After staring at Maya's text for good 10 minutes, Carina had texted back about how she had hoped to see her too, and with all the guts it took, she also mentioned how she would want to repay for those three coffees in the form of three more coffees.
Carina's life in Italy wasn't something extraordinary, but it was humble. Her mama had taught her to chase her dream in every possibility while being as humble and thoughtful as possible.
Her father's ideas were different. Work and money, that's all. That's everything that mattered to him. Carina wasn't like that. Carina was like her mama in every way possible.
Sometimes, the thought that she married Aldo wouldn't leave her head. Back in Italy, she had hardly been in a few serious relationships; she always leaned towards casual sex, however, that was an after effect of when her lady love aka Gabriella broke her heart when they were in university. She never willingly made an effort into a relationship after Gabriella.
Aldo wasn't a bad man by any means, but he was the guy who had barred Carina's best friends from seeing her, he was the exact opposite of someone Carina could even imagine spending the rest of her life with. She spent so much time on just trying to remember moments with Aldo, not because she could go back to him or because she'd know how good of a husband he was. She just simply wanted to know what kept her in that marriage, why she didn't leave after being forced into a marriage.
Carina was pulled out of thoughts yet again when Amelia dropped a spoon or something in the kitchen.
"Sorrryyy, it slipped because my hands were oily...or the spoon itself was oily. I can't tell anymore." Amelia shouted making Carina giggle as she got up and made her way to the kitchen.
"Can I help you?" Carina asked leaning on the kitchen counter, hoping Amelia would say yes because of how useless she felt.
"Yeah. You can chop vegetables while I work on this sauce?" Carina nodded yes excitedly.
While being in the kitchen, the two women made some small talk here and there.
"Can I ask you something incredibly stupid?" Carina questioned carefully.
"Delucs, you can ask me anything you want, at any given momemt. Okay?" Amelia reassured.
"What- what was my job?" Carina asked, giggling a little at how freaking stupid that sounded. She didn't remember what she worked as. After giving up on medical sciences back in Italy, she studied literature here and there, she even did an art course. Nothing too serious.
"Well, that's not stupid. That's probably a very important question. You're a dancer. You used to teach at an academy, and you did some gigs here and there." Amelia replied with a smile, knowing how good of a dancer Carina was.
Carina smiled at that thought. She was a dancer. She remembered as a kid, she used to dance in the shower while her mother would rub soap on her body. She remembered when she grew up a little and her mum would cook in the kitchen, she used to go bother her, dancing around the kitchen. It was these happy memories that quite literally kept her alive. Happy memories of the most important person in her life.
Amelia and Carina soon heard the door lock click, meaning the impending arrival of the other 'best friend' would now be fulfilled. Carina looked at Amelia who gave her a reassuring nod, letting her know that it was all gonna be okay. The door opened.
"I'm home." The woman shouted making Carina squint, as the voice had sounded a little too familiar. A voice she had heard all too much in the past few days.
And then she appeared in the kitchen.
"Grinch?" Carina said, voice quite raised, as she was clearly shocked because of who stood there.
"Wow Car, you're still stuck on that?" Jo giggled a little as she said that.
"Wha- what? What are you doing here?" Carina managed to ask.
"Okay, I'm slightly offended that you could immediately sense the familiarity with Amelia but I was just Grinch throughout." Jo said and laughed. "But it's good to see you, Car. I've missed you here." She added softly.
"what? You're the other bestie? Why didn't you tell me? And- wait. How did Aldo let you be around me?" Carina had too many questions.
"Okay Car, you gotta sit down. Let's go to the living room, okay?" Amelia suggested and Carina nodded her head as the three women made their way to the living room.
"Okay so what do you wanna know?" Jo asked as she crouched down in front of Carina, who just sat on the couch. Amelia stood in the corner, watching it all happen.
"Everything." Carina mentioned.
"Okay. Yes, We've been best friends for a very long time. I didn't tell you for many reasons. One, I didn't want to put any pressure on you. Two, Dr. Mark also said that I should let it come to you on your own. And lastly, Aldo. He couldn't get me barred, I'm literally a nurse. Though telling you would have meant getting to deal with his shit, if he found out. But now you're here, you're with us. And we're gonna bring you back." Jo explained everything, step by step, with patience. Carina heard her out with the same patience.
"What is Aldo's deal, why doesn't he like you all?" Carina asked carefully. Jo and Amelia looked at each other with doubts, whether they could share a little piece of information.
"Well because, you spent so much time with us. Because we let you do your thing. We promoted your career as a dancer. And well because we love Andrea." Amelia explained and Carina rolled her eyes. She could live another day without that Andrea-Aldo drama.
"Anyway, I'm gonna get back to dinner, otherwise we will all starve. Carina, I'm opening a bottle of wine, the doc said you could have a little." Amelia announced leaving Jo and Carina in the loving room by themselves.
Jo put her hand on Carina's and slightly stroked it. Surprisingly, Carina was more than happy to have her Grinch around again. She felt at peace around her.
"Maya texted you yet?" Jo asked with a smirk on her face.
Carina just blushed, that shy smile making a reappearance. She managed to nod her head yes.
"Okay you don't have to be this obvious, Delucs." Jo said making Carina blush further as she shoved a cushion in her face, dramatically lying on the couch.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"The nurse said what?" Andy asked Maya as they put the groceries on the kitchen counter. Andy was staying the night at Maya's. She had picked the blonde up from the hospital after work.
"Her blood pressure was low but nothing abnormal." Maya said as she placed some stuff in the refrigerator.
"Hm. And did you see your new friend?" Andy asked, putting emphasis on that last word.
"No. She was discharged today and I forgot about it like a fucking idiot." Maya said smashing the refrigerator door. "I did text her. She said she wants to get coffee with me." The blonde added, with a smile on her face.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Okay, anything, we are literally in the next room, just bang on the door. Okay?" Amelia said on behalf of Jo and herself.
"Yes guys, I'll be fine." Carina assured them.
They soon left Carina in the room for her first night out of the hospital. It was a strange feeling for sure. She was living with two women who seemed to be wonderful, caring and everything she wished to have in a friend.
But now she was left alone with her thoughts, and that wasn't helping a lot. Funnily enough, the only person she wanted to speak to in that moment was a certain blonde she had not seen in two days. She contemplated calling her, since she did have her number. But then she thought how she'd quite literally be an idiot for calling this person she had known for a week, at 1 am in the night.
So she fought the urge, she fought the urge that she had to call her for another thirty minutes, but she gave in then. She had to. She needed to speak to Maya. She pressed the call button on her phone, guilt taking over her as she fathomed how she was literally disturbing the blonde. But little did she know, the blonde was fighting the same urge a few kilometres away.
"Carina." Maya spoke on the phone.
"I'm an idiot for calling you, right?" Carina simply said.
"I don't think so. How was your day? How do you feel being out of the hospital?" Maya asked genuinely.
Carina smiled at the fact that Maya was actually showing genuine interest. "It feels weird. I mean I think I'm okay but it feels weird. Oh, JO!! She- she lives here!" Carina said excitedly.
"What? Jo as in Grinch Jo?"
"Yes, Grinch Jo. We are best friends apparently."
Maya was shocked, but if you'd ask her a few weeks ago that she'd be talking to a person she met in the hospital, at 2 am in the night, that was equally shocking to her.
"Well, I don't have to be worried then. She's gonna take good care of you." Maya gently said.
"You- you were worried about me?" Carina hesitantly asked.
She heard Maya breathe on the other side. There was no response for a bit. But she could hear her breathe, she could hear that tension, she could her her care. Maya was someone she had not known until about a week ago, she was also not a part of her life prior to the accident. Yet Maya had slowly become her Maya. A part of her life that was solely hers. With Maya, there was no Aldo vs Andrea drama, with Maya there was no doubt about any apparent best friendship. With Maya, it was just double espressos, with Maya, it was Carina at her best. At her most vulnerable, at her clearest. With Maya, Carina was just Carina. Not someone's wife. Not someone's sister and not someone's best friend. Just Carina. With her Maya.
"Yes. I was worried about you. I am. And I'm gutted I couldn't come and see you today. But I'd love to; one of these days. If that's okay with you." Maya barely whispered.
"Of course, bella. I feel so much better now. Now that I could speak to you." Carina said.
"Me too."
"Go to sleep, Maya Bishop. I will talk to you tomorrow?"
"I will go now. You should also sleep, Carina Deluca. And yes, you will talk to me tomorrow. And day after and the day after, you will talk to me whenever and for as long as you want."
—————/—————
A/N
🌝🌝🌝🌝🌝