Chapter Text
"Captain," Andy pokes her head through the gap in Maya's office door. "We're going for a drink at Joe's, are you coming?"
"No, thanks. You guys go and have a good time, I have stuff to do anyway," Maya keeps her eyes on the reports on her desk.
"Maya, really?" Andy opens the door wider and walks into the office. "You can pick that up tomorrow. Take advantage of the fact that you have some free time and come with us. We'll have a good time," she smiles trying to convince her friend —who now stops looking at the reports to finally look at the brunette in front of her.
"I'm sure I will, but I'll go another day," Maya lets out a giggle at Andy's puppy dog eyes in an attempt to convince her.
"I guess I won't be able to convince you," she comments somewhat indignantly.
Just then Maya's cell phone vibrates on the table and the screen lights up displaying a message for a few brief seconds —just long enough for Maya to read the contents of the message and look back at her friend trying to hide her smile.
"No," she shakes her head. "I promise to go next time."
"I hope so," she points her finger at her and squints at her as she takes a few steps backwards out of the office.
Maya denies and laughs before continuing with her task. Her teammates walk past her door on their way out. Some say goodbye and others try to convince her as Andy had done to go out with them. When she senses that no one from the team is left, she decides to grab her cell phone and go into the chat in which she now had more than one unread message.
Carina DeLuca
"I may not end up being as late as I thought I would be." 7:03pm
"Indeed. I'm done!!!" 7:19pm
"I'll see you right over there, right?" 7:20pm
"Excuse me, I was waiting for my partners to leave
to answer quietly." 7:22pm
"They've tried to convince me several times to
to go for a drink with them hahahah" 7:22pm
"Oh, go with them if you want. We can meet another
day, I don't want to spoil your plans" 7:24pm
"My plan is to meet you. Don't worry about
them, they'll survive without me ;)" 7:24pm
"Great. So I'll see you there? :)" 7:25pm
"Yes, I'll see you there. I'll be right out of here." 7:25pm
"I'll wait for you there, Bella :)" 7:25pm
For a few seconds Maya keeps smiling at the screen until she realizes it and shakes her head in an attempt to regain her composure. After a few minutes she leaves the station on foot. Her car was parked outside but she had decided to walk. The place wasn't far and she felt she needed some air to calm the nerves that were starting to build up in her stomach.
She didn't want to admit it, but Carina made her more nervous than she thought. From the first moment she felt her body reacting to the brunette in a specific way, not like with anyone else you meet on any given day. And that partly scared her. What if Carina didn't feel that connection?
Although there was something - however small and subtle —between them. That was clear to Maya.
After a walk of about ten minutes Maya arrives at the entrance. They had decided to meet at a nearby Christmas market to chat and stroll around enjoying the atmosphere of these dates.
Maya moves through the crowd, looking sideways, scanning the various wooden huts and food stalls in search of those brown eyes with hints of coffee —Italian coffee, of course.
Her cell phone vibrates in her pocket and she stops in the middle of the crowd to pick it up —getting a few light shoves from people walking around her.
Carina DeLuca
"I see you ;)" 7:41pm
A broad smile appears on Maya's face as she reads the message. She looks sideways trying to find that angelic face among all the people around her.
Her cell phone vibrates again.
"To the right" 7:43pm
Maya looks to the right, still unable to see Carina. And her cell phone vibrates again, this time being more helpful.
"Next to the coffee stand ;)" 7:43pm
Now she did. Maya already knew exactly where to look. She moved her head to the right. She can see a sign overhead —'coffee time'. Her eyes follow an imaginary line down, stopping on a mane of wavy, brunette hair. She then crosses a glance in the distance with Carina as she walks towards her. The brunette smiles broadly as she tucks her cell phone into the pocket of her coat —one that reached her knees.
"I didn't know I'd come for a 'find the treasure' sort of thing," she jokes as she takes the last step in front of Carina. It was her way of trying to dispel a bit the nerves and dissimulate —something that hadn't worked much for her.
Carina giggles lightly causing her to close her eyes before looking back up at Maya. "Ciao, Bella."
Maya smiles as she hears her voice again and hears from her mouth that nickname by which she had started referring to her since the first messages they had exchanged.
"Hi," she smiles somewhat shyly. "I'm sorry, did I keep you waiting long?"
"No, don't worry. I was amused watching some kids play with a dog. They reminded me of Caleb and Jeff," she smiles sweetly and Maya smiles too at the last comment. "How is he, by the way, is he excited?"
"Oh, yeah, too much," Maya rolls her eyes. "Sometimes I think they should give them less vacation," they both laugh at the comment. Their gazes match for a few seconds. Long enough for Maya to feel compelled to look away as she notices the heat on her face. "Umm, do you— Do you want a coffee?" She points to the coffee stand next to them.
"Sounds great to me. I've been smelling the coffee from here the whole time I've been waiting for you, I need one badly," she comments eliciting a slight chuckle from Maya.
They both get in line. Luckily there were only a couple of people in front of them. When it's their turn the girl smiles kindly at them and takes their order.
"Uh uh, it's on me," Maya says seeing Carina's hand movement out of the corner of her eye.
"What? No, no way," she moves her arm toward the counter but Maya stops her by putting her hand on her forearm.
"You paid the day we met. Let me pay this time," she stares at her and smiles.
"Okay," she smiles resignedly. Maya's hand continues on her arm and they both seem to notice and look down at the point where their bodies connect.
"Emm, well," she pulls her hand away and looks towards the counter. Carina seems to notice the slight reddish tint to the blonde's cheeks and smiles shyly looking to the side.
Both walk with their coffee in hand. In silence. Nervous.
Maya thinks about how to start a conversation as she watches Carina wrap her hands around her mug to absorb its warmth.
"And do you have any—" Carina's voice interrupts her.
"How did it go—" She asks at the same time as Maya.
They both laugh at the coincidence. Maya waits for Carina to continue talking but the brunette gestures for her to resume her question.
"Do you have any special plans for Christmas Eve?" Maya didn't really know why she was asking, she simply wanted to strike up a conversation.
"If you find it special to wait for hours to bring babies into this world then yes," she flashes a tight-lipped smile. "I guess I have a special plan." She takes a sip of her coffee.
"Are you working that night?" Carina nods. "And do you handle it well? About working that night and not spending it with your family?"
"Sì," Carina flashes a smile at Maya senses some sadness. "I'm doing fine. I love my job and on breaks I talk to some of my colleagues so I'm not alone at all," she looks down at her coffee and taps her finger on it. Maya nods at the information and, like Carina, directs her gaze to the cardboard cup of coffee in her hands. "What about you?" She breaks the silence that had been created. "I imagine you'll be with Caleb," the corners of her mouth twitch upward creating a subtle, almost invisible smile.
Maya nods. "Yes. With him and my station mates," she smiles.
"I see you're like family from what little you've told me."
"Yes, we are. They're like my family. If life doesn't do you a favor with the family you're born into at least let us do ourselves a favor with the family we get to choose, no?"
Carina listens to her carefully and nods. "Totally, you're right."
Coffee cups are emptied as they stroll among the people and occasionally stop to browse the various stalls and stores while the conversation continues flowing.
"How about a walk back?" Maya asks when they reach the end of the path.
"Yeah sure," she replies enthusiastically. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to continue or call it a night," she comments somewhat sheepishly.
"Oh, no. We can go on a little longer, it's been a good night," she smiles and the brunette smiles back. They begin the walk back engaged in conversation —not caring in the least that they are walking through the same place again.
"Miss, would you like something to eat?" A man interrupts their conversation as they pass by an area of cafes and food stalls.
"No, thank you very much," Maya politely declines the invitation.
"Are you sure? You won't regret it. I'm sure our food will finish winning over your date," she points to Carina.
"Oh, no. We—" Maya stammers feeling the heat on her cheeks and Carina looks at her holding back a small laugh that forms when she sees how nervous Maya was. "It's not a date. We just—"
"You know? Yes, I'd like to get something to eat," she interrupts.
"Sure, what better way to continue the evening," the man replies and walks over to one of the small tables.
"But—"
"Come on," without thinking Carina grabs Maya's hand and pulls her with her to the table where the man was waiting for them. Once there, they sit down and decide what to eat from the different options on the menu. They still had the night ahead and they were going to enjoy it together.
[ . . . ] [ . . . ] [ . . . ]
Maya sat down to have lunch or dinner with her colleagues at the station many times. But this time was special. It was the day of Christmas dinner.
They could have had dinner at anyone's house, but some of them were on shift that night and so they had all decided to have dinner together there —at the station that had witnessed and been home to so many moments.
"Mmm... Mommy, this is delicious!" Caleb licks his lips, leaving a chocolate stain on the right side of his mouth. "Can we ask Travis to make it more times?"
Maya giggles and grabs a napkin from the table. "Yes, honey. I'm sure he'd love to," she wipes the chocolate stain on Caleb's mouth. Just then her cell phone vibrates on the table.
Maya looks at the screen and her heart skips a beat when she sees the name on it. She leaves the napkin on the table and picks up her cell phone trying to hide the smile that was unauthorizedly occupying her face. Although she knew that was almost impossible even having already exchanged a few messages during the day.
Carina DeLuca
"I hope you are enjoying the evening very much :)" 8:47pm
"A lot :) Caleb is taking the opportunity to
eat all he wants hahaha" 8:48pm
"I would have done the same thing hahaha" 8:48pm
"Who is Carina DeLuca?" Maya suddenly hears Andy's voice next to her —getting her startled by the unexpected intervention.
"Umm... No one," she replies almost in a whisper as she pushes her cell phone away trying to keep her friend from seeing the messages.
"Carina DeLuca?" Ben interjects, rising from his seat before picking up the empty plate from the table. "She's a doctor at Grey Sloan."
"Do you know her?" Andy asks.
Ben nods and walks past them. "She's friends with Miranda. She's OB/GYN and they once had to operate together for hours. They've been friends ever since," is the last thing he says before walking towards the sink.
"OB-" She stops before continuing to speak. Opening her eyes wider and looking at Maya with wonder and some hesitation. "Maya..."
"No, it's not what you think," she holds back laughter as she sees her friend relax.
"But is everything all right? Something happened?"
"No, everything's fine," she reassures her. "She's just a friend," Maya shrugs.
Maya's cell phone vibrates in her hand again —provoking the blonde to smile as she sees a new message in the chat.
"Ah! That kind of friend," Andy comments with a smirk.
"No. I know that tone," she raises her finger at Andy. "We're just friends."
"Yeah, right. What's with the smile?"
"It's a normal smile, I don't know what's so weird about it," she directs her gaze to the screen, focusing on the messages.
Carina DeLuca
"My dinner has been half a sandwich from the cafeteria that I ate on the way to the delivery room." 8:53pm
"I remembered what we ate the other night on our walk." 8:54pm
"That would have been better dinner hahaha" 8:54pm.
"So that day you were supposed to stay doing paperwork you actually left with her," Andy opens her mouth pretending to be surprised —causing Maya to look away from the screen to look at her.
"No, that was another day."
"That's the only night you've had off in the last few days," she looks at her arching her eyebrows.
Maya sighs sonorously. "Okay, yeah, I was with her," Andy smiles. "But there's nothing going on between us. We're just friends. We took a walk, had dinner and then each went our separate ways."
"And you wanted something else to happen?" She flashes a half-smile.
The couple of seconds Maya takes to answer are the ones that provide the answer to her friend's question. "No."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Believe it or not it's the truth," she looks back down at her cell phone avoiding her friend.
"What is she telling you?" Maya looks at her raising her left eyebrow.
"It's private," she arches her eyebrows closing her eyes for a second, trying to put on a proud face.
"Let me see her at least," before Maya realizes it Andy already has the cell phone in her hand.
"Give it to me!" She tries to pick up the cell phone but Andy leans across and stretches her arm further.
"I just want to see her," she pokes at the photo to enlarge it. It showed Carina sitting cross-legged on the floor, smiling broadly as she hugged Jeff —who was sitting on her lap. "Oh, she's pretty. She's very pretty."
Maya nods, a shy smile on her face. "Yes, she is."
"I like the dog. It's cute," she hands the cell phone back to Maya.
Luckily for Maya, her friend stops the conversation and moves on to other topics. People come and go between the kitchen and the station's small living room. Theo, Vic and Andy talk about Christmas carols and traditions while Travis and Ben continue to snack in the kitchen and Dean and Jack play with Pru and Caleb across the table. It had been a while since Maya had simply looked around. She hadn't heard back from Carina to her last message. She knew she was working —and she understood that she had more important things to do and couldn't keep her eyes on her cell phone all night— but she couldn't help but want to keep talking to her. She would talk to her for hours.
"What are you thinking about?" Andy asks. It seems she had already finished her conversation with Theo and Vic.
"Do you think I could leave Caleb here for a while?" Maya asks with a half smile and closing one eye - waiting for her friend's response. She knew there would be no problem leaving her son with his friends and that Caleb wouldn't give them much trouble. But she still didn't want to take advantage of the situation and she didn't like to be away from her son if it wasn't strictly necessary and even less so on such special dates.
"Sure, no problem," she replies without giving it a thought. It was more than normal for her to spend time with the little Bishop.
"I have to go somewhere," she rises from her chair.
"Where do you have to go?" She asks curiously, squinting her eyes.
"Well... Somewhere. I can't tell you."
"Aah! I know!" She smirks.
Maya puts her index finger to her lips, commanding her to be quiet. "You shut up," she points her finger at her.
Maya goes to Caleb to talk to him and inform him that she is going to be gone for a while. She then waves goodbye to everyone at the table and heads toward the kitchen.
"Hey," greets Travis and Ben. "Could I take some of these?" She points to the different pastries and sweets Travis had made.
"Yeah, sure," Maya grabs a small tupper from one of the cupboards and starts filling it with several of the different sweets. "Did you get hungry? There's still leftovers from dinner," he looks at her with a frown.
"Oh, no, it's not for me," she closes the tupper with its corresponding lid.
"Who's it for?" Ben interjects.
"For a friend," she shrugs. Then she flashes them a quick friendly smile and walks toward the door.
The cool night air hits her face as she leaves the station. Maya starts walking down the road to her final destination. A few minutes into the journey Maya stops dead in her tracks —her head kept spinning.
"What if she doesn't want to see me? What if I'm being too persistent?" She asks aloud looking at the tupper in her hands.
Maya shakes her head trying to get rid of those thoughts and keeps walking. After a few more minutes she arrives at the Grey Sloan ER entrance. She takes a couple of deep breaths before entering and heading to the front desk.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find Dr. DeLuca?" She asks the nurse on the other side of the counter.
"I'm sorry, I can't attend to you right now," she replies somewhat agitated as she searches for something among several papers. "You can go to the obstetrics floor and ask there."
"And which—"
"Fourth floor," she says before walking briskly away with a document in her hand.
Maya arrives on the fourth floor and walks down the central aisle looking sideways with some uncertainty. She sees a counter —smaller than the previous one— and approaches it.
"Excuse me," she catches the eye of the doctor standing next to her. "Ah, Dr. Wilson," Maya recognizes her from seeing her around the hospital other times.
"Captain Bishop, how can I help you?" The doctor's gaze goes fleetingly to the tupperware in Maya's hands.
"Umm... Yes, I was looking for— I was looking for Dr. DeLuca, do you know where she is?" She flashes a subtle, coy smile.
"I think she was in surgery, let me check," she fiddles with the tablet screen and nods when she seems to find the information. "Yes, he was in the OR until recently. I don't think she has much left, do you want me to let her know when she gets out?" She smiles kindly at Maya.
“No worries, thanks,” she smiles back at the doctor. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas!” Maya watches as she smiles broadly at her before turning around.
“Of course, Maya, she's working. And the last thing she'll want is to see you,” she whispers as she starts walking towards the elevator.
As she enters, she exchanges glances with the people inside and presses the button for her floor. The elevator goes down one floor, a doctor and a nurse exit —leaving Maya alone. The elevator doors begin to close again and a voice sounds from outside.
“Wait, wait!” Maya puts her foot in front of the door preventing it from closing and takes a couple of steps toward the back of the elevator. “Thank you,” the doctor says agitated.
That voice. Maya knew that voice.
She looks up from the floor and sees that brunette mane of wavy hair. Her gaze meets Carina's as the elevator doors begin to close again.
“Maya?” She looks at her surprised.
“Hi,” the blonde notices the heat rising up her neck.
“What are you doing here?” She approaches her. “Is everything okay? Did something happen to Caleb?” She asks worriedly grabbing Maya gently by the forearms.
“No, it's all right, don't worry.”
“Then what?”
“I was— I was coming to see you,” she confesses with in a lower tone, turning her gaze the other way as embarrassment overtakes her.
“To me?”
“Yes, but I know you're tied up. I should have thought better of it, I know. Don't worry, I was just leaving, I promise not to bother—” Maya starts to speak without worrying about the air she had to catch between words.
“No, hey, Maya,” she gently tightens her grip on her forearms. “It's okay, you're not bothering me,” the brunette smiles tenderly reassuring Maya. The elevator stops at the next floor and the doors open. They both walk to get out and stand to the side so as not to get in the way of the people around them. “ Can you wait for me for a few minutes? I have to go talk to a colleague now but—”
“Yes, yes, I'll wait for you,” Maya interrupts her. Maybe she wasn't very good at disguising the desire she had to see Carina. “Are you sure I'm not disturbing? We can meet another time.”
Carina shakes her head. “I have a break right now. I was thinking of locking myself in my office so this is a better plan,” Maya smiles at the answer. The shouts of one of the doctors as they enter brings them out of their bubble. “Meet you outside?” Maya nods quickly and walks towards the exit as Carina strides through the people.
On her way out she sees some metal stairs to one side and decides to sit there to wait. Her foot bounced on the step as she waited. Maya didn't know how many minutes had passed when Carina walked out the door. She watches as the brunette looks sideways until she sees her sitting on the stairs. Maya raises her hand and smiles and Carina smiles back and walks towards her shoving her hands in the pockets of the coat she was wearing on top of her pink scrubs —a gray one with the hospital logo on it.
“Sorry, I didn't want to keep you waiting too long. Especially not in the middle of the cold,” she sits down next to Maya, who shakes her head to make her understand that nothing was wrong —it had only been a few minutes. “What have you got there?” She points with her chin to the tupperware that Maya was holding on top of her lap.
“It's for you,” she offers it to Carina.
“For me?” The brunette takes her hands out of her pockets and looks at her somewhat confused and expectant at the same time.
“Yes, they're sweets that one of my colleagues made. I know it's not a proper dinner but I think you might like it better than the sandwich from the cafeteria,” she jokes in an attempt to dispel the nerves that were still coursing through her body.
“Oh, Maya...” she whispers. Carina stares at the blue lid of the tupper for a few seconds until she focuses on another, prettier blue. A faint smile accompanies the twinkle in her eye as she looks at Maya. “Thanks, you didn't have to bother.”
Maya shrugs. “I wanted to.”
The silence took over the place being interrupted only by the soft gusts of wind that sporadically passed between them. It seemed that the world had decided to stop for a few minutes just for them to have their moment of calm. No vehicles were leaving or arriving at the ER and the few people passing by seemed to be doing so leisurely —something that was far from usual.
“How was your night?” Maya breaks the silence by moving toward Carina, getting their knees to rub together.
“Calmer than I thought. I still had to do two C-sections and assist in one delivery. They were twins,” she smiles proudly.
“Wow, what a Christmas present for those parents,” she jokes.
“Isn't it? I think the next ones are going to be a little more chaotic for that family,” the joke continues and they both laugh. Silence returns when they both stop laughing. Although this time it only lasts a few seconds. “Thanks for coming,” Carina's look at Maya was sincere. “It's been quite a surprise.”
“I hope a good one,” Maya joked. Though inside she was weighed down with nerves and insecurities.
“That of course,” Carina nods and Maya finally notices how her body relaxes.
“Thank goodness. As I was walking here I kept thinking that I was being a pain in the ass and that maybe it wasn't the best idea to come see you suddenly and in the middle of work,” she confesses.
“Well, I'm glad you didn't heed those thoughts then,” they both glance sideways at each other, smiling as their gazes meet and the air thickens around them. “I liked my Christmas present,” she comments in a light tone nodding subtly with her eyes on the tupper full of sweets.
“Oh,” Maya arched her eyebrows. “Had I known it was your Christmas present I would have gotten you something better.”
“This is fine. What better than something tasty to eat?”
“I can think of something better,” the words hang in the air. Maya could only think of one better thing right now. Her cheeks turn pinker as she thinks about it and feels that the woman in front of her might be thinking the same thing.
But would Carina really be thinking the same thing?
“Something like what?” Carina asks. Her brown eyes looking intently at Maya, searching for the answer among the different shades of blue in Maya's eyes.
Both noticed that they were closer. The distance between them was decreasing with the seconds in an almost imperceptible way. Their knees now not only rubbed against each other, but also exerted a certain pressure on one another. Without knowing how, Maya's hand ends up on Carina's neck, brushing it delicately. Their eyes remain in contact until Maya looks at Carina's lips and the brunette closes her eyes getting closer to Maya. And just as their noses brush, Carina's pager rings in her pocket, causing a small startle from both of them and a grunt from the brunette who lets go while using Maya's forehead for support.
“I'm sorry, I have to go,” she says releasing the air she was holding. Maya's thumb stroked her jaw line and their foreheads remained pressed together.
“I know. Duty calls,” she smiles through tight lips. She knew Carina was working and she couldn't hold her back, but she couldn't help but feel frustration.
The two separate, feeling the tension and heat in their bodies. They stand up at the same time but Carina is the one who goes down the stairs first —clutching the container tightly in her hands. When Maya comes down the last step, the tupper full of sweets has changed its place. It was now on one of the steps, leaving Carina with her hands free to hold Maya's face between them and kiss her as seconds before she hadn't been able to.
Maya's shock prevents her from reacting for the first few moments but then her hands act and settle on Carina's waist, grabbing her with some eagerness and pulling her closer to her body. They had no time to linger but their mouths had not been able to avoid opening to deepen the kiss. Their tongues met and at that moment they only heard the sound of their mingled breaths. Their bodies were trying to assimilate and react to this new event they were looking forward to.
When they separated, they did so just enough to be able to breathe. Their eyes stayed locked for a couple more seconds until they needed to see each other again before saying goodbye.
“Call me, sì?” Carina whispers a short distance from Maya's mouth with her gaze fixed on it, stroking her chin with her thumb.
“Okay,” she replies in the same tone watching as Carina's gaze lifts to meet hers. A brief, shy smile breaks out on their faces.
Carina finishes separating, retrieves the tupper she had abandoned on the stairs and walks to the door. Before entering, she turns to look at Maya and gives her a smile before disappearing from her sight. Maya contemplates the empty place with a smile. Her hand instinctively moves to touch her lower lip. The one that still contained the warmth that Carina had given her with the kiss. A kiss that had been like a Christmas gift.