Chapter Text
Carina heard it before she saw it. She had just come home from her shift and entered her and Maya’s apartment when she was instantly met with a loud, echoing, snuffly sound. She removed her boots and coat and walked towards Maya who was coughing roughly while preparing dinner in the kitchen.
“Hi bambina ” Carina said as she put her arms around Maya’s waist.
“Hi my love” Maya answered, turning around to see Carina’s face.
“What’s up with these lungs?” Carina pointed her finger to Maya’s chest.
“Just a cough” Maya cleared her throat. “Firefighter lungs you know”.
“Are you sure?”
“Yup”
“You look a little pale, tesoro ” Carina stated, because Maya didn’t look as well as she wanted to imply.
“Nope, I’m okay, just a cough”
“ Allora allora, va bene ” she said ironically, turning towards the bedroom to change, giving up the fight knowing Maya wouldn’t give in anyways.
…
The couple settled in front of the TV and put on some random comedy from their HBO suggestions list. Carina was snacking away on the kettle corn flavored popcorn as she felt a bump on her shoulder, quickly disappearing. She turned her head and saw Maya’s eyes shutting close, her head dipping once more. She chuckled as she rested her back on the elbow rest to make a more comfortable space for Maya to nuzzle into.
“Maya”
“I’m awake” she opened her eyes, startled from her fight with sleep.
“No you’re not. Come lay down” Carina proposed, wanting her wife to comfortably drift off.
“But we are watching a movie”
“I am, si , you are not. Don’t fight me, lay down please”
“I’m not sick” she demanded as she settled down in between Carina’s legs, head resting on her bump.
”Of course not! You don’t get sick” she humored back.
”Not sick” Maya repeated, as if she hadn’t heard Carina’s response. ”Wake me when it’s time for bed” she mumbled, already falling into slumber.
…
As the end credits started rolling Carina turned off the tv and stretched her arms before turning to Maya who was still fast asleep in her lap.
“Okay bedtime, bambina ” she said scratching Maya’s back to raise her from her sleep. “Maya, amore mio ”
Maya slowly lift her head up, tired blue eyes searching for brown.
“Bedtime” Carina repeated.
“Oh, yeah” Maya said as she sat up, snuffling. “I can’t breathe through my nose”
“Are you congested?”
“Yeah, listen” she closed her mouth and demonstrated by breathing in, inhaling only quiet wheezes and snuffles.
“Oh no”
”I’m gonna have some of that minty nasal thing that we have” Maya said, not really giving in to the idea that she’d gotten sick, but unwell and uncomfortable enough to actually do something about it.
” Va bene , I can rub some ornament on your chest”
“Ornament?” Maya questioned, a little confused.
“That chest creamy thing that helps with breathing, the ornament” Carina tried explaining.
“The ointment?” Maya chuckled.
“Yes! That one”
Maya chuckled. “Yes please” she said as she grinned.’’
After having gotten ready for the night Maya propped up two pillows behind her back to help her breathe easier and laid down in bed. She wrapped the sheets tightly around her body and instantly sighed at the comfort.
As Carina emerged from the bathroom she sat down on the edge of the bed by Maya’s hip and pulled up her oversized sleeping shirt. She started rubbing some of the vapor rub on Maya’s chest. The sensible movements made Maya let out a quiet moan.
“Does that feel nice?” Carina smiled.
“Hm…very”
“Good. Sleep, bambina”
…
Loud snoring woke Carina up in the middle of the night. She checked the clock on her phone on the bed night stand and read 1:56 AM. It wasn’t uncommon for Maya to snore, and Carina would often sleep through it all, but because of the congestion Maya had going on, the snores were considerably louder tonight.
“ Bambina ” Carina tried but received no response. “Maya” she tried again.
“Huh?” Maya let out a little huff.
“Can you lay on your side?” Carina asked, stroking Maya’s cheek.
”What?”
”Turn over on your side” she repeated to a Maya that was still drowsy with sleep.
“Am I snoring?” Maya asked, gaining some understanding of the situation
“Yes, dolcezza ” Carina smiled, still gently stroking Maya’s cheek.
“I’m sorry”
“It’s okay, just lay on your side”
“M’kay”
Maya scooted closer to Carina, and hooked her arms around her waist, laying on her side, of course. The feeling of Maya against her made Carina frown.
“You are burning up” she said, already on her way out of bed to get the necessities.
“Mm…” Maya hummed.
“Maya, you have a fever” Carina stated, still sitting on the edge of the bed, a little bothered that Maya didn’t seem to care.
“I’m fine, it’s probably just a cold”
“ Forse, ma it’s still a fever” she said as she stood up and walked into the bathroom. She grabbed the thermometer from the medicine cabinet and walked back to the bed. “Can I take your temperature?”
“Sure”
The thermometer beeped, followed by a sigh from Carina.
“What is it?” Maya mumbled, barely coherent.
“ 39,5 °C” ( 103,1 °F)
“Oh”
“ Esatto , oh.” Carina sighed, digging through the medicine basket she had brought with her when she went and got the thermometer.
“Can you take some more aspirin, amore ?”
Maya didn’t answer, and Carina sighed when she saw Maya laying on her side, already deeply asleep with her mouth hanging open yet again.
“Maya, bambina ” she gently nudged Maya awake again.
“What?”
“Can you take these?” She offered two little pills in her palm. “It’ll help bring your temperature down”
“Yeah”
“Thank you” Carina put the pills in Maya’s mouth and offered a glass of water. “I do not like this fever”.
“It’s okay. I’ll be okay” Maya said after swallowing and making herself comfortable again.
“I know. But I still don’t like it” Carina said as she layed back in bed herself, her front pressed against Maya’s front and softly scratching her back.
”Hm”
…
The second time Carina woke up she woke up to movements in the bed. Confusion lingered when she heard mumbling from behind her.
”I don’t know”
Carina turned over to her other side and questioned if Maya was awake.
”Maya?” she questioned when she saw Maya sitting up on the edge of the bed.
”This question is too hard” Maya said this time.
” Bambina ” Carina asked again, sitting up closer to Maya to figure out what was going on.
”I don’t know Carina”
”What?”
”The car. I don’t know”
”What are you talking about, dolcezza? ” She put her hand on Maya’s back, feeling the heat radiating through her shirt. Could this be feverish confusion, she asked herself. ”Can we take off one of your layers?”
But Maya didn’t seem to hear Carina’s question and instead followed up more words that didn’t make sense.
”The bathroom”
”Do you need to go to the toilet?” Carina asked to make sure she was hearing correctly.
”Hm”
” Cosa sta succedendo ?” she muttered to herself.
Carina stood up and rounded the bed to crouch down in front of Maya. A very tired looking Maya. A Maya that was likely still sleeping. Or a Maya that was feverishly confused. One or the other, it was about time to get the heat down.
“I’m gonna remove your sweatshirt, bambina , and then we’ll go to the bathroom”
“It’s not going that way” Maya gestured wildly with her hands.
”What?” Carina shot up as Maya’s gestures continued, not able to get the sweater of her.
”No!” Maya continued and stomped her foot.
” Amore mio , you’re talking in your sleep” she softly prompted, rubbing circles on Maya's back..
”Wait!”
“ Bambina , you are dreaming, it’s okay”
Carina moved alongside Maya to take her sweater off, not knowing if to chuckle at whatever was going on. Sure, Maya was talking in her sleep, and that had happened several times before, but not while also having a fairly high fever. This could be a sign of something else.
“No, it’s around the other corner. The red one”
“Let’s go to the toilet, hm?”
She helped Maya up and guided her through the dark bedroom.
“Try to pee Maya” Carina encouraged as soon as she had sat her wife down.
Maya had managed to close her eyes the second she sat down and her head was now lolling around. Her mouth agape again because that seemed to be the only entrance for air. Carina figured the peeing part would take a while if Maya was this out of it, so she turned on the water faucet to help speed up the process.
She cupped Maya’s cheek and stroked her thumb over her cheekbones.
“Maya, dolcezza , can you pee”
“Yeah” Maya mumbled, opening her eyes just a little.
…
After the adventure to the toilet, Maya and Carina had settled back in bed. Carina had decided if Maya wasn’t feeling better in the morning they’d go to the emergency room, because as of then, Maya’s temperature was not sky high and she was conscious, listening to command.
It was now a little past 8 AM and Carina was content with a book in her hand, watching over her still sleeping wife. The snoring and snuffling a little too loud for her liking, but still too adorable to interrupt.
Maya quieted and started moving around a bit, and Carina immediately moved her eyes from her book to the shuffling beside her.
”Maya, stop rubbing your nose on your sleeves when there’s a tissue box right there” Carina chuckled and pointed to the bedside table, earning a smile from her newly awoken wife.
“Morning, babe” Maya chuckled.
“ Buongiorno ”
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Maya asked tiredly, moving closer to Carina to nuzzle into her side.
“I took the day off” Carina shifted and layed back down to welcome Maya into her arms.
“You didn’t have to do that” Maya frowned.
“I know, I wanted to” Carina smiled. “Now I get to spend all day with you doing nothing”
Maya smiled back at Carina, content with her answer. Surely, if one were to actually get sick, having your wife home cuddling you would be the best outcome of the sickness.
“Plus I get to dote on you” Carina continued.
Maya snorted as she answered. “I’m not that sick”
“That’s because the medicine is working. You worried me tonight”
“Oh no, really?”
“You were talking in your sleep a lot and mumbling about a red car, and you had such a high fever that I thought we were gonna have to go to the hospital” Carina explained, stroking Maya’s cheek. Her temperature had gone down a fair amount, she was not at all as warm.
“Oh”
“You were very much asleep through it all”
“I used to do that when I was little” Maya added.
“Talk in your sleep?”
“Yes. And I walked around too. Mom or Mason always found me in random places in the house” While Maya’s childhood had been filled with a lot of anger, and the clearest memories she had was of her dad, and the abuse, a lot of the memories also contained her brother, particularly moments they’d laughed with each other.
”You still talk in your sleep a lot, but often it’s just some mumbling and not really coherent”
”One time I prepared breakfast for two people, like napkins and all, and then I just sat there until mom came to get me” Maya smiled at the memory, and how mother had laughed when telling her about it.
”Adorable” Carina said, poking Maya’s nose. She rubbed her thumb up and down Maya’s glabella and felt her relax more, her breathing evening out. Just as she thought Maya had fallen back asleep she opened her eyes.
”Thank you for being here” she said, looking at Carina.
” Sempre .” Carina said and kissed her forehead. “Do you wanna go back to sleep or..?”
”I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep more”
“Okay” she hummed. “Do you wanna try to eat something?”
”I don’t know, maybe I should?”
”I think you should”
”Okay”
”Go get comfortable on the sofa and I’ll bring some yogurt and granola” Carina offered as she planted a kiss on Maya’s cheek before standing up and walking towards the dresser for a pair of sweatpants. “Or do you want something else? I can make something”
“No yogurt is good, thank you” Maya smiled and rose from the bed as well. However she quickly fell back and clumsily sat her butt back down on the bed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Woops”.
“You okay?” Carina was quick to Maya’s side again, having seen her attempt to stand up.
“Yeah sorry, just a little dizzy”
” Va bene , lean on me” Carina offered. Stroking Maya’s shoulder gently before hooking their arms together in a second attempt to get to the living room.
“
Sempre
” Maya uttered. Smiling.