A Million More To Go

Chapter Nine: The One with The Whiskey Bottle

"Mi dispiace - cosa hai detto?" Carina asked, her thumbs brushing against Maya's wrist as she knelt in frant of her. [I'm sorry - what did you say?]

There was a moment of silence between the two as Carina waited for Maya.

"He died...." Maya mumbled, her brow furrowed as if she was still trying to process her words herself.

"What do you mean bambina - who died?" Carina asked, her stomach dropping hoping it wasn't the person she'd thought of.

"He died...." Maya said again, her voice stronger now.

"Who died bambina?"

"Alberto. That was Gianna, he died this afternoon - he was sick and they didn't tell me. He was sick and he died! He died Carina!" Maya yelled.

Carina just pulled Maya into a tight hug as tears fell down her face. She knew what Alberto meant to her wife, heck he meant a lot to her. He'd been a part of their wedding, he'd been there with them through everything and now he was gone. She felt Maya's arms just rest against the ground not hugging her back, no tears, no more words, nothing.

They'd sat there for the next thirty minutes, thankful that no more alarms had sounded. Somehow Carina had managed to get Maya into the car, no arguments about them leaving shift twenty minutes early, she'd just followed along. Her eyes till glazed over as if her body was on auto-pilot.

Enzo seemed to have sensed that something was happening between the two women as he followed along quietly, not making his usual choice to run around the station and try to hide in order to stay longer - the team liked to joke that he was just like a child, a was the same amount of work, if not more than Andy's son Matteo.

Andy had assured Carina that she was okay to look after the station until the shift was over and told her that if they needed time off then they could take it and she would sort everything out in regards to subs. Carina hadn't told the team what had happened, just that Maya needed some space and some time.

The team ,of course, knew about Alberto and Gianna - they'd been at the wedding and would occasionally visit the couple at the station, often bringing in boxes of cannoli or tubs of pasta for everyone - food that was graciously accepted, even more so after a long and exhausting call. But, Carina knew it wasn't her news to tell. If Maya wanted o the team to know then she would tell them but for right now that wasn't her decision to make.

Carina didn't know how to feel, Alberto had been a massive part of her life. He'd given her advice and he'd been one of the only other Italians, aside from her brother and Gianna of course, that she knew in Seattle. He'd acted like a father to her, had welcomed her into their lives and always been there. For both her and Maya. But with the combination of feeling her own sense of loss and seeing her wife in the state she was in and knowing that she was going to have to go through the grieving process broke her heart in about a hundred different ways.

The car ride was silent. No music, no singing along to their favourite songs from Carina's British rock bands, no discussing the calls from the shift or what their dinner plans would be. It was silent. The only sound was from the soft pellets of rain hitting the windows as the typical Seattle began to come into full force.

Maya's eyes were stuck on the raindrops trailing down the window, she washed as they raced, each drop finding its own path as it fell. She needed something-anything to distract her, even if it was watching the raindrops .

"Maya - do you want anything to eat?" Carina asked, moving to kneel in front of the blonde.

She watched as the now, dull blue eyes started back at her - all sense of life and joy eviscerated from her body.