Hiding the Pain
Author:© WebNovel
Chapter 1: 1. Chapter 1
Someone asked me to write a story about Maya hurting herself and hiding it from Carina. Here is that story!
She was fine. She was Maya Bishop. She won an Olympic gold medal on a sprained ankle. She had run through more illnesses and injuries than she could count so when she fell while running, she thought she was fine.
She had put her arms out in front of her, like a normal person would, to stop herself from falling, and the force of the fall caused pain to shoot through both her arms and they both collapsed under her. She had somehow tripped while getting ready to cross the street, meaning she fell from the sidewalk onto the street, making the fall that much harder.
She got up, looking around, glad she was alone. She started running again, both of her arms throbbing as she headed home.
When she got there, she found that her hands hurt when she opened the door. Carina, her girlfriend of a year and a half, was at work, though she was supposed to be home in the next hour.
Maya had hoped she would be done with work earlier than she was so that she could run and then make dinner, but they got called to a 3 alarm fire twenty minutes before shift end so instead of getting off eight hours before Carina, she only got off two hours before her, meaning her plans of making dinner were pretty much gone.
As Maya started stretching to cool down, she noticed her arms were hurting more but she just ignored it, going into the bathroom and hopping in the shower. She struggled to wash her hair, her arms really hurting. She figured she probably just sprained them somehow which was annoying, but not something she was worried about. She got out, pulling on a sweatshirt and some shorts.
She thought about going into the kitchen and making her normal post-workout protein shake, but she was not feeling super well all of a sudden so instead, she just went to start some laundry.
As she painfully put the first load in, the front door opened.
"Car?" Maya called, pressing start on the machine before heading toward the front door.
"Hi Bambina," Carina smiled, walking over to her, planting a kiss on her lips as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, "How are you?"
"Good," Maya smiled, "How are you?"
"Good," Carina said, "Hungry."
"Why don't you go shower and I'll order something. What are you in the mood for?"
"Pizza from Gina's?" Carina asked.
"Sounds great," Maya nodded.
Maya ordered food before grabbing two wine glasses and a bottle of wine, bringing them into the living room. As she did, a shock of pain ran through her arm, causing her to drop one of the wine glasses.
"Shit," she said, carefully avoiding the glass as she went to get something to clean the mess.
She had most of the glass up when Carina walked out of the bathroom.
"What happened?" the brunette asked as she pulled one of Maya's long-sleeved t-shirts.
"I dropped a wine glass," Maya sighed, shaking her head, "It's fine. I think I got all the glass up, but maybe shoes in this room for the next little bit?"
Carina nodded, walking over to her. She started kissing her, Maya almost bringing her to the couch when there was a knock on the door.
"That's dinner," Maya said, pulling back.
"I'll get it," Carina offered, heading for the door.
Maya went into the kitchen, grabbing two plates, meeting Carina by the TV.
The both grabbed some pizza, Maya trying her absolute hardest not to wince as she picked up a slice of pizza, her arm and wrist both protesting the movement. Luckily, Carina was too busy picking a movie to notice.
They settled on something, making it through over half the movie before Carina asked to pause it for a bathroom break.
While she did that, Maya took the plates into the kitchen, setting them in the sink. She went to go grab some water, but the rug near the sink slipped, which it had been doing because the sticky padding underneath needed to be replaced, but neither of them had gotten around to it.
Normally, it wasn't a huge issue, but this time, as Maya threw her hands out to the counter to catch herself, she felt pain radiate through both her arms, her entire body breaking out in a cold sweat as her vision swam. She slid down to the floor, suddenly extremely nauseous as her vision stayed blurred.
"I was thinking we could…" Carina said, coming out of the bathroom, "What happened?"
Maya could barely hear Carina the first time she asked. Suddenly, the blonde gagged, Carina, somehow, getting a bowl under her mouth before she threw up. Carina was extremely worried and about to call 911 when Maya started to come back to herself.
"Bambina," Carina said gently, "What's wrong?"
"My arms," Maya said, teeth chattering a little.
"What happened to them?" Carina asked, terrified at the sight in front of her.
She always teased Maya for being pale, but her girlfriend was almost translucent at this point.
"I fell," Maya said, trying to breathe and not pass out, the pain in both her arms way worse than they had been.
"While I was in the bathroom?" Carina asked, confused.
"No," Maya said, "On my run."
"Can I see?" Carina asked, ignoring for the moment that her girlfriend had hurt herself hours ago and had not told her about it.
Maya nodded, trying to pull up her sleeves only to hiss in pain, her vision swimming again.
"Do you want me to help you take off your shirt?" Carina asked, knowing something was really wrong based on the tears that were rolling down her girlfriend's cheeks.
"I…I…I don't think I can," Maya said, voice shaking as her teeth chattered.
"Do I need to call 911?" Carina asked, worriedly.
"No," Maya said adamantly, "Just need to sit for a minute."
"Ok," Carina said, not sure that was the best plan, but hoping maybe Maya would be thinking straighter once some of the pain receded.
Carina kept a careful eye on her girlfriend, putting a comforting hand on her leg as Maya breathed through the pain. "
Ok," Maya said, "I'm ok. Let's get back to our movie."
"Bambina, the only place you are going is to the ER," Carina said, eyes wide, "You need to get your arms looked at."
"I just tripped and hit them weird," Maya shrugged, pain shooting through her as she did so.
"You cannot even more your shoulders up and down without being in pain," Carina said, "Either I can take you to the ER myself of I will call the station and tell them to come get you."
"You," Maya said, knowing deep down that Carina was right.
"Ok," Carina said, "I am going to help you stand up. Try not to move your arms."
Maya nodded, Carina pulling her up carefully, Maya still yelping in pain more than once.
"Sit here for a minute," Carina said, sitting Maya at the kitchen table, "I will be right back."
Maya nodded, head still swimming, her entire body covered in a cold sweat.
"Ok," Carina said, coming back with Maya's purse, "Are you ready to go?"
Maya nodded, slowly standing up, wavering a little.
"Ok," Carina said, wrapping her arm around her girlfriend's waist, "Just go slow and tell me if you need to stop."
Maya nodded, trying to keep her vision clear as she walked.
"We are going to take the elevator," Carina said, not even asking.
Maya nodded, using one are to support the other. They got on the elevator, Maya wincing as the elevator jolted a little as it started and again when it stopped.
"Are you alright?" Carina asked as they stepped out, seeing how pale her girlfriend was.
"Can we stop for a second?" Maya asked, struggling to keep her vision clear.
Carina nodded, just letting Maya lean against her for a minute before they continued. Carina helped Maya into the car, not even bothering with the seatbelt, knowing the blonde was in enough pain without trying to move her arms around a seatbelt.
The drive to the hospital took 3 minutes, but every bump on the way made Maya gasp a little.
"You alright?" Carina asked as they pulled in.
"Feel sick again," Maya said, trying hard not to throw up in the car.
"Hang on," Carina said, to Maya's side of the car in a flash, opening her door and helping her out, the blonde vomiting all over the ground.
"It's ok," Carina said, wincing a little, "Let it out."
Once Maya was done, Carina guided her into the hospital. Luckily, as they walked in, Dr. Bailey was walking by.
"Dr. Deluca," she said, confused, "Didn't you just get off."
"Si," Carina nodded as Bailey looked at Maya.
"Captain Bishop," Bailey said, immediately guiding them to an exam room, "What happened? I thought A shift was off today."
"This is not a firefighting accident," Carina said, shaking her head, "She fell while running and hurt her arms."
"Ok," Dr. Bailey said, "I am going to get a nurse in here to help and page Dr. Lincoln because there is clearly something orthopedic here. Let's get your shirt off and get you into a gown."
"That's not happening," Maya said, shaking her head, "I can't get my shirt off."
"Can you please get some trauma shears and a gown and page Dr. Lincoln?" Bailey said as the nurse walked in.
Maya was shaking and her teeth were chattering as Carina helped her lean back against the bed.
"Can we get her something for the pain?" Carina asked, rubbing Maya's back gently, "It has to be intravenous though."
"Has she been throwing up?" Bailey asked, working on Maya's chart.
"Si," Carina nodded, "From pain I think."
"Yeah," Maya nodded, "And my vision is spotty."
"It's probably just shock," Bailey said, "We will get you something for the pain, but I need to see your injuries before we can decide on the best place to put a line."
Maya nodded as the nurse came back in with the trauma shears.
"Dr. Lincoln is on his way," she said, "Where do we need the shears?"
"Shirt," Bailey said, still tapping on the table, periodically asking Carina questions.
"Alright," the nurse said, going to Maya, "I am going to start with your arms."
"Please be careful," Carina said, keeping a supporting arm on Maya's back, "I think they are both broken."
The nurse nodded, carefully cutting away the fabric of Maya's shirt, Carina gasping a little when she saw how swollen Maya's right arm was from her wrist to her elbow. The nurse moved on to the other arm, this one swollen from her wrist to her shoulder.
"Oh Bambina," Carina said, grabbing an emesis bag as Maya started gagging.
"Can I just skip the gown?" Maya asked, her entire body shivering as she finished throwing up, "I don't want to move my arms."
"We can just do a blanket," Carina nodded, looking at the nurse for confirmation.
"Sounds good," the nurse nodded, "I'll go get you one."
Just then, Link walked in.
"Maya, Carina," he said, washing his hands, "Not exactly how I was hoping to see you two. What happened?"
"I was running, I tripped, and landed bad on both arms," Maya said as he walked over, looking at her arms, "And then I slipped in our kitchen and tried to catch myself and it all got way worse."
"Yikes," Link said, gently touching Maya's arms, trying not to manipulate them more than he had to, the nurse coming in with a blanket, handing it to Carina for when Link was done, "Well, I want to grab a few x-rays, but I am fairly confident you have at least one break, maybe more, in each arm based on the swelling and pain. I will put in the order and come back once the scans are done. Jen, let's get an IV going. Try her hand, at least for now. If she needs surgery, we will move it later."
"Surgery?" Maya said, shivering a little.
"If the breaks are displaced, I will have to go in and surgically repair them with plates and screws," Link explained, "It will be fine."
Maya nodded, struggling to concentrate over the pain.
"Just relax Bambina," Carina said, helping Maya lean back before draping the blanket over her, the nurse having left to get an IV kit.
"I will come back when the x-rays are done and we will talk about what is going to happen," Link said, "For now, Jen is going to get you some morphine and then get you up to x-ray."
"Thanks," Maya nodded.
Just then, Jen came back with the IV kit.
"Can you move either hand at all?" she asked, setting everything down on the tray.
"Maybe the right one a little," Maya said, moving it, Carina grabbing a pillow and putting it under her arm for support.
"Perfect," Jen said, "This might hurt a little, but just relax."
Carina went around to the other side of Maya, putting a hand on her thigh, "Just look at me Bambina."
Jen got the IV in in one stick, taping it down.
"I am going to get some fluids going and get some pain meds too," Jen said, attaching the tubing.
"You doing ok Bambina?" Carina asked, seeing Maya was looking very pale again.
Maya shook her head and Carina had an emesis bag in front of her in record time.
"Can we get her something for nausea too?" Carina asked as Maya threw up.
"Already grabbed some," the nurse nodded, drawing up some morphine and Zofran.
Once Maya's stomach calmed back down, she leaned back against the bed, the meds already starting to kick in.
"Let me know if you need anything else," Jen said, checking Maya's vitals, happy her heartrate was coming down as the pain ebbed, "I will be back when x-ray is ready."
"Thank you," Carina said, nodding as she looked at Maya who was looking much more relaxed with the meds, "How are you feeling?"
"Still hurts," Maya said, teeth still chattering some, "But not quite as bad."
"Good," Carina said, running her fingers through Maya's hair.
"I really did something bad didn't I?" Maya said, looking at her girlfriend.
"Well, I don't know about the arms," Carina said, "But not telling me, yes, that was bad."
"Sorry," Maya said, looking down, "I thought maybe I sprained them or something."
"You still should have told me," Carina said, "But we will talk about that later. You just relax."
"Can I have something to rinse my mouth?" Maya asked.
"I have some gum," Carina said, "But I can go run up to my office and grab some mouth wash, but nothing else until Link decides if you need surgery."
"Can I have some gum?" Maya asked, her mouth just tasting terrible.
"Sure," Carina nodded, opening a piece of gum and sticking it in Maya's mouth, "This is going to be our life for the next few weeks."
"What?" Maya said, confused.
"Me feeding you," Carina said, looking at her, "And taking care of other things for you too. Good think we put in the bidet."
"Hopefully this arm will only be on my lower arm," Maya said.
"We will see," Carina said, nodding. Within the next hour, Maya had x-rays done and Link was back.
"Ok, so good news," he said, pulling up the x-rays, "You do not need surgery on any of these breaks."
"What's the bad news?" Maya asked, having just had fresh pain meds so she was felling really good now.
"You broke 4 bones," Link said, showing Maya and Carina the x-rays, "You broke your right and left radius, your right ulna, and it looks like you had a small bone cyst in your left humerus which caused a break there too."
"All from falling?" Maya said in disbelief.
"Unfortunately," Link nodded, "You are going to be in double arm casts for the next six to eight weeks. I can't put you in hard casts until some of this swelling does down so we are going to get you going on a strict regimen of anti-inflammatories for the next three days, put you in soft casts, and then have you come back to get some harder casts in a few days. The extra pain from the slip in the kitchen was probably just from you agitating everything, although you could have broken some of the bones while running and then a different one when you fell the second time."
"Full or half arm on the right?" Carina asked.
"Above the elbow unfortunately," Link said, "The ulna break is too close to the elbow joint."
"So I can't do anything for the next two months?" Maya said, looking at Link.
"Not a lot, no," he said, shaking his head, "I'm sorry Maya."
"Bambina, we will make it work," Carina reassured her.
"I will be back with supplies to get you splinted in a few minutes," Link said, leaving.
"I'm so sorry," Maya said, looking at Carina with tears in her eyes.
"Hey," Carina said, shaking her head, "Hey, no. You fell. It happens."
"I should have told you earlier," Maya said, tears running down her cheeks, "I should have been more careful…I…I…"
"Hey," Carina said, getting Maya to focus on her, hoping to avoid a panic attack, "Hey, it is ok. You tripped. It happens. And apparently you had really bad luck, but you will be fine. Your bones will heal, and it will be ok."
"I have to call my boss," Maya said, eyes starting to dart again, "And tell my team and…I'm not going to be able to work at all for the next two months. I'm not even going to be able to hold a fucking pen."
"Bambina," Carina said, drawing Maya back to her, "Hey, you do not work tomorrow, and it is already 8 pm, so why don't we wait to call your boss until tomorrow. I can text your team if you want, or we can call Andy or Vic."
"Can you call Vic?" Maya said, knowing Andy and Sullivan were away for a few days on a couple's getaway.
"Of course," Carina said, grabbing her phone and calling the younger firefighter.
"Hello?" Vic said, answering.
"Hello Vic," Carina said.
"Hey Vic," Maya said.
"What up?" Vic asked, Travis giving her a look as she brushed him off.
"So I had a little bit of an accident," Maya said, "I fell while running and broke four bones in my arms." "What?" Vic said, "You did what?"
"You heard me," Maya said, "So I am going to be out of work for the next couple of months."
"Four bones, Maya?" Vic said, earning her a look from Travis, "Can I put you on speaker with Trav?"
"Yeah," Maya said. "Hey Cap," Travis said, "What happened?"
"I broke my arms running," Maya said, laughing a little at how crazy it sounded, "I tripped and landed very wrong."
"You broke 4 bone?" Travis said, connecting the dots.
"Yeah," Maya said, "Can you guys let the rest of the station know? Or at least A shift? I'll send an email tomorrow."
"And by that, she means she will dictate an email to me to send," Carina said, "Because she cannot type for the next two months."
"I'll let everyone know," Vic said, "And let us know what we can do."
"Thanks," Maya said, "I will. Oh, Link just walked in to get my arms splinted so I need to go."
"Bye guys," Travis called.
"Feel better," Vic said, "We'll stop by tomorrow."
"Bye," Maya and Carina said as they hung up.
"Sorry," Maya said, looking at Link, "I needed to let my team know what's going on."
"Of course," Link nodded as he and the nurse got to work.
Maya ended up with a full arm splint on her left and one on her right that went from her wrist to her mid-upper arm.
"I am going to send you home with some heavy pain meds," Link said, "And I also want you to take Tylenol every eight hours to help with the swelling, and if you stop taking the meds I prescribed, I want you taking Advil every 6 hours."
"I will make sure," Carina nodded, knowing Maya was starting to fade fast from the meds and the pain she had been in, "Should we be icing?"
"Yes," Link nodded, "As much as possible. I will see you in three days to get hard casts on. If you need anything, either medically or just in general, let me know."
"Grazie Link," Carina nodded, realizing they were going to have to figure something out for Maya to wear home.
"I can go grab something for you to wear," Jen said, having come back in to get Maya discharged, basically reading Carina's mind.
"Grazie," Carina nodded, looking at Maya who looked like she was about to cry, "Oh, Bambina, what's wrong?"
"I don't know," Maya said, sniffling.
"It's a lot," Carina said, kissing Maya's forehead, "It is going to be ok."
Maya just leaned on Carina's shoulder until Jen came back.
"This should work," she said, bringing in a large t-shirt, "It's from a 5K the hospital had a few years ago."
Carina helped Maya into the t-shirt that was about three sized too big, but Maya only got her right arm through, choosing to keep her left one just inside the shirt.
"Alright," Jen said, "Here are the discharge papers. WE have you scheduled for an appointment at 3 pm in three days for a follow up."
"Thank you," Carina said, helping Maya up, the blonde looking absolutely wrecked.
They got back to the car, Carina helping Maya in before she got in herself.
"Do you need anything before we go home?" Carina asked, looking over at Maya.
"No," Maya said, "I just want to sleep."
"Ok," Carina said, glad she had been able to get Maya's prescription in the hospital so they didn't have to stop.
They got home, Carina guiding Maya to the elevator, the blonde not even protesting a little, something that told Carina just how bad she was feeling.
They got back to their place, Maya going straight for the bedroom while Carina went into the kitchen, grabbing some water and Tylenol for Maya.
"Carina," she heard from their room, immediately going to see what Maya needed.
"What is it Bambina?" Carina asked, finding the blonde in the bathroom.
"Can you help me brush my teeth?" Maya said, tears filling her eyes.
"Of course Bambina," Carina nodded, picking up her girlfriend's toothbrush.
"I feel like a toddler," Maya said, sniffling, "I have seen Amelia do this to Scout."
"It is only temporary," Carina said, brushing Maya's teeth, "And I don't mind."
Once Carina was done, Maya asked for some privacy to use the bathroom, grateful that Carina had put a bidet in a few weeks ago. Initially, Maya hated the thing, but it was the only way she could keep any dignity in this situation.
Once she was done, she went into the bedroom, finding that Carina had taken out pajamas for her.
"Can I sleep with no shirt?" Maya asked, not wanting the hassle.
"Of course," Carina nodded, "I can help you change your pants."
Maya nodded, just letting Carina do all of it without even trying to help because she was not feeling good.
"Ok," Carina said once Maya had pajama pants on, "Now, I have an alarm set for your next dose of heavy pain meds, but let's get some Tylenol in you and then you can sleep."
Maya nodded, letting Carina put the two pills in her mouth before putting a straw to her lips for the blonde to drink.
"How am I ever going to be able to be alone for the next two months?" Maya said, groaning, "I can't even feed myself."
"We will figure it out," Carina reassured her, helping her into bed, "But for tonight, we just have to figure out sleep."
Maya went to lay down only to have both her arms hurt like crazy.
"What's wrong?" Carina asked as Maya sat up, the blonde eternally grateful for her solid abs to help her sit.
"It hurts to lay down," Maya said, tears of frustration starting again.
"Let me go get some pillows," Carina said, "I bet it we prop them up, it will feel better."
"I'm going to have to sleep on my back," Maya sighed, typically sleeping on her stomach, "This is going to suck."
"I know," Carina said, tucking pillows on both sides of Maya, "But only until the bad pain goes away, and then I bet we can figure out how to get you sleeping on your stomach again."
Maya nodded as Carina leaned over, giving her a gently kiss.
"Now, wake me up if you need anything tonight," Carina said, brushing a piece of blonde hair off Maya's face, "And I will wake you for meds."
"Thank you," Maya said, wishing she could cuddle with Carina, but the two giant splints making that impossible.
It was like Carina could read her mind as the brunette moved closer to the blonde, just running her fingers through her hair until Maya finally gave into the sleep her body needed after everything that had happened.
The night was rough, Maya only sleeping for hour long increments before she was woken up by pain or discomfort. Carina gave her her next dose of heavy pain meds around 1 am which knocked her out for like two hours, but after that, Maya couldn't sleep at all.
She carefully got out of bed, going into the living room so she didn't bother Carina with her restlessness. She tried to get herself into a comfortable position on the couch, but it was hard as her arms ached no matter how she moved.
She broke down after an hour of trying to get comfortable and failing, just sobbing on the couch. Carina noticed she was alone in bed around that time and came out to find her girlfriend.
"Oh, Bambina," Carina said, finding Maya on the couch, "What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep and I am hurting and I just want it to stop," Maya sobbed as Carina sat down, pulling her close, "And I just keep thinking that if I had told you earlier maybe I wouldn't have so many broken bones and I'm sorry."
"Oh Bambina,," Carina said, making sure she was supporting Maya's arms with pillows before holding her tightly, "I know this is so hard, but it will get better. And stop blaming yourself. There is no good that will come from that now."
Maya cried for a while before the tears turned to sniffles and then stopped all together.
"Do you want to go back to bed?" Carina asked, still playing with Maya's hair.
"You should," Maya mumbled, "I'm going to stay out here. You should be sleeping."
"Come on," Carina said, standing up, "I have an idea."
They went back to the bedroom, Carina getting into Maya's side of the bed.
"Come here," Carina gestured to the space between her legs.
"You aren't going to be comfortable," Maya said, shaking her head.
"I will be fine," Carina said, "Now, come here."
Maya got into bed, Carina helping her to settle against her chest, sliding them down so they were both lying down for the most part, tucking pillows around for Maya's arms.
"Comfortable?" Carina asked, kissing Maya's temple.
"Are you?" Maya asked, nodding a little.
"Si," Carina said, surprised at how comfortable she actually was, "Now, sleep."
Maya did as she was told, finally feeling somewhat relaxed despite the pain thumping in her arms.
Shockingly, they both managed to sleep for three hours which is when the alarm for Maya's next round of pain meds went off. After that, they slept for another couple of hours before waking up for the day.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Carina asked, running her hands through Maya's hair.
"I don't know," Maya said, "I'm not that hungry. Maybe just some toast or something?"
"Ok," Carina said, "Are you good if I get up now?"
Maya nodded as Carina helped her sit up, "I want to get up too."
They got up, Carina going into the kitchen while Maya went and got comfortable on the couch.
"Vic texted," Carina said as she spread some peanut butter on Maya's toast, "She wants to know if she and Travis can stop by."
"Yeah," Maya said, "I need to put a shirt on, but that's fine."
"She said they'll come and bring lunch," Carina said, "Around 1?"
"Sounds good," Maya nodded as Carina brought the plate to her, helping her eat it.
The rest of the morning was relaxed, Carina helping Maya call her boss, letting him know what had happened. They worked it out so Jack and Andy would rotate through as captain with supervision from the battalion chief until Maya was back to work.
Maya also dictated an email to Carina to send out to the station letting them know what was going on.
Maya then took more pain meds about two hours before Vic and Travis got there, passing out from it after Carina helped her get a shirt on.
When she woke up, she heard voices from the living room.
"Hey," she said, walking out of the bedroom to find her friends sitting there with Carina.
"Woah," Travis said, jaw dropping when he saw the splints on Maya's arms, "Carina said two full arm casts, but I didn't think…"
"They would cover my full arms?" Maya said, Carina moving to help her get comfortable on the couch.
"How are you feeling?" Vic asked.
"Like my arms are really broken," Maya sighed, "I'll be ok."
"I can't believe you did that from falling," Travis said, shaking his head, "I have literally seen you jump out of a building that was exploding and come away with only a few bruises."
"What?" Carina said, looking at her girlfriend.
"It was before we were dating," Maya reassured her, "Before I was even a lieutenant, actually. Jack, Andy, Captain Herrera, and I got stuck in a building, and long story short, we had to jump out of like the 5th floor onto a bag. It was fine."
Carina didn't seem convinced but also didn't' ask for more details.
"We brought soup and sandwiches," Vic said, steering the conversation away from how dangerous their jobs were, "We weren't sure how hungry you would be."
"Thanks," Maya said as Vic and Travis pulled everything out while Carina went to get silverware.
"Wait, how do you eat?" Vic said, looking at Maya, realizing there was no way Maya was going to get her hands near her mouth.
"That would be me," Carina said, sitting down next to Maya.
"You have to be fed?" Travis said, looking at their captain.
"It is not a big deal," Carina said hoping he would shut up and not make Maya more self-conscious than she already was.
Luckily, Travis got the memo and instead worked on helping pass out food. Lunch was nice, Carina helping Maya eat some soup, the blonde still not feeling super great from all the pain.
Vic and Travis stayed for a little while, just talking with Maya and Carina, until Vic noticed Maya was starting to look off. Vic was pretty sure it was pain, but she wasn't sure. However, she knew Maya wouldn't cop to anything in front of them so she decided it was time for them to go.
"We are going to head out," Vic said, looking at Travis who had noticed the same look on Maya's face and quickly agreed.
"Thanks for stopping by," Carina said, letting them out.
"Thanks guys," Maya called, sighing as the door was closed.
"Ok, how bad is the pain right now?" Carina asked because unlike Vic and Travis, she knew exactly how to read the microexpressions on Maya's face.
"Pretty bad," Maya said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ok," Carina said, helping her up, "Let's get into bed. It's too early for more of the prescription pain meds, but you can have Tylenol and maybe we can get you relaxed a little."
Maya followed Carina into the bedroom, the two of them getting adjusted in bed after Carina gave Maya the pills.
"Just relax," Carina said, kissing Maya's temple, "I am right here, and in an hour, you can have more of the good pain killers."
"Thank you for taking care of me," Maya said.
"You do not need to thank me Bambina," Carina said, shaking her head, "I want to be here for you."
"I love you," Maya said, letting her eyes start to close, "And I promise, I won't keep my injuries from you anymore."
"I appreciate that Bambina," Carina said, running her hands through Maya's hair, "Now, how would you feel about listening to some music?"
Maya nodded, letting herself get lost in the tempos and musicality of the Italian music she had grown to love so much, along with everything else Carina brought into her life in the past year and a half.
It was then that Maya remembered something else Carina had taught her, and she turned her head, capturing her girlfriend's lips on her own, helping to ease her pain a little bit.
"Using my research to help with the pain?" Carina asked, smiling as Maya pulled away.
"Maybe," Maya said, shrugging, "I am always trying to remember the things you tell me."
Carina just laughed a little, giving Maya another kiss.
What did you think? Also, this is my 100th story on this platform and also the 9 year anniversary of me starting to write fanfiction. That is insane to me. I hope you liked it, and as always, prompts are always accepted!
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