Crash- Station 19/Marina

Unexpected visitors

TW- ableism, homophobia, ableist language

Carina looked up when she heard the door and saw something she was not expecting. Her father walking into the room. They hadn't even told him they were in Italy, she started to panic, instinctively holding Maya closer to her.

"What's wrong? Who is it?" Maya's questions pulled Carina out of her thoughts.
"My papa"
"What? He's here? Right now? I'm not in my chair, we didn't tell him" Maya rambles, her own panicked thoughts starting.

"Carina! You didn't tell me you were coming" Vincenzo says, cutting off Maya's whispers to Carina.
"Ciao papa, I was going to surprise you." She lies, knowing she has to invent a reason for not telling him. As she's talking she turns Maya so she can see what's happening.
"Who's this?" He questions
"My wife papa, you know this" she tells him.
"You told me you were marrying a fire captain"
"Yes, I am married to a fire captain"
"That is not a fire captain, that is a useless cr*pple and a woman"

"Put me back in my chair" Maya says quietly, in english, to Carina. Carina immediately moves her wheelchair to the right spot, helps her transfer and straps her in. "Let's just go"

Carina stands up and grabs their things, handing them to Maya before pushing her to the front door, passing her father without acknowledging him. At the door Carina turned back to him.

"She is my wife and she is beautiful and strong and kind and I knew you would react like this, that's why we didn't tell you we were in Italy, we weren't planning on seeing you. I hate that you see things that way but its your loss because now you won't have me in your life or ever get to know this amazing woman" Carina says before turning back to Maya and helping her bump down the steps.

Neither of them said anything as they walked out to the sidewalk, Carina pulling out her phone to call a cab. It was going to be a very long wait for an accessible cab so they just got a regular cab and Carina transferred Maya in then took apart her chair and put it in the truck. When they got to the Airbnb she repeated the process, pulling out all the pieces of her chair and putting it together before helping Maya transfer out of the cab.

"Couch or bed?" Carina asks Maya when they get inside.

"I'm fine"

"You've been in your chair all day, you should get out and stretch and relax"

"I can do it myself" Maya says, heading into the bedroom. Carina let's her go, knowing that she needs to remind herself what she can do and be independent after what her dad said. Her transfer board is in there so she should be able transfer herself, Carina just listens from outside the room.  After about 10 minutes she hears the transfer board crash to the ground and goes to the doorway to check that Maya's ok. She's sitting on the edge of the bed with her chair beside her, the transfer board must have fallen when she tried to get it out from under her. She's so focus that she doesn't notice Carina watching her as she figures out how to balance herself with one arm so she can lift her leg up onto the bed, she gets one up but can't get the other with the way she's sitting so she moves on to figuring out how to lay down. At home they have an adjustable bed with grab bars on her side she can hook her arm through to lower herself, sit up or turn over but this is just a regular bed. She decides to just let herself fall over. Carina watches, not very impressed with her choice but also happy that Maya was comfortable enough to let herself fall like that.

"Can I join you?" Carina asks, stepping into the room.

"Ya" Maya replies, turning her head to look at the.

Carina quickly adjusts Maya's legs to a better position before laying next to her, shifting closer and holding her when Maya reaches out to her.

"None of what he said was true. And I did tell him I was marrying a woman, I guess he just chose to forget that part or decided to be difficult anyways, he's never approved of my sexuality." Carina says

"But it is true, you married a fire captain, not a quadriplegic who needs your help with everything, this isn't what you signed up for." Maya says, not looking at her

"No Maya, I married you. I married you because I love you, not because of your job or anything else."

Maya didn't respond but after a minute she reached over to her, careful not to let her arm fall or hit Carina, and layed her arm across her.

"I wish I could climb over there and kiss you, like I used to" she said quietly.

"I can fix that" Carina said, sitting up to move Maya so she's laying on her side then laying down again right next to her so they're facing each other. Maya put her arm around Carina again and pulled her over to kiss her.

"That's better" she says

They stayed like that for awhile, eventually sitting up and turning on a movie but Maya fell asleep not long after they started it so Carina carefully positioned her for the night without waking her up then got herself ready.

The next morning Carina woke up first again and thought it was odd but assumed Maya was just tired from the emotional day. When Maya did wake up Carina wasn't there which worried her for a second before she heard noise coming from the bathroom. She went to take her braces off and realized she wasn't wearing them, the last thing she remembered was watching a movie so she assumed she fell asleep and Carina forgot. Maybe that had something to do with why she was achy this morning, nothing really hurt it was just uncomfortable and she was tired, probably just pushed herself too much transferring by herself, she thought.

"Buongiorno" Carina says as she walks back into the room and sees Maya awake. "Ready to get up?"

"Stretch first?" Maya asks

"Of course" Carina says, walking over and sitting on the bed next to her. "Anything in particular?"

"No, everything's just a bit achy"

"Ok, let's stretch then I'll get your meds and we can have a quiet day" Carina says, staring to stretch Maya's hands and wrists.

"We don't need to, I'm fine" Maya protests

"I think we both need a quiet day together after yesterday"

"Ya, you're right. I love you"

"I love you too" Carina replies, pausing from stretching Maya's arms to lean down and kiss her.