The woman made of steel and other love stories

Capítulo 4: Home

"Como cortar pela raíz se já deu flor? Como inventar um adeus se já é amor? (...) Não me deixe preencher com vazios o espaço que é só teu, não se encante em outro canto se aqui comigo você já fez morada."

Present day ... 

Maya: (uncertain) If you live with me where is Andy living? 

Carina: (smiled) With us. Before she was living with Sullivan, but after everything that happened... 

Maya: (sat better in bed) Who is Sullivan? 

By Carina... 

She was before my eyes and yet it was as if we were miles away. As if our whole story, the laughs, the kisses, the partnership... Everything! Everything no longer existed. And there was nothing I could do to change that. Love now hung only to one side and therefore would die. At least for me there is no possibility of only one side loving. A relationship would not work like this. The truth is that what was immense and still fit me, was no longer there. Now it was just empty silence and a growing pain. 

Doctor Aquino: Can we talk for a second?

Carina: Yes! I'll bring her mother and Andy. Wait a second. (she left for a couple of minutes and then returned with the two women) 

Doctor: Well... Maya has a retrograde memory loss, which means she's able to remember a few parts of her pass before the accident, but not all of it. 

Carina: And the part that is missing it's me. (Carina tried as hard as she could, but the sadness seemed to be winning the battle) 

Doctor Aquino: Actually, after talking with her I think she remembers less then we think. She told me her last memory was with her brother in a police station. 

Andy: Oh my god! That was years ago. She doesn't remeber dating Jack, being captian, anithing! 

Carina: Meeting me, my brother's death, our marriage, her demotion... All gone?

Doctor Aquino: (nods)

Andy: Her memory... Maya might remember again, right?

Carina: (before Aquino could answer the question) The brain is unpredictable, Andy. She may never remember. 

Sixteen days have passed since Maya had her accident. Carina was eager to take her home, a house that was no longer a part of her life, after all everything she had lived with Carina in those months had been forgotten, thrown into the corner like an old toy. Everything that Maya was able to leave behind by understanding her entire family story of abuse, was pleading for return, even though she, without memory, no longer belonged there. It was like a puzzle with pieces stuck together in the wrong way. They would never work, but there would always be someone to try to fit them forcibly. Lance heard about his daughter's accident and decided he would take her to live with him. It would be like the old days, where they'd training till the late hours and she was his little girl. In his mind it was like receiving a second chance, with a daughter who still loved and respected him and, above all, a daughter who was not married to another woman.

 Carina: Are you ready? (nervous)

Maya: Yes. We can go! (not sure)

Lance would never miss the opportunity to take Maya home. This was a way to force Catherine to come home too. Since Maya's marriege she had moved into a small apartment next to her daughter and daughter-in-law but with everything that's happened and the possibility of Maya agreeing to stay with her father for a few days, she wouldn't have much choice but to stay close to her daughter. 

Lance: (near Maya's room) 

Maya: Dad? (happy to see him)

Lance: Hi, sweetie. 

Carina: (she wouldn't say it out loud so Maya wouldn't be upset, but she hated this man with all her strength) Your father? 

Maya: How are we married if you don't know my father? (look at the doctor) He wasn't at our wedding? 

Carina: No. 

Maya: (looks her confused. She would never not invite her dad for her own wedding)

Lance: Sweetie, I came to get you to spend a few days with me. What do you think?

Carina: What? No! Not at all! 

Maya: I like the idea. 

Carina: (trying to hide the frustration) Maya, I don't think this is a good idea. 

Maya: He's my father and you... 

Carina: I'm a stranger. 

Maya: That's not what I meant... 

Lance: Sweetie? 

Carina: I think you should come with me... I am a doctor and Doctor Aquino said you needed to return to your routine. Your routine is with me, Maya. 

Maya: Dad, maybe she's right... maybe I should going to my apartment. Andy is there and if I feel overwhelmed I can spend a few days with you... 

Lance: (does not pay much attention to what the daughter says and leaves the place without looking back) 

The situation was far from ideal, but Carina thought they would find a way. It was always like that in their relationship, they always found a way to be together, always fought for the love they felt for each other. But everything was different now, because Maya was again that person who hide behind the excuse of being allergic to monogamy so as not to open up, not to feel. Maya was again what she fought so hard to not be.The next day...Maya woke up with the sun directly on her face. The room was silent and Carina was not around. Next to what she understood to be her side of the bed there was a beautiful painting with some notes. One of them pointed out that there would be a crisis activity at the station and the other said: "TI AMO, BAMBINA." And the date was two months earlier. She took a deep breath. She got up from the bed and went towards the closet, where she looked for a towel to take a bath. She was still "holed up" in the closet when she heard someone come into the room humming, and her fright at seeing Carina enter the room fully naked. 

Maya: Deluca! (looked away from the brunette) 

Carina: (took the towel in Maya's hand and wrapped around it) Sorry! It's a habit! 

Maya: Is it your habit to walk around naked in the house? 

Carina: No! Only in our room. You never cared. (gave a shy smile) 

Maya: Maybe I care now. 

Carina: (picked up her clothes and walked to the bathroom) Sorry again. 

"Where are these dreams we used to dream awake?"