Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine. I borrow…

Prompt: Follows after ep 1. Arizona is pissed and depressed. Callie is at her wit's end and is feed up with Arizona's attitude. So Callie asks Arizona for a divorce. Arizona laughs at her and throws back at Callie how she made vows, in sickness and health. Callie explains to her that she does love Arizona and has been caring for her, but the vow works both ways, that it's Arizona who is breaking the vow by not loving Callie during her sickness.

AN: This ficlet's inspiration was given by one of Chris Cagle's newest songs 'Thank God She Left The Whiskey'. If you haven't listened to it, or his new album 'Back In The Saddle', I highly suggest it. And, heads up, if you didn't gather from the prompt, this isn't a nice and fluffy piece. It's depressing. Enjoy.

The Heart Takes a Long Time To Fall To Pieces

Keys jiggle as Arizona Robbins tries to force them into the lock of her apartment door. So much so that she has to look up and check that she is, indeed, in front of the right door. But finally the key slides home and unlocks the dead bolt with a heavy click. The coldness of the complex corridor makes the blonde shiver, and as she steps into her apartment she finds no relief.

The surgeon stops just inside the door and looks around. Something's different. Something's wrong. It's quiet. Not that there is a large welcome home party for her anymore, but still her home is empty of a certain sense of… life.

Arizona limps over to the couch and tosses her bag on the cushions, her eyes darting to the end table. Just this morning there was a picture there, the same picture that's always been there, of her, her wife and their baby the day they brought Sofia home from the hospital, but it's not there anymore. Nor is the fuzzy pink blanket of Sofia's that takes up residence draped across the armchair's back. Toys have been picked up, and Arizona is sure that some are even missing.

"What's going on?" Arizona whispers to herself, trekking across the living room to look into the bedroom that has become hers, and hers alone. When she finds it empty, Arizona moves to the other room, what has now become a shared space for both Sofia and Callie. But that too is empty.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to leave!"

She enters her daughters room and pulls open the dresser drawers to find them emptied of most of their contents. Sofia's socks and underwear, her favorite t-shirt and the pink tutu Arizona bought for her years ago. All are gone.

"You still have Sofia and me, Arizona! Why can't you see that?"

The dresser drawer gets slammed shut with such force that it rattles against the concrete wall behind it. Arizona turns on her heel and enters the second bathroom, searching for even more evidence of what she is sure has happened. Normally the countertop would be filled with Callie's paraphernalia, but now it's as bare as the rest of the house. No lotions. No makeup. No nothing. Not even the tearless shampoo they use with their daughter.

"Get up. Get the hell up and snap out of this!"

A tightness starts to constrict across Arizona's chest and she feels her world starting to fold in on itself. Somehow she manages to stay on her feet, and with great effort Arizona walks back out to the main living area. She's never realized how cold the apartment actually is. Even with the dark paint and the cement, Callie brought life and warmth to their home. Sofia brought joy and love. …And now it's gone. All gone.

"You did this to me. You cut off my leg. And I will NEVER forgive you."

A glint of silver catches slick blue eyes and Arizona slowly moves towards the breakfast bar. She didn't see it when she entered the apartment, but now it's the only thing she can see. A standard sized manila envelope. …And a silver ring resting ontop of it. A shaky hand reaches out and the coolness of the metal almost shocks the blonde. She'd know that ring anywhere, because she slipped it onto the most beautiful finger in the world while promising to love her wife forever and always.

"In sickness and in health, that's why Arizona! I made a vow, and I'll be damned if I'm going to break it!"

The weight of Callie's ring feels like a ton as Arizona slips it over her finger, the breath that was halfway up her throat becoming caught and coming out as s strangled sob. But the blonde picks up the envelope and reaches inside, pulling out the stack of papers that are hidden within. The printing is sharp and official, the logo of some high classed attorney stamped in the upper corner of it. But the only thing Arizona can read is 'Petition for Dissolution of Marriage'.

"I can't keep doing this, Arizona. I need you to fight for us. There are two of us in this marriage and I can't keep fighting for us without you."

"Oh god…" Arizona cries, her body giving out on her and she stumbles back into the wall before sliding down and collapsing on the floor. "Oh god… Oh no." Tears streak from her eyes and collect in drops on the paper clutched in her hands. She knew it was bad. She told Callie to do it, almost challenged her to do it. But Arizona never thought…

It's been over a year of hell. Through the legal battle with the airline company, physical therapy, Mark's death, Arizona fighting to get back to work, she and Callie have also been fighting each other. Trust. They had lost it completely. Intimacy. Gone. Everything Arizona loved about herself disappeared, and she hated Callie for doing it to her. And she resented her wife because she was still so perfect. So beautiful and so full of life… it made her sick. And she took it out on the one person Arizona knew she could hurt the worst. This wasn't a sudden thing. Not like falling out of the sky. No… because the heart takes a long time to fall to pieces.

She doesn't know when her wife… ex-wife… gave up the fight. She doesn't know when Callie succumbed to the fact that they were over. Her Arizona just wasn't coming back, and whatever form of Arizona that was left was resistant to even try to enjoy life again. They'd seen therapists, read books, sought support from groups, but nothing helped. Callie couldn't reach her wife, and she couldn't do anymore. So she left.

Tears stream down Arizona's cheeks and she tips her head back against the cold concrete behind her. She should feel free, but she doesn't. No, she feels alone. And empty. She's sure that hell is empty because every single demon now calls her mind their home. She doesn't want to feel like this anymore, she wants it to all be over. And when her gaze finds a decanter full of dark, smoky poison, Arizona reaches for it. The first sip burns, whiskey never having been the surgeon's alcohol of choice. Another sip. Then a whole swallow. She knows she going down a dark and danger road, but she just wants to stop feeling. …Even if it's only for the night.

"What ever you can't do, I will. That's how this works."