Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: These updates might be a little slow because I want to get the proper way things happen with this kind of stalkers and how they react to different situations

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Chapter 10

*heartbeat*

*heartbeat*

Callie's heartbeat was starting to lose power, she had lost consciousness because of the force at which the bullet hit her chest but she was starting to come back around and in a tremendous amount of pain. Pain and fear; these words to random people mean nothing, they are just four letter words and one syllable—absolutely nothing, but to people who have felt it, it is way more than just words and syllables it's a feeling deep enough to either leave a physical scar or an emotional scar that would leave us wondering 'what if' for a long time.

Arizona stared at the body of the man that had held her captive for four days, 96 hours and more in pain, and helpless and even if it wasn't the most good thing to feel—she felt happy inside for a second that he was dead, but there was another person bleeding and trying hard to catch her breath in her arms—struggling hard to live. Callie's grip was strong on her forearm which meant she still had a little energy left in her, it wasn't a typical 20minutes drive to the hospital—they were on the edge of Seattle and it was an hour drive back to Seattle's most promising healthcare facility, how long would a person with a bullet in her chest hold on for?

"Callie please, please hold on—okay? You do not get to die saving my life, you dare not do that" Arizona yelled at the bleeding Latina steady losing consciousness, a team had stayed behind to access the area and find Charles Percy's body from the bushes…, "please hang on okay?" Callie gave a weak nod, she was obviously in a world of pain bleeding in the middle of nowhere with no single form of opiate to keep her pain free.

"Arizona…I'm…sorry, it…it was…it was stupid…I was…stupid, but please don't…don't let me die here…I really…really can't die here" her words were low and shuddering, Callie had started to fear for her life, her tears streaming down from the corner of her eyes and every time the car hit a sandy bump it was another wave of pain shooting through her entire body

"There is a time and a place to die Callie and this just isn't it, you do not get to die on me, you literally don't have the right" Arizona said back down to the brunette and kept pressure on the wound

"I'm sorry" Callie whispered with her eyes closed

"Stop apologizing to me, you're going to do that when you survive this" Arizona said that with droplets of her tears slowly dropping on Callie's face, she was hunching over her

After hitting another bump, Callie held on tighter to Arizona's forearm, but the grip wasn't as hard as it was minutes ago. There was nothing in the back of the van to help her medically. Callie's heart rate had slowed down and her breathing was slow and forced and they were 30minutes away from Seattle, she had managed to keep her calm with anything she could say

"Arizona, you said we were 5minutes away some minutes ago" Callie said coughing up blood from her mouth as she spoke

"We're almost there okay? Shhh…don't talk anymore just breathe now, no more talking just breathing" Arizona said still crying over the fact that there wasn't a chance that they would make it, her heart rate had slowed down so much Arizona thought that she might lose consciousness any minute, and not the type that she would come around from.

"We are not close are we?" Callie said with her hushed voice, it sounded a little like she had given up, "I don't feel pain anymore Arizona, that's a good thing right"

Arizona shook her head slowly wiping the tears in her eyes, and she lifted off her hands and took a peek at the bullet's point of impact and the bleeding had slowed down, she had lost a lot of her blood volume and Callie was starting to look really pale, for a tanned Latina she didn't wear that color really well, "No Callie, it is not—you have stopped bleeding and you're weak—it's not a good thing at all"

"I can wish right?" Callie said with a forced smile with her blood covered lips and shaky breath, she was going unconscious and Arizona was scared out of her mind waiting for her breathing to cease, she held on tight to Callie's hand and didn't let go, "I remember the time that…." Arizona interrupted her

"No! You don't get to try and remember anything and sound like you're going to die—repeat after me; I'm not going to die" Arizona said in a tone that was left of her voice after crying so much

"Arizona…" Callie's voice merely loud enough to even be a whisper

"Repeat after me Calliope! Come on say it" Arizona said trying to sound stern

"I'm not…go…going…going to…I'm not going to…" Callie's grip had gone completely soft and she was unresponsive…

Arizona couldn't start CPR because that would essentially be pushing the bullet further into her chest, she couldn't do anything and once again she was in that position feeling helpless and scared, she started having triggers of things pass through her mind, but this wasn't about her—this was Callie she had to save and she had to do with her own fears and emotions suppressed even if it was for the extremely long ride to Seattle.

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Teddy had seen her friend being wheeled off into the dispatch vehicle and to town and she was in her own state of shock, she had called Mark and told him about everything and he shared the same panic she had, he couldn't complete his words or form any as the news totally hit him about his best friend being shot in the chest, he remembered he got the same news a couple months ago when she had gotten stabbed by a mentally ill patient of hers; in that moment it felt a lot like déjà vu. He was a doctor and he knew the odds weren't exactly on her side, but he stood outside with everyone waiting for that dispatch vehicle to roll in.

"Sloan, you can't be here right now" said the trauma attending with the ginger hair and stern face snapping on his surgical gloves

"He's right" Chief Webber said in his trauma gown staring at Mark who looked like he was about to run out of breath just standing

"Screw you, screw all of you…that's my best friend in that car, that's Callie" Mark said

"Mark, we don't know the relationship you have with this woman in the incoming vehicle but you won't let us do our jobs if you interfere, just let us work—we will do the best that we can…I promise" Webber said with a hand on Mark's shoulder to soothe him, "we got this"

Mark gave an agreeing nod and stepped back, "I'm in the gallery okay? I'm in the gallery" he sounded off to the two awaiting doctors

"Okay" they both nodded

Several minutes later they saw a black vehicle pull over in the ambulance bay with a bruised brunette covered in blood holding Callie tightly in her arms, "Help me…please Hunt help her"

"Okay Robbins what are we looking at here?" Hunt asked as he rushed to get a gurney

"Middle aged female, GSW to the chest, wasn't given any drugs on site, lost consciousness a couple minutes ago and she's low on blood" Arizona rambled on as she got down from the vehicle

"Give me a definite time Robbins, how long has she been down?" Owen asked her

"I wasn't counting but errrrr… should be about 5 to 10minutes" Arizona said still panicking from everything that was happening

Owen placed his fingers on her pulse, "there's still time—her pulse is threading, she's barely hanging on, she's lost a lot of blood; get units of 0neg and meet me in OR2" Owen said

"But she's A+" Mark said from behind the gurney with his hands over his head

"Scratch that type specific A+" Owen yelled after the frightened intern that was racing through the ER doors, "and we're moving!" he said pushing the gurney into the hospital with Webber by his side

Mark walked over to Arizona, "She's pale Arizona…what the hell happened down there? What happened to you?" Mark said still slowly getting over his shock of seeing his practically dead best friend get wheeled in for surgery

"Don't worry about me, he shot her…out of nowhere Mark, he just shot her" Arizona said still shocked…they were both shocked in that moment

"Don't tell me not to worry, you have been missing for 4 days, come on let's get you cleaned up and stitched up and get some food in you" Mark said extending a hand for her to hold on to

"No…I have to go and see what's going on" her breathing was rapid, she tried to walk past Mark but he stopped her

"Callie is fighting to stay alive…how about you also fight to keep yours" Mark said staring at her with so much worry and pity, he kept staring at her tacky, dirty apparel, and her scarred and bleeding wrists, "Come on Arizona, we have to stay strong for her"

She gave a slow nod and took Mark's hand, he knew that they weren't close enough yet but he felt that she needed it even though she pulled up a brave front and acted alright—Mark pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her tight, she was still at first but she returned the hug and he could hear her silent sob into his chest.

After Arizona had taken the much needed shower and cleaned up, Mark had helped her to treat her wounds, and she was clad in blue scrubs pacing the floor alongside Mark just waiting for any news on the surgery—she had her black hair in a messy bun, "it's good right? That they are taking time—it means that they are being thorough…right?"

Mark flashed a sincere smile her way, knowing that he wasn't the only one that worried was calming to him in a way, "Yeah… I guess!"

After hours of waiting and Mark forcing Arizona to have a bite to eat, they saw Owen approaching in his blue flowing surgical overalls; he walked over to Arizona and Mark immediately, "The gunshot wound was fatal coupled with her loss of blood, her heart kept re-arresting on the table, we did…" Mark interrupted with tears in his eyes

"No! NO! NO!—she can't be dead, please tell me she isn't dead" Mark said holding on to Arizona's hand

"NO! NO! She's fine… Mark she is fine—she is in critical condition so she's being moved to ICU but she made it Mark…we have to see how she fairs till tomorrow; if she holds on that long then she has a great chance of beating this" he gave Mark a pat on the shoulder and walked away

"She made it Arizona…she actually made it this far"Hunt asked hhhhhhbweouuwghwIUIWIWGHhnbhjjuju

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Taking turn watching over Callie, Bailey, Teddy and Addison had taken turn while Arizona got some sleep in an actual bed, and got her hair back to its original color. Callie survived her first night in ICU and was moved to the surgical ward, she had been under for more than 24hours but she was holding on so Owen told them they had nothing to worry about.

Callie started to gain consciousness when her eyelids slowly started to flutter open, her vision was still very blurry but she would recognize those blonde locks and blue eyes even in the thickest fog

"Glad to see your hair is blonde again" Arizona snapped her head to the brunette the shaky voice came from, and her dimpled smile was obvious

"You're awake…that's good! How are you feeling?" Arizona asked still smiling

"A little groggy and in pain" Arizona got up and checked Callie's monitor, then walked to shut the door and she pulled the blinds

"Errrr…Arizona what's going on?" Callie asked wondering exactly what the blonde was up to

"What were you thinking?" Arizona turned around and asked her suddenly

"Excuse me?" Callie was groggy but she knew that question was a loaded one

"You could have died, I mean…you could have died, I mean…generally just stop existing—you could have died out there, you could have died bleeding on the floor in my arms…just died" Arizona started ranting and Callie just sat there watching her let it all out

"Hey, but I am not dead…I am right here" Callie said

"I watched you bleed for almost an hour, your heart rate was so slow I thought I was going to lose it…lose you any second" Arizona continued and Callie could tell that those minutes she was reliving was really frightening for her

"Arizona…" Callie tried to calm her down

"Why didn't you run or something?" Arizona asked

"You were in danger Arizona, there was nothing else to do…you were missing for 4days and he wanted to take you away again and I couldn't have that" Callie said staring right into her blue eyes showing Arizona her pure sincerity

"I was scared Callie…I was scared out of my mind watching you go unconscious and almost breathless" Arizona said

"I'm sorry that I put you in that position Arizona, but I am alive, and I'm here, and I am fine" Callie said hoping that would calm her down

Arizona walked to her bedside and smiled at her, "Never ever stand in front of another bullet ever again…I mean it Callie…ever again"

"Never doing that again…it was a disaster the first time" Arizona chuckled lightly stroking the dark hair on Callie's head calmly, "I'm sorry"

"Stop apologizing"

"At least you're not a brunette anymore" Callie said jokingly, "we could have had matching hair"

"Oh no, don't say that…it's really weird" Arizona replied

Callie held on to Arizona's hand, "I'm alive and you're alive and we're going to be fine"

"You should rest some more…I'll be here when you wake up" Arizona sat down by her bed and smiled

"No dying kids that need their doctor with the super magic smile?" Callie asked

"None…" she shook her head and smiled at Callie

"Well, that's good…that's really good"

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Callie was discharged from the hospital a week after, Arizona has started seeing the hospital therapist so she would get cleared for surgery but she wasn't very open about the incident as much as she should; she mostly spoke to Callie about it because they both went through something that changed them in that cabin, so in a way they both could relate to the pain and fear of the moment.

Arizona decided to start over completely selling her house, getting a new apartment somewhere closer to a residential zone and with a better security system, and she and Callie had gotten closer than ever; she spent most days at her house. They had gradually started moving past that day in the farm…whenever anyone mentioned that day it still brought about an awkward silence and weird stares but they were all getting past it, even though it was hard all they could do was try.

"So I was thinking, that since you spend most days here and it's a closer commute to the hospital…you know—you could just move" Callie said waiting for a reply from Arizona who was staring right at her over the kitchen counter

"Are you asking for my job or for you" Arizona asked smiling at Callie's request

Callie got up and rounded the to where she was sitting, "Well, I am definitely a priority the work commute part is just on the side" she smiled and pressed a soft kiss on Arizona's lips

Arizona chuckled, "When you put it that way, you're twisting my arm Calliope Torres"

"So is that a yes?" Callie asked

"Hey! Hope we aren't interrupting anything" Teddy and Mark entered the kitchen with dinner, "Addison and Hanna will be here soon"

"Wow!—Mark I said a small dinner not invite the entire friendship community" Callie said while they started unpacking the bags and setting up the plates

"It's our first dinner together since…" he paused and stared at Arizona hoping she didn't notice what he was about to say

"It's okay Mark… you can say it, I'm not a basket case about it" She smiled and Mark continued his conversation

A knock on the door and Mark answered the door; Addison and Hanna walked in with a hot dish of something…minutes later Alex showed up with the wine, and Charles, Reed, April and Lexie showed up too. It was a full house and each of them had a part to play in the whole drama from a couple weeks back but they were all happy to be alive so dinner together seemed perfect.

Arizona smiled at Callie from across the table filled with strangers that had become friends and she silently whispered, "Yes"

Dinner was filled with laughter and jokes, Alex and Callie even shared a laugh at some point; completely forgetting that a couple weeks ago he was ready to run her over with his car.

Dinner lasted for an hour and a half, and then everyone was on their way home, leaving Arizona and Callie alone finally again in their home.

They stayed on the couch huddled up in each other's arms, "
Can't wait till that day becomes nothing but a fading memory" Arizona said

"Yeah, me too" Callie pressed a kiss on her cheek

"We will be okay…right?" she said looking straight into those brown eyes

"Arizona we will be more than okay… I can't promise that you won't have moments that would trigger it in the future but you can be certain I will always be there to hold your hand through it" she smiled back at the blue orbs staring right at her

"I love you Calliope Torres" Arizona said with a dimpled smile

"You do?" Callie asked with a surprised smile

"I do"

"I love you too"

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Sorry for the delay

A\N: Reader's choice…readers get o choose the next story you want me to write on, maybe a continuation from the finale? Or something else… Your choice!