2. Chapter 2

Logically, Carina knew that Maya’s job involved walking into burning buildings.

It was one thing to know and quite another to do.

The air was thick and hazy. She could smell the fire, but the only light came from Maya and Sullivan’s coats and helmets. Water dripped from the ceiling, pooling around their feet, and Carina found herself wondering if this is what Maya did every day? She was reminded of Dante – oh, how she used to hate reading Dante in school – but the descent, the inferno…

“Gibson, Herrera, call out!” Maya said into her radio, pausing their slow trek deeper inside the building. Sweat poured down Carina’s face, made worse by the oxygen mask she wore.

After a few seconds, they heard the tell-tale sound of metal banging against pipes and Maya started walking again. They entered a large sub-basement, empty save for foundation pillars and a row of washing machines. In the middle of the space, Carina could just see Jack and Andy crouching on the ground, a body between them.

She released Maya’s shoulder and ran, knowing that time was against the mamma and the baby.

“Jack, I need more light,” she yelled, falling to her knees next to the prone victim.

All four firefighters made a semi-circle around her, creating a spotlight that allowed Carina to see what she was doing. She raised the woman’s dress, biting back a curse when she saw the blood staining her thighs and the stone floor below.

Opening her bag, she quickly found sterile gloves and ducked lower, trying to check on baby. It was definitely crowning, she could see the top of its head, but between the blood and the fact that the mother was unconscious, Carina’s hopes were low. But she’d never give up on a patient. Not without fighting first.

“Andy, stay by her head, keep your fingers on her neck and tell me if you lose the pulse,” Carina pointed to the space in front of her.

Between the helmet and the mask, Carina could barely see her own hands, let alone enough to deliver a baby. She took off the helmet first and then slid the oxygen mask over her head, knowing she was about to be on the receiving end of…

“Carina!” Maya barked her name, but Carina was not prepared to argue with her wife in the middle of a dangerous delivery.

It was far too late for a c-section and the mother was not likely to gain consciousness anytime soon, so Carina did the only thing she could. She curved her fingers around the baby’s head until she could feel tiny shoulders against her fingertips. As carefully as possible, she placed her hands on the baby’s arms and started to pull.

The baby was small and between its size and the copious amounts of blood and mucus, it wasn’t long before Carina was able to slide it out completely.

Slide her out completely.

She looked at the infant in her hands, quickly running her thumb under its nose and then into its mouth. The baby coughed and breathed, and Carina sighed in relief. She had no time to run further tests, though she guessed the baby was no more than three pounds and needed immediate attention from the NICU. Quickly tying off and cutting the cord, Carina shifted focus.

“Maya?” She called over her shoulder though she didn’t turn. Instead, she reached into her bag and found a blanket, which she proceeded to wrap around the tiny life in her arms.

“I’m here.” Maya was beside her, resting on one knee.

Carina knew there was only one way the baby would survive. She also knew her wife wouldn’t like it.

“You need to run,” Carina said, lifting the baby towards Maya.

“What? I’m not leaving, Carina, I’m…”

“Bambina…”

The air made her lungs ache, but she held back a cough. She didn’t want Maya to worry. She needed Maya to be strong and brave like she always was. Maya’s eyes were frightened though, frightened and unsure, until she clenched her jaw and opened her turnout coat.

It almost felt like time stopped moving as Carina passed the baby towards Maya. She placed the little bundle against Maya’s chest, just as Maya brought up one arm in support. Carina’s fingers brushed the space right over Maya’s heart, a muscle memory, and the feel of Maya’s warmth, of her sweat-soaked shirt, gave Carina the courage she needed to keep going.

Maya stood, the baby safely tucked into her jacket.

“Gibson? Herrera?” Her voice was loud, but Carina could hear the tremor.

“You know we will,” Jack said, nodding as he spoke.

Carina took one last look at Maya and tried to force a smile.

“Ti amo, Tesoro.” She could hear how raspy she sounded, but there was no time for any more words.

The sound of Maya’s boots against the cement floor echoed across the room as Carina got to work saving another life.

~*~

Maya flew out the door in a rush of smoke.

She kept her head down, concentrating on the little, fragile life held against her chest. As soon as she felt the cool air on her face, she looked up, tearing her mask away.

“Hughes!” She searched around wildly from 19’s Aid Car and quickly found it. Vic had already opened the back doors and was looking at her confused.

“Bishop? Wha…”

Maya ran until she could finally climb in beside Vic. When she opened her coat, Vic gasped, but her surprise was quickly replaced by her training

“Put her down here, Maya,” Vic pointed at the gurney, already trying to find an oxygen mask small enough for the baby. It wouldn’t be possible. The Aid Car was not equipped for preemies.

Maya tore off her jacket and her helmet, letting the O2 tank fall to the floor behind her.

“We need to go,” Vic said, about to call Travis over to start driving when Maya grabbed her arm and pulled.

“We can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

Maya leaned over the gurney, watching the rise and fall of the smallest chest she’d ever seen.

“Carina is in there,” Maya’s voice was low, and she didn’t look up at Vic as she spoke. She didn’t want Vic to see her fear. Instead, she focused on the baby, whose breath sounds were shallow and who was visibly shaking.

Vic swallowed hard.

“Maya…”

“We need to get her warm.” Maya moved without thinking, yanking off her sweat-soaked t-shirt and lifting the baby to her chest again. She likely looked silly, her turn-out pants and suspenders didn’t exactly match with a Nike sports bra, but they couldn’t just leave the newborn shivering on the table.

Vic found some of their rescue blankets and wrapped one around Maya’s shoulders, trying to create a cocoon of warmth. It would have to do until they could get the baby to the NICU and an incubator.

The minutes ticked by, each one more horrible than the last, and Maya could not stop her mind from racing. It was taking too long. The building could collapse. Maybe they were hurt? Maybe Carina was…

“I need to go back in,” Maya finally said, about to stand when they all heard the loud bang of the building’s metal doors swinging open.

Smoke poured from the entrance making it hard to see what was happening, but Maya distinctly heard Herrera shouting for Warren. He came running, the gurney from the PRT beside him, and Maya had to squint to make out what she was seeing. There was more movement, more shouting, and then Maya watched as Jack lay a woman on the gurney and Carina climbed on top, straddling the body, performing chest compressions while barking orders Maya could not hear.

She looked on in semi-disbelief as Warren and Jack ran the gurney to the PRT, her wife still in turnouts, riding on top of her dying patient.

“Carina is such a badass,” Vic laughed, shaking her head.

Badass was one word for it. Maya swallowed hard and then shook her own head, trying to clear away the fog produced by worry.

“Let’s go, Hughes,” she said, eager to get to Grey-Sloan, and not just because of the infant in her arms.