"I have a middle-aged woman with multiple blows to the face, chest, and abdomen. She was found lying next to a car in the parking lot, unconscious. She's still breathing but I don't know how much more time we have." The paramedics rolled the woman into one of the trauma rooms, still in shock by how badly beaten she looked. "She's all your Chief."
"Thank you. Kepner! I'm going to need your help." Hunt calmly collected his power crew and went to work. He checked her airway, breathing and circulation before April walked in.
"Oh gosh…" April said wide-eyed as she entered the room. "This poor woman.. What happened?"
"She was found in the parking lot, must have been jumped. Wilson book an OR, please." Hunt began his fast examine by making sure she still had brain function, then took off the blanket that was keeping the lifeless body warm. Suddenly, Owen's hands stopped and pulled away. His eyes darted to the side table that had a prosthetic lying across it, then back to the woman on the table. Trying to keep as calm as possible he leaned over the table and asked, "Kepner? Where's Dr. Torres?"
"Uhh, she left hours ago. She and Arizona took the rest of the weekend off." April didn't look up at Owen, she was trying to do a quick ultra-sound. "Somebody page Bailey please!" Directing her attention back to Hunt, "Why?" Next, she began cutting the blood stained blouse off the woman, when her eyes caught sight of what as around her neck. A gold heart shaped necklace. Her hands stilled, and head snapped up to see a very unsteady Dr. Hunt. "No.." Her voice wasn't even audible but her body language said it all.
"Somebody find Callie Torres! And get her here immediately!" Hunt's voice was Army Strong, and very intimidating. Both residents went searching for Callie in a rush, not yet connecting the pieces themselves.
Bailey walked into the room with a hard look on her face. Walking up to the table, she noticed the ultra-sound picture, "I need to get her up to the OR now. She has way too much fluid in her abdomen." Looking back down to the patient, her heart sank a little. She always hated cases like these, they hit too close to home. "I think you should call Shepard as well, by the look of this poor woman's head…." Her voice fell short, recognizing the bright blonde hair. Her eyes traveled down the rest of her body, and then it hit her. Her heart immediately dropped into her stomach, and tears threatened to come streaming down. She looked up at Hunt and Kepner and knew she was right, how much she wanted to be wrong though. "Callie?"
"We're having her tracked down. But we need to get her up into surgery. We can't wait much longer." April said with as much power her voice was able to give out, which wasn't a whole lot.
Hunt, Bailey and Kepner all were left standing in the room, when the nurse's wheeled the beaten woman up to the OR. Nobody wanted to say it, but the patient was identified. A loud silence filled the room, as the three doctors stood there in a state of shock. Bailey was the first to speak up, "Please tell me it wasn't her.."
April's face fell into her hands and tried to stop the sobs from happening. Bailey brought the unstable woman into her arms, and rubbed at her back. Brown eyes looked up at Owen hoping her question would be answered the way she wanted it to be. He ran a hand through his fine red hair, and leaned all his body weight against the wall. Finally, he lifted his head and spoke.
"It was Arizona…."
Callie sat outside the Chapel doors for another hour, waiting for Arizona. There were no tears, no anger, and no resentment. She knew getting back together was a long shot, considering everything she put Arizona through. No matter how badly she wanted them to finally put all their crap behind them, she knew that in the end it would end up being Arizona's choice. She still couldn't help but wonder what went wrong. Yes, things were rocky in the beginning and she did lie to Arizona, but that was all part of making it work. They had to go through all the messy to get to the good. This was supposed to be their good, their happiness. Callie checked her phone one last time before standing up. Her heart sank when she looked through the glass windows on the door, thinking how happy they would be at this moment if Arizona would have showed up. A rush of anger coursed through her veins, she didn't want to be angry but it was coming. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, as she whipped out her phone again to call Arizona.
Just like the last twenty times, there was no answer. This time she decided to leave a message,
"Arizona, I really need to talk to you. You won't answer your damn phone, and I don't know what to do anymore. I waited. I waited.. for you! I'm sitting here looking like an idiot all over again because of you. I can't believe you would pull something like this, and not have the decency to freaking call me back. If this is what you want. Then, fine we're done. This time I'll make sure to let you know they're divorce papers…"
Callie threw her phone against the wall and fell to the ground again. Not caring who would see her cry this time. This wasn't fair. She did everything she was supposed to do, everything Arizona wanted her to do and say, and the blonde just felt like not showing up. Callie's heart shrunk into a little ball, as she cried all over the clothes Arizona picked out for her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dr. Webber approaching her. Quickly, she tried to put herself together before he came any closer.
Dr. Webber held a hand out to Callie, and slowly lifted her to her feet. He then backed away slightly, searching his brain for the right words. Callie could see by the look on his face that something was wrong. He never hesitated before he spoke to someone unless he was dealing out bad news.
"Callie… How about we go sit down. There's something I need to tell you." He cleared his throat and waved his hand towards the Chapel, but Callie shook her head no and stayed still.
"Now isn't the best time right now Chief." She sniffled and started to walk past the tall man, but he grabbed her by the arm and looked straight into her eyes.
"There isn't going to be a good time to tell you this." He said softly and released his grip, bringing his hand down to her wrist, preparing himself for what was about to come.
Karev turned the corner and saw Dr. Webber talking to Callie down the hall. Everyone was on a man hunt to find her, because it was still too early to know if Arizona was even going to make it. He watched closely, knowing what Richard was about to tell her. The dark man took hold of Callie's other shoulder, firmly holding her in place. He took a deep breath, then spoke. Alex couldn't hear what was being said, but he didn't have to. Callie's eyes went big, then she collapsed into the older man's chest. Her weeping echoed throughout the hall, even causing Alex to shed a tear.
Callie ripped herself out of Dr. Webber's embrace and raced through the halls, running like her life depended on it. Like Arizona's life depended on it. Finally, she made it into the viewing box above the OR and clicked on the intercom.
"Bailey, look at me." The sudden voice startled the doctors, causing them all to look up at Callie. "Tell me she's going to be okay.." Her voice cracked at the end, knowing her strength was quickly fading. But Bailey turned her body away from the Latina and continued working. "Hunt?" She was desperate for an answer, any answer would do. He just stood there not moving an inch, till Meredith was behind Callie, and motioned her to take Callie out of the room. She grabbed the brunette and guided her out. The moment they walked out all the buzzers started to go off in the OR. Callie whipped herself around to head back into the room, but was stopped by Dr. Webber.
"How about we go sit down now." His voice was low and comforting, but Callie wasn't about to give up without a fight.
"I need to be in there. I need to see if she's going to be okay…" She could barely catch her breath as she was practically screaming at the man, "Why won't you let me see her!"
Richard wrapped the woman up in his arms and held her tight. She fought to get him off her, thrashing around like a two year having a fit, but he was too strong and she was growing weaker. After fighting a losing battle, she settled into the warm embrace and let it all go. Her tears stained his scrub top, and her chest beat into his with every sob. Not once did she stop to think something bad had happened to Arizona. Now, she wishes Arizona had stayed home and changed her mind about the entire marriage. It would be a whole lot better than losing her completely.
Three hours went by at a snail's pace. Callie, Richard, Karev, a few residents and even Dr. Herman all waited impatiently for the surgeries to be done. Callie had bitten all her nails off, and was ready to pull her hair out if no one came out soon. Thankfully, Bailey and Hunt walked out of the OR together slowly approaching the group of people. Callie was the first to shoot up out of her seat and walk up to the doctors. Behind them April crept out with puffy eyes and a red nose, trying to get out of sight before anyone noticed her. Callie's heart began to thump loudly in her chest, this couldn't be happening. Almost instantly she started to shake her head no, hoping that if she did it long enough everything would be okay. Hunt stopped a couple feet behind Bailey, knowing she would be the best person to tell Callie the news. The Latina watched Owen as he took off his scrub cap and ran his fingers through his hair and bowed his head. Her throat went dry.
"Arizona had a lot of internal bleeding. She had five broken ribs and a fractured collar bone. Her left ulna was in two and her hip was smashed…" Bailey swallowed hard, trying not to let her emotions take over, "Her jaw had to be set back in place, and her nose was completely shattered, along with her cheek bones." She knew the last part was break Callie in half so she took her hand and sat her on the couch. "Arizona had many blows to the head, which caused her brain to swell…" Her voice was cut off by the devastating look that overtook Callie's face.
"Please tell me. Even if you have to lie to me.. Just please.. tell me.." Her voice was too shaky to continue as tears poured over her flushed cheeks.
"She's in ICU now. But Callie, there's a possibility that she may not wake up… And you need to be prepared to make that decision." Bailey began crying herself and she tried to explain what Callie needed to do. But nothing can prepare a person for something like this, she of all people knew that.
"Do not tell me to prepare! She's going to be okay. This isn't the first time we've faced death, she'll come out of this…." Callie's voice got quieter as she repeated 'She's going to be okay' several more times to herself.
"You can go see her… She looks a lot worse than what is underneath. That's what you need to prepare for right now." Bailey watched as Callie stormed out of the waiting area. Taking a deep breath in, she took off her scrub cap and walked back into the scrub room. She stood there for what seemed like forever, then threw her cap against the window and kicked over one of the hampers. There were no more tears left to be shed, she just bent over and grabbed her stomach as she tried to control her breathing.
Callie walked up to Arizona's room and stopped in the doorway. She had a tube down her throat that was keeping her breathing, and wires all over her body. Bandages couldn't hide all the black and blue that was once perfect creamy skin. Her arm was in a fat cast, and her hips were in braces keeping them in place. You couldn't see Arizona's hair because it was wrapped up in gauze, keeping her brain safe. They had to take a piece of her skull out to help with the swelling, and Callie knew that, but it made her feel worse. Knowing that Arizona was so exposed and she couldn't do anything about it. The hardest part was taking that first step inside the humming room. Once she was in, she automatically was at Arizona's side, gently taking a fragile hand into hers.
Her heart fluttered a little, feeling the warmth of her wife against her own skin. She laid light kisses on each finger, hoping she would wake up soon. It was hard seeing the love of her life lying in a hospital bed looking the way she does, but the worst part was knowing that for almost two hours Arizona was in the street beaten to pulp, with no one around to save her, while Callie sat there hating her for not showing up. Callie raised her head to look at Arizona. She had no idea whether or not she could her the Latina, but she was going to try anyway.
She scooted her chair closer, and brushed her cheek against Arizona's hand, slowly gaining confidence. "You told me to live for you. So, you need to live for me… You have to fight, and live. If not for me, then for Sofia. Nobody can take away her bad dreams like you can… But I want you.. to fight, Arizona. Your patients need you, your daughter needs you.. I need you.. I would rather live my life knowing you're happy with someone else, than not having you here at all. I'm sorry.. I should've been there to save to you.. I should've been the one to go home and had you stay here. This is all my fault, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.. But Arizona.. You have to fight. You need to fight… You are worth so much more than you think, and it's time the world see's that. But they won't if you aren't here.. So please come back to me, let me love you the way you deserve. Please…."
Callie ran her thumb across bruised knuckles, and wiped her tears off delicate skin. She lowered her head back down onto Arizona's hand and let her eyes flutter shut. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Yes Arizona is alive! YAY! Jessica Capshaw is the love of my life, so I would never kill her off in any of my stories. Just thought you should know that! Oh and another thing, I will not put a warning at the beginning of any chapter if it's a little hard to read. Don't read 12 chapters of my story then get mad because I didn't warn you. That would defeat the whole purpose of writing an intense chapter. I love you all, and read every comment. Stay with me my lovelies (:
