She wasn't sick. Really, Maya was 100% fine and not coming down with the virus Dean had brought to the station last week courtesy of his 4-month-old daughter's daycare. No, the ache in her stomach was just because she was going to get her period soon and the chills were because they had turned the air up too high and the headache was from not enough coffee this morning, or maybe too much coffee, she wasn't sure.
She was working on paperwork in her office, the rest of her shift was working on truck maintenance and other chores. Maya was trying to get her files done, but suddenly, she realized she was about to lose the battle she had been fighting with her stomach all morning and quickly leaned over the trashcan, throwing up. Just then, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called as she wiped her mouth with a tissue.
"Maya, I have the…woah, what happened?" Andy said, walking in, "Oh, did you finally catch Pru's virus?"
"I'm fine," Maya said, throwing the tissue in the trashcan before tying the bag up, "Did you say you had the reports from last week?"
"Yeah," Andy said, handing the paperwork to her friend, "You know you can go home, right? Jack's still home recovering from the virus, but I can handle the station."
"I'm fine," Maya said. Andy just shook her head, walking out.
She looked back at her friend who was relining her trashcan with a fresh bag. Andy pulled out her phone, shooting Carina a text. She knew the two had reconciled a few weeks ago and was 100% sure Carina was the only person who could get Maya to go home at this point.
Carina texted back, saying she would be there in ten minutes. Andy went into the barn, telling everyone Maya was sick and would hopefully be going home soon.
"How the hell did you manage that?" Travis asked, stacking the hoses a little slower than normal, having just gotten over the virus himself.
"I texted Carina," Andy shrugged, "I'm pretty confident she can get Maya to go home."
Ten minutes later, Carina walked into the station. She had had the day off, but she had just been charting at home. When Andy had texted, Carina headed to the station immediately, wanting to help her girlfriend however she could.
Carina had never seen Maya sick before so she wasn't totally sure what to expect, but she was ready to help in whatever way Maya needed her to. She had heard from the captain about how there was a virus sweeping through the station, Maya complaining about the struggle to get subs in for her sick firefighters.
When she walked into the station, she wasn't sure where Maya was, but she figured she was probably in her bunk resting. She decided to check there first before moving on to the bathrooms if her girlfriend wasn't there. She knocked quietly on the office door before just going in, finding Maya wiping her mouth, clearly having just thrown up.
"Hey," the blonde said, tying up this trash bag too, "What are you doing here?"
"I think I need to ask you that," Carina said, looking at her girlfriend who was pale, sweaty, and looked miserable.
"I work here," Maya said, confused. "But you are sick," Carina said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine," Maya said, shrugging, "I need to get back to my files. I finally have time to catch up on them."
"Bambina, you need to be at home, in bed not at work getting your colleagues sick," Carina said, walking over to her, "Come on. I am off today and tomorrow so I can take you home and take care of you."
"They've all already had this. We can spend tomorrow together," Maya said, shaking her head, "I need to finish this file."
Carina decided to give Maya little space and ran upstairs to get her something to drink. She had no idea how she was going to get Maya home, but she was hoping maybe she would find Andy and she could help.
"Hey," Andy said from where she was working on lunch with Miller, "How is she?"
"She wants to work," Carina said, confused.
"Sounds about right," Miller said as he chopped vegetables.
"What?" Carina said, grabbing a glass of water for her girlfriend.
"I have never seen our captain take a sick day," Miller said.
"Maya doesn't get sick?" Carina said, shocked.
"Not what I said," Miller said, shaking his head, only confusing the Italian more.
"Maya gets sick just as much as the rest of us," Andy explained, pulling out all the fixing for sandwiches, "But she has never taken a sick day. She works through every illness and passes it to the rest of us."
"She started a strep epidemic like a year ago," Miller said.
"True," Andy nodded, "And by the time the last of us caught it, Maya ended up catching it again. It was bad. But whenever she gets sick, she always just says she had to embrace the pain and keep eyes forward."
"Her papa's mantras," Carina nodded, knowingly, "So she has never gone home, even when she is sick like she is now?"
"Nope," Miller said, setting out cups, "Not once."
"That is going to change today," Carina said resolutely.
"If you can convince her to go home, it will be a miracle," Miller said.
"If anyone can do it, it's you Carina," Andy said, "You make Maya do things I never thought she would. You are really special."
"So is she," Carina smiled a little, "Now, I am going to go get her to go home."
"If you do, text me," Andy said as Carina headed downstairs.
She walked back into the office, setting the water down on the desk.
"Not thirsty," Maya said, looking paler than earlier, "You should go. I have work to do."
"Bambina," Carina said, kneeling down next to the chair as she gently turned it to look at her, "You are sick. You need to go home and rest. Come on. I promise I will take care of you. You do not need to embrace the pain here. If you go home, you will feel better faster."
Maya was about to argue when her stomach flipped again. Carina noticed and got the trashcan where it needed to be before rubbing her back gently.
"Bambina," Carina said, handing her a tissue when she finished, "Please, let me take you home. We can spend the day together, and you will feel better faster. Please?"
"I'm…" Maya started, but then she looked at Carina, saw the look on her face, and her resolve began to lessen, "I should work."
"Work can wait," Carina said, "If you come home now, I will be able to take care of you all day today and tomorrow, but if you wait, you are going to feel sicker, and I will not be able to help you as much because I will have to work. I promise I will stay at your place until I have to work. Please go home?"
"I…" Maya stared, only to give in, "Ok, fine. I will go home."
"Good," Carina nodded as Maya grabbed her stuff, "Come on."
The blonde grabbed the trash bags on her way out, tossing them in the dumpster behind the station.
"I need to tell my team I'm going," Maya said as they were about to get in the car.
"I will text Andy," Carina said, "I already told her I was going to get you to go home."
"What did she say?" Maya asked as they slipped into the car.
"Well, she said she was sure I could make you go home," Carina said as she started driving, "But Miller said it would be a miracle if I could."
"We were never allowed to take sick days," Maya said, leaning her hot forehead on the chilled glass of the window, curtesy of the colder than normal May day, "When we were kids, if we were sick, Lane made us go to school, and if we got sent home, we had to do extra workouts. We weren't allowed to have anything special to eat, and if we didn't eat or threw up, he would make us work out harder. Once, when I was 11 maybe, I came down with a stomach virus. Lane was out of town for work or something so my mom let me stay home. She stayed home from work, and curled up on the couch with me, and held my hair when I got sick, and let me have ginger ale and saltines, and we watched TV, and it was so nice, and then, that afternoon, Lane came home early, and he was so mad. I will never forget the look on his face when he ripped the blanket off me and insisted I get up off the couch and stop being such a lazy slacker. He made me run for hours, and when we got home, I was so lightheaded, I couldn't even make it in the house from the garage. I remember laying down on the floor so I didn't pass out, and the next thing I knew, it was morning, and I had to get up and go to school, and I never ever tried to take another sick day after that."
"Oh Bambina," Carina said, feeling her heart break for her girlfriend as she listened to the story, reaching over to grab her hand, only to have the blonde pull away, getting out of the car and running for a trash can in front of the building.
Carina sighed, getting out of the car and walking over to her, rubbing her back.
"You alright?" Carina asked as Maya stood up.
"I'm fine," Maya said, taking a tissue Carina offered her from her purse, wiping her mouth before turning to walk up to her apartment.
Carina followed, shaking her head a little. They got up to the apartment, Maya disappearing into the bedroom as Carina toed off her shoes, going into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, making a mental list of things she needed to get for her sick girlfriend, realizing Maya had very little in terms of food that would help her feel better.
She grabbed a glass of water with ice before heading to the bedroom. She was shocked when she walked in to see Maya sitting on the bed putting on her running shoes.
"What are you doing?" Carina asked, confused.
"I didn't get a run in before work today," Maya said, shrugging, "So now is a good time for one."
"Bambina, you just came home from work because you are sick," Carina said, "You are not going for a run."
"I always run," Maya said, looking at her girlfriend, "I'm not going to let some stupid virus stop me."
"What if instead, we both put on some pajamas and watch some New Girl together?" Carina suggested, trying hard not to fight with Maya about running, but knowing it was not at all a good idea.
"And then I can run later?" Maya said, her body truly exhausted and everything inside of her was screaming to take Carina up on her offer.
"Maybe," Carina said, hoping that she could get Maya to just stay in bed for the rest of the day, "Why don't we see how you are feeling?"
Maya nodded slowly, pulling off her running gear and putting on her pajamas.
"Get into bed," Carina said, "I'm going to go get a few things."
Carina went into the kitchen, grabbing her phone and starting a grocery order. However, as she added things to the list, she suddenly felt a presence behind her.
"Bambina, you should be in bed," Carina said as she opened her arms to her girlfriend, the blonde walking straight into her embrace.
"What are you doing?" Maya asked.
"I am ordering groceries," Carina said, rubbing Maya's back, "Go get in bed, and I will be there in a minute."
"I'm ok," Maya said, shaking her head, "I can help you make the grocery list."
Carina sighed as she watched Maya walking through the kitchen, her hand on her stomach, body clearly achy.
"I'll do this later," Carina said, hoping that maybe Maya would relax if she was in bed with her, "Let's go lay down."
Maya nodded, walking back to the bedroom with Carina.
Just as she was about to get into bed, Maya's stomach turned over, causing her to run into the bathroom just in time. Carina followed her, holding her hair back and rubbing her back as she threw up.
As soon as she was done, Maya tried to push herself up.
"No, Bambina, just sit for a minute," Carina said, shaking her head, "Let me get you something to rise your mouth."
Carina grabbed some water, Maya rinsing out her mouth before getting up.
"Ready to get in bed?" Carina asked, hugging Maya for a minute.
The blonde nodded against her chest, Carina guiding her back to bed.
"I am going to go get something that you can throw up in, just in case," Carina said as Maya crawled under the covers, "Just stay here."
Carina went into the kitchen, grabbing out Maya's mop bucket, going into the closet to grab a grocery bag to put in it. As she set the bucket on the table, Maya suddenly appeared next to her again.
"Bambina, you should be in bed," Carina said, laughing a little bit because it was so obvious that Maya was being extremely clingy, something she knew her girlfriend would deny.
"It's weird to be in bed in the middle of the day," Maya said, crossing her arms across her chest as a chill ran through her achy body, "Maybe I should go back to work."
"No," Carina said, shaking her head as she grabbed the bucket, wrapping her arm around her girlfriend, "No, we are both going to get in bed, and you are going to rest and throw up if you need to and be sick and not do anything else because sick days are not a bad thing. They are not something to be ashamed of or to run from. Your body needs you to rest and heal so that is what we are going to do."
Maya nodded, not fully believing what Carina was saying, but not denying that curling up in bed sounded like heaven right now and getting to do it with her beautiful girlfriend sounded even better until she remembered that she was sick and that the entire station had shared this sickness, meaning it was very contagious and as much as she wanted to be with Carina, she did not want to give this to her.
"You should go," Maya said, sitting up and moving away from Carina, "You are going to get sick."
"Bambina, come here," Carina said firmly.
"I don't want to get you sick," Maya said, shaking her head, only to realize that was not a good idea with the dizziness she was already fighting, "You should go."
"Bambina, I do not care if I get sick if it means you are being taken care of," Carina said, opening her arms to Maya, "Now, come here right now."
Maya caved, her body craving contact with her girlfriend.
"Now," Carina said, "Do you want to watch something or take a nap?"
"Can we watch something?" Maya asked, absolutely exhausted but also knowing her stomach was not going to let her sleep right now.
"Of course," Carina nodded, pulling out her laptop, putting on a show before settling them both into the pillows, "Now, I want you to just rest, ok? I am right here."
Maya just snuggled closer, her stomach churning, her body aching, and yet she felt very relaxed as Carina gently played with her hair and rubbed her back, the blonde finally giving her body permission to just rest and heal for the first time in her life.
Do I need to be starting another multi-chapter story right now? No. Have I ben inspired lately and want to write this? Yep. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for this story!