AN: Hey, hey, check me out…it's been less than a few months for an update. Yay, me! Lol. So, here's the next part, I hope it floats your boat. Thanks again for reading!

My head hurts. That's all I can focus on as I fight to clear the cobwebs of sleep. I know I'm not a morning person, but this is ridiculous. I must have had a really good time at Joe's last night. My eyelids feel like lead and it takes some serious effort to crack them open. When a sliver of harsh light breaks through, I squeeze them shut again as my eyes and head scream in protest of the unwelcome stimuli. Damn, this is one vicious hangover. I try to roll over, but my body rejects that command and remains exactly where it is. It feels like something is sitting on me, but it doesn't really hurt. In fact, I can't really feel anything. That's new.

Finally, I decide that enough is enough and I'm going to open my eyes. Clenching my jaw, I brace myself for the onslaught of pain that I anticipate. As I manage to pry my eyes open again, I breathe through the agony as I try to process my surroundings. This is not my room. This isn't my bed, and Arizona is not next to me. Judging by the nondescript walls, monotone machines, and starchy sheets wrapping my body, I'd guess that I'm in a hospital. But, I have no idea why.

My eyes frantically drag across the room and discover the hunched, sleeping frame of my fiancée in an uncomfortable, faded chair. Only, she doesn't look a whole lot like my Arizona. Her hair is dull and tangled, her eyes dark with exhaustion, her skin lacks it's usual glow, and her position is vulnerable and weak. Confusion and concern swirl into a sickening tornado in my chest. What the hell is going on? It isn't until she shifts a bit, that I can see the jagged cut down the side of her face.

That's when it all comes screeching back in full force. The school fire. The drive back to the station. The boy in the road. A swerving and tumbling truck. We were in an accident. The rig flipped into a ditch. That's all I remember. Until now. Taking the first real inventory of the feelings in my body, I realize that there are some places that have a dull ache. I must have been injured in that crash.

The fog in my brain makes me a little slow on the uptake, so it takes me a moment to comprehend that Arizona should be hurt, too. I crane my neck to see as much of her as possible. She's in here and not in a hospital bed, so that's a good sign. A large, stitched cut glares from the left side of her face, her wrist is wrapped, and a cast encloses her left leg. But, other than that, I don't see any other obvious sign of injury. I sigh a breath of relief. The miniscule sound seems to be enough to rouse the sleeping beauty next to me.

Her eyes flutter open and she stiffly slides her body further up in the chair. Blurry, and darkened baby blue eyes drift to my face, widening when they register that I'm looking back at her. "Calliope," she gasps, immediately hoisting her aching body up and over to my side. "You're awake." Her voice is a scratchy whisper of reverence.

Trying to clear my throat, I succeed in croaking out, "Yeah…are you okay?"

Arizona scoffs mirthlessly as she runs her hand through my hair, "Honey, I'm fine. You're the one that's been unconscious for forty three hours…How are you?"

My brows furrow at her statement. Forty three hours? It feels like it just happened. She must have been going crazy. "I feel…I don't know really…I can't really feel much. What's, uh, what's the damage?"

Arizona sucks in a breath, clearly attempting to contain her tears, "You, um, you have a dislocated shoulder, three broken ribs, a concussion, and some semi-major lacerations. The concussion kept you out, and the, uh, doctors said that they didn't know when to expect you to wake up." She shudders and sniffs, gripping my hand in hers.

I nod as I take it in, "And, you?"

Arizona shrugs, "Uh, nothing too serious. Broken leg, slash on my face, fractured rib, bruising, well, everywhere, and a sprained wrist."

"So, you're ok?" I feel the need to double check.

"Yeah, babe, I'm fine. I swear." A tight squeeze to my hand reassures me enough to let it go for now.

Taking a deep breath, I start to notice more pain in my body, which finally yanks my mind into reality. My glassy eyes snap up to hers, "What about the guys?"

I see Arizona swallow hard and her eyes flash, then steel, creating a swell of dread within me. "Uh…besides the expected cuts and bruises for everybody, Alex has a broken collar bone and hit a nerve or something in his head that is reducing his vision quite a bit. They, um, they don't know exactly what to expect as far as his sight returning. And, Mark, he has some pretty severe internal injuries that they're still working to repair. He's still in the ICU…" I see her lip tremble then settle between her teeth, and her eyes drop to the pale, blue blanket covering me.

Tangling my fingers with hers in a vice grip, I force out a weak whisper, "And, Jackson?"

Keeping her eyes down, she shakes her head before muttering, "He, uh, he-he has a severe brain bleed. It's causing a lot of swelling…and, the doctors are not optimistic about his chances for recovery…" Her voice had started out shaky and emotional, but ended flat and uncaring, like she was trying to remove herself from the intense reality of the situation.

I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to stifle the surge of pain and anger that rises up with this information. My entire crew is hurt. Not just hurt, but severely injured. Mark may not recover, Alex may never see correctly again, and Jackson may not ever wake up. I feel sick. When I open my eyes again, I lock my gaze with Arizona's. A deep sorrow and, something that looks like guilt, burns in her eyes. A second later, her eyes disengage and she begins to back up. "I'm glad you're awake…I need to, um…to go check on the others and update everyone. I-I'll be back." With a kiss to the palm of my hand, she all but bolts toward the door. At least, she bolts as fast as someone can with a casted leg.

Frowning, I call out to her, "Arizona…" When I see her pause near the door, I continue quietly, "This isn't your fault…"

With a quick and regretful glance back, Arizona stays silent and exits the room. "Shit." I mumble. She's feeling guilty about the accident, and I can't do anything about it while I'm stuck in this bed. Not cool.

When I see the door open about forty five minutes later, I raise myself up hoping to see Arizona. A doctor came in to check me out right after Arizona left, but since he left, I've been alone. I've been sitting here obsessing about my team, Arizona, the future, pretty much everything. I'm tired of being stuck in my own thoughts and worries, I need to talk to her. However, the blonde that walks in, is not my blonde. Well, not anymore. "Erica?"

She greets me with a small smile, "Hey, Callie. I heard that you woke up. It's about time." A nervous chuckle falls from her lips and I can't help but return a grin.

"You know how I feel about my sleep… How'd you know I was here?" I ask as she moves to sit in the, now, empty chair.

"I'm the lead on Sloan's case." She replies quietly, fidgeting with her fingers.

I nod solemnly, fighting back nausea, "How's he doing?"

Erica considers the question for a moment, "He's still unstable, but we're doing everything we can. I'm hopeful."

I take that as a positive, because she doesn't hope unless there's a good reason. "Thanks." Hesitating briefly, I ask, "Um, have you seen Arizona?"

Erica shakes her head and shrugs, "Not since last night." She studies me, "So…you two are still together?"

When I determine that there is no malice, resentment or anger behind her question, I smile gently, "Yeah, we are. We're actually engaged."

Erica smirks, "I figured you two had it in you. Congrats."

"Thanks." After a few moments, I decide to add amicably, "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, it's good to see you, too. I've kinda…missed you." When she sees my warning look, she holds up her hands, "I mean, you as a friend. We were really good friends before we became a couple. I miss that." I see her anxiously wring her hands, waiting for my response.

Admitting to myself that the feeling is mutual, I answer, "I miss that, too. Maybe we could, uh, hang out sometime."

Erica grins, "I'd like that."

Suddenly, the door to my room bursts open and a bored looking woman comes striding in, "Finally. I've been looking for you everywhere." She says flatly to Erica.

Erica rolls her eyes, "Well, you found me, Yang. What do you want?"

Before she can answer, I chirp, "Hey, Cristina."

Glancing at me, she responds, "Hi, Callie. Good to see you awake, that was a nasty crash you were in." Without pausing for my reply, she looks back to Erica, "Dr. Hahn, Mr. Welsh is finished with pre-op and we're set up in OR 3, just waiting on you."

"You could have paged me, Yang." Erica drawls with a glare.

"Yes, but I so enjoy the time we spend together that I prefer to tell you in person." Cristina deadpans, then spins around and exits the room. A second after I see her disappear, her head appears around the door frame, "Bye, Callie."

"Bye!" I call behind the woman that is already gone. "She's as charming as ever." I say lightly to the annoyed surgeon.

"Yep, she's a damn treat." Pushing herself up from the chair, she pats my arm, "Well, I'm glad to see you feeling better. But, I have to go, people to save and such."

"I get it. Thanks for stopping by." I say genuinely.

"Of course. I'll come by again, if you'd like." Erica offers with a slight air of caution.

"I'd like." I answer without hesitation.

"Well, ok, then."

When the door swings softly shut behind her, I let out a sigh. I'm exhausted. I just want to go home, get into my own bed and curl up with my perfect blonde-haired beauty. But, I desperately need to talk to her first. I need to make sure she's not beating herself up too badly. I understand that nothing I could say will completely halt the nagging guilt that is undoubtedly plaguing her, but I could help ease it a bit. Another hour and a half passes with no visitors outside of nurses checking my meds and bringing food. Eventually, the freshly distributed drugs slow my body to the point that I can do nothing but slip into a eerily silent sleep.

A familiar fog greets me as I feel myself inch toward consciousness. I'm never going to get used to these drugs. After battling my eyes to open and adjust, I find that, once again, the chair next to my bed is occupied. However, my visitor is not at all cute enough to be who I wanted to see. "Geez, boss, you look like crap."

Webber's eyes snap up to mine, widening in surprise. Recovering quickly, he replies, "Yeah, well, I felt the need to fit in with the rest of you. You all look like hell."

I chuckle at his blunt response that came with no hint of amusement. He's never been great with emotion. "Thanks for that. Every injured person needs to hear that they look awful. Boosts morale."

"I don't care what you need, Torres. You all were stupid enough to get in an accident that nearly killed all of you. I'm not here to baby you…Only you morons could go into a burning building and come out without a hair harmed on your head, but screw up driving back." His sharp words sting and I would love to snap back. But, I can see the pain in his eyes. The normally strong and sturdy Captain was shaken to his core by this and he's not sure how to deal with it.

"Hey…" I start softly, trying to coax him out of his emotional fortress. When he briefly glances up, I continue, "We're ok. As far as I know, we're all alive…" I trail off, realizing that I don't know how long I was asleep and what happened during that time. I see him nod curtly in affirmative, leading me to add, "It was scary, but we're going to be fine."

I see him take a deep breath, "When I got that call, I…" His words taper off as tears collect in his eyes. Before any of them can fall, he clears his throat and shakes his head. "I don't ever want to get a call like that again. Understand?"

A small grin spreads across my lips, "Understood, Sir." Several seconds pass before I ask, "Have you seen Arizona?"

He nods, "I sent her home for some real rest a few hours ago, she'll probably be back soon."

Furrowing my brows, I try to calculate the time frame, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Um, about eight hours or so. You're going to need a lot of rest." Dark brown eyes fix me with a serious stare, silently informing me that this is an order, an order that he will be enforcing personally, if needed.

"Yes, sir." I say, choosing not to fight him, right now. Before anything else can be said, the door opens gently and Arizona steps in.

Freezing when she sees Webber sitting with me, she quickly starts to back track and ramble, "Oh, Captain, I'm sorry. I'll let you guys talk. I have a few things I need to do…so, I'll just come back later-"

Webber instantly stands from the chair, "No, no, don't go. We're done here. You stay."

This seems to arrest Arizona to a spot near the door. She shifts uncomfortably while the Captain passes her, patting her arm on the way out. Once he's gone, Arizona gradually approaches my bed. I can tell something is wrong, but I'm not positive what it is, yet.

"Hey," I say softly, my lips curling into a warm smile. "I'm glad you're here, I've missed you."

Despite the lurking unease, she rewards me with an adoring grin, "The mean, old man made me go home. He said I needed sleep or something." Bracing her arms on the rail of my bed, she leans over, golden hair acting as a curtain around our faces as she brushes her lips across mine.

I hum contently against her mouth, a pleasant tingle sparking from the contact. When we part, an inch separating us, I whisper, "How dare he look out for your well being?"

She shrugs with a smirk, her dimples popping, "He's got some nerve. How are you feeling?" Pulling away enough to see my face, she tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. I watch her eyes and movements as she speaks, whatever I thought I saw when she first came in appears to be gone. Maybe I was projecting or imagining that something was off.

Taking her hand in mine, needing the constant connection, I answer, "Ok, I guess. I'm groggy and sore…but I'm confident I'll live." I say the last part with a melodramatic sigh, followed by a cocky grin.

And, in an instant, I know I wasn't imagining anything. Arizona's hand slips from mine and she takes several steps backward, "Well, that's good…I wish I could stay, but I have some things to take care of, and you need to rest."

"Wait, I can rest while you're here…" I proposition as I study my retreating fiancée.

"No, you need real rest. I'll check on you in a little bit." Blowing me a kiss, she flashes me a wide smile and makes her exit.

The light click of the latch seems to echo throughout the empty room. My eyes stay trained on the door, unfocused and pleading, as I wonder what hell is going on.

AN: So, when I started this story I mentioned that there were some unfortunate aspects of me planning this story before season 9 aired. This is where there will start to be some parallels with the show and the developing storyline. I'm trying to tweak things, where I can, to help separate it (in the original version, someone lost a leg…that obviously is not going to happen now). Anyway, let me know what you're thinking.