Not just me & you anymore (G!P)

C. 24 - Maya

I promised I'd be back soon and here I am.I'm sorry for the other chapter, but have faith.. ;)I should have written it before the last chapter, but the final part was a flashback related to Viviana's conception.. now, let's pick up where we left off.. and from Maya's POV. Thank you for your support and for still being here to read. See you soon

In how many seconds can a situation precipitate? In how many seconds can you go from happiness to terror? All it took me was one, the one in which I sensed that Carina was having a real panic attack because next to us, at an ordinary table in an ordinary restaurant, was He. It took me more than a few seconds in reviewing the people present, but from the moment Carina pointed me to the right person, all I could think about was that birthmark on that man's right temple that is exactly the same as the coffee-colored birthmark Viviana has on her left inner thigh. That's the only detail I really managed to focus on, even though I pretended not to. I tried to dampen the mood, tried to leave space for Carina to face her fears, to share her thoughts. Carina, however, has chosen the path of silence since we returned home and then I allowed my mind to digress, to focus on that longing that makes two perfect strangers so alike.

We have been in bed for hours now, I don't remember going to sleep so early since first grade, but, again, I let Carina decide our evening. Her sleep was troubled from the start, she tossed and turned in bed several times, with agitated movements, kicking and bellowing unintelligible words. I don't think I slept a wink, concentrating on listening to every variation of Carina's breathing, attentive to having to take care of her and especially trying not to let my paranoia and thoughts take over. Until now he has always been a minor figure, standing in the background only because I insisted on putting him there, while neither Carina nor Viviana ever mentioned him again. Yet tonight is proof that this someone is there, exists, is alive and is closer than we had ever thought. But how much closeness can I really tolerate?

The flow of my thoughts is suddenly interrupted by Carina's scream that rips through the silence of the night.

C < blood!!> she screams over and over and I hurry to turn on the light and sit up.

M < love, what is it?> I ask breathlessly. Carina repeatedly screams the same word, "blood," without ever stopping and I am forced to take her face in my hands and insist that she fix her eyes in mine. She is sweaty, frightened, her pupils dilated.

C < blood..> she only repeats, though slightly calmer.

M < what does blood mean, Carina? Blood where?>

C < I lose blood..> she adds a verb and I wish she had never done that. I pull my hands away from her face to lift the sheet and rush my face directly between her legs. I close my eyes for a moment and release a very long sigh of relief: there is nothing.

M < there is nothing, amore..> I try to say, but hers is an uninterrupted chant.

C < there is blood..there is blood..>

M < hey..> I whisper taking her hand. < look with me.. > and I try to lift her nightgown slightly, if she has to "see to believe" I will also peel off her panties, but Carina reacts by sweeping my hand away and rejecting physical contact with me.

C < no, there's blood!> she insists and I for a moment fear that I will let myself go into despair, the kind that assails you when you don't know what to do and would give your soul to make the other person feel better. Running my hands through my hair I try to regain some peace of mind.

M < okay, do you feel like putting on a pair of pants and going to the hospital?> I ask: maybe the concreteness of a medical exam confirming that there is no bleeding will help her.