be safe, bambina

chapter 7

"I don't see the point of this, I am fine!" Maya was yelling while sitting in a wheelchair that Dr. Shepard was pushing down the hallway.

"Bishop, you need to keep your voice down," Shepard said.

"No this is ridiculous, I am fine Shepard, I don't have a headache, I am not naus-- STOP, please stop," Maya was yelling and holding her left arm out while her right was covering her stomach. "I am going to puke."

Shepard rushed her into a room and got her a trash can. Carina and Andy both ran in after them.

Once Maya was finished, she looked up to see Carina in tears.

"I am fine Carina, I know it...it is just a delayed reaction. I can handle a little puke," she said.

"You still need scans," Shepard said, helping Maya onto the table and situated her to get scans of her brain.

Once all microphones were off, Shepard wanted to hear from her wife and her best friend.

"She's doing okay...she's really irritable and miserable from what I have noticed," Andy said. "But that's not from Carina...I think it's just this whole thing in general."

"I think she blames herself for this," Carina said.

"What? She didn't do anything wrong, she couldn't have prevented this," Andy said.

"She said that I was wasting my time helping her...she said that I should go out and do something instead of helping her," Carina said, tears now falling from her cheeks. "She's not okay and I don't know what to do because my help doesn't help, it just hurts her more."

She sat down in the chair next to Shepard and was looking at the scans.

"She looks to be in the clear for now, but I want to keep her here for a few more hours to see if a problem develops over time. The puking has me a little concerned but that may have been an anxiety reaction. Has she seen anyone for her mental health?," Shepard asked.

"No, she keeps saying that her family doesn't have mental health issues, though she has been verbally and mentally abused by her father. She always had to perform, she had to be the best...and now, she is at home and I think that is more painful for her than she'd like to admit," Carina said.

"It wasn't the best living situation, Shepard," Andy said.

"Are we done yet, Shepard? I want to go home now. I am not playing around," Maya said, clearly agitated.

"Yes, we are done for right now Bishop but I want you to stay here for a few more hours to be monitored," Shepard said.

"Are you freaking kidding me? I can't even believe this. I am totally fine. I just want to go home, away from everyone else and especially Carina right now. Not because I am not appreciative of her help, but because I just feel so terrible that she has to help me as much as she does right now. I feel like I am not being a support system for her, rather I am a burden to her. She can't go to work, she barely has time to be alone and breathe for a moment before I may need medicine or have to go to the bathroom or try and walk around. She didn't sign up for this," Maya thought to herself.

It had been a few hours, Maya was laying in the hospital bed in her gown, Carina and Andy are sitting to the left of her in the chairs. They had all barely spoken a word to each other until Shepard walked through the door.

"Bishop, your scans look good. I am thinking the puking was a reaction to stress and anxiety, though I cannot say for sure. Everything looks like it is healing the way it should and your recovery is on track. I am going to clear you to start working at the station's office in a week, but you need to be cleared by a therapist as well," she said.

"Excuse me? You can't hold me back from a job to see a therapist," Maya said.

"You need at least one more week physically to get back on your feet again. As far as seeing a therapist, I am not asking you to go once a week for the rest of your life, I am asking you to see one to be cleared for your mental health to be back in a working environment after a traumatic experience," Shepard snapped back. "I have already scheduled you an appointment to start in 15 minutes. You can either take that one or go home and schedule your own."

Begrudgingly, Maya took the appointment because she can be in and out of it and be cleared to go back to work. She also just wanted Shepard, Andy and her wife to never mention therapy again.

She was counting down the seconds when she saw Dr. Lewis walk through the doors.

"Thank god, someone I know," Maya said.