We'll Get Through This

Part 14

The next time Maya woke up, she was alone in bed and absolutely freezing. She went to take a drink of her water only to find that drinking made her feel like she had swallowed fire. It took everything in her not to spit it back out. She pulled the blankets closer around her shivering frame, thinking she should probably go check on the twins and Carina but also feeling too awful to move. She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually, she heard someone coming into the room. She looked at the door to see Carina standing there.

"You're awake," the Italian said, walking over to the bed, "How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Maya said, sighing a little as Carina put her cool hand on her aching forehead. "You are so warm Bambina," Carina frowned, "You probably should take something to help with the fever."

"Hurts to swallow," Maya said, shaking her head.

"Can you open your mouth for me?" Carina asked, stroking Maya's forehead.

The blonde complied, Carina frowning as she saw the tell-tale sores in Maya's mouth and heading down her throat.

"You caught what the bambine have for sure," Carina sighed as Maya closed her mouth, "Are your hands or feet itchy?"

"No," Maya said, rubbing her eyes, "I thought Hand Foot and Mouth didn't itch."

"It doesn't in kids," Carina said, "But it often does in adults."

"How are the twins?" Maya asked, sitting up suddenly, "I need to go check on them."

"Relax Maya," Carina said, shaking her head, "They are downstairs with Travis, curled up on the couch watching Bug's Life. He got both of them to eat a frozen yogurt tube and they have been sleeping on and off all day. Rowan's rash is spreading some and her hands and feet are both not looking great. Nora doesn't have the rash yet, but I'm sure she will in the next day or so."

"How are you feeling?" Maya asked, "You probably should stay away from all of us."

"I am still feeling ok," Carina said, "My surgical site is a little itchy but that just means it is healing well, and I am still not taking anything for pain."

"Good," Maya said, smiling at her, "I'm glad you are doing ok. Sorry I'm not taking care of you like I should be."

"Bambina, hey, no," Carina said, shaking her head, "You do not have to take care of me. I can do a lot more for myself than I could even just five days ago, but you need to also be taking care of yourself, si? You have not been doing that very well recently and I have not been keeping as close an eye on it as I should, but Bambina, you cannot run yourself like this. You need to be sleeping and eating properly and taking care of yourself too. You promised me that you would take care of yourself."

"I know," Maya said, tears welling up in her eyes, "I know. I...I'm sorry. I just...I want to make sure you are ok and that the girls are ok and I just..."

Maya just started crying, Carina wanting nothing more than to pull her into a hug and hold her tightly, but she knew that wasn't a good idea so instead she just rubbed Maya's back, just letting her get out some of the emotions Carina knew Maya had been holding in and pushing down. The tears eventually slowed down and stopped all together.

"Bambina, do you want to talk about it?" Carina said quietly, continuing to rub her back.

The Italian sat there for a minute, waiting for an answer before realizing her wife had cried herself to sleep.

Every single fiber in Carina's being wanted to crawl into bed with Maya and hold her and promise her that everything was going to be ok because even though she was the one recovering from surgery, she could tell that this was taking a big toll on her wife. She knew that anything that was out of Maya's control tended to stress her out, and she had gotten a lot better at that over the past several years, but she also knew this was making Maya feel more out of control than maybe anything else. Carina felt out of control herself, and she had a much better knowledge about all of it than Maya did. She also knew that Maya was always wanted to do absolutely everything she could to protect her family, something that stemmed from how little she was actually protected as a kid.