Rings

You Can Keep it

At six am on the dot, Carina called Maya. Since Dean's death, the realization how just how much danger Maya faced at work sat in the front of her mind for the entirety of Maya's shift. Carina called almost every two hours to make sure her wife was still safe, and some days the calls would be even closer together.

If she couldn't get through, Carina would panic as she tried to reach anyone at the station. The cycle went Maya, Vic, Travis, reception, and if she still didn't get an answer, she would go to the station, even in the middle of her own workday.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Maya answered the phone.

"Yeah, just checking in."

"I'm just getting off. I'll be home in a bit." There was indistinct chatter in the background, but Carina could make out it was Jack. "Babe, I gotta go, but I'll see you soon. Love you."

Before Carina got the chance to say anything back, the call ended. Hearing Maya would be home soon, some of her nerves settled, the looming danger was gone for the day, and she could finally rest.

Carina let herself start to drift off into sleep but made sure not to let herself nod off too much so she could hear Maya come in. The thought of Maya soon being in her arms safe and snuggled in bed with her lulled into a deeper sleep than she meant. Suddenly, Carina shot up to see she was still in bed, alone. A pit formed in her stomach, knowing Maya probably wasn't home yet.

"Maya?" She called out loud enough to be heard in the kitchen just in case.

Nothing.

Reaching for her phone, Carina saw it was past seven. It only took Maya twenty minutes to get from the station to home; she should have been home almost an hour ago.

Carina scrambled to call Maya again, her heart thumping in her ears as a headache started to set in. She walked through the apartment pacing and waiting for the call to connect.

"Hi," Maya answered quickly, which only calmed Carina down slightly.

"Where are you?"

"Walking through the door right now."

Carina looked up as Maya walked in with a smile plastered on her face, which quickly dropped after seeing the look on Carina's face.

"You were supposed to be home an hour ago." Even though Maya was standing safely in front of her, the adrenaline was already pumping through her body as the anxiety raged on.

"I got caught up at the station." She tossed her shoes by the door before leaning against the wall separating the hall and the kitchen to watch Carina.

As Maya observed her wife, Carina's previous comment got under her skin. She usually was easy to read or was the first to say what was going on with her, but now Carina was almost a blank slate. It was clear she was upset, but that was all Maya could gauge.

"What is it with the constantly needing to know what I am doing? Do you not trust me anymore? What did you hear Jack's voice when we called and thought I would do something stupid?"

"No," Carina bit her lips as she avoided eye contact with Maya.

"Then what is it? Because something is obviously bothering you."

"It's nothing." Carina wanted to open up to Maya, let her know about all her insecurities and fears but didn't want to put that pressure on her. Being a firefighter was already a hard enough job. Maya didn't need the extra stress from her wife worrying over her safety. "Are you hungry? I can start on breakfast."

"Carina,"

"Oh, here's your ring," Carina said, making her way over to Maya.

She tried to shake everything off, but there was still a bit of anxiety and frustration she didn't want to get into. Carina hoped the ring would be enough of a distraction. Maya usually went all gooey and lovey with the return of her wedding band.