Are You Sure? (Marina)

Fifty-Eight.

Carina

Gabriella was never a discrete person, she always said what was on her mind and passive agressive had never been part of her repertoire. It was why I avoided her eyes at all costs, to avoid her catching the truth my eyes while we helped her move the items that finally arrived allowing her to officially move into her new home.

She had stayed with us for 3 weeks and Maya was very grateful she was out of the apartment, their dynamic is definitely water and oil. Maya was the queen of avoidance and Gabriella was always there with a stick to jab until she got answers.

Adrien was busy moving the heavy things with the movers she hired while I organized the things in the boxes. All to avoid the exacerbating the pain, and as much as Amelia said Ibuprofen was okay, it did nothing for my pain. Ultimately I decided to just avoid the unnecessary strain on my kidneys.

Gabriella was watching me like a hawk, out of the corner of my eye I saw her watching my leg and I tried with everything to not show it was bothering me after being on my feet for almost 5 hours. Even the ocean of distance didn't keep Gabri from seeing when something was wrong with me.

It's not like she didn't know, I just had been downplaying how much it had been affecting me. Once all the heavy furniture she ordered was setup I tasked Adrien with distracting her while I went to the mall to get Maya her second birthday gift.

I'd been thinking about this for days since Maya had cracked her watch on a call she was on a week ago. Water somehow had gotten inside and almost started it's own fire because it sparked up from the contact with water.

Safe to say within seconds of that story it was in the trash. She knew better than to argue.

The unfortunate event allowed me the chance to get her a new one for her birthday. Which meant I had to suffer through all the technological jargon related to the difference in watches and their software. I'd rather read an entire medical journal on heart disease, it's why I never bothered to get a new phone since I moved here.

He explained all the advantages of one over the other: the increased depth feature, new heart monitoring features, it could even detect falls. Sold.

Everything was coming together as I limped back to the car. It seemed every inch of progress I had gained was slowly relapsing and it was disheartening, it's why I couldn't tell Maya. We'd just gotten to a place where she wouldn't stare at me everytime I walked in the door or ran to get a hot pack every time I shifted in my seat. I loved her, but I didn't want to feel like a patient with her.

According to Amelia, there was scar tissue building up and hugging the nerve in my latest MRI. Scar tissue was the enemy of a surgeon, the more you cut the more it forms. Seems hyperbolic, the more I try to run from my problems the harder they seem to find me.

With the new information she recommended I start up physical therapy again while she looked into options with a pain management specialist friend she worked with. I was very much not looking forward to seeing Wren again, but for now that's all I could do.

The pain was as of now a given, step: pain, stand: pain, cold: pain. I just tried not to let my thoughts on it linger too long or I'd find myself down another thought train.

When I got back to Gabri's, the pair was messing around with the kitchen things. It was weird seeing my friend this giddy about a single person. She always found excuses to touch him and be close to him.

We eventually sent Adrien out for food so we can talk for a little while before we both had to head back to Seattle. The minute he left I took advantage, "You like him." I poked at her arm and she waved me off.