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Alexa wasn’t entirely sure what time it was or where she was, but she knew that she just had to keep going.
The rain was pouring down, her clothes soaked through, the rain making her shoes squelch with every step.
The lights of the fire station came into view and Alexa felt her body sag a little in relief. All she needed was to find out where she was and see if she could call someone to pick her up. She just needed to get home.
She pushed open the front door, walking into the foyer and towards the empty front desk, shivering from the cold.
“Welcome to Station 19…oh.” Travis took in the sight of the girl.
“I uh...” she backed away from the man, back towards the door. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“No you definitely should have. I’m Travis.” Travis saw the way she reacted to him and made sure to keep his distance.
“I need to go.” She was sure he was perfectly nice but she couldn’t be alone with a man right now.
“Hey, I’m Captain Bishop.” Maya said appearing in the doorway to her office. “Everything okay?”
Alexa looked between the man and the blonde lady, her eyes anxious as she moved so far back, she hit the glass door behind her.
“Travis why don’t you go to the barn. I got this.” Maya said softly. Assessing the girl’s injuries, she could see bruises already starting to form on her face and from what she could see of the girl’s skin, there was fresh blood.
“Can you tell me where this place is? I think I’m lost.”
“You’re at Station 19. Downtown Seattle. Where do you last remember being? Can you tell me your name?” Maya asked gently.
“It’s Alexa. I was at an apartment. I wasn’t sure where...he drove us.”
“I see. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” She shook her head vigorously.
“You sure? You’ve got blood on your sleeves.”
“Oh...” she looked down, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Can I help? Let me just take a quick look?” Maya asked.
“But..thi..this is a fire station..” her voice shook.
“Seattle firefighters are trained EMTs. We can take care of you and assess your injuries. If it’s something more serious we will see if we need you to get checked out at the hospital.” Maya explained. “How does that sound?”
“Okay..I guess that would be okay.”
“Great. How about you sit here and I’m going to go grab my kit. It’ll just be you and me okay? I promise.”
“Here?” She looked around the reception area. That man could come back.
“Or we could go into my office?” Maya said pointing back to her office.
“Yes please Captain Bishop. If that’s okay.”
“Call me Maya.”
“Thank you Maya.” She followed the blonde into her office .
“Have a seat.” Maya said going to grab her med kit from her bunk.
“Thank you” Alexa did as she was told, sitting down uncomfortably on a chair. Maya was back quickly, closing the door to her office and pulling the blinds down.
“I need you to tell me where it hurts Alex.”
“Oh..uh...it’s just my cheek.”
“Where did all this blood come from then?” Maya asked kneeling down to look at Alexa’s arm.
“Well I uh...I dunno.” she shrugged, pressing her lips together.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me what happened, but it might help if you did. Can you unzip your sweatshirt?” Maya asked pulling on her gloves.
“N...no...I can’t.” She looked terrified.
“Why not? Does it hurt or you don’t want to?”
“I don’t need to.” She tried to keep the shake out of her voice.
“Alexa, listen to me. You’re safe here, I have to make sure you’re alright. Once you walked into this station, you became my responsibility okay?” The timid girl nodded, her limbs shaking in fear as her eyes met Maya’s.
“You’re safe here...” Maya promised. “I’m going to unzip your hoodie now okay?” Maya reached for the zipper of Alexa’s hoodie, her hands moving slowly to allow her the chance to stop if needed.
Alexa didn’t take her eyes off Maya as she watched her unzip her hoodie. Maya pushed the sides of the hoodie open and saw the blood soaked fabric. It looked as if Alexa had been dealt quite a painful beating.
“Does it hurt when you breathe? Like so bad you’d almost rather not breathe?”
“How’d you know that?” Alexa looked warily at Maya.
“I’ve had a few cracked ribs in my time. But that does mean we have to get you to the hospital for X-rays.”
“NO...no..I don’t want an x ray. Or any hospitals.. please. I’ll be okay..”
“If your rib is broken and you move wrong you could puncture a lung. The hospital isn’t going to do anything that you don’t want to. They can’t make you report anything, they just want to make sure you’re okay, just like me.”
“You don’t know that, you can’t promise that.”
“I can. They’re not allowed to discuss your care with anyone you don’t want them too. Including police. Unless you’re a risk to yourself or others.” Maya explained.
“If my rib isn’t broken, I don’t have to go to the hospital right?”
“I don’t have a way of knowing that without an X-ray.” Maya reasoned.
“It doesn’t hurt that bad...it won’t be broken.” She tried to argue.
“Alexa. Please, let me make sure that you’re okay. I can go with you.”
“I’m scared Maya.”
“What are you scared of?”
“I don’t want people looking at me..tou..touching me..” she was shaking again.
“What about just me? And someone I trust with my life?”
“You trust someone at the hospital with your life?”
“My wife.” Maya said with a smile. Carina always brought a smile to her face no matter what.
“She works at the hospital?”
“She’s an OB/GYN.”
“She’s a Doctor?”
“Mhm. One of the best, but I’m biased.”
“And I could see her?”
“I’ll call her and let her know we’re coming. Just the three of us.” Maya promised.
“Okay...thank you.” She didn’t know why, but she felt like she could trust the blonde.
“Okay. You wait here I’m just going to tell my team and then we’ll go? If you want you can lock the door after I leave.” Maya said making sure to grab her keys just in case she needed to unlock the door if Alexa didn’t.
“Kay...thank you...” she stayed where she was sat, watching where Maya went and hoping she’d be back soon.
“Hey Andy, we got a walk in assault victim I need to take to Grey Sloan to see Carina.” Maya said finding the lieutenant waiting for her in the beanery.
“Oh god. Is she okay? Do you know what happened?”
“She won’t say. She won’t let anyone near her. Had to practically beg just to get her to let me take a brief look.”
“Doesn’t sound good.” Andy sympathized. “Anything I can do?”
“Just hold down the fort and call me if there is anything I need to be here for.” Maya said heading back downstairs.
“Will do Cap. See you later.”
———
When Carina had received the call from Maya, she had set up a private exam room for the young woman that Maya was bringing in. She was glad that their state of the art rooms offered portable x rays, hoping it would make things more comfortable.
“Alexa, this is Carina. Carina this is Alexa.” Maya said, leading the scared woman into the room.
“You’re Maya’s wife?” She checked, making sure she had been brought to the right person.
“I am. It’s very nice to meet you.” Carina greeted with a kind smile.
“Yeah she’s stuck with me.” Maya teased closing the door and the blinds for added privacy.
Alexa barely heard them speak as she took in the room, feeling herself get more anxious with each passing second.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Remember I promised you on the way here that nothing bad was going to happen to you?”
“I’ll be as gentle as possible I promise.” Carina promised.
“I..I just need the x ray right? And then I can go?” She couldn’t stop herself from shaking.
“X-ray to start. But it looks like you’ve injured your hands and arms. We might need to clean those and stitch them too.”
“Okay.” She could do this...she was strong.
“Let’s start with that. Can you put on a gown for me? I’ll close this curtain so you have privacy.” Carina held up the cloth gown.
“I can’t keep these on?” She gestured to the clothes she was in.
“We won’t get the best picture with the X-ray if you do.”
“Plus don’t you want to change into some dry clothes? I brought you some from the station. You won’t win any fashion awards but they’re clean and comfortable.” Maya said holding up her bag.
“I guess I can do that.” she went behind the curtain that Carina had closed, pulling her wet, stained clothes off slowly.
Maya pulled Carina towards her, kissing her softly. This was going to be tough for both of them and in moment when they could steal some comfort in one another she was going to take it.
“You okay?” Carina whispered against her lips, tucking some of her blonde locks behind her ear.
“Yeah. Just...needed that.” Maya whispered.
“What do I do now?” Alexa asked from behind the curtain.
“Can I pull back the curtain?” Carina asked pulling away from Maya.
“Uh-uh.” Alexa was stood beside the exam bed.
“Can you sit you here and lay back on the exam bed for me? We have a portable X-ray machine now so you don’t need to leave this room” Carina explained.
She got onto the exam table, unable to hide her hisses of pain, the reclined position hurting more than just her ribs.
“Can you tell me what hurt when you laid down?”
“My ribs, my stomach, my side.”
“That will help me pinpoint where to take the images.” Carina explained.
“Okay.” She didn’t take her eyes off Carina for one second, watching her like a hawk.
The X-rays were thankfully quick. Carina made sure she got good images of Alexa’s ribs. While she was x-raying her, she was also able to get a good look at the injuries on her arms and legs. Alexa was silent, waiting to hear what the doctor had to say.
“Good news, it doesn’t look like any of your ribs are broken” Carina told her, looking at the images as they appeared on her computer screen. “You do have some very deep bruises which is why it hurts so much.”
“Nothing is broken is a good thing.” she confirmed.
“Very good. Now, do you think it would be okay for me to take a look at your arms?”
“Mhm.” Her arms were already outside of the gown, she could do that.
Alexa’s arms were a canvas of bruises, scrapes, and cuts. She’d need to clean it which would be painful.
“I’m going to have to clean these. One of them needs stitches.”
“It does? Are you sure it won’t heal on it’s own?”
“It might, but not well.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want something to numb the area?”
“Yes please. Anything to make it hurt less.”
“Maya, there is lidocaine in that drawer over there. Can you bring it for me?”
“I can absolutely do that.” She washed her hands before doing as Carina had asked.
“Little pinch.” Carina warned injecting the medication quickly.
“I’m sure I’ve felt worse.”
“I warn everyone.” Carina offered with a sad smile.
“Do you do this sort of thing a lot?”
“More than I should.” Carina confessed. It was the dark side of her job that no one talked about. And she’d much rather talk about babies.
“Oh.” Alexa’s eyes flitted across the room from Maya and back to Carina.
“I’m glad that I can offer some help and comfort.”
“Thank you for seeing me.”
“Of course.” Carina said softly.
“I promise as soon as my arm is fixed I’ll go.” Maybe they wouldn’t ask to see her other injuries that way.
“I’d like to give you a full exam before you go. You might have injuries you don’t even know about yet. Adrenaline can do that.”
“Do what?”
“Mask pain.”
“No..I mean…I am...I’m fine.”
“Alexa, have you been assaulted tonight?”
Alexa said nothing, feeling herself tense in front of the doctor.
“We’re right here with you.” Maya reassured her. “I know it’s scary, but you’re safe here. Carina needs to know so she can help you and give you the care you need.”
“She’s right, my concern is entirely medical. Anything you say to us stays inside this room. No judgement. Once we know what’s happened, we can look at giving you a full exam. It’s really important when you’ve been assaulted to give you the right care.” she tried again.
“Assaulted? Wh..who told you that?”
“No one. But I’ve seen dozens of cases just like yours. I can recognize the signs.” Carina said.
“Oh right..” Alexa thought it best not to ask questions, sitting in silence a while before she couldn’t stop herself. “What would you have to do?”
“You have a few options. If somewhere down the line you’d like to report what’s happened to you, having the evidence from an exam like this is really helpful.”
“Report it?”
“The decision to report it is entirely yours. It may take some time to decide what to do and that’s absolutely okay. Having a sexual assault forensic exam ensures that the forensic evidence will be safely preserved if you decide to report at a later time.”
“You don’t have to call the police?”
“No, that’s not my role. That’s entirely up to you, nobody can make you do that.”
“And the exam?”
“Part of the exam would involve a pelvic to look for any signs of sexual assault.“ Carina hated how much she knew about this, how this speech was memorized.
“Can..can Maya stay?” She felt the tears already in her eyes.
“If you would like.” Carina said with a nod.
“Yes please.”
“Then I’m staying right here.” Maya promised her.
“Thank you.” She turned to look at her. “I don’t think I can do it on my own.”
“You’re not alone.” Maya promised walking closer to the exam table.
Alexa watched as Carina stitched her arm up, she made it all look so easy.
“What do you like to do for fun?” Maya asked. It seemed random but it drew Alexa’s attention.
“I like to sing. Sometimes even sing in bars and clubs.”
“Yeah? What kinda music?”
“Anything really. Pop, country...whatever the people want to hear.”
“You know I wanted to be a pop star when I was younger.” Maya confessed careful not to look at Carina when she said this. She’d never spoken of it before now.
“You did? Why didn’t you do it?”
“Wasn’t on the cards for me. I became a runner instead.” Maya said.
“Probably helps you in your job if you can run right?”
“Yeah, but not in the way you might think. Firefighters don’t run much contrary to popular belief. Our movements are more…tactical. But it helped with the breathing. Learning how to inhale and exhale efficiently. Like singing actually.”
Carina spent some time going through the early stages of the evidence collection, seeking Alexa’s permission at every step.
“What’s your favorite thing about performing?” Carina was about to start the pelvic exam and Maya wanted to distract Alexa as much as possible.
“I like the buzz I get from being on stage.” She shifted uncomfortably as Carina helped her feet into the stirrups and sought her permission to begin.
“Yeah? No stage fright?”
“Nope, not for me.”
“Lucky you. I hate anything to do with public speaking or being in front of people.”
“You seem so confident.”
“Yeah…not in front of crowds unless there is a fire. Then training takes over.” Maya shrugged.
“I bet you’d be awesome in a fire.”
“I am.” Maya smirked.
“You love it don’t you?” It was evident all over Maya’s face.
“Yeah I do. It’s…I guess it’s the same rush you get when you’re singing.”
“What do you like most about it?”
“I hate to say it but it’s not necessarily saving people. Of course that’s a big part of it. But it’s the problem solving, working the problem. Every fire is different.” Maya loved that about her job. That feeling of knowing that they had beaten fire. There was no greater rush.
“That sounds awesome.”
“I think so. I know some people who worry.” Maya said glancing at Carina.
“Understandable. Sounds like a pretty dangerous job.”
“But Maya is very good at her job. I just remind myself of that.” Carina commented.
“She seems like she would be.”
“I won’t bore you with fire geekiness. Suffice to say I’m good enough at my job.” Maya said blushing.
“More than good enough.”
“Okay okay I’m already blushing.”
Alexa winced at what Carina was doing, wishing she was not here right now. This was not fun.
“You’re doing great.” Maya offered, the mood in the room sobering up.
“Doesn’t feel that way.”
“I know this isn’t comfortable but I’m almost done.” Carina patted her knee softly.
“You’re being really brave.”
“Bet you say that to everyone.”
“I don’t actually. If someone isn’t being brave I just don’t say anything.” Maya said truthfully.
“Oh okay, I guess that makes sense.”
“I don’t like lying. Even if it’s to make someone feel better.”
“Sometimes people need to hear a lie though right? To make them feel better, or less scared.”
“Yeah sometimes. I guess you’re right.” Carina finished her exam, helping Alexa to sit up more comfortably on the bed.
“Are you ready to tell us what happened?” Maya asked curiously.
“It was my fault..he wanted...I..” she broke down.
“Hey, none of this is your fault.” Maya said placing her hand on Alexa’s shoulder.
“I shouldn’t have fought back.”
“Fighting back is exactly what you should have done.” Carina said softly.
“At least it meant he didn’t...didn’t...you know...”
“That’s very good. If you hadn’t fought back, maybe he would have.”
“He would..he tried.”
“I’m going to give you some information about support you can access” Carina told her, leaving the room to get some pamphlets.
“What happens next?”
“Carina will send all your tests to the lab. Do you have somewhere you can go tonight? Somewhere safe?” Maya asked.
“My friend is coming to get me from here. Thank you for helping me, both of you have been amazing, like two lights in the darkness of this evening.”
“You are so welcome. And if you decide you want to report it, give me a call end I’ll go with you to the police station.” She handed Alexa a card with her number on it.
“You are beyond kind. Thank you.”
“You are more than welcome.”
It wasn’t an easy part of the job, but the fact she had been able to make Alexa’s night a little more bearable and feel a little less dark made it all worth it.