You made walking easy

Concussion

MAYA POV

After seeing my dad that day, I reached out to my brother. We aren't the closest after everything with my running. I don't blame him but I do wish we had the same relationship we had as kids. Mason used to be an addict, I guess he still is but as far as I know he doesn't partake in drugs anymore.

[Hi Mase, it's Maya. Our dad was in the ER last night after a car crash, I heard that he might have had a fight with you. Can we meet up?]

[Hi Maya, we can meet up]

[Shall we meet at the cafe? You know which one I mean. Around 10am]

[Yeah I'll see you there, I won't be able to stay long since I'm setting up the last parts of my gallery opening]

It was about 8am when we had this text exchange, this is usually the most we talk at one time. I haven't seen him in person for 5 years, not since he first got clean. Hopefully the robotic text exchange won't have the same feel to it in person. As kids, we would visit the Cafe all the time and had a booth which is actually diagonal from Carina and I's own booth.

-

I sat in the booth and ordered a black coffee and went on my phone while I waited for my little brother to appear.

"Hi sis, it's good to see you" Mason said as he walked over causing me to tear away from my phone and look up. I invited him to sit down opposite me. Let's see where this goes. After we'd had our pleasantries where I learnt that we both have girlfriends, we got down to business.

"So, I guess you want to hear all about why dad was saying my name right? Well, we got in an argument because he started bringing up old shit that didn't need to be brought up. It wasn't really anything special that caused the argument, I've just been trying to put in more effort to get closer to mom. I've been thinking of taking her in so she can escape him, we both know he's an abusive piece of shit. Look, I know you probably still idolise the dick, but you have to understand that I didn't do anything wrong, he came at me first. I'm glad he got in that car crash, hopefully it knocked some sense into him" Mason shared. It wasn't quite what I was expecting to hear but yet it made full sense.

" You know I have so many regrets about everything to do with dad. Mom does need to leave, you're definitely right about him being a dickhead. How long have you been getting in touch with mom? I haven't really spoken to her either since the Olympics. But then again that was when I lost both of you. It definitely makes sense that he would blow up over nothing. You might be right about the car crash; he has a grade 3 concussion. Which means that he could be mentally fucked forever possibly, I mean when I saw him he was talking to me as if he was actually proud of me like smiled and everything. Like he has never done, it was so creepy! "I replied making Mason smile. We've never addressed or discussed the abuse we were put through.

"Look it was great seeing you, but I need to go. I need to finalise the hangings for my gallery. It's opening next week; I hope to see you and maybe meet your girlfriend! If everything goes to plan, it should have its grand opening next Thursday! " he says while standing up.

"Ah shit, both of us are on shift all week, Our only free night is Tuesday. We could do something then. Maybe we can have an early viewing of the gallery or have dinner at my apartment? I hope everything gets sorted for you. I'm proud of you little brother" I reply which receives a nod before Mason turns around and leaves the Cafe.

-

I heard that dad was still in hospital and would stay there until tonight so I thought maybe I could pay him a visit just to check he was okay. Also, Carina was called in for a surgery so I can as well wait and pick her up.

I made my way to his floor and ran into Amelia, with a short catch up I was given the room number. Amelia said she'd come by soon to explain what is happening with his case. Opening his door, he looked like a shell of himself completely asleep almost looking dead. I've never seen him look so weak. After 15 minutes, Amelia came in, getting my attention.

"Hi Maya... again, so I'll just run you through the case, okay? " I nodded "Right so as Carina probably told you he had a grade 3 concussion which explains why he acted that way when you saw him. Last night, because of his condition we decided to do more scans and found a bleed which needed to be fixed immediately which is what we did. So that scar you can see near his forehead is from that surgery. He bottomed out a few times and have been placed into a medical coma in hopes that he heals up. We're expecting him to stay in the coma for the next few days where we will constantly keep track of his healing. I know this is a lot to take in but remember that we are your family just like the station is. If you need anything, I'm here." Amelia states. The thought that he literally died a few times is crazy, he's always been this dominant and strong man so hearing that he is so weak almost makes me laugh. I nodded at Amelia and she left. Checking the time, I saw that Carina's surgery should finish in about 15 minutes leaving me some time to just sit in this silence and take the information in. Saying that I should probably call mom and update her, yeah let's do that.

I called mom to which she answered almost straight away, let's just say she was very shocked and happy to hear from me. After filling her in with the information I had been given her, there was some silence for a few minutes. I could almost hear the cogs in her head working while taking in what I had told her. That was expected. We said our goodbyes and that was that. As soon as the call was done, I checked to see that Carina should be leaving the hospital to which I ran to our car, yes our car. Since that game night she's unofficially moved in and I've been loving it... mostly. She took the car today since I've been running literally everywhere, I want to get back into shape and driving feels like that's going against it. Getting to the car, I stood against it and waiting for any sign of my beautiful girlfriend.

Suddenly lips were on mine and panic set in until I smelt her perfume. Grabbing her waist and pulling her closer our kiss started to deepen, we didn't care about oxygen. After what felt like I don't even know how long, we pulled apart.

"H-ho-how did you sneak up on me? I could see the door. Are you trying to prove to me that you're also a badass spy along with being a badass surgeon?" I jokingly ask her receiving a small giggle and grin.

"For a person who seems to have the hearing and eyesight of an eagle you sure are both deaf and blind. I ran into Amelia, and she told me you had visited and let's just say you are very predictable. So, I may have weaved around the cars to hide from you! " She says very proudly to which I pulled her into another heated kiss. We broke apart and both climbed into the car and because it was the end of the day, she of course got to connect to Bluetooth.

After 10 minutes of driving with my hand caressing Carina's thigh and me thinking about how I failed myself by not being able to find her before she kissed me I accidentally thought out loud "I swear my hearing and eyesight is good.. 20/20" earning a laugh.. oh, shit I didn't just think that.