AN: Hi all. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story. It means a lot to me. Second of all, I am sorry that it been so long since I updated. I was very busy my first semester of college, and honestly, I was struggling with pretty serious writer's block. Anyways, I thought it could be fun to explore this plotline from Grey's as it would have happened had Carina also had a cookie (and she and Maya were together at the time, of course). Hope you enjoy :')! I am going to try to update more regularly starting now. -L
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The Cookies
Maya dropped onto the couch with a sigh. She'd been working for well over twenty-four hours, the intended end of her shift coinciding with a five alarm. Carina was likely right in the middle of her presentation for the surgical innovation contest that she had been talking Maya's ear off about for weeks. She and Arizona had created a portable cart for births, the purpose of which was to decrease as many deadly complications associated with childbirth as possible. Maya wasn't sure entirely what it was, but she knew that she should be proud of her girlfriend, and she was. She'd been hoping to go home and catch a nap before heading over to watch the presentation. At this point, Maya doubted that she would make it even if she skipped showering. She was starting to understand the way Carina had felt during her residency: the constant guilt of missing everything. Maya searched for her phone in her pocket. She figured she'd send Carina a quick text apologizing and letting her know that she had to hop in the shower and then she'd bring her some congratulatory lunch. She had 18 texts and 4 missed calls from Carina. Ti amo. Mayaaaa. You're really hot. Mi manchi (I miss you). Sono fatto di cannabis (I am high on cannabis). This is weirrd. Why did we never do this in high school? I am so so in love with you. Where are you? Is there a fire? Bambina please answer me. MAYA. Stai bene? (Are you okay?) I am going to the ER to make sure you are not there. I am going to assume you are fighting a fire like the talentuosa bellissima firefighter you are (talented, gorgeous). Trying not the think the worst. Per favore text me when you get this, bella. Ti amo.
"Shit."
"What's up?" Andy asked.
"Carina was supposed to be presenting for the contest today, but I guess something must have happened, because she's been texting me in a weed induced panic for the past hour."
"Weed? I didn't know Carina smoked."
"She doesn't," Maya paused, "That's the weirdest part." Hi, baby, I'm okay. Five alarm right at the end of shift. On my way to you now. The reply was almost immediate. Bambina, grazie dio (Thank God). Sorry I freaked. See you soon.
"Oh."
"Yeah, I've gotta go to the hospital to see what's going on. I'll text you when I know," Maya mumbled, heading for the lounge door.
"Okay. Yeah, let me know."
Maya hadn't been to Grey Sloan in a while, but nonetheless, the lack of dark blue scrubs piqued her interest. Usually there was an attending around every corner, followed by a pack of residents like love sick puppies, desperate to impress, longing for any opportunity to enter an operating room. It often reminded Maya of herself as a probie, when she found herself shamefully hoping that a house would catch fire just so she could pick up a hose and put it out. However, upon entering the hospital, Maya encountered a brand new dynamic. The only staff that seemed to be present were the nurses, and the residents. There wasn't an attending in sight. Even as she passed Bailey's office, the door hung open, revealing the emptiness inside. This combined with the concerning texts from her girlfriend that had prompted her visit to begin with, caused an uneasy feeling to settle in the pit of Maya's stomach. Finally she spotted Meredith Grey standing outside a patient room, her watchful eye focused on Jo Wilson, who Maya assumed was delivering an update to a family inside the room. She found herself yet again alarmed when a glance down revealed Meredith favoring her right hand, which was wrapped tight in a black brace.
"Dr. Grey." Maya hadn't spent a lot of time with Meredith Grey. She had heard the stories, of course. She knew that the Grey in Grey Sloan was in memory of Meredith's late sister, Lexie. She knew that Amelia Shepherd was Grey's sister in law. That her late husband, Derek, had initially been married to Addison Montgomery, one of the best OB/GYNs in the country, until she had cheated on him with Mark Sloan, the Sloan in Grey Sloan, who would go on to become the father of Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres's daughter, and fall in love with Lexie Grey. She knew that Grey's mom, Ellis, had won three Harper Averys, and that Maggie Pierce was Ellis Grey and Richard Webber's biological daughter. She knew all of this, because one of Carina's preferred methods of pillow talk was to fill Maya in on all the hospital gossip, past and present. She also knew from Andy that she had confided in Grey quite a lot when Pruitt had initially been diagnosed, and for that Maya was grateful. But she and Grey hadn't really ever had a real conversation.
"Bishop," Meredith paused to give her a knowing smile, "Here to see Dr. DeLuca?"
"Yes. In fact, would you happen to know where I could find her? It appears as if all of the attendings besides you have disappeared."
"Ah, yes. There was an unfortunate incident this morning with some peanut butter cannabis cookies that were handed out prior to any knowledge of the extra ingredient," Meredith said in reply. Suddenly, everything was starting to make a lot more sense.
"Well that would explain the cryptic texts I received from Carina earlier."
"Dr. DeLuca was one of those affected. Unfortunately, so was Chief Bailey." Maya raised her eyebrows, biting down on her lip to keep the giggle at bay that was threatening to escape upon learning that her girlfriend's boss, and the wife of the man she and her team often referred to as "dad" had spent the day high on marijuana.
"Does this incident have anything to do with the brace on your hand?" Maya asked, realizing that she hadn't addressed it yet. Meredith sighed, rolling her eyes with a smile.
"Yes. The chief was called into surgery before the announcement about the weed in the cookies. Long story short, in the process of removing her from the OR, accompanied by a drug induced declaration of love, my knuckles got crushed in the door," she explained. This time Maya couldn't hold it in.
"I'm sorry about your hand. I shouldn't be laughing," she managed to stop herself. Meredith shook her head.
"No, it's okay. It is pretty funny." Soon she was joining in Maya's laughter, which had resumed shortly after the apology.
"Sounds like quite a day." Maya said when their laughter had died down.
"It was definitely something." They fell into a comfortable silence, before Wilson emerged from the patient room. "Okay, well I've gotta get back to mentoring, and you should probably go check on Carina. She should be in the conference room."
"Okay…well, thank you for filling me in. I hope that your hand heals soon."
"Thank you. It was good to see you, Bishop. Give my best to Andy."
"You too, Dr. Grey. I will." Maya figured that now as as good a time as any to give her best friend the update she'd promised. She opened her phone to Andy's contact and drafted a text. Okay so apparently a patient brought in weed cookies as a thank you gift without knowing it. Maya had barely made it a step before her phone buzzed with a reply. LMAO. That is a recipe for disaster.. literally.
Yeah. So I must go find my high girlfriend and see how she is handling her first time on drugs.
You haven't found her yet? How'd you get the info? Miranda? That had always been so weird to Maya, that everyone at the station called Chief Bailey by her first name. She had known both Warren and Bailey as doctors first. They had always been Chief Bailey and Dr. Warren to her. She had only recently begun to call Warren, Ben, and couldn't even imagine a time when she could see herself being comfortable calling her girlfriend's boss by her first name.
No. Grey. She sends her best btw. Chief Bailey had a cookie. I'll tell you the whole story later. Gotta go find the other half.
Okay good luck. Send my love to Carina.
Will do. Maya was still a corridor away from the conference room when a door flung open in front of her. Arizona Robbins and Maggie Pierce emerged first, followed by Andrew, whose face was red and puffy, like he'd been crying. Maya's heart ached for the man who was like a brother to her. He and the great love of his life had finally been reunited, finally admitted their feelings for each other, only for her to be ripped from his arms by the flawed immigration system. Maya couldn't even imagine how that must feel. She felt eternally grateful that Carina had applied for a green card following her acceptance to medical school, and that she didn't have to worry about the love of her life, or Andrew for that matter, being targeted by ICE.
"Maya, hi." It was Arizona who spoke first. She was one of the few people at the hospital who called Maya by her first name, along with Amelia, Andrew, and of course, Carina.
"Hi." Maya said. At that Maggie's eyes widened.
"High…yes. Bishop, I have to admit something to you," she whispered, almost too quiet for Maya to hear. Maya had a feeling she knew what was coming. "I am high. I'm high on marijuana. That's so bad. I've never been high on marijuana before. That's why I left the conference room, and that's why Arizona had to come after me, and then Andrew left too, because he ate so many cookies, because his girlfriend was deported, and he was playing with the wall decorations, so Carina followed him, and then we all went into this room and I was thinking about cheese and then I lost the liver and we had a funeral for the electronic patient. Oh! And I still want cheese." Maya smiled.
"Wow. I think maybe somebody should get you some cheese."
"I think you're right," Maggie mumbled, off in her own world again. Maya reached out to Andrew, placing her hand on his arm. He looked at her, but he barely seemed to register who she was. Maya gave him a sad smile and gave his arm what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze. Arizona, who was effectively sober, due to her higher tolerance, realized that Maya was probably looking for Carina.
"I will be completely honest with you. I lost Carina. She was in the room with us, but at some point she started rambling in Italian, something about how you weren't answering your texts, and she had to go make sure you weren't in the ER. That was a couple of hours ago though. I would have gone after her, but I was still so high. I'm so sorry, Maya."
"It's okay. I was just texting with her before I got here, so I know she's okay. I'll ask her where she is."
"Okay, good. I will make sure that Andrew has somewhere to go."
"Thank you, Arizona. Thank you for being such a good friend to him through all of this. Carina and Andrew always got into it about Sam, and I know that she's glad that he has someone to help him deal with the heartbreak even though she would never admit it."
"Of course. No one deserves to have the love of their life move thousands of miles away." The sad look in Arizona's eyes did not go unnoticed by Maya. She knew that Arizona was thinking about Callie. "Plus Andrew is wonderful, and he was a very good roommate."
"If you run into Dr. Grey, let her know that Dr. Pierce is in dire need of some cheese." Arizona chuckled.
"Yes."
"Alright, I will see you."
"Bye, Maya." Maya gave them a final parting wave as she continued on to the conference room. It seemed unlikely that Carina was there, but it gave her a destination until she got an exact location. Hi, my love, I'm here. Where are you? She paused for a second to see if there would be a quick response. Office. Maya turned, unaware of where exactly where she was in relation to Carina's office. She left out a little chuckle at the coincidence when she realized what was engraved on the name plate next to the door on her right: Dr. Carina DeLuca Obstetrics and Gynecology. Maya gave the door a gentle knock just out of principal, barely waiting for the "come in" before she pushed it open. Carina was laying on the couch, her bare feet sticking out of the end of the blanket that covered her. She was holding a copy of Sports Illustrated, likely the September 2012 issue that had directly followed Maya's gold medal win at the London Olympics and had featured her and her recovery from a torn ACL. Carina kept a copy in her office for when she needed an extra boost to get her through the day, or if one of them had a long shift and she missed her.
"Uh oh," Maya said with a teasing tone that often accompanied her response when she caught Carina looking at the magazine. She approached the couch, one hand grasping Carina's cheek, the other brushing some hair out of her forehead. Carina looked up at her, her eyes full of love. There was almost a childlike wonder to the look she was giving her, definitely a lack of confidence. Something that Maya had never experienced from Carina before.
"I ate marijuana."
"I heard."
"I didn't mean to."
"I know."
"Do you still love me even though I did drugs?" Carina asked, the insecurity clear in her voice. Maya quickly pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Carina, of course. Nothing you could do would make me not love you. You don't have to worry. You don't ever have to worry about that."
"I'm sorry I freaked out earlier." Maya lifted Carina's legs and sat down next to her, before pulling her into her lap. She slipped her hands under Carina's scrub top, causing Carina to sigh in relief at the feel of her girlfriend's bare skin against hers.
"It's okay. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you through being high."
"It's okay. It wasn't planned."
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Maya asked. Carina began to nod slowly, and then faster.
"It was honestly really scary. Especially since I wasn't expecting it. Plus Grey and Wilson did not make it any easier when they decided to wait until we were in private to tell us about the erba (weed) and instead announced publicly that the contest had to be postponed because the cookies that we had just eaten had been tainted with rat poison."
"Cosa?"
"They said that they didn't want to scare anyone, but I think it was because there were people from outside the hospital there and they didn't want it to get out that half of Grey Sloan's attendings were high, accidentally or not."
"I mean I guess that makes sense."
"Si. But that did not make it any easier to understand at the time. In più ero preoccupato per Andrea, perché è uno stupido idiota che ha fatto rientrare Sam nella sua vita solo perché lei lo distruggesse di nuovo e mangiasse metà del piatto di edibili." (Plus I was worried about Andrea, because he is a stupid idiot who continues to let Sam back into his life only to have her destroy him again and eat half a plate of edibles.) Maya cocked her head, still not quite versed enough in Italian to understand every word when Carina started to rant.
"I didn't quite catch all of that," she said.
"Mi dispiace. I was just complaining about how my little frattelo is an idiota who continues to let his relationships control his life, and for some reason let a stalker back into his life who he apparently 'loves' just for her to leave him again, and because of this he ate so many cookies, and was higher than a kite." Maya gave her a look, scolding her with her eyes.
"Carina, you of all people know that Sam did not do it on purpose." Carina groaned, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"Si, yes, of course I know that! But you of all people have witnessed what Sam has done to him in the past. Sure, maybe this time it wasn't her fault, but she is still bad news."
"Okay." Maya let it go for the time being, knowing that it was not the time to address how unfair Carina was being to Andrew, or Sam.
"In conclusion, I really do not enjoy being high. I spent most of the day imagining you burned up in a fire, and running back and forth from here and the ER to make sure you hadn't been brought in. At one point Owen threatened to admit me just so I would sit still. Also, I have never been hungrier in my life."
"I'm sorry, my love. That sounds awful." Maya tucked some of Carina's hair behind her hair. Then she kissed her long and hard, trying to take away as much of Carina's bad day as she could with just a kiss. As well as to remind her that she was right there, that she was not going anywhere, that she was perfectly safe and had not burned up in a fire. A single tear fell down Carina's cheek. Maya kissed her again, this one short and sweet. Then she reached up and caught the tear with her thumb. "It's okay. I'm here. I do not plan on going anywhere anytime soon. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid." Carina laughed tearfully, and grabbed Maya's hand, kissing each one of her knuckles.
"I love you, bambina."
"I love you too. How about I take you home, and cook you up some risotto from your mom's recipe?"
"That sounds perfetto."
"Good."