Today is the day Arizona gets to come home. Her hips have been cleared, but she has to walk with a cane for a couple weeks. Her left arm still has to be in a cast and sling, but everything else healed extremely well. Finally, Callie was able to take her wife home. Callie hadn't been this excited about something since Arizona said yes to her proposal. This meant she would be safe and sound in their home, under Callie's protection without any annoying nurse's or people asking Arizona too many questions she didn't know the answer to. She did pretty well though, if she didn't know how to answer she would play it off and distract them. Or she would answer them, and confuse the other person. That's when Callie would follow them out and explain to them what happened when she woke up.
Callie and Arizona were closer. Not like how they used to be, but closer. After Callie put the pieces together she began asking more and more questions each day, sometimes too many. They had their bonding moments, and plenty of screaming matches. Arizona had really bad days, especially the days when she woke up from one of her nightmares. Not even Callie was able to heal her, and bring back the bubbly and charming Arizona. Instead, she was terrifying and her words struck right through you. She had no mercy some days, and didn't care who was in her line of fire. Callie had to hold back the urge to take the scared woman in her arms and prove to her that she wasn't alone in the world. That's how Arizona felt all the time, alone. During this time, Callie had to continue lying to herself and Arizona about being just friends. Even going as far as watching Arizona flirt with one of the male nurse's. She thought it would be funny, but it hurt her even more than she already was. The new Arizona was fun to be around, only because she wasn't shy to say anything that was on her mind. To Callie though, the old Arizona was much better, because she was hers.
Packing up the last few things, they were finally ready to go. Callie became incredibly nervous all of a sudden, and figured out why.
"Uhh, I'm going to make a quick call, then we can go.. Okay?" Callie blurted out, making Arizona huff and sit back down on the bed.
"Fine, but please hurry. I'm tired of being in this damn room." Arizona replied.
Callie grabbed her phone out of her purse and headed into the hall, leaving the door cracked. She dialed quickly and held the phone up to her ear, tapping her foot nervously and becoming irritated.
"Dad! Did you get all of Sofia's things? We're on our way home now." She answered practically yelling into the phone.
"I got all her clothes, her toys, and bedding. I can't bring the pink walls, and all the frozen dinosaur chicken nuggets in the freezer with me. They'll be salmonella infested by the time we get to Miami." Her father replied chuckling into the phone. He thought he was pretty hilarious.
"Dad, I'm serious. Arizona's… She's fragile right now. I don't know what she would do with Sofia. So this is best…. Right?" She said quietly. Callie had been second guessing herself ever since they got the go ahead last week. It was hard enough telling Sofia that she couldn't see her Mama till she was better, and telling her that she had to go visit grandma in Miami. Neither women had left Sofia for a long period of time since she was born, but Callie was the only one feeling the pain and emptiness.
"Calliope.. You said it yourself, Arizona isn't fit enough to have Sofia around. It's not what's best for you, but what's best for your daughter." His words calmed Callie's nerves, and he could hear her take several deep breaths into the phone. "You're doing the right thing, Mija"
"Thank you daddy. Can you put Sofia on the phone?" She asked with tears threatening to rise.
"I love you too…"
"Mommy? I'm going to Miami!" Sofia sounded so excited, and happy.
"I know baby. Remember what I told you?" She asked while smiling widely.
"To be good, and give Grandma lots of kisses… Mommy?" Suddenly her voiced dropped from high pitched to very serious.
"Sofia?"
"Tell Mama I love her too." Her voice was little, and Callie almost didn't hear it.
The brunette covered her mouth and moved the phone away from her ear for a second, choking back the sob that made its way up. "I will… She loves you too, princess."
"We have to go now, our plane is here!" Sofia had forgotten her sorrow and became excited all over again.
"Have fun baby, I love you Sofia."
"I love you too, Mommy.." Callie could hear Sofia kissing the phone which warmed her heart, then there was silence on the other end. Callie shut her phone off and wiped away the tears, and turned round to see a very confused blonde. "Arizona? I told you to wait a minute."
Arizona adjust her position with her cane and walked closer to Callie, "That was longer than a minute. Who was that on the phone?" She asked intrigued, seeing Callie with puffy eyes and a red nose made her feel uneasy.
Callie stuttered and came up with a quick response. "Oh, umm that was just my dad. He came to visit when your accident happened, and he just got on his plane…"
Arizona cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "You call him Princess?"
"How long have you been standing there?" Callie felt like her hands were bound together and she couldn't help but look anywhere except for Arizona.
"That doesn't matter, Callie. Why do you keep lying to me?" Arizona's eyes grew dark. Ever since her accident, Arizona's eyes only changed when she was mad, which made Callie very anxious.
"Can we please go home… and I'll tell you when we get you settled in.." Arizona just looked at her with a hard stare. "Please…" Callie took a step towards Arizona and placed both hands on her shoulder's pleading with her eyes.
They looked at each other intently for a few moments, "You're telling me everything tonight.." Her tone was serious and sent striking chills straight to Callie's bones. Callie nodded and grabbed her bags, and guided them to the elevator.
The car ride was agonizingly slow. There wasn't any good music on, and Arizona looked pissed as all get out. Callie held the steering wheel with both hands, knowing they would give it away how nervous she really was. They didn't talk, but Callie kept stealing glances at her wife. She looked angelic in the moon light. Arizona looked ten times better, her bruising was completely gone while her hair and skin was filled with life. Her attitude was a reflection of her dreams, you never knew how she was going to be that day till she woke up. She was scared to sleep, so going to bed happy wasn't an option.
When they arrived at their house, Callie hurriedly jumped out of the car and began gathering their things. She struggled to get her keys out of her pocket when she was at the door, and looked back seeing Arizona still sitting in the car with her head hunched over. Callie knew she didn't want help, but couldn't leave her sitting there all by herself. Opening the door she threw their bags down and walked back to the car. She didn't go to Arizona's side and help her out, instead she sat back in the driver's seat and waited for Arizona to make the first move. You could hear the light breeze wrestling with the leaves, and the night animals peeking out getting ready to play. Arizona lifted her head slowly and inhaled. She licked her lips, exhaled, and grabbed her cane.
The house was dark and very quiet. Too quiet for Callie's liking, but Arizona walked in right behind the Latina and sat herself down on the steps. She took her jacket off and handed it to Callie, keeping her eyes locked on the brunette. She was determined to get answers out of Callie one way or another. Even if that meant letting herself fall to her own desires. The past couple weeks had been extremely difficult for the both of them. Arizona wasn't the best person to be around, but Callie wouldn't stay away. Because of that she became Arizona's target for all her problems. Oddly though, Callie knew exactly what to say and do when she attacked her. It made Arizona even madder, because she hated to treat Callie like that and have her not fight back. Which led her to believe that they had done this before, and there was much more to everything than what Callie was telling her.
Callie came close to Arizona and held out her hand, but Arizona refused. "Tell me."
"Why don't we go into the kitchen or the living room?" Callie didn't want Arizona close to the door, because she can not have her walk out again.
"Fine." The blonde got up without Callie's help and walked into the living room. She scanned the room looking for something to jog her memory, but nothing.
Callie went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of water, knowing Arizona couldn't drink with the medication she was still on. When she entered the living room, she saw Arizona sitting in her usual spot on the couch. It gave Callie butterflies, and all the fear was beginning to fade away. She placed a glass in front of Arizona, taking a long drag on her own before setting it down on the stand next to the couch. Callie didn't know if she should sit next to Arizona or keep standing. Playing it safe she sat in the recliner across from the blonde, waiting.
"Everything." Arizona spat out.
Callie took a deep breath and adjusted herself in the seat. She laced her fingers together and twirled her thumbs, thinking of where to begin. "Okay… I don't.." She was terrified of saying all these things and having Arizona walk away from her. "I'm going to tell you everything, but you can't walk away from me. You can't leave me." She raised her head so her gaze met a fiery blue one.
Arizona swallowed and debated whether or not she really wanted to hear this now. It can wait till tomorrow, or next week…Right? She shook her head ridding those thoughts away, "I won't leave."
Callie's breath became short and heavy, the nerves setting in again. "We.. we're together." She looked up to see any reaction from the blonde, but she sat there as still as a brick wall. "We got married May 5th, 2011. After our car accident.." She left out Sofia for the time being. "A year later you got into a plane crash, which is why you lost your leg. For six months you hated me, because you thought it was my fault.. Then you accepted it, and things were good.." Callie tilted her head back and stared up at the white ceiling. "You cheated on me.. but we made it past it and started to work on getting us back.. Then you started that fellowship with Dr. Herman and it took a toll on our family. Which is when we went to counseling, and I .." She stopped, really not wanting to bring all that back up but she needed to hear it.
"You what Calliope?" Arizona asked snapping a little.
The use of her full name made her head jerk back down, meeting blue eyes once again. "Umm.. I ended it. Everything… We were so close in getting a divorce, until we realized that we couldn't live without each other.. I can't live without you Arizona." Her voice began cracking, as she stood and rounded the coffee table so that now she was sitting next to the blonde.
Arizona took her eyes off of Callie and shifted forward. This was too much, way too much. Everything was crashing down around her, the way she looked at herself, her world, and most of all the way she looked at Callie. Which she couldn't even do at the moment. Her body started to ache, this wasn't what she was expecting at all. Her mouth became dry and it was hard to swallow, while her stomach turned in circles. Arizona's palms were clamming up and her body all together started aching. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture everything Callie had just told her. All she could see was black, there was nothing there but blank space. She felt so small, so vulnerable, so scared and confused.
"What was I doing in the parking lot?" Arizona spoke softly still wrapping her head around it all.
"You coming to meet me in the Chapel.. so we could renew our vows, or get married again. We didn't really have a specific plan." Callie giggled trying to lighten the mood, but it faded just as fast as it came.
Arizona kept shaking her head violently. She was hearing everything that was coming out of Callie's mouth but she didn't want to accept any of it. This wasn't her life, this wasn't the type of person she had become. There was no wedding, no car accident, no plane crash, no almost divorce, and absolutely no relationship with Callie. Callie was just her friend that she had no romantic feelings for. After this, Callie wasn't going to be that either. A tear traveled slowly down Arizona's cheek, as Callie reached over and ran her thumb over it. Pulling Arizona's face to meet hers, she continued to rub Arizona's flushed cheek with the pad of her thumb. Callie's touch was so warm and inviting, making Arizona crumble even more. It was too much for her heart to take. She wanted nothing more than to hate the woman sitting in front of her, but her body and heart was telling her otherwise. She always reacted to Callie's touch, and it was all making sense why. Except Arizona was not ready to accept the fact that she was supposed to be in love with Callie. She ripped Callie's hand off of her face, and threw it back onto Callie's lap.
"If I can't leave, then you need too." Arizona's words were short and sharp. Tearing Callie in half, and leaving her to pick up the mess by herself.
