darkest hour

now or never

Carinas pov 

"As you may have heard, the FDA just approved two COVID vaccines for emergency use. The state of Washington abided by that, which means the first doses will be sent out to all hospitals in the state. Because you're all front line workers, you'd be offered it first. In no means am I requiring this, but it's recommended." Webber says.

He hands out packets of paperwork, and says our hospital should be getting doses in a week. Once I leave the meeting, I text maya the news. 

After my shift is done, I head home. "Hi Bella" I say as I walk in the door. Maya kisses me gently before saying "Andy said they still have a spot for me at the station, and I can come in tomorrow. I can't go out in the field for a few weeks, but I'm still working there so I should be classified as a first responder".

"That's fantastic Maya" I say, hugging her. "You will probably have to wait a month before you get your vaccine, but still." I tell her. Maya hands me the baby-cam, which shows Luna fast asleep in her crib. I smile, before setting it down. 

I sit on the couch, my legs burning, my face hurting from the double mask, the face shield, and all the other ppe. Maya sits next to me, and I set my head in her lap. She runs her fingers through my hair, and I fall asleep.

A week later 

I wake up to my alarm, today is the day I get my first vaccine. I then get my second dose in 3 weeks. Maya was already out of bed, Luna must be up. I stop halfway down the stairs admiring maya singing to Lu and making breakfast. It's moments like these where I forget about everything that's every gone wrong.

She hands me a plate as I sit at the kitchen island. "Thank you Bella" I say, as she kisses my cheek. "Hey, it's a big day for you. I figured I'd make you some breakfast so you'd feel good before." 

I get to the hospital early, and walk in. I walk with jo straight to our little vaccine clinic in the hospital. I wait for my name to be called, and then I sit at a table with a nurse. "Hi Dr Deluca!" She says smiling, I recognize her from somewhere...

"Oh call me carina." I reply. I see a picture on her lock screen on two kids, and it hits me. I delivered both those babies. "How are the kids?" I ask, she smiles. "They're great!".

She takes the vaccine out, and takes the top off. I roll my scrub shirt sleeve up and she counts to three before pricking my arm. She hands me a little white card with my name, dose, and the date on it and sends me on my way. I send a picture of the card to Maya, and she sends me back a heart. 

A few hours later 

Other than my arm being sore, I don't feel any side effects. I hope this works. I hope this ends this pandemic hell. As I'm walking down the hall, I bump into someone. "Sorry" I say quickly before looking up. "Carina?" A familiar voice says. "Arizona?" I respond. 

"Oh my god, it's been for forever! How are you? How's Andrew, I haven't seen him around." She says. My heart sinks, "Andrea passed away almost two years ago." I respond. She puts her hand on my shoulder and says "I'm so sorry carina, I know what it's like to lose a brother. It's... it's difficult, and the pain never really goes away".

"Why are you at Grey-Sloan?" I ask, changing the subject. "Webber offered me chief of fetal, and Callie has a job in ortho here now too. She's around here somewhere.." she says. "Are you guys.." I start but she cuts me off. "We're.. it's complicated." She responds. 

"Well, I gotta go. But it was so nice to see you." I say as my pager goes off, "yeah, we should catch up sometime!" She responds before walking away. All I can think about it how maya is going to react when I tell her Arizona is back.