2.

Watching as Alex and Richard almost carried a pale yet flushed looking Arizona out of the VIP entrance to the hospital Meredith Grey frowned, she had noticed something different with the perky surgeon over the last few months but had been unable to put her finger on it. At first, she thought it was Callie and Sofia's departure that was impacting her, but as the weeks went on she couldn't help but worry that it was something so much more.

Her and Arizona might never have been the closest of friends but they were forever bonded by what they had experienced whilst stranded in the woods. Something that she hadn't really considered when she had agreed to testify for Callie at the custody hearing. Instead all she had seen was how broken the orthopedic surgeon had been at the idea of losing either her daughter or her girlfriend, blinding her from seeing what the other woman would be losing too.

She tried to absolve herself from feeling any guilt by telling herself that Arizona had never asked her to testify, but it was still there, still eating away at her.

Sighing she turned and headed towards the hospital pharmacy, Bailey had an ear infection and she had received a text to say his prescription was ready to pick up, handing her slip to one of the technicians she leaned back against the wall as she waited, her eyes falling on April Kepner. Smiling at her she took a cautious step forward as the trauma surgeon wiped at her eyes, obviously trying to hide the fact she was crying from her colleague.

"April-"

Just as she was about to ask what was wrong the other woman's pagers blared through the stillness of the room as she jumped up from her seat, mumbled an apology and practically ran towards the elevator.

"You forgot your … prescription," Meredith called after her as she picked up the bag that had been left behind, her frown deepening when she realized that the name on the prescription was not April's but in fact that of Arizona Robbins, the same woman she had been trying not to think about.

Picking up Bailey's prescription from the desk, she thanked the technician before heading into the nearest on-call room, her hands trembling as she fingered the plastic of the bag in her lap. "I shouldn't," she whispered to herself.

The devil on her shoulder was telling her that she should, that the contents of the bag might help her answer some of the many unanswered questions she had, that if she looked inside she would also see how important the medications where and whether Arizona needed them right now or they could wait until April had finished up with whatever emergency she had been paged to.

"I shouldn't," she repeated again as the angel reminded her that Arizona had a right to her privacy, that the contents of the bag were none of her business and that opening it would be a breach of the other woman's trust.

Sighing heavily, she leaned back against the wall, she had tried on numerous occasions to broach the subject of Arizona with Callie, but the other woman just didn't want to discuss it. Unless it was to rant and shout about how much Arizona had let Sofia down by not being there when she said she would. Meredith had tried to get her friend to see it from her ex-wife's point of view, tried to remind her Arizona had nearly lost her life, and had lost her leg in a plane crash, but Callie was just too angry to listen.

As she had listened to her friend go off in an angry tirade she couldn't help but feel that Callie's anger wasn't even really with Arizona, that instead she was angry at herself and regretting the decisions she had made. And the only way to make herself feel better about them was to hate Arizona. Meredith knew that Callie's relationship with Penny was going south, that they argued over everything, that the younger surgeon had begun to resent the fact that Sofia was there all the time and never anywhere else. After all, when they had been in Seattle the young-girl had spent almost half of her time with her mommy, giving Callie and Penny time alone together, in New York they didn't have that, there was no village or co-parenting agreement, there was just Callie, Penny and Sofia.

"I shouldn't," Meredith repeated for the third time as her fingers gentle eased open the top of the bag.

Closing her eyes, she tried to push away her growing guilt as she opened the bag and took out the first box. Reading the label marked 'clindamycin' she tried to recall everything she could about the antibiotic, however what knowledge she had did not help as it was used to treat several different types of infections.

The second box she took out was 'azithromycin' which was also an antibiotic, however this one was also used to treat a variety of infections, frowning she tried to remember which common causes of infection you would use the two together in but she was coming up blank.

The next box was an inhaler which only caused Meredith's frown to deepen as she was pretty sure she would have known if Arizona has asthma, especially considering they had spent days together in almost freezing temperatures. She knew that Arizona had suffered from a pulmonary embolism after the crash but as far as she was aware it had left her with no lingering respiratory problems.

The final two packages she pulled out together, the first one was a box of prednisolone, a steroid used to treat inflammation or an acute asthma flare up, sitting the boxes down she realized that so far everything was pointing to Arizona having some sort of respiratory infection. A very nasty infection if she had been prescribed multiple different medications to treat it.

However, she had not been prepared for the contents of the final box as she found herself staring at a medication that she was intimately familiar with; pre-natal vitamins.

"I really shouldn't have done this," Meredith whispered, putting all the boxes back in the bag and standing up.

Pacing across the small on-call room she tried to wrap her head around it all, she knew Arizona was devastated after losing custody of Sofia, a devastation that had been compounded when Callie had followed through on her plans to take the youngster to New York so she could start a new life, with her new girlfriend.

She also knew that Arizona had undergone IVF in the past when her and Callie were still married in an attempt to have another child together. In fact, she was pretty sure she was one of only a very select few at GSMH that knew Arizona had in fact fallen pregnant, only to miscarry in the very early stages.

Having a baby alone though, undergoing IVF on your own was a completely different thing, especially when it seemed like Arizona was barely holding on after losing Sofia as it was, surely, she wouldn't do something as drastic as jump straight into IVF and having another baby. But as Meredith pulled out the box again, double checking that it was definitely Arizona's and not a script for someone else that had been mixed in with it she sighed, realizing that's exactly what the fetal surgeon must have done.

Taking out her phone she dialed through her contacts before reaching the chosen name, she listened as it rung before it clicked to voicemail.

"Go for Alex," the familiar voice began as Meredith ended the call, not wanting to leave a message.

Considering her options, she flicked nervously through her contacts again before dialing, it took just a few seconds before the person on the other side picked up.

"Mer …" Callie could barely even finish saying her friends name before she started crying, loud, ugly, body-wracking sobs that Meredith could feel from thousands of miles away.

As she heard her friends sobs Meredith couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she already knew, if maybe Arizona had already told her and that was why the other woman had looked so broken when she had seen her. Whilst she hadn't expected Callie to be over the moon about Arizona deciding to have another child, without her, when they had so desperately tried to have one together she hadn't expected her reaction to be so strong.

"I don't understand," Callie sobbed.

Meredith wanted to say something, to try and reassure her but then there was a chance that Callie didn't know about Arizona's pregnancy, that it was something else that had upset her and if that was the case she didn't want to be the one to tell her.

"Understand what?" Meredith asked, deciding to let Callie do most of the talking.

"Why she would do this, why Sofia has to … she fought so hard for her and now … she's just throwing her away," Callie cried, her words punctuated by loud gasping breaths.

Reading between the lines Meredith couldn't help but think that Callie had decided that Arizona was replacing Sofia, that instead of fighting for her place in her daughter's life she had just decided to have another child instead. And whilst Meredith had no idea what was behind the other woman's decision she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she loved Sofia with her whole being and would never do that.

"Callie, you need to take a deep breath, calm a little and tell me exactly what has happened," Meredith instructed as she heard the other woman running a tap and then silence.

"Penny and I had a fight, that's nothing new we've been fighting a lot since we moved here … it's a lot; she's starting a new job, I don't have a job yet, we have no support system here Sofia and I, she misses everyone back there and is acting out … but I still believed we could make it work," Callie admitted.

Meredith nodded, even though the other woman couldn't see her. "It's only been 4 months, you need to give it time," she tried to reassure her friend, "Look how long it took Derek and I to get our act together," she reminded her.

"I know and that's why I thought if I could do something that she wanted, show her that I was willing to make sacrifices … although I don't know how much more of a sacrifice I could make, I gave up everything for her, because I love her … but I just thought … she has this work gala this weekend and I said I would go but I haven't found a babysitter I trust yet and Arizona … she won't fly so I offered to bring Sofia there, let her stay there for a week and then I would pick her up. It was the perfect solution, Sofia gets to spend time with her mommy, Penny and I get to work on us and she doesn't have to get on a plane, but she said no, said it wasn't the right time and that she had important plans that she couldn't reschedule … there should be nothing more important than spending time with Sofia, than being with her daughter," Callie sobbed, her heart breaking not only for Sofia but also with the realization of just how far her and Arizona had drifted from each other.

"Callie I'm sure Arizona didn't mean it like-"

"Do not make excuses for her," Callie raged. "Do you know she won't even facetime Sof more than once a week and even then, it has to be on her terms, sure she calls her every day but she won't even make time in her precious schedule so her daughter can see her."

Knowing that nothing she could say or do right now would make Callie think any differently about the situation she suddenly had an idea, an idea that would either help both of the women or could make things a hundred times worse. "Why don't you bring Sofia to Seattle anyway? I have the weekend off and I know Zola would love to see her, that way you can still go to the gala with Penny, I get to see you and Zola gets to see her BFF … maybe even spend some time with Arizona if her schedule clears."

"I don't know," Callie sighed.

"Why not?" Meredith wondered. "It makes perfect sense."

Callie was silent for a few minutes as she considered her friends suggestion. "Ok," she agreed. "Sofia really does miss Zola and as mad as I am at Arizona right now Sofia needs to see her. Thank-you."

"No worries," Meredith shrugged, wondering if she had just made a really terrible mistake.

"I'll text you my flight details," Callie said as she smiled for what felt like the first time in weeks. "And Meredith, really … thank you."

Hanging up the phone Meredith suddenly realized she still had Arizona's prescription bag in her hand, heading down to the ER she was relieved to see that April was caught up in the middle of a double trauma and probably had not had time to realize it was missing.

"You left this upstairs?" Meredith said as the blonde stepped outside to check up on some labs.

April's eyes widened in panic as she quickly tried to cover her alarm. "Oh … thank-you."

"I'm on my way home, do you want me to drop them off at Arizona's place?" Meredith offered,

"Why would you … it's my prescription why would you need to drop it off with her?" April panicked, she never really had been very good at lying.

Meredith help up the bag. "Because it has her name on it and when I saw her leaving here with Alex and Richard earlier she didn't look well at all. So I would imagine she needs it sooner rather than later and you look pretty caught up here."

April knew Meredith was right, that Arizona needed to start the medication as soon as possible but she also knew that her friend really wasn't up to visitors at the moment. "That's ok-"

"Honestly April it's no problem, Arizona's place is right on my way home," Meredith informed her.

Running out of excuses April sighed. "She's not at home, she went back with Alex."

Meredith could tell that the other surgeon knew something she didn't, something concerning the fetal surgeon that all of a sudden, she couldn't stop thinking about, but she wasn't about to push it and leave April in a difficult position so she decided to play it cool. "Well that's on my way home too," she smiled. "I'll have it there in 10 minutes," she added as she left before April could argue.

GA – GA – GA

Helping Arizona into the house Alex could feel the heat that still radiated off of her as he helped her up the stairs and into the bedroom she had been using, concerned by how breathless the small amount of exertion had caused her to become.

"Robbins," he started, sitting down on the bed next to her as she practically collapsed against him, when they left the hospital she had seemed almost energized but now she was so pale she was practically transparent, her whole body shaking with the effort it seemed to be taking to remain upright.

Before she had a chance to reply she scrambled forward, heading into the bathroom as she fell to the floor, her prosthetic making a painful clanging sound as she retched painfully, emptying what little was left in her stomach.

Having been alerted by the loud banging and harsh retching that followed Jo Wilson came rushing into the room. "Alex, what's-"

She stopped talking as she took in the sight of the usually bubby and full-of-life surgeon retching into the toilet. "I'll get some water," Jo offered not knowing what else to do.

Alex nodded, knowing that Arizona would not want everyone seeing her like this as the heaving finally stopped and she slumped against him, the heat of her skin burning through his clothes. "You feel ok to move?" Alex asked, wanting to get her up off the cold tiled floor as soon as possible.

Arizona nodded against him. "I don't think there's anything left in my stomach anyway."

Standing up Alex helped her to her feet, cradling her against him as he practically carried her to the bed, lying her down he pulled the throw off the bed leaving only the sheet. "Do you er … your leg should I …"

Arizona shook her head. "Could you give me a minute, I can do it," she breathed, her words punctuated by a harsh sounding cough.

Stepping out into the hallway Alex saw a concerned looking Jo hovering just a few feet away with a jug of water and a clean glass. "Is she … drunk?" she asked, not wanting to jump to conclusions but normally when people threw up like that alcohol was involved.

"No," Alex sighed. He knew Jo deserved an explanation after all his girlfriend had been the epitome of patient since he had brought home a bruised and broken Arizona all those weeks ago. She hadn't asked, knowing that the other woman needed her space and privacy instead she had just been there, listening as the older woman talked about surgeries, exams, Sofia and anything else she could think of to stop herself from going mad.

He had watched with pride as two of the most important women in his life had formed an almost tentative bond, his girlfriend's silent support being exactly what his distraught mentor needed.

"She's sick," Alex whispered, unable to hide his concern. "Pneumonia and bronchitis, she should be in the hospital but she … being here is what she wanted."

"I-"

Jo's response was cut short as a loud banging echoed from inside the room, motioning for Jo to wait outside Alex knocked gently on the door. "Arizona?"

"Finished," she coughed, giving him permission to enter.

Entering the room Alex found her huddled in the center of the bed, looking around he saw that her prosthetic now laid on the floor next to a broken lamp.

"I stumbled," Arizona admitted, not even having the energy to open her eyes. "My crutches were too far away. Sorry, I'll replace it."

Resting his hand on her back Alex frowned realizing that she felt hotter than she did just moments earlier, something he hadn't thought physically possible. Quickly counting the hours in his head, he realized there was still a while to go before she could take anything else for the fever, even then he wasn't sure she would keep it down, just like he wasn't sure she would keep down the antibiotics long enough for them to have any effect.

Kicking off his shoes he shuffled closer towards her, the harsh labored sound of her breathing cutting through him as she seemed to struggle for every breath.

"Robbins," he gently whispered, trying to coax her awake, knowing that even though they had just gotten back from the hospital he couldn't let her fight him anymore, she needed to be admitted,

"Go away," Arizona replied, her words barely audible above the now ever-present wheezing. "Tired … sleep … leave."

Alex ran his hand across her back, knowing that he was one of only a few people that could initiate physical contact with her without her freezing. Although he knew it would do very little to ease her struggling he needed to do something, anything, to help. "You can sleep later but right now we are going back to the hospital, I'll even take you to Seattle Pres if that's what you want but … we're going."

"No hospitals," Arizona protested, her eyes fluttering open.

"I know you're scared, I understand, really I do and if there was any other way then … I would do it but right now you need help; I can hear your lungs struggling from here and you are not keeping anything down, we can't take any chances, not with the baby."

Shaking her head and pushing herself into a sitting position Arizona regretted the action as the room started to spin around her as the distinct sound of the doorbell, followed by footsteps on the stairs could be heard in the background. "No."

Downstairs Jo opened the door to find Meredith Grey. "Er .. hi," she stammered, suddenly feeling 13-years-old just like she always did when she was around the attending.

"Is Alex home? Arizona?" Meredith asked, not waiting for an invitation as she stepped inside the house.

"Now really isn't a good time, sorry," Jo apologized as a loud retching could be heard from upstairs.

Back inside the bedroom Alex held a wastepaper basket in front of Arizona as she dry-heaved into it. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I just need to sleep."

"Yeah you sound really fine to me," Alex pointed out as he watched her lungs struggle for every breath.

"I … am … fine," Arizona repeated her words ending in a series of hacking coughs as she leaned forward, her arms resting out in front of her as she tried to get enough air into her lungs, "I … ok," she finally agreed as the coughing turned into even more retching and she realized Alex was right, there was no way she would tolerate oral medication with the way her stomach was right now.

And as much she was terrified about the idea of being admitted to the hospital and everyone finding out about her pregnancy, before she had been given a chance to get her head around it herself. She also knew she couldn't take any more risks with her health, not with her daughters relying on her to be healthy.

"Sorry," she apologized as she realized she had vomited on him.

"No apologies necessary," Alex reassured her as he wrapped a blanket around her and lifted her into his arms, holding her shaking body close to him as he stepped out into the hallway where Jo was practically body-blocking Meredith from getting up the stairs.

Shaking his head Alex stopped. "Meredith what are you … you know what I don't have time for this, Jo can you grab her prosthetic for me, please," he asked as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Alex, what's going on, Arizona … I … April got caught up in surgery so I was just dropping the prescription off," Meredith tried to explain,

Alex nodded, looking down at Arizona, his concern doubling as he watched her chest rise and fall with painful, labored breaths all he could think about was how they needed to get to the hospital. "I don't have time to explain, I need to get her back to the hospital."

Meredith was about to say something when she too heard it; a horrible, painful wheezing sound that cut through the evening air as she let her eyes travel down to the woman cradled carefully in Alex's arms and realized just how sick she looked. Her skin was a horrible ashen color, her breaths were labored and uneven and her eyes seemed wild and unfocused as her body shook with fever.

"I'll drive," Meredith offered as Jo arrived with Arizona's prosthetic and an overnight bag.

Knowing there was no point wasting time Alex nodded and followed Meredith towards her car, grateful for the fact that he could sit with Arizona in the back because with the way her breathing was sounding at the moment he was terrified the next breath she took could be her last.

"I never should have agreed to let her come home," Alex whispered as Jo climbed in next to him. "I knew she should have stayed … I.."

"Not … your … fault," Arizona tried to reassure him as she fought to open her eyes. "My … choice … just being … a friend."

Alex ran his hand gently through her hair. "Sh, don't try to talk, just concentrate on breathing ok, we will be there real soon and you'll be feeling better before you know it," he tried to reassure her as he pulled out his phone and rang ahead to April, letting her know they were coming and to get a private room ready.

GA – GA – GA

They arrived at GSMH in record time, Meredith stopping the car right at the entrance where April was already waiting to show them into the room.

"What happened?" April asked, as Alex reluctantly laid Arizona down.

"She was fine when we left but as soon as we got to the house it was like … she crashed, she couldn't stop throwing up and her fever spiked, then the wheezing got really, really bad and her breathing was … she couldn't stay at the house, she wasn't tolerating anything orally and I was concerned about her oxygen levels," Alex panicked as he helped April hook the barely-conscious doctor up to the monitors as a flustered Richard entered.

As soon as the monitor was attached to Arizona, the neon lines started to snake across the screen in a frantic manner causing all 3 doctors jumping in to action.

"O2 levels are 86%, let's start her on high flow oxygen and page respiratory," Richard observed.

"Heart rate is 147, sinus tachycardia, could be the fever, dehydration or sepsis," Alex continued, trying not to let his mind go back to the last time Arizona had crashed on him.

April pressed the screen until the blood pressure cuss started to inflate. "BP is 89/40 and temperature is 103.6, she needs a line, fluids and we need to change her antibiotics."

"I can put the line in," Meredith offered, stepping into the room.

Alex turned to face his friend, his eyes narrowed in frustration. "You can get out, now," he insisted, still annoyed at her for choosing sides during the custody battle.

"I'll do it," Jo offered, stepping into the room.

"Alex-"

"Leave, now," Alex shouted, not wanting to waste any more time listening to her counter-argument.

As she heard her friend's raised voices Arizona opened her eyes, struggling to speak over the high flow of the oxygen mask, "Baby … the baby?"

"Page OB," Alex instructed Jo, just as she finished inserting the IV line.

"The right side is silent, I'm concerned there could be an effusion," April said as she finished listening to Arizona's chest, being careful not to expose her.

Attaching the request stickers to the blood Richard looked up at the numbers. "I'm going to run these to the lab myself, make sure they are a priority … and where the hell is respiratory?"

"I'll page them again," April offered, watching as Arizona tried to lean forward, her hands resting on the bed as if she was trying to hold herself up as a loud, wheezy coughs shook her body, leaving her shaking and fighting for air.

Alex felt himself really start to panic as her body shook with each inhale she took, each one seeming to take longer to come than the next and the monitors started to bleep alarmingly, letting them know that her oxygen levels were plummeting.

"She's barely shifting any air," April observed, once again removing her stethoscope from Arizona's chest as she helped the other doctor sit back against the bed. "Crash page respiratory. Now. And tell them we are going to need to set up for intubation."

Alex watched as Arizona's eyes darted wildly around the room, her expression one of fear and panic as no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to pull enough air into her lungs. Her head shaking furiously as she silently pleaded with them not to intubate her.

"What have we got?" Michelle Cullen one of the hospitals lead respiratory therapists asked as she entered the room, stopping in her tracks as she realized who the patient was. "Arizona?"

"Dr. Robbins has a severe case of pneumonia and bronchitis, she has been unable to tolerate oral antibiotics and her condition has continued to deteriorate; she's had hydrocortisone and IV antibiotics but her oxygen levels keep falling and her blood gas shows very poor gaseous exchange," April explained.

Pulling the mask down Arizona faced the RT, someone that she had worked with on a number of occasions in the PICU and NICU. "No tube … please … no tube."

"I can't promise anything," Michelle said, looking the terrified surgeon directly in the eye. "But I'll try my best," she reassured her before turning her attention to Jo, "I need you to air call Peter Lee ask him to bring me a BiPap machine and then call radiology and request a portable x-ray, Michelle requested.

Arizona's eyes widened in alarm, she had already had an x-ray today and whilst she knew all precautions would be taken, and the risk was minimal she couldn't help the irrational fear that crept over her when she thought about the effect everything would be having on her unborn daughter.

As if reading her mind April took hold of her hand. "Arizona, I know right now you are thinking like a mother and not a doctor and that's exactly what you should be doing but you know, just like we all do that the benefits hugely outweigh the risks. We need to see what's happening so that we can treat you adequately and get you home, for both your little-girls."

Nodding her consent Arizona closed her eyes knowing that she needed to save what energy she had left if she was going to survive this without intubation as she listened to Richard relay her blood gas results to Michelle.

Outside the room Meredith pulled out her cellphone and dialed one of the last numbers she had called. "Callie … hi … you need to get to Seattle. Now."

"Meredith, what the hell?" Callie asked pushing herself into a sitting position in the bed.

"It's Arizona, she needs you here," Meredith replied, hoping that would be enough.

Frowning Callie tried to shake herself from the haze of sleep. "Arizona is not my problem anymore, call Alex … he seems to be her person these days, or maybe Richard."

"She's sick Callie, really sick and they are talking about the possibility that they might have to intubate and if they do then … you need to be here, I know she's not your wife anymore but she's still Sofia's mother and I know you still care," Meredith told her as she heard the other woman start to open and slam drawers.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Callie promised as she tried not to let herself think about the possibility that Arizona could die, she had already come so close to it happening once before she wasn't about to let it happen again.

Meredith waited for a few seconds before speaking. "There's a flight that leaves JFK in 2 hours and 19 minutes, do you think you can get there in time if I book the tickets?"

"I'll make sure I get there in time," Callie vowed as she finished throwing everything she would need in to a bag. Penny was still at the hospital so she decided to text her once she was at the airport as she entered her daughters' room and gently woke her.

"Mama?" Sofia questioned, her eyes bright with sleep.

Helping her to stand up Callie decided to leave the little-girl in her pajamas and instead just grabbed her coat from the back of the door, helping her confused daughter into it she lifted her up onto her hip. "I know it's late Baby Girl but we need to catch a plane to Seattle."

"Home?" Sofia smiled despite her sleepy state. "Mommy?"

Nodding Callie tried not to cry. "Yes Sweetie. We are going home to see mommy," she told the youngster and as she said the words she realized that it didn't matter how long she was in New York for and how much time she spent away, Seattle would always be her home. Just like Arizona would always be her family. "She's not feeling too good right now and she needs some super magic Sofia cuddles to help her feel better."

GA

GA

GA

GA

Thank you to everyone that took the time review, favourite and follow this story. Calzonafan123 - the morning after pill, pregnancy issue is addressed I think it is chapter 5 and then in more depth in chapter 9.

Again I am not a doctor but I have researched as much as possible. This is however still unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.