WAKING UP

NOTES

English is not my first language, I apologize for any spelling errors.

Also: No worries, this is the only chapter that contains this much italic! ;-)

Chapter 1

When she opens her eyes the world seems upside down for a second. There's dust in the air, whirling down and stinging her eyes. There's silence. Except that this silence goes with a very high-pitched noise that hurts her ears. There's pain. Everywhere.

What happened?

Why is she on this floor?

How did she get here?

... a little earlier ...

"How is her boyfriend? Husband? Driving instructor?!" Maggie curiously asks the small group of doctors around her, right when Arizona joins them.

"Uhh, definitely not husband!" she states, jumping straight into her co-workers' conversation. Just like the rest of the entire hospital staff she has already heard about the couple who got injured while making out in their car. Stories like these always do well.

DeLuca gives them a quick update about said patient, then looks at her. "Why not husband?"

"Cause car sex is only for when it's new," she explains herself, while wiping her name off the white board. The hard part of this day is over. The car sex debate is not.

"Or it could be cheating," Jackson suggests, but that doesn't seem to convince Maggie either.

"Or... why do it?" she frowns. "Someone is always uncomfortable, with the gearshifts, and the consoles, and just limbs everywhere."

Eliza shakes her head.

"You people need bigger cars!" she dryly remarks, while trying to keep her eyes off Arizona - with little success.

Arizona catches her gaze and quickly glances back at her. She tries to keep a straight face, which isn't easy with flashbacks of a very recent - and very interesting - night popping up in her head. A night that is worth repeating.

For a moment the chatter of the little group turns into white noise. Her fingers fly over the screen of her phone, like having a mind of their own.

"Wanna get uncomfortable, with gearshifts and limbs everywhere?" she texts the woman who's standing only three feet away from her.

After pressing the send button, her attention gets drawn back to the discussion by Maggie's voice.

"...to share their love. It figures that they would wind up bleeding in the bottom of a canyon," her colleague illuminates with a little too much detail.

"Wow!" she exclaims, "That's so cynical!"

"That's what happened!" Maggie defends herself.

Seemingly done with it, Jackson sighs. "Guys, maybe it wasn't love, alright? It's not romance we're talking about here, it was emergency sex-"

Arizona can't help herself - somewhat heated by the subject, she just has to look at Eliza again. Their eyes lock for a short second, sharing the memory. Or the suggestion perhaps. Caught in the moment she slightly wets her lips with the tip of her tongue.

"...and they were just too damn horny to remember the parking brake," Jackson goes on.

Arizona forces herself to focus on him again.

"That's super cynical!" she cries out once more, giving him a judging look. Seriously, why don't people believe in The Feeling anymore? She still does, even though she has reason enough not to.

Thank God there's at least one other person around who understands.

"What is wrong with you people?!" Eliza backs her up with that same amount of judgement in her voice. Yet she doesn't seem to have any interest in their reactions, as she abruptly turns around and heads toward the hallway. Arizona doesn't think twice and quickly follows her, leaving those pessimists behind.

"Wait up!" she calls as soon as she's passed the double doors.

Eliza looks over her shoulder and smirks at her. There's a twinkle in her eyes that tells her she knew damn well who was behind her. She lowers her pace so Arizona can catch up to her.

"Dr. Robbins! Where have you been all morning?" she quietly asks as they stop at the vending machine to get a quick snack. Or actually, to use the machine as an excuse to scooch closer together for a little tête-à-tête. "Besides in my mind, of course."

Arizona smiles at her. "In surgery, mainly. Tough morning, thanks to a huge lack of sleep. Now, let's see who I can blame for that?"

Her raised eyebrow is answered by a playful elbow in the ribs. Arizona puts her hands in the air, surrendering. "Ouch! No more! I'm still healing. You know how hard it is to operate on a tini-tiny person when your fingers are all bruised and cramping all the time? I'm not kidding, someone has to pay for that!"

"Hey, I'm all yours," Eliza gives in immediately. "But I think you have your Post-op waiting for you, and I know I have some angry residents to piss off a little bit more right about now."

Arizona frowns. "Oh no, what did you do this time?" she asks, though kind of already knowing. "Forgot your filter again?"

Eliza pulls a face. "I guess I left it on your nightstand this morning," she shrugs, carelessly. "Oh well... See you!" she says. And off she goes.

Very much aware of the big grin on her face, and of the fact that she is simply unable to hide it, Arizona watches her walk away till she's out of sight.

"See you," she quietly sighs.

Oh yes, The Feeling definitely still exists...

...

She spends the next hour on her patient, fully focused. Everything looks well, it seems like she can even call it an early night. Leaving her patient's room Arizona pulls her phone out of her pocket. She has a new message.

"Your car or mine?" it reads in response to her own question, earlier today.

"Maggie scared me. Big canyons in Seattle, you know! ;-) How'bout a comfy OCR on the 3rd no one seems to know about?" Arizona replies straight away.

The answer comes quickly. "On my way!"

Back at the nurses' station Arizona finishes the last part of her paperwork as fast as she can, then takes the stairs down to the third floor. The on-call room is in the far back. Eliza isn't there yet. Arizona lets herself in, kicks off her shoes and lays down on the small bed. She doesn't want to admit it, but she is pretty tired - three hours of sleep is clearly not enough for her anymore. Knowing perfectly well that 'on my way' means nothing in a hospital, she decides she might as well close her eyes for a second. Or a minute... Or...

She doesn't open them till she hears a familiar voice.

"Here you are, I've been looking everywhere for this place. Wait, were you asleep?" Eliza asks a little surprised, while closing the door behind her.

"I most certainly was not," Arizona lies. "Sleeping is not on my list right now."

Eliza sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls her shoes off as well. She looks at Arizona. "Confession time: it's on mine," she admits, a little sheepishly.

Arizona exhales, sighing in relief. "Good, cause it's on mine too!" she grins. She stretches her arms, like an invitation. "Come here!"

Eliza lays herself down, easily finding her place in Arizona's embrace, resting her head in the crook of her shoulder. She wraps her free arm around her. "We're getting old," she sighs. Her fingertips start stroking Arizona's bare arm, mindlessly.

"Or," Arizona muses, "we are actually real champions, who just happened to forget it was a school night."

Eliza chuckles. "Let's go with that!"

"Plus I really do have other things on my list. I'll show you..." Arizona continues seductively, while trying to suppress a big yawn. "You know, in like ten minutes."

"I can't wait," Eliza smiles softly.

They fall quiet for a moment, peaceful and content. Eliza's fingers continue to explore Arizona's skin, drawing invisible figures with the lightest touch. Arizona nuzzles her nose in Eliza's hair, taking in her scent - the scent of her own shampoo.

"I really liked waking up with you this morning," she says, smiling at the memory.

Eliza looks up. "Even though I spilled coffee over your running shorts?"

"You mean even though you totally ruined them by emptying a full cup all over them?" Arizona asks in return, trying to sound annoyed, but failing immensely when a flash of a grin takes over. "Yes, even so. I liked seeing you in my clothes. And even more when you had to take them off. Besides, it's not that I'm ever running around in them again."

A sorrowful sigh escapes Eliza's lips. She carefully moves her hand to Arizona's thigh. "I'm so sorry," she whispers. "I can't believe all the things you've been through."

Arizona softly squeezes Eliza's arm. "Hey, don't you kill the mood now. I'm fine. I'm happy," she tells her, as her mouth curves into a warm smile. "I might have lost a lot, but that hasn't kept me from winning a little as well, you know. Like, I met this woman recently, who's smart and funny and sexy as hell, and who walks around in her underwear in my kitchen these days. Even a plane crash couldn't stop that from happening."

Eliza sits up a little, leaning on one elbow, looking Arizona in the eyes. "You're really happy?" she asks.

"I'm really happy," Arizona reassures her. "How could I not be?" To add strength to her words she pulls Eliza into a kiss. When their lips break apart, their eyes meet. "Sometimes things actually work out, you know."

"Hm. You know what I think?" Eliza mumbles, while gently moving her hand upwards. "I think those ten minutes are over."

She bends in for another kiss before Arizona can properly agree. Yet she can feel how Arizona smiles into their kiss, which is the best permission she can get anyway. Eliza parts her lips, sliding her tongue against Arizona's, then into her mouth.

Arizona quickly loses herself in the sensation - in this kiss that's both sweet and hot, and -hopefully- endless. She feels how Eliza's hand moves even further up, how her fingers slip under the hem of her scrub top and start to roam the naked skin of her abdomen. The feeling of Eliza's feather light touch sets her on fire. Sends a flood of adrenaline through her body, making her feel wide awake again; fully aware and thinking they should never stop doing what they are doing right now.

But they do stop. Without a reason, or a warning. But with one, hard blow, coming out of nowhere.

... ... ...

There is something else. Heat. Smoke. Something is burning. Her senses start to work again. She can smell the fire. And although her ears keep ringing loudly, she thinks she can hear noises as well. She carefully turns her head a little further to the side, even though she knows damn well that she shouldn't.

But she has to know. She has to know she's not alone, she has to know that they're both okay.

The place looks like a war zone. There's debris all around her. She's covered with gravel, just like everything else in the room, or what's left of it. Her head hurts. Her eyes sting so bad. It's hard to distinguish one thing from another. She tries the best she can, but she can't find her.

Where is Eliza?

... ...

May 13, 2017: Watching 13x23 again, I noticed we don't get to see Arizona and Eliza again after they leave that car sex debate together. Which made me wonder: where did they go? And could they be in danger, just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I guess in a few days we'll know what Shonda made of it. But here's my take on it. Maybe I should say "I'm sorry" right away, just for putting our beloved characters through this? Maybe I should quit while I still can (mostly because I have no clue where this is going, except that it can never be good). Anyhow, there's a good chance my story takes a different direction here. I'll just try not to disappoint you. xoxo