So this is my first attempt at a Grey's fic, so please, be kind? :) I own nothing but the plot. Everything else belongs to Shonda and ABC.
Please enjoy, and if you do, please leave me a review :)
Arizona
I'd woken up to the smell of coffee and the sound of Calliope banging around in the kitchen. Rolling over, my eyes shot open quickly when I realised it was already 8am. We had to be at the hospital in just under an hour. I yawned, making my way into the bathroom – the residual dampness of the room and the smell of shampoo told me that Calliope had already showered, so I decided to make mine as quick as possible.
I'd only been up five minutes and already I could feel that this was going to be a long day. There was a dull pain in my stomach, which, given the time of the month, I chalked up to ovulation. I hated being female sometimes. The smell of coffee quickly lured me into the kitchen, where Calliope sat at the breakfast bar, newspaper in hand.
"Morning sleepyhead."
"Hmm, morning. Oh, coffee." I smiled, pouring a large cup and joining my wife at the breakfast bar. Her hand found my knee as she spoke.
"I made some eggs if you want some."
I made a face, sipping my coffee.
"Not hungry."
Calliope's face softened.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, just sleepy. And not hungry. I'll grab a big lunch."
She nodded.
"Mark already took Sofia to daycare."
That sucked, I missed my baby.
"Grabbing a big lunch and then going to daycare then. I want Sofia cuddles." I grumbled, yawning again.
"Me too, I miss mornings without my pumpkin."
"Well she's ours again tonight. Are you finishing late?" I asked, taking another sip of my coffee.
"No, I should be off by six. You?"
"Five, hopefully. So I'll grab Sofia and bring her back here. Do you want me to pick up anything for dinner?"
"No it's fine, we still have that casserole in the fridge."
I nodded, silently thankful. I was ready for this day to be over already and it hadn't even started.
A&C
I'd been at the hospital for a mere two hours and I wanted to go back to bed. The nagging pain in my stomach was now accompanied by unpleasant nausea, which was probably exacerbated by the lack of food I'd eaten. I was only half listening to the nurse beside me describe one of the kids' lab results. My attention was pulled away by the approach of a very happy looking Teddy.
"Hey, guess what?"
"What?"
"I just got off the phone with UNOS, they have a heart for Robbie!"
Robbie was twelve, and had been in and out of Seattle Grace Mercy West for the past two years. His health had deteriorated to such a degree that we'd needed to keep him admitted for the past two months whilst we waited for a heart for him. It looked as though today was finally the day.
"You ok? I sort of expected some jumping, or at least some dimples…" Teddy frowned, giving me the once over.
"Yeah, yeah of course." I smiled, collecting his chart.
"I'll go tell his parents. What time will the heart be here?"
"In about ninety minutes." Teddy smiled. "See you in the OR."
After letting Robbie's parents know the good news, I made my way to the daycare to check in on Sofia. I was disappointed to find her napping, I couldn't stay long and it didn't feel right to wake her just for snuggles. I jumped slightly when I felt a hand snake around my waist, but relaxed quickly when I realised it was my wife.
"Can you get over the cuteness?" I could hear the smile in her voice without turning around.
"She's just delicious." I agreed.
Calliope murmured in agreement,
"Speaking of delicious, I'm starving and it's lasagna day in the cafeteria. Join me for lunch?"
I wasn't hungry, but I nodded.
"I have to make it quick, Teddy and I have a heart transplant in an hour."
She nodded against my neck, her chin resting on my shoulder as she wrapped her hands further around my waist. I winced softly.
"What's wrong?" She released me, her eyes searching mine.
"Tummy cramps". I pouted, taking her hand in mine, hungry to resume contact.
Her eyes shone with concern.
"I'm sorry. Got much of an appetite?"
"Not really, I actually feel kind of sick."
She lifted a brow at me.
"That might have something to do with your lack of breakfast. Come on, let's get some food into that belly, see if we can make you feel better."
A&C
By the time we got down to the cafeteria I was more sure than ever that I didn't want to eat. Teddy waved us over once we'd gotten our food; she was sitting with Mark and Bailey.
"Excited?" She smiled, sipping her juice.
"Yeah." I nodded, taking a sip of my own juice.
I was mindful of Calliope's eyes on me, watching to see if I was eating. Usually I was crazy for lasagna, so I forced a few mouthfuls down to satisfy her worry. I could hear them all talking about Owen and Christina and the fall-out from Zola's birthday party, but my mind was solely focused on keeping the contents of my stomach in my stomach. It was a struggle I was quickly failing.
"Excuse me…" I managed, clamping my hand over my mouth as I raced to the closest female bathroom. I stumbled into a stall, my stomach heaving violently as my meager meal reappeared.
A soft, comforting hand rubbed over my back, another gently pulling my hair from my face as I vomited again.
"It's ok sweetie, I've got you."
I groaned softly, collapsing back against her when I was sure I was finished.
"Not just tummy cramps, huh?"
I released a long breath, shaking my head.
Calliope ran her fingers through my hair again, pausing on my forehead.
"Arizona you're burning up."
I brought my hand up to meet hers. She was right. I shook my head.
"I have a…heart transplant…with Teddy."
"Karev and Yang can scrub in with her, they'll nail it. You are going to get checked out. We are going to go get you checked out, ok?"
Callie
I'd known there was something off with her this morning, and as I took her down to trauma I wished I'd focused more on her this morning.
"I'm a terrible wife. Seriously, I'm sorry. Here I was trying to cram food down your throat when you're obviously sick."
She shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. I thought it was cramps until a little while ago if you recall."
She winced as she sat herself gently onto the exam table. Meredith came through the door, pulling some gloves on.
"I'm just going to have a quick look, ok?" She looked for my permission even as Arizona nodded silently.
"Where's the pain?"
"Across my lower abdomen." She managed, her face contorting in pain as Meredith placed a gentle hand to palpate her abdomen.
"Accompanied by fever and vomiting?" Her voice was quiet and kind, a stark contrast to Arizona's outburst.
"Oh God!"
I panicked, as did Grey as she quickly removed her hand.
"No, no it wasn't you. It's me, being slow, and stupid. It's my appendix, isn't it?"
"That was going to be my assumption, but we need to get you down to CT to confirm." Grey nodded.
I'd never felt so stupid in my whole life. I was a doctor, and it hadn't hit me. As if she read my mind, Arizona reached for my hand.
"Hey, it didn't strike me either. Don't beat yourself up about it."
I sighed, squeezing her hand ever so gently as not to cause her any more pain.
"I'll get an IV started for you, that way we can start you on antibiotics and anti-emetics."
There was a knock at the door, followed by Little Grey sticking her head in.
"Hey, Meredith paged. What's wrong?"
"Arizona's got suspected appendicitis, non-ruptured. Can you get her down to CT and page Bailey while I start her IV?"
Lexie nodded, leaving the room again as I watched Grey pull a hospital gown from one of the cupboards and hand it to Arizona.
"Do you want a hand?" I asked gently as she worked her way from the bed slowly.
"Yeah, maybe a little." She nodded, pulling her scrub top over her head slowly, and tugging the hospital gown down over her exposed abdomen.
"It hurts to bend…could you…?" She asked almost shyly. I smiled, stealing a quick kiss as I bent, reaching under the gown and gently removing her scrub pants.
"Thanks."
"Always, baby." I neatly folded her scrubs as Grey began her IV. Arizona looked away from the needle, making a face. I felt her pain. For people that liked to slice other people open, I knew a surprising number of surgeons who despised needles.
A&C
Bailey and I sat in the CT office, anxiously awaiting the scans to materialize on the screen. She glanced to me, then sighed.
"Don't look like that Torres, you didn't know, she didn't realise, it happens. It's not going to make things any better you sitting there with your face like that."
"But what if we made it worse by not diagnosing her sooner? What happens if we've wasted time and her appendix has ruptured? That's an entirely more complicated surger – " My panicked ramble was cut short by Bailey's hand.
"Look."
The CT results were up, and, as hoped, Arizona's appendix hadn't ruptured. Bailey turned in her chair, speaking to Lexie.
"Tell them to prep OR 3 for a laparoscopic appendectomy."
Her attention focused back onto me.
"She's gonna be fine, Torres. Let her know and get her into pre-op."
Arizona
I could hear the faint beeping of my alarm in the distance, rousing me from a deep sleep. There was a box of donuts on the bedside table where my alarm should have been…not that I was complaining. I opened them, dismayed to find that the box was empty. I knew that I'd probably find the answer in the kitchen, so made my way through. Sure enough, there was a bigger donut box. I smiled as I opened it, but again found it empty. I grumbled, pouting as I felt a hand squeeze mine.
"You ate all my donuts."
There was a faint laugh, pulling me from our kitchen and forcing me to open my eyes. A hospital? My appendix.
"Callie?"
The same hand squeezed mine again.
"I'm here. Sadly, there are no donuts. Bailey must have had them put you on the good drugs."
I chuckled, but immediately regretted it when I felt the dull post-op pain.
"Sorry…sorry. You were dreaming. How are you feeling?"
I opened my eyes properly, my gaze locking with Calliope's.
"Sore. Tired. Loopy."
"As good as can be expected two hours post-op. Everything went fine, your appendix hadn't ruptured, and you didn't pull anything funny in the OR, according to Bailey."
Her fingers brushed gently through my hair.
"Good. What time is it?"
"Almost seven. Don't worry, I found Mark, and he's taken Sofia again for the night."
"Calliope, you are not sleeping on a crappy, cramped hospital seat all night. Go home, get into our bed."
"There is no way I'm going to sleep in our bed knowing you're here. You stay, I stay."
I shook my head. My wife was nothing if not stubborn.
"Is Bailey going to discharge me in the morning?"
"By late afternoon, she wants to make sure your recovery is 100% on track."
I nodded, wincing slightly as I turned onto my left side. I patted the empty side of the bed, gesturing for my wife to join me.
"No…Arizona…I could hurt you." She frowned.
"You won't."
"Bailey could come back…she'd have my head."
I frowned, giving Calliope my best 'mean face.'
"Are you trying to tell me you're more afraid of Bailey than of me?"
I patted the bed again, harder this time.
I could see her weak resolve slowly crumbling. Aside from the pain and vomiting, I'd had a relatively easy day of it, and I knew just how terrifying it was to be on the other side, to have your other half unconscious on an OR table, no matter how minor the surgery.
She rose from her chair, climbing onto the bed so slowly and gently that I had to smile.
"How are you doing?" I asked, pressing my forehead to hers.
"Better now. I was a bit of a mess while you were in there."
I nodded, placing my hand between Calliope's breasts where a faint scar still remained beneath her scrubs.
"I know the feeling."
She pulled her forehead from mine, bringing her lips to my head instead. I hummed in appreciation, closing my eyes. It had been a long day, but I wasn't about to complain about how it was ending.
Fin
