6,000 Miles (Station 19)

Reckless Driving

Adelina's POV

I knew it was a bad idea, all of it. It started when I talked to Brynn and Alexa in English class. We chatted between lessons sometimes so I decided to ask if I could sit with them at lunch. They shared a look before Alexa responded.

"Sure," she said. "But we're not going to the cafeteria."
I cocked my head in confusion. If they weren't going to the cafeteria where were they going for lunch?
Seeing my confusion, Brynn explained.
"We're gonna sneak off campus and go to the smoothie place down the road."

I knew then I should've said nevermind and just sat alone in the cafeteria again with my book. But I didn't. I was so desperate to make friends, to do what Carina and Dr. Dakin so clearly wanted.

I guess my new "friends" noticed I was a little nervous as we snuck out of school and to the parking lot because Alexa tried to reassure me.
"Don't worry," she said. "We sneak out all the time and never get caught. Plus, Brynn got her license a month ago so she's like a really good driver."

Yeah, okay. I thought to myself, trying hard not to roll my eyes.

I should've known it was a bad idea to get in the car right then, or at least once the girls started to blast music and film a tiktok of this whole adventure. Honestly, I did know better; I just went along with it anyway.

We pulled out of the parking lot and Brynn sped off down the road. We were definitely going too fast. A minute or so later Alexa asked me to grab her wallet out of her bag in the trunk; she had forgotten to pull it out before we left. I didn't know why it couldn't wait until we got there, but I agreed. I couldn't quite reach it, so I unbuckled my seatbelt. I knew better, but I thought it would be okay... until we hit a bump.

The next thing I knew there were sirens and flashing lights. Everything in my body hurt and I was so hot. Glancing down, I realized that I was on the black asphalt next to the car. I started to panic, realizing I couldn't move. Then I heard Maya's voice giving out orders.
Maya's here. I thought to myself. Thank god Maya's here.

Carina's POV

I was sitting in Maya's office, waiting for the team to return when my pager went off. Considering I wasn't on call, I was pretty confused, but answered the page nonetheless. Teddy, Amelia, Pierce, and Hayes were all waiting in the ambulance bay when I got there; they looked scared.

"Big trauma?" I asked
Teddy nodded but didn't say anything. I shrugged it off as just the anxiety of the incoming trauma, but I swore they were all avoiding making eye contact with me.
"Okay then, I'll gown up," I said as I made my way into the ER.

Amelia followed me in, gently placing a hand on my back.
"Carina," she said softly. "We don't need you as a doctor on this one."

"Why did you page me then?" I asked with a laugh. My smile fell instantly when I thought about my beautiful firefighter girlfriend.
"Maya," I breathed out terrified. "Did something happen to Maya?!"

Amelia shook her head. "Carina," she said slowly. "It's Addie."

Before I could even process what she had said an ambulance pulled up and I saw it was 19's aid car. Maya hopped out of the back of the rig, a look of shear terror on her face.

"16 year old female. Thrown from a vehicle during an MVC where the car rolled over. She was briefly conscious at the scene but not alert or oriented. No response since." Ben reported as he wheeled Adelina into the hospital.

I pushed past Amelia to get to my baby sister as my friends swarmed around her. She looked so hurt and so small lying on the gurney; all I wanted was to make her better. I tried to follow her into the trauma room but I couldn't move. Looking down, I saw Maya's arms wrapped around me. She was holding me back, but I fought against her, desperate to be with Adelina.
"Addie!" I called out, feeling myself start to fully break down.

Maya's POV

The doctors gave me a look saying that Carina couldn't be in the room so I wrapped my arms around her waist to pull her back. She struggled against me for a minute before she collapsed to the ground in tears. I crouched down on the floor to meet her eyes. She was sobbing, could hardly breathe, and looked terrified. Seeing her like this brought me back to the night Andrew was killed. She couldn't lose another sibling. She just couldn't.

Pulling her into my arms again, I was able to get her standing and over to a couch in the waiting room. She curled into me, hiding in my chest, as I tried everything in my power to slow her breathing.
After what felt like hours, but was really no more than 30 minutes, Maggie Pierce appeared in front of us. At that point Carina's tears had slowed down enough that I was no longer concerned about her hyperventilating, but she was still panicked.

"Carina," the cardiac surgeon said calmly. My beautiful girlfriend lifted her teary eyes to look at her friend. "Addie's cardio work-up looks good for now. Her vitals are stable, but Amelia thinks there might be a small brain bleed so she's taking her up to CT now."

Carina had a blank look on her face so I wasn't sure how much of that she really heard.

"Thank you," I replied, giving Pierce a smile. I was relieved to hear that Addie was stable.

"Of course. We'll keep you posted and let you know when you can see her."

I nodded and looked back down at the woman in my arms. I pulled her head back down to my chest and kissed the top of her head.
"Did you hear that babe," I whispered. "They have her stabilized and they're doing everything they can to make sure she's okay."

Carina turned further into me as she started to sob again.
"I can't lose her," she choked out.

"Shhhh," I soothed. "I know, baby. I know."

Seeing her so upset was absolutely gut-wrenching. She hadn't cried this hard since the night Andrew died. And honestly I don't think I've ever seen her so terrified.

I tried my best to hide the fact that I was scared too. Carina needed me to be strong and keep it together so I needed to focus on just being there for her. The rest didn't matter. Eyes forward.

A little while later Amelia came out to update us. She said that Addie had a small subdural hematoma, but it might resolve on its own. Dr. Sheppard wanted to monitor it and was hopeful that she wouldn't have to operate.

I smiled, relieved that it wasn't worse. When I first saw her lying on the pavement I wasn't sure she was going to make it. If she was even going to be alive when I got over to her. But now, it sounds like she's in much better shape than I had imagined.

Carina was still frozen in my arms. She nodded slightly as Amelia gave us her update but she didn't say anything or look at either of us until Amelia asked if we were ready to see her.

Adelina's POV

The next thing I knew, the pavement felt softer, lighter, cooler. I started to smell a familiar sweetness and realized it was my sister's perfume. Carina, I thought to myself, a slight smile spreading across my face. I flicked my eyes open and saw that I was in the hospital, my sister sitting at my bedside. I felt her hold on my hand and saw her face down on my bed. She was crying.

"I'm sorry," I croaked out, my voice weaker than I was expecting. I realized how scared she must have been and felt horrible. This was the last thing she needed.

She turned suddenly at the sound. Seeing me awake, Carina started sobbing again, but a wide smile spread across her face. Maya got up from her seat on the side of the room and put her hand on Carina's back. She seemed relieved and I could tell she had been worried too.

"I'm so sorry," I said again, as my sister took my face in her hands. I grimaced; the sudden movement made my head throb.

"Hush bambina," she whispered, stroking my cheek with her thumb. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

I smiled for a moment before another thought crossed my mind. What happened to Brynn and Alexa?

***********************
Author's Note:
Didn't want to make you all wait too long for this update.
Had some requests for Addie getting hurt so I wanted to include that.
Will Addie recover quickly? Will Carina be mad once the relief fades?
And as always let me know if there's anything you want to see!
Thanks for reading :)