GL - A FEW DAYS AWAY - Chapter 13
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)
Your comments are greatly appreciated and have had me doing some serious thinking regarding this story - thank you for taking the time to offer me insight...
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own Guiding Light or any of the characters. Some of Olivia's dialogue in this chapter is taken from episodes 8th and 11th Feb 08 and can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEkaKlCjbrQ
Onward...
Chapter 13
Natalia kept up her movement against Olivia’s arm until she was sure the woman had completely fallen asleep. Then she just sat there, waiting for the moment when the shivering would stop and Olivia would be at the midpoint of this fever.
Time moved on and Natalia found her mind alive with a variety of questions. She wondered about the cause of Olivia’s fever, reasoning that maybe it was a combination of the day’s events, maybe swallowing the river water or an infection in the shoulder wound but she’d delicately pulled the bandage back and seemed please with the progress of that particular wound.
When her mind shifted from the ‘how’ of what was happening she began to consider the ‘why’ of it and found herself turning to her faith for answers. Unfortunately, only the bland statement of ‘God works in mysterious ways’ kept drifting and weaving its way through her thoughts and ultimately she came to the conclusion, regardless of the how and why, it was happening. Deal with it.
If she was totally honest with herself, it was Olivia’s delusional outburst which was weighing the most heavily. What had happened? Why did Olivia have a gun? What was Gus’ involvement?
Olivia stirred on the bed, mumbling something Natalia couldn’t make out. Instinctively she took Olivia’s hand again, brushing her thumb across Olivia’s knuckles, letting her know she was still there.
After a time Natalia noticed that Olivia’s shivering had ceased.
Checking her temperature again, Natalia could feel the heat radiating from Olivia’s body. She was hopeful Olivia would be able to sleep through the night and feeling tired herself she had to resist the temptation to crawl in beside the other woman.
It was getting on for very late evening when Olivia stirred again. Natalia had moved off the bed and was dozing in the chair nearby. She’d left the small bedside lamp on and in the subdued illumination she could see Olivia’s body perspiring, practically shining with sweat. Rubbing her eyes and face to bring herself to a level of wakefulness, she moved back to the supine woman and, resting her hand on the bed, she could feel the bed linen was damp and clammy.
Taking one of the cloths she’d brought into the room with her earlier, she began to softly slick the sweat away. She needed to close the window now as well, as Olivia’s body was attempting to cool itself, Natalia was concerned about any drafts. The bedclothes would also need changing but to accomplish that, she was going to need Olivia’s cooperation.
“Olivia,” Natalia spoke softly as she continued to wipe the cloth over Olivia’s bare skin.
Slowly, the already stirring woman began to twist away and in her effort to pull herself towards consciousness, her arms were raising in an attempt to ward off the comfort Natalia was attempting to give.
“Just...let me breathe.” Olivia’s eyelids fluttered and Natalia paused, “Just step back, okay?”
Natalia’s worry levels were spiking again and she was giving serious consideration to calling 911, Olivia’s reluctance be damned.
Head turning on the pillow, Olivia began muttering, “No, no!”
Realising Olivia was caught still in a nightmare of some fashion, she tried again to calm her friend. “Oh Olivia, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be sick, I’m trying to take care of you.”
Olivia began to murmur again, “I’m dying.”
“Don’t talk silly Olivia, you’re not dying.”
Olivia didn’t seem to hear; in fact she was growing more agitated again and starting to fight Natalia off of her.
Frustrated, Natalia said, “I am really trying to help you.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” the sneered reply.
Natalia was totally taken aback.
At this point, Olivia pushed herself up from the bed and began stumbling around it in an effort to get to the door. Natalia, unsure what to do, attempted to restrain her and was even more surprised when she heard familiar words coming back at her.
“Why? What are you doing?” Olivia was growing more frantic as Natalia’s grip held her in place. Lost in another time and place, Olivia’s rant continued, “You can’t be serious; you can’t lock me in here. This isn’t funny, you don’t understand. This isn’t FUNNY!”
After a brief struggle, Olivia pulled away and seemed to crumble in on herself, falling back against the edge of the bed, her breaths short and ragged, her eyes wide and her hands clawing as if trapped and trying to find escape.
Natalia had released her hold on her, raising her hand to her mouth in mortification as she pieced together exactly where Olivia thought she was at this moment and Natalia’s own role in it.
When Olivia reacted as if she had heard something, Natalia could only watch in horror as Olivia played out what must have happened after Natalia had left her, left her to marry her childhood sweetheart, the father of her child.
“Oh my God, the heart is here,” Olivia became frenzied, clawing at the side of the bed again where she’d fallen, her eyes looking inward, lost in memory.
“Stop! Stop beeping! I know I have an hour before I lose the heart,” she looked up, around the room, her eyes skimming past Natalia as if she weren’t there, “Somebody! Get me out of here, get me to the hospital.” Tearful now, “Get me out of here! Please!”
More sobs and then, “It’s my one last chance at life, at happiness. Oh God!”
Then Olivia’s eyes seemed to find Natalia’s and lock with them, “I hope you’re happy Natalia, until I come back to haunt you.”
Natalia was crying now but even through the veil of her own tears, her need to aid the distressed woman overcame her self-recrimination. Kneeling down, fearful of how Olivia would react, she placed her hand under Olivia’s arm, “Olivia,” no response, “Olivia, you need to move...”
“Move on, you can’t move on, you called me, that’s...that’s mine.”
Understanding at such deep levels, Natalia pulled Olivia to her as the other woman continued, “I don’t have time, I’m running out of time okay?”
“Shh, Olivia, you’re not running out of time, you’re okay, you’re going to be fine, you are fine.”
Not hearing, Olivia said, “I have two daughters, they need me, I need them okay? You can’t just treat me like I’m some number, okay?”
“Oh Olivia, you’re not a number.” Wanting this moment, this night to end, Natalia kept her hold on Olivia. As Olivia’s breathing evened out again, Natalia attempted to move her once more.
“Natalia?”
Thinking the moment almost done, she looked into Olivia’s eyes. What she saw there chilled her as much as the words that followed, as much as they chilled her the first time she heard them directed at her, “Congratulations,” the sneer was back. “You got the ring, the dress, the guy. It only cost me my life. I hope it was worth it.”
Natalia felt the wash of tears streaming down her face. Ashamed, disgusted and appalled at herself again for the action that nearly cost the life of this woman who had come to mean so much to her, Natalia released her hold on Olivia, turned away from her and bent over double sobbing. She sobbed for then and she sobbed for now, all the past few day’s anger, anguish and fears in a cathartic cleansing of tears.
***
Olivia closed her eyes. A headache had come to her full force, her limbs still felt heavy and for some reason she was sitting uncomfortably on the floor. She was aware she appeared to be dripping with sweat and there was a draft along her back that left her chilled.
Regaining some grip on reality, she was also aware that she wasn’t alone on the floor and the other person had their back to her. Natalia? Is she crying?
“Hey? What’s going on?” She put her hand out onto Natalia’s shoulder and was surprised when the other woman jumped, turned to her and seemed to be covering up the fact that she’d been crying by wiping her eyes and face quickly and plastering on a smile.
“Hey,” she replied. Her eyes were clearly puffy and red rimmed and she seemed less confident than she had been before. “How’re you feeling?”
“Ug.” Seemed to cover most of it.
Acting as if nothing had happened, although Olivia was convinced something had, Natalia began to try and help Olivia up from the floor and guide her towards the chair, “Olivia, I need you to sit here for a moment while I change your bed linen.”
“Okay.” Olivia slumped back, certain now that something was bothering the younger woman, and watched as she went through the motions of changing her bed.
When Olivia shivered, Natalia glanced up and moved round to close the window. For some reason, Natalia was avoiding eye contact with her. This bothered Olivia. This bothered her a lot.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked as the Latina woman took her by the arm again and guided her back to the bed.
Natalia shook her head and barely within hearing said, “No, I did.”
TBC...