Photograph ( Marina )

Chapter Thirty

By the time Travis and Andy had arrived, Vic as well as Carina had made their way to the living room as Friends played on the flat-screen TV in front of them. The young Italian had found it within herself to calm down once a plate of dinosaur nuggets and smiley fries were placed in front of her. Also, Maya had added an address at the bottom of the letter where she could be reached, making the ache in Carina's chest ease slightly at the comfort of being able to write back.

Three weeks had now passed since Maya's departure. Just as the lieutenant had predicted, the young doctor had thrown herself into her work shortly after being announced as one of the top three participants in the intern's competition. She had been scrubbing in on more surgeries each day, everything from valve repairs to transplants, hell she even got to deliver a baby. The attendings absolutely adored her passion and intelligence, making her number one on each of their lists each time something interesting came into the OR. However, this had also caused Amelia (her sworn enemy) to grow greener with jealousy as the weeks passed. Which ultimately made Carina smile with pride. Despite Maya's absence, the young doctor's career was sky-rocketing, that as well as her social life. Well at least when she had time.

Taking the marine's advice, Carina had joined a dance class with Vic as well as Travis, in which she wasn't sure she'd be into at first. But after the first class, she was hooked. The brunette had even started taking cooking classes with Andy on the nights she wasn't scheduled to work. The girls and Levi, hadn't given her much time to spend by herself, no matter where she was, Carina was never alone. And in all honesty, she was rather thankful for that. One night after work, she had come home to the empty apartment with Enzo welcoming her at the door, and instantly felt Maya's absence again.

Being the stubborn little shit she was, Carina decided that instead of calling someone to come keep her company, she'd take the time to herself to write her first letter to Maya. That was almost a week ago, now and even knowing the circumstances the marine was under; the brown-eyed doctor was growing worried. Here she was stitching up a little girl's dog bite the day before her intern exam and the only thing she could focus on was the fact that Maya still hadn't written back. Luckily for her, these sutures had become second nature to her, meaning that they required minimal attention. This was her last task of the day before heading home and studying her ass off for probably the most important test she'd taken in her life. That alone made her wish there was a stack of paper somewhere to stop her hands from shaking.

"There you go sweetheart," She smiled thoughtfully to the tiny girl on the hospital bed. "I'm sure the doggy's very sorry for what he did." The child gave the doctor a small smile as she rubbed her eyes with the uninjured arm.

"It was my fault." The little one, named Maddie she believes, states as she looked up into the brown eyes. "I was trying to play with his tail and he didn't like that. I hope mommy and daddy don't make him go away. Simba is a good puppy, he's still learning things like me."

"That's very smart of you honey. I hope they know that too." Without much hesitation, the child wrapped her arms around the doctors neck. In which Carina's natural response was to pat her back softly, as she smiled.

"Thank you for fixing my arm." Maddie whispered softly, making the doctor's smile grow wider.

"You're welcome Maddie. Be careful, alright sweetie?" Carina hummed as the child let go of her and sat back onto the bed. Her mother coming around the corner with a similar smile on her face.

"She's right honey, if you get those stitches dirty it'll really hurt. We'll have to keep them clean, alright baby?" The mother giggles, taking a seat next to her daughter.

Maddie simply nodded in agreement and rubbed her eyes again. 'That's the paracetamol', Carina thinks as the child lets out another yawn. "Thank you, Doctor Deluca, right?"