Title: The Right Way 1/3
Author: mpeck86
Pairing: Arizona/Callie
Rating: R (to be safe)
Summary: Arizona and Callie deal with the Torres clan in the best and worst of times.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fiction, nor do I have any rights in regards to them. All characters belong to ABC and Shonda Rhimes
A/N: So this is my first time posting something of this length. It's unbetaed. I take full responsibility for the crappy grammar and the inability to correctly use the English language. Thoughts are in 'single quotes'. Comments are always welcome! Thanks in advance for for reading!
~*~
"I love you too"
The words were soft but filled with truth. Arizona smiled and shifted her jacket from her shoulders. Callie held her hand out to her girlfriend and gently pulled her to the couch. She pushed the soft blonde curls behind her ear.
"You. Are. Great" Callie said, resting her forehead against Arizona's.
The smile on Arizona's face was worth more than the 25 million dollar gift the hospital was receiving. Arizona leaned in slowly breathing in the smell of her girlfriend.
"I really want to take you to bed. I really want to."
Callie smiled and pressed her lips to her lovers and held her with a slightest touch. "And I really want you too. Really, but you need to eat and get some sleep." Callie said with a sigh. She then shifted and stood up slowly. "I thought you would be hungry, let me grab your plate out of the fridge. Sit tight" Callie said as she quickly moved into the kitchen. She moved about the kitchen with speed and after grabbing a bottle of water she walked back to the couch to find Arizona curled in the blanket asleep.
Callie smiled set the plate down. She gave the sleeping woman a once over before she made her decision. She walked into the bedroom and turned down the covers. She slowly slid her arms under her girlfriend's neck and knees and lifted her with ease into her arms. Callie carried her into the bedroom and set her on the bed. She made quick work of riding Arizona of her clothing. 'Not exactly the post "I love you" night I had always thought of…but damn is she cute' Callie thought as she switched off the light and slid between the cool sheets. She wrapped her arm around Arizona's waist, kissed her neck and whispered, "I love you". Arizona shifted, "say it again" She mumbled barely above a whisper. Callie smiled and kissed her neck again, "I love you Arizona Robbins" Arizona sighed and snuggled back into her. "I love you too, Calliope Torres" Her breathing evened out and Callie knew she was asleep again. 'Not exactly…but close' Callie smiled and closed her eyes.
Normally Callie Torres slept through the night without a problem. This was not the case with this night. She felt the shiver before she heard the whimper. Her eyes blinked open slowly as she oriented herself. It pained her to see the look on Arizona's face. Sometime in the night she had turned to face her and was at the moment having a nightmare. Callie could tell by the way she kept shifting her feet and gripped the pillow.
This was the price of PEDs surgery. The tiny coffins haunted Arizona's nights but she said it was worth it for the smiles of each tiny face. Callie reached out and gently stroked her arm and scooted closer. She attempted to sooth the dreams away.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here. Shhh, it's going to be okay" Callie whispered in her ear. Arizona tensed before she relaxed into Callie's embrace. Then without warning Arizona was startled awake.
"Mmmm what happened?" She asked pushing her face into Callie's neck. "You were having a bad dream" Callie said stroking her back. She assumed that Arizona would drift back into sleep and forget all about it and was pleasantly surprised when she felt the soft lips press into her neck. The surprise shifted quickly when she felt the hand graze her breast. "I want to unwrap my birthday present now" Arizona said in-between kisses. Callie could not control the shiver that ran down her body. As Arizona began to explore her birthday present Callie couldn't help but smile and think, 'This is it, exactly'.
Arizona awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. She rolled over and buried her face into Callie's pillow breathing deeply. She smiled thinking back to the night before. They had taken a major step in their relationship. She hadn't even meant to say it, but she couldn't control her motor functions at the sight of her girlfriend asleep on the couch. She could hear Callie moving about the kitchen singing softly to herself. Now was as good of time as any to get up so Arizona rolled to the edge of the bed. She searched the dresser for a pair of shorts and slipped on a shirt of Callie's.
Arizona padded to the kitchen quietly, she was greeted with sight of her girlfriend holding a spatula like a microphone singing intently to Alicia Keyes. Arizona smiled at her as she sat at the counter. When Callie turned around and saw her there she almost dropped the spatula, she laughed nervously and poured a cup of coffee and set in front of Arizona. She received it with a smile and sipped it quietly. There were distant beeps coming from Christina's room and a rustle followed by a thud. Callie poured two travel cups of coffee and set them on the counter before placing a bagel and toast by each cup. Not a moment later Owen and Christian burst out of the room pulling on coats. They each grabbed a cup and bread product and rushed out Owen mumbling good morning through his toast.
When Arizona turned back to face Callie there was a plate of food in front of her and she smiled. Callie set another plate down next to her and sat down next to her. She ate breakfast in relative silence until Arizona turned and spoke quietly.
“Thank you for last night” She touched Callie's knee.
“I'm pretty sure I should be thanking you” Callie said with a sly smile even though she knew Arizona wasn't referring to the latter part of their evening. Callie turned to face her and caressed her cheek. “You were right Ari, you have stood by me through a lot. I'm sorry that I wasn't here-” Arizona placed a finger over her lips.
“You were right Calliope I was just trying to pick a fight...I didn't mean what I said” Callie shook her head. “Whether you meant it or not doesn't change the fact that you were right.” Callie struggled to find the right words, she stood in-between Arizona's knees as she spoke the words she had been holding in for so long.
“You terrify me.” Callie blurted. Arizona leaned back in her chair and confusion washed over her face.”This terrifies me” she gestured between the two of them. “I was lonely and angry and you accosted me in a bathroom and I knew in that moment that you were about to rock my whole world.” Callie sighed deeply and continued. “I didn't want to feel that way...I couldn't lose myself again. I had just pulled myself together. Then we had our first date...then our first kiss where I had time to respond. Our first night together...” Callie lost herself for a moment in the memory and Arizona smiled. “I was a goner and it scared me. I knew once things got rough you would walk away...because they all walk away” A sad look crossed Callie's face.
Arizona seized the opportunity and kissed Callie with everything she had. “I'm not going anywhere. I'm not them” Arizona said as she wrapped her arms around Callie's shoulders. “I know.” Callie said as she pressed her face into her neck. Callie could feel the barriers she had put up crumble as Arizona held her tightly.
“You. Are. Great” Callie mumbled as she pulled Arizona's legs around her waist. “So I've been told” Arizona said kissing her again. For the second time in 24 hours Callie picked up Arizona and carried her to the bedroom.
Callie woke up to the sound of the shower running and she felt herself grin. The morning had not gone the way she thought would have but it felt good to know that Arizona knew her biggest fear. For the first time in her life she believed it when Arizona told her she was here to stay. She rolled over and looked at the clock, it read 12:56pm. She knew it was time to get out of bed, for the second time today. The water shut off as she crawled out of bed. Arizona entered the room with a towel wrapped tightly around her body. Callie stopped what she was doing and simply stared.
“Uh-uh Calliope. Put those eyes away, you have to shower or we're never going to make it out of the apartment.” Arizona said as she searched for a change of cloths. Callie grumbled to herself as she walked out of the room. Arizona laughed as she heard the grumbling get louder until the door closed and the water turned on. She walked into the kitchen and began searching for her boots. Her search came to a halt when there was an assertive knock at the door.
She twisted the doorknob and shock overcame her as she registered the man at the door. “Mr. Torres” Arizona stuttered out stepping out of his way. “Dr. Robbins” he said as he walked briskly into the apartment. She closed the door and turned around. “Please, call me Arizona. Calliope is in the shower...can I get you something to drink?” Mr. Torres shook his head. “Calliope Torres come out here this instant!” Arizona's eyes went wide with his sudden outburst. The water shut off and there was a loud commotion from the bathroom, within a moment Callie had stubbled out of the bathroom her hair dripping wet. “¡Papá! ¿Qué usted está haciendo aquí?” Arizona's mouth fell open as she looked at her girlfriend standing there yelling at her father. She knew this was not the appropriate time to be feeling the way she was at the moment. She loved the way Callie's eyes flared with her sultry voice.
“Querido” He spoke quietly. This brought Arizona out of her spell and caused Callie to instantly calm down.
“Yes, Papi?” She said stepping closer to him.
“Callie, your needed at the hospital. Your mother, Aria, and I were coming here to see you. Your mother insisted on meeting Dr. Robbins.” He smiled gently at Arizona.
“What happened!? Are they ok? Why are you here if something happened?!!?” Callie said rushing forward to her father.
“They're going to be fine querido, another plane clipped ours as we were landing...your mother is fine; but Aria wasn't buckled in.” He said holding onto her shoulders.
“Why didn't they page me!?” She said rushing into her room to grab her pager. She came out with both pagers in her hand, both of which were dead.
“Aria is waiting for you. The doctor said something about needing you to reset something and rebuild something.” Mr. Torres said ushering her out of the apartment. “Arizona! She's 17!” Callie said as she was being pushed out of the door. That statement cleared out the shock and Arizona followed quickly.
Callie rushed through the hospital with Arizona and her father close at her heals. She burst into the PEDs wing and nearly vaulted over the nurses' station.
“Torres, Aria. Which room!” Callie nearly screamed. The nurse looked over her chart.
“203” The nurse barely finished before Callie had ran off. She threw the door open.
She stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. Her little sister lay in the bed her arm twisted at an ungodly angle and her shoulder completely out of place. Daniella Torres jumped up from her chair.
“Calliope!” She rushed forward and hugged her daughter. For a moment Callie was lost in her mother's embrace before she pulled away and stepped to her sister's bedside.
“Aria, I'm here...I'm gonna fix you up good as new okay?” Callie said stroking the hair from her face. She did a quick examination and picked up the chart. It was then that Arizona came into the room with several residents.
“Hello Mrs. Torres, I'm Doctor Robbins, head of pediatrics. We'll be setting up an OR immediately for Dr. Torres to reset Aria's shoulder and arm” She said reaching for the chart. Callie handed it over without a thought.
“Robbins!” Daniella cried out as she looked between Callie and Arizona.
“Dr. Grey, take Aria down to the OR and get her ready. I'll be down shortly” Callie said moving to her mother's side. Lexie stepped forward and pulled the bed out of the room.
“Mom, We don't have time to do introductions. I need to get to Aria before there is permanent damage. Dr. Percy will fill you in on the details while Dr. Robbins and I work.” Callie said as she walked out of the room. Arizona was at a lost. She knew time was of these essence in these cases but it felt wrong to just walk out on Calliope's family. “Arizona!” She heard from the hallway and it caused her to jump. She turned and rushed out of the room after her. Callie was walking quickly towards the OR.
“I know I shouldn't yell at you in your wing-” Callie began as she put on her scrub cap.
“It's your sister I get it Calliope; but I need to know that you are going to calm down before you touch that child” Arizona said taking hold of her elbow. Callie stopped and turned to her. They were just outside of the OR and it was about to be go-time.
“I am going to freak out until I set foot into that OR because that is my little sister in there.” Callie said stepping as close to her as possible. “So I'm going to need you to give me a kiss for luck and trust that I can do this” Callie said with a grin. Arizona stepped forward and gently kissed her girlfriend with everything she had in her.
“You can do this because you are great and I love you” Arizona said with a smile. Relief flooded Callie's eyes. She smiled and kissed Arizona again.
“I love you too, so much” With that Callie squeezed her hands before she turned and walked into the OR. Arizona smiled after her before she headed up to the observation deck.
Callie looked like a goddess in the OR. She had Heart's 'Barracuda' playing rather loudly and Arizona had to chuckle. She watched as Callie broke her own sister's arm to place it. Callie stepped back from the table and took a deep breath. Arizona did the opposite as she rushed forward hands on the glass. Callie stepped back up to the table and finished setting the shoulder and began suturing her sister up. One of the residents stepped forward to begin casting and Callie raised her hand to stop her. She then proceed to lay the wet casting. This made Arizona smile, Callie probably hadn't done a menial job such as casting in years. With Callie's expert craftsmanship Aria was finished within half an hour and was headed to recover in her room. Arizona left the observation deck and made her way to the room to talk with the family.
Callie sidestepped to walk next to Arizona as they walked down the hall.
“You did a great job Calliope. Aria looks great” Callie's hand found Arizona and she squeezed it gently before opening the door to her sister's room.
“Calliope!”
“Dr.Robbins!” Her mother and father shouted at the same time. They stood anxiously looking from Aria to the Doctors.
“Dad, Mom. Aria will be out for at least an hour or so why don't we head down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee?”
They both nodded and walked out of the room.