Home is wherever i'm with you

Fairytales are not the truth

Carina was just getting ready to go to bed on Tuesday night, when her phone rang. It was Maya. "Hey, are you back at the station?" "Hey. No. I am on my way to Grey Sloan. But don't freak out. I am fine. I just forgot to drink and i passed out." "Maya." "I am fine." "No. You aren't. I am comming." "You can't. The kids?" "I'll call someone." "You don't have to, i am fine i promise. No fever, i feel better, i got an IV." "I am still comming." "Alright." Maya said. "I love you." "Love you, too." Carina hung up and hopped out of bed.

Maya was waiting in the ER. It was farely busy, because of the fire in the apartment complex. Mayas suspected dehyration came after the burns, smoke inhalations and other injuries.
She had her IV and waited patiently. An hour into her wait, Carina came and saw Maya sitting and waiting. "Hey. How are you?" "Great. I am hydrated. I feel good. Can we go?" "Did a doctor clear you?" "I haven't seen a doctor yet." Maya said silently. "What? Why?" "They are working on the victims of the fire. I am not hurt." "You passed out." Carina was not buying into Maya being fine. "Yes. But i was dehydrated. I was so busy, i forgot to drink a sip of water for 5 hours." "Bambina." "I know." "I am going to get a doctor to check you out." "I can wait." Maya said and squeezed Carinas hand. "Who is watching the kids?" "Jo." "Okay. Good. I am sorry i scared you." "Its fine, Bambina."

"Chief Deluca-Bishop?" "Yes." "I understand you passed out?" Dr. Schmitt said. "Yes. I was dehydrated. I got an IV in the Aid car. Can i go?" "No. I am going to check your vitals and take some blood." "Why?" Maya frowned. "Bambina. It might be good. You have been sick a lot." Maya rolled her eyes. "Okay. But make it quick."

The doctor took her blood and left. Carina rubbed Mayas hand. Maya yawned "I am so tired." "Its almost 3 am." "Yeah." "Close your eyes." Carina layed down next to Maya and pulled her close. "Sleep." They both fell asleep quite quickly.

After another hour Dr. Schmitt came back and told them the lab had some problems and they could go home and just come back tomorrow. Mayas vitals were fine and he trusted them to rest and come back the next day.

And they did. They were both exhaused and just fell into bed.

The next morning they got the girls ready. Maya got Ellie dressed, while Carina made breakfast for the kids. Carina was working a 24 hour from 9 o'clock on and they decided to take the girls to school a little early and squeeze in Mayas appointment before she started her shift. Unfortunatly Carina was pulled away by Dr. Webber the minute they walked into the hospital. "I need you. My patient needs surgery and the baby is in distress. She needs the best." "I am..." "Go, my love. I am sure everything is fine." "Okay. I love you, Bye." They kissed and Carina left with Dr. Webber.

"Hello. Chief Deluca-Bishop. Where is your wife?" "She got pulled into surgery." Maya said. "Okay. Well. I am going to page her. You are going to need her." "What is wrong?" "Lets wait on your wife." Maya nodded.

Carina came into the examroom half an hour later. "What is wrong? Why did you page me 911?" "I don't know. Schmitt said i would need you." Maya said. Anxiety creeped up in her and she continued to pace the room. Carina bit her lip and noone knew what to say. Carinas brain was going 180, all of Mayas symptoms were fireing through her brain. "I am sure, it is not too bad." Maya said. Convicing herself more than Carina. Carina just nodded. But both of them knew this was bad.

"Dr. Deluca-Bishop. Good morning." "Spill it, Schmitt. Whats wrong?" "We have checked your blood and found some alarming numbers." Carina grabed the tablet out of Schmitts hand and read it, her face got really pale. "Chief Deluca-Bishop. We have evidence to asume that you have acute myeloid leukaemia."

Maya was too stunned to speak. Carinas eyes welled up. "Those markers are not good." She stammered and gave the tablet back to Schmitt.
"We are going to do another round  bloodwork and a spinal tab to confirm the diagnosis. But i already booked you an appointment with our best Oncologist. Dr. Marc Lindner, in case you need it." "So it doesn't have to be.." Maya said, but the word wouldn't leave her mouth. "Your bloodwork showes that you are severely anemic, you white bloodcell count is high and your platlet count abnormal. With some other numbers, sadly this what makes the most sence." "But we'll wait for the new labs and the spinal tab, Bambina. Maybe its something different." Carina wiped over her eyes and pulled Maya in a hug. The blonde was numb. "No. No. This is not happening. I am fine. I am just stressed." "Have you been tired lately?" "Yes. But i was sick a lot, because i was so stressed with work." Maya explained "It was kind of unusual." Carina said. "You are never sick." Mayas breathing got heavier. "No. This is... No." "Its going to be okay, Bambina. We will get through it." Maya nodded, but her brain went to all the dark and scary possibilities, that had seemed so far away. She had always expected to get hurt on a call or something, and she had known that she was at a greater risk for cancer due to her job, but this. The kids were so young.

Maya changed in a gown and layed down on the examtable. Carina held her hand as Dr. Schmitt and an intern performed the spinal tab. Maya winced and squeezed Carinas hand as he punctured her spine. "I will get that to the lab and have them rush the tests. We will have answers soon." Dr. Schmitt said and Carina nodded. Maya just stared at Carinas hands. "Who is picking up the kids?" "Vic and Theo have them tonight. And Jo is covering my service, so i can be with you." "Thanks." "Anytime Bambina." The stayed silent. "What are you thinking off?" Carina asked. "I am scared. I am thinking of what this could mean for our family. What are we supposed to do?" "We will figure it out. We have a great family, they are going to help us." "I know, but still. The kids are so young. I feel stupid, that this hits me so hard." "Why? This is hard." "But it is a risk with my job. If you look through my file, you'll fine dozens of entrys were i came for a checkup because i have been exposed to some chemical or radioactive material or bad smoke." "Its okay, Bambina. Its a risk in your Job. Just like getting hurt in a fire." "Mhm. I realy hope they are wrong." Maya wispered. "Bambina. They probably aren't." Maya nodded. Carina bit her lip again to not start crying.

"Okay. We have your results. You have Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. Its what we expected. I am sorry." Carina broke out in tears, Mayas breathing got heavy and she squezzed Carinas hand. She nodded absentmindedly. "This is Dr. Lindner our best Oncologist. He will talk the next steps over with you." "Thank you, Dr. Schmitt." A older man with dark blonde hair and a nice smile turned his chair and sat down with the backrest between his legs. He let them cry a little. Carina and Maya just held onto eachother for dear life.

After they kind of calmed down, Maya got a tissue for her and Carina out of her bag and they blew their noses. "Sorry." Maya said. The Docter shooke his head. "I understand this is a big shock for you." They nodded. "I want to explain to you what exactly happens with your disease." Maya took a deep breath. "There are broken or missformed cells clotting your spine and preventing your normal cells from making bloodcells. Thats why you are anemic. Which means you have a too little amount of red bloodcells. You also have been sick a lot." Maya nodded. "With what is happening, your body can not fight infections as well. Have you had an unusual amount of bruising?" "Yes." Maya said. "That is also a side effect. When your bloodvessels were nicked, they usually get closed by the platlets, of which you have too little." Maya took a deep breath. Carina did the same. "What is happening now?" Carina asked. "Well, Chief Deluca-Bishop, we are going to give you a blood transfusion first, because of the anemia. Then we will do a lot of tests and me and my team will figure out a treatment plan. You are looking at chemotherapy and maybe a stemcelltransplant." Maya nodded. "You can call me Maya. I am sure we will see eachother very often." "We already know eachother, but you can call me Carina aswell." Dr. Lindner smiled. "Okay. Do you have any questions?" "Like 100. Just can't grasp them." Maya said and chuckled. "When you remember them, write them down or call me. Here is my number. Melissa will take you to your PET-scan." "Whats that?" "We inject a dye and the machine show us, if there is any abnormal cell growth in any other part of your body." "Isn't she not supposed to be around kids for a few hours." "Yes. 6 hours." Dr. Lindner said. "Okay. They are at school now. Its almost 12. Vic and Theo can surely take them for the entire afternoon. And we pick them up at 6 before dinner." Carina said and pulled Maya close.

An: i have not had cancer nor have followed a close familymember or friend with cancer treatment. My grandfather died from lungcancer, before i was born. Other than that i have no idea. But i wanted to write this story, because it is interessting, how they would work around and with it. It is just a story, noone gets harmed and i am sorry if i am not medically accurate. I am no professional. I do my google research, but it is limited.
If you don't want to read anymore, because it triggers you, feel free to stop. I might write something after the cancer story, for which you can continue reading, but it is going to take a while.

And yes. Let me introduce Dr. Marc Lindner. He is a character from a german medical-drama. And he moved away to Brussles. In my headcannon he moved to Seatle next. I like the character, so i included him, because he fit the storyline.