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Carina watches from their master bedroom as Maya buzzes around the apartment. She’s under instructions from Maya (and her doctors, to be fair) to make sure to rest while she continues to recover from the appendicitis then the infected wound and second hospitalisation.
She’s bored, and she can tell her wife is too. Maya had taken some time off work to look after her, which Carina had insisted she didn’t need but at the same time she knew her wife wouldn’t back down. Except Carina isn’t really up for leaving the house and therefore Maya isn’t either and she’s going stir crazy.
Hence why she appears to be doing some sort of manic tidying of the apartment that has her running all over the place.
“Maya!” she calls firmly, almost laughing when Maya skids into the bedroom in her socks approximately two seconds later, out of breath and looking flustered.
“What? Do you need something? Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Carina reassures. “But are you?”
Maya’s brown crinkles as she fidgets in the doorway. “Of course I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be fine?”
The Italian rolls her eyes. “Because you are dashing around this apartment like a scheggia.”
“A scheggia?”
“Sì, it’s like a … I don’t know the word in English but it’s something that moves so fast you barely see it.”
“Lightning bolt?”
“Maybe. Go for a run bambina, you need to get your energy out before you explode,” she encourages softly.
Maya scowls. “I won’t explode.”
“Yes you will. All your energy will build and build and then boom,” Carina smirks, making an explosion motion with her hands. “Then there’ll be little bits of Maya all over the apartment and then not only will I have to clean all that but I also won’t have my bambina.”
She can see Maya trying to fight back the laughter and she holds out her hand, beckoning Maya closer.
“I promise I will be fine for half an hour by myself. I will stay on the couch and you can keep your phone on loud the whole time so you’ll hear if I call you. But I will sit on the couch and read my book and not do anything to endanger myself.”
She takes Maya’s hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’ll even go to the bathroom before I leave so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Maya sighs, squeezing her hand back. “I’ll just run laps around the block so I’m never more than five minutes from home.”
“If that makes you feel more comfortable then do it. You need to work out some of this nervous energy though.”
“Thank you for prompting me,” Maya says softly, leaning down for a kiss which Carina gladly returns.
“Always. Now get changed into your running shoes while I go to the bathroom.”
Despite the change in scenery to the couch for the majority of the morning, Carina is still bored beyond belief. Her book isn’t interesting her, medical journals are too complex for her tired brain, and daytime TV is … irritating to say the least.
She keeps eyeing up the kitchen. It’s nearly lunchtime and she’d like to make something - cooking is her pastime and she’s not had the chance to do it since the appendicitis. She’s finally getting her appetite back and as much as her wife has many, many strengths, cooking is not one of them.
She throws her blanket off her legs and then swings her legs off the sofa, wincing slightly. The pain in her stomach has dulled now but it’s still sore and tender after the infection so standing up is not a fun experience. She holds onto the arm of the couch for a moment to steady herself before she heads for the kitchen, her steps still somewhere between a shuffle and actual walking.
Opening the fridge reveals a limited selection of ingredients but she starts pulling ingredients out, planning on making some light sandwiches for the two of them. However, it turns out that standing up is actually a lot more effort than Carina had bargained on and just getting the stuff onto the kitchen island has her out of breath and white-knuckling the counter as pain pulses in her abdomen.
Sitting down seems like the best option.
She moves slowly around to the other side of the island, keeping a hand on the edge for balance. She’s feeling quite unsteady and she’s not sure Maya coming back to find her on the floor would do much for her wife’s stress levels.
She eases herself onto a barstool, pulling her ingredients closer to herself and then beginning to assemble the sandwiches. She’s purposeful, slow. Partly to avoid overdoing it, and partly because she wants to savour the ability to do something so simple, considering the last couple of weeks have mostly been spent in bed, half-conscious and in pain.
Just as she places the slices of bread on top of the fillings she hears the front door open and Maya call out.
“Honey I’m home!”
Carina smiles - she’d convinced Maya that she found the cheesy saying adorable and now her wife does it pretty often when she gets home.
“In the kitchen!”
She brushes some crumbs off her hands as she listens to Maya's footsteps approaching, and looks up with a smile at her wife.
“You made lunch?” she asks, coming over and standing to her side, a hand on her lower back.
“I made lunch.”
“You didn't have to babe, I could have done that.”
Carina sighs, tucking her hand behind her ear and looking up at her wife. “I know, but I just needed to do something. So … sandwiches.”
“Thank you,” Maya whispers, leaning down to kiss Carina. Soft and slow and exactly what Carina needs right now.
Although not quite as much as she needs to lie down - her abdomen is screaming at her, deeply unhappy about having to support her being upright for so long.
“Of course, you've been taking such good care of me.”
“I wouldn't do anything different my love. You're my wife, of course I'm going to take care of you.”
Carina smiles again and leans a little more into her side, her body craving the support.
“I think it may have been a little too much though … I need to lie down.”
At that statement she feels Maya wrap an arm all the way around her, supporting her even further much to her relief.
“Do you think you can make it to bed yourself? Or do you want an arm?”
“I think I'll be fine,” Carina nods. “Can you bring the lunches, and my meds … and some drinks?”
“Of course,” Maya replies, kissing the top of her head and then stepping away slightly, although she still hovers a steadying hand behind Carina's back as she gingerly stands up from the stool, wincing in pain as she finds her balance.
“Come on. Let's get you tucked up in bed with some lunch, then we can have cuddles and a nap,” Maya encourages, her voice gentle and soft but thankfully not in a condescending way that makes Carina cross.
“That sounds really good.”
She manages to convince her wife that she can walk to bed unaided so she starts the slow shuffle towards the bedroom, Maya soon catching up with her with their lunches. However Carina does appreciate when she doesn't hover as Carina argues with the sheets, propping herself up against the headboard and then tucking the blanket around her legs.
Maya slides in beside her, passing over her lunch. They sit and eat quietly, Maya then cleaning everything up while Carina lies down and gets comfortable.
When Maya comes back she pauses before she gets into bed, eyeing Carina up.
“Cosa?”
“Can I tuck you in? You'd look so cosy.”
Carina smiles softly, nodding at her wife. “Only if you get tucked into bed too.”