Title From: Whatever Gets You Through The Day - The Radio
Author's Note: I'm SO sorry this has taken me a while to upload! It's a very personally-involved story for me, and sometimes it's hard to write it. It's also a little shorter than I would like, because it's a sort of filler chapter with a cliffhanger into the next few chapters. I promise the next uploads will be faster!
TRIGGER WARNING! This multi-chapter fanfic will include an eating disorder and self harm. If you think you will, at all in any way, be triggered, please don't read it. If you do chose to read it but find yourself getting triggered, please stop reading. The last thing I want to do is trigger anyone.
But tomorrow came, and Arizona didn't make up for the little food she'd had at dinner. Nor did she make up for it the day after, or the day after that, or any of the days after that. If anything, Arizona was eating less each day.
Arizona had learnt to hide her actions better, in the weeks that followed. She'd leave the house early, grabbing breakfast to eat with her on the way. Unknown to anyone, the breakfast would get thrown out into the nearest trash can. She'd schedule long surgeries later in the day so that she would get home later. Lunch breaks between surgeries would be used for runs instead of eating lunch.
She had convinced herself that her friends hadn't noticed what she was doing. In fact, they hadn't noticed exactly what Arizona was doing to herself, but they had noticed little changes. Alex watched her change into work out clothes every day. He saw the clothes get baggier on Arizona's thinning frame as time went on, but never said anything. Bailey noticed how Arizona was spacing out during surgeries, or how she'd sometimes walk with a hand along the wall as though she were too weak to hold herself up; but when Arizona silenced Bailey with an "I'm fine" the surgeon known as the Nazi wasn't able to question Arizona further. Perhaps the one who noticed most of all was Callie; after all she was Arizona's wife, she was one who saw her most often. Or at least, she was supposed to be.
Callie sighed as she watched a flurry of blonde hair fly out the door, left to slam against the doorframe as Arizona once again rushed out of the apartment, shouting a vague excuse over her shoulder for her sudden departure. Setting her breakfast plate down in the sink, Callie picked up her baby girl "Mija, do you know why your momma is so busy lately? You don't? I don't either." She patted Sofia's hair soothingly, "But Bailey told me she doesn't have any surgeries scheduled for today, so she shall be home too us soon."
Arizona had barely walked into the hospital when she heard Bailey's voice calling her. "Arizona, hey Arizona, isn't today your day off?"
"Yes, Bailey. Yes it is. Last time I checked, I could do whatever I wanted with my day off. Now I don't ask you what you do on your days off so why are you attacking me like this? But if you MUST know, I'm checking on a patient and then leaving."
Bailey stood in shock as she watched the once-perky surgeon pace away as fast as her little legs could carry her. Have her legs always been so tiny? Huh. I must have got to used to seeing her in scrubs that it's weird to see Arizona in jeans. Bailey shook her head and tutted once before turning to scream at an intern.
"Robbins? Why are you here? Don't you have the day off tod-"
"YES Karev. I have the day off. So? SO WHAT? I came here to get my work out clothes because I forgot them yesterday. Is that such a big deal to you? Don't you have some intern to go screw?"
Alex reeled back at Arizona's anger. He had never witnessed anger this intense in his mentor, even with all the mistakes he had made in front of her. Tough as he was, his eyes stung with the tears of her last comment.
"I'm sorry. I'm just tense, ok? So I need to run."
"Areā¦are you sure?" Alex hesitated, not wanting to cause further anger. But when his eyes passed over her slender frame, he pushed forwards. "It's just, you've lost a lot of weight recently, and-"
"Really?" Arizona's face lit up, her anger forgotten. But almost as fast, the grin fell away from her face as she shook her head. "It's a start, but not enough." She slammed her locker door and left, leaving Alex staring mouth-open with wide eyes at his boss in disbelief of what he had just heard.
