Otalia fic - Heroes and Friends, 16/? (part 2)
(Cont. from Chapter 16, Part 1)
Before finding the restaurant, Olivia went upstairs to find Buzz. She made sure to peek around corners so she didn’t accidentally run into Marina. She wasn’t scared of her for damn sure, but Natalia wasn’t there right now. And without Natalia around like earlier, she was bound to pulverize the girl. When she saw Buzz standing by the coffee stand in the hall, she sidled up to him.
“Hey.”
He looked up at her and smiled at her slightly. It hurt her to see him like this, so she pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry.”
He squeezed her a little before letting go. “Thanks.”
She pulled back and seeing the tears threatening in his eyes, decided to change course. “Look, I was about to go out and get some lunch for Natalia and Rafe. You want to come with me?”
Buzz looked at the door to Frank’s room and shook his head. “It’s probably not a good time to leave.”
She nodded her head. “I understand. I’ll bring something back then.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. Let me do what I can to help.” He nodded his acceptance. She started to turn to go then spun around to face him again. “Speaking of which, I have several suites reserved at a hotel down the road so don’t worry about that.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
She went to the front desk and asked the clerk about local restaurants. The closest, which was on the next block, was perfect. It was an American chain with lots of variety. The late afternoon sun was fading as she exited the front of the hospital casting the sky in brilliant purples and pinks. A light breeze dissipated the afternoon heat and brought with it the light scent of the ocean. She breathed it in deep trying to clear her lungs of the medicinal taste of the hospital that seemed to linger.
She walked across the hospital courtyard to make a call to Phillip to check on Emma. He picked up on the third ring and accepted the collect call from her. She made it quick letting him know about Frank’s condition and the likely outcome, and that Natalia and Rafe were being released today. Before he could happily call Emma in so her mom could tell her the good news, he asked how much longer they may be gone.
“Three, maybe four days. I’m not really sure. I’m really sorry this is taking so long, Phillip. Emma must be driving you crazy.”
He laughed. “She hasn’t even escaped once nor attempted so she’s fine. It’s just that Ed may have found a treatment for me. It’s risky but could save my life.”
“Oh my God, Phillip! That’s wonderful!” Olivia wanted to cry because she was so happy that Emma may not lose her father after all.
“Yes, it is! The bad part is that it’s a bone marrow transplant, and Alan and James are my only matches.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Her head was spinning. So much was happening so fast for everyone. “So, what are you planning to do?”
“Nothing.”
She must have heard him wrong. “What?”
“Nothing, Olivia. I can’t have my own son or my father put their lives at risk for me. I won’t allow it.”
She leaned her head against the cooling plastic of the phone booth as the sun began to set deeper in the sky. She watched the shifting colors and clouds and heard herself begging him to reconsider. “Phillip, please. Don’t make that decision just yet. Think about it. Think about everyone else who loves you and needs you.” Softer she added, “Think about Emma.”
At that very moment, she could hear her daughter over the line come bounding into the room. “Daddy! Daddy!”
“Hey, sweetie, your mommy’s on the phone.”
“Yay, mom!” The little girl grabbed up the phone before Phillip had a chance to say goodbye. Olivia took a deep breath and collected herself to talk to her daughter. She focused on the happy news about Natalia and Rafe and laughed as Emma squealed in happiness. For a few more minutes, she listened to Emma tell her all about what she had been doing and the fun she had been having with her dad. Olivia fought back the tears to get through the call and cursed Phillip’s stubbornness. It was only when Olivia promised to give both Rafe and Natalia a hug and kiss from her that she was allowed to get off the phone. She wiped at her tear-stained eyes and looked around, the last rays of light disappearing on the horizon.
As she crossed the street, she noticed a line of stores and several for major cell phone companies. She made a mental note that once Natalia and Rafe were safely in their hotel room that she’d come back down and get phones for all of them. This using pay phones was getting annoying. She wanted more time to talk to her daughter, and she knew once they were in their room that Natalia and Rafe would both want to talk to her too, so she couldn’t have them all hanging out at the pay phones.
Fifteen minutes later, she left the restaurant with two overloaded bags filled with burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, and salads. She made a brief stop at the ICU floor first and dropped off one bag with a grateful Mallet as he juggled Henry and a baby bottle.
She took the other down to Rafe and Natalia’s room. When she got there, they were sitting at a table playing cards.
“Oh yes!” Rafe quickly cleared off the table when he saw Olivia come in with food. She handed the bag over to him and he breathed in deeply. “Burgers…you’re an angel!”
She glanced at Natalia, an eyebrow cocked suggestively. “I don’t think so.” She laughed at the blush that lit up Natalia’s cheeks.
Rafe started pulling items out of the bag and putting them on the table as Olivia pulled up an extra chair. “By the way, don’t play cards with her. She’s a shark!”
“First pool, now cards. I think I need to take you to Vegas.”
Natalia smiled and stood to go to the bathroom to wash her hands. She leaned down near Olivia’s ear as she passed. “Honeymoon perhaps?”
Olivia pulled her back before she could get away, acting like she was giving her an innocent kiss on the cheek. “Nope, the honeymoon is waiting for us at the farmhouse…in.our.bed.”
Olivia smirked as she pulled back and saw Natalia’s eyes closed and steadied her as she swayed on her feet when she straightened up. Natalia opened her mouth to say something but nothing would come out. Instead, she just turned to go to the bathroom and perhaps take a cold shower.
She smiled and turned back to the food Rafe had laid out on the table. Lost in her thoughts of Natalia, she didn’t notice the young man looking at her right away. “What?”
“Please tell me you got one of those two bedroom suites at the hotel. Anymore of this,” he waved his hand around gesturing between her and the space where his mom had last stood, “and I’ll be scarred for life.”
She laughed at him and dug into her chicken sandwich and salad. She knew she better eat something semi-healthy or she’d never hear the end of it from Natalia. Over the next hour, they ate and talked about Emma and their plans for when they got back home. Olivia looked at Rafe expectantly, wondering if he was going to use the opportunity to broach the subject with his mother of going into the military. When Natalia wasn’t looking, he subtly shook his head to warn Olivia off bringing it up.
When they finished, they all decided they’d go back up to see how Frank was doing. They rounded the corner off the elevator and heard a desperate scream and then a baby crying. Olivia took off with the other two following at a slower pace behind her. The entrance to Frank’s room was a maddening swirl of activity as doctors and nurses came in and out. The crying baby got louder as Mallet exited the room with Henry, kicking and flailing in his arms. He pulled Henry close and tried to comfort him but it only made it worse. Natalia instinctively went to the fitful child, and when Mallet turned to see them, his face said it all.
Frank was gone.
“Let me.” Natalia reached for Henry. Mallet shook his head but as he passed off Henry anyway the tears finally came. “Go to her.”
She took the baby in her arms and turned to Olivia, tears streaking down her face as she cradled his little head in her shoulder, trying to shield his ears from another of his mother’s screams filling the hallway. Olivia and Rafe both came up to hold them as if doing so would protect the little child from the chaos around them.
Josh seemed to appear out of nowhere. He convinced them to go down the hallway where Henry wouldn’t be upset by the noise. They found a quiet alcove and huddled together, kissing the little boy and whispering comfort in his ear, even if they didn’t feel the meaning of the words.