Heartbeat

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews on the previous part. This is the fourth and last part, I hope you like it. My apologies for any grammar/spelling/other errors, it's not beta'd.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything related to Grey's Anatomy. That's courtesy of Shonda Rimes and ABC. This fiction is not meant to make money or to be harmful in any way. It's just pure for amusement.

My surroundings slowly drift away from me. I don't understand what is happening, but it doesn't feel unnatural to me.

A few seconds later the previous images have completely disappeared out of my mind and I'm beginning to become aware of my senses.

Warmth. Softness. Darkness. Peacefulness.

Buzzing. There is buzzing.

My brain begins to process the signals a little more quickly and I open my eyes. Clearly I'm in my bed and it's still dark outside. Instinctively I reach beside me but feel nothing but cold sheets and air.

Right. Her 24-hour-shift ended a couple of hours before mine and she decided to go home to get some sleep.

The buzzing noise attracts my attention again. I turn around to my night stand and feel for the buzzing objects. To my surprise it's not my pager vibrating soundly, but my phone.

CALLER ID: ARIZONA

2:37AM

Immediately I push the green button and put the phone against my ear.

"Ari?" I ask with a croaked voice. What has happened? Why is she calling me this late, or rather early in the morning?

"Callie?" I hear her whisper softly. Now I'm even more worried. She never shortens my name.

"What's wrong?"

Suddenly I'm fully awake. I focus all my attention to the other end of the line and forget about all the other senses but hearing. I don't feel the sheets wrapped around me anymore and gaze at the wall before me. I even forget to breathe for a moment.

"I... need... you..." By the way she talks I can tell she's having a migraine again. A bad one, otherwise she wouldn't have called me. I know it's in her nature not to bother other people easily, even though I tell her to inform me. Always.

Opening my sheets and jumping out of bed I softly answer her over the phone.

"I'm on my way, okay? Just hold on. I'll be with you in ten minutes, okay?"

I quickly put on some shoes, not bothering to change out of my sweat pants. As I rush out of my bedroom I hear her mumble her agreement and then she hangs up the phone. Beep. Beep. Beep. Putting the phone into my pocket I grab my coat and walk out of my apartment.

A few minutes later I'm on the road in my light blue vintage car. I've always liked fast cars but I fell in love with this one the moment I first laid eyes on it. I thought it was endearing it didn't go very fast. Hmpf. Right now, I'd do anything for a roaring engine and screeching wheels. The faster I get there, the better. My foot pushes the gas pedal a little more down, but deep down I know I should be careful. Arizona isn't dying or anything, I try to tell myself. Uncontrolled driving leads to car accidents. Lots of car accidents. The knot in my stomach tightens even more thinking about the pain my girlfriend must be in. I hate feeling so helpless.

While I keep feeling more and more anxious, I finally pull up in front of her apartment building. Any other time I would be a little embarrassed about my appearance at the moment. Though it's in the middle of the night and no one is on the streets, there is always a janitor supervising the building, twenty-four/seven. But right now, I couldn't care less. As I walk in the main entrance, I see one of the most attentive janitors at the desk.

"Doctor Torres!" he greets me with beaming eyes. "Late night shift?"

"Not exactly," I say shaking my head. I look down at my outfit and flash him a little grin.

"You need Dr. Robbins' key?" he asks me and rises out of is chair.

I shake my head again and lift my hand, which is holding my bundle of keys tightly. "No, I have it on me. Good night, John."

"Good night, Doc," he waves as he sits down again to look at of the monitors in front of him.

On my way over to her apartment I unzip my jacket, considering every little sound might hurt her. As I enter her apartment, I see that there aren't any lights on and I decide to keep it that way. I take my jacket off and hang it over the chair. Then I make my way over to her bedroom, where I see her lying on her bed. Out of the bathroom comes a splashing sound of water, like a tap is running slowly.

"Callie?" I sit down at the edge of her bed as I hear the muffled sound of my name.

"I'm here," I whisper back. "It's going to be all right... Come here." I fold one of my legs underneath me and take her into my arms. Slowly she shifts herself so that she is situated comfortably in my lap.

"Thank you... for being here," she says quietly while she grabs my hand.

With my other hand I softly stroke her hair. "For you, always," I say before I carefully press my lips against her forehead. "Have the meds sunk in yet?"

I feel her shaking her head lightly but she ends it after a few seconds. "No," she sighs.

"Are you nauseous?" I ask remembering on of her previous migraines.

"No," she answers and holds my hand a little more tightly. I stay quiet for a couple of minutes, stroking her hair and hearing her breathe. Whenever her pain gets worse, I hear her holding her breath and her body tenses up.

"Try to breathe," I encourage her gently. "Try to breathe with me," I add when I see her eyebrows furrowed in pain. A few seconds later were inhaling and exhaling simultaneously and I feel her muscles relaxing again.

Suddenly the sound of splashing water comes to my attention again. "Why is your tap running?"

"I tried to... make myself a bath... to relax," I hear her whisper.

"Ari... How long ago was that?"

"Before I called you... I forgot to turn it off. Oh god... I'm not sure if I can walk," she gasps.

"It's okay," I ensure her as I move her from my lap onto the mattress. "I'll check," I get off the bed and walk over to the bathroom where I feel for the light switch. After a few seconds I've found it and see that fortunately, the tub is only half full. The water is flowing down at a lingering pace. I walk over to the tap and turn it off.

As I return to the bedroom I see her lying in a fetal position again, moaning softly. I can't help but feel a little helpless as I walk over to her.

"What about that bath?" I whisper as I touch her arm soothingly. "Here, I'll help you," I put both my arms around her torso and slowly pull her up. She puts her own arms around my neck and I support her as we walk towards the bathroom. As we enter, she narrows her eyes a little against the bright light and grunts softly.

I look at her worriedly and search for the light switch again. "I'm sorry, I'll turn it off." With one arm still around her torso, the hand on my other arm finds the light switch and turns it off.

"Don't apologize," she sighs a little relieved.

"Can you stand?"

"I'll try," she nods and lets go of me. I feel her legs shaking against mine and I quickly put my hands around the small of her back.

"Okay, that's okay, just hold on tight," I say gently. "I'm here for you." I feel her hands on my shoulders again as my fingers take the fabric of her top and pull it slowly up. "I'll help you," I whisper again. With one hand, I pull the top over her head and with the other I hold her tight. The moonlight shines through the window softly into the room so I can perceive her more easily. It's quite useful tonight's a full moon.

I carefully unravel the cord of her pants and I look into her eyes worriedly. She gazes at the wall behind me, her eyes seemingly more grey than blue, her face indifferent. It's like she turned off her emotions to avoid any pain. I can feel my heart melt a little. Before I help her into the bath tub I briefly test the temperature of the water.

As she slides into the water I kneel down besides the tub and take her hair to put it over the edge so it won't get wet. I press a kiss against her temple and she closes her eyes.

"You're going to be just fine. I've got your back. You can count on me," I say to her and when I see her lips curl into a small smile, my heart melts a little more.

Critique is welcome!

V