little love

70

"hi little love!" maya said into the ipad, doing her best to hide the fact that she had been crying and put on a brave face for maddie. if maddie hadn't been so exhausted she likely would've seen right through her sister's cheerful facade.

"hi" maddie answered weakly

"ciao sorellina!" carinas face joined mayas on maddie's ipad

maddie looked absolutely exhausted. it was clear she felt absolutely horrible. she was in pain and the infection had left her with an unshakeable chill, while simultaneously sweating and her head was pounding  

"you lied" maddie said

maya and carina looked at each other in confusion. what was she talking about?

"mads, hun?" maya asked trying to understand

"you said you'd be here but you're not" maddie said, her breathing becoming heavy and her eyes starting to droop

maya and carina both felt their hearts sink at maddie's words. she didn't understand the isolation, all she knew is that the 2 people she trusted most weren't there like they promised they would be.

maddie coughed weakly before the sound of her labored snores filled the silence. arizona took the ipad and ended the call.

"what do we do?" maya asked, her thoughts racing thinking of how sad maddie sounded

"bambina, with her fever, odds are she won't even remember saying that" carina said, trying to ease her own guilt as well as mayas.

—-

after 36 hours in isolation, maddie's fever broke and she returned to her regular room. she was still sleeping when they moved her, the pain meds had kept her asleep for most of her time in the hospital.

callie and arizona wheeled the girl in and maya and carina were instantly at her side. holding her hands, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair. cramming all the comfort they weren't able to give her while she was in isolation into just a few moments. they refused to let go of her hands, lest her fever spike again. they wouldn't let themselves miss it if it happened again.

"the infection is clearing. we will switch her to oral antibiotics and place the hard cast tomorrow, then she can go home!" callie said with a smile.

maya froze. home. what would they do at home with a teenager who could barely move? to get into the apartment alone there were 2 flights of stairs. mayas mind was spinning, but of course carina noticed. she placed a calm hand on mayas cheek.

"one moment at a time bambina" she reminded her. the blonde nodded and began to calm down.

"we will send you guys home with some crutches, but for the most part she should be using a wheelchair. it's gonna be a long road and we will keep a close eye on her." arizona said

maya nodded.

"maya? carina?" came a sleepy little voice

"we are right here little love" maya said at the same time carina said "we are here cuore mio"

"you stayed" maddie smiled

"always" maya and carina answered in unison.

——

the next morning callie came to put the hard cast on maddie's leg. maddie picked her favorite color, a light purple. as she realized the cast was going to cover her entire leg she began to get nervous. she squeezed carinas hand and buried her face in mayas neck to hide from the situation.

maddie's thoughts were swirling. 12 weeks in the full cast. 3 months. she would be stuck in this thing for the entire summer. she would miss her competitive travel league. she would fall behind. even taking soccer off the table, she would need help to do pretty much everything. how would she shower? how would she even get into the apartment... could she still drive? could she hang out at the station? would she be trapped in bed for these 3 months?

"breathe baby. breathe with me mads" maya broke her out of her thoughts by whispering soothingly in her ear. "one thing at a time. we will help you little love" Maya knew that her sister was spiraling

maddie relaxed into her sisters embrace as maya stroked her hair, carina rubbed her back, and callie finished up with the cast. carina left to go sign the discharge papers and callie and maya moved to help maddie into the wheelchair, but maddie clung to maya, not letting her sister move off the bed

"i think we need a minute" maya told callie who smiled and left.

"come on mads, don't you want to go home?" maya tried to coax the girl

"i want carina" maddie said softly

the brunette came back in and raised an eyebrow at maya, seeing the blondes still in the bed and callie nowhere in sight

"she said she wants you?" maya said to her wife

without hesitation carina crouched down in front of Maddie and cupped her face in her soft hands, gently forcing her to meet her eyes. "cuore mio? what's going through that beautiful head of yours?"

"i just want you" maddie said, her bottom lip trembling

"you don't want callie to help you?" carina was beginning to understand. after all maddie had been through, she didn't want anyone but her and maya to touch her  "can maya and i get you into the wheel chair tesoro?"

maddie nodded and maya and carina each supported one side of maddie and helped transfer her from bed to the wheelchair and they headed to the parking lot.

at the car, it took some maneuvering to get maddie's casted leg into the backseat. they folded the wheelchair and put it in the trunk and headed for home.

at the apartment maya pushed maddie towards the apartment building, maddie took a sharp inhale seeing the stairs.

"what do we do now?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

without a word, maya locked the brakes on the chair and crossed to face maddie. she crouched down and wiped a tear from her face before scooping the teenager into her arms. maddie didn't weigh any more than all her firefighter gear, and maya could carry her easily

"we have you maddie. always. we have you little love." she whispered as she carried her sister up the stairs, carina trailing behind with the wheelchair.