FERRY-LOVE-BOAT

Chapter 2

Carinas POV:

-Carina, Carina! - Owen was running towards me. – There has been a residential explosion a few minutes ago, Bailey said your floor was quiet, I need an extra pair of hands, can you help me?

-Of course! - I blocked the screen of the tablet that was in my hands and followed his steps towards the elevator.

A whole month had passed since I had returned to Seattle after ten years living in Italy, but the welcome I received at Grey Sloan made this transition much smoother. The people were nice here, good co-workers, there was no competition between the doctors, no sabotage of OR schedules and Dr. Miranda Bailey's command kept things running smoothly.

Once we got to the ER part of the hospital, we went to a side wall and got disposable aprons and I put my hair up in a ponytail before putting on my gloves. Although I was passionate about OBGYN, there was a little part of me that loved getting back to the adrenaline rush of the emergency room.

-We have an injured resident, and a firefighter too. - The redhead spoke next to me, and we saw the first ambulance approaching. It was coming slowly, no sirens were on, there was no hurry, and that meant the same thing anywhere in the world.

The patient inside was dead.

But then the annoying sound of sirens was heard as another vehicle overtook the first one coming quickly towards us. As soon as it was parked, the rear doors opened.

-Jack Gibson, 34, was thrown against a wall at the moment of the explosion. There is thoracic instability, probably broken ribs, but he is... - The woman spoke rapidly, her eyes focused on the man lying on the stretcher, until her face turned in our direction as she climbed out of the ambulance with the patient and our eyes met for the first time.

Well, for the first time in ten years.

It was her, the woman from the ferry. The one who turned red every time I made a comment complimenting her beauty or cleverness, and who tried unsuccessfully to cover up her glances at my body. The woman who loved routine and running, and who had difficulty making friends, but who had opened up to me - in her own way - and who made my boring mornings so much more interesting so many years ago. The woman I had to leave behind, without saying goodbye, and who made my heart heavy all these years.

That was her.

There.

Right in front of me.

-He's what? - Owen asked when she interrupted her speech in mid-sentence, as distracted as I was when she finally recognized me.

I put the stethoscope to my ears and looked away, there was no time to talk or to lose myself in the good memories I had. I placed the stethoscope against the patient's chest and listened to his breathing, it was shallow and barely hearable on one side and when I placed my hands on his side I really felt that there was some damage to his ribs.

-He's stable. - She concluded.

-The right lung is collapsed, apparent multiple rib fracture on the same side, he probably has a pneumothorax, we have to go in now or he could crash right here! - I spoke quickly and started pushing the stretcher into the hospital, Owen right behind me as he asked another first responder who was also in the ambulance what medications the patient had been taken.

Inside one of the emergency rooms I was quick to grab a large gauge needle to puncture his second intercostal space to get the air out of his pleural space. The man kept an oxygen mask over his face and when the needle did its job he was able to take a deep breath, but unfortunately this had caused him great pain and we were surrounded by screams moments later.

-He needs morphine and a chest x-ray. - Owen spoke up behind me as I cut off the shirt he was wearing to inspect his abdomen.

-Jack, you're at Grey Sloan, we're going to take care of you. - I spoke to the man as our eyes met.

The cold gel was placed on his abdomen, and I quickly ran the ultrasound cursor over his abdomen searching for injuries on his internal organs.

-There is no free fluid in the abdominal cavity. - I said to Owen as a nurse applied medication to his IV to relieve some of the pain. - I need you to draw his blood and do a general trauma lab.

-Pupils are reactive and there is no indication of concussion. - Owen spoke from the other side as he examined Jack's eyes. - Jack, how old are you?

-Thirty... Thirty-four. - He spoke with some difficulty.

-And where are we?

-Seattle. - He grunted in pain once more.

-Let's keep the cervical collar on until we get a spinal and head CT, okay? But you're going to be fine. - Owen smiled briefly.

Together we walked past some people waiting outside the room, they looked apprehensively in our direction.

-We're going to take your friend for some tests. - Owen spoke up. - We'll be back soon with news, Captain.

We didn't wait for an answer, we just went to the elevator.

During the elevator ride I thought of only one thing.

Actually, about one person.