You made walking easy

The Meeting part 2

MAYA POV

God she's beautiful, as I finished my rambling I could see a slight grin on her face that she was failing at hiding. She suddenly spoke "I don't really do this, but could I have your number? ". I'd be stupid if I didn't give my number to her, almost in an instant I asked for her phone. Now we both have each other's number. Time to see what happens. Before my accident I'd hope I could use this woman for my self-care, she's exactly who I'd go for. Since my accident, I couldn't think of anything worse than sleeping with someone. The thought of just laying there and struggling to move around just filled me with too much anxiety.

After this interaction, I made my way to the Osteopathic ward on the second floor. I wasn't expecting much from the visit in all honesty. As I was waiting for my appointment, I found myself wondering what the beautiful brunette was currently doing. I shook my head when I heard my name being called. "Hi Link. How are you? " I asked on the way to the room. I've gotten to know Link on a more personal level over the last six months. During the waiting times for results we would talk about his life and he'd ask me questions about mine. I don't think there's much to me other than the job I have which I can't do and my achievements which are slightly tainted by abuse. Once the door closed behind me, I took in the various old x-rays of my legs and my new ones from a week ago. I couldn't see anything different so I prepared myself for bad news once again.

I could see Link thinking, since the beginning of my interactions I'd say I've become an expert in knowing what his facial expressions meant. A small grin appeared on his face.. maybe I was wrong about bad news. "Right, so I have the results. As we've discussed before there's a small chance of walking again. But from the most recent x-ray, it looks like we've gotten the best result we could have asked for. From these results, I think it's time to start moving your legs. Now this will take a long time to get you back to your Olympic days but this is a start. Today we could get you standing up, what do you think? " . I sat there shocked; I've been waiting for this news for forever. I escaped into my own thoughts picturing myself putting on my captain helmet, running through my normal routes and even walking to my fridge.

It seems I was in my head for quite a while. " Maya.. what do you think? Are you okay? You looked like you were somewhere else". Ah shit. " Yes sorry.. uh yeah no I want to try standing. I want to get back to being captain and ordering my team around again". With a smile, Link started to explain my future plan.

-

I've been to the physio floor before, as I've had various injuries. I knew of the lingo so I didn't necessarily pay attention to what was being said. I knew I'd be put in some sorta holster supported by two people and expected to walk between what I'd describe as ballet bars. Let's do this!

If you know anything about me, you will know that my ego is rather large. I know what I can do and performing below that simply won't happen. It was quite easy being pushed up.. okay it was very easy. I placed a hand on each bar and waiting to be pushed up and straightened out. Once I was fully standing up I was told I should try to stay standing for 15 seconds, easy right? Wrong. "1,2,3,4..." this is easy, I've got this. "8,9,10" Fuck, my legs won't stop shaking. "13, 14, 15 " Jesus, that felt like forever. I did it but now I'm so tired, I can feel sweat forming on my face.

"Well done! You've done it. Now I want you to try and do this twice a day for as long as you can. Just get a friend and hoist yourself up, holding a Zimmer frame that we will provide for you. I'll see you in two weeks and we can go from there. I'm proud of you Maya". I suppose I should be proud of myself but at the same time, why was standing so hard. I'm an ex-Olympian, I know that if my dad saw me now.. no, I don't even want to think of what he would do.

CARINA POV

"Well done Jo! That's the first time you've assisted a C-section. Let's go check on the bambino." as we walked down the corridor I saw some blonde hair in front of me, how did I already know it was her.. that it was Maya. I wanted to go up and talk to her but I didn't want to bother her so I decided to send a text message.

*Hi it's Carina.. the one who spilt coffee all over you this morning. How did your appointment go? I hope we can talk again, maybe meet up and get Coffee... this time I promise not to spill it over you!*

Well, I sent the message, now it was time to distract myself and hope she replies. Jo and I finally reached the Bambino, now named Charlie. Jo as always listened and took the steps required to give the patient the right care, it's almost like she has an instinct for it. I guess you could say she's my favourite resident. Once the check-up was done, I couldn't help but check my phone to see if Maya had replied. And she did!

*Hi, I remember who you are! The appointment went better than I thought, I feel like I soon can be myself again.. like without this wheelchair. I'd love to get a coffee with you one day. We'll have to work out when we're both free.*

-

It's been 4 days since I literally ran into Maya and we've messaged whenever we could. With me being on shift all day and Maya working when I'm not, it's been hard to hold a conversation so I decided to pay her a visit as I know she's working right now. It's nearly lunch so I chose to cook a small lunch for her, just a simple lasagne using my mama's old recipes.

Finding the station was fairly easy, it's not very hard to miss bright red garage doors and fire trucks waiting. Walking into the station, I could see Maya with her eyebrows furrowed like she was reading something really important. Another woman approached her from what looked like an office to which she looked angry; I wonder why. I didn't want to intrude so I waiting a few minutes to go in. Once the other woman left, I took my opportunity to talk to Maya.

"H-hi what are you doing here? I mean it's nice to see you but why? " were the first words that came out of her mouth. "Hi, I made some lasagne and wondered if you'd eaten yet and if you'd like to eat with me since I'm not working today ". I could see that she was thinking, she always makes a specific face as if her thoughts are playing an intense tennis game between her brain and her mouth. She finally answers "Uh yeah no I am really hungry but you didn't need to come all this way. There's a chair here.. since you know I can't use it ". I sat down and handed her my lasagne.