6. Chapter 6

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The next week was agonizingly slow for Maya. She was sick for three days which made her feel terrible because of the fever.

Her knee also constantly felt like there was water running down it, but after asking Link when he and Amelia stopped by with dinner for them, he assured her it was just a weird nerve sensation that should go away when she could see her knee again.

She was counting the days until she could get the bandages off. Finally, two weeks after her break, she and Carina headed to Grey Sloan for her follow up with Link.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get you a wheel chair?" Carina asked as Maya crutched into the hospital.

"I'm sure," Maya said, nodding, "It's good for me to be able to practice on my crutches."

"Alright," Carina said, walking at Maya's pace.

They made it to the elevators and went upstairs before checking in with the nurse.

"I'll take you to a room," another nurse said.

Maya and Carina followed the nurse to a room.

"Alright," he said, "Now, we need to get some x-rays. It's just down the hall. Are you good to walk?"

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding as she followed him down the hall.

She had her x-rays done before going back to her room where Carina was waiting.

"I am going to get this wrap off your leg," the nurse said, grabbing a pair of scissors.

Maya nodded as he began cutting down the ace wrap. This exposed the patches covering Maya's incisions which he also removed.

"That's it?" Maya said, looking down at her inscisions.

"Yep," the nurse said, "Pretty small. I'm going to send someone in to clean those up and remove the stitches and I'll tell Dr. Lincoln you're ready."

"Thanks," Maya said, nodding as the nurse left.

"Can I see?" Carina asked, wanting to look at Link's work.

"Of course," Maya said as Carina got up, "Man, I can already see the atrophy in my muscles."

"It'll get better once you can start moving it again," Carina said, "And Link said you would probably be able to start physical therapy this week so that should help."

Maya nodded, knowing Carina was right. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"How's my favorite patient?" Link asked, coming in.

"Hey Link," Maya said, smiling at him.

"So your x-rays look great," Link said, pulling them up on his iPad, "Everything is exactly where it should be. The bones are starting to heal just a little, which you can see right here, and the screws are exactly where I put them so that's good too. How's the pain?"

"I'm barely even taking Advil anymore," Maya said, "I mean, it's sore, but nothing I can't handle. Can I start PT?"

"Yeah," Link said, nodding, "Do you want me to send you to our guy here or do you want to go the SFD one?"

"I think I'll go the SFD," Maya said, "I know the guy over there from when I've had issues with my ankle, and I like him."

"Sounds good," Link said, "You still can't put any weight on it for at least the next 8 weeks, but you can start bending it all the way to 90 degrees which will probably take a while. I'll see you back here in eight weeks, and we will talk about where to go from there."

"Alright," Maya said, nodding, "Can I shower without the brace?"

"Of course," Link said, nodding, "You can take it off when you're not up and walking around so sleeping, relaxing on the couch. Just wear it when you are up and moving around."

"Thanks," Maya said, immediate relief washing over her.

"Of course," Link said, "Just text me if you need anything, and I'm sure I'll see you before, but if not, see you in 8 weeks. Oh, and our staff is a little busy today so it might be a while before someone can come get those stitches out."

"I can do it," Carina offered.

"That would be great," Link said, "I'll let Brad know. Just stop by the desk on your way out. You know where to get suture removal kits?"

"Yep," Carina said, nodding as Link left.

"You're really going to take out my stitches?" Maya asked as Carina went to leave too.

"Yeah," Carina said, nodding, "I'll be right back."

Carina came back a minute later with some supplies.

"Alright," Carina said, washing her hands before pulling on some gloves, "Let's get these out."

"So, is this going to be an extra cost on my insurance since the head of the OB/GYN department is removing my stitches?" Maya asked as Carina pulled out the first stitch.

"I think I can do this one pro bono," Carina said, "You know, because you are such an amazing firefighter and all."

Maya smiled as Carina looked up at her, giving her a small kiss before getting back to work on the stitches. It only took a few minutes to remove the seven sutures from Maya's five incisions.

"Alright," Carina said, putting a butterfly strip on one of the incisions, "Let's get the brace back on and get you home?"

Maya nodded as she strapped the brace back on, grabbing her crutches before heading out of the room. They stopped at the desk, making an appointment for 8 weeks from then before heading back to the car,Carina helping Maya get in before they went back home.

"I need to call the PT person from the department," Maya said as they walked into the apartment, "I have his number in my phone."

"Sounds good," Carina said, nodding, "I was going to go make some lunch. What are you in the mood for?"

"Whatever you want to make," Maya said, "Could you being me a piece of paper and pen?"

"Si," Carina said, grabbing he requested items and giving them to her girlfriend before she went into the kitchen.

Maya made the call, getting an appointment two days later.

"Do you need me to go with you to your appointment?" Carina asked, deciding to make a simple lunch of sandwiches and fruit.

"If you want," Maya said, shrugging, "I should be able to drive myself, but if you're around, I wouldn't mind the company."

"I should be free," Carina said, bring the plates into the living room.

"Thanks," Maya said, taking her plate before adjusting to Carina could sit down next to her, "I'm not sure what they are going to have me do. It's not like I can walk or anything. Hopefully I can do something to stop losing muscle strength. I have literally spent my entire life building up my leg muscles and all it's taken is two weeks of not walking to lose so much of it."

"It will come back," Carina said, putting a comforting hand on Maya's back, "With time and PT, you'll be fine."

Maya nodded, putting her head on Carina's shoulder. They ate their lunch before Carina had to head to work. Vic and Andy came in about an hour after Carina left.

"Hey Maya," Vic said, smiling at her roommate.

"Hey guys," Maya said, smiling, "How was hot yoga?"

"Hot," Andy said with a laugh.

"We brought smoothies," Vic said, handing one to Maya.

"You guys are the best," Maya said, smiling as they sat down.

"How was your appointment?" Andy asked, "Your brace is off so that must be a good sign."

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "I am now stitch free and allowed to start bending my knee. I'm starting PT in a few days too."

"How does it feel to have the brace off?" Vic asked.

"Pretty weird," Maya said, pulling up the leg of her pants, looking at her knee, "And I'm losing muscle mass every day which is so fun."

"You'll get it back so fast once you start running again," Vic said, shaking her head, "How long does Link think it'll be before you can start that again?"

"Well, I can't walk for 10 more weeks so probably not for at least another three months."

"How are you doing with not being able to run?" Andy asked.

"It hasn't been fun," Maya said with a sigh.

Honestly, she had been having a really hard time sleeping because she was so damn anxious all the time. She had been working with Diane on ways to reduce her anxiety without being physically active, but it had not been going well.

"Can you do upper body workouts?" Andy asked, "Like lifting and stuff?"

"I guess I could," Maya said, nodding, "Maybe I'll try it out when I come to work the desk."

The three of them just chatted for a while, Maya catching up on all the station gossip that Vic hadn't filled her in on yet. She really missed being at work and had plans to go back and start working the desk on her team's shift starting later that week. She had been waiting until after she saw Link to go back, but now that she was cleared, she was set to go back.

"Well, I need to head out," Andy said, looking at her watch, "Dinner plans with my mom and aunt tonight. See you in a few days guys. Both of you because you're going to be back! Maya!"

"I know," Maya said, nodding with a smile, "At least a little bit."

"Bye," Vic called as she left.

"What are your plans for your days off?" Maya asked, looking at Vic.

"I have dinner plans with Jennifer tonight," Vic said, "And then Travis and I are going smoke jumping tomorrow."

"I am so jealous," Maya said.

"I promise we can go when you are better," Vic said, laughing, "I'm gonna go grab a nap. Do you need anything?"

"I'm good," Maya said, "Thanks."

The blonde then crutched her way into her bedroom, trying yet another breathing technique in an attempt to sleep.

"Are you nervous?" Carina asked as she drove.

"Not really," Maya said, shaking her head, "I'm just ready to get this going. I need to try to stop as much of the atrophy as possible."

Carina nodded as they pulled into the parking lot. She handed Maya her crutches as they got out of the car.

"Let's do this," Maya said, crutching toward the door.

Carina held the door as Maya went in. Once Maya got her papers filled out, they sat to wait.

"Captain Bishop," an older man said, coming out the door, "I saw your name on my list for today. I was wondering when you were going to be cleared to start coming."

"Hey Doug," Maya said, crutching to him, "As much as I love you, I really wish I didn't have to see you."

"Same," Doug said as he guided them into a room, "I heard about this from one of the guys from 23 who was in last week. And who is this?"

"Doug, this is my girlfriend, Carina Deluca," Maya said, sitting up on the table, "Carina, this is Doug Allen, the best SFD physical therapist around."

"Nice to meet you," Carina said, putting out her hand.

"You as well," Doug said, shaking her hand, "Now, Maya, let's see what we are working with."

Maya nodded, rolling up her pant leg and letting Doug see.

"This is really nice work," he said, looking at the incisions, "And it's healing well?"

"Yeah," Maya said, wincing a little as he tried to bend her knee, "Dr. Atticus Lincoln at Grey Sloan did it. He's pretty great. And one of our friends."

"Link is amazing," Doug said, "How do you know him?"

"I work at Grey Sloan," Carina offered, "I am good friends with his girlfriend."

Doug nodded, still examining Maya's knee.

"Well, let's see what you can do," Doug said.

He ran Maya through a series of exercises, some of them more painful than others. He showed Carina how to help with the ones Maya was going to need help with.

"So here are the exercises I want you to work on," he said, handing Maya a few pages, "Do as many as you can, but ideally I'd like to see 30 reps three times a day of each, but if it hurts, please don't push too hard. I mean it Maya."

"Alright," Maya said, nodding as she strapped her brace back on, "When do I need to come back?"

"I'm going to say we can do it once a week for now," Doug said, "Maybe even every other week until you can put some weight on it. Right now, it's mostly just about strengthening and maintaining your muscles."

Maya nodded, getting up, "So I will see you in two weeks."

"Sounds good," Doug said, "And really good work today. Carina, it was nice to meet you. And make sure this one doesn't push it too hard."

"I will try," Carina said, laughing, "Although, she does not like being told what to do."

"Don't I know," Doug said, walking them out, "See you soon."

"Bye Doug," Maya called as he walked away.

She made her next appointment before they left.

"You did so well Bella," Carina said, smiling as she helped Maya into the car.

"I'm so tired," Maya complained as Carina got in, "And in so much pain."

"Oh Bella," Carina said, frowning, "Do you want anything before we go home?"

Maya shook her head, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

"Just hang on," Carina said, taking one of Maya's hands.

They made it home, Carina helping Maya upstairs and into bed.

"I'll get you some Tylenol," Carina said as Maya pulled off her brace, "Or do you want something stronger? You have some of your narcotics left."

"I'm good," Maya said, "Tylenol is good."

"Alright," Carina said, grabbing the meds and handing them to Maya, "Anything else?"

"Are you busy right now?" the blonde asked, rubbing at her eyes.

"No," Carina said, shaking her head, "All I was planning to do today was work on unpacking, but I can do that whenever."

"Can we watch a movie?" Maya asked, "And just hang out in bed? If you don't want to, it's fine."

"I would love to," Carina said, smiling as she grabbed her laptop.

Maya leaned her head on Carina's shoulder, the brunette wrapping a comforting arm around her girlfriend.

She knew that physical therapy was probably just as mentally and emotionally draining as it was physically. Maya hated feeling weak, feeling powerless, and while she did really well, it was nowhere near what she had been able to do just two weeks earlier.

Maya dozed off during the movie which made Carina happy. She knew that sleep had not been her girlfriend's friend as of late, both because of pain and insomnia that the fire captain struggled with normally that had been exacerbated by the injury.

Carina stayed where she was, turning off the movie and pulling up her charts, knowing she was behind. She worked for almost two hours before Maya woke up.

"Feeling better?" Carina asked, smiling as the blonde stretched and moved off Carina's shoulder.

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "The pain is better. Thanks for staying here. I really needed a nap."

"I know," Carina said, nodding as she saved the chart she was working on before giving Maya her full attention, "It's almost dinner time. What would you like?"

"I don't know," Maya said, shrugging, "Whatever."

"How about some pizza from your favorite place?" Carina asked, "A little celebration of both you doing amazingly well at physical therapy and the fact that you are going back to work tomorrow."

"Oh yeah," Maya said, perking up a little, "I almost forgot. God, it's going to be so nice to be back to semi-normal even if I'm stuck at a desk."

"Soon enough you will be running back into burning buildings," Carina said sighing a little, "Although I can wait a long time for that day."

"I know this probably didn't make it any easier for you to like what I do," Maya said, realizing they had yet to have this necessary conversation, "But I am always careful and I always have my team with me when I go in."

"I know," Carina said, biting on her lip, "But what if next time, it's not just a broken knee? What if it's worse."

"I always do my best to be as safe as I can," Maya reassured, taking Carina's hands in hers, "And I don't even go in to most fires anymore. Most of my job is to be outside, be the commanding officer. My job is risky, yes, but it's the job I love. I will do anything to help you feel comfortable with it."

"I know," Carina said with a sigh, "I know what you love what you do, I just wish it wasn't so dangerous."

"I know," Maya said, kissing Carina gently, "I do too, but we are as safe as we can be. This leg, it was just a freak accident, and from what I hear, your job is full of those too. The horror stories I've heard about what happens at Grey Sloan make your job sound almost as dangerous as mine."

Carina laughed a little as she kissed Maya back.

"Now, can we order some food because I'm starving," Maya said, seeing the more relaxed look that was now on Carina's face.

"Si," Carina said, grabbing her phone to put in their order.

They spent the rest of the evening just enjoying being together.

The next morning, Maya was up early, getting her physical therapy done before Carina had even woken up.

Once the brunette was up, she helped Maya with the exercises that she needed an extra set of hand for before making coffee. Maya had gotten pretty good at manipulating her way around the kitchen, but it was still easier to just let Carina do I because it took less time. Vic came out and joined them a few minutes later.

"Ready for work?" the younger woman asked, sitting down next to Maya.

"So ready," Maya said, nodding as Carina handed her a cup of coffee, "Although it's going to be hard not going out on calls with you guys."

"You can listen on the radio," Vic said, adding cream to her own cup.

"It won't be the same," Maya complained.

"At least you get to go back," Carina reminded her, joining them at the table.

Sitting at a table was still pretty uncomfortable for the blonde, but she managed to push through it, knowing she was going to be sitting at a desk all day.

"Alright," Vic said, "I'm your ride. Be ready in 10?"

Maya nodded as they all got up, Carina taking her girlfriend's mug into the kitchen. They all had work this morning so Carina and Maya did their normal dance to share their bathroom.

"Have a good day Bella," Carina said, grabbing a bottle of both Advil and Tylenol, slipping it into the backpack that had replaced Maya's normal work bag, "Take these if you need them."

"I'll be fine Babe," Maya said, leaning to kiss Carina.

They all headed out the door, Carina stealing one more kiss before they parted. Vic drove them, helping Maya out of the car when they pulled up.

"Ready?" she asked, handing Maya her backpack. Maya nodded as she crutched inside where it was too quiet.

"Let's go up to the beanery," Vic said, walking with Maya to the elevator.

They got out, going into the beanery where the entire team was waiting.

"Welcome back Captain," the all called, smiling as she walked in.

"Thanks guys," she said, smiling when she saw they had made her favorite breakfast, "You know I'm not really back though, right?"

"You are in the station," Andy said, smiling as she helped Maya sit down, worry crossing her face when she saw a glimmer of pain on her friend's face, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "Chairs are just a little uncomfortable right now, just like everything else except laying down. I'm fine."

Everyone sat down to eat, Maya realizing there was a new face at the table.

"Hello," she said, looking at the woman sitting next to Vic, "You must be Kat. I'm Captain Maya Bishop."

"Hello Captain," the rookie said, "I'm Kathleen Noonan, but everyone calls me Kat. I'm so glad I can finally meet you."

"I'm happy to finally meet you too," Maya said, shaking her hand, "Hopefully this crew has been making you feel welcome."

"They have, Kat said, nodding.

The rest of the team chatted, bringing Maya up to speed on everything that had been happening in the station. The blonde was beyond happy to be back with her friends.

Once breakfast was over, Maya headed down to the desk while everyone else started chores. Andy stopped by to talk, but as soon as she leaned on the desk, the alarm went off.

"Sorry," the interim captain said, heading into the barn, "Keep your radio on?"

"Like I would do anything else," Maya said, smiling as her team left.

It was honestly killing her to be stuck at the desk, but she answered the phones for a while before going upstairs, deciding she was going to make lunch for everyone. The call was going well and was almost over so she knew they would be back soonish.

She crutched her way around the beanery, making some of her famous twenty-minute chili. This time, it took a little longer than twenty minutes because moving around the beanery took twice as long on her crutches.

About an hour later, Dean, Ben, and Vic all walked into the beanery, freshly showered.

"Hey," Vic said, smiling at her roommate, "Smells good in here."

"I made twenty-minute chili," Maya said, "although today it was more like 45-minute chili, but it's ready whenever you guys are. I also made cornbread."

"You are crazy woman," Dean said, pulling out bowls and spoons while Ben got the cups and pitchers of water and tea, "You have a broken knee and you still manage to accomplish more than most of our squad on a good day."

"It's just food," Maya said, brushing it off as Andy, Kat, and Travis joined them.

"Who cooked?" Travis asked, opening the pot on the stove.

"Our captain," Ben said as Travis brought the pot over to the table.

"Maya?" Travis said, looking at the blonde who was now sitting in a chair.

"Yep," Vic said, grabbing the pan of cornbread off the counter, "She's a beast."

Once everyone was there, they all sat down together, eating as they filled Maya in on their call.

"This one kid," Travis said, shaking his head, "He thought it was so funny that the daycare was on fire and he just kept running away from us, laughing. He even ran back in once we got him out the first time."

"That kid is either going to grow up to be a firefighter or a serial killer," Dean said, shaking his head.

They all enjoyed their time together before the aid car got another call. Everyone else went back to chores and Maya went back to the phones. Maya stayed through dinner and then Carina came and picked her up.

"How was your first day of desk duty?" Carina asked as Maya climbed into the car.

"Good," Maya said, smiling, "I mean, it was slightly painful to just sit at the desk, both physically and metaphorically, but it was good."

"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time," Carina said, smiling as they drove home, "It seems like you are finally feeling like yourself again."

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding, "I think I finally am. Being back with my team was really good."

They made it home, Carina helping Maya upstairs. They did another round of Maya's PT before taking a quick shower and climbing into bed.

"I'm so tired," Maya said, yawning as she laid down, "Maybe tonight I'll finally sleep. I haven't slept more than four hours straight since before the accident."

"I know Bella," Carina said, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, "I wish there was something I could do."

"I'll be fine," Maya said, cuddling close to Carina, "Goodnight, love you."

"Love you too Bella," Carina said as they both closed their eyes.

So there was the next chapter! Another one coming tomorrow!