Playing with fire (Amelia Shepherd) ABANDONED

fifty seven

"Sedate her," Mallie looked at Teddy, heart aching in her chest. "She isn't going to calm down."

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Maya yelled, shoving Mallie away in the chest.

Mallie winced, rubbing at her chest as she backed away from the bed.

"Because you need it," Mallie said. "Because I love you and I'm done watching you set fire to everything good in your life. I'm not putting them out for you, anymore. You have to do it yourself," Mallie said. "You got this?" she looked at Teddy.

Teddy nodded, injecting a sedative into Maya's IV. Mallie nodded and left the room, crouching down beside Carina as she cried on a ball in the floor.

"Come on," Mallie said, easing her arm around Carina. "You have to get your things from the apartment."

Carina nodded, letting Mallie help her to her feet. Carina wiped her tears, tucking herself into Mallie's side.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Mallie asked.

"I have to do it on my own," Carina whispered. "But thank you. For everything."

"We told you, we're family," Mallie sighed, squeezing Carina's arm.

Mallie lay on the sofa in the living room of her house, Encanto playing on the television. Amelia was tucked under Mallie's arm with Myles asleep on her chest. Pru was curled up asleep on Mallie's chest, while Carina had Scout on the floor with her, having chosen to lie down in the blanket nest the kids had made earlier.

Microwave and Blender curled up with Carina and Scout, too. Scout was the only kid still awake, stroking his hands over the cats' fur as he watched the television intently.

Mallie's phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket, answering the call from Andy.

"Hey," Mallie whispered.

She shifted Pru onto the sofa and stood up, squeezing Amelia's cheeks gently before walking into the kitchen.

"Hey, I'm with the team. We're all here just to check in on you and Myles," Andy said.

"We're both okay. Back home," Mallie said, leaning against the kitchen island. "Myles is sleeping it off. He's tired and clingy, which is expected. Scout and Pru are the same, and Amelia's not much better herself. She managed to get a few days off work, but things are bad at the hospital right now, so," Mallie mumbled.

"How are you doing?" Vic asked. "Did you sleep?"

"I did sleep," Mallie said. "I'm okay. Stitched up and on painkillers. My chest doesn't ache with every breath and I'm already sick of having to drink my meals for the next few weeks while my stitches heal so I don't have a higher risk of infection than I would with solid food."

"That does suck," Theo said.

"Yeah," Mallie said.

"Hey, look, Ross is here, too, so, we're filled her and the team in about you guys and Bishop," Andy said.

"Hey, Mallie. How are you holding up? Honestly?" Ross said.

"I'm okay," Mallie said. "I'm gonna need to put in a call to Diane Lewis for some therapy, because that's the right thing to do, and I'm not medically cleared to work for the next two weeks, so, there's that."

"Good. I've already called Diane and she's gonna call ahead to make an appointment with you instead of just turning up, 'cause of the kids," Ross said. "She'll determine whether or not we can let you back to work, so, I'll call after I hear from her."