ON HOLD | Adjustments | Station 19

3. I'll Stand By You

"Come on, kiddo. You need to eat," Maya tried her best to encourage her daughter to eat the food in front of her. "If not for you then do it at least for the baby," she added quietly.

Maddie looked up from her bowl of food with a scrunched-up facial expression. "The hospital food here absolutely sucks," she complained, holding up the spoon as it fell off and slopped back into the bowl. "I can't eat this. It's gross," she told them.

"Bambina, it's not that bad," Carina chuckled amusedly.

"If it's not so bad then why don't you eat it?" Maddie questioned, looking at the brunette with a smug look on her face. "How long until I can leave this place?" She asked.

"The doctors just want to keep you in here a bit longer and make sure that everything is okay with you... and with the baby," Maya explained to her daughter.

"I can't wait until I can leave this place, and eat something proper. I would kill for a double cheeseburger," Maddie exclaimed.

Carina chuckled lightly and shook her head in disagreement. "That's not a proper meal, Bambina," she stated.

"You can't beat a takeout, Mama!" Maddie told her.

"Oh, and is this your attempting of hinting that you want to eat takeout when you're out of the hospital, hm?" Maya laughed, ruffling her daughter's hair.

Maddie pouted and shoved her Mom's hand away from her hair as she continued to stare at the soup in disgust. "Maybe... I mean, we haven't had one in ages though!" The teenager insisted.

"And here I thought it would finally be a chance to introduce you to a healthy smoothie," Maya chuckled amusedly. "Something that would be good for you other than processed meat," she teased her daughter.

Maddie scrunched her face up in disgust once again at the thought. "Gross. I'd rather eat any of your burnt cooking, and that says something!" she told her as she giggled. "And you know, I did almost die and all... Don't I deserve to eat something decent?" she wondered.

"Maddie!" Maya gasped in shock.

"Bambina," Carina scolded half-heartedly.

"I'm sorry, it's just that dark humour helps," Maddie admitted as she chewed on her bottom lip anxiously. "Too soon?" she asked.

"Mhm," Carina hummed.

"Alright, well, there's the thing that I'm eating for two now as well," Maddie reminded them, briefly looking down at her stomach.

"Okay, now I can see that being used as an excuse for a while now," Maya chuckled and shook her head slightly. "Eat your soup, sweetheart, and we can talk about it afterwards," she added.

"Oh, no, no, no! I'm going to be late for work!" Maya groaned as she checked the time on her phone and instantly jumped up from her chair. "This doesn't feel right having to go to work and leaving you here," she added, looking at her daughter.

"I'll be fine, Mom," Maddie reassured her.

"You don't have much of a choice, Bella or would you rather have Beckett say something about this?" Carina questioned her wife.

Maya exhaled a sigh and nodded, "No. You're right there," she agreed.

"The sooner you go to work then the sooner you can come back," Carina told her wife. "The Bambina and I will be fine here," she added.

Maddie nodded in agreement and smiled, "Mama's right, go to work and hey, I'll still be here when you finish," she told her, grinning slightly. "Or hopefully, the doctors will see sense and let me out of here,"