It was a gorgeous day. Birds were singing. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. Normally Arizona would have drank it all in and been even perkier than normal but not today. As a matter of fact she would probably never be perky again. What was the point?

"Arizona?"

She looked up when she heard her name to see Mark standing at the now open door of the limo. She hadn't realized they'd stopped let alone that he had already gotten out and was waiting for her. She reached for his proffered hand, giving it a gentle squeeze once she was safely out of the car. He had been a rock through this whole ordeal. If they weren't friends before they certainly were now.

Mark kept her hand in his as they started away from the limo. Christina and Lexie fell into step beside them, Lexie giving her yet another sympathetic look while Christina stared straight ahead. It was comforting to have a few familiar faces around. She would never be able to thank the three of them for coming with her. It was a long way from Seattle to Florida.

She swallowed hard as they approached the Torres family. Her glance skirted past them to the elaborate headstone with the breathtakingly beautiful angel statue behind it. Calliope Iphegenia Torres had already been etched on the stone in elaborate calligraphy letters. It sounded strange but it was mesmerizing, just as Callie had been.

"Arizona?"

The sound of Mark's voice pulled her out of her musings. She didn't realize she had stopped to stare. She gave him a weak attempt at a nod and they continued on their way.

But as they got closer things changed. The sky overhead darkened and the temperature dropped. She started to turn to Mark for an explanation but something else caught her eye. It was Callie.

"Arizona?"

She ignored Mark completely, her eyes fixed on her lover. Callie was still in her bloodstained scrubs, her skin almost transparent in the pallor of death. She grinned at Arizona, motioning for her to come closer.

"Arizona."

She tried to pull away but Mark's grip tightened on her hand. "Calliope?" Her heart skipped a beat as her girlfriend started to walk away. "Calliope!"

She ran to catch her, not wanting to lose her again. But she wasn't watching where she was going and fell headlong into the open grave in front of the headstone.

Her body jerked as her eyes snapped open, expecting to see the walls of the grave around her but finding Mark's face instead.

"Are you all right?" He looked down at her worriedly.

She frowned. "What's going on?"

"You were having a dream." Lexie answered.

"More like a nightmare." Christina commented.

A nightmare. That's all it was. A particularly nasty figment of her subconscious imagination.

She sat up straighter, realizing she had been sprawled in a chair. They were in one of the bigger consult rooms on the surgical ward. It's where she, Mark and Christina had settled after leaving the ER. Lexie had joined them not long after, bringing a tray of various drinks from the cafeteria. That explained why the three of them had been in her dream.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off." She winced ever so slightly as she stretched, her body protesting the movement. The chair wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and she was more than a little sore from slamming into the wall earlier. Not that she was complaining. She was the lucky one. "Has anyone come out yet?"

"No." Christina crumpled the coffee cup in her hand. "And it's starting to piss me off."

"No news is good news Yang. Keep telling yourself that." Mark put his hand on Arizona's shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right? Are you hurting? Do you need anything?"

Callie. She desperately needed Callie. "No." She shook her head. "I'm fine." She stretched again. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes."

"I can't believe I fell asleep." She reprimanded herself.

"Cut yourself some slack." Mark gave her shoulder a squeeze. "It's been a long day."

They all turned toward the door when it opened.

"Chief." Lexie was the first one to greet him.

Arizona sprang from the chair, nearly knocking Mark over in the process. Not that that stopped him from joining the girls as they swarmed the chief.

"How is she?"

"Are they through with her surgery?"

"How bad was the damage?"

"Is she going to be all right?"

"Slow down." Richard raised his hands to silence them. "I can't answer all of you at once."

"How is Calliope?" Arizona swallowed hard when he didn't answer immediately. Something wasn't right. "Did something go wrong? Does she need a specialist? Because I'm not above calling whoever she needs, even if it's Erica Hahn. Just tell me whatever it is and I'll do it."

"She doesn't need Erica Hahn."

"Then what is? And be honest." She looked into his eyes. "Please."

The Chief sighed. "She crashed again on the table."

Arizona's hand went to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "Is she..."

"No." He was quick to answer. "They got her back but the bullet caused a lot of damage. It looks like it went through her lung, hit her scapula, ricocheted back through the subclavian artery and lodged in her clavicle. She lost a lot of blood so they're giving her transfusions and they've got a chest tube in place to help with her lung. They're working on repairing the artery and lung right now."

"Was there a lot of tissue damage?"

The chief nodded in response to Christina's question. "And before you ask, we have no idea what long term effects that might have. Right now Hunt and Bailey are more concerned with repairing what they can. She'll need another surgery once she's more stabilized to repair her clavicle."

"Another surgery?" Lexie echoed the words.

"Her body has been through a lot. She's weak right now. They don't want to keep her in surgery any longer than necessary."

"Right." Arizona nodded, trying to process everything she'd just heard. "So it's still going to be a while."

"I'm afraid so." Richard squeezed her hand. "But she's holding her own. Callie is tough Arizona. She won't give up without a fight."

"That's what I keep saying." Mark agreed.

"I need to get back. I'm sorry it took so long this time but I wanted to be sure…"

"It's all right." Arizona cut him off.

"I'll update you again soon."

"Thanks." Mark clapped him on the arm as he let go of Arizona and left the room. "See, what did I tell you? She's going to be fine."

"You must have heard a different conversation than I did." Christina mumbled.

Mark frowned at her. "What was that?"

"Nothing." She picked up the empty coffee carafe. "I'm going on a coffee run. Does anyone want anything?" She didn't give any of them a chance to answer before leaving.

"There goes the grapevine." Mark huffed as she left. "Now everyone in the hospital will know what the Chief told us."

Lexie gave him a look. "You don't know that."

"Are you kidding? She'll go to the cafeteria by way of that group of jackals she calls friends. Within twenty minutes everyone will either have Callie in the morgue or her career as a surgeon will be over."

"Mark." Lexie rolled her eyes toward Arizona.

"Shit Arizona I'm sorry."

"No, you're right." Arizona nodded. "I, uh… I need some air."

"Wait." Mark tried to catch her as she left.

"Let her go."

"But…"

"She's got a lot to think about right now." Lexie reasoned. "She'll be back when she's ready."

Mark thought about it for a second before sinking down in one of the chairs. "Will I ever learn to keep my big mouth shut?"

"Probably not." Lexie watched him. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"Me? I'm fine."

"This is me you're talking to Mark. I know how much Callie means to you. You're 'everything's going to be fine' routine might work with everyone else but not me." She went to kneel in front of him. "Talk to me."

"I…" He sighed when she raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm scared Lex. She's my best friend. What am I going to do if she…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word. "That's why I'm trying to stay positive."

"That's good, but it's just us here now. So let it out."

He stared into her eyes for a moment before his tears started to fall. "I can't lose her Lexie. I love her."

"I know." She climbed into his lap to hold him close. "And she loves you too."

He clung to her, too emotional to speak and she held him, knowing nothing she said would take away his pain.

Meanwhile Arizona hurried toward her destination, trying to ignore the stares and whispered conversations directed at her. As long as they left her alone she really didn't care what anyone else did or said. All she could think about was Callie. Maybe if she concentrated all her energy on her girlfriend Callie would feel it and pull through her surgery. And it wouldn't hurt to get some help from someone with a little more clout.

She slipped into the chapel, glad to find it empty. She sat down in the second pew back, resting her elbows on the back of the pew in front of her and clasping her hands together.

"It's me again."

She looked at the crucifix on the wall before her.

"I know you probably get tired of hearing my voice but I'm a pediatric surgeon and while I'm good at what I do, I can still use all the help I can get sometimes. But today I'm not here about a patient." She swallowed hard. "I'm here about Calliope."

Her voice quivered as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"She risked her life to save me today and now... Now she's fighting for hers. I know she's special and talented and extraordinary and would fit in perfectly where you are but I don't want her to go. I need her."

Her breath hitched in her chest.

"I love her. I love her more than I've ever loved anything or anyone. And I think she knows but I've never told her. She needs to hear it."

She nodded.

"So please let her live. Please don't take her away. I'll take great care of her. Forever."

Hope blossomed in her heart. Forever. She liked the sound of that.

Now all she needed was Callie to make it come true.

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Sorry there wasn't any Callie & Arizona fluff here but there's plenty to come in the future.