Chapter Text
“You have to let us inside,” Maya hissed.
“Be assured that I will if you will be good little lambs and stand in the line and wait for your turn,” Perez answered, rolling his eyes.
“No, you will let us in now,” the other woman argued, showing her FBI badge into the young doctor’s face.
“Uh, fancy badges, do you know how many of those people try to point at me each and every day? I get everything from police all the way to expired library cards.”
“Bishop?” Richard Webber asked as he walked towards them. “Perez, let her through. And her friend.”
“Not a friend. FBI agent investigating a human trafficking case which spans across multiple state lines,” the woman said through pursed lips.
“As you wish, Dr. Webber,” the resident said, now with a completely different demeanor.
“What? He says one thing and suddenly you let us through without any hassle?” Maya questioned.
“Well, yes, he’s a legend. So speaketh the chief, so it shall be.”
“He’s not even the chief,” Maya shook her head at him but forfeited pursuing a further fight as Richard led her and the FBI agent into the hospital and towards Bailey's office.
“Maya,” Carina exhaled weakly.
The fire captain crossed the room in three quick strides and disregarding her usual avoidance of displaying her emotions or affection in public, she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and whispered reassurances into her hair. The Italian allowed the moment to last a little before she disentangled herself from the embrace and studied Maya carefully, checking for any potential damage not hidden away by her face mask.
“What happened?” Carina asked and as she looked towards the other woman and wondered aloud. “And who are you?”
“Agent Alvarez, FBI” she answered as she pulled her badge out for the second time. “I’ve been working on unraveling a series of disappearances of teenage girls across three state lines. Kay Miller was one of the girls whose case I’ve been looking into.”
“But how did you know to come here?”
“I asked to be alerted should her name or the names of the other girls arise in any sort of investigation. Color me surprised when I got an alert that hers appeared on a case of the Seattle Fire Department.”
Carina nodded slowly, turning to look at her girlfriend: “What did you do? Can you walk me through it step by step?”
“Once I got your message, I grabbed Ben and we drove to the address. We were lucky and the element of surprise was on our side. The perps appeared to be in a hurry, bagging everything and anything they could get their hands on as if they were preparing to go into the wind. Ben took them both out and once they were out cold and tied up, we went to free the girls. And only then did we call the police. Of course, when they arrived, they wanted to arrest the two of us, but that’s when Agent Alvarez arrived.”
“Ben?” Bailey asked worriedly.
“Oh, Warren’s okay. He stayed behind at the police station to give his statement,” Maya offered quickly to calm the surgeon's worries.
"What about Andrew, is he okay?" Maya asked gingerly, reaching out to hold her girlfriend's hand.
"He's still in surgery," Richard offered the latest update. "There's a lot of damage, but we've got some of our best people working on him."
"Have they arrested those policemen that did this to him?" the older of the DeLuca siblings asked, looking at Maya and agent Alvarez.
“The police department will start an inquiry into the case. But you have to understand they’re saying he was being violent with them and they had to use force to calm him down,” the FBI agent said.
“That’s not true!” Carina argued vehemently, raising her arms into the air. “He wasn’t. Andrea isn’t even violent when he is manic and he is stable now. He was just being emotional, but that’s just how he is.”
“It’s your word against theirs.”
“No, it isn’t,” Bailey said correcting the lapel of her white coat. “I was talking to DeLuca shortly before he left the hospital earlier today. There was no hint of him being unstable in any way. In fact, he told me he was going to take his meds and get some rest, he was doing everything he needed to do in order to be stable. He's been working in the Covid ICU, treating more patients with Covid than any other of our doctors and he never wavered under the pressure.”
“Doesn’t matter. You weren’t there.”
“But I was right there. And what they did was outrageous. Andrea has been physically attacked in the past and he never even raised his fist to defend himself back then, and those cops they just crowded him and he...," Carina's voice broke as she shook of Maya's hand and paced around the room. "You can’t let them get away with this! I’m sick of this, they can’t just use his illness against him like this. He and I are both Italian citizens. I will get the Italian government, I will get the EU involved, I will get the journalists involved and I won’t stop until those cops go down for this,” Carina ranted and Bailey with Webber exchanged impressive looks as her voice went from high to low and back.
“Dr. DeLuca, Carina,” Richard said putting a calming hand on her just as he did all those weeks back during Andrew’s intervention. “Let’s go get some air.”
As Maya turned to follow the two of them out of the room, agent Alvarez stopped her.
"I still need to get your statement."
The firefighter was about to protest, but Carina told her: "It's okay. Andrea would want you to do this, so that they can take those terrible people down."
*****
Richard stood back as Carina put off her mask and heaved for breaths before they turned into heavy sobs. As he noticed Wilson and Schmitt trying to walk outside the door, he blocked them and told them to get back a little while later. He knew that the older DeLuca probably wouldn’t want people to see her like this. While her brother was like an open book, every emotion playing on his face and seeping through into his speech as he felt everything vigorously, she had a tendency to push it all down and to be the tough cookie of the family, only rarely letting a hint of anger or sadness out. Carina took a few moments to recollect herself before putting her mask back on as Richard stood back at a respectful distance.
"Oh, good, you're here," Maggie said as she walked to him.
Carina turned on the soils of her feet quickly and jogged towards them and looked at the younger doctor in apprehension.
"He's out of surgery and they're just getting him settled in the ICU. We've managed to repair the damage to his aorta," Maggie explained as Carina let out a relieved breath.
"Can I see him?" Carina asked.
"Of course."
*****
The haziness started retreating and the flow of memories slowly returned to him. He kept his eyes fixed on the sand under his legs as he recounted the story of what had happened earlier that day. Meredith pushed any notion of pity away from her face, she understood that what he wished for more than anything, was to be treated as a normal person. She felt a pinch at her heart as she noticed the tinge of embarrassment on his face when she finally turned to look at him.
She grasped one of his hands in hers.
“You were a hero today, I’m proud of you,” she said finally.
Andrew snorted.
Before Meredith could chastise him for not believing her words, he interrupted her.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that people kind of keep telling me that a lot today.”
"Maybe it's because you need to hear it," she whispered as she looked back towards the sea.
A few moments passed as they sat in comfortable silence before he spoke again.
“You’re stalling,” Andrew’s pupils grew large as the realization hit him. “But why?”
As she wouldn't meet her gaze again, he chastised her. “Mer,don’t you think that I’d rather give up as well sometimes? It would be so much easier than going back. Here or wherever the road leads next, I could just be myself again. Not this dude that now has the crazy label slapped over his forehead whom everyone is watching like hawks their prey to see if I break again. And I wouldn’t have to work twice as hard to get half as much respect as a regular person gets, no more pain, fear, regret, heartbreak. Just eternal peace.”
“Andrew,” Meredith said dangerously as she noticed the longing that was written into his face. “Are you saying that you…”
“No, don’t do that” he shook his head vigorously. “We’re not talking about me, but about you, Meredith. You’ve been through so much and I don’t dare imply that I understand everything you’ve lost. But I have an idea what it’s like to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to just stop one day. And then I think about what I would be inflicting on the people I love. The very same thing I’m trying to escape from. And you’ve got so many people who care about you. The kids…”
“That’s just mean, you don’t get to play the think of the children card,” she hissed, but she couldn’t quite hide the fact that one corner of her lips was twitching in an attempt not to smile.
“Hey, give me a break, I might be dying here.”
She hit his shoulder lightly.
“You’re not dying, they’ll fix you. They’re the best.”
“Just promise me you won’t stop fighting.”
“I promise,” she said as Andrew’s figure faded.
“Are you going to leave as well?” a calm female voice asked from behind her back.
“No, I think I’ll stay just a little longer,” Meredith said as she turned to Lexie.
*****
By the time Maya had finished providing her statement to the FBI and joined Carina at Andrew's bedside, he had opened his eyes and they had extubated him and replaced the tube that previously went down his throat with an oxygen mask.
“Andrea,” Carina gasped as she noticed her brother was trying to mumble something under the oxygen mask.
She removed it slowly so that she could hear his whisper of “Meredith”.
“Andrea, she’s…,” she started, her brow furrowing as she looked at Maya trying to find the right words to tell her younger sibling the terrible news.
The younger DeLuca shook his curly head, yelping at the pain the quick motion caused him.
He sucked in another breath as he said: “Va bene, Carina. Meredith is going to be fine; I know it.”
“But she’s,” Maya tried to help out her girlfriend who going by the painful expression on her face was struggling with sharing even more hurtful news with her baby brother.
“I know. But she’s going to come back from that, she promised.”
“What do you mean she promised?”
“I saw her. And I saw Mama too,” he stated, his puppy eyes not breaking contact with those of his sister.
“Andrea,” the OB/GYN whispered meekly.
“It’s alright, Carina. You don’t have to believe me. I know I wouldn’t either. You can ask Koracic when he wakes up again.”
“How do you know about that?”
“I just told you,” Andrew mumbled as his body succumbed to sleep again.
The Italian doctor shared a scared look with her girlfriend over his unconscious form. Maya reached out a cold hand towards her which the other woman quickly took.
“I’m sure he’s going to be alright,” the firefighter tried to reassure her.
*****
“Pupils are equal and reactive,” Amelia stated as she shone a light into his eyes.
Andrew groaned and opened his eyes.
“I could’ve told you as much,” he grumbled.
“DeLuca, welcome back,” the neurosurgeon said cheerfully. “How are you feeling?”
“As if I was run over by a truck,” he said before a shrill laugh escaped his mouth,
“What is it?” Carina asked, shaking her head in confusion.
“I was just thinking that’s basically what happened. That dude was built like a truck. He was a good 6 feet 9 and up to 300 pounds,” he explained as he continued to chuckle.
“Andrea,” she chastised him. “That’s not funny.”
But soon she let herself get consumed by her brother’s good humor and she started to laugh with him, but soon his laugh turned into a pained coughing fit and she gingerly placed the oxygen mask back on his face.
“Can you try to squeeze my fingers?” Amelia wondered as she proceeded to check his reflexes.
“That’s good, okay,” she said as she felt his weak grasp on her fingers withering.
“How about wiggling your toes?” she asked casually as in not to attract his attention to the fact that this was the part of the exam she was worried about the most.
Carina put a calming hand on his shoulder as he tried to move his toes.
It was the faintest of motions, barely visible to Amelia’s trained eyes, so she made sure to smile at the siblings in reassurance.
“What’s going on?” Andrew asked, panic entering his voice as he noted Carina’s tense expression.
“Nothing,” the neurosurgeon reassured. “We just need it to give it a bit more time to make absolutely sure. Hey, guys, don’t make those faces. What I’m saying is that the chances that you’ll regain full range of motion are looking pretty good.”
“I don’t understand,” Andrew said, his brow furrowing in confusion.
Maggie who was standing back until now, overtook for Amelia.
“Andrew, they broke several of your ribs. As a result, you had a thoracic aorta injury. I had to go in and repair it. Everything went well during the surgery, but the injury itself does carry risks of further complications even after a successful surgery.”
“Right, fourteen percent of patients who survive the first 24 hours develop paraplegia,” he said, reciting the statistics coldly.
“I guess I was lucky then, seeing as eighty percent die immediately,” he said, but he was already averting his gaze from everyone.
****
The atmosphere in Andrew's room became a lot more subdued after Amelia's initial exam as the relief of the surgeons having saved his life was replaced with concerns about his future. Carina could see him retreating into himself as he ignored her and Maya's feeble attempts to bring him into their conversation and spent most of his time with his eyes closed and the two women were unsure if he was truly resting or just feigning sleep in order to avoid having to face them.
He had looked relieved when they told them that Opal and her colleague had been arrested and the girls were saved and as Maya told him that the FBI would take over the case and use any information they could get from those two to disband their whole network.
"Good," he had whispered audibly before returning to feign sleep again.
Carina was leaning into Maya, her head lolled onto her girlfriend's shoulder as she fell asleep as well.
"Look at this," the firefighter told her as she offered her her phone on which she was scrolling down.
The OB/Gyn took the phone from her and looked at the pictures and videos that people from all around the world had been sharing under the same hashtag over the past few hours.
"Andrea, you have to look at this," she said, as she shook his shoulder, cautious not to aggravate any of his injuries.
"Non voglio," he murmured in Italian.
"It's Erin Banks, she started this thing and it's amazing," she said as she leaned showing the phone into his face and scrolled down the videos and pictures of people telling their stories. "She shared her story and how you helped her and what the cops did and now people all around the world are speaking out and sharing similar stories of people with mental illness being mistreated by the authorities. Andrea, you're a hero. You didn't only save all the girls from Opal, your story will also help so many more people and Erin is also going to be speaking out about her story and help so many more girls. You're such an amazing person, Andrea, and no matter what happens from now on nothing will change that. I'm proud to call you my baby brother."
Andrew smiled and turned his head away from her again, this time trying to hide the tears that shone in his eyes.
Amelia came into the room to repeat the exam at regular intervals and every single time, the strength of Andrew's grip when she tested his hands seemed to increase exponentially. Five hours in, the range of motions in his legs also started improving. It would take long weeks in recovery and even more weeks working through sweat, tears and pain in physical therapy, but one day soon he would be able to walk back into an OR if he chose. No matter the path he would walk next, Carina knew that he would be extraordinary.