Through A Different Lens {Marina/Maya & Carina}

Acknowledgment (Chapter 8)

“Carina? You’re not on shift, what are you doing here?” Doctor Helm spoke as she watched Carina walk through one of the hospital corridors. 

“No, I'm not here on work” She spoke, not breaking for a moment to walk past Helm and continuing her walk down the hallway. Meeting with the examination room, she applied a soft couple of knocks to the wooden door, gaining a soft come in from the other side. 

Carina peeped her head in first, making sure she had the correct room. Once she saw Finn sat upon Maya's lap, being checked out by Arizona, she repositioned herself into the room fully, closing the door behind her. “I told you that you didn’t need to come” Maya mumbled out, watching as Arizona awkwardly turned her attention to Finn and Finn only. 

“And I said I would, and I did. So I'm here now” Carina added back, a tone strong enough for Maya to know not to even attempt to talk back. It was also a tone with words hidden behind them, as if she was itching to let them out. “So what happened? Is he okay?” Her frantic question was directed toward the doctor, to whom thought she was still talking to Maya at the time. 

The room grew quiet as both Maya and Carina faced Arizona awaiting an answer. Soon enough, her eyes peered up, glancing between both women. “Oh right! yeah..he's fine. He has a small fever, which is nothing to worry about. But for the fall, he's all good. Like you said, it was just the shock” She explained, gaining a relieved look from Maya and a thank you, but for Carina, she stood in confusion. Her mind trailed over the doctor's words. ‘The fall’ What fall?

“His fever should clear up in the next few days, just keep him warm and you know…away from couches” Arizona spoke, trying to add a small bit of comedic relief. However it didn’t work at all. It just overshadowed Maya in more guilt and Carina in more confusion. “Right, okay, I have to get going. You're free to go, he's all good” She broke the awkward silence with a throat cough whilst standing from her stool. 

“Thank you Doctor Robbins” The fire captain also stood, Finn on her hip as he tried to grip his hands around the zip on Maya's jacket. 

“My pleasure” Was her final words before walking off and leaving the two women and child to stand in the corridor. The awkward silence wasn’t soon filled, instead it was followed by Maya tightening her grip around Finns back and walking down the corridor. 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Or call me?” Carina spoke, trailing slowly behind Maya as she made her way to the exit of the hospital. 

“I wasn’t thinking at that moment, Carina. You know, I had a crying child in my arms, I'm sorry my first instinct wasn’t to call you” The harsh tone and blunt words weren’t from anger or hatred, but her own guilt. These words weren't for Carina, but instead they were for herself. She wasn’t thinking at that moment, and she wasn’t watching Finn how she should have, and these words were the verbal confirmation of her own guilted thoughts. 

“So what, you just weren’t going to call me at all? You were just gonna go to the hospital and not tell me?” Her words were more vocal now as they had now emerged out of the hospital doors. The brisk air of the day bouncing off their skin and the clouds beginning to cover the sky to transform the day into dusk. 

Maya let out a sigh, reaching into her back pocket for her car keys. An unfamiliar feeling in her chest as she gazed at Finns tear stained cheeks. He hadn't cried for awhile as Arizona had given him a little dino sticker so he could place it on his burgundy sweater “Look, i'm really not in the mood right now—”

“No! You don’t get to do that Maya, you don’t get to shut me out just because you don’t know how to have a civil conversation” Dropping the heightened tone at the end, she patiently watched Maya open the backdoor to the car and buckle Finn into his car seat. Placing her hand on his head for a moment, feeling that his head was in fact warmer than usual. She let out a sigh of guilt before caressing her thumb along his forehead, peering into his glazed green eyes that drowsingly tried to stay open. The act caught Carina's attention, her heart melted at the act, but it also grew furious.