The Beginning
Maya is not sure what woke her up. She groggily looks around while messaging the crick in her neck. For a hospital, they certainly could have chairs that are made more suitable for the human body, Maya grumbles quietly. She didn’t mean to fall asleep and for the umpteenth time, she questioned herself what she’s doing here. Glancing at her watch, she notes that she's been oblivious to the world for almost two hours and she's surprised that no one has come to kick her out.
The search and rescue operations were called to a temporary halt near midnight and to be continued at dawn. Maya had stayed at the scene and returned to the station even though she was ordered to go home to rest before joining the diving team again the next day. Instead of going home, she found herself at the ER reception counter of Grey Sloan looking to visit a certain Dr.Deluca. She found out from Andy that Carina was dehydrated but otherwise is in good health. Although they still wanted her to stay overnight for observation.
She purposely wore her station uniform with the standard issue soft shell jacket in hope that her uniform gives her some leverage since it was past visiting hours. Maya rationalised her visit by telling herself that she just wanted to see how the Doctor is doing and to give the Doctor some peace of mind with the information that she acquired. But deep inside, Maya knew she was fooling herself. She could have easily picked up the phone to pass along the information, if she can get Carina’s contact, else, she can easily pass the message along to Bailey for her to send the message off to Carina. Or, she can be like any other sane person, wait till morning to give that information instead of in the wee hours. As a first responder, she has done countless rescues but never had she felt the way she feels right now. She can’t explain it, but she feels a pull towards the Doctor, from her selflessness, composure and compassion. The subject of her attention that is currently lying prone on the bed which she is lucky enough to have been allowed to visit.
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Waiting at the ER admission counter for the nurse to come back, hopefully with information of where Carina’s room for the night, she found herself looking up at a good looking male Doctor with messy curly brown hair. When the Doctor introduces himself as Dr. Deluca, Maya is confused.
"You're Dr. Deluca?" Maya asked.
"Yes, how can I help you…. Lt. Bishop?" Dr. Deluca's eyes trail down to read the name on her jacket before his eyes suddenly light up with recognition.
"Oh my god! You are Bishop? The Maya Bishop? The diver? " asked the enthusiastic Doctor.
"Yes". Maya dragged the syllable, confused and slightly nervous at the Doctor who seemed to recognise her when she suddenly found herself being engulfed in a bear hug.
"Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you! Thank YOU! for saving my sister's life! I cannot thank you enough for what you've done!"
"Oh, I'm just doing my job" Maya said, now understanding the Doctor’s enthusiasm. Being caught off-guard, she doesn’t know how to respond to the hug and it doesn’t help that both her hands are pinned to her side.
When Dr. Deluca finally released her, his face was slightly flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to have a go at you like that. I'm just so happy to meet you! Carina has been talking nonstop about you". He gave a warm laugh. "I’m Andrew Deluca" and he thrust his hand forward.
"Maya Bishop", she said automatically and shook his hand. "Which.. you already know", she chuckled.
"So Maya, what brings you here? Are you dropping a patient? " Andrew looked around ER trying to see if there's any new case that came in.
"Ah no. I was actually trying to see if I could visit your sister. I know it's late. It’s not visiting hours and she's most probably asleep but she asked me to look into something for her and I'm back on scene tomorrow, I mean this afternoon" she rambled on nervously.
Andrew smiled at the firefighter in front of him. No one was immune to Carina’s charm, not even this super woman. "You saved my sister's life, I'm sure I can sneak you in", he said, saving Maya from further explanation. "Come on! I'll bring you to her room."
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Leaning forward in the uncomfortable chair, Maya pulls her left leg pants up to look at the palm size bluish purple bruise on her shin that she is sure to be more impressive in the next few days. It has been throbbing on and off since that evening and Maya contemplates walking to the nurse station to ask for some ice pack. She laughs quietly at herself, thinking what her younger self would say to her wanting to apply an ice pack for a simple bruise. Her younger version would definitely embrace the pain but she’s no longer that person or at least she's working really hard not to be that person anymore.
Maya gingerly touches the tender area when she hears the sound that woke her up earlier. She strains her ear and finally catches the whimper coming from the brunette. Maya looks closer and sees that Carina seems to be having some sort of a nightmare. The Doctor whimpers again and her movements restless.
Maya looks around, not sure of what to do. She's not sure if she should call the nurse, it is not a medical emergency but she also doesn't think that she should be the one to wake the Doctor. It seems to be a little too intimate for a stranger to be rousing someone from their deep slumber, in their private room. She approaches the bed and sees Carina’s forehead creases, marring her soft features.
"Hmm, Carina?", she hesitantly calls. When the Doctor continues to whimper, Maya calls out slightly louder, her hand hovering near the Doctor's arm, preparing to give it a gentle shake if calling doesn't work.
Startled awake, Carina looks at Maya with wild eyes. Still half asleep, visions from her nightmare still plaguing her reality and the dim light in the room further compound her fear and confusion. She puts her hands up, to push away the shadow standing beside her.
"Hey, hey, Carina. It's me, Maya. You are ok, you are in the hospital". Maya said gently. Her hands still hovering near, in case the Doctor decides to fight her and hurts herself. She waits until Carina stops moving but the Doctor’s hand is still up in a defensive pose.
"Carina, you're ok" Maya repeats. "Is it ok if I turn on the light?". It takes a few seconds before she sees Carina nod and she flicks the switch on the wall behind the bed. When the soft yellow glow illuminates the room, Maya straightens up and smiles nervously.
Being in Carina’s room in the wee hours of the morning, waking her up from a nightmare is ok, nothing weird at all, she keeps repeating to herself.
"Maya?" Carina pushes herself up and presses the button to incline the bed. "What are you doing here?" her voice is still coated in sleep.
"Hi. Hmm.. I wanted to see how you were doing and I wanted to let you know about what you asked earlier. I'm back at the scene tomorrow, I mean today, so that is why I'm here … now. And you were having a nightmare, I think. Sorry I woke you up … Maybe this is not the best idea. I should go", Maya gives a sheepish smile and turns to leave.
Despite being woken from deep troubled sleep, Carina smiles endearingly at seeing Maya looking so flustered. She quickly catches Maya’s hand and pulls the diver back. "Maya, wait!". She scoot over to the side and pats the bed near her hip for Maya to sit. When Maya still looks unsure, Carina takes the diver's hand again and pulls until she sits next to her, and this time keeps the divers hand safely in hers. Making sure the diver can't flee.
"I’m glad that you are here and thank you for waking me up. I was having a nightmare but I can’t remember what it was now", she frowns slightly trying to remember her dream but after sometime she gives the diver a smile and asks, "When did you get here?"
Glancing down at her wrist watch, Maya says, "Hmm. about two hours ago". Her nervousness from earlier is more pronounced. Carina still hasn't let go of her hand even when she had to flick her hand to look at her watch. She gulps when Carina’s right hand now too is holding on to hers and the Doctor pulls it closer to her body.
Looking up at the Doctor’s face framed by the warm back light, Maya is distracted by the vision in front of her that she didn't realise that the Doctor now has a quizzical look on her face.
"Have you been watching me sleep all this while?!"
"What?! Oh god! No! No, that would have been creepy. No, no. I waited for a bit but then I fell asleep. I swear….." Maya stops when she hears the Doctor's soft laughter and she can see the twinkle in those brown eyes.
"You waited for a bit, huh? So, you were watching me sleep!", Carina pointed with her finger.
"No, no. Not like that. Urgghh…." Maya covers her face with her other hand, realising she's being teased.
Carina pulls Maya’s hand from her face and now she holds both of the diver's hands captive. "I know, Bella". She can’t help herself to call Maya by that endearment. When they were at the bottom of the estuary, Maya was picture perfect of a woman full of courage, poise and nothing but calming presence to Carina. Now, given a chance to see this side of Maya, almost the total opposite of the woman she met earlier, is simply adorable.
"Wait, how do you know? You were asleep. Is there something on my face? Did I drool?" Maya pats her face but Carina reaches out to take the diver's hand again.
"No, Bella. Your face is perfect, but.. " she chuckles and can't help herself to tease further. "You have bedhead"
"Nooo!" Maya dips her head in embarrassment.
"You look cute." Carina assures her. If Maya heard the compliments earlier, she chooses to ignore it. The diver gives up in trying to fix her messy hair seeing that the Doctor has no intention of letting her hand go.
The teasing eases the feeling of awkwardness that she thought might be present. But ever the professional, Maya tries another time. “Again, I’m sorry if this seems inappropriate. Me, dropping in at this hour to see you”, she smiles.
“Hmm, ….I think we are way past inappropriate, no?”, her smile innocent, eyes twinkling.
Tilting her head, eyebrows drew together. “Huh?”, Maya replies, confused and she doesn't think she likes the look in the Doctor’s eyes.
“The first time we met, and you have already seen me half naked”, Carina says nonchalantly. Her smile is a little bit smug for Maya’s liking.
Black lacy undergarments against pale skin resurfaces in her memory and Maya’s jaw drops. “Oh my god!” The diver's blush spreads across her cheeks to her ears. She hangs her head in embarrassment. The sound of Carina’s soft laughter, music to her ears.
Maya peeks at the woman in front of her, before she shakes her head and chuckles along. "You are trouble, Dr. Deluca"
They sit in comfortable silence for a while and Maya is reluctant to break the easiness that surrounds them but she did come with an intention in mind.
"So, … I wanted to let you know, Anna has been reunited with her parents and she's been taken to Mercy West. According to Kilan, she's doing well and most likely will be released today." Maya sees the Doctor smile at the good news but she can also see the apprehension in her eyes.
"The woman that we saw, her name was Adrianne Collins. She's … hmm hold on." Maya pulls out her phone from her jacket pocket and after a few taps, she hands it over to Carina. On her phone is a picture of a young woman with shoulder length light brown hair, squinting looking up at the camera, standing in front of the ruins of Machu Picchu. As Carina stares at the picture, Maya continues to narrate about Adrianne Collins. A vivacious woman who loves outdoor activities and worked with the local animal shelter. Who had a particularly soft spot for all furry animals especially abandoned kittens and puppies. A young woman who loved to play paintball and have Sunday dinner every week with her family. The baby of the family with two older brothers. All the information that Maya had gathered when she stayed back to talk to Adrianne’s family and to be there for them. Maya wanted Carina to know the woman behind the picture in hope that she will remember Adrianne for who she was and not the remains she saw underwater. She left out the part where the two stoic older brothers broke down when they saw her and it was Adrienne’s parents who remained calm but the shattered look in their eyes forced Maya to avert her eyes. It was too painful. Body identification on scene with family members is something that Maya avoided doing a long time ago or the weight of it will crush her, until today.
When silence descends upon them and the screen has long turned to black, Maya carefully extracts the phone and holds Carina’s hands. Giving Carina time to process. "Are you ok?"
A small shake of a head and Carina lifts her head to look at Maya with teary eyes. "Not really. It is hard to come to terms with someone so young and full of life … and in a blink of an eye…" Carina can’t finish her sentence as she chokes up. "In here.." she points to her head, "I know it's an accident, but in here…" she fists her hand over her heart, "to know that she is gone but I am still here" her tears finally spills.
Maya moves a little closer and pulls at the hand that is over her heart. Being a first responder, Maya is no stranger to survivors' guilt, she has seen so many times and she herself has experienced it. She knows that Carina realised it too but as she has said, it still haunts you. "You know sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to why things happened the way they do. You being here is a gift.Your family, your brother, friends are beyond happy that you are here. I am happy that you are here too". She holds on firm to the hand in hers.
They sit in silence as Carina stares at their hand, letting Maya’s words comfort and guide her to reconcile between what she knows and feel. She looks up at Maya when she realises something. "You know my brother? "
"Ah yes. I was shown a different Dr. Deluca when I was trying to sway my way in to meet you." Maya chuckles.
"Sway your way in?" Carina asks, not understanding.
Maya sits up and straightens her shoulder, makes a show of her uniform and gives Carina a cheeky grin.
"It worked apparently" Carina smiles back.
"No, I don't think it would have worked". Maya says deflated. "If it's not for Andrew sneaking me in, I think the nurse would have thrown me out"
"The graveyard shift nurses means business ", Maya sighs for dramatic effect.
"I will make sure to thank when I see him later". Carina grins. "And for what it's worth, you look very nice in your uniform, Bella" , she looks at Maya appreciatively and is rewarded the second time when the diver's cheeks turns pink. "I like the new fashion too. You have very sexy legs" Carina motions with her head to Maya’s leg.
"Huh?" Maya looks down to see one of her pants legs is pulled up to her knee. Distracted by Carina earlier, she forgot to pull it back down. She laughs and as she is about to pull it down, the Doctor stops her.
Carina leans over to take a closer look, a hand ghosting over the area. "This looks painful. How did you get it?" A flicker of memory crossed her mind but it was too fleeting for her to grab on.
"I’m not sure, I must have hit something while on scene earlier”. Maya frowns trying to remember but as usual, most of the time she will come back from work with some bruises on her body without any recollection of how she got it.
Carina looks pensive before her expressions turn mortified. Her brown eyes widen to look at Maya, filled with guilt, “Did I do this?!”
Memories from the struggle underwater came flooding back. The wheels in Maya’s head turning fast. What happened was an accident and Maya didn’t want Carina to feel guilty about this on top of the burden she’s carrying.
“OUCH! Ouch! Ouch!” Maya promptly hugs her bruised leg. “Oh my god! Doc! You have to take it off! You have to cut it off from me!” Maya pleads with puppy dog eyes.
Surprised by the sudden change of event, Carina's eyes went wide before she burst out laughing at Maya’s antics. “Really? Really, woman? You laugh at my suffering?” Maya huffs when Carina continues to laugh. She narrows her eyes in mocked indignation before she breaks out a grin.
In the midst of her laughter, Maya hears the word “Stupida” from the Doctor. She didn’t understand Italian, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out and Maya’s grin gets bigger.
“I’m sorry”, Carina finally manages to get out after her laughter dwindles. She still feels guilty but it didn’t feel as heavy as when she remembered what she did earlier.
“You are forgiven”, Maya says easily. She really didn’t think that it warrants an apology but she knows, Carina thinks differently. This way, it’s a lot easier to move on past that. Looking down, she didn’t realise that Carina had managed to tangle their hands again with her thumb gently rubbing Maya’s hand.
Maya takes a deep breath, she knows her time has come to an end. “I better let you go back to sleep. You need to rest”. She made a move to stand but Carina still doesn’t let go.
As much as Carina wants Maya to stay a bit longer, she can see the fatigue in the blue eyes. She doesn’t know when Maya has to go back to work but she doubts that Maya would have enough rest till then. “You need to rest too. When do you have to be back at work?”
“I will. They have me on the mid-afternoon diving shift, so that’s at 2pm."
"That’s not a lot of time to rest", Carina worries.
"It’s ok, I’m kinda used to it", Maya shrugs.
"Maya", Carina chides.
"No, really. I'll be ok. We have more divers now. So after today, I will be off for 48 hours then back to normal shift when I get back to the station".
"Hmm.. ok. Station 19 right?" Carina asks, playfully pulling on her right sleeve jacket with the firehouse shoulder patch.
"Yea", Maya smiles. Despite Carina wanting her to rest, the Doctor seems reluctant to let her go. "Carina? Are you gonna be ok? I can get Andrew if you want."
"No, no. I’m ok. You go get some rest". She smiles and opens her arms. Maya hesitates for a moment before closing the gap and gives her a hug. It doesn’t escape her that Carina pulls her tighter, closer. “I am really happy you came. Grazie!”
“You are welcome”.
As Maya walks nearer to the door, Carina calls her. "Maya?"
"Yea?"
"I'm on a three days leave after this", Carina states.
Maya tilts her head, not too sure what to do with the information. "Oh, ok. That's… good. You can get a good rest at home".
Carina chuckles, shaking her head slightly when Maya is still not getting the hint. "I think someone owes me a very hot coffee, no?" her mouth curves into a sly smile.
"Oh…. OHHH!" Maya is not sure what it is about the Doctor that keeps throwing her off balance. Her self-assured self, that has no problem bringing anyone back every Wednesday night apparently has checked-out for the day and now every time the Doctor smiles, she unravels. She stands straighter, takes a deep breath and asks “Dr. Deluca, can I buy you coffee this Friday? I promise it'll be hot”, she gives a charming smile.
Carina bites her lower lips. "Oh, I have no doubt about that". After a few moments staring at Maya grinning and still not moving, Carina ducks her head and chuckles. She peeks to see the firefighter leaning on the doorway, sporting a goofy grin. So she holds her hand out and wiggles her fingers. "Your phone, Bella"
"Right, right". Maya takes two huge steps towards the bed, unlock her phone and hands it over.
After a few taps on Maya's phone, a slight buzz comes from the drawer beside the bed. "Now I have your number", Carina smiles, handing the phone back. "And you have mine".
A little playful tugs to get her phone, Maya slowly backs away from the bed. Not wanting to lose sight of the woman in front of her who looks glowing, surrounded by the warm light.
No matter how much she wants to maintain her cool but her face keeps breaking into the same inane smile. “I’m gonna go”, she gestures to the door behind her. “I’ll see you on Friday and I’ll text you!”
“Ok. Be safe, Bella”
“You too!.... I mean, I will…. Urghh! Ok, Bye!” Maya quickly leaves the room to the sound of Carina’s laughter.
As she steps out of the hospital greeted by the crisp morning air, she doesn’t think she can sleep. The itch to run back home is strong, but somehow that feeling is replaced by something even stronger. She feels so buoyant right now, she feels like dancing and a million things running in her head that it's hard to concentrate. So, she does what she is good at, starts a mental list of all the things she needs to do.
Look for a good coffee place.
How about that place, near the corner between 5th and 9th avenue. It's quaint, cosy and the latte is decent.
No, no, no. She's Italian! Decent coffee won’t do!
Starbucks? Noooo!
Better ask Andy and Vic if they know any good places.
Need to Google excellent cafes.
Food! Good food is important!
Best food for a date.
Ideas for a first date.
Maya stops short in her tracks.
A date?
A date!
Oh, Oh! I’m in trouble!
The goofy grin returns full force. With spring in her steps, she continues her journey home into the brightening horizon. Friday can’t come soon enough.