The Accident

Part 32

"You always say you feel closer to Andrea here," Maya said as Carina pushed her into the chapel which was thankfully empty, "And...I don't know...I kinda wanted to...thank him I guess."

"What?" Carina said, very confused as she stopped the wheelchair at the front pew.

"Can we sit together?" Maya asked, "I want to be close to you."

"Si," Carina said, still confused but trusting her wife implicitly.

She helped her up before getting her seated on the pew, making sure none of the cords got pulled as Maya moved. Once the blonde was seated, Carina sat down next to her, Maya immediately leaning on her a little bit as Carina draped the blanket that been cover Maya in the wheelchair over both of their laps.

They sat there for a while, Carina giving Maya the space she knew she needed to open up.

"I saw him," Maya said softly a few minutes later.

"Cosa?" Carina said, not understanding what Maya meant.

"Your brother," Maya said, staring straight ahead, "I saw him after the accident. Well, I didn't see him the first time, right after the accident before I got to the hospital. Right after the car hit us, I was in the clouds I always dreamed about as a kid, except instead of being the peaceful, restful place I thought they would be. Being there was stressful and disorienting and lonely. I couldn't figure out how to get out and then suddenly, there was a hand coming through the clouds and I tried to grab it, but instead, it pushed me away, out of the clouds and that's when I woke up. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was his hand. Then, when I was in the coma while I had sepsis, I was in the clouds again. I was desperate to get out of them, to get back to you, when suddenly the hand appeared again and I thought it was going to push me out again, but instead, it grabbed my hands and suddenly, I was pulled through the clouds and there was Andrew, standing right in front of me. I was so happy to see him and begged him to get me out of the clouds. He told me he couldn't yet, that I wasn't ready. I fought him, told him I was, that I needed to get back to you, that I didn't want to be in the clouds and he just stood there and let me yell and scream and be angry until I wore myself out. Then he wrapped me in a hug and told me it was ok, that I could rest there until it was time to come back to you. I cried in his arms and told him I needed to get back to you, that I couldn't leave you alone, and he told me that if I didn't rest, that I was going to end up leaving you alone because me body needed me to be still and rest to come back. I was getting really tired then and he carried me to a bed and told me to sleep. The next thing I remember, he was shaking me awake, telling me it was time to go back to you. I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted him to come with me, and he told me that he couldn't, but that was why he really needed me to come back and be here for you. He told me how proud he was of us, how proud he was of you and that he was sorry that he couldn't be here, but that he's always watching out for you and then he pushed me back out of the clouds and back to you."

Maya finished, still looking forward, remembering these conversations. Andrew had also told her thank you for taking care of his big sister and told he that she better never stop and that she needed to fight as hard as she could for Carina.

The logical side of Maya's brain was screaming at her that seeing Andrew was just a figment of her comatose brain, but it felt so real. She had tried to shake it from her brain since she woke up, but she couldn't and that was why she decided she had to tell her wife.

Finally, she gained the courage to look over at Carina, seeing the tears running down her face.

"Don't cry," Maya said, pulling Carina closer to her, "I didn't mean to make you sad. Sorry. I shouldn't have told you."