Crash- Station 19/Marina

Wheelchair practice

A week later Maya was getting her first trial chair. Dan was going to drop it off this morning. They had woke up a while ago, Maya had just finished showering and was laying on a towel in bed while Carina helped her get ready. Carina put in a new catheter then put her pants on before getting all the supplies needed to change her ostomy bag. Maya tried to help but with no hand function she couldn't do any of the catheter or ostomy stuff.

Carina was about to put the new ostomy bag on when Andy opened the door and came walking in. Maya was very happy that Carina had already put her bra and pants on.
"Andy, I thought we got over this years ago!" Maya exclaimed when Andy burst in, turning her head a bit to look at her since she still had her brace off from the shower
"What!?" Andy said
"Shower boundaries, not randomly bursting into the bathroom OR my room when the door is closed" Maya told her
"Oh ya, I kind of forgot about that. Anyways, didn't you say someone was coming at 9:30? It's 9:25"
"Really? Ugh, why does getting ready take so long!"
"It's fine, you're almost ready" Carina said as she finished sticking the new bag onto Maya's stomach, then they heard the doorbell. "Ok, I'll go open the door, Andy can you help her with her binder and shirt?"
"Sure" Andy says and Carina walks out to answer the door

"What do you need?" Andy asks, walking over to Maya
"Just put the binder under me, do it up tight then help me sit up, but my head falls back as I'm sitting up without the brace"
"Ok, do you want the brace then?"
"Can you just put one hand on the back of my neck and give me your other hand so I can pull myself up"
"Ok"
Andy but the binder on her and helped her sit up and then keep her balance while putting a shirt on then Carina came in as she was sitting on the edge of the bed

"Do you just want to go straight into the new chair?" Carina asks
"Sure, less transfers"
"Are you ready?"
"Ya"
Carina comes back in with the trial wheelchair and helps her into it then pushes her out of the bedroom. Dan adjusts the footrest and shows them the breaks and a few other things before leaving, telling them he'd be back in 3 days to pick it up.

"What do you think?" Carina asks as Maya starts rolling herself around a bit
"It's a lot smaller, that's nice. It's hard to push but that's probably just my arms"
"I'm sure it will get easier with practice"
"I know, I just, don't want to have to practice. I don't want to learn about wheelchair and all this other stuff." Maya says. "I mean, I do and I'm glad I have access to all this stuff, I just don't want to need any of this"
"I know" Carina says
"I'm sorry Maya" Andy says
"Why are you sorry, none of this is your fault" Maya says, wheeling over to Andy. "You saved my life, you and Warren and Vic and Travis"
Andy started crying a bit and Maya reached out to hug her and she did.

"Ok, enough of this. This chair can go in a car which means we can go somewhere, where are we going" Maya says
"I don't know, we could go for a walk. " Andy suggests
"Sure, let's go" Maya says, just wanting to do something.
"Are you sure?" Carina asks
"Yes, I'm ok. I don't have PT today and it will be good for trying out this chair"
"Ok, but we need to bring your brace" Carina says going into their room to get it
Maya hesitates then follows her
"I think I need to wear it for a bit" she tells Carina
"Ok, you've had it off for a long time this morning" Carina says as she puts the brace back on Maya's neck.

They grabbed a few things then headed out to the car. It was a bit tricky getting Maya into the car but they figured it out and drove to the park. When they got there Carina realized another thing they needed to do that Maya would probably hate- get a permit so she could use accessible parking spots. She decided that could wait for another day so they could enjoy their walk, finding a parking spot and not saying anything. They got the wheelchair out and Maya into it which was a bit easier than getting her in the car.
"Are you good?" Carina asked once Maya was sitting in the chair properly
"Yes, can you take my brace off again? I don't think I need it and I don't want to give people another reason to stare"
"Ok, but I'm bringing it and you need to tell me if you need it"
"Ok"
Carina took Maya's brace off again and put it in her bag then they started walking through the park. It had wide paved paths so it was a great place for Maya to practice pushing her wheelchair. They walked for a few minutes not saying much.

"I used to run here" Maya says suddenly
"Bambina, why didn't you tell me. We could have gone somewhere else" Carina says
"There's nowhere around here I didn't run and I knew this place had paved paths." She replies "it's ok, I just miss it"
"Do you want to keep going or leave?" Andy asks
"Keep going, I like it here"
So they kept going on their walk through the park. Some people were staring but they all tried to ignore it. A while later a woman was walking in the other direction pushing a stroller while a little boy wandered ahead. The boy, he was probably only 4, walked over to them and right up to Maya.

"Why do you have?" He asked, pointing to the wheelchair
"I'm paralyzed so I use a wheelchair to move" Maya told him
"Why?" The very curious little boy repeats
"I was in an accident"
"Did you go to the hosbibal?"
"Yes I did"
"Mommy goed to the hosbibal to have a baby. She goed in an ambelance!"
"Yes, there are lots of reasons to go to the hospital"
"Can you go fast?"
"No"

"Max! You're supposed to stay close" says the woman with the stroller as she walks up to them. "I'm sorry, he's always wandering off when I'm distracted with the baby"
"Ashley?" Carina says and the woman looks at her
"Dr Deluca, hi. Oh and Andy"
"You know each other?" Maya asks confused about how her wife and best friend know this woman she's never seen before
"23 brought her to Grey Sloan, I passed her off to Carina" Andy explains
"Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Maya"
"Ashley" the woman introduce and held her hand out for Maya to shake, Maya hesitated then reached out to shake her hand, her fingers staying loosely curled in. She was happy that the woman just shook her hand, not commenting on its strange position.

"Your baby girl is so big already! What's her name?" Carina asks
"Emma, she's almost 2 months old already" Ashley says "Max this is the doctor who helped Emma be born and the firefighter who brought us to the hospital. Did you say hi or have you just been asking questions?"
"Hi" Max said to Carina before turning to Andy. "You took mommy in the ambelance? Do you drive a fire truck?"
"I did and yes I can drive a fire truck, I don't usually drive anymore but I used to drive all the time" Andy tells him
"Cool!"

"Do you want to hold her?" Ashley asks Carina who was looking at the baby
"I would love to if that's ok"
"Of course, you were the first one to hold her" Ashley says as she takes the baby out of the stroller. "I'll never forget that night, having a baby in that ice storm"
Andy and Carina both pause and Maya's smile drops
"I never saw you after the birth" Ashley continues while handing the baby to Carina. "Was everything ok?"
Carina and Andy both look at Maya who's just frozen. Carina wants to go to her but she's holding a baby
"Uhh... Si, I just... wasn't working" Carina says after a pause
"Really, I thought I saw you in the hall once" Ashley says
"I, um, she was with me" Maya says
"Let me see la princessa" Andy says taking the baby from Carina, seeing that Maya needs her
Carina goes over to Maya,standing behind her and putting her hands on Maya's shoulders. Ashley notices that Maya's upset
"Sorry, did I say something wrong"
"No, sorry, its just. I was in a car accident that day, that's why Carina wasn't your doctor but you still saw her at the hospital, she was there with me" Maya says as she leans her head against Carina
"I'm sorry I pushed"
"It's ok, just hard to think about" Maya says

"Maya do you need the brace?" Carina asks quietly, noticing Maya leaning her head on her
"No, you're a good headrest" Maya says
Andy's still holding the baby who's now falling asleep in her arms
"Wow, she really likes you" Ashley says. "She was refusing to nap, that's why I brought them on a walk, it usually helps her sleep but she still wasn't having it until you held her"
"I lived with my other friend and his toddler and would help with her for a while before I moved back in with these two" Andy tells her then looks over to Maya and Carina, seeing Maya leaning into Carina more and more.
"We should probably get going" Carina says. "It was nice to see both of you again and to meet Max"
"Are you heading to the parking lot" Ashley asks
"Si"
"We live that way, we'll walk with you. It doesn't look like Andy's ready to put Emma down!"
"Ok, just give me one minute" Carina says before quietly talking to Maya. "Can I put your brace back on now?"
"I just want to wait til the car" Maya says
"I know but can you keep your head up if I move?"
"Probably not" Maya says sighing
Carina get the brace out of her bag and puts its back on her then they head towards the parking lot Carina pushing Maya because she's too tired after pushing herself and just holding herself up for so long. When they got home Maya layed in bed for a bit to have a break from sitting.

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Sorry I haven't updated the last few days. School starts again tomorrow so I'll be updating less but I'll update as much as I can.
Thanks for reading, I can't believe how many people read and vote!