Innocent

Chapter Twelve

Allison

"Can you page Doctor Carina Deluca please?" Maya asked the nurse up front.
"Bambina? Farfalla? Why are you here?" Carina asked as she walked up.
"We need you to get someone to check Allison out." Maya told her.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Carina cupped my face.
"My girlfriend's house was on fire." I said, a tear rolling down my face.

"Are you okay? Is she okay? What happened? Why do you smell like smoke? Were you there?" Carina started freaking out.
"Carina. She's fine. Page is fine. Allison... she ran inside to save her."
"You ran inside? Come hai potuto correre all'interno di un edificio in fiamme? Avresti potuto morire!" Carina said angrily. (How could you run inside a burning building? You could have died!)
"Non ero preoccupato di morire! La mia ragazza era in una casa in fiamme e ho dovuto salvarla!" I argued back. (I wasn't worried about dying! My girlfriend was in a burning house and I had to save her!)

"Okay okay! That's enough with the Italian talk. Can we talk about this later please?" Maya asked.
"Page Doctor Robbins please. Have her meet us in room three." Carina turned and walked away.
"She's pissed, isn't she?" I whispered to Maya as we followed her.
"She's just worried about you. She'll be fine in a little bit."

We walked inside a room, and I sat down on a table.
"Where did you get burned?" Carina didn't meet my eyes when she talked to me.
"My arm and my back." I muttered.

"Is everything okay? I got paged 911." Arizona said as she walked in.
"Allison wanted to play fire fighter today. Can you check her out please?" Carina said.
"I didn't want to play fire fighter! My girlfriend was trapped in a burning house and I knew I could get her out!" I argued with her.
"Guys! Later!" Maya said sternly.

"Okay sweetie. Can you take your shirt off please?" Arizona asked softly.
I lifted my shirt up, and winced as the air hit the burns.
"They don't look too bad. Just some top burns. I'm going to prescribe you a cream for it, okay?"

Callie came running in, "I heard Allison was here. Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yes I'm fine. Just some burns." I gave her a small smile.

"Thank God. Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Callie walked out and Arizona followed behind her.
"Maya. Can you give Allison and I a moment alone." Carina said.
"Yeah. I'll be right outside." She squeezed my hand and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Carina I know you're mad but please listen to me-"
"I'm not mad." She said quietly.
"You're not?"

"Farfalla, I'm scared. I worry every time that Maya leaves the house and goes to work. I accepted that I'd have to worry about you once you hit eighteen. But I didn't think that I'd have to worry about you running into a fire before that." She sat down on the table next to me.
"I'm sorry Carina. But Page was in there. I couldn't just let her die. Even if she was just a total stranger. I can't let anyone just... die. She's someone's friend. She's someone's child."

"E tu sei mia figlia." (And you are my child.) Carina said with tears in her eyes.

"I am?" I whispered.
"Of course you are farfalla! I see you as my daughter. All day, I tell my friends how my daughter is going to become a fire fighter. I brag all day about how amazing you are and how lucky Maya and I are to have you."

"I love you Carina." I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
"I love you too farfalla. Don't you ever forget that."

*Four months later*

"Hi beautiful!" I said as Page walked through the front doors of the station.
"Hey Allison. Can we talk?"
"Uh yeah. Is everything okay?" I led her to one of the bedrooms.
"I love you."
"I love you too." I smiled and grabbed her hand.
"But I can't do this anymore."
"You can't do what?"
"Us. This. I just... I can't." She had tears in her eyes.
"What did I do? I-I can fix it."
"You didn't do anything Allison. I just... every time I look at you, I remember that day. In the fire. I keep reliving it every time I see you."
"Page I-"
"Allison. Please don't make this harder than it is already." She whispered.
"Page..."
"I love you. Just... remember that, okay?" She kissed my forehead, and walked out of the room.

I sat down on the bed, and I felt hot tears running down my face.

I heard a knock on the door.
"Mija? Are you in there?"
"Yeah. Come in." I quickly wiped my face off.

"Hey, I saw Page leave. She wasn't here for long." She closed the door behind her.
"Yeah." I sniffled.
"Oh honey what's wrong? Are you okay?" She sat down on the bed next to me.
"She broke up with me Tia." I felt the tears running down my face again.
"What? But you two have been so happy together."
"She said every time she sees me, she remembers the fire. She said she can't stand remembering it." I put my head in my hands and cried.

"Oh mija, I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close.
"We've been dating for a year and a half. She was my first girlfriend. My first kiss." I whispered.
"I know. It'll be okay. I promise."
"How do you know?"
"Every heart break is one step closer to finding your happily ever after. I found mine, your sister found hers, you'll find yours."

"Can I go work out? I need to get this shit out of my system."
"Language. But yes. I'll go with you." She grabbed my hand and we walked out of the bedroom.

"Hey Allison- Kid what's wrong?" Maya asked as we walked by.
I didn't say anything, and just kept walking.