Chapter Text
“Don’t read the last page, but I stay when you’re lost, and I’m scared, and you’re turning away”
Now, Seattle 2023
As the aid car screeched to a halt outside the entrance to the Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital, the doors burst open and firefighters rushed out, a gurney between them with Maya’s pale body on top. Blood soaked her clothes and dripped onto the floor as they wheeled her toward the ER doors.
Andy ran alongside the gurney, her eyes fixed on her friend's face. "Maya," she said, her voice tight with worry. "Maya, can you hear me?"
There was no response, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. Andy's heart sank as she watched the doctors swarm around the gurney, assessing her condition and barking orders to one another.
"What happened?" asked one of the doctors, looking up at Andy.
"We've got a 32-year-old female, Maya Bishop," she explained as she rushed towards them. "She's been impaled by a piece of metal, and she's losing blood quickly. She's been unconscious for a few seconds now, and she had a seizure before we got here."
The doctors and nurses were quick to take over from there, pushing the gurney toward one of the trauma rooms. Andy followed, feeling helpless and scared as they cut away Maya's clothes and began assessing her injuries. She knew that Maya was in good hands, but the sight of her best friend in pain was too much to bear.
"We need to get her into surgery right away. She's losing blood quickly." one of the doctors said grimly.
Andy watched as they led her best friend away, pacing back and forth, her thoughts racing. Maya had always been the strong one, the one who kept everyone together. She was the captain, the leader, the one who made the tough calls. Now, she was lying on an operating table, fighting for her life.
She felt numb as she walked towards the waiting room and sat down next to Jack and the rest of their team that had been on the call with them. She felt Jack’s hand on her shoulder, offering a small bit of comfort. "Maya's strong," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "She's going to make it through this." Andy nodded at his words knowing she had to hold on to something. Maya was strong, she was going to make it.
***
Maya felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness as the anesthesia took hold. She could hear the beeping of the machines in the background, and the sound of the surgeon's voice as he prepared to operate on her impaled abdomen. She closed her eyes, hoping to drift away into a dreamless sleep.
But instead, she felt like she was floating in a vast ocean, her body weightless and free from pain. She could feel a warm breeze brush against her skin, the smell of salty water filling her nostrils. She opened her eyes and saw that she was on a beautiful beach. The sand was soft and golden, the water crystal clear and sparkling in the sunlight. The sun was beating down on her skin, and she could feel the heat seeping into her bones. She looked around, marveling at the beauty of her surroundings. The beach looked familiar, and she realized that it was one she had seen before, in Italy, with Carina .
She thought she was reliving a memory and looked around to spot the brunette but instead, she saw the figure of another woman standing near the shore, with long dark hair and a strikingly beautiful side profile. She walked up to the woman, prompting her to look back at Maya, who was struck with a sense of familiarity.
"Maya," the woman said, smiling warmly at her. "It's good to see you, even under these circumstances"
“Mrs. DeLuca?” she had seen old pictures of the woman on Carina’s phone. Pictures of her with both siblings, on holidays and first days of school. She had even seen some of her standing on this exact beach, in this exact spot, looking out at the ocean. Maya wondered if that’s where her imagination stemmed from.
“Just Lucia is fine,” she said with a welcoming and motherly smile, "I've been waiting for you cara " her gentle Italian accent was calming and safe, something Maya associated with home, with Carina. "I'm here to keep you company”
Maya was confused. "And where is here?"
Lucia gestured around them. "We are in a place between worlds, where the living and the dead can come together to share their thoughts and feelings."
Maya looked down at her feet, realizing that she was wearing a hospital gown. "Am I dead?"
Lucia shook her head. "Not yet. But you are in danger. The doctors are doing everything possible to save you, but your condition is very serious. You need to fight to stay alive, Maya. You have so much to live for." She put a hand on Maya’s shoulder. "Don't be afraid, Maya. You're strong, and you're a fighter"
Maya nodded, feeling grateful for Lucia's presence. She had grown to love Carina’s family, even though she had never met them in person. She had heard so much about Lucia and had always wanted to meet the woman.
"She loves you very much, you know," Lucia said, breaking the silence. "Carina. She talks to me about you all the time"
Maya smiled, as her heart swelled with emotion and she felt a pang of sadness in her heart, “I love her too, so much”. She knew Carina missed her mamma more than anything, and that Carina would often visit the woman’s grave, sitting there for hours talking about her life, but it was different knowing that Maya had come up in conversation too, often, all the time. “I miss her", it had been so long since they had shared the same physical space.
Maya had planned to change that, before all of this
Lucia smiled warmly once again, "I know you do, mia cara ”, she squeezed Maya’s shoulder, “Which is why you need to fight, for her, for yourself, for your futures”
“I don’t know how” tears had started to prickle at Maya’s eyes, “I don’t-”
Lucia's hushed the blonde pulling her into a warm embrace. Maya felt a sense of peace and comfort wash over her, as though Lucia's embrace was the only thing anchoring her to reality. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, and felt as though she had been given a lifeline, a way to cling to hope in the midst of the darkness that surrounded her.
As she held onto Lucia, Maya felt her body begin to tremble. She felt as though she was being pulled away from the dream, back into the harsh reality of the hospital room. When she looked back up Lucia’s figure had begun to fade away.
"Wait" Maya cried out, her voice desperate.
“Give in Maya, let go”, the woman’s voice was getting fainter until all that was left was the sound of the ocean and the golden sand beneath Maya's feet.
She was alone on the beach with nothing but her thoughts.
***
As the minutes turned into hours, the waiting room at Grey-Sloan Hospital felt more and more suffocating. The team sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts about Maya's condition.
Andy looked around and saw the rest of her team sitting quietly, their eyes glued to the floor. They were all thinking the same thing - what if Maya didn't make it? What would happen to them? She knew they were all worried about her, but nobody wanted to talk about it.
Suddenly, the doors to the room burst open and a doctor stepped in, causing everyone to jump to their feet, “Captain Maya Bishop?”
"I’m her lieutenant. Is she okay? How's Maya?" Andy asked, her voice trembling with fear.
The doctor hesitated for a moment, his eyes scanning the woman before he spoke.
"Maya is stable for now, but she's still in critical condition. We were able to remove the metal from her abdomen, but she lost a lot of blood and her body is still in shock” he paused unsure if he should share the next bit of information, he was after all only a resident.
He was about to continue when a shorter woman approached the group after exiting the same doors the other doctor had walked through.
“Bailey”, Andy sighed in relief, she knew Warren’s wife was one of the best surgeons out there. Maya was getting the best the hospital had to offer.
“It’s okay Schmitt, I’ll take it from here”, she said dismissing the resident, “I have an update on her condition, but I need to speak with her power of attorney first. Is there anyone here who is her POA”
Andy shook her head, she had no idea who her best friend’s POA was. Maya was the captain, the one who knew everything about everyone. She had never talked much about her personal life, but Andy knew Maya and her father weren’t on the best terms, she wondered if the man was still her power of attorney. “I don’t know who her POA is, it might be her father but they’re not exactly on talking terms”
Bailey looked at the woman grimly, “Is there any way to confirm?”
Jack stepped up behind her, “Maya usually has these things on file, there’s probably one in her office at the station with all the details”, Andy nodded, she didn’t know why the thought hadn’t crossed her mind but that’s why she was grateful for Jack’s presence. “I’ll call the station, Vic should be on desk duty”, he said as he fetched his phone and walked outside the room.
“Is it that bad?” Andy turned to the doctor once again, fishing for any kind of information.
“We're monitoring her closely and doing everything we can, but we need to discuss her options with her power of attorney."
"What do you mean, options?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Bailey hesitated for a moment before answering, these people were Maya’s family, "Based on Maya's injuries and her current condition, we believe that she may need a liver transplant. We need to discuss it with her POA and see if they're willing to go through with the surgery if it comes to that."
"And what if we don’t find her POA? Or if it’s her dad, Bailey he can’t be left responsible for Maya’s life" Andy asked, her voice shaky.
The woman looked at her sympathetically, "Then we'll have to look into other options. But for now, we need to focus on her care and wait for Jack to return with information about her POA."
***
Jack rushed back to the waiting room and everyone stood up eager to know what the man had found. “Vic found the file, there are forms inside but there isn’t much information”
“What do you mean?” Andy questioned him her brows furrowed, he’d either found Maya’s POA or he hadn’t.
“It’s complicated-” he started but was cut off by the woman once again
“Oh no is it her dad”, Andy frantically started pacing once again running her hands through her hair. Jack rushed to her side and stopped her movements.
“It’s not her dad, let me speak first?” Andy nodded and he continued, “Although in some ways it might have been easier if it was”, the woman furrowed her brows, confused about what the sentence meant. “There’s only a name and a number in the files, and the number is international”
Andy’s frown deepened, “What do you mean international? What’s the name?”, she needed the man to come out with the information and not be so cryptic, none of them had the time for it at this moment.
“Not one either me or Vic recognized. She said it was someone named Carina DeLuca?” Jack raised his brow questioningly
“Who the hell is Carina DeLuca-”