Bond lost after surgery

Tinker and Tainga had a strong bond and had been cage mates for 5 years. Tainga had to be spayed about a month ago and i had her in a small cage, next to Tinker's, to restrict her activity. After a week she was allowed to play. I started out slowly. Giving her 15 minutes in a small space with nothing to jump on and increased her time each day. 10 days after her surgery, i let Tinker join Tainga in the hallway. Tinker nipped at Tainga, so i stopped the play time. The next time i tried,They sprayed each other. The third attempt, Tinker attacked Tainga from behind (no injuries). Its so sad. Tainga seems to really miss Tinker and since they separated Tinker has been on edge. I was hoping that Tinker just didn't recognize Tainga and that once Tainga got a bath they would be okay again. When they got a bath Tinker didn't really pay attention to Tainga, but Tainga was scared and ended up spraying Tinker and then Tinker nipped her (before the surgery Tinker would ignore Tainga if she sprayed her) I had to buy a new cage. Its so sad because they had such a great bond before and they both seem so lonely.

Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have advice on repairing their bond? Should i do anything differently for single chins who do not have a cage mate?