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The Light
By carpesomediem
Callie was going through George's locker. He's so trusting, she thought. The combination was still the same. She was looking for something in particular: His iPod. When she found it, she took her own headphones out of her pocket, plugged them in and was thankful the little device still had a charge. She headed for the nearest on call room, laid down on a bed and closed her eyes.
She knew she couldn't risk falling asleep; she'd done everything she could during his surgery as had Derek and Owen. Now, all they could do was wait and see if he'd pull through the night. Arizona had been called to her own surgery, and Callie wanted to be alone, so as she put George's iPod on shuffle, she wasn't prepared to be thinking about the blonde during the down time.
"Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung came on, and Callie's heart nearly stopped in her chest. She'd heard the song several times before, but she never would've taken George for the sappy, sentiment type like that. He always seemed to be listening to classic rock to keep him upbeat around the hospital.
As she listened to the song, really listened to it, she realized it could've paralleled her own struggles lately surrounding Arizona. It's not that she didn't want to let Arizona in. On the contrary, the blonde had already burrowed her way into her heart… It was a matter of why Callie hadn't realized it until it was too late. Every fight, every misunderstanding, it was just pushing Arizona further away until she was gone. Like Erica, Callie thought shortly before flushing those thoughts away.
She knew as the song finished and shuffled to the next, something by The Beatles she didn't recognize, she had to tell Arizona she loved her. Life was too short if that day had taught her anything to sit on the sidelines and not act. George had acted that day; if he could be that brave, so could she.
"Callie?" Mark stuck his head into the on call room. He saw her lying down, eyes closed with a small smile on her face. He didn't want to be the one to take it away but he had to.
The End