We'll Get Through This

Part 18

The following Friday, Carina was excited to be doing her twentieth treatment, officially making the halfway point in her radiation treatment. That morning had been just like any other. Maya had an early meeting so Carina took the twins to daycare by herself before going to work.

She was excited because both she and Maya were off for the entire weekend, something that didn't happen often, and they had plans to take the twins to the park for a playdate with Harper and Scout Saturday morning. They then had a party with Maya's old team on Saturday afternoon for Luca's birthday.

Carina had been a little more tired than before this week, but it still wasn't too bad. She was going to bed earlier than normal most nights, and that was helping.

Carina worked for the morning, Maya showing up at 11:45 just like always to walk her to radiation. She also brought lunch with her from Carina's favorite Chinese place that they are together after Carina's treatment before they both had to get back to work.

Carina didn't have any patients right away so she sat down at her desk, working on her charting, when all of a sudden, her stomach started hurting. She went and used the bathroom, finding that her stomach was quite upset. However, she hoped it would just go away, that maybe she had just eaten something that upset her stomach or something.

As the day went on though, her stomach wouldn't settle. She actually had to leave a patient's appointment to avoid having an accident because her stomach was feeling so sick. She went into her desk drawer after that, pulling out the bottle of Imodium Dr. Cho had recommended she keep on hand just in case this started happening, taking a pill, and hoping it would calm her stomach down.

On top of that, as the afternoon wore on, she was feeling more and more exhausted, struggling just to keep her eyes open as she talked to a patient. She went back to her office at 2 pm after asking her nurse to cancel the rest of her appointments for the day because there was no way she could work.

She knew that radiation could make people tired, but this literally felt worse when the twins were newborns and she wasn't sleeping at all because of her post-partum anxiety. She sat down on her couch, grabbing her phone.

She debated calling her wife, but she decided to just take a nap on her couch and then drive home once she was a bit more rested. She set her phone down, closing her eyes and falling asleep almost immediately. S

he had no idea how long she slept for, but the next thing she knew, she felt a gentle hand on her forehead.

"What?" she said, opening her eyes, finding her wife standing in front of her, "How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"A little birdy called me and told me my wife canceled her afternoon patients and was not looking well," Maya said, raising an eyebrow, "Why didn't you call me?"

"Was it Cindy?" Carina asked as she sat up, knowing the nurse had been working today.

"Yes," Maya said as Carina leaned on her heavily, "Are you ok?"

"My stomach isn't feeling very well today," Carina said, "Though I took some Imodium at 2, and it has been better since so hopefully that helps. And I'm so tired. It's like it is all hitting me at once."

"I'm sorry babe," Maya sighed, rubbing her back, "Are you ready to go home?"

"Si," Carina nodded, "I was going to call you and tell you, but then I sat down and just couldn't keep my eyes open."

"Well, let me get you home and into bed," Maya said, "You can sleep the rest of the day, ok?"

Carina nodded, yawning a little as Maya stood up before helping her wife stand also.