So I'm assuming that because they made Stefania a series regular on Station 19, they are going to somehow have to bring her into the fire station at some point, maybe? I mean, she can't just be Maya's girlfriend, right? Anyway, here is my thoughts on how it could happen.
The first time it happened, it was an accident.
Carina had stopped by to see Maya because the blonde had had an early morning meeting with the new fire captain meaning Carina was still asleep when she left. The OB/GYN was off for the day and decided that seeing her girlfriend was the best way to spend her time.
Maya didn't complain, loving a little extra time with Carina. However, just as their make out session was getting heated, there was a knock on the door.
Maya pushed Carina off, straightening her uniform a little before calling "Come in."
"Hey Captain," Ben Warren said, walking in the door, "Oh, hey Carina. Sorry to interrupt."
"Not sorry enough to not do it," Carina retorted under her breath, feeling a gentle jab in the ribs from Maya's elbow as she saw the blonde trying to suppress a smirk.
"What can I do for you Warren?" Maya asked, looking at the older man.
"Well, Jackson was supposed to be on shift today, but he just called and apparently, his kid was sick and now he's sick. I need someone else to cover for him and I was just wondering who you wanted me to call?"
"Let me check," Maya said, going to her computer, "Looks like Nico, Jo, and Levi are all available."
"I could do it," Carina said, looking at Ben.
"You aren't trained Carina," Maya said, looking at her girlfriend.
Just then, the alarm started going off. "Aid Car 19, Ladder 19, Engine 19, PRT 19. Multiple MVC."
"Looks like you're about to get a crash course Carina," Ben said, looking to his captain for approval.
"Fine," Maya said, nodding, "But only until we can get someone else here."
The three of them ran into the barn, Maya pulling on her turnouts as Ben guided Carina to the PRT.
"Did I just see Carina get in with Warren?" Andy asked as she climbed into the driver's seat, pulling the engine out as she flicked on the sirens.
"Yeah," Maya said with a sigh, "Avery is out sick and before we could get anyone in to replace him, we got this call. And Carina was here to say hi and offered to help."
"And how do you feel about that?" Andy asked, eying her friend.
"I don't know," Maya said, "I'm not even totally sure it's allowed, but she works at Grey Sloan so I think it'll be fine. I'm not super looking forward to her seeing this part of the job. I think it might freak her out."
"At least it's not a major fire in a building," Andy said, shrugging, "Maybe a little less terrifying?"
Maya shrugged, getting on the comms and talking to their team. They arrived at an eight-car pile-up. There were wounded people on the side of the road, three cars smoking, and a few people laying on the road, not moving.
"Alright," Maya yelled, jumping out of the engine, "Let's assess. Gibson, Miller, check the walking wounded. Herrera, Probie, let's get that smoke under control. Hughes, Montgomery, let's see if there's anyone trapped. Warren, go asses the ejected passengers."
Carina followed Ben as Maya called for backup. They needed at least four more aid cars. Vic and Travis pulled a critical patient out of a car, loading them up into the other aid car as soon as it arrived. Maya ran around, helping her team where they could.
She was about to go over to talk to Andy who had just finished getting the fires out when she heard a low moan coming from one of the cars. She ran toward the noise, finding a woman pinned in her car.
"Ma'am," Maya called, "Ma'am, can you hear me?"
"Yeah," the woman responded, "Is my baby ok?"
Maya looked quickly in the back, not seeing any sign of an infant.
"I'm pregnant," the woman said, moving a hand to her stomach, "Is my baby going to die?"
"We are going to do everything we can to help," Maya said before grabbing her radio, "I need the jaws, a medical bag, a C-collar, and Carina over here right now."
Maya then turned back to the woman, trying to assess her injuries.
"Ok," she said, "How are you feeling? Any pain?"
"I can't feel my legs," the woman said, starting to panic, "Oh God, I can't feel my legs… how am I…"
"Ma'am," Maya said, reaching into the car and taking her hand, "I know it's scary, but you need to try not to move for me. You might have a spinal cord injury which you could make worse by moving. Just try to breathe for me, ok. Can you tell me what your name is?"
"Annie," the woman said, "Annie Moore."
"Ok Annie," Maya said, hearing her team running over, "You are in the best hands ok? You see that woman running over here? She is one of the best OB's in the city."
Just then, Andy, Carina, and Travis all ran up.
"This is Annie," Maya said, moving so Travis could get the collar on her, "She's pregnant and she can't feel her legs. Annie, I'm going to leave you in their hands. You are going to be fine."
"No," Annie said, clinging to Maya's hand, "No, don't go… please?"
Maya took a deep breathe, looking at Andy.
"Can you…?" Maya started, Andy knowing exactly what she was asking.
"I've got it," Andy said, setting down the backboard and bag, "I'll keep you updated on what's going on."
"Thanks," Maya called as Andy ran off to captain the call.
"Annie," Carina said, going over to the car, "How far along are you?"
"Seven and a half months," Annie said, wincing a little as Travis stuck an IV in.
"Can you feel the baby moving at all?" Carina asked, trying to assess as much as she could without actually being able to see.
"A little," Annie said, nodding, "Yeah, I can feel her a little."
"Good," Carina said, nodding, "These firefighters need to get you out and then I'll be able to tell you more, but the moving is good."
Carina stepped back, giving Maya and Travis room to cut the car. As they got the door off, a wound on her side that had been held by the door started bleeding.
"Carina," Maya called, the brunette immediately grabbing packing and trying to slow the stream of blood.
"Warren," Maya called, realizing this woman was going to need the PRT as she began to pass out. He ran over as they laid Annie on the backboard.
"She's losing a lot of blood," Carina said, holding the wound as best as she could.
"Let's get her to the PRT," Ben said as they started toward the trucks.
Once Ben and Carina had her, Travis and Maya looked at each other.
"How lucky are we that Carina's here today?" he said to her, shaking his head.
Maya bit her lip a little, nodding before running back to the call. Ben and Carina ended up getting the bleeding stopped and taking the patient to Grey Sloan while the others finished the call.
Most of the injured only had minor injuries and were able to be taken to Grey Sloan quickly. Two people were DOA which was hard, but overall, the call was relatively successful given how bad it could have been. They arrived back at the station, the team getting to work stocking the trucks while Maya went into her office.
"Hey," she said, walking in and finding Carina in her office, "What are you still doing here?"
"Well, I thought I would stick around until Warren got someone else and I wanted to see you," Carina said, getting up and going to Maya, "Is that alright?"
"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "Of course it's alright. What did you think of the PRT?"
"I was going to talk to you about that," Carina said, "What would you think if I did it for real? If I signed up to work the PRT, maybe one shift a week?"
"Are you sure?" Maya asked, guiding Carina into her bunk to have this conversation, "I mean, don't you like your job at the hospital?"
"I do," Carina said, nodding, "But I need something different. With everything that has been happening with Andrea, I need some space. Somewhere where I don't have to worry about him all the time. Plus, what Warren and I did today, I don't get that feeling very often at the hospital, the rush. I would still work 2 to 3 eight hour shifts there a week, just like everyone else who works here. What do you think?"
Maya sighed, running her hand through her short hair.
"What are you thinking?" Carina asked, "Do you not want me to work here?"
"I don't know," Maya said honestly.
"Can I ask why?" Carina asked, "Why would it be so bad for you to have to work with me? Do you not think I would do a good job?"
"No," Maya said, "No, it has nothing to do with you. If today was any indication, you would be excellent. No. I just worry that if you are here, seeing what we do up close, that it will scare you, hurt you. What we do here, it can be terrifying. People sometimes go in and we don't know if they'll come out. There are times when we are in real danger and it gets intense. I don't want you to worry more than you already do."
"Maya, I can handle it," Carina said, looking at her girlfriend, "I know what you do, and just because I see it doesn't mean I am going to worry more or less. I always worry about you because I love you. Is that the only reason you don't want me to work here?"
"Well, there's also the Jack thing," Maya said, knowing that because of her, her lieutenant and girlfriend had a rocky relationship at best thanks to her.
"I thought about that too," Carina said, nodding slowly, "And I think we are all mature enough to work together. We've worked hard to moved past it, and I feel fine about it. Even though he will never be my favorite person, I think we can work together like adults."
"You're amazing, you know that?" Maya said, leaning over and giving Carina a kiss, "Well, those were my only two concerns. So I guess I'm fine with it. I know Warren is always looking for new people."
"Are you sure?" Carina asked. "Yeah," Maya said, "Let's go find Warren."
"Both of us?" Carina asked confused.
"Well, I need to see if he actually found someone to cover for Avery today because you can't do it all day," Maya said, taking Carina's hand.
They found Ben restocking the truck in the barn.
"Hey Captain," he said, "Carina. What's up?"
"I just have a quick question," Maya said, "And then Carina needs to talk to you. Did you find someone to cover for Avery today?"
"Oh, yeah," Ben said, nodding, "Nico just got here. He's upstairs getting ready, although I would happily have just taken Carina for the rest of the shift."
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Carina said as Ben put some more supplies away.
"I'm going to go back to my office to get some work done," Maya said, giving Carina's hand a squeeze, "Come see me when you're done?"
"Of course," Carina said, smiling at Maya as the blonde walked away, "So I wanted to talk to you about making this a more permanent thing."
"You want to come work here?" Ben said, "Really? I mean, you were amazing today, but I thought you loved your job at the hospital?"
"Si," Carina said, nodding, "I do, but I need some space from everything there. Plus, I will still work there and do my research with Amelia. I will just also have something else."
"I'm guessing you already talked to our captain about it?" Ben asked as Carina handed him some more supplies.
"I did," Carina said, nodding, "And she is fine with it. I mean, she's a little nervous, but it will be fine."
"You will have to clear it with Miranda," Ben said, taking more supplies from Carina, "But I don't foresee any issues there. And then there is some training. It's nothing too intense. You just have to come by here with either me or one of the other doctors who work on the PRT to do it. It's about twelve hours of training and you can do it all at once, or split it up. How often were you thinking you want to work?"
"Maybe once a week?" Carina asked, not sure what the standard was.
"Really?" Ben asked, excitement crossing his face, "That's great. Most people either work every other week or once a month, but every week would be great. It would fill a lot of gaps. You do know the shifts are 24 hours right?"
"You do know I date your captain, right?" Carina countered with a grin, "I know your work schedule."
"True," Ben chuckled, "Well, I guess welcome to station 19 then Dr. Deluca. I would offer to give you a tour, but you've already seen the station. Just call me to set up training. Bishop has the paperwork you need so you can grab it from her."
"Thank you, Ben," Carina said, "When can I start training?"
"I mean, I guess if you want, you can start now, at least until we get a call," Ben said, "I just need to grab you a manual. Unless you have plans today?"
"No plans," Carina said, shaking her head, "I was going to do some reading for my research, but that can wait."
"Well, I'll go get the manual," Ben said.
"I'm going to go talk to Maya," Carina said, "I won't be long."
Carina went back to the captain's office, knocking lightly before entering.
"Hello Bella," Carina said, walking in.
"Give me one second," Maya said, not looking up.
She wrote a few more things, flipping though her papers before setting the file aside.
"Sorry," she said, standing up, "I have been working on that file all morning. How did it go with Warren?"
"I am going to start training with him right now actually," Carina said, "At least for a little while."
"Wow," Maya said, "You are really excited to get going on this."
"Can you blame me?" Carina asked, going closer to Maya, "The sooner I get trained, the more time I get to spend with you."
"I didn't even thing about that," Maya said, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, "I will get 24 extra hours with you every week."
Carina nodded, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend. After a minute, Carina pulled away.
"I have to go," the brunette said, "Ben is waiting."
"I need to get back to my work too," Maya said with a sigh, "Enjoy training."
Carina flew through her training, finishing it all within a week. Bailey was completely on board with Carina working at 19 so the following week, she started her first shift.
"I could get used to this," Maya said as they walked through the door of the station together, "I've got a few things to get in order before shift. Do you know where your locker is?"
"Si," Carina said, giving her girlfriend a kiss before going upstairs.
"Hey roomie," Vic said as Carina walked into the locker room. The younger woman had gone for a bike ride with Travis before shift so she came in separately from the two women she lived with, "Ready for your first official shift at 19?"
"Si," Carina said, putting her bag in the locker she was sharing with the other females who worked the PRT.
Carina had a uniform just like everyone else which felt weird, but she pulled it on. She followed everyone else into the beanery, finding that Dean and Travis were cooking.
"Join the table Carina," Andy said, motioning for her to join them.
She sat down, already good friends with the entire team after all the time she had spent here in the six months since she and Maya had been together.
As they started breakfast, Maya came in, handing out assignments before sitting down next to her girlfriend.
As they were eating, the alarm went off. "Aid Car 19, PRT 19. Civilians in distress."
Ben, Carina, Travis, and Vic all got up, running down to the barn. The rest of the team finished breakfast before getting on with their chores.
Maya went to her office, trying to focus on her paperwork, but she felt distracted thinking about Carina on her first call. She went out to the barn, going to do inventory.
"What are you doing?" Andy asked as Maya counted the bottles, checking that all of them were full, "I thought you asked me to do inventory this week?"
"I can't concentrate today," Maya said with a sigh.
"Because Carina is working?" Andy asked, leaning against the rack, "You know you can't be like this. We are better than worrying about our significant others all the time."
"I'm not worried," Maya said, shaking her head as she checked the next bottle, "I'm happy she's working here. It's just her first day and I know she was a little nervous so I'm just hoping it's going well."
"It is stil so weird seeing you like this," Andy said, laughing as she watched Maya, "I never thought I would live to see the day that Maya Bishop was in a relationship that distracted her from her job."
"Don't you have bathrooms to clean or something?" Maya asked, sticking her tongue out at her friend.
"Well, I was supposed to be doing inventory," Andy said, giving Maya a look, "But someone is too distracted by their girlfriend being out on a call to be able to do her actual job."
"Hey, I'm basically caught up on my paperwork," Maya said defensively.
"I'm just giving you a hard time," Andy said, knowing that Maya was very defensive of her work ethic.
"I know," Maya said, cracking a smile.
"Is there anything you need me to do though?" Andy asked.
"Could you get someone to help you check hoses?" Maya asked, "I think we have two or three with leaks."
"Yeah," Andy said, nodding, "Sounds good."
Maya finished up with the bottles and was about to go try to do more paperwork when the rigs pulled back in. She went into the barn, meeting Carina as she climbed out.
"How was it?" Maya asked.
"It went well," Carina said, smiling, "We got everyone to the hospital and they were doing well. WE did have to do a small surgery to clamp off a massive bleed in the abdomen of one of the patients. I need to go help Ben restock the rig."
"Of course," Maya said, nodding, "I need to get back to my paperwork. I'm glad it went well."
They parted, Maya heading back into her office. She managed to get through a few files before the alarm started going off, this time for all of them. They headed to an apartment fire, Maya giving out orders as they started working.
Because of the nature of the fire, Maya headed in with the rest of her crew, needing to help with the evacuation. They worked on getting everyone out as another crew arrived to help. Ben and Carina got a patient who was in cardiac arrest who they managed to get back before heading off to the hospital. They returned to the scene just as the top three floors of the apartment collapsed.
Carina felt her heart stop for a second before she saw all of 19 coming out of the building with the last of the tenants.
"Let's get this fire out," Maya yelled as she helped Andy carry a patient to the aid cars.
They all continued their defensive attacks, getting the fire out pretty quickly after that, everyone packing up to go back to the station after about five hours at the scene. They got back to the station, quickly unloading their trucks and starting the process of restocking before half of them went to shower while the other half headed to the beanery to eat.
They all managed to eat and shower before the alarm went off again. This call was a house fire that, by the time they got there had started spreading not only to the trees surrounding the house, but also to a house next door.
"Let's get a handle on this," Maya yelled, already running to talk to the civilians who were across the street.
She learned that there were people trapped and immediately got her team working on search and rescue. They managed to pull everyone out, getting them into the aid car and PRT to get them to the hospital while the rest of the team finished up.
By the time they got back to the station, it was almost 10 pm. The PRT team had gone back to the station while everyone else worked on overhaul. When the team got back, they again restocked before heading to the showers. "
"Why does it smell so good in here?" Vic asked as they climbed up the stairs to shower.
They went into the beanery, finding Ben and Carina cooking.
"Did you guys cook?" Vic asked, eyes wide.
"Si," Carina said, nodding, "Lasagna."
"Yes!" Vic said, "I am going to go shower so fast."
Maya hadn't gone upstairs, knowing her team needed to shower first so she was still down in her office, working.
About twenty minutes later, she headed upstairs, planning to shower, grab a sandwich or something, and then go back to work. As she walked up to the stairs, suddenly hit by something that smelled amazing. She walked into the beanery, confused.
"Woah," she said, seeing the entire team sitting around the table, "Who cooked?"
"Ben and Carina," Dean said.
"Seriously?" Maya said, sitting down next to her girlfriend, "You made lasagna?"
"Well, we used the store-bought noodles, but si," Carina said, nodding as Maya squeezed her hand under the table.
"Thanks guys," Maya said, diving in.
Once everyone had finished dinner, they all went to get some sleep. Maya still needed a shower because she reeked of smoke from their last call. She showered quickly before heading back to her office.
She was planning on working for a few hours, sleep never going well for her when she was on shift, or really when she was off shift either, but that was another issue. She had just sat down at her desk when she heard a knock at her door.
"Come in?" she said, confused as to who was still up at this time of night.
The door opened and a very sleepy looking Carina walked in.
"What's up?" Maya asked, getting up and going to her immediately.
"I don't know," Carina said, shrugging, "I don't know what the rules are, but I just thought maybe, can I sleep down here?"
"Of course," Maya said, nodding, "Yeah. I wasn't planning on going to bed for another couple of hours, but you're welcome to sleep in my bunk."
"Maya, it's almost midnight," Carina said, taking her hand, "Why don't you at least try to sleep?"
"I'm good," Maya said, shaking her head. Carina gave her a look, clearly not buying it.
"I don't usually sleep on shift ok?" Maya said, bristling a little, "I can't calm down enough to get any good sleep."
"Hey," Carina said gently, brushing a piece of hair off Maya's face, "I understand. And if you don't want to, I understand, but I was hoping that with me being here, we would get one extra night to share a bed every week."
"You are very convincing Dr. Deluca," Maya said, looking up at her girlfriend, "I will try. But no promises I will stay in bed all night if I can't sleep."
"I guess I could settle for falling asleep next to you one extra night a week," Carina said as they walked into the captain's bunk room.
They both curled up in each other's arms, the bed much smaller than the one they normally shared. Maya was anticipating just having to pull herself out of Carina's embrace one the brunette fell asleep, but to her surprise, the next thing she knew, the alarm was going off, pulling everyone in the station out of bed at 4 am.
"Were you actually asleep?" Andy asked as they climbed into the engine together, noticing the pillow marks on Maya's face.
"Yeah," Maya said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "I think I was."
"I have never seen you sleep on shift unless you were sick," Andy said, looking at her friend, "Are you feeling ok?"
"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "I guess this is just one more added benefit of having Carina working here."
"What do you mean?" Andy asked, confused.
"I have never slept better than I do when I'm sleeping next to her," Maya said, blushing a little as she admitted it, "And now I guess I get that one more night a week."
So there it was! What did you think? Also, as always, any story prompts for this beautiful couple are always welcome!