Meet me in the Middle

Chapter 4

I wake up with a fright from my alarm the next morning. I set it before leaving work yesterday, when I booked the lab to test my hypothesis with Jo this morning.

Somehow, I made it back to the hotel from the bar last night. I check to make sure my alarm is off, twice. Dio mio, why are my ears still ringing? I vaguely remember tequila with la mia amica, and that's about all I remember.

I stupidly fall back down into my pillows and will the room to stop spinning so I wouldn't be sick. I grab my phone to text Jo and tell her we can do research another day but stop when I see a notification of a text and numerous missed calls.

I scroll through my texts to see if I can piece together what happened after the first shot. There were a few between all the ladies from last night in a group text mocking Amelia's mom-mode when taking care of us, and another few of us laughing about the old guy that seemed to have taken a liking in Teddy last night, telling her to send a smoke signal if she needed saving.

The last text I received though was from Maya just after 3am.

Maya
NO WAY IN HELL!

I scroll through my call log and see that I called her twice a couple of minutes before the text came in, and I have seven missed calls from her after that. Oh, shit! Think, think, think. What did drunk Carina do last night!?

No point in trying to go back to sleep now. My brain is too preoccupied, so I jump into a shower and brush my teeth in an attempt to feel more human. I chug about a gallon of water before making my way out the hotel.

As I walk to the hospital, I see that it's food truck day in the hospital parking lot. I send a little prayer of gratitude to the heavens when I'm the only one in line for the coffee truck, the shift-change rush must be over by now. I order my usual and make my way over to the taco truck.

"The greasiest thing you have on your menu, per favore." I hand the man behind the counter a $20 bill, having to repeat my order. Clearly being this hungover makes my accent harder to understand than normal. "Make that two please." Addison mutters behind me, dressed in a hoody, sweatpants, and sunglasses.

I laugh a little at the sight of her. I at least tried to make myself look somewhat presentable. "I'm never drinking with you lot ever again. My brain and liver won't survive." I hum in agreement.

I get a text from Teddy in the form of a GIF begging me for a coffee. I remember her saying she had to get the new quarterly budget finalized and submitted by 2pm today and Addison offering her assistance as Teddy hasn't even started it yet.

"Make it two more of the same order, per favore." I hand over my credit card. We walk past the coffee cart after we receive our food and I get us all a refill telling Addison the additional two is for Wilson and Teddy when she lifts her eyebrow at me.

I get us all some saline fluids on our way to the chief's office, sending Jo a text to meet us there. When we enter Chief Altman's office, both Addison and I laugh at the woman before us. She has a kidney basin on top of her charts, and every few seconds she looks away from the computer screen to lean over and gag into it.

"Aaahh, our poor bambina. We got you." She doesn't even look up from the basin, only sticking her hand out for her coffee. I stifle another laugh at her antics. Addison falls onto the couch grumbling into the cushions. "I put Amelia in the pit today. It's not fair that she isn't suffering like the rest of us just because she's sober."

The chief's vindictiveness when hungover undoubtedly has no bounds. "Poor Amelia, I think having to take care of four drunk as spunk woman is enough punishment." Addison laughs into the couch and corrects me. "It's as drunk as a skunk, not spunk, Deluca."