Fanfic: Awake My Soul (3/?)
Title: Awake My Soul (3/?)
Rating: NC17 (eventually)
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Summary: Oh hey. Remember me? No? It’s okay, I don’t blame you! I would apologize profusely for the ridiculously long delay in this story, but I’m not sure it would help. Basically life and school and work and [insert annoying real-life event here] got in the way, but now that it’s summer I have way more free time than ever and I’m back! This is the first story that I have been writing as I go instead of writing it all and just posting it, so I’m sorry that updates are more than a day apart, but this is a start. Enjoy.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
The question coming from the man beside her breaks her wide brown eyes from staring at the yellow bus hanging over the edge of the highway.
“Huh?” Callie asks dully, blinking back the fear she knows is evident in her eyes.
“You don’t have to do this,” the fireman tells her quietly, squeezing her forearm to try to comfort her. They share a look for a prolonged moment; one that speaks more than either of these two strangers ever could with words. His green eyes are full of compassion and conviction while Callie’s are pleading for comfort. She knows she doesn’t have to do this and she knows if this were a few months ago, she might not be doing this. But it isn’t a few months ago. It is a time without Arizona, without someone else to think about when she makes a decision like this. She’s never coming back. And that’s enough to push her to the point where she’s willing to forget the fear and try to save this kid.
“You’re all set,” she feels a light pat on her back as another fireman finishes strapping her into her harness. The voice makes her shiver, knowing this is it. She takes a deep breath and gives a grateful nod to him and the man in front of her.
“No sudden movements. We’ll be here holding onto the harness and if you need to get out…say something,” his voice is almost begging her to follow his instructions, as if he truly believes she’ll need them.
“I’m Ben.”
Callie turns around sharply just before she is about to climb into the bus. Her eyebrows quirk in confusion.
“I figure if we’re gonna be doing this, you should know my name,” the firefighter smiles softly, extending his hand in the process.
“Callie,” she smiles back at him. She takes his outstretched hand and gives it a firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”
They both chuckle a little awkwardly, knowing the sarcasm in Callie’s words. Preparing to climb into a plummeting school bus isn’t exactly the best way to meet someone.
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The first thing Callie notices when she slides completely into the bus is the smell. She knows this smell-the smell of blood. It’s mixed with the fumes of burnt rubber and smoke and it fills her lungs quickly, almost causing her to be sick. She intricately maneuvers her way through the maze of torn seats and broken glass. A lot of broken glass. Everywhere.
“Matt?” she calls out loudly, but soothingly. When she doesn’t get a response, she slowly and carefully swings her body down to the next seat, searching the area around her for the boy as she repeats his name again and again. It isn’t until she’s almost to the end of the bus that she gets an answer.
“Here. Down here,” the weak and quiet voice of the teenager allows her to release the breath she’s been holding in since she entered the vehicle.
Moving aside a torn piece of rubber from one of the seats, she feels the bus shift and a light tug on her harness.
“Callie! Are you okay?” Ben yells from above her.
“Yeah! Yeah, we’re okay!” she yells back, taking a moment to compose herself and stop her hands from shaking.
“Come on, Callie,” she whispers to herself, brushing her bangs aside and letting out a few shaky breaths until she has control of her body again. She moves the piece of rubber again, making sure to gently set it down on the other side of the bus. As soon as she sees him, her heart drops.
He’s covered in blood from head to toe. So much blood. But anyone would be covered in this much blood with a giant, metal pole shoved through their stomach. She can see that it slides through his body, into the glass window of the Emergency door that his back is against, effectively pinning him to the spot. But even the severity of his injuries isn’t the part that affects her the most. It’s the eyes; the bright blue eyes coated in scared tears that are looking up at her, pleading for her to help.
Callie does her best to remain calm, trying not to show the shock that she’s feeling with every fiber of her being.
“Matt,” she almost whispers his name, her voice cracking. “I’m Callie. I’m a doctor and I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?” she smiles and nods her head confidently, her grin widening when she gets a wide, dimpled smile in return.
“Okay,” he gasps through the pain, swiping away a few tears as if he’s mad at himself for showing the pain.
“Ben!” she directs the call to the man above her. “I’m gonna need some type of saw or something that can cut metal!”
“We’re lowering it to you now!” he replies a minute later and she glances up in anticipation, waiting for the piece of equipment to get close enough so she can grab it.
“Matt,” she calls again to the boy. “I need your help here, okay? I need you to hold the pole, just above your stomach so when I cut it, the vibrations don’t move it. Okay? Can you do that?”
“I-I think so,” he stutters, lifting his hands and gripping the pole as tight as he can.
She takes her jacket off leaving her in just her purple long sleeve shirt and rolls up her sleeves, looking over the tool in her hands briefly. She revs it up once, gulping back the lump in her throat at the loud noise. Why couldn’t she have been one of those girls who learned how to use tools when she was younger?
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It takes fifteen minutes before she finally builds up the courage to walk through the doors of Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital. She’s instantly hit with so many memories-the smell, the light, the noise. She missed this. She gets the occasional surprised glance on her way to the cafeteria, smiling politely and exchanging greetings every now and then.
“Arizona?”
She smiles at the sound of her name coming from the voice of Teddy Altman.
“Oh my God!” Teddy almost squeals, holding her hands out in front of her and gesturing to her friend in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Accepting a quick hug, Arizona smiles fondly back at the blonde before her and attempts to come up with some sort of explanation. “Uh, well, I’m…back.”
“Wha-you mean for good?” Teddy’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and she shoves her hands in her lab coat pockets.
“Yeah, well I have to go back every now and then to see things over, but yes…for good.”
Teddy’s eyes narrow and Arizona can tell she understands why she’s here. Noticing her friend’s reluctance to talk any further, Teddy jumps to change the subject.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Boy, do I have stuff to tell you.”
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“Yang quit?!” Arizona’s shocked voice pierces through the attending lounge just before she manages to clap a hand over her wide open mouth. “Wow. That’s…wow.”
“I know,” Teddy nods along, taking another sip of the coffee in her hand. Her eyes narrow in on the woman next to her as they settle back into a comfortable silence. It takes a few seconds before Arizona feels her friend’s eyes burning a hole through her.
“What?” she asks innocently, narrowing her own eyes in on the frame of the woman beside her.
“Why are you really back here, Arizona?”
It’s a question she’s wanted to ask since Arizona randomly appeared in the hallway an hour ago, but she didn’t want to force it out. But after an hour of talking about Yang’s disappearance and the clinic in Malawi, she can’t keep up the charade anymore.
Arizona lets out a heavy sigh, setting her coffee cup on the table in front of her before leaning back and searching for the right words to say. She opens her mouth, clearly struggling to find a way to explain.
She glances sheepishly over at her friend. “I’ve dreamed about this opportunity…to win something like the Carter-Madison Grant. I think we all do, as doctors. And I’m so proud that I got it. Me.” She lets out a quiet chuckle, as if she still can’t quite believe it.
“But…” Teddy nudges her forward.
“But…” Arizona can feel the tears threatening to break free already. “…I’ve also dreamed about finding someone that I could spend the rest of my life with. The entire time I was in Malawi, I couldn’t think about the joy I was creating or all of the children I was helping because she wasn’t there to share it with.”
“She missed you too.”
Arizona’s hopeful and tear-filled eyes shoot up to her friend, a grateful smile stretching across her lips.
“She’s been moping around like an angsty teenager since you left,” Teddy pipes in again, hoping it will help.
“I love her, Teddy. And I want her back,” a few silent tears slowly trickle down her cheeks at her confession.
“Then let’s go get your girl,” Teddy declares enthusiastically, patting her friend’s knee in reassurance. She gets a throaty chuckle in response just as the door to the lounge opens and a stressed-looking Alex Karev stumbles in.
“Dr. Altman, there you are,” he huffs in relief. “There’s-Dr. Robbins. You’re back.” If Alex Karev had a cheerful voice…this was as close as it would sound.
“I’m back, Karev,” his mentor smiles brightly back at his genuine excitement.
“What’s up, Karev?” Dr. Altman ventures, noticing the worry on the resident’s face.
“There’s been a huge accident, multiple traumas coming in and…actually…Dr. Robbins if you’re up for it there’s a lot of kids involved,” he explains.
“Let’s go.”
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“There. All done,” Callie calls out to Matt triumphantly, tossing aside the last piece of metal and wiping the perspiration from her forehead. “How you doing, Matt?”
A few seconds of silence pass before Callie looks down to see that Matt’s body has gone limp and his eyes are closed.
“Matt!” she yells, shifting her weight and regretting it immediately. The bus drops a few more inches, causing her feet to slip and her body to crash into the side of the giant vehicle. She feels the pain shoot through her body immediately and the blood begin to trickle down her skin. Retracting a trembling hand from the side of her stomach, Callie rubs the dark liquid between her fingers while the tears begin to fall.
She doesn’t have time to assess the damage before she hears her name called out and the bus shifts once again. Her vision starts to blur from the tears as she maneuvers her way back to Matt and watches him cough up a small stream of blood.
“Matt,” she croaks, her voice just above a whisper. “Hang in there, okay? You’re almost out, I promise.”
“I don’t want to die,” his quivering voice and watery blue eyes plead with her to do something. She blinks hard a few times, willing herself to stop seeing a different pair of blue eyes looking up at her with such sadness.
“You’re not going to die,” she reassures him, nothing but confidence in her voice. “We just need to lift you out of here. Ben!” she redirects her attention above her. “I need something to get him out of here!”
“We’ve got another harness. Will that work?”
“Yeah, I think so,” she yells back, her throat constricting before she releases a cough. Her hands start to tremble again when she wipes away the blood from her lips. Callie takes a deep breath before finally looking down to see a shard of glass sticking out of her stomach. She’s quickly distracted by the harness dangling above her head. Her attempt to reach for it is faltered when a sharp pain shoots through her as she tries to grasp the object.
“Shit,” she mumbles when the bus shifts again, this time it isn’t just the sound of screeching metal, but the sound of glass cracking that echoes around her. The lines in the glass door below Matt multiply by the second and it forces the doctor in her to evaporate when she wraps both hands around the piece of glass and yanks it out of her stomach. Her whimpers are muffled by the sound of the bus sliding a few more inches lower.
She ignores the calls from Ben, the warm trail of blood now flowing quickly down her stomach, the blurriness of her vision. She ignores it all because she can see the glass door smash completely as the little boy’s body slips through the opening.