AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi everybody! Thank you for all of the feedback I've received so far on the last chapter! Here's a short new chapter... I think you will all really like this one, but hate me at the very end...! As always, let me know what you think about the story by leaving me a review or PM!

Notice that this chapter begins with a large time jump!

Chapter 16

~ SEVEN MONTHS LATER ~

Callie glanced at her watch. She had just a couple of minutes to get from the ortho floor down to the rehab ward to make it to Arizona's physical therapy on time.

Callie closed the chart she had been writing in and handed it to the nurse at the nurses' station before clicking her pen and dropping it in the pocket of her lab coat.

It had been over seven months since Callie and Derek had performed their first spinal cord stimulation surgery on Arizona, and things had been going great so far.

Arizona took a temporary leave of absence from her job as a surgeon to focus on her well-being during her recovery. After weeks inpatient in the hospital, and several months of intense rehab, physical therapy, acupuncture, and aqua therapy, Arizona was hitting all of the post-surgery milestones right on time.

Callie and Derek liked to observe at least one of her physical therapy sessions each week, and Callie was going to be late if she didn't pick up her pace.

Changing her brisk walk into a jog, Callie opted for the stairs instead of the elevator in hopes to save time.

She burst through the doors to the therapy room just in time to find Derek sitting on a rolling stool beside Dean who was helping Arizona stretch out on the floor.

Thanks to the life-changing surgery, Arizona was now able to stand by herself at the parallel bars and walk without wearing leg braces, using her walker with some assistance from Dean. She still chooses to use her wheelchair for mobility, and will likely continue to use it full-time when she returns to work, but the time spent standing and walking has been great for her bone density, muscle tone, and blood flow. Considering that just a couple of months ago she was completely wheelchair bound, the slow progress she is making day by day is a great improvement.

"Nice of you to show up, Cal," Derek teased as an out of breath Callie approached the group. Callie knelt down to kiss Arizona's soft pink lips before she pulled over a stool for herself.

"I'm sure I didn't miss anything," Callie replied, glancing over at Arizona who shook her head.

"Nope, you're just in time, actually," Dean said, standing up and helping Arizona back into her wheelchair. He walked across the room to fetch the walker for Arizona to use.

Arizona sat in her chair with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She tried her best to hide her smile, but she just couldn't help it. Each and every therapy session made her all giddy inside. Though it was hard work, she couldn't help but be beside herself with the progress she was making.

Dean returned a moment later and placed the walker in front of Arizona's chair. Dean positioned himself behind Arizona and placed his hands on her hips, ready to help lift her into a standing position.

"When you're ready," Dean told her, as Arizona drew in a deep breath before struggling to push herself upwards.

Dean helped her up before sitting down in Arizona's wheelchair so that he could scoot behind her as she walked. Dean positioned his hands around Arizona's legs so that he could help to guide them forward and lock her knees so that they wouldn't buckle from underneath her.

Slowly at first, Arizona lifted each leg one by one. Her steps started out awkward and a little clumsy, but soon her body got the hang of the motions. As she continued on, each step was more and more choreographed and steady.

Though Arizona wasn't able to feel the spinal stimulator working, she knew it was, based on how she was able to use her hip flexors in order to move her leg forward with each step.

As she walked around the room, Dean right behind her, she marveled at the fact that just a few months ago, walking this distance with her leg braces would completely tire her out. Now, since the operation, she was doing it with ease. Oh, the miracles of modern medicine.

Arizona looked down at her feet. They were moving. Without clunky braces. Sure, Dean was helping her out and she was still using a walker, but really, this was the closest thing to walking "normally" since her accident. And it felt good. Freeing. Liberating. Normal.

Arizona grinned as she turned the corner and made eye contact with Callie. Her dimples popped and Callie was blinded by her dazzling white smile from across the room. The look of pure glee on Arizona's face made the late nights up researching, preparing and practicing all worth it.

This is what it was all about all along, Callie thought to herself.

Derek was thinking the same thing. Having dedicated his life to neurosurgery, he never thought he'd see the day that someone's paralysis was cured, or even improved- let alone that he'd be one of the doctors to develop the technique and perform the surgery!

The night that Derek operated on Arizona after her accident was one of the most stressful and pressure-filled nights of his life. Even though he knew that Arizona's complete loss of sensation was not a result of his operating skills, he still felt guilty whenever he saw the blonde wheeling around the hospital. Like he could've done more. But that all changed after the spinal column stimulator was implanted. Arizona is doing better than she ever has, and she has Derek and Callie to thank for that. To Derek, knowing that he not only physically restarted Arizona's heart, but also gave her a second chance at life, feels better than winning any award.

BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEP

Derek was snapped out of his reminiscing by the sound of his pager blaring on his hip. He picked up the little device and read the message, groaning when he saw that it was the ER. Immediately standing up, he went to meet Arizona on her way back over to where they sat before he dashed downstairs to evaluate his incoming trauma.

"Hey, I've gotta run. Hunt's got a possible intracranial bleed waiting for me down in the pit," Derek told her. Arizona nodded. "You're looking great. I'm proud of you! Kick some more ass today. See you soon." Derek put his arm around her and planting a kiss on her cheek before scurrying out the door.

Just a moment later, Arizona had made her way back to Callie.

"Ten minutes and fifteen seconds," Callie said, looking at her watch. "That's your best time yet!"

Arizona smiled as sweat dripped down the side of her face.

"Yay," came her exhausted reply.

Callie picked up a towel and dabbed the beads of sweat off of Arizona's forehead.

"Dr. Torres, do you want to walk her over to the parallel bars? I'm going to use the restroom, I'll be right back," Dean said, standing up from Arizona's chair.

Callie eagerly nodded.

"Come here," Callie said, bringing Arizona into a warm embrace, taking most of Arizona's weight on to herself as Dean moved the walker away.

"Ew! You don't want to kiss me! I'm all sweaty and gross," Arizona told the brunette, sticking her tongue out in protest.

"I don't care. You're always hot to me," Callie reminded her, puckering up her lips and closing her eyes.

Arizona rolled her eyes at the silliness of her girlfriend, giving in and pecking her on the lips.

After she got what she wanted, Callie slowly started to walk the twenty feet towards the parallel bars, guiding Arizona every step of the way. Callie released her tight grip on Arizona once she had steadied herself between the bars, one hand on either side to stabilize herself. Callie kept her hands protectively on Arizona's hips as they stood.

When Dean reentered the room, he didn't even have the chance to get a word out before he was shooed away.

"Hey, Dean, you don't mind if I talk to Calliope alone for a second, do you?" Arizona asked, flashing a hopeful look in his direction.

"Of course not. I'll be right in the back if you need anything, okay?" he replied.

Arizona nodded, and Dean retreated to one of the PT supply rooms.

"What was that about?" Callie asked when she turned back around to face the shorter woman.

Arizona smiled, her eyes only focused on Callie's lips. She removed one hand from the parallel bars to adjust Callie's silver heart necklace. Callie balanced Arizona with her own hands while the blonde flirted.

"Since you've come into my life- since the first time I saw you in my gallery- you have made my heart skip a beat whenever we're together. You make my stomach swarm with butterflies and my smile get bigger… and you push me to be the best version of myself everyday," Arizona said, using her free hand to play with Callie's hair while never breaking eye contact.

"Since the day that we met, you never saw me as 'disabled', you saw me as differently abled. You never doubted me, you have always been right there for me to lean on," Arizona gestured to Callie's strong hands that were holding her upright now, "and you have been my biggest cheerleader since day one. Never in my life have I loved someone the way that I love you."

Callie's heart swelled and her eyes filled up with tears. A giggle escaped her mouth, causing the water in her eyes to spill over. Arizona smiled and wiped the tear away off of Callie's cheek.

"Sooo… pretend that we are on a beach; picture somewhere with white sands and clear blue water. We're sitting under a cabana drinking pina coladas- not standing between parallel bars in a PT gym in Seattle. Imagine somewhere exotic when I ask you this…"

Arizona paused to collect her thoughts. Callie's warm chocolate colored eyes looked lovingly into Arizona's crystal blue ones.

"Calliope Iphegenia Torres, will you marry me?"

The look of surprise present on Callie's face was unforgettable. Callie pulled Arizona close into a passionate kiss. Callie's arms hugged around Arizona's body, with one of Arizona's hands buried under Callie's hair, the other still resting on the parallel bar.

When they finally needed air and broke apart, both women had huge smiles on their faces. Arizona licked her lips before asking:

"So is that a yes?"

Callie smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"It's a yes."

THE END.

TO BE CONTINUED…

So there you have it everybody! The final chapter of "Invest In Love"! I have worked so hard on this story since the beginning of the summer and I am so proud of how it turned out. I am so glad that you all enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! The feedback from this story has been phenomenal, and I very much enjoyed telling Arizona, Mark and Callie's story.

But don't worry too much... I'm not done with this story yet! I have already planned a SEQUEL to it! I have a couple of other Calzona stories I want to write and share with you all first (a one-shot and a multi-chapter!), but the sequel to "Invest In Love" will be coming soon! You can all definitely look forward to that!

Thank you so much to Shonda Rhimes for creating "Grey's Anatomy" and the characters of Arizona Robbins, Callie Torres and Mark Sloan, as well as thank yous going out to Jessica Capshaw, Sara Ramirez and Eric Dane for portraying them. Thank you to Tiphany Adams, Ally Poole Grizzard, and Chelsie Hill (and her book "Push Girl") for inspiring this story as well! Thank you to all of the amazing readers and reviewers who have read and followed along with this story- I appreciate you all so much!

If you liked this story and/or you like my writing style and point of view, be sure to follow me here on FanFiction so that you are alerted when I post a new story and update my current stories! I am looking forward to sharing my new stories with you, and I hope you are all looking forward to them, as well as the upcoming sequel!

xoxo Arizona Robbins MD