Carlos carefully made his way across the lobby, wondering whose bright idea it was to put the coffee kiosk at the opposite end of the hospital from the main bank of elevators. The cups he was carrying had lids and fitted rings of thicker cardboard to keep them from getting too hot against his skin but he could just picture the scolding liquid they held spilling out onto his hands or, even worse, onto anyone unfortunate enough to bump into him.

"You're walking like an old woman again. It's coffee, Carlos, not acid."

He frowned at his wife as the elevators finally came into view, glad to see there wasn't anyone waiting for them. It was getting late in the evening and the hospital had cleared out quite a bit since he and Rosa came down to the cafeteria to eat. Maybe they would be able to make it back to Callie's room without anyone running into him.

"I could almost hear your sigh of relief all the way over here." Rosa, who had already reached the elevators, teased as she hit the up button. "Just a few more steps amor and you'll be home free."

As if on cue the elevator doors opened and a man in scrubs came charging out, too caught up in typing something into his phone to notice anything around him. Rosa was already safe but Carlos barely managed to step aside in time to avoid being hit.

The boy didn't even notice as he continued on his way. Carlos opened his mouth to reprimand him when he noticed a woman come around the corner, stepping directly into the man's path. There was no time for any sort of warning as the two of them collided.

"Whoa." The woman gripped the man's arm to keep them both from falling. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," the man squeaked, obviously shaken.

The woman bent down to pick up his phone. "Is this the culprit for why you weren't watching where you were going?"

He avoided her gaze. "Yes."

"I don't know the scrubs color scheme around here. What does light blue make you?"

"An intern."

She hissed as she nodded. "That means you really need to pay attention to what you're doing. Otherwise you're not going to have much of a future around here. What do you think would have happened if I was a patient and you mowed me down because you had your nose buried in that thing?"

"I... Uh..."

"Nothing good." She handed him the phone. "So put that away and go."

"Right." He scrambled to put the phone in his pocket. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the only one you should be saying that to."

He quickly looked over his shoulder at the Torres'. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right dear, just be more careful." Rosa gave him a motherly nod.

Carlos frowned at him, causing the boy to swallow hard before almost tripping over his own feet to get away from them.

"You handled that like a pro." Rosa smiled at the woman.

The woman shrugged. "They can smell authority."

"Are you on your way up to see Callie?"

"I was. I still want to try to snag Arizona for dinner. Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all."

Carlos' frown deepened as he watched the exchange. He had never seen the woman before and he had been to Seattle more times than Rosa. How could she possibly know her?

"Where are my manners? Jayme this is my husband Carlos. Carlos, this is Jayme McKinnon, Arizona's friend. I told you about meeting her this afternoon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Torres. I would shake your hand but…" Jayme eyed the coffee he was carrying.

"Here." Rosa snatched the cup from her husband's right hand, taking a sip as she watched him accept Jayme's hand.

"As I said, it's nice to meet you sir."

"Likewise." Carlos answered.

He was a man of few words if he knew you let alone if he was meeting you for the first time so Rosa only waited a few seconds before speaking again. "Arizona insisted we come to the cafeteria to eat. I needed a caffeine fix afterwards and thought she would appreciate one too."

"She will. Z practically lives on coffee."

"I knew I liked her." Rosa took another sip.

"How's Callie?"

"She's doing wonderful." Rosa led the way into the elevator when the doors opened again. "Dr. Bailey was paging us because she woke up."

"Really? That's great!"

"Isn't it? And they took her off the ventilator and moved her to a private room this afternoon."

Their conversation continued but Carlos tuned out, taking the opportunity to give Jayme a once over. He had a tendency to compare other young women to his daughters. Jayme was tall, like his girls, with short black hair and green eyes that sparkled as she smiled at his wife. She reminded him of Callie with her confidence and natural ability to interact with others.

Aria and Callie were everything to him. His pride and joy. The legacy he would leave behind someday when the good Lord saw fit to call him home. He was ashamed of himself for the way he had treated Callie. Yes it was a shock when she introduced him to Arizona and said they were dating but he could have stayed calm and listened to what she had to say. Instead he let his narrowminded stubbornness get in the way, cutting her off financially and emotionally. If Arizona hadn't cornered him with that speech about how her own father reacted when he found out she was a lesbian he probably still wouldn't have been speaking to Callie.

His little girl could have died thinking he hated her.

A lump formed in his throat at the idea. A parent wasn't supposed to outlive their child but it happened all too often. And even though Dr. Bailey kept assuring them that Callie was getting better he couldn't help but think about how things could have turned out.

"Carlos?"

He looked up when he heard his name to see concern in Rosa's brown eyes.

"Are you all right amor? You were a million miles away."

"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking. What did I miss?"

Rosa watched him for another moment before speaking. "Jayme asked if we would help her persuade Arizona to leave Callie's room for a little while."

"She tends to ignore her own wants or needs when someone she loves is hurt or sick." Jayme explained. "She looked pretty beat when I saw her earlier."

"The poor thing is exhausted." Rosa agreed.

"So I thought if you and Mrs. Torres…"

"It's Rosa."

Jayme grinned at the older woman. "I thought if you and Rosa backed me up when I tell her it's time to take a break she might listen."

"That's a good idea." Carlos nodded. "Callie will be very upset with us if we stand by and watch Arizona run herself down."

"Exactly. That's not the kind of first impression I want to make on my best friend's girl." Jayme raised her eyebrows. "So what do you say? Do we have a deal? Because as crazy as it sounds you might have to literally kick her out to get her to go."

"I'm sure it won't take anything that drastic." Rosa tisked. "She hasn't seen you in a while."

"I like the way you think Rosa. I can guilt trip her into coming with me."

"That's not what I meant."

"Maybe not but it works."

"You can't be serious."

Carlos chuckled at the exasperated expression on his wife's face. His father once told him that if you really wanted to know someone you needed to meet their friends because they were the true measure of a person's character. He still had a lot to make up for as far as Callie and Arizona were concerned so he had promised himself he would get to know the pediatrician better. If Jayme was any indication of what he could expect from Arizona they were going to be just fine.

"And what are you laughing about?" Rosa frowned at him.

"Nothing." He shook his head as they finally reached their floor and exited the elevator.

"Good answer." Jayme smirked at him.

Carlos smiled. Yes, he had a feeling Arizona was going to be a very welcome addition to the Torres family.

*************

Arizona leaned against the counter next to the coffee maker, rotating her head from side to side as she used her right hand to gently massage her neck. She was going to have to stop falling asleep in the chair next to Callie's bed if she had any chance of being able to move her head normally again. It was comfortable for sitting but not so much so for taking a nap. Leaning forward to lay her head on the edge of the mattress didn't help either but she couldn't stop herself. She wanted to be as close as possible to Callie.

Which is why she wished the stupid coffee pot would hurry up and finish dripping already so she could get back to Callie's room. She wanted to be awake when her girlfriend woke up again but kept drifting off so she decided to risk a quick trip to the nurse's station for a cup of coffee only to find the pot empty. Since she was there and could really use a shot of caffeine, she decided to wait for a new pot to brew.

And it was finally done. She quickly poured herself a cup and started back toward Callie's room, taking a sip as she went.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to a flurry of activity up the hallway. From the number of people hurrying into the room she knew they were working a code. But it wasn't until Miranda Bailey literally ran by her that she realized what room they were in... Callie's room.

The coffee cup slid from her suddenly nerveless fingers as she sprinted down the corridor, coming to a screeching halt in the doorway. Owen was already standing next to the bed working on Callie. Or at least he should have been but he wasn't, he was just staring down at her as the alarm on the heart monitor behind him continued to wail.

"What do we have?" Bailey breathlessly asked as she went to the opposite side of the bed.

"I think she threw a blood clot."

"What do you need me to do? Compressions? The paddles?"

"No. It's..." Owen's voice was raw. "It's too late."

Bailey frowned. "What?"

"She had a massive heart attack. There's nothing we can do." He clinched his jaw. "She's gone."

"No." The word slipped from Arizona's lips. "No." She shook her head. "NO!" She blindly pushed past people to get to Bailey's side. "There has to be something you can do! She was fine just a few minutes ago."

"Arizona I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Do something! She was FINE!!"

"Arizona..." Bailey reached for her.

"No." Arizona avoided her hand. "He's wrong Miranda."

"I wish I was." Owen turned the heart monitor off, plunging the room into silence. "I really am sorry Arizona."

"This can't be happening." Tears blurred her vision.

"Come on." Bailey put her arm around the blonde's waist to lead her out of the room. "Let's go."

"No, Calliope." She tried to break free, to stay with her lover but Miranda was too strong. "Calliope?" Her heart broke into a million pieces as Owen pulled the bed sheet up over Callie, obscuring her from view. "Calliope!"

Her eyes snapped open as she jerked upright in the chair, her girlfriend's name still on her lips. She frantically looked around the room, expecting to find Owen, Miranda and the others but there was no one there.

She swallowed hard as she looked toward the bed, breath she didn't realize she'd been holding rushing from her lungs when she saw that Callie was still sleeping peacefully. Her eyes travelled to the monitors keeping track of the brunette's condition, relief flooding through her when saw all the readings were within normal range. Callie was stable.

It was just a dream. Another horrible, horrible nightmare.

"Look what we found downstairs."

Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Rosa's voice.

"We ran into her at the elevators and decided to bring her up with us. Don't you two have dinner plans?" Rosa's voice trailed off when she noticed the bewildered look in the blonde's eyes.

Jayme saw it too. "Z?"

"Jayme." Her friend might as well have been an angel standing there. What Arizona needed more than anything right now was someone to lean on. Normally Callie would be more than happy to oblige but she wasn't in any shape to help her out and no one else in Seattle knew her. Not the way Jayme did.

"Come here."

Her open arms were like a beacon leading her through the fog. Arizona was on her feet and wrapping her arms around Jayme in no time.

"It's all right." Jayme held her close. "I'm here."

"What's going on?" Carlos frowned. "Is something wrong with Callie?"

"No." Arizona's voice was muffled by her friend's shirt.

"Are you OK dear?" Rosa asked.

"She will be." Jayme rubbed her back. "We just need to take a walk and..."

"No." Arizona clung to her. "I can't leave Calliope."

"Then we'll go. Come on Carlos." Rosa started out of the room again.

"We were going to go to Callie's to get some of her things she'll be needing." Carlos spoke before Jayme could protest. "We'll just go now instead of later."

Jayme wanted to tell them to stay but knew Arizona wouldn't open up to her if they did. "Thank you."

"You just take care of her." Rosa eyed the blonde sadly, wishing there was something more she could do.

Carlos took his wife's hand, closing the door behind them as they left.

Jayme ran one of her hands through blonde locks. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Arizona shook her head.

"Do you want to sit down?"

Arizona nodded.

Jayme led her back to the chair, somehow managing to sit down and arrange Arizona in her lap without breaking contact with her friend.

Arizona burrowed against her. There were very few people who made her feel truly safe. Her parents, Callie and Jayme tied for the top of the list and she said a silent prayer of thanks that someone had seen fit to send her best friend her way right now.

"Shh." Jayme tightened her grip. "You know I wouldn't say this if I didn't believe it Z. Everything is going to be OK. Callie's getting better and the bastard who did this to her is in police custody. It's going to take some time, but everything really is going to be all right. And I'm going to be here with you until it is."

It felt good to finally give in to the emotions she had been holding at bay since that punk drew his gun in the ER and cry.