Page 45 of Scorched Hearts

“They’ll get over it.” Elle tucked Maya’s hair behind her ear. “You won’t get over this, however.” And she ate Maya’s last hippopotamus, making her lose the game.

“Fuck you.” Maya jokingly got up to go.

“We can play again. I’ll go easy on you.” Elle opened it again, making space on the bed.

After some time, Elle started getting visibly sleepy. Maya couldn’t help thinking it was quite cute, the way she would uncontrollably yawn and let her eyelids fall almost all the way down her drowsy eyes.

“Would you like to go to sleep?” Maya suggested, following another series of very infectious yawns.

“Come on, I’m not a toddler,” Elle said in a mock-offended tone.

“Let me rephrase. I’d like to go to sleep,” Maya corrected herself. “I was awake the whole previous night.”

“Oh.” Elle nodded. “Sure, then. Are you taking the couch?” She pointed to the very uncomfortably looking chair.

“With pleasure.” Maya sighed. “I’ll get myself some pillows and a blanket. Will you wait for me?”

“Very funny.”

But Elle did not wait, in fact. Once Maya was back after asking the irritated nurse for pillows, she saw her darling had already drifted off somewhere far away in the thick coat of deep sleep. She quietly settled herself in the chair, perplexed as to where to put her legs so as not to look too ridiculous, but also to be able to fall asleep, at least for a moment. The blanket was a bit scratchy and quite warm, but she couldn’t be happier. She was back with Elle without compromising her boundaries, without making a fool out of herself. She was back with Elle on her own terms, having heard one of the most beautiful apologies of her life. Sincere and made with effort. From time to time glancing at sleeping Elle, she soon drifted off herself, unaware of how painful her back would be the next day.

“Elle, Darling.” she delicately shook Elle’s arm, sorry to have to wake her up, but also incredibly excited. She touched her arm again, “Elle?”

“Maybe we should wait, you know, she seems deep asleep,” Colin suggested, shifting his weight from one foot onto another, visibly nervous.

“Perhaps,” Maya looked at Elle regretfully. “But you’ll have to go soon. I really wanted you two to talk to each other again.” she smiled.

“Who is it?” Elle’s voice interrupted their conversation. She stirred in her bed without opening her eyes, her voice still carrying in it little grains of sleep. She sighed, then prepared to fall asleep again, tucking herself into the sheets.

“Elle?” Maya said gently. “Colin came to visit.”

Elle opened her eyes this time. She looked Colin up and down, and her face lit up. “Colin! Come here, you, I need a hug,” she said, almost laughing.

“We haven’t seen each other for so long,” Colin came up to hug her, awkwardly careful, as if not knowing whether he would break anything. Maya always thought it endearing the way he behaved in hospitals, walking on eggshells. “I was always rooting for you two to get back together,” he half-whispered.

“Hey! That’s not a supportive thing to say,” Maya reprimanded him, joining in for the hug.

She felt completely at peace, having both Elle and Colin with her again, felt ready to give Elle all of her support in the process of rehabilitation. She also felt ready to face work again, knowing she always had Elle to lean upon and get back to. They finally released each other, beyond happy from the reunion.

“Tell me everything,” Elle said first. “How’s it going? What happened after your wedding? That’s when I stopped following along.” Maya could see that she was hungry for details and felt glad that she could bring the two back together.

Back when Maya and Elle were dating, Elle had gotten along with Colin very well. Soon, Maya began catching them hanging out without her when she’d had to stay at med school until late, and their friendship had quickly blossomed. Then, Colin went away to study, and the breakup between Maya and Elle obviously kept Elle and Colin further apart. Seeing their friendship rekindle felt good, though a bit nostalgic for Maya, reminiscent of a long-gone period of their lives.

“Well, my son Alexei is all grown now. You should definitely meet him, You’ll get along with each other very well, I’m sure.”

“I’d love to.” Elle nodded vigorously. “I remember him as a little toddler.”

“Has Maya told you?” Colin looked toward Maya in a way of silent question. “Does Elle know?”

Maya shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, some time ago, Alexei’s school bus was involved in an accident, and he was saved by no one else than Maya herself.” He nodded. “I can’t imagine how terrifying it must have been, to operate on someone you know.”

“Yes, she tends to do that a lot, doesn’t she?” Elle winked at Maya but didn’t say anything else about being saved. “She’s a really good surgeon, and I can’t stop being proud of her,” she said to Colin as if Maya weren’t in the room with them.

“All right, stop this. It’s just my job,” Maya protested. “You don’t like people going up to you saying you’re a hero and all that either, do you, now.”

“Oh, I love it.” Elle laughed. "I'm a narcissist. Didn’t you know?”

---