GL - A FEW DAYS AWAY - Chapter 12
TITLE: A Few Days Away
FANDOM: Guiding Light
PAIRING: Otalia
SUMMARY: Set mid-friendship, this is a hurt/comfort piece as I'm a hurt/comfort junkie. Olivia, Natalia and Emma decide to have a few days away...hopefully more interesting than the summary suggests. Please request before archiving.
RATING: PG for mild violence
Author's note: This is my first ever attempt at fanfic so I'm having to gather a lot of nerve to post it. With very deep thanks to my Canadian Buddy, Critic2000, who beta'd and prodded for this story to see a conclusion and provided insightful and useful comments throughout. I know most of Europe loves her for providing us with Otalia clips as soon as possible but to me, she's my very dear friend. (Course, the clips help ;o))
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Apologies if this isn't everyone's cup of tea but huge thanks again for those that are sticking with it, even if it's not going in the direction most probably hope or want it to go and it is certainly not my goal to scare anyone... but I have stated it's a hurt/comfort piece and it will remain in that vein throughout - you have been warned ;o)
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own Guiding Light or any of the characters.
Apologies for the short chapter...
Chapter 12
Sure she was breaking several land speed records, Natalia grabbed a bowl, ran some water and gathered up some washcloths and towels before racing back to the bedroom. Having experienced dealing with Rafe when he had developed a fever, Natalia knew there were generally three phases involved and Olivia was essentially at stage one. This meant, most importantly, trying to keep her cool even though her overriding desire would be to bundle herself up in an effort to get warm.
Natalia was additionally concerned by the confrontation she had just witnessed and the obvious confusion Olivia was experiencing. Had Olivia pulled a gun on Gus? Had that all really happened or was it the creation of a delusional mind?
To Natalia, it appeared to be very real for Olivia and knowing some things about Olivia’s past added a level of credibility about it but untangling what Olivia had said and trying to piece together the other side of the conversation, disturbed her. Had Gus taken Emma away from Olivia? What exactly had Philip done to push her and torture her?
Returning to the bedroom, Natalia could see Olivia had managed to grab one of the blankets again and cocooned herself within it. Not wanting another outburst like before she delicately put her hand on Olivia’s shoulder and tried to rouse the woman, hoping for some indication of lucidity. Olivia’s eyes opened and attempted to focus, “Natalia?”
“Hi,” she breathed in response, heartened by the recognition and smiled.
“Cold.”
“I know,” she stroked the woman’s hair away and rubbed her back again. Grateful for the return of some sanity, she began to turn Olivia over and tease away the blanket.
“Wha...?”
“Shh, listen. I need to take this away and for you to cool down. I know you feel cold but trust me. Do you trust me Olivia?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, a plaintive giving over and Natalia was virtually undone by the sureness of the response.
Olivia released her hold on the blanket and Natalia began to remove the shirt she’d been wearing.
Natalia looked up as Olivia sighed and continued to shiver. She looked over at the bedside unit where the bottle of water she’d given Olivia earlier appeared to be three quarters full still and taking it, removed the top and handed it to Olivia.
“You need to drink this.”
Aware that Olivia’s shaking hands would be incapable of holding the bottle steady enough to drink from, Natalia guided the bottle to Olivia’s lips and used her other hand to support Olivia’s head while she drank. Pleased when over half the bottle’s contents were consumed, she lowered Olivia’s head again and replaced the bottle on the unit, making a mental note to make sure she brought more bottles in here if she wished to replenish all those lost fluids.
She sat on the edge of the bed, holding one of Olivia’s hands and began a soothing motion of gliding her other hand back and forth along the inner side of Olivia’s forearm, pleased when the hypnotic action had the effect of making the other woman finally succumb to sleep again.
***
Olivia had known only a couple of things, she was cold and she was afraid. Something was being taken away from her and that something was very important. Trying to piece together in her currently fractured and fevered mind what that something was, her focus drilled in to what had been important in her life and came up with one screaming, alarming realisation.
Emma.
Emma was being taken away.
As if rifling through the filing cabinet of her mind, she stumbled upon the drawer marked ‘Emma being taken away from me’, and horrifyingly relived those moments when she thought she had gone truly insane and held Gus at gunpoint.
Something about what was happening now though didn’t seem to quite fit. The voice answering her pleas seemed higher, feminine and she kept trying to convince her that Emma was alright, that she was somewhere else and she was safe. No! This person needed to know that she would stop at nothing, at nothing, to do what needed to be done to protect her child.
Forcing herself forward, swinging wildly to make contact, her arms were restrained and she could feel a body against her back, hugging her. Someone telling her to calm down, that she’d hurt herself, “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Her energy waning now, her point hopefully made, she was being ushered back to the bed. “How did I let this happen to me again?” her voice almost childlike in delivery questioned, “How did this happen again?”
She became aware of her surroundings. I’m in bed? What? How? So cold, I’m so cold.
Rousing herself again she moved to reach for the blanket nearby, a voice, feminine again was telling her she needed to cool down but she was just so cold. She communicated this.
“I know but trust me on this.”
There was a kiss on her brow, she felt safer, was Emma safe?
“Philip has her,” she pleaded, “He has my little girl.”
“Emma’s safe Olivia. Philip isn’t here, he doesn’t have her.”
Something in the voice made her believe, she clung to it, tried to calm the sense of powerlessness she was experiencing. The voice spoke again, asked her something and she knew only to rely on that voice.
“’kay,” she mumbled and tried to stem the cold she was feeling along with her anxiety by curling in on herself. The blanket was still in reach and she rolled herself up in it again, trying to ward off the chill.
A hand on her shoulder, she’d been drifting again and when her eyes opened she could see the dark haired woman watching her intently, “Natalia?”
“Hi.” Dimples appeared.
“Cold.”
“I know.”
She could feel a hand in her hair and the soothing sensation of her back being rubbed and then she was being turned and the blanket was being pried from her grasp. Confusion was starting to set in, she was cold, hadn’t she said that already? “Wha..?”
“Shh, listen. I need to take this away and for you to cool down. I know you feel cold but trust me. Do you trust me Olivia?”
“Yes.” It seemed the word had fallen from her before the question had even been asked.
A gentle tugging on the blanket and she released it. She could feel her shirt being removed and although feeling very exposed, her faith in the woman beside her made her discard her feelings of vulnerability and instead she basked in the warmth of trust.
Her shivering persisted and Natalia assisted her in drinking from the water bottle she’d brought in with her however many hours ago. She suckled on the bottle until she’d had her fill and then found her head lowered to the pillow again, a hand holding hers. Her brain focussed in on the feeling of her forearm being stroked, distracting her from all other sensations her body was trying to transmit. It was wonderful, soothing, hypnotic.
She slept.
TBC...