For her, walking through the doors of Grey-Sloan was another typical day. Carina DeLuca loved her job. She loved helping women from all walks of life. But her favorite part was helping those women bring new life into this world. It was an experience that was magical and surreal to her. Her own plans of becoming a mother were put on hold. It would depend on if she could get her wife to agree on having any.

She was married to Maya Bishop, the captain over at Station Nineteen. They were like two peas in a pod; inseparable. Their worlds revolved around each other like any happily married couple. Having found someone she planned to spend the rest of her life with, she knew she was very lucky. Nowadays, it seems so rare. As they walked through the doors, Carina was talking to Andrew, who by all accounts was trying to drown out his big sister.

"Bye, Carina." Andrew smiled as he left. Carina rolled her eyes. She had been ranting about something that Andrew clearly had no interest in.

"You know it's still not too late to smother you with a pillow." Carina called after him, satisfied with herself. After getting changed into her scrubs, she headed up to the attendings lounge to put her stuff away.

"Dr. DeLuca!" She heard her name being shouted. Turning around, she came face to face with Richard, who stood with a group of people behind him.

"Right, intern day." Her voice trailed off as she remembered today was the day when they took on a new batch of interns. "Good morning, Richard. These must be the new interns." She smiled softly.

"You're right." Richard smiled as he turned towards the group. "This is Dr. DeLuca, an attending of our O.B. department. If you're lucky, you'll be working with her today." He turned to face Carina. "I'll let you take it from here."

Carina smiled as she surveyed the group. "As Dr. Webber said, I'm an attending in the O.B. department. Everyone reports to me. Dr. Wilson also works with me. You can ask her questions, but I will make the final decision. Any questions so far?" She asked. No one raised a hand.

"Okay, Dr. Maxwell, you're going to work with Dr. DeLuca today." Richard smiled happily. As the rest of the group left, Carina and the intern began walking down the hallway. She had never been a fan of new interns. They were at the bottom of the chain and had to be taught everything, which became dangerous when there was an emergency.

"Where did you go to medical school, Dr. Maxwell?" Carina asked as they walked down the hall. She was trying to strike up a small conversation while they walked. In general, she didn't are about anyone's past, but getting to know anyone with whom she worked would allow her to establish a better connection.

"You can call me Ray." He smiled. "I went to Winston-Salem North Carolina's Wake Forest School of Medicine. It's where I grew up." He smiled again. "How about you?"

"I was born and raised in Italy, where I went to school. I heard my brother, who you'll also meet, worked for a female chief and I had to check it out." Carina chuckled. "How did you decide to come here, if you don't mind my asking?" She smiled.

"I heard it was a really good program. Working under some of the best doctors in the country. Dr. Meredith Grey, Dr. Jackson Avery. Iconic figures." Ray said. "All throughout high school and med school, my dream had been to meet them. They were always highly spoken of by anyone I would talk to."

"It's true." Carina agreed. "All right, so, yesterday we admitted two moms. There was one with preeclampsia we were monitoring for two days. The other went into labor late last night. We've started her on Pitocin, but her labor has stalled at seven centimeters and she'll probably need an emergency cesarean."

"If her labor has stalled this long, why haven't you already performed a C-section?" Ray asked, slightly confused. Even though he didn't know much about the labor process, he thought this was a very long time for a woman to be in labor.

"As long as mom and baby are stable, we try not to. This makes recovery easier for mom and means fewer complications for them both." Carina explained as they entered the first patient's room. "Good morning, Keandre." She greeted, smiling. As they both moved to the bed, Keandre smiled back at her, waving slightly. "Okay, Dr. Maxwell, you may present today." She smiled as she handed the tablet to him. Ray felt nervous as he wanted to impress her.

"Keandre Horne, thirty-two years old, admitted two days ago with signs of preeclampsia. Overnight tests showed a significant improvement. No reports of any dizziness or fainting spells. Upon arrival, she was started on an antihypertensive medication to control her blood pressure. Additionally, she was started on anticonvulsants to prevent seizures and corticosteroids to strengthen the baby's lungs in the event that the baby had to be delivered early."

"Excellent." Carina smiled as she turned toward the patient. "As Dr. Maxwell said, your labs look better. However, I would like you to stay one more night to make sure that they stay that way." The last thing they needed was for this woman to go home, only to end up back in the hospital soon after discharge.

"I can go home, then? My husband is alone with our other three kids." Keandre asked, looking between the doctors. Her hope was that she would be able to return home and resume the chaos of her life. Despite the chaos of having three kids, about to be four, it was much better than being in the hospital.

"Under some conditions. Avoid stress wherever possible. Regular blood pressure checks and medications. Details will be on your discharge papers." Carina smiled. "As long as you continue to do well, you should be able to go home tomorrow." She reassured her.

"I appreciate your help, Dr. DeLuca." Keandre grinned softly. Carina returned the smile before heading out of the room. As she closed the door, they both stopped.

"I want you to check her vital signs every four hours. Let me know if anything changes." Carina ordered. Ray nodded. "Okay, let's go." She whispered as she looked up to see Jo running towards them.

"Dr. DeLuca!" Jo shouted as she ran to catch up with her. She paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing. "We have a mom in labor who has a blood clotting disorder, disseminated intravascular coagulation." Carina knew this meant that the patient could bleed out after or in the process of giving birth. It would be a race against the clock to get the bleeding under control and to get her to the O.R. for any chance of survival.

"How have I never seen her before? She has a high risk of postpartum hemorrhage." Carina said as she walked toward the patient's room. Such conditions are often fatal for the mother. There was a significant risk that she would bleed out.

"The couple recently moved here," Jo replied. "Should I call to have an O.R. prepped for an emergency C-section?" She asked as they entered the room.

"There's no time. She's already crowning." Carina said as she took a seat between the woman's legs. "Get me some gloves." She requested. After she put on the gloves, she smiled at the woman. "What's your name?" Carina remained calm as she asked. She was baffled as to why this woman hadn't sought out a new doctor immediately after moving.

"Savannah." The woman panted, breathing heavily. "Is the baby gonna be okay?" She asked as she looked around the room.

Carina smiled gently, trying to reassure the woman. "That's our goal. Now, on three, I need you to push." Once the baby arrived, Carina handed him over to Jo while quickly grabbing a towel off the table. This was exactly what Carina had been afraid of. "Okay, she's bleeding heavily." She said softly, trying not to alarm the new mother. For a moment, Carina made eye contact with the woman before looking back down. "Dr. Maxwell, call down to have an O.R. prepared for postpartum hemorrhage." She shouted.

"An O.R.?" Savannah shouted in disbelief. "But what about my baby?" She asked.

"There's a lot of bleeding going on, so we need to stop it as soon as possible. Your baby will be in the nursery in the meantime, okay? I promise he will be taken care of. Let's take care of you now." Carina smiled and looked up. "Okay, let's move her."

In the scrub room, there was an eerie silence. A kind of silence everyone understood. "Is there any family that needs to be contacted?" Carina asked as she finished scrubbing out. Her heart broke every time she lost a patient. It was more common than people realized.


"The husband was called. Last time we spoke with him, he was on his way back from a fishing trip in Spokane. We now have to tell him that he has a son but no wife." Jo looked down at her hands as she whispered.

"This is part of O.B., Dr. Wilson. Things don't always work out for the best. We try and try but sometimes it's just not enough. That's the way it is." Carina paused for a moment. "Are you willing to speak with the husband, or would you prefer that I speak with him?" Carina offered, smiling softly.

"It's fine, no problem. I've got it covered. Thanks, Carina." Jo nodded, smiling back softly. Ray followed Carina out of the scrub room and went to the floor desk.

"Okay, that was really intense." Ray exclaimed enthusiastically. "It was almost like being a kid in a candy store."

"This isn't your typical O.B. day." Carina said sadly. "The loss of a patient is never easy. Not only did this man lose his wife, the baby lost his mother and now his father is a single parent." She sighed then paused for a moment. "As time goes on, you'll be taught how to communicate with the family after a loved one dies."

Ray nodded as everything fell silent for a moment. "Do you want to get drinks later? I was wondering if you were free. I'm new to Seattle and don't really know anyone." He smiled. Carina smiled back politely as she shook her head.

"My wife and I have plans later, but thank you for the offer." Carina said sincerely. She wasn't the type to mingle with the interns. Her brother was the only one she ever hung out with, it was easier that way. Also, she didn't want to get caught up in the drama that usually comes with interns.

"Wife? So you're..." Max trailed off. It was none of his business and he didn't want to assume, yet he decided to ask for confirmation anyway.

"Bisexual, yes." Carina smiled. "Are you telling me you couldn't tell?" Ray shook his head. "Really? Everyone around here knew right away."

"Guess I'm just part of a minority." He shrugged. "What's next?" He asked, eager to get on with the day. Before Ray followed Carina, she picked up the next chart before motioning for him to follow her. It was just another day at work for her but for Ray, this was the beginning of what he hoped would be the most successful career of his life.


"Knock knock." Carina smiled as she stood in the doorway of the office. When she got off work, she came to the station like she usually did when Maya was still working. Maya looked up, smiling at her wife.

"Hey, babe. How was your day?" Maya asked as she got up from her desk before heading over to where Carina was standing. She gave her a soft kiss, lingering there for a moment as the kiss deepened.

Carina sighed as they pulled away. "The new interns started today. They're ducklings that we have to teach to fly and I would much rather deal with them once they can fly unassisted." She grumbled. Maya found it cute when she was annoyed.

"That sounds like the new recruits around here. They put us all behind because they're still learning the basics." Maya said, rolling her eyes. "Someone should be hired specifically to train them before they come to us."

"I completely agree. In the midst of life and death emergencies, we have to teach them. Take today, for example. A mom who delivered vaginally suffered a severe hemorrhage. The woman had to be taken into an operating room before I could explain what was happening to my intern." Carina replied.

"Did the woman survive?" Maya asked curiously. Carina shook her head sadly.

"She didn't, but her baby did." Carina paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, I got invited out for drinks by one of the new interns."

"Oh really? First day and already asking the teacher out." Maya smirked. "So, did you accept?" She asked curiously. She knew Carina would never but her wife did manage to shock her from time to time.

"Of course not. I don't fraternize with interns. That's how half the issues get started there." Carina laughed softly. "While it was a nice offer, I would prefer spending the evening with you."

"Well, I have another couple of hours here. Vic is out sick. Sullivan can't seem to be in the same room with anyone these days." Maya sighed. "Seriously, whatever is going on between him and Herrera, I don't even wanna know but he better pull his head out of his ass soon."

"I love it when you're feisty." Carina took her face in her hands and smiled before kissing her. "Now go do what you gotta do, and then we'll head home." After pulling a book from her bag, she plopped down on the couch, glancing up at her wife as she came in and out of the office. A couple hours later, Maya stood in the doorway watching her wife for a moment before sighing softly. Carina looked up from her book.

"Let's head home." Maya whispered. Before getting up off the couch, Carina slipped her book back into her bag. As she walked towards the door, she slipped her arm around Maya's waist and smiled softly. As they left the office, she silently agreed with Carina. It had been a long day at work, and now the rest of the night was theirs to enjoy. It was just the way they liked it.

Hey guys! So I'm back with another story. This is something that I have been working on and I truly hope you all enjoy. I will be updating this story once a week unless I get so far ahead then I might throw in a day here and there ;) buckle up because this one is a lot to digest but it touches on some very sensitive subjects that don't get talked about nearly enough. With that being said, i have to add in some trigger warnings.

Please DO NOT read if you are easily triggered by Sexual assault, Murder or anything along those lines. You have been warned. Shout-out to BenslerForever22 for putting up with my twisted mind and for the amazing editing job!