasn't damaged in her mishap the night before. Finally able to ambulate, she makes her way downstairs, noting that she's still a little sore, but not bad considering.
Her phone buzzes while she is making coffee, she glances at it and it's a message from Meredith, asking her to call when she's awake.
Arizona reaches over and hits call on the phone and picks it up.
"You're already awake?" Meredith asks surprised.
"Yeah, I guess I don't have any tolerance for those pain pills any more, they knocked me out," the blonde admits.
"Well, it might have also been the day, because I fell asleep too," Meredith confesses.
"Wait, did you stay the whole night?" Arizona asks confused.
"Yeah, I just left your place like a little over an hour ago," the dark blonde admits with a yawn. "How are you feeling this morning?" Meredith asks genuinely concerned.
"It's fine. I'm back on two legs, I'll just need to take it a little easier today. Hopefully, I won't end up standing in the OR all day," Arizona replies.
"Great, so should I come pick you up? Your car is still at the hospital," she reminds her.
"Oh no, I'll just call an Uber," Arizona replies easily.
"I don't mind. I don't have class today and Webber is covering my rounds. I texted Wilson and told her to cover yours and that you'd be in late," Meredith adds.
"You did?" Arizona questions and seems a bit annoyed.
"Sorry, I just didn't want people to think anything was wrong," Meredith says apologizing.
"Okay, well thanks," Arizona mutters, but Meredith can tell that she's not happy with her.
"Arizona, we're friends. It's not a big deal. I've done it for Alex and Callie, even for Owen a few times," Meredith points out.
The blonde pours herself a cup of coffee and for a moment Meredith thinks they've been disconnected, but then she hears the refrigerator open and close.
"I'm leaving now, will you be ready in 20 minutes?" Meredith prompts.
Taking her first sip of coffee, Arizona relents. "Okay," she says with a smile. Ending the call she takes another big sip of coffee and has to admit that it is nice to have someone taking care of her.