Everyone seems to want me to write Carina being the one being taken care of, so here you go.
Maya had been away at a firefighting conference/training for the past 5 days. It was something that she had to do every couple of years. This was open to all lieutenants and captains so Andy and Maya had both gone, Jack deciding to stay back because Inara was almost 9 months pregnant with their daughter and had not had the easiest time so he didn't want to be six hours away with spotty at best cell service when she was so close to delivering.
Carina was happy that her wife was able to go to this training, knowing it was good for her, but that didn't stop her from missing her. They had been married for almost a year at this point, and it wasn't that Carina was dependent on Maya because both of them had agreed that if they ever felt that happening, that they would address quickly and stop it because they were both extremely independent people.
Carina did, however, often find Maya to be the reason she went home when she finished working instead of staying and trying to get more and more done. Also, despite the fact that Maya was at the station at least 3 nights a week, Carina had grown used to sharing a bed with her and to just being around her. Going home to their empty apartment wasn't something Carina enjoyed, especially when she couldn't just stop by the station on her way home to see her wife.
Also, she was very busy with work, having a mom who was pregnant with quadruplets who had been admitted at 22 weeks because she had started to dilate. She was now almost 30 weeks, and Carina was doing everything in her power to keep the babies in another 2 weeks, just to give them the best possible odds.
She was also trying to get her research moving forward again, the pandemic putting a pause on it for over a year, but with the numbers way down and things getting back to the new normal, she was again able to get working.
To top it off, four OBs had come down with food poisoning after going out to dinner together, meaning everyone else had to work extra.
All of this culminated in Carina ending up staying at the hospital the entire time Maya was gone.
She had been catching a little sleep here and there, but she had also been struggling with nightmares again, mostly about the day Andrea died, for the past few weeks. Maya had been helping her through them, holding her when she was home, and facetiming with her when she was working. However, the cell service where Maya was was practically non-existent, leaving Carina to deal with the nightmares, and insomnia they brought, alone. This resulted in an hour of sleep a night, if she was lucky, the whole time Maya was gone.
She was exhausted, and her body was starting to really feel it by Friday, the day her wife was expected back. Carina was supposed to get off work at 9 am, having been working all night. She was fully planning on going home and getting into bed to wait for her wife to come home. She was starting to feel nauseated, probably due to her lack of sleep and decent food the past week.
However, as she was getting ready to pack up her things, her pager suddenly went off. Her mom with the quads, whose labor they had been fighting all night, was not responding well to the meds and her labor was progressing. Carina groaned, glad she hadn't changed out of her scrubs yet as she headed back to the mom's room.
"Ok, Melanie," Carina said, pulling on some gloves as she walked in, "Let's see what is happening here."
Carina did her exam, feeling a tiny foot as she put her hand in for the check.
"Ok," she said, looking up, pulling off her gloves, "So there is a foot in the birth canal, and you are about 6 cm dilated. It is time to meet these babies."
"They aren't ready," Melanie said, shaking her head, "They are still too tiny. They aren't ready. I'm not ready."
"Well, they seem to disagree with you," Carina said, looking to her nurse who read Carina's mind and headed to book an OR, "They are 30 weeks and 4 days. That is very good for higher order multiples. They are going to get great care in the NICU."
"It's going to be ok," Melanie's husband said, holding her hand as a nurse walked in, getting her ready as Carina walked out, going to get ready for the long c-section.
"Hey," Amelia said, walking up to her friend, "I thought you were off."
"My quad mom is about to give birth," Carina sighed.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked, noticing the bags under Carina's eyes and the slightly pale heugh to her skin.
"I haven't been sleeping that well this week," Carina shrugged, "I will be fine."
"Want some coffee?" Amelia asked.
"My stomach is not feeling very well right now," Carina said, shaking her head, "I'm sure it's the exhaustion, but coffee does not sound appealing. Also, I need to go because these babies are coming now."
"Alright," Amelia said, making a mental note to check back in on Carina soon.
The Italian doctor headed upstairs, pulling on her surgery garb before going in to scrub. Her patient was on the table, getting her spinal done as Carina scrubbed. She took a deep breathe, getting herself in the right headspace to go deliver these babies.
As Carina stepped into the OR, she felt the exhaustion melt away as she got ready to bring four lives into the world. Carina delivered all the babies, making sure the placentas were also all out and the uterus was acting as it should, Carina got to work closing.
As she finished up, she congratulated the new mom again before heading to scrub out. As she did so, she felt a weird wave of dizziness was over her, grabbing the scrub sink to steady herself.
As she was scrubbing, she heard the door open and Amelia walked in.
"Hey," the neurosurgeon said, immediately seeing how pale Carina looked, "You alright?"
"I'm…" Carina started to say, turning to look at Amelia before her eyes rolled, Amelia catching her before she fell to the ground.
"I need some help in here," Amelia called, holding her friend. Meanwhile, Maya was in a car, driving back from her conference. She and Andy had driven together. Maya was driving, because she struggled with car sickness if she wasn't.
"I am so ready to go home," Maya said, rolling her neck a little.
They were about three hours into their five hour drive and both of them were tired and sore from the training.
"Yeah, thank goodness we get the next two days off," Andy said, "All I want to do is sleep and talk to my husband. I don't think we have been apart this long since the separation."
"Same," Maya nodded, "For us, it was when Carina was in Italy before the wedding. I always miss her when we are working, but not even being able to text…"
"Oh, speaking of texts," Andy said, looking down at Maya's phone which was doubling as their GPS, "Amelia texted."
"It's probably just something stupid," Maya said, rolling her eyes.
The texts she got from the neurosurgeon were almost always dirty jokes or trying to convince her to join them for game nights or a double date with her and Link.
"Um," Andy said, unlocking Maya's phone, "It just says call ASAP."
"Call her," Maya said, an uncomfortable feeling starting to fill her body.
"Maya," Amelia said, answering after only two rings, "Hey. When are you coming back?"
"We should be back in like an hour and forty five minutes," Maya said, "Why?"
"Carina's in the ER," Amelia said, Maya almost swerving off the road, Andy yelling at her.
"What the hell happened?" Maya said, trying to concentrate on the road, "Is she ok?"
"Yeah," Amelia said, looking at her friend who was still out cold, "She passed out after surgery. I caught her so she didn't hit her head or anything. They are running tests right now, but I think it was exhaustion, maybe a bug. She said she hasn't been sleeping well, and that her stomach wasn't feeling well this morning and she's got a low grade fever…"
"The nightmares," Maya mumbled, "Damn it."
"What?" Andy said, looking at her friend.
"It's not my place," Maya said, shaking her head, "Is she ok?"
"She's been out for about a half an hour," Amelia said, "We are about to give her a CT. Wait, she's coming around. Carina?"
All Maya could hear was coughing and Amelia comforting her.
"What's going on?" Maya asked, worry filling her body.
"She's ok," Amelia said, picking the phone back up, "She just threw up."
"Can I talk to her?" Maya asked, increasing her speed a little bit more to get them back faster.
"I'm putting you on speaker," Amelia said, "Carina, Maya's on the phone."
"Hey babe," Maya said, trying not to cry, "Amelia told me you passed out. Are you ok?"
"Si," Carina said, "I think I just haven't been sleeping… I don't feel very well."
"I'm sorry babe," Maya said, wanting to be there with her wife, "I am going to be back soon. Just rest and let them run the tests. I love you."
"Love you too," Carina mumbled before she went quiet.
"She's asleep again," Amelia said, taking the phone off speaker, "I just got off so I will stay with her until you get here. Oh, they are about to take her for a head CT, just to be safe."
"Ok," Maya said, "Thanks Amelia. Text me updates?"
"I will," Amelia said, "Drive safe. See you in a few hours."
Andy hung up the phone before looking at her best friend.
"You ok, Mai?" Andy asked, seeing the tense look on the blonde's face.
"My wife is in the ER, and I'm not there," Maya snapped, "No, I'm not ok."
"Hey," Andy said, "She's going to be ok. She just passed out. Amelia's with her, and we are going to be back soon. Just concentrate on getting us back without running us off the road."
"I hate this," Maya said, "I need to be with her."
"And you will be," Andy said, nodding, "We've only got another hour and a half, less if you keep driving almost 100."
"Oops," Maya said, slowing down a little, "Can you drop me off at the hospital? I'll run to your house or something to get my car later."
"Of course," Andy nodded, "She's going to be ok, Maya."
"I know," Maya said, nodding, "I know."
The rest of the ride was pretty quiet, Andy reading texts from Amelia every so often. Carina's head CT was cleared, her labs were a little abnormal, but she also hadn't eaten a real meal in over three days and was pretty dehydrated. They were waiting for the head CT results just to be sure, but Carina was on an IV and sleeping for now. That was the last update they got, about twenty minutes before they pulled up to the hospital.
"Thanks Andy," Maya said, hopping out, "I'll text you when I'm coming to get the car. "Of course," Andy said, "Keep me updated on how she's doing."
Maya nodded, bringing her backpack with her as she headed into the hospital. Amelia had texted her where they were so Maya went straight to the room.
"Hey," Amelia said as Maya walked over to Carina, "Her head CT just came back. It's totally clear so once she's hydrated, you are going to be able to take her home. Her white blood cell count was a little elevated, so she's probably fighting something, but it's nothing to be worried about."
"Thanks for staying with her," Maya said, taking Carina's hand in hers.
"Of course," Amelia nodded.
"Maya," Carina moaned, opening her eyes.
"Hi," the fire captain said, smiling at her wife, "I missed you."
"Missed you too," Carina said, smiling a little bit as Maya leaned down, kissing her forehead.
"I will give you two some space," Amelia said, "I'm going to head out, but if you guys need anything, let me know."
"Thanks," Maya said, smiling before giving Carina her full attention, "Are you feeling any better?"
"I think so," Carina said, "The hydration is helping. My head hurts though, and my stomach still doesn't feel right."
"What happened?" Maya asked as Carina moved over so her wife could sit next to her.
"The nightmares," Carina said, "They were bad, and I had so much work and I missed you."
"And you didn't eat properly or sleep?" Maya guessed, knowing how Carina got when she was really busy.
Carina nodded, leaning on Maya's shoulder, "Sorry."
"It's ok," Maya said, holding Carina close, "I'm here now and you are getting taken care of. Just relax."
They spent another three hours in the ER, Carina getting fluids and resting. They also made her eat some chicken broth, just to get some food in her system.
"Alright," the nurse said, coming in with Carina's discharge papers, "You are free to go, Dr. Deluca. You need to take it easy the next few days, and Dr. Bailey said to tell you if she sees you here for the next two days, she will fire you."
"Thank you," Carina said, Maya helping her up.
"Let's get you home," Maya said, keeping an arm firmly around her wife's waist.
They got in Carina's car, Maya driving them home.
"Alright, straight to bed," Maya said as they walked into their apartment.
"Can we shower first?" Carina asked, "Please?"
"Sure," Maya agreed, helping her into the bathroom.
They shower was quick, Carina almost falling asleep on Maya's shoulder as she washed her hair.
"Ok," Maya said, grabbing two towels, "Let's get you to bed."
Carina nodded sleepily, letting Maya help her put on pajamas before getting into bed.
"Do you need anything?" Maya asked, putting on her own pajamas.
"You," Carina said sleepily.
"Let me go get you something to drink, and then I promise, I am all yours," Maya said, nodding.
Maya went into the kitchen, grabbing a large glass of water and some saltines before going back into the bedroom. Carina was lying in bed, smiling a little when her wife walked in.
"Grazie," the Italian said as Maya put the items down before getting into bed, Carina immediately moving into her arms.
"Go to sleep," Maya said, kissing her forehead, sighing when she felt the warmth from the fever that had been going up, "I will be right here when you wake up."
"Ti amo," Carina said, "Sorry I didn't take care of myself while you were gone."
"I am here to take care of you now," Maya said, knowing they would talk about that another time, "Just sleep now. I love you too."
Carina sighed, letting herself melt into Maya's gentle touches, glad that her wife was finally home.
What did you think? I hope this is what you guys wanted. If you have any other prompts like this, let me know. One of the main reasons I write Maya being the one being taken care of is because that's the majority of the prompts I get.
Also, can we just talk about this week's episode for a minute. Watching Maya and Carina open up to each other, even through a lot of it was during a fight, was so amazing to watch, and they are freaking engaged! Danielle and Stefania did such an amazing job with the acting, and I cannot wait to see the rest of the season. This is Shondaland so I never really like being too excited about romantic relationships because that's always when something bad happens, but I think they are good for the rest of this season. Anyway, this episode is now tied for my favorite of the season along with 4x07.