AN: Yes, I know it's been a while. The only excuses I have are that I'm having a bit of writer's block, and that real life takes priority over fan fiction, so I write when I have time and inspiration and those two don't come together frequently. So, while I know that it's annoying when authors do not update regularly, I do the best I can, but sometimes that does include a wait. (However, you're welcom to continue to ask me to update, it generally gets me moving faster). Anyway, this is the next part and I hope you like it and have a wonderful day.

"You finished?" Callie asked lightly as she reached to remove my plate.

"Yeah, thanks." I even offered her a small smile. We'd been…less hostile since I tried to fire her a few weeks ago. We'd settled into a routine of polite indifference. We weren't friends, but I didn't imagine hitting her with my car anymore, which I'd consider a small, but significant victory.

I couldn't explain exactly what had led to the change. Maybe it was just us getting used to the other's rhythm and style. Maybe not. She'd gotten me crutches and helped me work out how to use them to get around. This allowed me to perform many new tasks by myself that I couldn't before. Like getting to the bathroom and shower. I thought maybe, being able to help myself in more areas of my life took some of my resentment away from Callie. Teddy also said that it probably helped that now she was there because I chose for her to be, instead of her being forced upon me. I'm not big on psychology and feelings, so I don't really know how to rationalize the whole ordeal. But, the fact was, I didn't hate her with quite the amount of venom as I had a month ago.

"So, I want to propose something that I think it's time for." Callie started as she sat down next to me on the couch.

I was sure that that was the end of our truce, because I was bound to hate whatever she was going to say. "Ok…what is it?"

"I want to have your baby." I watched her suck in a breath and hold it as she scanned my face.

My jaw dropped as I determined that she seemed to be serious, "What?"

"I think it's time for you to get fitted for a prosthesis." Callie cut in quickly.

Staying silent, I stared at her in confusion. After blinking several times, I shook my head, "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Callie chuckled, "I wasn't sure how'd you react to the suggestion that you're ready for prosthesis, so I led with the other thing. Now, it doesn't seem so scary compared to me having your baby, right?"

I furrowed my brows and continued to gaze at her in disbelief. Finally, her actual topic seeped into my brain. A prosthesis. An artificial leg to replace the one I'd lost. A fake part instead of the real thing. A constant and physical reminder that I was not the person I always was. I wasn't convinced I was prepared to tackle that kind of emotional rollercoaster. "I don't know…is it too soon? I mean, my leg is still healing." Medicine has always been more reliable than emotion.

Callie shrugged. "I think it's ok. Do you mind if I take a closer look?" She motioned to my shortened leg and arched a perfect eyebrow.

Biting my lip nervously, I glanced down at my lap. A soft, fleece blanket covered the most shameful part of me and permitted a delusional existence for as long as I wore it. "Um, yeah, I guess." I heard myself say the opposite of what I wanted to say.

"Great." Callie shifted closer and gently grasped the blanket, sliding it off my legs. With the cover removed, she pushed the leg of my flannel pajama pants up until the end of my unsightly stump peeked out. She glanced up into my eyes quickly, then softly grazed the area around the incision. Having her strong hands trace the healing scar and run over my skin felt strange. Not sexual or specifically good or uncomfortable. Just different. Only the doctors had examined me that closely. I admitted to myself that I didn't dislike it. Her fingers trailed along the cut and prodded the muscles of my thigh. My back straightened as her hand strayed a little high and inside, but quickly moved down again. "Yep, I was right. It's healing perfect and the muscle is still well developed, thanks to your physical therapy. If you're ready for it, your leg is ready. And, I think you'll benefit from it, I really do, Arizona."

When she slowly re-concealed my leg and scooted back, I locked my eyes with hers. It wasn't intentional, but it happened. I won't internally deny that we connected for a brief moment, but outwardly, I'd never admit it. Her dark brown eyes seemed to absorb every anxious thought sprinting through my mind. I knew that she knew that, for me, getting the prosthesis was the nail in the coffin. It was the final piece of me accepting that I didn't have my left leg. Replacing my leg meant that I was officially conceding that I no longer possessed my real limb. She knew that that was an important and slightly overwhelming step for me. However, in true Arizona Robbins fashion, instead of acknowledging these feelings, I clenched my jaw and nodded once, "Fine. We can go tomorrow."

Callie looked surprised, "We don't have to go tomorrow, I mean, there's no specific rush. I just wanted to present the idea, so you could start to prepare yourself. You have time to process this, Arizona."

"I don't need time to process, Calliope." I bit back a smirk as I saw her cringe at the use of her full name. "I'm fine. I'm ready. It's not a big deal." I tossed the blanket from my lap again, and snatched up my crutches. "I'm going to bed."

"Arizona." Her voice was so soft and concerned, that I seemed incapable of not pausing and waiting for what she had to say. "It is a big deal. This is a big step for you, I know that. You don't have to pretend to be okay with what I just sprung on you. You're strong and totally capable of handling this, but it's okay to be sca- nervous." She corrected herself on the last part with a shy smirk.

Taking a deep breath, I chanced a look over my shoulder, "Look…I appreciate the consideration, but really…I'm fine with it." Even I wouldn't have believed the statement made in a voice that wavered and tapered off into a whisper.

However, Callie seemed to grant me mercy and didn't directly address the obvious unease in my tone. "Ok, I trust you to know what you're ready for, but please let me know if you change your mind or need more time."

I cleared my throat before continuing toward my bedroom, the poorly padded cushions on the crutches rubbing under my tired and bruised arms, "I will. Good night, Calliope."

"Good night, Arizona."

Pitch black. All I could see was black. Black air. Black ground. I wasn't even sure there was air or ground, but if there was, it was black. Only two things, besides black, were discernable. Screaming and pain. Deafening screeches of suffering and pain so intense that it numbed the senses. The blackness, pain, and piercing screams overflowed me until I was certain that I would go completely insane or die. I begged whoever was listening to help me escape. However, when I did, I begged to return to the darkness.

As suddenly as the blindness started, it retreated into sharp light and suffocating silence. Nothing, but bright light and no sound. Before I could comprehend the new environment, a picture formed around me in startling clarity. Course soil and twigs assaulted my back and twisted metal rested violently on my front. The pain that had greeted me in the darkness returned, seeming to emanate from my left side, and the screaming that had accompanied the pain appeared to be tearing from my parched throat and crippled lungs. It wasn't some unidentified space that I occupied, it was my own personalized hell. Charred oxygen squeezed in and out of me, barely serving a function as I gasped for more. Movement to my right caught my eye, leading me to see a figure yelling at me to shut up. The screaming stopped, but nothing else did. Pain.

The next thing I knew, I was lying uncomfortably in an over-starched hospital bed, glaring at the incompetent hacks that called themselves surgeons. Their oily faces swirled around me, laughing manically, and heckling my tragic circumstance. A dark, lab coat-clad man emerged from the shadowy corner. My eyes widened and my mouth gaped as I realized that he was juggling buzzing chain saws. He smirked evilly as he moved closer and closer to me. The three chainsaws flying through the air multiplied into six. Six whirring blades spun over my body. I opened my mouth to tell him to leave, to back the hell off with the deadly power tools, but no sound came from me. I could produce never-ending, soul killing screams when there was no need. But, in this moment when I needed to make him stop, when I needed to save my life, I couldn't make a peep. I watched with undivided horror as one lone chainsaw slipped from his control. Time slowed as it flipped haphazardly through the stale air. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I recognized a raven-haired woman make a dive for the weapon, but I didn't divert my attention from the saw as it made contact with my helpless leg and effortlessly detached my limb above the knee. Searing, white hot anguish sliced through me, causing me to arch my back, then lunge for the reaper that thought juggling chainsaws was an acceptable plan-

With flailing arms, I bolted upright in bed, once again finding my self in inky darkness. However, this darkness wasn't filled with pain or screaming, and had a gentle crispness to it that let me know it wasn't the same blackness. My fists gripped the sheets below my sweaty form and my chest heaved. I took several harsh breaths and swallowed multiple times, attempting to restore my body to a baseline. It wasn't uncommon for me to dream of the accident, but it still fully disarmed me when it happened. Neon numbers on the night stand informed me that it was just past two in the morning. I rubbed my hand roughly over my damp face before flopping back to my overheated, but somehow, frigid bed. Noting that my heart was still racing, I resigned to the annoying knowledge that I would not be sleeping a whole lot more that night.

It took me forever to get back to sleep. I tossed and turned without success in settling my overactive mind. Images from my terror filled dream kept flitting through my mind's eye just as I started to drift to sleep, causing me to jerk awake and begin the process all over. If it wasn't returning visions, it was remembering the appointment that Callie was going to make that restrained me from sleep. The lack of rest made me particularly irritated when Callie's smoky voice floated through the thin walls and pulled me from my tenuous slumber.

Baby, when I think about you,

I think about love

Darlin', don't live without you,

And your love

If I had those golden dreams of my yesterday,

I would wrap you in the heaven,

Till I'm dyin'

On the way

Feel like makin'

I feel like making love

I shook my head and groaned. I couldn't handle it. The night had been way too overpowering for me to deal with her waking me up with a song about wanting sex. Whipping the quilt off my body, I slid over and grabbed my crutches. I could hear her continuing to sing as I stumbled drowsily through my room, annoyance fueling my journey. I made it across the hall and shuffled into her room, heading for the bathroom. My plan was simply to poke my head in, yell at her to shut up, then head back to bed.

I don't like romantic comedies. They're overly optimistic and superficial. However, in most of the ones I've seen, there's this specific scene near the beginning. A scene where the main character sees their crush or their future crush, usually for the first time in the movie. This person walks/rides/runs/drives on screen in slow motion with a dramatic swell of music. I've never really cared for those scenes. Real life isn't really like that. At least, I didn't believe that moments like that happened in real life. And, had I burst into that bathroom five seconds earlier or ten seconds later, I'd still not believe in that kind of thing. But, as fate would have it, I swung open that door at precisely the moment that Callie threw back the shower curtain. The result of this well-timed mockery was a slight altering of my world view. Because, when Callie Torres steps out of the shower, steam billowing around her, cheeks flushed with heat, drops of water trailing down her surprisingly toned body and disappearing between her legs, perfect breasts bouncing lightly, and muscles shifting as she flicks water off her body…

Slow motion.

I could even hear the cliché power ballad surge of music from the song she was singing add to the setting. A brief self-congratulatory thought sailed through my head as I realized that I had discovered the eighth wonder of the world. My greedy eyes ran down her body, then gradually retraced back up, meeting a wide smirk. A white towel suddenly obscured my vision, and granted me a reprieve from the stupor I had unexpectedly found myself in. "Um, it's not a huge deal or anything, but is there some reason that you're in my bathroom…watching me…while I'm naked?"

I finally noticed the blush creeping up her neck and her unbalanced stance, indicating that she was actually uncomfortable. I didn't really believe I could make Callie Torres feel awkward. She was always so confident. Shaking my head and licking my lips, I stuttered, "Uh, s-sorry, I-I…I just…I was just going to tell you to shut up, because I had a crappy night and wanted to sleep more. But, you appear to be wet- I mean, done…so, I'll just go back to b-bed." I spun around, bumped into the door frame, then exited the bathroom. Before I was fully out, I stopped and turned slowly back to Callie, "And…I wanted to say…I'm not quite ready to get fitted for a prosthesis…" My voice came out disappointedly vulnerable.

"That's not a problem. How about I ask you again in a few days?" Callie answered lightly.

"Ok…thanks."

"You're welcome." I reached her bedroom door when she added, "Oh, and Arizona? Maybe next time you could knock." I could detect a muffled giggle as I huffed and shut the door behind me.

AN: I hope that was worth the wait. Also, the song was Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company. If you use the link below (without the spaces) and go to about 3:35, that's the part of the song I imagined would be playing as Callie got out the shower…but, maybe that's just me.

www. youtube watch?v=SEuKkcX1uKA