Find me again

chapter 1

"What the hell happened?" Maya was aware that she was causing a scene in the middle of the hospital, but she had been freaking out ever since Bailey had called her and said to come right away. Something had happened to Carina, Maya desperately needed to know what.

"Bishop," she quickly flicked her head around at the sound of her name, it was Bailey. Maya knew immediately that the news she was about to receive was not going to be good. With four quick strides, she stood directly in front of the shorter woman.

"Where is Carina? Is something wrong? Frankie? The baby?" Maya couldn't breathe, her thoughts moving a mile a minute. She needed answers and was mad at Bailey for not having provided them yet, despite her not having had the opportunity.

"They were in a car accident, Frankie is okay and awake, Teddy is with her. She didn't even need stitches, just a little bruising where her seatbelt held her in place. Carina hit her head, and she is not awake. We ran some tests and we are optimistic about her chances." Maya had so many questions but she held back, she wanted to know all the information. "Also the baby is doing good, we were able to hear a heartbeat and she was moving around like a crazy person." Maya attempted a smile, Carina had been complaining about their baby kicking her all week.

"I wanna go get Frankie, please." Maya's entire body was shaking, she needed to hold her baby girl and then she needed her wife to wake up, and for this to just be over. She needed to wake up from this nightmare, because this was not real, it just couldn't be. She felt gentle hands guide her to the elevator. Bailey was silent and Maya appreciated that.

"Mommy!" Frankie exclaimed and pointed with a huge smile as soon as she saw Maya. Somehow that was just what the blonde needed to see in order to pull herself together. She threw her arms out and made her way to her baby girl, picking her up and hugging her tightly to her chest.

"Scary mommy," the two year old whispered to her, and Maya felt her heart break a little more.

"I know, baby. I know it was scary." She swayed her from side to side, just breathing in the smell of the wild, brown, curly locks.

"Mamma?" Maya threw a quick glance over at Bailey who shook her head no.

"Not right now, my love. It is late and we have to go to bed." Her daughter was resting her head at Maya's shoulder and nodded sleepily. She waved a quick goodbye to the women, and left the room.

She couldn't leave the hospital, standing frozen in the middle of the lobby with a sleeping child in her arms, she couldn't leave. She couldn't leave because her wife might wake up and realise she is not there. She couldn't leave because what if... She shook her head. No. She couldn't even think about that. Carina would wake up, and Maya needed to be there when she did.

She awkwardly sat down in one of the uncomfortable green chairs and dug around in her jacket pocket for her phone, still keeping a tight hold on Frankie with the other.

"Hey Maya, I just got home. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I mean no. I got a call on my way home and Carina and Frankie got in an accident and Carina is still not awake and I haven't been able to see her because I have Frankie, and she is okay but she needs to sleep and I can't leave the hospital, Andy. I can't leave, and can you please come and get her and take her home?" Maya said everything in one breath.

"I am already on my way, I will call Vic too. She will take Frankie home and I will stay with you, Maya. It's going to be okay, just take deep breaths. I have to hang up now but I will be there soon. You just keep hugging that baby of yours okay?" Maya stayed silent.

"You there, Maya?" She jolted at the sound of her voice.

"Yeah I am here. Thank you." She whispered.

"Alright, see you soon. Bye."

"Bye." Maya mumbled and the line went dead. She placed her phone on the empty seat beside her and ran her fingers through the thin curls on Frankie's head, focusing on the deep breaths she was taking, trying her best to mimic them. She kept doing that until she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Maya!" It was Vic with Travis following close behind. They both looked frazzled and Vic went straight to grab Frankie, but Maya held on tighter.

"I am sorry," Maya said. "I just, I need to hold her for a little longer." Vic nodded sympathetically.

"Of course." The pair sat down on either side of Maya. Travis moved the phone out of the way before he sat down.

"What happened?" He asked hesitantly. "Andy was brief on the phone."

Maya stayed quiet, she couldn't bring herself to explain one more time. It was better to just wait for Andy.

"There you guys are." Andy exclaimed, heading straight towards them. Maya finally handed Frankie over to Vic and accepted Andy's warm and tight embrace. She dug her keys out of her pocket and handed them to Travis.

"Ehm, she gets nightmares sometimes, especially since switching to her big girl bed. Just make sure you let her know where one of you is sleeping so she can come find you. And please call me if you need anything. I will come home tomorrow morning, I promise, I just need to stay here tonight." Maya's voice was shaking.

"No, problem Maya. We got this, and we've got the little buddy for as long as you need." Vic smiled down at Frankie as she spoke.

"Thank you." With that they exited the hospital and Maya and Andy were left alone.

"Are you ready to go find her?" Andy asked quietly. Maya was not ready, she didn't really know what to expect and she was almost sure she wouldn't be able to keep herself together once she laid eyes on her wife.

"Yeah, let's go." She started moving abruptly, it felt as if she stopped moving or slowed down that she would lose her courage. It struck her how weird it was, feeling like she wanted nothing but to see her wife and also being willing to give everything to not see her like this.

"314," Andy said out loud, "here we are." They could see her through the glass door and every bit of hesitation Maya had felt previously went straight out the window. She almost pushed Andy in her rush to get to Carina.

"I am here, Carina." Maya said out loud and took her wife's hand. "I am here, and Frankie is okay, and our baby girl is doing well. But you need to wake up." She was crying now. "You need to come back to us, because I can't do this without you." Maya was almost not able to finish the sentence before completely breaking down in violent sobs. She was vaguely aware of Andy's hands hugging her from behind, telling her to calm down, but she just couldn't.

"Shh Maya. Get it all out. It will be okay, Carina will be fine." Andy managed to lead Maya to the chair next to Carina's bed. She kneeled in front of the blonde, just breathing heavily, trying to get Maya to match her. It took a while, but eventually Maya had calmed down enough, and Andy got up to get her some water and a tissue.

"Here you go, drink." She said sternly, Maya obeyed and took a tiny sip. She was looking at her wife with an expression Andy hadn't seen before.

"You could probably lay down with her on the bed." Andy said after a while. She would say anything to try and get that awful look off her bestfriends face.

"No, I don't want to disturb her. She needs her space."

"When has she ever wanted you to give her space?" Andy chuckled. "Maya, that girl is all over you, constantly. I am sure it would be good for the both of you." She took Maya's hand and helped her up to a standing position before guiding her very pliable body onto the bed, next to Carina. There was plenty of space, but Maya still tried to make herself as tiny as possible, laying on her side, right at the edge of the bed.