6,000 Miles (Station 19)

Tied Together with a Smile

Adelina's POV:

I had been snoozing my alarm for almost an hour when I heard a knock at my door. I pulled the pillow over my head, trying to ignore it, but that only made the sound grow louder.

"Adelina," I heard my sister call as she opened the door. "What are you doing?" she asked emphatically. "You have to wake up; you're going to be late!"

"I'm not asleep," I grumbled from under my pillow.

Carina didn't hear me, she just kept fussing and telling me to wake up. I peaked out from under the cover and repeated myself.

"I'm not asleep."

"Well then get up." She sounded exasperated, but she quickly changed her tone. "Come on," she said with more pep. "It's your first day of school. It's going to be exciting!"

"I highly doubt that." As much as I didn't want to get up and go to school, I didn't want to bother my sister, so I dragged myself out of bed and made my way over to the closet. I could feel Carina still watching me so I turned my head to face her. "I'm still gonna go, I promise."

"Good," she smiled. She pushed my messy hair back and kissed the top of my head before leaving me to get dressed.

I threw on a pair of jeans, a button up blouse, and my favorite leather sneakers. I pulled my hair back into a loose french braid and wove a ribbon through it. As I was putting on some light make-up Carina reappeared at my door.

"What?" I chuckled. "I promised you I'm going to school."

"I know bambina." She gave me a half hearted smile.

"Then what?" I asked as I dabbed on my concealer.

"I got paged into the hospital," she said, with an air of remorse. "But I have your lunch packed on the counter, and Maya will take you to school, and I will be there to pick you up this afternoon."

"Okay," I said casually, opening up my mascara.

Carina looked suspicious. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." I paused as I started to put my makeup away and pack my school bag. "Although I still can't believe we actually have to eat lunch at school."

I could see the tension in her shoulders ease a little at my joke. "Okay then bambina," she smiled. "I'll see you after school."

I finished getting ready and headed into the kitchen to find Maya. As I put my lunch in my bag, Maya handed me a smoothie and grabbed her key.

"Come on, kiddo. I don't want you to be late on your first day," she said warmly. I think she could tell I was dreading school.

She chatted at me for a while as she drove me to school, but I mostly just nodded and stared out the window, giving her one word responses when I had to.

I forced a smile as she pulled up in front of my new school and turned to face her. "Thanks for the ride Maya."

"Of course," she responded as I closed the door behind me. She rolled down the window and called after me as I walked toward the front door. "Have a good day!" she yelled. I turned back and shook my head at her with a laugh. I should've known that I wouldn't get out of being embarrassed just because Carina wasn't there.

Carina POV:

I was standing at the nursery window, looking at the newborn baby boy I had just delivered when my phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me from my trance. It was Maya: "Can you swing by the station if you have time today? I want to talk to you" the text read.

My heart started racing. I had no idea what Maya could want to talk about. I quickly checked on my patients and saw that none of them were more than 2 centimeters dilated: I had time. Heading to the station my thoughts spiraled. Maybe she was upset that I asked her to take Addie to school. Maybe she didn't want her living with us anymore. Maybe she didn't want me living with her anymore.

I was still in a daze when I got to the station and physically bumped into Vic.

She laughed. "Hey Carina! What are you doing here?"

"Just looking for Maya. Have you seen her?" I asked, forcing a smile.

Vic pointed me to the beanery so I trotted up the stairs.

"Hello my love," I heard Maya call from across the room. She extended a hand out for me to take as she led me over to the counter where she was prepping a salad. Her cheerful demeanor made me feel a little better, but I was still confused about her message.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked nervously.

Maya, being maya, could see the tension on my face. She pulled me into her, resting her hand on my lower back. "Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you privately without Addie around. But everything's fine babe."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. So what's up?"

"I know we talked about this a little bit the other day," Maya started. "But have you looked any more into getting a therapist for Addie?"

It had been a week since I overheard Adelina on the phone with her girlfriend. I immediately told Maya everything and we shared our concern for my baby sister. Maya mentioned that I might want to consider therapy to help her adjust. I told her I'd think about it but I didn't really think it was necessary so I just left it at that.

I shook my head. "Not really. She seems okay," I replied with a shrug.

Maya nodded but I could tell there was more she wasn't saying.

"What is it?"

"She.. I.. It's.." Maya stumbled. I gave her a questioning look, but she shook her head.

"No, really, what?" I asked.

"She's not okay."

I asked what she meant, if Adelina had talked to her about something. Maya explained that it wasn't anything she said in particular, just the way that she's been. She hasn't been talking as much, to us or to her friends back in Italy. She's been sleeping past noon most days. She hasn't been eating as much. Her hair has been just thrown into a low ponytail with little effort lately. She hasn't made her bed all week, to the point that her blankets are half on the floor. And most importantly, Maya noted, she hasn't even wanted to run.

"She's just being a teenager," I replied in part because all those things on their own seem relatively normal and in part because I didn't want to think about what it would mean otherwise.

Maya took my hand in hers in a way that matched her tone: gentle, but firm. "Baby, I'm telling you that while some of that is normal teenager behavior, that kid is not okay. I know because she's reminding me of me when I was her age. And I definitely wasn't okay."

I nodded, taking in the weight of what she was saying. I knew she was right, I just didn't want to see it. Sensing the wheels turning in my head, Maya wrapped her arms around my waist and held me from behind. She rested her chin on my shoulder and I leaned my head over onto hers.

"Okay," I said quietly, looking over at her from the corner of my eye. "Then what do we do?"