FanFic: You Are My Past, She is My Present, We Are The Future (GL, Otalia, 3/?)
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As Natalia, Mallet and Frank entered Cedars, they found Krista and Marina sitting on the bench handcuffed together. They all approached the two quietly; both of them had their heads against the wall with their eyes shut.
“Just because we have our eyes closed,” Marina started.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t hear anything,” Krista finished off as they both opened their eyes and looked at the others in front of them.
“You two still finish each other’s sentences,” Frank chuckled as he took a seat beside his daughter. Natalia had her eyes set on the handcuffs that connected the two women together.
“Still considered as a criminal,” the answer caught Natalia’s attention and she looked down, over at Krista who gave her a small half-smile.
“I’m glad all of you are here.” Everyone turned around to find Rick standing near the nurses’ station with a folder in hand. He looked distressed, but he maintained his composure. Krista abruptly stood up, mouthed an apology to Marina who she pulled up as well, and stepped towards Rick with her eyes focused on the folder. Everyone else followed behind her and stood in a semi-circle around the doctor present.
“How is she, is she okay?” Krista asked, though she continued to warily eye the folder.
“She’s fine now; she mainly suffered heavy stress that pressured her heart to work harder to keep up with her in turn stopping it, but she’s fine,” Rick answered back, following Krista’s gaze to the file folder in his hands.
“She was just stressed, just like last time, right?” Natalia asked which caught Krista off guard. She looked up and found Krista looking straight at her in confusion.
“Wait, you mean she had cardiac arrest before?” Krista furrowed her brow and looked between Natalia and Rick. She saw both of them nod simultaneously and it made her head spin in pure perplexity. She deeply sighed and shut her eyes wondering how much Olivia had gone through without her. “Can I see her file?” Rick instantly raised an eyebrow.
“Krista, I don’t think that it’s wise for you to do that,” he replied back. Krista opened her eyes and that was when Natalia saw it.
“Rick, I was transferred here to be a doctor, not some intern that can be bossed around. I may be physically useless, but I’m more than capable of being a consulting doctor. I’m one of the best cardiac surgeons, so can you please hand me the folder?” There was the Spencer attitude that Natalia expected. She saw the look of exasperation across Krista’s face and she knew that the attitude would soon follow with orders instantly at suit. They shared the attitude, but that still did not convince Natalia that Krista was Olivia’s sister.
“Krista...” Rick was conflicted; the information inside the folder would certainly shock Krista if she did not know that Olivia had suffered cardiac arrest the prior year.
“Rick, please, even if you don’t give me the file now, I’m bound to find it later anyways, so spare us both the trouble of hiding and finding it and please hand it over,” Krista continued, trying to gain Rick’s favour with the folder. She extended her cuffed hand to him and waited for the folder to be handed to her. She saw the hesitation Rick had in his eyes, but he gave up the folder after he sighed in defeat.
As soon as the folder touched her hand, Krista was filled with regret. She narrowed her eyes when she felt reluctant in opening and reading Olivia’s file. She raised an eyebrow herself before she flipped the cover off and started to read the file. She unconsciously started to chew her lower lip as she skimmed through the papers, finally stopping at a consent form and the following papers after that.
“Krista, maybe you should sit down,” Mallet suggested when he saw Krista begin to pale in colour. He reached out to the other woman, but she immediately recoiled before he could touch her.
“Whose heart did she get?” Krista quickly asked as she raised her eyes back up to Rick. She saw the same hesitation from earlier and knew her colleague had the answer. She shut the folder and handed it back to Rick, but he remained quiet. “Dr. Bauer, whose heart did Olivia get? You have the eyes of someone who knows, but is ready to lie. Again, spare us the trouble and tell me.” Krista was keen on finding out the name of the donor, but she had the nagging feeling that she did not want to know. She dared to look around the people with her and noticed the same hesitant, yet knowing looks. She raised her eyebrows and cynically laughed. “All of you know, don’t you? Come on and just tell me, it can’t be that bad.”
“It’s that bad, Krista, don’t push it,” Marina replied back as she took Krista’s hand into her own, looking up at the other woman.
“It can’t be as bad as finding out your own sister had a heart transplant and has a pacemaker inside of her, but she never told you even if you are a cardiac surgeon of all surgeons,” Krista sarcastically answered back as she pulled her hand away from Marina’s and pulled out Olivia’s pacemaker pager from inside her sling. She handed it to Rick and waited for some kind of answer, but no one would speak. “Just tell me the damn name already!”
“It was Gus Aitoro!” Natalia cried out, causing everyone’s attention to fall on her. She already had tears falling down her face and her eyes appeared to be raw of emotion at that point. She furiously wiped her face with her hands and took a deep breath, “The damn name is Gus Aitoro!” She looked up at Krista and expected to find a look of unfamiliarity, but she found pure and utter disbelief instead. She watched as Krista’s mouth opened and closed, but she remained still nonetheless.
“Gus? Gus Aitoro, the detective Gus Aitoro?” Krista breathed as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes. She blinked back the tears and suddenly found Natalia in front of her.
“He was my husband,” Natalia whispered, carefully looking up and into Krista’s eyes. Those eyes; those were the same eyes Olivia had when she found out the heart inside of her was Gus’. She saw the walls of denial begin to form and if Krista was anything like Olivia, she would begin to shut down and isolate herself from the world, feeling as if it was her versus the world.
“He was the only link I had left with Olivia... and then he disappeared,” Krista muttered as she stumbled to take a step away from everyone, but she felt immobile when she realized Natalia had her hands on her shoulders. She winced at the pain that shot through her left shoulder, but ignored it when her entire body started to tremble.
“You do not get to do this, Krista. You do not get to separate everyone off like Olivia has done so many times,” Natalia remarked as she felt Krista quaver underneath her hands.
“How would you know?” Krista questioned as she clenched her jaw to avoid any more words from leaving her mouth. Tears began to roll down her face, but she refused to wipe them away knowing that she would collapse if she expended her energy to do so.
“Because Olivia is my best friend and I love her,” Natalia easily answered back as she gently brushed away Krista’s tears with the pads of her thumbs. She felt Krista shake even more underneath her touch and the next thing she knew, Krista fell to her knees, sobbing. She knelt in front of her and pulled her into her arms, letting the other woman cry into her shoulder.
“I come b-back to f-find my sister... a-and I find her, but f-find a whole l-lot of...”
“Shh... it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay,” Natalia whispered into Krista’s ear as she slowly rubbed circles along the woman’s back. This felt so familiar; it felt like that moment when she comforted Olivia when she found out Phillip returned to Springfield. Somehow, just somehow, she knew things would be okay because it things worked out then and for the sake of Olivia, things had to work out now.
As Natalia, Mallet and Frank entered Cedars, they found Krista and Marina sitting on the bench handcuffed together. They all approached the two quietly; both of them had their heads against the wall with their eyes shut.
“Just because we have our eyes closed,” Marina started.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t hear anything,” Krista finished off as they both opened their eyes and looked at the others in front of them.
“You two still finish each other’s sentences,” Frank chuckled as he took a seat beside his daughter. Natalia had her eyes set on the handcuffs that connected the two women together.
“Still considered as a criminal,” the answer caught Natalia’s attention and she looked down, over at Krista who gave her a small half-smile.
“I’m glad all of you are here.” Everyone turned around to find Rick standing near the nurses’ station with a folder in hand. He looked distressed, but he maintained his composure. Krista abruptly stood up, mouthed an apology to Marina who she pulled up as well, and stepped towards Rick with her eyes focused on the folder. Everyone else followed behind her and stood in a semi-circle around the doctor present.
“How is she, is she okay?” Krista asked, though she continued to warily eye the folder.
“She’s fine now; she mainly suffered heavy stress that pressured her heart to work harder to keep up with her in turn stopping it, but she’s fine,” Rick answered back, following Krista’s gaze to the file folder in his hands.
“She was just stressed, just like last time, right?” Natalia asked which caught Krista off guard. She looked up and found Krista looking straight at her in confusion.
“Wait, you mean she had cardiac arrest before?” Krista furrowed her brow and looked between Natalia and Rick. She saw both of them nod simultaneously and it made her head spin in pure perplexity. She deeply sighed and shut her eyes wondering how much Olivia had gone through without her. “Can I see her file?” Rick instantly raised an eyebrow.
“Krista, I don’t think that it’s wise for you to do that,” he replied back. Krista opened her eyes and that was when Natalia saw it.
“Rick, I was transferred here to be a doctor, not some intern that can be bossed around. I may be physically useless, but I’m more than capable of being a consulting doctor. I’m one of the best cardiac surgeons, so can you please hand me the folder?” There was the Spencer attitude that Natalia expected. She saw the look of exasperation across Krista’s face and she knew that the attitude would soon follow with orders instantly at suit. They shared the attitude, but that still did not convince Natalia that Krista was Olivia’s sister.
“Krista...” Rick was conflicted; the information inside the folder would certainly shock Krista if she did not know that Olivia had suffered cardiac arrest the prior year.
“Rick, please, even if you don’t give me the file now, I’m bound to find it later anyways, so spare us both the trouble of hiding and finding it and please hand it over,” Krista continued, trying to gain Rick’s favour with the folder. She extended her cuffed hand to him and waited for the folder to be handed to her. She saw the hesitation Rick had in his eyes, but he gave up the folder after he sighed in defeat.
As soon as the folder touched her hand, Krista was filled with regret. She narrowed her eyes when she felt reluctant in opening and reading Olivia’s file. She raised an eyebrow herself before she flipped the cover off and started to read the file. She unconsciously started to chew her lower lip as she skimmed through the papers, finally stopping at a consent form and the following papers after that.
“Krista, maybe you should sit down,” Mallet suggested when he saw Krista begin to pale in colour. He reached out to the other woman, but she immediately recoiled before he could touch her.
“Whose heart did she get?” Krista quickly asked as she raised her eyes back up to Rick. She saw the same hesitation from earlier and knew her colleague had the answer. She shut the folder and handed it back to Rick, but he remained quiet. “Dr. Bauer, whose heart did Olivia get? You have the eyes of someone who knows, but is ready to lie. Again, spare us the trouble and tell me.” Krista was keen on finding out the name of the donor, but she had the nagging feeling that she did not want to know. She dared to look around the people with her and noticed the same hesitant, yet knowing looks. She raised her eyebrows and cynically laughed. “All of you know, don’t you? Come on and just tell me, it can’t be that bad.”
“It’s that bad, Krista, don’t push it,” Marina replied back as she took Krista’s hand into her own, looking up at the other woman.
“It can’t be as bad as finding out your own sister had a heart transplant and has a pacemaker inside of her, but she never told you even if you are a cardiac surgeon of all surgeons,” Krista sarcastically answered back as she pulled her hand away from Marina’s and pulled out Olivia’s pacemaker pager from inside her sling. She handed it to Rick and waited for some kind of answer, but no one would speak. “Just tell me the damn name already!”
“It was Gus Aitoro!” Natalia cried out, causing everyone’s attention to fall on her. She already had tears falling down her face and her eyes appeared to be raw of emotion at that point. She furiously wiped her face with her hands and took a deep breath, “The damn name is Gus Aitoro!” She looked up at Krista and expected to find a look of unfamiliarity, but she found pure and utter disbelief instead. She watched as Krista’s mouth opened and closed, but she remained still nonetheless.
“Gus? Gus Aitoro, the detective Gus Aitoro?” Krista breathed as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes. She blinked back the tears and suddenly found Natalia in front of her.
“He was my husband,” Natalia whispered, carefully looking up and into Krista’s eyes. Those eyes; those were the same eyes Olivia had when she found out the heart inside of her was Gus’. She saw the walls of denial begin to form and if Krista was anything like Olivia, she would begin to shut down and isolate herself from the world, feeling as if it was her versus the world.
“He was the only link I had left with Olivia... and then he disappeared,” Krista muttered as she stumbled to take a step away from everyone, but she felt immobile when she realized Natalia had her hands on her shoulders. She winced at the pain that shot through her left shoulder, but ignored it when her entire body started to tremble.
“You do not get to do this, Krista. You do not get to separate everyone off like Olivia has done so many times,” Natalia remarked as she felt Krista quaver underneath her hands.
“How would you know?” Krista questioned as she clenched her jaw to avoid any more words from leaving her mouth. Tears began to roll down her face, but she refused to wipe them away knowing that she would collapse if she expended her energy to do so.
“Because Olivia is my best friend and I love her,” Natalia easily answered back as she gently brushed away Krista’s tears with the pads of her thumbs. She felt Krista shake even more underneath her touch and the next thing she knew, Krista fell to her knees, sobbing. She knelt in front of her and pulled her into her arms, letting the other woman cry into her shoulder.
“I come b-back to f-find my sister... a-and I find her, but f-find a whole l-lot of...”
“Shh... it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay,” Natalia whispered into Krista’s ear as she slowly rubbed circles along the woman’s back. This felt so familiar; it felt like that moment when she comforted Olivia when she found out Phillip returned to Springfield. Somehow, just somehow, she knew things would be okay because it things worked out then and for the sake of Olivia, things had to work out now.