The Accident

Part 11

When Carina's eyes opened next, her head was pounding and her throat felt like she had swallowed acid. She groaned, bringing her hand up to where the pain was the worst.

"Hey," she heard a voice said, turning her head toward the sound, seeing Teddy sitting by her bedside, mask on her face, "Don't touch your head. You have about twenty stitches because when you passed out, you hit your head."

"I don't feel good," Carina said, going to rub her eyes only to have a piece of plastic get in her way on her left hand, realizing she had an IV attached there.

"I'm sure you don't," Teddy said, nodding, "Your blood sugar was very low and all your electrolytes were off. We've got you on a drip so you should be feeling better soon. You haven't been eating or drinking, have you?"

It was more a statement than a question, but Carina nodded still.

"Do I have a concussion?" she asked, feeling the headache.

"That's what I'm here to check," Amelia said, walking in, face also covered in a mask, "You couldn't go a few hours without me, huh?"

"Sorry for making you come back," Carina mumbled as Amelia walked over to her.

"It's ok, Carina," Amelia said, sitting down on the edge of Carina's cot, "I know you are having a hard time right now, but Carina, you have to eat and drink and sleep and take care of your needs."

"Lo so," Carina said as Amelia started assessing her.

"Alright, so no concussion," Amelia said, "You also had a CT while you were out and it came back clear so I'm not worried."

"Where's Maya?" Carina said, panicking as she looked for her wife and noticed for the first time that she was in her own room, "I need to be with her."

"You can't," Teddy said, stopping her friend as she tried to get up, "Carina, calm down."

However, the Italian was past the point of being reasoned with as a panic attack started as she tried to fight Teddy's grasp. Amelia also grabbed her, the two surgeons just keeping her in bed until Carina stopped fighting, collapsing back into her pillows as she sobbed.

"Carina," Amelia said, wrapping her in a hug which the OB fought for a second before just allowing herself to be held, "Shhhh. You are ok."

"Maya," Carina sobbed out, still not sure why she wasn't with her wife.

"Maya is ok too," Teddy said gently, sitting on the other side of the bed, "She is just upstairs in the ICU. You are on the regular floor."

"I want to be with her," Carina said, breathing rate increasing again.

"I know," Amelia said, "But you have a fever Carina. You can't be up there with her right now because if you are sick and you give it to her, it could be disastrous for her."

"I have a fever?" Carina asked through her tears.

"Yeah," Teddy nodded, "It was close to 104 when you passed out. We got it down, but it's still close to 103. Are you feeling sick at all?"

"I don't know," Carina said, "I just feel...like...bad. My throat hurts."

"Ok," Teddy said, "Well, your white blood cell count is elevated so there is probably some kind of infection going on. If your throat hurts, I'm guessing it's probably strep, but we need to get a swab. We have you on broad spectrum antibiotics right now, but you know the rules. You can't be in the ICU until you have been fever free for 24 hours without meds."

"No," Carina said, tears welling up in her eyes, "No, I need to be there for Maya. What if something happens? What if she goes into cardiac arrest or if her infection spreads or..."