10. Chapter 10

She knows. Maya knows. She knows she shouldn’t let him do this. She knows she should stop him somehow. She tried. First, Sullivan ran in there against protocol and now this.

They argued about it, but Maya also knew that she was never going to win that argument. Never in a million years. Andy’s in there. Maya gets it. She gets it all, but she shouldn’t let him do this. She knows that.

Maya stands there at the bottom of the ladder as she watches Pruitt Herrera struggle to climb higher. As she watches him knowing that he is facing an almost certain death if he steps foot on that roof. She knows the risks and the danger.

He’s her mentor. A father figure. Her best friend’s dad. He’s the Captain of 19.

Maya watches him pull the axe from his side and start swinging it over his head. She wonders if she would be brave enough to do what Pruitt is doing right now. The team is in there. He’s trying to save the entire team. Would Maya do the same thing to save the entire team? If there was no one else around, would she do that?

She takes a deep breath. Ben comes over the radio with an update on his patient.

“Cap- Captain Herrera’s on the roof.” Her voice shakes with the words. Her eyes are glued to him, to the roof, as Pruitt swings the axe with everything that he’s got left in his sick body.

And then, he’s gone. Just like that.

Maya calls out over the radio but doesn’t get a response from Captain Herrera.

Numb, paralyzed. Maya stands there. She calls for a response team to recover the body knowing that he couldn’t have survived, knowing that she just stood there and watched Captain Herrera fall to his death. She just stood there. She had to stand there. She is in charge. The team flashed through her mind for a second. Andy. What Pruitt told her to tell Andy. Her stomach churns. She feels the bile at the back of her throat but swallows it down.

Vaguely, out of the corner of her eye she sees the team start to stumble out of the building one by one. Maya should feel relief, but she doesn’t. She looks over and the entire team is staring at her. The look on Sullivan’s face is the worst when he realizes right away what happened. It seems to take everyone a little longer as the confusion clears and reality sets in.

Maya bows her head and closes her eyes. It’s too painful to look at them. Too painful to look at Andy.

The fact that Maya feels pain instead of numb, that’s something. But in this moment, she’d rather feel numb. This is too much. She turns around and sits on the bottom step of the ladder, her head in her hands.

She thinks back to Rigo. That was only a few weeks ago. But this isn’t Rigo, this is worse. Way worse.

There’s a weak knock on Carina’s office door. “Yes.” She doesn’t look up from her paperwork.

Amelia pops her head around the edge of the door frame. “Mmm, Dr. DeLuca.” She whispers.

Carina looks up and narrow her eyes at Amelia’s head being the only thing she can see of the small brunette. Usually, Amelia just walks into the room so it’s odd for her to be hovering at the door. She’s not even hovering. Most of her isn’t even in sight. Carina isn’t sure what to say. “What is happening?”

“Uhh, well-“ Amelia steps into the doorway. “Apparently, my water broke.”

“Oh.” Carina pops up from her chair. “What are you doing here? You should be down in maternity.”

“I just thought I would go for a quick stroll.” Amelia smirks. “Ya know, before I have to be confined to a bed to push this thing out.”

Carina comes over and puts a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Let’s get you a wheelchair.”

“No. No. No.” Amelia shakes her head. “I can walk.” A contraction hits and she doubles over in pain.

Carina puts a hand on her back. “Okay. Breathe.” She takes a deep breath in. “In.” And she lets it out, hoping that Amelia is following her breathing. “Out.” She sighs. Amelia nods. “Good. Slowly, in and out. The contraction will pass.” She breathes in and out with Amelia for a minute before Amelia stands straight again, a hand on her hip.

“Maybe I’ll take that wheelchair now.” Amelia chuckles. “I know I’m Superwoman but maybe I’m not so super right now.”

“Okay. Okay.” Carina helps Amelia walk down the hall with a hand on her back. They find a wheelchair at the end of the hall near the elevator. Carina opens it up and Amelia flops down in it as Carina hits the elevator button.

Bailey comes into the room, getting everyone’s attention, looking for Link. She explains about a surgery that she needs Link to do. Then she reveals it’s Richard that needs the hip removed and replaced and that it’s cobalt toxicity.

It’s good to know that they found out what was wrong with Richard and that he has a diagnosis and can be treated. Carina wonders why it took so long to come to a diagnosis but also knows that these medical mysteries are often difficult to figure out.

Carina leaves to go check on other patients and get something to eat. She knows it will likely be hours before Amelia gives birth. She needs to be fueled up and ready to go.

“Did you hear about Dr. Webber?”

Carina looks over that the man standing next to her. His eager, happy smile is infectious.

She smiles in return. “I did, Dr. Schmitt. It’s very good news that they found out what was wrong.” Carina nods.

He puts a hand on Carina’s back as his passes by behind her. “What your brother did was amazing?” He’s gone.

“Andrea?” She mumbles as she looks in the direction of where Schmitt ran off to. She has no idea why he was even on this ward to begin with. The man always seems to just be popping up out of nowhere in the most random of places.

Carina looks around. She needs more information. She locks the tablet in her hand and walks off to find someone that will have more information. A thought of Amelia goes through her mind for a brief second, but she knows she has time.

She goes to the places where she knows her friends usually are in their down time but can’t find anyone, she knows that would have credible information. She goes to the surgery board and sees that Owen is in surgery. And so is everyone else it seems.

But then she spots Meredith down at the end of the hallway. Meredith is waiting to hear about Richard’s surgery, keeping herself occupied with work until she hears from someone about how it went. Carina hesitates. She’s not on the best terms with Meredith with everything that’s happening with Andrea. But she needs to know so she approaches the doctor.

“Dr. Grey.” She catches her attention.

Carina stuffs her hands into the pockets on her pink scrubs. “I heard there was a diagnosis with Dr. Webber.”

Grey nods. “There was. Andrew actually. He figured it out. They are in there now removing the old hip and putting a new one in.”

Carina nods. “How is he?”

“Dr. Webber should make a full recovery.” Grey looks donw at the tablet in her hands, preoccupied.

“No. Andrea.” Carina twists back and forth anxiously in front of Meredith Grey.

Meredith hums. “Well.” She looks at Carina thoughtfully.

“He won’t talk to me. I think he thinks I’m going to accuse him of being like papa again. But he’s not. I mean-“ Carina looks away from a moment, collecting her thoughts. “They have the same disease, but he’s not the same.”

“No.” Meredith agrees. She knows both men and knows what Carina says is true. “They are very different.”

“Si.” Carina nods.

“Andrew is-“ Meredith grimaces. “He seems to be hanging in there. I’m worried about him though. He needs treatment.”

“I know.” Carina sighs.

“The hardest part with this kind of thing is often getting the patient to see that they need help, that they need treatment.”

Carina scowls. She doesn’t like that Meredith referred to her baby brother as ‘the patient’.  “I know.” She repeats.

“He’s brilliant. So brilliant. His brain is so brilliant, and he will be an exceptional doctor if he gets the help he needs and can manage his illness. But I know he can. It’s just getting to that point.”

Carina just nods.

“He saved Richard’s life today.” Meredith reaches out and puts a hand on Carina’s shoulder. “I’m sorry he doesn’t want to talk with you right now. Just give him time.”

That’s the thing Carina is worried about. Time. How much time can pass before things change? How much time can go by with him in this state before something bad happens?

“Keep an eye on him for me.” Carina tells her.

“Don’t worry. I will.” Meredith nods and removes her hand from Carina’s arm.

“Thank you. I better get going.” She smiles about why she has to get going. “Amelia is in labor.”

Meredith smiles too. “I know. I was there when her water broke. Go bring my future niece or nephew into the world.”

Carina nods and spins on her heels with a happy smile.

It’s the end of a long day. Carina yawns as she gets back to her office. She’s changed out of her scrubs and is back in a pair of black slacks and a white sleeveless shirt. She grabs her bag and turns the lights off, leaving everything in her office until tomorrow.

Amelia delivered a healthy baby boy with the help of Dr. Bailey. Carina reaches for her phone in her bag and unlocks it. She happy with the results and there’s one person she wants to tell. She knows it’s a longshot, but she calls Maya. She’s on shift so the odds of her answering are about 50/50. She waits while it rings but the call goes unanswered. She sighs and starts to make her way out of the hospital to her apartment.

She gets home and has a shower and makes something to eat. She goes through the mail that had accumulated in her box. Carina hadn’t been home in a few days. She’d stayed over at Maya’s the last few days as the firefighter had three days off in a row. Carina feels like her and Maya are starting to hit their stride. Things are good. She tries calling Maya again, but it goes answered, again. She wonders if the team is out on a big call.

Carina flips through a magazine in bed for a little while before shutting the light off and going to sleep.

She’s awakened from her slumber by a buzzing noise. It’s a consistent on and off for about two minutes. It takes Carina a moment to realizes it her apartments intercom. She rubs her tired eyes and finds a pair of pajama pants to pull up her legs before making her way to the door. The buzzing had stopped.

She pushes the button. “Hello?”

There’s no answer from anybody. Carina sighs. Sometimes this happens, living in a popular district down near the hospital. People get lost or confused or are drunk. So, it’s not the first time someone has buzzed her door in the middle of the night. Carina takes a step before stopping. She’s about to head back to bed But something doesn’t feel right about this. She goes to the window and looks out. She’s up a few floors and at the front of the building, so Carina can see the street, but she doesn’t see anything when she looks out.

Carina grabs her keys and phone and heads for the door. She goes downstairs and pushes the front door open. She looks left and then right. That’s when she spots her. Maya throwing up in the shrubbery to the right of the front entryway of her apartment building.

“Maya?”

Maya holds a hand up, one finger in the air.

Carina steps outside, letting the front door close and lock. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be working? Aren’t you on shift?”

Maya puts her hands on her knees and takes a few labored breaths. “Sullivan made us go home early.” She stands up and wipes her sleeve over the mouth.

“The whole crew?” Carina is beyond confused.

That is, until Maya steps out of the darkness and into the light that hangs over the entryway. Carina sees it in her red, bloodshot eyes. “What happened?”

“He fell through the roof.” Maya stares at Carina, trying to feel something.

“Who?”

“I watched him fall through the roof.” Her words are measured, staccato.

“Who Maya?”

“To his death.”

“Oh, bella.” Carina reaches out and wraps Maya in a hug. “You smell terrible.” A mixture of smoke, and sweat, and alcohol.

Maya sags against Carina. “I know. Thanks.”

“Let’s get you upstairs.” Carina pulls Maya’s body with her. “Are you going to be sick again?”

Maya shakes her head against Carina’s chest. “Nope. There’s nothing left.”

Carina knows damn well that doesn’t mean a person can’t still continue to throw up. She also wonders if Maya means more than just the contents of her stomach.

They get upstairs and Carina pulls her straight into the bathroom. “Take your clothes off.”

“Buy a girl dinner first, geez.” Maya jokes.

Carina isn’t sure what this weird mood that Maya is in is all about. She saw her after Rigo died, but this is different. Carina reaches out and grabs the bottom of Maya’s Henley long sleeve shirt. “Arms up.”

“I’m not a child. I can do it myself.” She swats Carina’s hands away.

“Okay.” Carina says, clipped. She turns and starts the shower. “I tried to call you earlier.” Carina mentions, not sure how the news will be received.

“I know.” Maya burps. “Vic and I were drinking at the bar.”

Carina would be a little hurt that Maya didn’t answer her phone call, but knows that the woman is going through something right now. She hasn’t gotten to the bottom of it yet, but if Battalion Chief Sullivan sent the whole crew home than it must be serious.

“Amelia had her baby. I healthy baby boy. That’s why I called you.” Carina knows now isn’t the best time to be bringing this up, but she wants to think of happy things. She wants Maya to think of happy things.

Maya grunts and pulls her jeans down her legs. “One life is lost, and another is gained.” She mumbles only now realizing that her tennis shoe are still on her feet. “Fuck this.” She sits on the toilet.

“Let me.” Carina kneels on the floor and starts to untie Maya’s shoe before removing them along with her socks and then pulling the jeans the remainder of the way off of Maya’s legs. She stands and holds a hand out to Maya.

Maya doesn’t take it as she leans on the counter to push herself to her feet.

It’s weird. Even though Carina knows that Maya has been drinking the woman doesn’t seem to be too drunk. She’s really confused by this version of Maya standing before her. Carina tucks her arms to her chest, almost hugging herself as Maya climbs into the shower.

“Maya.”

Maya turns to look at her.

“You still have your bra and underwear on.”

“I know.” Maya nods and pulls the shower curtain closed. A moment later the bra is being thrown out of the shower, and then the pair on panties she was wearing.

Carina catches both and with a raised eyebrow looks down at the items in her hands. She grabs Maya shirt and jeans and throws them in the laundry and goes out into the bedroom and gets a clean t-shirt and pair of shorts for Maya to wear after her shower. She also gets a towel from the closet and then goes back to the bathroom. She, dutifully, sits on the toilet and waits for Maya to finish her shower.

The water turns off and Maya pulls the shower curtain open. Carina holds the towel out for Maya to take. “Thanks.” Maya mumbles and starts to towel off as Carina watches her.

“What happened?” Carina whispers. She doesn’t know if it’s too early to try to ask again or not.

Maya shakes her head. “Captain Herrera died.” She takes the shirt and shorts that Carina is holding out to her. The confusion on Carina’s face is clear as day. “It wasn’t the cancer.” She clears that up. Carina nods.

Maya hangs the towel on the hook on the wall that she uses when she stays here. Then, she grabs the toothbrush that is reserved for her from the holder. She puts toothpaste on it and starts brushing. “He fell through the roof.” She says around a mouthful of toothpaste, pulling the toothbrush from her mouth and waving it around in the air. “I watched it all happen.” Little droplets of toothpaste mixed with spit fly all over, some landing on Carina’s right arm. Maya laughs, cynically. “Actually, I let it happen. How fucked up is that?” She spits in the sink and rinses her mouth. She gives Carina a pointed look. “Are we going to bed?”

Carina stares at Maya for a moment before getting up and following the blonde to bed. To say Maya’s behavior is strange would be an understatement. There doesn’t seem to be any sadness or anxiety or fear. She just seems kind of numb, hollow. Her words don’t have any emotion behind them. Carina wonders if she’s just in shock and reality hasn’t set in yet.

“When did this happen?” Carina wonders what part of their shift they were in.

“Earlier this afternoon. Or maybe that was yesterday. What time is it?” Her words almost robotic.

“1:24.”

“So yesterday. You have to work tomorrow. We’ll sleep now.” Maya rolls onto her side from her back and pulls Carina to her chest, slipping a leg between Carina’s. She presses a kiss to her forehead and then one to her lips. “Goodnight, beautiful.”

Carina pushes a hand against Maya’s chest. “Maya, wait.” Maya hums. “This isn’t like you.” Maya pulls an annoyed face. Who is Carina to tell her what is and isn’t like her? “Tell me how you feel.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

“Because of the alcohol?” Carina wonders.

“No.” Maya shrugs. “Actually, I can feel that my buzz is wearing off.” She looks everywhere except at Carina. She won’t make eye contact.

Carina sighs. “Tell me what happened.”

“I did.” Maya frowns. They’ve been through it once, actually twice already. She knows she didn’t go into detail but she’s trying to spare Carina from the painful details. She doesn’t want Carina to have to deal with those.

Carina reaches up and puts her palm on Maya’s cheek. “You can tell me.” She strokes her thumb under Maya’s eye.

A shudder runs through Maya, and she thinks she might be sick again. She rolls over and pops out of bed and runs to the bathroom. Every time she thinks about what happened she feels the need to throw up. The painful reality makes her physically ill.

Her knees hit her floor and she opens the lid of the toilet in the same second. All that comes up is stomach bile.

Maya hangs over the bowl as Carina enters the bathroom. She sits next to Maya with her back against the tub. She pulls Maya’s blonde hair back and hold it in one hand while the other hand rubs slow circles across her back.

Maya groans. “It’s not from drinking.” Maya doesn’t drink to the point of getting sick.

“Okay.”

“Vic was hammered. I got her a cab and went home with her. I got her into bed and then I went home too. But I didn’t want to be there. It was too quiet.” Too lonely.

“So, you came here.”

“I didn’t know where else to go. I don’t want to bother Andy right now. I know Sullivan took her home.”

“That was nice of him.” Carina thinks it’s good that the team all looks out for each other.

Maya shakes her head.

“That wasn’t nice of him?” Carina wonders.

“She’s sleeping with him. Or something.” Maya has had her suspicions for a while now.

“Is that allowed?” Carina knows Sullivan has rank over Andy.

Maya lifts her head out of the bowl and smirks over at Carina. “Nope.”

“Dio mio.”

“I know, right.” Maya hangs her head over the toilet again. “Anyway, I have to talk to Andy. But I don’t want to, and she needs time and I need time.”

“You all do.”

Maya nods. “I don’t want to talk about it because it makes me physically ill every time I picture him up there.” She shakes her head. “What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, bella. I wasn’t there.”

“You didn’t hear about this?” Maya wonders, glancing over at Carina again. She thought that was why Carina had called her earlier. That she heard about what happened on the news or at the hospital or something. Carina shakes her head.

“It should have be a routine call. Small fires in some of the units. It was at storage locker building. I should have prepared more. But then it went through the units in the ventilation system. I should have known the layout of the building. I should have known what the walls were made of and the roof. We got the civilians out. But there was heavy smoke and it was dark and disorienting. They got lost or confused. Trapped. My whole team. Inside. I told Sullivan we needed to vent the roof. And he said we’d go through the wall. But the building was cement block. You can’t just break through that. You need a battering ram or backhoe or some heavy duty equipment that you don’t just bring with you to every call.”

Maya sits up a little and presses her back to the side of the tub and sits next to Carina. “Can you get me a glass of water?”

“Si, bella.” Carina jumps to her feet and goes to get a glass before running it under the tap and handing it to Maya. She sits down again at Maya’s side.

Maya sloshes some water around in her mouth before spitting it into the toilet. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Carina puts her hand on Maya’s knee, giving it a squeeze.

“No. I came here in the middle of the night. Interrupted your sleep. Now I’m dumping more of my crap on you.” Maya doesn’t want pity or sympathy. She just didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts.

Carina smiles. “You’re not dumping your crap on me.” She finds Maya’s hand that isn’t holding the water glass and holds it between hers. “I want to know. I want you to tell me these things. I want to know what you are dealing with and going through. Okay?”

Maya nods. She takes another drink. “They were trapped. And then fucking Sullivan broke protocol and ran in there. That’s how I knew him and Andy were a thing for sure. Leaving me by myself to figure everything out. Captain Herrera showed up.” Maya closes her eyes. She probably shouldn’t because every time she does the image of him falling through the roof is on the inside of her eyelids. She shakes her head and opens her eyes again. “Fuck.” She whispers.

“It’s okay.” Carina rubs her thumbs over Maya’s hand.

“He wanted to go on the roof. It was his idea. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew the roof wasn’t stable. I knew what he was doing. We argued about it. That might be the worst part.” Maya swallows down the lump in her throat. “He was my mentor. He was someone that I looked up to. Someone who picked me and taught me how to be a firefighter. He was like a father. He’s Andy’s dad.” Maya is shaking now.

Carina wraps her arms round her and presses a kiss to her temple.

“He was all of those things and the last conversation I had with him was arguing about him going up on that roof knowing that he was staring death in the face and choosing to still go up there. The worst part is he left me with a message for Andy. God, I don’t know how I’m going to talk to her.”

“You’ll figure it out, bella. You always do.” Carina encourages.

“I got the ladder into position, and I just stood there. I didn’t know what else to do. I felt so helpless. I just stood there and watched it happen. The team were suffocating, and he was on the roof, and I just stood there.”

“You had to.” Carina tells her.

“I know. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have this helpless feeling.” Maya breathes out a shaky breath. “And then he was swinging the axe over his head-“ Maya snaps her fingers. “Then he was gone.” She swallows hard. That sick nauseous feeling returns. Maya closes her eyes and breathes in and out slowly. It doesn’t work though, and Maya leans forward over the bowl again.

“Oh, bambina. I’m so sorry.” Carina soothes, her hand rubbing over Maya’s back again.

Maya takes a few minutes to collect herself again. She just stares straight forward for a while with her back to the tub.

“Watching him fall was what got me. I was frozen there at the base of the ladder. Then the team came out and they were all staring at me. That was a pain like I’ve never felt before. All eyes on me. I couldn’t even look at them. It was like they were judging me, blaming me. I turned away before I could make eye contact with anyone. To that point, I didn’t feel anything but then they saw me, and it was a weird sort of pain. Like it physically hurt for a while. I had to sit down. It feels so weird right now. Like it’s not real. But it is. I saw it happen. Me. And nobody else.”

“It’s probably shock or just a delayed reaction. Grief is strange sometimes. And it manifests itself in different ways. And it can be a different form of grief for everyone you know that passes.”

That makes sense. “You’re so smart.” Maya smiles over at Carina.

Carina chuckles a little. “Thank you, bella.”

They sit on the floor against the tub for a little while longer. Neither really saying much of anything. Carina with her arm around Maya and Maya with her head on Carina’s shoulder. “We should go back to bed.” Maya suggests.

“Sure.” Carina stands up and helps Maya to her feet. “Are you okay?” She sees Maya wobble little.

“I think I just need sleep.”

“Are you going to be able to sleep?”

Maya shrugs. “I’m going to brush my teeth again.”

“Good idea. Do you want me to wait or?” Carina thumbs over her shoulder in the direction of the bedroom.

“Ya know, Sullivan kicked us out of the station, and I thought about coming over here right away. But you were at work.” Maya voices quietly.

The soft smile on Carina’s lips is worth the admission in Maya’s opinion. It’s the soft smile that is just for her. Maya knows it’s just for her and it makes like butterflies flutter in her stomach every time she sees it. That soft smile makes her feel warm all over. Inside and out.

“You could’ve come to the hospital.”

Maya smiles. “You were delivering Amelia’s baby.” She whispers.

Carina nods. Her voice in an equal whisper. “Bailey was there too. She helped since Link had to do a surgery on Dr. Webber.”

“Is everything alright?” Maya asks, her senses perking up a little at the thought of something being wrong.

“It will be now. Andrea is the one who figured out what was wrong with Richard.” She says with pride.

Maya puts a hand on Carina’s hip and leans in and presses a peck of a kiss to Carina’s cheek. “That’s great.”

“It is.” Carina smiles.

“I went out with Vic, so, yeah.” Maya shrugs. “It’s not like I would’ve seen you at the hospital. It sounds like you were busy. It sounds like a super busy day over there.”

“It was.” Carina yawns. It’s late. She’s tired. She’s happy to be there for Maya but her sleep did get interrupted by the blonde.

“Go to bed. I’ll be in there in a minute.” She squeezes Carina’s hip before taking a step back. “And maybe set two alarms for in the morning.” Maya jokes, remembering their vacation alarm incident.

She hears Carina’s breathy laugh as she walks away. Maya sighs and looks at herself in the mirror. She finds she doesn’t look terrible. Bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Bloodshot eyes a bit from drinking and throwing up. But she feels better than before she arrived at Carina’s apartment. She knows that has a lot to do with the wonderful Italian woman that she’s come to know and love. Maya shakes her head at herself.

She brushes her teeth again and heads to bed. Maya climbs into bed and realizes that Carina is already asleep. She presses a kiss to her cheek and then temple. Maya slides her arm across Carina’s waist and Carina shuffles closer to Maya in her sleep.

“I love you.” The words are shaky as Maya whispers them. She hopes that one day she will be brave enough to say those words out loud to Carina, in the daylight, not under the cover of night while the woman is off in dreamland.

She closes her eyes hoping that she can at least get a couple hours of sleep before she needs to be awake again and start dealing with everything that happened yesterday.

In the morning is when the sadness hits Maya. The tears stream down her face as soon as she wakes up and remembers what happened. She sits up in bed and looks down at the still sleeping woman next to her. She shifts trying to get out of bed without disturbing Carina. She knows the doctor needs to get up in a little bit too. But she wants to let her sleep as long as possible in return for having woken her in the middle of the night.

Maya tiptoes to the bathroom, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes as she goes. As she shuts the bathroom door a sob breaks loose. Maya throws her hand over her mouth and slides down the back of the door until she is sitting on the floor.

She doesn’t know for how long she sits on the floor crying, but eventually there’s a knock on the door. “Maya? Are you in there?”

Maya shuffles across the floor, pulling her knees to her chest, and opens the door. She is met with those magical warm brown eyes as she looks up. Carina is on the floor next to her before she knows what’s happening. “It’s okay, bambina.” Carina rocks them back and forth. “Cry. Let it all out.”

“I have to go to work.” Maya mumbles.

“I know.” Carina strokes Maya’s hair. “This first though.”

“We have to relieved C crew. They came in and finished our shift yesterday.”

“Okay.”

“I have to do the paperwork. Fill out the report.” Maya groans. “There’s going to be so much paperwork. And another investigation. That’s three this year. I know, technically Ryan wasn’t FD but still. Why does this keep happening?”

Carina doesn’t know who Ryan is or what the story is there, but she doesn’t ask. “I don’t know. You guys are just going through a bad stretch.”

“And Ripley before that.”

Carina has heard about Ripley. He was in the hospital for a while.

“It’s okay.” She rubs at Maya’s back. Carina hears the alarm on her phone go off. “Do you think we can get up soon? We both have to go to work.”

“I know.” Maya sniffs up all of the snot trying to run out of her nose.

“That’s very attractive.” Carina jokes.

Maya rolls her eyes. “Where are my clothes?”

“You can’t put those back on. They smell.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Maya starts to push herself up. “Just- I should take them with me.” She tries to be strong, collect herself.

Carina stands with her. “No, bella. I’ll wash them and get them back to you sometime. They stink and have throw up on them.”

“Sorry.” Maya mumbles. “And my backpack.”

“It’s by the door.”

“Thanks.” Maya smiles shyly.

“E stato un piacere.” Carina kisses Maya softly. “You get ready and then I’ll get ready, si?”

Maya nods. “Can I get some different shorts or pants though?” She looks down at what she’s wearing. “I don’t really want to walk into the station like this.”

Carina chuckles. “You mean, big bad Captain Bishop can’t be seen wearing a pair of pink shorts with white polka dots on them?”

“No.” Maya bites her lip.

Carina runs her hand down Maya’s arm, finding her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Okay.” She grins. “But I find it very adorable.” She reaches for the elastic waistband on the shorts and hooks her finger into them.

Maya rolls her eyes but there is a pleased smile on her face.

“There’s that smile.” Carina grins happy that Maya at least can smile right now. She leans in and kiss the smile. “You’ll be okay.”

Maya nods. “I know. It’s just-“

“A lot.”

Maya nods again. She looks up at Carina trying to convey everything that she is thinking and feeling into that one look. She tries to tell Carina thank you and I’m sorry and a number of emotions all wrapped into one.

Carina nods like she understands. “Get ready for work. I can walk with you to work if you want.”

Maya’s eyes raise high on her forehead like the thought is outrageous and never would have occurred to her.

“You have to be to work before I do.” Carina continues when she doesn’t get a verbal response from Maya.

“Right?”

Maya nods. “Yes. Right.”

“Bene.” Carina nods and goes to find clothes to wear and different pants for Maya.