Chapter Text
Three days had passed, and the pain in Maya’s shoulder began to dull. Alarmingly, though, the numbness radiating down her left arm had not yet improved, nor had the feeling that her limb was a foreign part of her body or the difficulty in controlling her fingers. Still, Maya tried to remain hopeful. Hope was free, but so was disappointment.
In those three days, the rain had not slowed down, and Maya had spent that time resting, avoid people, and doing as little as she could get away with. Her excuse was that she need to heal her injured body, but really it was her heart that hurt the most.
She craved closure for this chapter of her live that both started and ended so abruptly, but she had no idea of how to seek it until she happened to catch sight of Katya from the other side of the compound. Just the sight of her gave Maya a burst of energy strong enough to pull her out of her despair.
“Katya!” Maya called. Katya froze and turned to look, wearing an expression of pleasant surprise as Maya ran toward her, bare feet splashing in the mud. She took Katya’s hand in her own, the right one, the uninjured one, even though it felt awkward to use her non-dominant hand. “Please tell me you’ve been coping better than I have.”
“Maya…” Katya shrank away. “I’m sorry, you aren’t supposed to be speaking to me.”
“No,” a playful smirk appeared on Maya’s face. “You aren’t supposed to be speaking to me. I started this conversation, so, therefore, you have done nothing wrong.”
Katya smiled. It was small but still reached her eyes. “I’d still feel more comfortable to keep this brief.”
“Of course. I only want…”. What did she want? To run away with Katya and never speak to another damn person as long as they lived, but that was out of the question. As for her intentions with this conversation, she knew what she meant to do, but lacked the courage to do it. “I want to end this on my own terms.”
“I’m not sure I want to end anything.” Katya spoke softly and looked down. “I liked the idea that maybe if we were better at keeping secrets…and I I still don’t entirely understand the problem your father has with me beyond the conflict between you and Arjun.”
“Mostly that you can’t get me pregnant,” Maya blurted out, bluntly. Katya’s eyes widened with shock. “I’m trying to make peace with whatever my future might look like. Ya lyublyu tebya.”
Katya shook her head and chuckled. “I appreciate the effort, but your pronunciation is terrible. Dasvidaniya Mayochka,”
“Dasvidaniya Katusha,”