The Accident

Part 3

Carina woke up at 4 am with a start. She had been having the weirdest and most unsettling dreams all night, most of them about Maya getting seriously injured or dying.

However, she never fully woke up from any of them until the last one in which she watched Maya slowly bleed out, listening to her cry for help but not able to get anywhere near her to help.

"Carina," Jo said, looking up from her charts as she saw Carina sit up, clearly starting to panic, "Hey, you are safe. Maya is safe."

Carina continued struggling to breathe, Jo getting up and going over to the cot, sitting down next to her friend.

"Carina, you are safe," Jo said, putting a hand on her back.

Carina's eyes were darting a little, clearly struggling to focus until her hands hit the fabric of the blanket on the bed. As soon as she felt the familiar fabric, Carina looked down, settling her eyes on the blanket, finally able to hear Jo's voice.

"Carina," Jo said, feeling her breathing slowing down a little, "Hey. Are you alright?"

"It was just dreams," Carina said, eyes looking over to Maya, "How is she?"

"She's been stable," Jo said, "She's also breathing over the vent quite a bit so I am guessing she is going to come off that soon. Her neuro checks have been normal, her drains still have a lot of output except the chest tube. Her vitals have been stable all night."

"What time is it?" Carina asked, rubbing her tired eyes.

"4 am," Jo said, looking at her watch, "Do you want to take another pill and knock back out? I can keep them in the hall for rounds at 8."

"No," Carina said, shaking her head, "No. I'm just going to lay here next to her, if that's ok?" "Of course," Jo said, "Do you need anything?"

"No," Carina said, shaking her head as she grabbed her water bottle, taking a few long sips, "Thank you."

"Just let me know if you need anything," Jo said, going back to her chair.

Carina laid down in the bed, pulling the blue and white blanket close as she laid on her side, holding Maya's hand as she just stared at her, watching her chest rise and fall, listening to the steady beeps of the monitors, telling everyone Maya was ok.

Carina let her thoughts drift a little, not quite falling asleep, but also not totally awake, just thinking about the happy times she had had with her wife.

She thought about when they met, how she had been memorized by the blonde from the moment she had run into the ER with the nose. She had almost missed what her patient had been saying to her because she was so drawn to the slightly red faced, frowning blonde. When she had met her at the bar later that night, Carina had had a million questions, and while Maya had seemed sad and exhausted when she sat down, Carina watched her eyes perk up slightly as the night wore on, both of them staying until last call and then sharing a long kiss before they parted ways.

She thought about the day she had almost walked away from Maya forever, when the blonde told her she didn't need a girlfriend. Carina wasn't really trying to be her girlfriend, but after everything Maya had told her that night in the bar, she knew the blonde needed friends, someone in her corner, and Carina wanted to be that person. To this day, she was forever grateful Maya had slammed the door shut and apologized.

She thought about the day Maya had called her over for morning sex, only to have a complete breakdown in her arms after two, no three, amazing rounds together. Carina had been shocked and at the same time grateful that Maya felt safe enough around her to spill these feeling Carina had seen her bottling up since their first conversation. That had been the catalyst to their relationship going further because when Carina didn't make fun of Maya for her breakdown, the blonde started trusting her more and more.