A/N: Hey everyone! I am so sorry on the delay of this update. I have been completely swamped. I've got work stuff and police stuff going on so I could only write a little bit at a time. But It's finally here and hopefully the updates can be more consistent. Just wanted to thank you all who sent me messages of encouragement over that one nasty comment I got from an anonymous person. I was just mad that day because I encounter this every site I go to...and I had to just say my peace. So thank you all! and I hope you enjoy!

Much love always,

hASHbrown

Chapter 5

After messaging Callie, the first thing that immediately came to me was that I had to call Teddy.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Teddy."

"Arizona, hey. How was your day with Callie?"

"Honestly, Teddy it was fantastic. I really needed it. It was so great to just get away from the city. Callie is awesome. How come you never told me how great your friends at work are?"

"I don't know. It never really occurred to me that you wanted to get to know my work friends. I don't even know your friends from work." She said to me while I could hear her chuckling in the background.

"Well either way, Callie is totally awesome. In fact she invited me to go running with her Friday morning." I said matter of factly.

"And you said yes? How is that I try to get you to do things with me, to have a little fun and you simply won't or you just give in to humor me but then Callie Torres asks you and you jump at the offer without hesitation?"

"I don't know Teddy. I really don't. There's just something about her that makes me feel at ease. It's like in someway she knows exactly how I am feeling."

That was the honest truth. I had no idea why I felt the way I felt when I was with Callie but she just had this way about her. She made me feel nervous because there was no denying that she was absolutely gorgeous and her voice was undeniably sexy but it was just too soon to even consider a romantic connection with her. Yet as nervous as she made me, she also made me feel at peace. I felt comfortable when I was around her. All of my feelings seem to dissolve in her presence and I was able to be myself.

I soon after ended my conversation with Teddy and decided to take a shower before climbing into bed and going to sleep.

The next few days, I really dove into work. I had meetings with several of my clients over the course of two days. One of the downfalls of the law firm I worked for was that we were so large that cases tended to overlap. Court dates were mere days or just mere hours apart from each other. I enjoy what I do, don't get me wrong. It would just be nice if it could slow down just a little. Instead there I was juggling several cases at once, drowning in a desk full of paperwork.

Thursday afternoon, I managed to have a gap in my day which I decided to use to grab lunch. I hadn't really talked to Teddy since the night I called her after my day out with Callie so I texted her saying that I was coming to the hospital for lunch. She soon after texted me back saying that she would be in the cafeteria with some of the other doctors, and that I could join when I got there. I grabbed my purse and headed out to my car to make the drive to the hospital.

The car ride over, I was hoping that Callie would be there. At least it would be one of Teddy's friends that I knew and would be comfortable sitting with.

When I walked into the hospital cafeteria, it was like I scene I had scene time and time again. Other doctors, nurses, patients and their families, spread all over the room. Some were in line for whatever the cafeteria lady was cooking, some sitting at tables enjoying their time.

I spotted Teddy and her friends, and released my breath when I noticed that Callie was sitting at the table too. I felt more at ease now that I knew it wouldn't be too awkward.

I never sat with Teddy and the other doctors before. If we ate together, we'd usually go somewhere so that it was just us. Just two best gal pals chatting it up and eating lunch together.

I made my way towards the table, and Teddy stood up pulling over a chair for me to join. "Hey everyone, this is Arizona. Arizona this is Mark, Owen and of course you know Callie." Teddy said as I sat down.

I listened as Teddy, Owen, Mark and Callie discussed some of their cases and their complaints about residence and interns. Noticing that I had kind of drowned them out and went inside my own head, Callie changed the subject and engaged in a conversation with me.

"So, Arizona you still coming tomorrow morning for that run?" She asked me as she passed a wink my way.

I smiled back as a thank you for making the conversation more inclusive for me. "Yes, definitely. I wouldn't miss it."

"Great. I think you'll enjoy it."

"I think so too."

After lunch, I had a little while longer before I had to go back to the office, Teddy had to rush off to a surgery so I walked along the hallways with Callie just making some simple conversation.

"Thank you for changing the subject at lunch today. I had no idea what you guys were talking about for the longest time." I said with a laugh. All that doctor jargon, I just didn't have a clue what anyone was talking about.

"Don't mention it. I could see you were a bit lost there and it was kind of rude for us not to include you."

We smiled at each other and continued to walk down the hallway till we stopped at a nurses station. Just then, her pager went off. She grabbed it and looked to me with an apologetic face.

"Sorry, it's 911 I have to go, but I will see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely." I responded she smiled to me and then ran off to wherever it was she was being paged to.

I headed back to the office and continued on working on my cases and discussing details with the clients for the rest of the day.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone going off. It was still dark outside and I quickly jumped out of my bed cursing at who could possibly be trying to get in touch with me at…..six o'clock in the morning.

I grabbed my phone, and all of my anger dissolved when I saw that it was Callie. And then I remembered. Today we were going for a run in the early morning before we had to go to work. I messaged her right back saying that I would be ready in fifteen minutes. I then dashed into my closet and put on the first items of clothing I saw that would be work out appropriate. Putting on a plain crew neck tshirt and a pair of yoga pants, I sat at the foot of my bed and put my runners on. Once I was ready, I messaged Callie and she replied saying that she was already down in the lobby of my building.

I made my way down and she greeted me with a hug and a smile. It kind of threw me off guard a little. We had never hugged each other before, but surprisingly…well no surprise really, it felt wonderful.

"Hey, you ready?" she asked me when she pulled away from our embrace.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks for waking me up, I almost forgot and I probably would have still been in bed now."

"No, problem. Come on, I mapped out the perfect route." She said to me, holding the door open so that I could walk outside.

We started to run, not too fast but at a decent pace. The sky continued to be dark for the most part and we barely spoke a word to each other. I didn't mind though. It gets a little hard to carry on a conversation when you're running and your throat gets all dry.

It was great just to have her as company. To have her by my side and just her being there encouraged me every step of the way to push through and keep going.

Somewhere along the way, we ended up running down on the shoreline of the beach. It was quiet and the sky was just starting to brighten up along the horizon. The light reflecting in the water and the sound of the waves crashing was absolutely beautiful. It was a soothing sound. It really just made you feel as if you were one with the universe.

We kept running along the shore line for awhile till we had had enough and we decided to sit on the beach and look out into the water. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. In the beginning I didn't even mind and then in an instant I found myself silently crying as I stared out into the sea.

Callie must have heard me whimper in sadness or something because before I knew it she had pulled me into her embrace and just rocked me back and forth like you would to soothe a baby.

"Shh….it's okay. What's wrong? You can tell me." She said continuing her rocking motion.

"It's just, why? Why did she have to completely break my heart and leave me here. She died right before my eyes. I loved her so much, that's why I just don't understand. Why this world…why the universe is so screwed up. Why life is full of pain and heartache."

Callie pulled me away and looked deep into my eyes as she took her thumb and brushed the falling tears from my cheeks. "Hey, I know that what you went through was incredibly sad and painful and terrifying. And I know that this world does have a lot of pain and heartache and all that crappy stuff. But it is also full of joy, and beauty and love. Many different kinds and levels of love and happiness. I can't speak for Joanne, I didn't know her. But, if it were me looking down on you from wherever it is, I wouldn't want you to be shut off from the world. I'd want you to live. I'd want you to live and take in all the wonderful things this life has to offer. I would want you to live."

I collapsed into her arms as the tears came down even harder. I held on tight to her shirt and she just wrapped her arms around me and held me tight while I cried. "I'm such a mess, why me? Why choose to befriend me of all people?" I asked with a slight giggle, the tears still coming down pretty hard.

"Because I saw a look in your eyes that I recognized. You looked as empty as I felt not too long before I met you. But that's an entirely different story."

"Well thank you. For everything. My gosh, look at me I'm a mess in front of you, again." I said pulling away trying to wipe the tear stains from my face.

"Arizona, don't be silly, you're beautiful."

I was already thankful that she came into my life. She seemed to get me better than anyone and for the first time, just letting it all out, I felt like a weight had been taken off my shoulders. I felt the pain and guilt ease a little.

Callie smiled to me and pulled me close to her with one arm and we sat there in the sand in silence and watched the sun rise into the sky.