25. No Race

Carina came home to Maya arguing with her nurse. She didn't catch the whole thing but could tell Maya was upset that she wasn't allowed to leave their house because she thought she was late for her big Olympic race.

It had been commonplace for Maya to drift back into her professional running days. More often, she would be locked in her past the entire day from when she woke up until she fell asleep.

Carina had finally come to terms that Maya now spent most of her time not knowing who she was and that most of the time was the closed-off version of her wife from when they first met.

Some days, Maya would have lucid spells, and Carina would spend every second of them by her side, not wanting to miss any of the Maya she knew was still there. But those spells were getting shorter and further apart. Still, Carina never gave up and refused to put Maya in a home, against what everyone advised her to do.

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if Maya ever woke up lucid, alone, with her worst fear of being abandoned by the one person in life she trusted. They promised each other forever, and Carina meant to keep that vow.

"I got it, Claire. You're good for today." Carina said as she walked up to Maya guided her to sit down. "Hello, Maya. How was your day, Bella?"

"I would be doing a lot better if everyone wasn't trying to sabotage my chances at winning a gold medal." Maya pushed away Carina's hand that was stroking her head with a disgusted look on her face.

Carina couldn't help but laugh to herself. It varied every day how much Maya accepted her affection. Today, she was having none of it. Carina made a mental note, but she never held it against Maya. It wasn't her fault she thought it was 2012 and that she was a young runner who didn't care about relationships or love.

"She has been stuck on this for the last hour." The nurse said as she collected her things.

"Okay, thank you. See you tomorrow."

Once Claire left, Carina pulled up a stool and sat in front of Maya, taking her hands in hers to gain her full attention. "Bambina, do you remeber who I am?"

Maya stared for a moment at the woman in front of her, she looked so familiar, yet she couldn't pin down exactly how. She got lost in Carina's eyes; they looked back at her with such kindness. Maya knew those eyes.

"Can I have my ring?" she said, feeling compelled to break the silence. Maya didn't know what it meant, only that this woman in front of her had something of hers.

"You already have your ring, right here." Carina smiled as she pointed at Maya's ring finger.

"No, that is my ring." Maya insisted, looking over Carina's hand. The gold band seemed oddly familiar.

Carina let Maya take her ring and watched her hesitantly. There seemed to be a part of Maya that remembered. It didn't always work, but the rings seemed to bring out the parks of Maya that Carina missed.

Maya looked down at the gold in her hands; it matched the one on her finger.

"Why do I have two rings?"

"Because this one is mine," Carina spoke softly as she held out her hand. "Can I have it back?"

"Why is yours the same as mine?"

"Because you wanted to match when we got married."

"We are married?"

"Yes, Bambina."

Maya took in the information. Carina wasn't always so forward with answering her questions, but Maya was being responsive enough for her to handle the truth.

"Bambina?" Maya asked, looking up at her wife.

"Do you remember what that means?"

Maya thought for a moment, it sounded familiar, but she couldn't pin it down. It was an annoying fact that kept occurring; she hated it. She stayed quiet, not wanting to admit she didn't know the answer.

"It means baby, like how you call me babe sometimes."

"We are really married?"

"Si, would you like to see a picture?" Carina grabbed their wedding photo from above the fireplace and returned to her spot on the stool, "Almost thirty years ago, we got married."

"At Vic's parents?"

"Yes! You remember?"

"Not really, but it feels like I do."

Carina tried affections again and tucked Maya's silver hair behind her ear. Her heart warmed with love when she didn't get pushed away.

"I choose you, forever. What is that?"

A smile grew on Carina's face hearing the bits of their life Maya's brain was able to put together. It had been a few weeks since Maya last remembered anything that well.

"Look at the inside of your ring."

Maya looked down at the ring she was holding. It was difficult to make out, but it had 'I love you, forever' engraved into the gold. "That isn't what I said."

"That is my ring; look at yours."

Just like her wife said, 'I choose you, forever' was inscribed into the wedding band. Maya slowly remembered bits of the night and felt herself relax with the pair of kind eyes looking over her. Her wife seemed more caring than the nurse stopping her from getting to her meet.

"There is no race?"

"There is no race." Carina echoed.