2.
If something's wrong, you can count on me
You know I'll take my heart clean apart
If it helps yours beat
(Sleeping At Last-Two)
"Carina, are you okay?" Maya asked her wife.
"Huh?" the Italian turned to her wife, coming back from her thoughts. It had been a week since she had met K and she couldn't stop thinking and worrying about her. Was she fine? Was she safe? Was she alone? Did she have anyone able to protect her?
"You've been strange the whole week. Are you sure you're fine?". Carina bit her lip, staring at the cup of milk in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm just tired. You know, between my job and the two clinics I'm exhausted.". Maya didn't seem to totally buy it, but didn't insist further. She reached out and caressed her wife's hand with hers.
"I love you." she said.
"I love you too." Carina replied.
"Are you sure you want to stay here at the station today? The clinic isn't even open and you have a day off, you should rest." Maya suggested. The doctor shook her head.
"I have to sort some meds and supplies. It won't take too much time though, don't worry.". Maya nodded. She kissed her wife, sweetly, then stood up and started clearing the table and washing the dishes.
"I'll do it, don't worry. I don't want you to fight with Beckett.". Maya nodded and sighed. Beckett, she hated that man. When Chief Ross had chosen Andy to be captain the doctor had breathed in relief, but everything had changed in the blink of an eye. Beckett had decided to ask for his job back and the Union had imposed Ross to demote Herrera as soon as possible and bring the man back. Andy had been furious for days, but in the end she could have done nothing but accept her fate. Because of the scandal her relationship with Sullivan had caused, Ross hadn't been able to help her and that made her raging even more, but in that moment she was aware of the fact she had no choice but follow the Union's will. She would have fought though, of course, but carefully. She needed to be patient and, sooner or later, she would have had a chance, she knew it.
"Carina, are you really sure you are okay?" Maya asked again.
" Sì, sto benissimo. I'm more than fine." the Italian lied. The firefighter was about to say something, when the alarm started ringing.
"Oh, are you kidding me?" Vic, who had just entered the beanery, complained, rolling her eyes.
"I have to go." Maya told her wife, who could do nothing but nod.
"Please, be careful."
"Bishop, this is a station! Say goodbye to your girl and move your ass!" they heard Beckett yelling. Maya had to bit her tongue not to retort in a bad way.
"Go, don't worry." Carina whispered at her, softly. She watched her wife leave, a lump in her throat. She knew Maya was an excellent firefighter, but she couldn't help but worry every time.
"So, we're here.". Carina turned around and frowned.
"Jack! Why aren't you with the others?"
"They haven't allowed me to go back in action yet." he explained. "So I stay here, behind the desk.". Carina slightly smiled, her mind going back to the night of the firefighters' party, when the floor of the hotel had caved in. Jack had collapsed after helping everyone there and for a moment she had thought she would have never seen him alive anymore.
"What about you? Today the clinic isn't even open."
"I know, but I have to sort some new supplies and medicines. Hopefully it won't take too long.". Carina explained. "Do you want to help me?"
"Well, it can't be more boring than sitting here doing nothing.". The Italian chuckled and beckoned him to follow her in the storage room where they brought medicines and medical supplies. Jack had to stop to answer the phone few times and then they decided to have lunch in the beanery, together. The rest of the team was working on the collapse of a building in the center of Seattle and they wouldn't have come back soon for sure.
"So, how is Beckett behaving?" Carina asked. Jack scoffed.
"Well, you saw yourself. He keeps acting like shit, especially towards Maya. He just can't kick her out of the station because he knew we would riot and with me still being injured he needs her, but I'm sure he hates it."
"Che stronzo." the doctor commented, while eating some of her lunch.
"I don't know what you've just said, but I'm sure it wasn't anything nice.". Carina grinned and shook her head, then kept eating her lunch. "Anyway, are you okay? I mean, you've looked so off lately. Is everything fine with Maya?". The doctor jolted, completely caught off guard by that question. "Carina, you know you can trust me. I care about you and Maya and after all you two went through..."
"We're fine, Jack." the Italian reassured her friend. "I just... I lost a girl last week, okay?"
"I'm sorry, Carina. Really, if you need to..."
"No, non in quel senso!" the doctor hurried to clarify herself. "That's not what I meant. I literally lost a girl. She ran away. Well, she stole my wallet before, but..."
"She what?" Jack asked, confused.
"The point isn't even that." Carina kept explaining. "I can't stop worrying. I saw some bruises on her arms and I...Something was wrong, Jack.". The firefighter softened his gaze and reached out. He caressed her hand, to comfort her. He didn't say anything though, aware of the fact that it would have been useless.
"Well, time to go back to work. I want to go home as soon as possible so I can rest but I have to finish sorting those meds before.". The firefighter nodded and helped her clear the table, then the two went back to check and sort the medical supplies for the clinic. In the meanwhile, Jack contacted her mates, to understand how they were doing. They still had a lot of work to do and they wouldn't have been back soon.
"They're fine, Carina. Maya is fine." he told the doctor, sensing she was concerned about her wife. The Italian thanked him with her eyes and kept working. They finally finished sorting everything and headed to the beanery, to drink and eat something. A sudden noise, however, forced them to stop. They glanced at each other, then rushed back to the storage room. In front of them there was a girl with black hair and blue eyes, gripping the doorknob as her life depended on it.
"Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Jack asked her, gaining no answer. The girl looked paralyzed, her eyes full of anxiety. Jack turned around and found Carina utterly frozen, staring at the teen.
"Hey, are you okay?" he questioned, now decisively worried.
"Yeah." Carina responded. "I think I've just found my wallet.".
________________
Maya and Vic were heading to the exit of the hospital, when they met Bailey and Meredith.
"Bishop! Hughes!" Miranda greeted the two firefighters. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, thanks." Maya answered. "We are leaving, we have to go back to work."
"You come from that building in the city center, don't you?" Meredith questioned.
"Yeah, the situation is serious." Vic explained. "But it was nice seeing you.". Maya gestured her friend to go to the ambulance and wait a moment for her to join her.
"Bailey, can I... Can I ask you a thing?". Miranda raised her eyebrows, confused.
"About what, Bishop?"
"Carina." Maya said. "She has been so strange lately. Do you know if anything happened?"
"Well, last week that girl... But I'm sure you already know that."
"What?" Maya frowned.
"Okay, you don't know." Miranda realized. "Listen, she is just a bit tired and she sees so many girls going through a lot, it's exhausting.". Maya nodded, now even more worried than before. Why hadn't Carina told her about her job? What was going on?
"Maya, we need to go!" Victoria called her, awakening her from her thoughts. She told the two doctors goodbye and left, under Miranda concerned gaze.
"What was that?" Meredith asked.
"Nothing important, Grey." Miranda claimed. "Let's go back to work.".
________________
Carina and the girl kept staring at each other, both paralyzed as they had seen a ghost. Jack was confused, not really understanding what was going on.
"Erm, I was leaving." the girl muttered, her voice betraying her anxiety.
"K, wait." Carina called her, softly. Jack widened his eyes, stunned, finally realizing what was going on.
"What do you need? Why are you here?". The girl bit her lip, so nervous. Jack tried to approach her, but K flinched, panic in her eyes. Carina gestured her friend not to move and slowly stepped forward to the girl, careful not to be too sudden.
"K, why don't you follow me to the bathroom, so we can talk a bit and I can eventually see if your elbow is okay now."
"I need a pregnancy test.". Both Jack and Carina jerked, in shock. That wasn't what they expected to hear, at all. The doctor waved a hand through her hair, completely caught off guard by that request.
"Okay." she finally said. "Let me grab my coat and keys, I'll be back in a minute."
"Carina, wait! What are you doing?" Jack asked the Italian, following her while she was collecting her own stuff. "Carina!"
"Jack, Maya texted me. They will be back in ten minutes. Beckett can't find her here and you know that better than me. I'm not even sure she was only looking for a pregnancy test.". The man ran a hand through his face, aware that Carina was right.
"Okay, but you better go now.". The doctor mouthed a thank you and rushed back to the girl, who unexpectedly was still there.
"Get in the car.". K did as told, without complaining.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"At my place." Carina answered. "Listen, I will help you run that test, but I want to talk to you first."
"Oh, yeah, the wallet.". The doctor scoffed.
"Yeah, we should talk about that too." she said. "But for now I just want to be sure you don't need to go to the hospital."
"Why should I?" K questioned.
"Just trust me, okay?" the Italian insisted.
"'kay." the girl muttered in response. Carina parked the car and beckoned her to follow her. She took her keys out of her purse and only now did K realize that she was wearing a wedding ring. The girl was feeling her anxiety furiously rising in her chest, but decided to try to ignore it. A wedding ring meant that Carina was married. What if her husband wouldn't have liked to find her there? What if he was mean? What if he was violent? What if...
"Here, sit down." the woman softly told her, pointing at the couch in the living room. "Do you want a glass of water?"
"No, thanks. I'm fine." K nervously answered. Carina smiled at her and sat down on the couch too, careful to leave the girl some room not to overwhelm her.
"Okay, first of all I need to know if it hurts when you go to pee or if you feel some pain in general." she started. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude or too abrupt, but..."
"Yeah, I get it." K said. "I'm fine, I just need to run that pregnancy test and go home.". Carina let out a sigh and shook her head, her eyes staring at the girl.
"What were you looking for at the station?" she asked.
"I told you, I..."
"No, I'm sorry, I don't sell it.". K frowned.
"You mean buy, right?". Carina snorted. That was the worst moment possible to make stupid mistakes while speaking English.
"Yeah, buy it. Just, tell me the truth.". The girl shrugged, looking away from the woman. "K, I'm here to help."
"I knew about the clinic and I... Listen, I have never done anything like that before, I just needed some meds and I couldn't afford to go to a pharmacy. I'm sorry.". Carina softened her gaze and smiled at her, sweetly. "Are you going to call the cops?"
"No, I'm not." the doctor promised. She had so many questions she would have loved to ask, but didn't say anything instead, not wanting to overwhelm the girl. She stood up, beckoning K to follow her into the bathroom.
"Ok, all you have to do is pee here and wait for about five minutes, we can read the result together if you'd like.". The girl nodded without saying a word and Carina could sense how scared she was. She looked so young and the doctor couldn't stop thinking about the bruises she had seen a week before on her arm. She gently laid a hand on her shoulder, to reassure her and help her feel safe.
"Hey, everything is alright. I'll wait outside, okay?". She left the bathroom and closed the door. She grabbed her phone, not really knowing what to do. She was about to text Maya about that whole situation, when she heard K call her. The woman carefully opened the door and went inside, just to find the teen sitting on the floor, in tears. She crouched down at her, but didn't touch her.
"I don't want... I..."
"Everything will be alright, okay? It's a promise." Carina tried to reassure the girl. "I'm here. I've got you. What do you need? Tell me."
"I need this to be negative." K sobbed. She was shaking now and Carina felt her heart clench in her chest. She had seen so many girls like her, she saw them everyday at the hospital. Like them, K was terrified, feeling trapped in a situation she had never asked for. Everything depended on the result of that test and Carina was aware of that.
"Please, can... Can you go outside and read this for me?" the girl pleaded.
"Of course." the woman told her. She checked the time and leaned against the door, the test between her hand. She was so overwhelmed by what was going on that she didn't even realize that the door had opened.
"Carina, I'm home! You can't imagine what happened tod-... What the fuck?".
Sì, sto benissimo: yes, I'm more than fine
Che stronzo: what an asshole
Non in quel senso: that's not what I meant
Author's note
Thank you for reading!
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