You made walking easy

The Talk

CARINA POV

Today was the day I was going to meet Maya in public for a coffee, I was already at the Cafe and removed one chair so she could wheel in. I was starting to wonder how she got into a wheelchair. I ordered my first coffee and waited for any glimpse of the blonde in the wheelchair but I couldn't see her.

Half an hour went by and I still couldn't see her, maybe I've done something wrong. Have I made her uncomfortable. I decided to send her a message.

* Hi, are you okay? I just wanted to check if you're still meeting me for coffee*. It was a short but sweet message; I hope I get a reply.

another 15 minutes went by, I pulled my chair back to leave while looking at my phone. Damn I just walked into something, I should really stop walking while on the phone. "Hi uh.. is walking into me a thing now? ". I looked down and instantly recognised her, I'm so glad she turned up. "I am so sorry; I should really stop going on my phone while walking" I said. "Yeah maybe don't do that, I'm starting to feel like a walking.. no uh rolling target around you" she replied with a small laugh.

Yet again we just talked and talked, being around her made me happy. I think I haven't smiled this long for a while; it feels like this smile has taken residence on my face. After the third drink, the conversations became a little more serious as she talked a little about her dad.

"So, I used to run competitively. I used to love running, it was the first sport I fell in love with. At first, it felt like a way of bonding with my dad, going to the track meets and training filled my weekends and it was fun. By the age of 12, the training became a daily thing, straight after school every day, before long my dad started controlling what I ate. I uh remember one day when I was about 15, I didn't beat my best time on my 100m so my dad made me walk home, it was only 10 miles so it wasn't too bad ". She spoke so casually about her dad and how he started to control her life. He certainly wasn't a nice person.

After a few hours, the cafe started to close. We got so lost in our conversations that we didn't recognise that time had gone by.. or rather how much time. We met at lunch and now the sun was beginning to set. I didn't want this to be over but I didn't want to push her to spend time with me. She's hard to read.

"So, uh-I have really enjoyed this... I don't really want this to end. Maybe we could do this again this weekend coming. I'm working tomorrow until Friday so if you're free maybe we could get food?". I decided I'd just ask. She instantly replied "I don't want this to end either, do you want to come back to mine and we can carry on talking? I'm free this weekend too so we definitely should plan something". We shared a small smile as we left the cafe.

-

I asked Maya if she wanted to get a taxi but she seemed really uncomfortable so I dropped it. It took about 10 minutes to walk to Maya's apartment and the conversation never stopped. She was making fun of me for not understanding the saying 'You're a good egg'. I mean how am I meant to know that I shouldn't take that literally. "No Carina, it just means you're a good person, like I can trust you and talk to you.. it literally has nothing to do with eggs".. "Well why does it say egg in the saying.. it's so stupid". I huffed while turning to see her grinning up at me.

Entering her apartment, it wasn't quite what I expected. There wasn't many pictures around or really anything that made it feel like home. Hell, she didn't even have a coffee machine.. who is she? She allowed me to walk around the apartment and ask questions about the decorations or lack thereof. "So, the reason you don't have any real food in your fridge is because you only drink blended fruit and veg, that's just wrong" I exclaimed while looking in her fridge.. I don't even know why I opened it. "Hey, I can't help that! I just find it easy to blend everything I need together and drink it. It's all healthy anyway so it doesn't matter how I consume it " she replied.

I finally settled on the couch and saw her lock the breaks on her wheelchair and transfer next to me on the couch. "So how did you get into the wheelchair? ", I asked quite bashfully.

MAYA POV

She asked that one question I have been putting off answering. I haven't really talked about it; it just reminds me of how long I've been wheeling around and how long I haven't been able to recognise me.

"I guess I'll explain. I-uh ran into a fire to help Andy, you know the one you met the other day. It wasn't a massive fire but the area she was in started to collapse and I couldn't communicate with her through the radio so I decided to run in. I handed over my responsibilities to Jack, a lieutenant on my team and took off. I called her name several times and she finally answered me. We heard some creaking and instantly knew that within a minute the building would collapse. We both ran and ran and suddenly everything went black.

I woke up a few days later in a bed, somewhere I instantly recognised. I was in hospital, all alone. No one from my team were there when I woke up. After a while I was told that a steel beam had somehow swung down and a massive screw had been pushed into my lower back against my spine. I couldn't believe it; I mean I'm captain Bishop.. I don't get injured." I know she could see me getting emotional, I carried on.

"So eventually I was given a wheelchair and told that there was quite a small chance I'd ever walk again. All because I wanted to save someone who won't even look at me". I finished my story and looked up to see Carina with a blank look and glassy eyes. "I'm so sorry if that upset you, I know it's hard for me but I-I didn't think it would upset you, I'm sorry", I instantly rushed out.

Suddenly I was engulfed in a hug, I haven't been hugged since I was probably 22 when I last saw my mom, this was such a new feeling. I didn't know how to hug back, but she stayed there and after a while I clung on like a koala. It was nice to be held.