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Otalia fic - Heroes and Friends, 13/?
Dec. 11th, 2009 01:20 amTitle: Heroes and Friends
Fandom: Otalia
Rating: Mostly PG-13, eventual NC-17 for sex and violence (Not between our girls though…the violence that is…promise. The other? Well…teehee).
Disclaimer: These wonderful ladies and the rest of the town belong to CBS, Telenext, and P&G. I’m just having some fun with them.
Spoilers: I don’t think so. This story picks up at the “no more waiting” gazebo scene and goes off canon.
Summary: Nat gets the shock of her life and it turns Liv’s world upside down.
Warning: Not beta’d so if it sucks, there’s only me to blame.
A/N: Just like the last chapter I said I wasn’t a medical whiz, well, I’m obviously not a geography major either. I’m just making up islands! It’s fiction, I can do that. :)
Links to previous chapters:
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12
Chapter 13
She stood in the early morning tropical sun. It was hotter in the Caribbean than she remembered as a kid or maybe she had just become more sensitive with age. Whatever it was didn’t help with the black plastic of the phone receiver slipping in her sweaty hand. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, waiting for the call to go through. She had made all of the other calls – the professional business call to the luxury hotel two blocks away where she secured several rooms for an indefinite time, the charter plane service in Springfield to get a plane fueled and ready to go within the hour, and ultimately, a call to Emma. She assured her little girl that Natalia was fine, and that they’d be home soon. She talked to Phillip and learned that his situation was becoming more precarious since they couldn’t find a bone marrow donor. She gave him the brief synopsis of the situation, letting him know that their stay on the island was currently unknown. He promised to watch after Emma for as long as was needed or as he was capable. He only insisted that Olivia take care of Natalia and get her back home safe and sound.
Now, here she was on her final call, the one she dreaded the most. She closed her eyes and took a deep when she heard the line picked up on the other end.
“Buzz?”
“O…Olivia? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” She resisted the urge to ask inane questions about how he was doing and what the weather was like, but she nearly gave in just to avoid the reason for her call. Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry long on how to approach the subject.
“Where are you? Actually, where the hell is everyone?”
“They’re all here, Buzz. Frank, Rafe, Natalia, Josh and I…we’re all here.”
His exasperated sigh made it easy for her to envision him throwing up his hands. “Where’s here?”
“San Talos.”
“San Talos? What…wait, isn’t that close to San Cristobel?”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the metal wall of the open phone booth. “Yeah, it is.”
“But why are they all there with you?”
“Buzz!” She said more forcefully than she meant to. “Enough with the million questions. There will be time to talk about it when you get here.”
“Get there? Why do I need to get there?”
Olivia banged her forehead against the metal and let out a low growl of frustration. “Please just listen and don’t talk.”
“Okay.”
“Okay…good.” She found herself praying a little as she started. She didn’t know really how to start or if there was any easy way to say this, so she just jumped in. “It’s Frank. He got hurt, and…”
“Olivia?” She could hear the fear in his voice, and she forced down the lump in her throat.
“He’s not in good shape, Buzz. You need to get here.”
There was a long silence and for a moment, she thought he may have dropped the phone. “Buzz?”
“Yeah.” He was crying. She could hear it in his voice, and it undid her.
She sniffled and wiped at her nose, trying to pull it together. She had known them both for so long, and they were practically family. The annoying kind of family, but family just the same. It was all so wrong to have to do this to Buzz after Coop and now Frank. She cleared her throat, “I have a plane at the airport ready for you and anyone else you want to bring. It can hold six people. And there are suites saved for you at the Regency Palm.”
“Thanks, Liv.” He sniffed.
“Don’t thank me just yet.” Her voice was low and despondent. If it hadn’t been for her, neither Rafe nor Frank would have been hurt.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “We’ll talk when you get here. Just hurry.”
She gently put the earpiece back on the cradle as she hung up. For a moment, she rested her head against the cool plastic before looking up at the perfect blue skies overhead. The birds still flew by, cheerfully talking to each other, as if nothing horrible was going on in the world. She felt a surge of rage at the blue skies and the birds and every goddamn perfect thing in the world. She raised the phone still gripped in her hand and slammed it viciously into the cradle over and over and over again, until the small pronged piece hung by nothing but two wires.
The effort exhausted her, and she slid to the ground. Letting her head fall against the concrete wall behind the bank of phones, she passed out. She didn’t notice Josh come up with an orderly, who effortlessly picked her up and carried her inside. She didn’t even budge as nurses and doctors bustled around her to be sure she was fine.
Dr. Ashby uncapped a needle and Josh stopped him. The doctor answered his unasked question. “She’s suffering from exhaustion, and she needs to sleep. This is very mild. Probably no stronger than a couple of Benadryl, but it’ll help her relax.”
Josh nodded, knowing for the sake of her own health she needed rest and wouldn’t willingly take it, until it was forced on her. “Can she get a bed in Natalia’s room?”
He smiled knowingly at him. “I think we can arrange that.”
*************
Olivia stretched and rolled to one side, grumbling as she bumped into something metal. She rolled over the other way and had the same experience on the other side.
“What the hell? Natal…” She sat up and looked around the semi-darkened room. She braced herself as her head spun from disorientation. Almost instantly she realized she was in a hospital room and Natalia was in a similar bed to the left of her. Unlike Natalia, she didn’t have beeping equipment hooked up to her so she jumped off the bed and immediately regretted it as the room tilted.
She grabbed the railing on Natalia’s bed to steady herself. “What the hell happened to me?”
Shaking her head to clear it, she reached for Natalia’s hand and spoke to her softly, “Hey, Baby. It’s me. Doc says you’re gonna be okay. It’s nothing they can’t take care of so you just sleep and get better.”
Leaning over, she brushed a stray the hair away from her left cheek and drew in a hissing breath at the purple bruise marring the perfect skin of her face. She felt the instant flash of anger jolt through her.
“I’m glad I killed the son of a bitch now,” she murmured. “Nobody’s ever going to hurt you again, I’ll make sure of it. And if they do, well…I’ll show them the ‘Olivia Spencer was here’ sign I tattooed to Edmund’s ass.”
She squeezed the delicate fingers of the hand she was holding, the soft skin on the back of Natalia’s hand tingling her own skin in tiny electrical currents. She sniffed back the tears brimming in her eyes as she thought about how close she had come to losing Natalia. She ran the back of her free hand along the side of Natalia’s cheek before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the lips.
“I love you, Baby.” The fingers she still held twitched slightly, and she smiled. “Sleep. I’ll be right back.”
*************
Outside Natalia’s room, the small corridor was bustling with activity. She spotted Josh walking down the hall towards her looking surprisingly chipper and…clean. He even had on what appeared to be a change of clothes.
“Well, look at you! Did I dream it all or did we really go through a life and death situation because you are lookin’ good?”
He smiled at her charmingly. “Why, thank you! Actually, Rick and Lillian got here about an hour ago. She bought both of us a change of clothes when they got into the airport and some essentials. The staff was kind enough to let me borrow the shower in the doctor’s lounge.”
“Awww, that’s great! Lillian’s so sweet. Everyone here’s been great.”
She went to hug him, but he pushed her away at arm’s length. “Yeah, great, and you’re next in line ‘cause you’re getting kind of rank!”
She swatted at him, but he only laughed. “Hey, don’t get mad at me, Liv. I’m just thinking you’ll want to be all smelling good when your girl wakes up, but you know, if you two are into the dirty, don’t let me get in the way.”
She rolled her eyes at her ex. “Smartass.” Actually, the thought of a shower and clean clothes almost made her want to do a happy dance in the hospital foyer. Instead she reigned it in and asked, “So, where’s Lillian? I have some clean undies calling my name!”
“Rafe’s room actually. We can wait for them.”
“Is he awake? Can we see him?” The excitement in her voice was obvious.
He nodded his head down the hallway. “Of course, come on.”
They had to take the elevator up two floors to the ICU wing. When Olivia saw where they were headed, she looked at Josh nervously. “I thought he was going to be okay. Why is he in ICU?”
“It’s just precautionary. Dr. Ashby said he should be in his own room sometime today.”
Olivia let out a breath. “Good. I wonder if they’d let Rafe share a room with Natalia.”
“Can’t hurt to ask.”
When they turned the corner, they entered the hub of the ICU wing with a surprisingly well-equipped nurses’ station and a large semi-circle space of curtained off rooms that medical staff could get to quickly, if needed. Olivia noticed that the station even had high end computers and carts that nurses were pushing around with laptops in them for patient information.
Josh noticed the look on Olivia’s face. “It’s amazing the difference a couple of floors can make, huh?”
She shook her head. “No kidding.”
Josh led her to the third curtain from the left and poked his head in. “Hey, Rafe. You have a visitor.” He pushed the curtain back and guided Olivia to his bedside.
Rafe smiled at her with a slightly doped up expression. “Hey, trouble!”
She laughed at him and reached down to take his good hand. “You’re whacked out.”
“Uh huh, it’s great!” His look suddenly turned serious. “How’s Ma?”
Olivia leaned closer, reassuring him with a gentle squeeze of his hand. “She’s fine, Rafe. I’m keeping an eye on her. Don’t worry.”
Rafe struggled to keep his eyes open as the painkillers kicked in. “I know. You’re good for her.”
Olivia choked on the drug-induced sentiment that exposed how he really felt about her and Natalia. A little spark of hope bloomed in Olivia, and she brushed away the tear that fell down her cheek. She leaned over and kissed him gently on the forehead.
Straightening back up, she felt a hand at the small of her back and turned to see Lillian smiling gently at her, passing a bag to her. “Here, dear, I got you some clean clothes. Why don’t you clean up and you two can eat something when you get done?”
She hugged the older woman. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re here. Frank’s…”
“I know.” Lillian brushed a tear from her face and forced a smile. “It’ll be okay.”
“I called Buzz. I thought he should be here.”
Lillian reached to take Olivia’s hand and patted it reassuringly. “I know. Josh told me. Thank you for doing that. I know it had to be hard.”
Olivia nodded and looked down. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but she knew it was far from over for all of them. “I’m just glad you’re here. Buzz is going to need you, more than ever.”
Lillian nodded and looked at her sadly then looped her arm through Olivia’s. “Come on, let me show you where that super secret shower is located.”
**********
An hour later, Olivia came back to the lobby area of the ICU where Josh and Lillian were waiting on her with an assortment of fast food options spread out on a table. Olivia smiled when she noticed no salads in the bunch. Even when Natalia picked up fast food for dinner, which was pretty rare because she loved to cook so much, she still got a salad and a grilled chicken sandwich for Olivia. She felt like she hadn’t had a burger in months!
They tucked into their food and after a few minutes, Rick came up. He came around the makeshift dinner table to give Olivia a hug and then sat down to eat as well.
Olivia hated to ask, but she needed to know. She looked to the clock on the wall and guessed that Buzz would be there in about an hour. “Have you seen Frank?”
Olivia could tell by how slowly he chewed his bite of burger that he was stalling, and that made a prickling feeling of dread run down her spine. He wiped his mouth and seemed to be thinking about what to say before saying it.
“They tried some new types of antibiotics. There hasn’t been any improvement.” He looked down at his half-eaten burger and pushed it away, no longer hungry. “His organs are starting to fail. They hooked him up to a dialysis machine. Basically, they’re just trying to keep him here long enough for his family to get here. I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”
Olivia looked down at the wrappers and half-eaten food, at life going on without change or regard for tragedy, and suddenly she jumped to her feet and ran to the nearest bathroom. Josh stood to go to her, but Lillian reached for his arm.
“Let me.”
The older woman disappeared into the bathroom. As the door was slowly closing, Josh and Rick could make out the retching sounds of Olivia throwing up.
Fandom: Otalia
Rating: Mostly PG-13, eventual NC-17 for sex and violence (Not between our girls though…the violence that is…promise. The other? Well…teehee).
Disclaimer: These wonderful ladies and the rest of the town belong to CBS, Telenext, and P&G. I’m just having some fun with them.
Spoilers: I don’t think so. This story picks up at the “no more waiting” gazebo scene and goes off canon.
Summary: Nat gets the shock of her life and it turns Liv’s world upside down.
Warning: Not beta’d so if it sucks, there’s only me to blame.
A/N: Just like the last chapter I said I wasn’t a medical whiz, well, I’m obviously not a geography major either. I’m just making up islands! It’s fiction, I can do that. :)
Links to previous chapters:
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12
Chapter 13
She stood in the early morning tropical sun. It was hotter in the Caribbean than she remembered as a kid or maybe she had just become more sensitive with age. Whatever it was didn’t help with the black plastic of the phone receiver slipping in her sweaty hand. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, waiting for the call to go through. She had made all of the other calls – the professional business call to the luxury hotel two blocks away where she secured several rooms for an indefinite time, the charter plane service in Springfield to get a plane fueled and ready to go within the hour, and ultimately, a call to Emma. She assured her little girl that Natalia was fine, and that they’d be home soon. She talked to Phillip and learned that his situation was becoming more precarious since they couldn’t find a bone marrow donor. She gave him the brief synopsis of the situation, letting him know that their stay on the island was currently unknown. He promised to watch after Emma for as long as was needed or as he was capable. He only insisted that Olivia take care of Natalia and get her back home safe and sound.
Now, here she was on her final call, the one she dreaded the most. She closed her eyes and took a deep when she heard the line picked up on the other end.
“Buzz?”
“O…Olivia? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” She resisted the urge to ask inane questions about how he was doing and what the weather was like, but she nearly gave in just to avoid the reason for her call. Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry long on how to approach the subject.
“Where are you? Actually, where the hell is everyone?”
“They’re all here, Buzz. Frank, Rafe, Natalia, Josh and I…we’re all here.”
His exasperated sigh made it easy for her to envision him throwing up his hands. “Where’s here?”
“San Talos.”
“San Talos? What…wait, isn’t that close to San Cristobel?”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the metal wall of the open phone booth. “Yeah, it is.”
“But why are they all there with you?”
“Buzz!” She said more forcefully than she meant to. “Enough with the million questions. There will be time to talk about it when you get here.”
“Get there? Why do I need to get there?”
Olivia banged her forehead against the metal and let out a low growl of frustration. “Please just listen and don’t talk.”
“Okay.”
“Okay…good.” She found herself praying a little as she started. She didn’t know really how to start or if there was any easy way to say this, so she just jumped in. “It’s Frank. He got hurt, and…”
“Olivia?” She could hear the fear in his voice, and she forced down the lump in her throat.
“He’s not in good shape, Buzz. You need to get here.”
There was a long silence and for a moment, she thought he may have dropped the phone. “Buzz?”
“Yeah.” He was crying. She could hear it in his voice, and it undid her.
She sniffled and wiped at her nose, trying to pull it together. She had known them both for so long, and they were practically family. The annoying kind of family, but family just the same. It was all so wrong to have to do this to Buzz after Coop and now Frank. She cleared her throat, “I have a plane at the airport ready for you and anyone else you want to bring. It can hold six people. And there are suites saved for you at the Regency Palm.”
“Thanks, Liv.” He sniffed.
“Don’t thank me just yet.” Her voice was low and despondent. If it hadn’t been for her, neither Rafe nor Frank would have been hurt.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “We’ll talk when you get here. Just hurry.”
She gently put the earpiece back on the cradle as she hung up. For a moment, she rested her head against the cool plastic before looking up at the perfect blue skies overhead. The birds still flew by, cheerfully talking to each other, as if nothing horrible was going on in the world. She felt a surge of rage at the blue skies and the birds and every goddamn perfect thing in the world. She raised the phone still gripped in her hand and slammed it viciously into the cradle over and over and over again, until the small pronged piece hung by nothing but two wires.
The effort exhausted her, and she slid to the ground. Letting her head fall against the concrete wall behind the bank of phones, she passed out. She didn’t notice Josh come up with an orderly, who effortlessly picked her up and carried her inside. She didn’t even budge as nurses and doctors bustled around her to be sure she was fine.
Dr. Ashby uncapped a needle and Josh stopped him. The doctor answered his unasked question. “She’s suffering from exhaustion, and she needs to sleep. This is very mild. Probably no stronger than a couple of Benadryl, but it’ll help her relax.”
Josh nodded, knowing for the sake of her own health she needed rest and wouldn’t willingly take it, until it was forced on her. “Can she get a bed in Natalia’s room?”
He smiled knowingly at him. “I think we can arrange that.”
*************
Olivia stretched and rolled to one side, grumbling as she bumped into something metal. She rolled over the other way and had the same experience on the other side.
“What the hell? Natal…” She sat up and looked around the semi-darkened room. She braced herself as her head spun from disorientation. Almost instantly she realized she was in a hospital room and Natalia was in a similar bed to the left of her. Unlike Natalia, she didn’t have beeping equipment hooked up to her so she jumped off the bed and immediately regretted it as the room tilted.
She grabbed the railing on Natalia’s bed to steady herself. “What the hell happened to me?”
Shaking her head to clear it, she reached for Natalia’s hand and spoke to her softly, “Hey, Baby. It’s me. Doc says you’re gonna be okay. It’s nothing they can’t take care of so you just sleep and get better.”
Leaning over, she brushed a stray the hair away from her left cheek and drew in a hissing breath at the purple bruise marring the perfect skin of her face. She felt the instant flash of anger jolt through her.
“I’m glad I killed the son of a bitch now,” she murmured. “Nobody’s ever going to hurt you again, I’ll make sure of it. And if they do, well…I’ll show them the ‘Olivia Spencer was here’ sign I tattooed to Edmund’s ass.”
She squeezed the delicate fingers of the hand she was holding, the soft skin on the back of Natalia’s hand tingling her own skin in tiny electrical currents. She sniffed back the tears brimming in her eyes as she thought about how close she had come to losing Natalia. She ran the back of her free hand along the side of Natalia’s cheek before leaning over and kissing her lightly on the lips.
“I love you, Baby.” The fingers she still held twitched slightly, and she smiled. “Sleep. I’ll be right back.”
*************
Outside Natalia’s room, the small corridor was bustling with activity. She spotted Josh walking down the hall towards her looking surprisingly chipper and…clean. He even had on what appeared to be a change of clothes.
“Well, look at you! Did I dream it all or did we really go through a life and death situation because you are lookin’ good?”
He smiled at her charmingly. “Why, thank you! Actually, Rick and Lillian got here about an hour ago. She bought both of us a change of clothes when they got into the airport and some essentials. The staff was kind enough to let me borrow the shower in the doctor’s lounge.”
“Awww, that’s great! Lillian’s so sweet. Everyone here’s been great.”
She went to hug him, but he pushed her away at arm’s length. “Yeah, great, and you’re next in line ‘cause you’re getting kind of rank!”
She swatted at him, but he only laughed. “Hey, don’t get mad at me, Liv. I’m just thinking you’ll want to be all smelling good when your girl wakes up, but you know, if you two are into the dirty, don’t let me get in the way.”
She rolled her eyes at her ex. “Smartass.” Actually, the thought of a shower and clean clothes almost made her want to do a happy dance in the hospital foyer. Instead she reigned it in and asked, “So, where’s Lillian? I have some clean undies calling my name!”
“Rafe’s room actually. We can wait for them.”
“Is he awake? Can we see him?” The excitement in her voice was obvious.
He nodded his head down the hallway. “Of course, come on.”
They had to take the elevator up two floors to the ICU wing. When Olivia saw where they were headed, she looked at Josh nervously. “I thought he was going to be okay. Why is he in ICU?”
“It’s just precautionary. Dr. Ashby said he should be in his own room sometime today.”
Olivia let out a breath. “Good. I wonder if they’d let Rafe share a room with Natalia.”
“Can’t hurt to ask.”
When they turned the corner, they entered the hub of the ICU wing with a surprisingly well-equipped nurses’ station and a large semi-circle space of curtained off rooms that medical staff could get to quickly, if needed. Olivia noticed that the station even had high end computers and carts that nurses were pushing around with laptops in them for patient information.
Josh noticed the look on Olivia’s face. “It’s amazing the difference a couple of floors can make, huh?”
She shook her head. “No kidding.”
Josh led her to the third curtain from the left and poked his head in. “Hey, Rafe. You have a visitor.” He pushed the curtain back and guided Olivia to his bedside.
Rafe smiled at her with a slightly doped up expression. “Hey, trouble!”
She laughed at him and reached down to take his good hand. “You’re whacked out.”
“Uh huh, it’s great!” His look suddenly turned serious. “How’s Ma?”
Olivia leaned closer, reassuring him with a gentle squeeze of his hand. “She’s fine, Rafe. I’m keeping an eye on her. Don’t worry.”
Rafe struggled to keep his eyes open as the painkillers kicked in. “I know. You’re good for her.”
Olivia choked on the drug-induced sentiment that exposed how he really felt about her and Natalia. A little spark of hope bloomed in Olivia, and she brushed away the tear that fell down her cheek. She leaned over and kissed him gently on the forehead.
Straightening back up, she felt a hand at the small of her back and turned to see Lillian smiling gently at her, passing a bag to her. “Here, dear, I got you some clean clothes. Why don’t you clean up and you two can eat something when you get done?”
She hugged the older woman. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re here. Frank’s…”
“I know.” Lillian brushed a tear from her face and forced a smile. “It’ll be okay.”
“I called Buzz. I thought he should be here.”
Lillian reached to take Olivia’s hand and patted it reassuringly. “I know. Josh told me. Thank you for doing that. I know it had to be hard.”
Olivia nodded and looked down. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but she knew it was far from over for all of them. “I’m just glad you’re here. Buzz is going to need you, more than ever.”
Lillian nodded and looked at her sadly then looped her arm through Olivia’s. “Come on, let me show you where that super secret shower is located.”
**********
An hour later, Olivia came back to the lobby area of the ICU where Josh and Lillian were waiting on her with an assortment of fast food options spread out on a table. Olivia smiled when she noticed no salads in the bunch. Even when Natalia picked up fast food for dinner, which was pretty rare because she loved to cook so much, she still got a salad and a grilled chicken sandwich for Olivia. She felt like she hadn’t had a burger in months!
They tucked into their food and after a few minutes, Rick came up. He came around the makeshift dinner table to give Olivia a hug and then sat down to eat as well.
Olivia hated to ask, but she needed to know. She looked to the clock on the wall and guessed that Buzz would be there in about an hour. “Have you seen Frank?”
Olivia could tell by how slowly he chewed his bite of burger that he was stalling, and that made a prickling feeling of dread run down her spine. He wiped his mouth and seemed to be thinking about what to say before saying it.
“They tried some new types of antibiotics. There hasn’t been any improvement.” He looked down at his half-eaten burger and pushed it away, no longer hungry. “His organs are starting to fail. They hooked him up to a dialysis machine. Basically, they’re just trying to keep him here long enough for his family to get here. I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”
Olivia looked down at the wrappers and half-eaten food, at life going on without change or regard for tragedy, and suddenly she jumped to her feet and ran to the nearest bathroom. Josh stood to go to her, but Lillian reached for his arm.
“Let me.”
The older woman disappeared into the bathroom. As the door was slowly closing, Josh and Rick could make out the retching sounds of Olivia throwing up.
