Carina walked into the station doors, seeing Ben at the front desk. "Ciao Ben." She greeted, smiling slightly.
"Hey, Carina. Looking for Maya?" Ben asked knowingly. "Si. Where is she?" The woman replied.
"Think she hit the showers earlier. Uh, she hasn't been herself today. Or for a while." The firefighter said.
"I know." Carina sighed, turning and walking off towards the showers.
As Carina approached the showers, she frowned when she heard a familiar noise. Crying. But not just anyone's crying. It was Maya crying.
She quickly set her bag down and opened the door to the showers. "Maya?" Carina asked, seeing the silhouette of her through the shower curtain.
Carina opened the curtain, and her heart broke right then and there. Maya was sitting on the shower floor, knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing into her hands.
"Bambina." Carina breathed, kneeling down next to Maya, feeling the water pelt down onto her back.
Maya picked her head up and made eye contact with her for a moment, and then just began crying even harder.
"It's okay, Maya. You're okay. I'm right here." Carina said, moving to take her wife into her arms.
Maya allowed herself to cry in Carina's arms, and it seemed like she sat there for hours.
Maya pulled away a little bit later, and her teary blue eyes looked up at Carina. "I'm sorry. For everything. I've been a bad wife and I'm-Im failing at everything."
"Hey, no. Don't say that about yourself, Maya. You're not in a good place, bella, and that's okay. Let me help you. Let me take you home." Carina pleased softly.
"I'm just so tired of everything," The firefighter whispered, "The clouds are starting to come back and I can't get rid of them."
"Oh, Maya," Carina breathed, her heart twisting painfully in her chest. Hearing that the clouds were back for Maya ignited a fear in her chest, but she had to stay calm for Maya.
"I need help." Maya admitted, bursting into tears once again. It was like the floodgates were opened, and she couldn't stop the tears from coming. All of the emotions and pain she bottled up in the past few months came rushing out.
"Okay, Maya. Okay," Carina soothed, taking Maya's cheeks and forcing the blonde to make eye contact with her, "Is it okay if I call Diane right now?" She asked.
Maya nodded silently. It was hard for her. To accept help. But she knew she needed it if she wanted to survive.
Carina stepped away out of earshot, but close enough to keep an eye on Maya and quickly dialed Diane's number.
"Carina?" Diane asked, concern evident in her tone at the random call. "Hello, Diane." Carina replied. "What's going on? Are you okay?" The therapist questioned.
Carina sighed. "Maya needs help. I found her crying on the floor of the showers at the station today and she's....she's not well. I don't know if she told you, but she said the clouds are back and said she needed help."
"She told you the clouds were back?" Diane asked, standing up and gathering her purse. "Si. She said it was okay to call you. Can you come and help me figure out what to do?"
"Of course. I'll be there in 15 minutes. Keep an eye on her, okay?" Diane said. "I will. Thank you."
•••
Diane arrived at the station and swiftly made her way into the bunk area, where she immediately spotted Carina sitting on the bed next to Maya, who was laying on the bed.
"Hi, Maya. Is it okay if we talk?" Diane asked, seeing the empty look in the woman's eyes.
"Yeah." Maya replied with a sigh.
