FIC: Turn To Me part 10/?; Guiding Light
TITLE: Turn To Me
AUTHOR: Wonko
FANDOM: Guiding Light
RATING: PG for this part.
SUMMARY: Natalia is forced to come to terms with her feelings alone when Olivia is injured.
TIMELINE: Begins immediately after the episode on 17th of April and diverges from the canon storyline at that point.
[ Part 1] [ Part 2] [ Part 3] [ Part 4] [ Part 5] [ Part 6] [ Part 7] [ Part 8] [ Part 9]
Natalia didn't remember the drive to the hospital. She could have run a dozen red lights for all she knew, and broken a million speed limits. She didn't remember parking badly at the hospital. She didn't remember abandoning the car without bothering to straighten it up. She didn't remember rushing through the entrance. She didn't remember seeing Rick's worried face or hearing his call to wait. All she wanted was to get to Olivia. Her beautiful, wonderful Olivia who had woken up a day early just because she'd asked her to.
"Olivia..." she gasped as she burst through the doors, her heart thundering. But when green eyes flickered open and locked with hers she was sure her heart had stopped. The Earth stood still for one short moment as the pieces of Natalia's shattered world slotted snugly back into place.
And then they smashed into a million pieces again.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Olivia groaned, her eyes floating closed again.
Natalia stopped in mid-stride. "Wh-what?"
Rick was suddenly right behind her, steadying her with a hand on her elbow. "I tried to warn you," he said simply, pulling up a chair and pushing her down into it.
Natalia blinked several times. "W-warn me? About what?"
"About what might happen after she woke up," he explained.
"You know, I'm still in the room," Olivia interrupted caustically. "And I'm not dead yet so stop talking about me as if I'm not here."
Rick turned his attention to her. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Peachy." She opened her eyes again, squinting against the light. "When can I get out of here?"
"Let me ask you a few questions," he said, ignoring her. "What's two plus two?"
Olivia didn't deign to respond to that verbally, choosing instead to bestow a murderous glance on her doctor. Then her gaze strayed to Natalia's stricken face and her eyes softened, a troubled expression crossing briefly across her features, as if there was something she didn't quite understand just out of her reach.
"Don't like that one? Okay, fine. What's...the square root of two hundred and eighty nine?"
"Seventeen," Olivia responded instantly, turning her face back to him. "What?" she asked after Rick paused a second too long. "I'm a business-woman. I can do math!"
Rick shook his head, managing a smile. "Okay, a hard one now." He held up his pen. "What's this?"
Olivia opened her mouth instantly to reply but no words came. She coughed, swallowed and tried again but nothing happened. Fear clouded her eyes suddenly. "That's a stupid question," she said at last.
"Uh huh," Rick replied. "Who's the president?"
Olivia flopped her head back onto the pillow. "You've asked me this already."
"I know, but I think Natalia might like to hear the answer."
Olivia glanced at her again. "Come on Rick, I know she's only a maid but I'm sure she follows the news."
If Natalia hadn't been sitting she would have fallen down. Her hands shot to her mouth and tears sprang instantly to her tired eyes. "Oh God, no..." she muttered. "Please, no..."
"Answer the question Olivia," said Rick, dragging her attention back to him.
Olivia held up her hands in a gesture of frustration. "George Bush! Happy?"
A strangled yelp escaped from Natalia's mouth as Olivia's words hit her like a physical blow. She looked over at her again, that same troubled expression ghosting over her face.
"Olivia," Rick said, in the gentlest voice he could muster. "It's April 18th 2009. Barack Obama is president. And this," he held up his pen. "Is a pen."
Olivia's response was interrupted by the clatter of a chair as Natalia stood up and almost ran from the room.
* * * * * *
Natalia accepted the coffee Rick handed to her with a shaking hand. It was too hot and scalded her mouth as she sipped it, but she didn't notice. Her mind was still stuck in Olivia's room, replaying every agonising minute of what had just happened.
"I tried to tell you before," Rick was saying. "We suspected damage to the temporal lobe. And after a sudden traumatic head injury at least some degree of amnesia is to be expected."
"How much time has she lost?" Natalia asked hollowly.
Rick fidgeted. "As near as we can tell? About seven months. Plus, as you saw, there are some missing concepts rattling round her skull too."
Natalia was no longer listening. Seven months. September. Before she became her assistant, before the $80,000, before the farmhouse, before they became a family, before... Before she loved me, her mind supplied, and her heart broke. She tried to be angry at herself for feeling like this. Olivia was alive! Her personality was intact, as well as her trademark sarcasm, and she wasn't a drooling vegetable. It was selfish to want more than that, but...
But oh God, she felt like something inside had died. There was a piece missing from her heart and she didn't know how she was going to get it back. But how could she ever explain this devastation to anyone? How to explain that she was grieving the loss of something she had never really had, but that she had wanted more than anything in the world?
Her mind floated on a sea of despair for several moments before she realised that Rick was still talking. "...familiar surroundings are important. Stick to normal routine as much as possible. There aren't any guarantees of course, but-"
"Wait," she interrupted, holding up a hand. "Are you saying she might be able to get her memories back?"
Rick shrugged. "It's possible," he said. "Some things are already coming back. She didn't know her own name when she first woke up."
It was as if a wave had swelled and broken, waking her up. A tiny light of hope sparked in her soul, and she clung to it for all she was worth.
"When can I take her home?"
TBC...
A/N - Yeah, I did it. DiNovia called it, and so did chilly_flame even earlier. I'm evil, I know, I know...
AUTHOR: Wonko
FANDOM: Guiding Light
RATING: PG for this part.
SUMMARY: Natalia is forced to come to terms with her feelings alone when Olivia is injured.
TIMELINE: Begins immediately after the episode on 17th of April and diverges from the canon storyline at that point.
[ Part 1] [ Part 2] [ Part 3] [ Part 4] [ Part 5] [ Part 6] [ Part 7] [ Part 8] [ Part 9]
Natalia didn't remember the drive to the hospital. She could have run a dozen red lights for all she knew, and broken a million speed limits. She didn't remember parking badly at the hospital. She didn't remember abandoning the car without bothering to straighten it up. She didn't remember rushing through the entrance. She didn't remember seeing Rick's worried face or hearing his call to wait. All she wanted was to get to Olivia. Her beautiful, wonderful Olivia who had woken up a day early just because she'd asked her to.
"Olivia..." she gasped as she burst through the doors, her heart thundering. But when green eyes flickered open and locked with hers she was sure her heart had stopped. The Earth stood still for one short moment as the pieces of Natalia's shattered world slotted snugly back into place.
And then they smashed into a million pieces again.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Olivia groaned, her eyes floating closed again.
Natalia stopped in mid-stride. "Wh-what?"
Rick was suddenly right behind her, steadying her with a hand on her elbow. "I tried to warn you," he said simply, pulling up a chair and pushing her down into it.
Natalia blinked several times. "W-warn me? About what?"
"About what might happen after she woke up," he explained.
"You know, I'm still in the room," Olivia interrupted caustically. "And I'm not dead yet so stop talking about me as if I'm not here."
Rick turned his attention to her. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Peachy." She opened her eyes again, squinting against the light. "When can I get out of here?"
"Let me ask you a few questions," he said, ignoring her. "What's two plus two?"
Olivia didn't deign to respond to that verbally, choosing instead to bestow a murderous glance on her doctor. Then her gaze strayed to Natalia's stricken face and her eyes softened, a troubled expression crossing briefly across her features, as if there was something she didn't quite understand just out of her reach.
"Don't like that one? Okay, fine. What's...the square root of two hundred and eighty nine?"
"Seventeen," Olivia responded instantly, turning her face back to him. "What?" she asked after Rick paused a second too long. "I'm a business-woman. I can do math!"
Rick shook his head, managing a smile. "Okay, a hard one now." He held up his pen. "What's this?"
Olivia opened her mouth instantly to reply but no words came. She coughed, swallowed and tried again but nothing happened. Fear clouded her eyes suddenly. "That's a stupid question," she said at last.
"Uh huh," Rick replied. "Who's the president?"
Olivia flopped her head back onto the pillow. "You've asked me this already."
"I know, but I think Natalia might like to hear the answer."
Olivia glanced at her again. "Come on Rick, I know she's only a maid but I'm sure she follows the news."
If Natalia hadn't been sitting she would have fallen down. Her hands shot to her mouth and tears sprang instantly to her tired eyes. "Oh God, no..." she muttered. "Please, no..."
"Answer the question Olivia," said Rick, dragging her attention back to him.
Olivia held up her hands in a gesture of frustration. "George Bush! Happy?"
A strangled yelp escaped from Natalia's mouth as Olivia's words hit her like a physical blow. She looked over at her again, that same troubled expression ghosting over her face.
"Olivia," Rick said, in the gentlest voice he could muster. "It's April 18th 2009. Barack Obama is president. And this," he held up his pen. "Is a pen."
Olivia's response was interrupted by the clatter of a chair as Natalia stood up and almost ran from the room.
* * * * * *
Natalia accepted the coffee Rick handed to her with a shaking hand. It was too hot and scalded her mouth as she sipped it, but she didn't notice. Her mind was still stuck in Olivia's room, replaying every agonising minute of what had just happened.
"I tried to tell you before," Rick was saying. "We suspected damage to the temporal lobe. And after a sudden traumatic head injury at least some degree of amnesia is to be expected."
"How much time has she lost?" Natalia asked hollowly.
Rick fidgeted. "As near as we can tell? About seven months. Plus, as you saw, there are some missing concepts rattling round her skull too."
Natalia was no longer listening. Seven months. September. Before she became her assistant, before the $80,000, before the farmhouse, before they became a family, before... Before she loved me, her mind supplied, and her heart broke. She tried to be angry at herself for feeling like this. Olivia was alive! Her personality was intact, as well as her trademark sarcasm, and she wasn't a drooling vegetable. It was selfish to want more than that, but...
But oh God, she felt like something inside had died. There was a piece missing from her heart and she didn't know how she was going to get it back. But how could she ever explain this devastation to anyone? How to explain that she was grieving the loss of something she had never really had, but that she had wanted more than anything in the world?
Her mind floated on a sea of despair for several moments before she realised that Rick was still talking. "...familiar surroundings are important. Stick to normal routine as much as possible. There aren't any guarantees of course, but-"
"Wait," she interrupted, holding up a hand. "Are you saying she might be able to get her memories back?"
Rick shrugged. "It's possible," he said. "Some things are already coming back. She didn't know her own name when she first woke up."
It was as if a wave had swelled and broken, waking her up. A tiny light of hope sparked in her soul, and she clung to it for all she was worth.
"When can I take her home?"
TBC...
A/N - Yeah, I did it. DiNovia called it, and so did chilly_flame even earlier. I'm evil, I know, I know...