You made walking easy

The Next Day

CARINA POV

Her bed was insanely comfortable, when I say I was sleeping on clouds that isn't an exaggeration. Despite how comfy it was and how much I enjoyed cuddling Maya, I couldn't help waking up early.. well 8am which for a surgeon is a sleep in. It was quite easy to get out of bed since Maya sleeping can be compared to a dead person, just never moving. You'd think as a firefighter she'd wake up to the sound of me accidentally walking into the door or tripping over a stall in the kitchen but nope, no movement.

With 'dead' Maya next door I decided I'd put on one of my playlists on a speaker I'd found. One thing I love to do is dance, sing and cook all at once. It's just a way for me to feel rejuvenated on my day offs. Normally I choose to listen to an Italian playlist but today I really fancy some 60s music which is my second favourite playlist I have. 'Return to Sender' by Elvis Presley came on, a classic in my mind. I decided I'd cook some breakfast for Maya but looking in her fridge and freezer and only seeing a maze of greens which looked too depressing, I decided to just wait.

"Fuck.. why can't you just fucking work? Seriously I put in all that work for this. Why are my legs so stubborn" I heard Maya mumble as I started to hear signs of life from her room. Ah she's awake FINALLY... I've only been awake for 2 hours now, not that I'm completely complaining. While she's been asleep I've been able to take in the apartment I didn't see last night, I now have so many questions.

-

After Maya ranted about how stupid her legs were I returned to her bedroom where she asked if I wanted to do anything this morning and of course I'd want to. She decided that using the wheelchair this morning would be the best thing for her so let's just take a mental note that I should watch where I walk especially since I don't know where we're going, she just said it related to where she grew up.

"We're here. It's nothing too exciting but I haven't been here in a few years and it holds a lot of history for me and since I-uh.. I can see you as being a part of my future.. I wanted to show you my past. Uh-I-uh yeah if it's a stupid idea we can turn around, sorry-"It seems interrupting her with a kiss will be the only way to stop her worried rambling.

"You see my as your future? Do you want to be a bit more specific? " I tease her, seeing a light red blush fill her cheeks.

"Well yeah, I-uh.. do you want to be my girlfriend? I mean don't feel like you need to.. you know if you don't want to, I-uh mean it will make the drive very awkward but you-" Mio Dio, how many times am I going to need to interrupt her kissing, I'm not complaining but with her in a wheelchair it means a lot of bending down for me and well fitness is not my thing. The way this is going, I might get some type of cramp!

"Yes Bambina, of course I do" A satisfied grin appeared on Maya's face. I guess we're dating now!

"Right, so this is the track where I trained with my dad. I started at 11 competitively and thanks to him I got to the Olympics" she explains as we move to the side of the track where I can take in the stadium. She suddenly stops and goes completely quiet, realising she's stopped I turn back to see a look of panic. I follow her eyes and see an old man approach, is this her dad?

"Maya Bishop, where have you been? Just because you're some hotshot captain doesn't mean you can ignore your dad and stop training. I know you think one medal is enough but you know you don't want to be a disappointment do you? And why are you in a wheelchair, are you trying to take the piss? Come on, while we're here you can start warming up. I want you to do 20 laps, you better be able to complete these like you did at 18! " he berates only focusing on Maya.. yep that's her dad.

"Dad.. no, I-no. I'm sorry I-uh I can't. I haven't been ignoring you dad, I promise! I can't run, I don't want to.. please don't make me..." she says quietly while looking down. this was a different type of stuttering.. not the cute way she does towards me.. this was panic

"Of course, you're a disappointment, just like your brother. I had so much hope for you. Come on, up you get or am I going to have to force you " He shouts while making his way over. I stood in his way without thinking. I've never seen Maya like this and after the way Maya has talked about her dad, I can't let her get hurt.

"Who are you? Come on Maya don't say you're still pretending to be one of those. You should have grown out of this. YOU'RE NOT A TEENAGER ANYMORE!" I can't believe this man.

"I don't mean any disrespect sir but can you please lower your voice. I am a friend of Maya's, a doctor.. well, a surgeon to be exact. Maya is injured at the moment and I will not accept her doing any physical activity with her legs. And as a surgeon or rather her surgeon I'd like to make it clear that with any movement of her legs before she's healed will lead to instant paralysis, would you like that sir? " I argue calmly while lying through my teeth. I can see his facial expressions change momentarily when he takes in the information.

"Well, I suppose I need to be informed of when she is fully healed because I do expect Maya to be in running form in time for the next Olympics. She'll have to stop playing hero which will be fine, won't it? " He says while making eye contact with Maya.

"Of course, I can tell you now that with her injury she is expecting to take at least 8 months to fully heal. Until then, I hope next time I see you there is some level of respect. As a man you should understand that I as a surgeon I have power and you do not purely because you are a man. Goodbye." I quickly add on while turning around and directing Maya back to her car.

It wasn't until we were in her car that she made eye contact with me. "You didn't need to do that for me. I can fight for myself. He always tries this; he wants me to win his medals because he has some type of complex that I am somehow under his command or something" she states very matter-of-factly.

"You shouldn't have to fight every battle, let me try sometimes" I say before reaching over and giving her a light kiss. With that, we drove back to hers.