Chapter Text
Carina makes her way out to her car at the end of her exhausting shift. She’s tired, her head is aching, and her stomach is growling. All that she wants is to go home, take a warm bath, and fall asleep in Maya’s arms.
She groans when she remembers that Maya’s shift won’t be over until the next morning. She’ll have to make do without the blonde woman’s strong arms softly cuddling her tonight.
Climbing into her car, Carina quickly maneuvers out of the Grey Sloan parking lot and starts to head toward home. She leaves the radio off because she doesn’t think her pounding head would be able to handle any extra noise at the moment. Driving along, Carina starts to think about what she’ll eat for dinner. She remembers that there’s leftover lasagna in the fridge from her and Maya’s date night the previous evening and thinks that that will be perfect, as she doesn’t have the energy to actually cook anything tonight.
The brunette woman is dragged out of her thoughts when she has to pull her car to a stop in what looks to be completely standstill traffic only four blocks away from the hospital. She groans again.
Can I not just go home this night? She thinks, shaking her head.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a cry. “Help!” she hears. She rolls down her window to attempt to make out the origin of the call. “Help!” she hears again. “We need help!” She sees a big man moving through the lines of stopped cars, waving his arms. “My wife! The baby!”
Carina inhales sharply, hesitating for a brief moment. The last time she got out of a car that she should not have gotten out of, Andrea died.
“The baby’s coming!” she hears another yell, which is enough to make her open the car door and climb out without even thinking about it.
“Sir?” she calls, striding down the length of stopped cars until she reaches the frantic man. “Sir? I am Dr. Carina DeLuca. I am an OB.”
“Oh my god, oh my god,” the man exclaims, wringing his hands together. “My wife, the baby. It’s coming. We can’t go anywhere.” He gestures wildly at the stopped cars.
“Okay, sir, take a deep breath,” Carina instructs, trying to get a handle on the situation. “Can you take me to her? I can help.”
He takes her to a car a few up from where they stand, right at the end of the block where a cross street comes in. Carina can hear a woman screaming. She quickly goes to the passenger side of the car where a very pregnant woman sits and opens the door, assessing the situation. She has no supplies, but she does have a pair of gloves in her purse, which she quickly pulls on.
“Hello, mama,” she says in a reassuring voice. “My name is Dr. Carina DeLuca, I am an OB at Grey Sloan Memorial. What is your name?”
“Alayna. And that’s where I’m supposed to be—” the woman’s sentence is cut off as she groans loudly.
“It is alright Alayna, I deliver many babies. I will get your baby here safely.” Carina says, showing the woman her badge from where it’s still clipped to her shirt. She turns to the man. “Have you called 911?”
He nods.
“Do you have any blankets?”
“I—I think there might be one in the trunk.”
“Okay, can you get it for me?”
He nods and walks around to the back of the car.
“Alright, mama, I need to do a quick exam.” Carina calmly explains to Alayna what she needs to do, and then leans into the car.
Suddenly, there’s a loud crash, screaming, another crash. Carina feels as the car she has leaned into begins to move and she falls backwards onto the pavement. The last thing she sees is the SUV tipping towards her as she frantically tries to scramble backwards. Then she feels blinding, mind-numbing pain, and the world goes black.