Hey team!
I have decided that, for the most part, all the timelines are going to more-or-less blend together now. More on Maya's specific ordeal will come to light throughout the next few chapters.
Either way, happy reading!
19.
SATURDAY EVENING.
Carina collided with Andy in the waiting area. She couldn't remember getting from Amelia's office, where she had fallen asleep on her bathroom floor, down the two flights of stairs, across a walkway, or past several departments, but she arrived, out of breath.
"Andy, what, wh-" She stammered.
"Carina let's go sit down, I will tell you everything I know," Herrera took over, holding Carina by her arms and guiding her down the hallway, hoping the room was still there.
The warmth faced them as they entered the 'green room'. Surrounded by plants and soft lighting they sat, Carina shifting uncomfortably in her seat, eyeing the floor, but not moving there.
"Someone called it in, she was found out on the gorge road. She has a head wound and was unconscious," Andy could feel emotion rising in herself, but wanted to tell everything she knew before she let them reach her throat. If that happened she wasn't sure she would be able to continue breathing.
Carina's cheeks were red and damp, she had pulled her knees up and was twisting her bottom lip between two fingers.
"We think she's been shot," The words came out cold, and angry, Carina snapped out of staring at her wedding ring, beginning to interject. "That's all we know, it was probably a hunting accident."
"Ah," Carina suddenly urged to be speaking Italian, there were too many emotions that she didn't know how to say them in English.
"Hey," Andy seemed to see the spiral waiting to happen, "All I know is she is alive, she is in surgery, as soon as they can they will let us know."
A few moments of silence passed before there was a knock on the door. Bailey appeared, wringing her hands anxiously. "Ben said you were in here," She entered and closed the door gently behind herself. Carina sat more upright.
"Maya is alive, it was dicey, but she is alive. There was a liver lac that is causing us some issues, but she is alive."
Carina let out an exhale of a breath she didn't know she had been holding in.
"She should be out of surgery in an hour or so, we have her on a ventilator, and that will probably need to stay for a day or so. She had a seizure during surgery and we aren't sure why, we will leave her partially sedated. We are concerned if she has another one though she could do some damage while she is healing, so we have put her in some soft restraints, just to keep her semi-immobile, just for now." Bailey breathed, and seemed to remember who she was talking to, giving a warm smile, "But she is alive-" Her pager buzzed, and her face went serious.
Bishop took a deep breath before continuing, "Carina, Maya is still unconscious but there is some significant trauma to her upper thighs," The Italian shook her head slowly, "Jo would like to do a rape kit, do we have your permission, as Maya's advocate right now, to do that, while she is in surgery?"
Andy felt like she had been punched, and Carina looked away, "Si, do it," she quietly mumbled.
"I need to get back there, I will be out as soon as I can to get you both," She forced another tight smile, and left.
19.
Andy closed the door on Bishop's recovery room. She was still in intensive care, still unconscious, but alive. Carina lay on a cot they had set up next to the bed, holding her wife's hand tightly. Her eyes fixated on the mechanical rising and falling of Bishop's chest.
Warren was standing outside watching, "We need to call the team," he slowly said.
Andy nodded, "Let's tell them in person, there's nothing we can do here," Glancing back at the couple, "Plus I think Carina needs some time before we all arrive."
They took the short drive back to the Station in silence. They had called into dispatch saying the aid car was busy until further notice, and decided to keep that hold until they had told the team. Depending on their reaction they might ask for a couple of subs to come in and cover.
The rain had lessened, instead the air was thick with moisture. Not raining. Not clear. It almost felt poetic.
Heading inside the station was quiet, the engines were all back, indicating that everyone was likely resting. Heading upstairs revealed most of the team half asleep, watching a basketball game. The only one really awake was Vic.
Turning as they walked into the TV room Vic offered a quiet, 'Hey', before noting the sudden weight of the atmosphere increasing.
Warren shifted in his feet, and looked at Herrera, not only was he looking at his lieutenant, but also someone who had known most of the team the longest.
"Hey guys, something's happened," Andy stated.
Vic muted the TV as everyone woke quickly, a perk of being a first responder, not sleeping deeply.
"I got a called from Carina earlier today, Maya had not come back from a run," She began.
Travis pressed his weight into Vic, not knowing what had happened, but knowing this could easily be a trigger for her.
"Warren and I were called to an injured runner earlier this evening, it was Bishop. She had," Her voice faulted when Warren continued for her.
"She had been attacked. We don't know much more. They had to do emergency surgery, and she is out, but unconscious at Grey Sloan. Carina is with her now," Realising his years as a doctor almost made him more qualified to deliver news like this Warren stepped forward.
Questions started to arise as he held up his hands, "She has maybe 2 GSW's and some head trauma, but got herself up to the road, where she was spotted. She's on a vent in ICU," He felt a strange sense of calm.
"Can we go see her?" Travis asked, rising onto one leg, his other remaining on the couch.
"Mmm, not yet, let's wait till morning, we will go in after shift," Andy sensed that Carina would need time to recover from the stress of not knowing for so long.
19.
Maya could hear beeping. It was a monotonous beep. Each sound seeming to be longer than it should. Her head ached. Her midsection felt numb, like she was floating in a pool of warm water. Something about her throat and chest felt weird. The beeps rang into each other and fell down around her. She twitched a finger in their direction and fell back asleep.
19.
Carina woke with a start, her neck feeling stiff. She realised she had fallen asleep without a pillow. That plus the thin cot mattress, she felt tired. Like she had been running for hours. In a way she had. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was still dark outside, and the hospital had its night lights on. She crossed her legs and looked at her wife. The various lights of the machines in the room casted shadows over her cheeks. It was hard to tell past the ventilator strapped to her face, but they looked hollow.
Carina started at her head, where the blond hair fell around a thick bandage, which was centered to the back right of Maya's head. It looked sweaty. The mask obstructed a lot of her face. Her face. The smart eyes, the strong angles, the laughter that came from her smile. There was a bruise peeking up from her right shoulder, dancing dark purple up her neck. Carina thought of the times where she had leant on that shoulder. Kissed that part of her neck. The white gown cloaked a lot of the rest of her, except her lower arms and hands. There were small scratches and cuts. Her fingernails had dirt underneath. Carina glanced up as a nurse came in.
"Rounds Dr De Luca," He softly spoke, as a resident entered with him.
Carina pulled her bottom lip upwards slightly; it was the best smile she could muster for now.
The resident, 'Yasuda?', Carina was struggling to remember, she hadn't been on her service yet.
"Hi Dr De Luca, I'm just going to-," The resident began nervously explaining.
"Mmm I understand, you don't need to tell me," Carina knew she was trying to do her job, but didn't need the play-by-play of the procedure. She was already finding the dual role of doctor and family tiring. She watched Yasuda check drain outputs and vitals, tapping a few things onto her tablet. Thankfully she didn't say much else, just giving a considerate smile as the nurse and her slid the door shut after them.
Carina's phone buzzed, a text from Andy, 'Hey I'm guessing you're not sleeping, I can swing by your place on my way over tomorrow morning and grab some things? The team really want to come round after shift at 8?' Carina left it for a moment before quickly typing some things she could use, and asking if they could wait until 9, morning rounds were done at 8 so she wanted to get that done first.
She looked back at Maya, her wife, someone who had pushed her away when she was hurting, terrified that when she woke she would do the same thing.
19.
Andy had barely made it to her bunk before she felt dizzy. Telling her team something had happened, again, to Bishop made her feel sick. She hung her hands off the back of her neck, trying to pull her tension away. Her mouth felt dry and yet she had to keep swallowing. Burying her emotions she sat on her mattress. There was a shuffling at the door.
Opening it before there was a knock revealed Jack, looking awkward and tense.
"Can I?" He began, scratching his head.
Andy nodded, feeling her throat close over and vision blur, as a sob heaved through her shoulders she felt Jack's arms around her. She paused, took a deep breath and clenched her jaw as she pulled away.
"I cannot believe this," She mumbled, sitting back on her bunk, Gibson sitting next to her.
"I don't understand, like what type of attack?" He asked, not looking at Herrera, half hoping she couldn't elaborate further.
Andy opened her mouth and weakly shrugged, unsure how to reply, "Maybe a hunting accident?" She knew there was more, but couldn't get the words out.
Jack leant back against the wall, feet lifted off the ground, "Everyone's gone to bed, I think Warren is pounding away some emotions in the gym. Something's got him." He glanced at his friend, "Something's got you too."
Andy half nodded, feeling her stomach turn again, she scanned his face, why was she feeling this so strongly?
Gibson watched her closely, "Andy, did something else happen?" His eyes were almost closed, eyebrows pressed together, his stressed and anxious expression.
"They did a rape kit on her Jack," The words were quiet, almost afraid. It was then that something unlocked and the emotion coursed through Herrera. It was like everything that had happened to her, in her own assault, came back. 'Triggered, I am triggered.' An analytical voice rang through her mind. The neon lights of the digital clock read 0347, 0900 seemed very far away.
19.
'Tonight's entertainment'. The words seeped their way through the trees. Maya could never quite see them. She felt scared. Something was wrong and she couldn't breath. She tried to pull her right hand up to her face, not certain if it was to swat away the words or try to find her mouth, to open it to breathe, but something stopped her. The light was bright behind her eyes.
19.
Altman, Bailey, Jo, and Hunt all filed into Maya's ICU recovery room. Amelia had texted Carina to let her know they weren't far off her, so she had washed her face, dragged her fingers through her hair, and pushed the cot away into the corner of the room. She knew she was allowed to be a mess right now, and potentially if this was a different hospital she would agree with that allowance. But something about it being her colleagues made that hard. She had always taken pride in her appearance, glancing at her wife she knew the same to be true for Maya. Part of her wished she had been able to bathe her.
The door slid open as she had pulled a chair next to Bishop, who hadn't moved bar a twitch of the finger all night long.
The attendings stood in a line, their residents filling in the gaps, notebooks in hand.
"Yasuda, present," Bailey instructed.
'Yasuda', Carina affirmed the name.
She stepped forward, weaving between Hunt and Altman, to stand closest to the bed, "Maya Bishop, 34 years old, came in last night with hypothermia, head trauma and 2 confirmed GSW's. Immediate surgery was laparotomy, where internal damage was repaired, with a partial liver resection. Patient,-" She paused, glancing at Carina and her bosses, unsure how candid she should be with family present.
Bailey gave her a quiet nod.
"Patient ah, coded twice, we were able to reestablish a cardio rhythm quickly though. There was some serious blood loss from the lodged bullet. Patient seized once also, which we are attributing to loss of oxygen during the code." Yasuda's confidence seemed to wane the longer she spoke, so she stopped early, hoping one of the attendings would continue through the trickier parts of the recap.
Carina didn't move, trying to absorb and compartmentalise all the information she had received. She suddenly wished she had someone with her, on her side of the room.
"From a cardio standpoint I am confident Bishop is strong, and aside from monitoring her while she is at Grey Sloan, I don't think there will be any issues," Altman started.
"Her incision site looks clean, and I don't see anything of concern in her drain output, but her body went through a lot of trauma, so I want to keep her in here for observation for at least another 48 hours before we move her into general recovery," Bailey continued.
Hunt cleared his throat, "We removed the bullet and sent it up for testing, but it was a .30 caliber, standing hunting size."
Carina followed her friends down the line they stood in as they presented their findings or updates, the line finished with Jo. This was where Carina's chest began to tighten.
Jo laced her fingers together, "The rape kit has come back positive," She wasn't always a direct person, but didn't know a nicer way to bring this news to someone, "There is some moderate trauma that I want to monitor, but nothing that required intervention at this stage. I believe the general antibiotics we have Bishop on will be enough. We will keep the kit on file for now, until we can get things moving with PD. I am so sorry."
Carina bit the inside of her lips, her hand holding Maya's felt sweaty. "Thank you," She croaked out.
"I will be back in about an hour to start weaning her off the ventilator," Bailey said. Everyone began filing out of the room, until just Miranda remained. She gave Carina a compassionate smile. "She don't need these anymore though," She said with a sharp tone, stepping forward and removing the soft restraints from Maya. Carina just stared at her wife, tears not falling.
"When is the station coming over, shift finished 10 minutes ago," Bailey asked, hoping to bring Carina back to the present.
It worked, "I, ah, I asked for some time so they are coming at 9," Carina glanced up at the wall clock, reading 0810.
"Is someone bringing you some stuff?"
"Si, Andy has a list of things."
"Add your own pillow cases, it helps make the beds feel a little safer," Bailey offered, putting a hand on Carina's shoulder, before turning and continuing her rounds.
19.
That was better. Something felt lifted from Maya. Everything around her still swilled, in a smoky haze, but at least she felt she could move through it. She could hear a creek weaving over some stones. Did her Dad take her fishing once? The thought rippled away like a trout being spotted. A flash of light. A small ripple. Gone.
19.
Thanks for following along the story thus far everyone!
I had a look at my fan fiction account and realised I first started writing when I was 15, and then stopped for many years, but am really enjoying getting back into it!
Hope you're enjoying reading it also, I would appreciate any review you could spare, it means a lot!