GL - Movie Night - Part 38
Title: Movie Night
Author: critic2000
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: PG-13 to start, for violence (non-sexual) and language. I am not any kind of a medical expert so if there are some glaring errors, please forgive me.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Guiding Light characters, they belong to CBS and Proctor and Gamble.
Summary: This is set in the spring of 2009. I’ve taking some liberties with the storyline, mainly Natalia never slept with Frank, hence no engagement etc. So our girls have been just continuing forward raising Emma and getting closer to each other though they are still technically just friends, but that will change… This is a hurt/comfort story so they are headed on a rough ride.
Author’s Note: This is my first fan fiction so please be gentle. This would not have been possible if not for the persistent nudging and awesome editing of my beta/great friend croftlara. Comments are welcome.
( Part 1 ) ( Parts 2 & 3 ) ( Part 4 ) ( Parts 5 & 6 ) ( Part 7 ) ( Part 8 ) ( Part 9 ) ( Part 10 ) ( Part 11 ) ( Part 12 ) ( Part 13 ) ( Parts 14 & 15 ) ( Part 16 ) ( Part 17 ) ( Part 18 ) ( Part 19 ) ( Part 20 ) ( Part 21 ) ( Part 22 ) ( Part 23 ) ( Part 24 ) ( Part 25 ) ( Part 26 ) ( Part 27 ) ( Part 28 ) ( Part 29 ) ( Part 30 ) ( Part 31 ) ( Part 32 ) ( Part 33 ) ( Chapter 34 ) ( Part 35 ) ( Part 36 ) ( Part 37 )
Chapter 38
Olivia blinked her eyes. A moment of panic struck her. Where am I? She looked around the room and saw the bottle of Jack on the nightstand next to the clock indicating it was seven am. Reaching up she pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead and groaned, the pain was excruciating. Between the concussion headache and the hangover she thought she might throw up. As quickly as she could she rolled out of bed, hid the bottle of Jack in her bag and moved to the door. Tylenol and water. Where the hell did I put the Tylenol? She made her way into the hallway, the sound of the shower could be heard coming from the bathroom and it smelled like, Oh dear God, bacon and coffee, her stomach lurched. She found Reva in the kitchen standing over the stove.
“Where’s my Tylenol?”
Turning Reva answered, “And good morning to you too. You don’t look very good.” Assuming it was just the concussion she asked, “Is it your head?”
Olivia looked at Reva and tentatively nodded.
Quickly Reva filled a glass of water, found the bottle of pills on the counter and brought them to Olivia. She poured out two pills and handed them to the stricken looking woman. Olivia took the offered pills and not bothering to take a drink of water, just chewed them before swallowing.
“Eww. Don’t they taste gross like that?” Reva asked.
“They work faster that way,” Olivia answered as she finally took the water and drank the glass empty.
Watching her, Reva took back the glass and refilled it. Handing it back to Olivia she downed it again in a matter of seconds.
“You’re awfully thirsty this morning.” Reva observed knowing something did not seem right.
“Yeah I should have taken a bottle of something to bed with me, I guess.”
“You sure you didn’t?” Reva questioned.
Olivia snapped her eyes toward Reva but said nothing.
“I take it you didn’t have any nightmares last night?”
“I don’t know, I vaguely remember something but obviously nothing too bad.” Olivia leaned against the counter for support.
Deciding to leave the question of what Olivia had taken to bed with her for now, Reva suggested she go relax on the couch and let the drug start working while they waited for breakfast to cook.
Olivia waved her hand dismissively, “I don’t think I can eat anything.”
“Well, you have to try to eat something; I’ll make you some dry toast and tea.”
After watching Olivia pull herself upright off of the counter Reva turned back to the stove, if I had to guess, I’d say she was hung-over.
Meanwhile Olivia moved to the couch and sat down carefully. The sound of running water stopped as the shower was turned off. A few moments later a towel clad Jeffrey came out and went to his bedroom to get dressed.
God my stomach feels almost as bad as my head. I need to get my mind off of it. “I’m gonna have a quick shower.” Olivia announced as she slowly made her way back to the bedroom for a change of clothes and the towel Reva had left for her.
***
The hot water of the shower baptized Olivia as it rained down over her. Feeling like a new woman, she tilted her head from side to side to work the kinks out and she thought about the previous night. Okay, so I don’t really remember falling asleep… God, how much did I drink? Wait a minute! A thought struck Olivia and she worked harder through her memory of the night before. I didn’t have any nightmares. I feel like hell but I think the drinking thwarted the dream. Whatever it was, maybe I found a way around the damn thing.
Olivia picked up the bottle of shampoo and went about washing her hair. Her head still hurt but she couldn’t help but feel as though it had been worth it. She slept somewhere between five and six hours straight without waking anybody up, hitting or scaring anyone. Despite the pounding in her head and the uneasiness of her stomach she considered it a good morning after a successful night’s rest. Okay, so I think technically that’s called ‘passing out’ but I don’t care, I didn’t disturb anyone and I actually got some sleep.
Feeling hopeful for the first time in days, Olivia was excited about going to the hospital and seeing Natalia again so she kept her shower short. When she emerged from the bathroom refreshed and casually dressed in a pair of khaki cargo pants and plain navy short sleeved top, Reva called out that her toast was ready and on the table.
***
Jeffrey, Reva and Olivia sat at the table eating, reading the newspaper quietly and occasionally talking to each other about what the day would hold. When she was finished with her tea and toast Olivia stood, thanked Reva for breakfast and took her plate over to the dishwasher before returning to her bedroom to finish getting ready for the day.
Reva watched Olivia walk back to her room and commented to Jeffrey, “Well at least she didn’t freak out last night.”
Jeffrey lowered the newspaper he was reading to look at his wife, “What?”
“She doesn’t really remember having any nightmares.”
Jeffrey closed and folded the paper, “Well, that’s wonderful.”
“I think she’s lying, I think something happened.” Reva admitted.
Jeffrey placed the folded paper on the table and reached over to take Reva’s hand. “If it did, it wasn’t enough to wake us so it couldn’t have been too bad. She seems fine this morning.”
“Well she did chew some Tylenol and drink about a gallon of water when she got up.” When Jeffrey just looked at Reva, she added, “Okay she said it was her headache.”
“See, it’s nothing, she’s probably going to have that headache for a while according to Rick. We’ll just keep an eye on her like we’ve been doing. I don’t want to push her to talk about anything, she seemed to have a good night and I think it’s best to leave it at that for now.”
“You’re right.” Reva shook her head and let go of Jeffrey’s hand to stand up and start clearing the rest of the breakfast dishes, “I just think something’s up. But we can just let it go… for now.” She added with a wink.
Olivia appeared in the hallway with her running shoes and jean jacket on, hair in a ponytail and carrying Natalia’s bag of clothes, she looked at Jeffrey and announced, “I’m ready, let’s go.”
***
The next two days followed the same pattern; Jeffrey would drive Olivia to the hospital to spend the day with Natalia. Buzz would bring them lunch, which was getting more and more daring for Natalia who was now allowed to add various types of meat ground to nothing to her potatoes alongside her obligatory Jello. People had begun to visit Natalia more regularly; Father Ray, Reva, Josh, Remy, Marina, they would stop by, drop off flowers and chat before finally wishing her the best and leaving her in ‘Olivia’s capable hands’. After school, Emma would join them for a couple of hours then Jane would take her home and Jeffrey would come for Olivia. Inevitably Frank would join Natalia for the evening to watch over her while Olivia would make nice with the O’Neill’s before retiring to her room to drink herself into oblivion. Olivia’s head still hurt quite a bit though she wasn’t sure how much of the pain could be attributed to the concussion and how much was because of her now daily hangovers. The bump on the side of her head had gone down some, although Olivia was now sporting a magnificent bruise unsuccessfully hidden with make-up and noticed by Natalia during her daily visits.
The third morning Jeffrey came with Olivia to the room to say hello to Natalia as they had arrived earlier than usual.
Olivia opened the door to the hospital room and walked in only to find Dr. Gunn still on his morning rounds.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Olivia said when she found the doctor and Lillian in the room with Natalia, “We can come back.”
She went to go back into the hallway when Dr. Gunn called out, “No, it’s okay, please come in. How are you Olivia?”
“I’m fine thank you Doctor. How’s our patient?” She said smiling at Natalia who was sitting up in bed wearing the striped pajamas Marina had packed for her.
Dr. Gunn put his hand on Natalia’s arm while he smiled, “She’s healing beautifully, in fact I think she’s ready to go home.” He looked at Natalia, “Are you ready to get out of here?”
Natalia looked at Olivia. “Oh yes, I’m ready to go.”
“Alright then, give us a little while to get the paperwork together and we’ll have you sign it and be out the doors by noon. How does that sound?”
Olivia felt like the room was closing in around her, her breathing increased and for a moment she thought she might pass out. As much as she wanted Natalia healthy and out of the hospital, she wasn’t ready to take care of her. Natalia had been thrilled when Olivia had told her that the nightmares seemed to have ceased but she wasn’t ready for her to find out how she had managed to make that happen. Not to mention Olivia did not even want to think about the state of their home.
Jeffrey noticed his friend pale and grabbed her elbow to stabilize her, he whispered, “Olivia, are you okay?”
“Fine,” came the short answer as she listened to Natalia answer Dr. Gunn.
“That’s wonderful. Thank you Doctor.” Natalia said sincerely.
“Okay, well I’ll leave you then to get the paperwork done, then we’ll give you the details of your follow up. You’ll need physical therapy; we’ll give you a referral, that type of thing.”
“I understand, thank you again.” Natalia added, as the doctor and a smiling Lillian left the room.
After they left Olivia walked over to the bed and bent down to kiss Natalia on the forehead. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Natalia answered before addressing Jeffrey, “How are you?”
Jeffrey approached the bed and kissed Natalia on the cheek while answering, “I’m great, that’s wonderful news.”
“Oh I’m ready to leave. I could really use some fresh air and some peace, it’s so busy with nurses coming in and out.”
Olivia was still standing quietly looking a little like a deer in headlights. Jeffrey noticed and thought he should broach the subject that he suspected Olivia was struggling with.
“Well Natalia, do you think you’d like to come and stay with Olivia, Reva and I? Or have you two got other plans?” He looked between both women.
Natalia’s forehead creased, “Oh, we can’t go back to the farmhouse yet?” She asked it as a question but she already knew the answer.
“I don’t know that the police have released the scene yet.” Jeffrey looked to Olivia, they had talked about this but no decisions about having the house cleaned and repaired had been made. “So, I’m afraid you won’t be able to go back there at this point.”
Natalia looked concerned and said, “Olivia?” She glanced at her abnormally quiet friend.
Olivia felt nothing but panic. She thought they had a little more time for her to get herself together before they were faced with this situation. Mind whirling, trying to decide what the best course of action would be, suddenly it all stopped when she looked at Natalia and how sad she was that she couldn’t go back to her home. “Thank you for your offer Jeffrey, Natalia and I will go and stay at The Beacon.” It’s okay Natalia, I’ll take care of everything, I’ll take care of you. It’ll be fine, I promise. It has to be.
Jeffrey looked at Olivia. She hadn’t had a nightmare since that horrible night but he was not sure she was ready to take this on. “Are you sure? Reva and I would love to have you both.”
Olivia took Natalia’s hand while looking at Jeffrey. “We’ll be fine.” She turned her head to Natalia, “I’ll call and hire a private nurse and find out if there is anything special we need to have for you. I’ll take care of it all.”
“Jeffrey, once we find out when Natalia is being discharged, do you think you could drive us to the hotel?”
“Sure. Why don’t I go and make some calls and you two just relax for now?”
“Thanks. I’ll call you later.” Olivia responded.
Jeffrey said his goodbyes to both women and left.
The next few hours Olivia spent getting things organized. She hired a nurse, ordered a wheelchair, spoke to her chef about Natalia’s dietary concerns and even remembered to call Jane to tell her not to bring Emma to the hospital later. She left out whether or not Emma would be staying at The Beacon with them and Jane thought it best not to ask.
Natalia just watched Olivia in action. She loved watching her friend command the world around her. She was just so powerful when she wanted to be, which was most of the time until lately. Natalia realized maybe that was why she was enjoying watching her on the phone yelling at some unfortunate person who tried to say no to her, because it was just so Olivia Spencer; business mongrel, according to Emma. Olivia had not been herself since the home invasion. In many ways, it had broken her. Some of it was the concussion but there was so much more to it than that but seeing Olivia in action now gave Natalia hope that the real woman, the one who had been buried for days, was still there waiting to be unleashed.
Natalia smiled when Olivia slammed the phone down and exclaimed, “Asshole! Stupid people, if they’d just listen to me in the first place then I wouldn’t have to yell just so they could give in.”
Olivia noticed Natalia smiling, “What are you smiling at, eh?” She feigned grumpiness.
“Did you get what you wanted?”
“What do you think?” Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Natalia’s smile grew larger. “Oh you do love yelling at them.”
Olivia’s face broke into a huge grin and a chuckle escaped, “He almost cried, it was brilliant!”
“You must miss it.”
“Miss what?”
“Work. Have you been checking in at all?” Natalia questioned.
Olivia looked a little embarrassed, “I haven’t really thought about it much to be honest. I’ve been focused on so much else. But after yelling at a couple of imbeciles, yeah I guess I do kind of miss it.”
“Well then I’m glad that we’ll be at The Beacon, you can go back to work.” When it looked like Olivia was going to object, Natalia added, “Even if it’s just checking in on the staff and keeping them on their toes, cracking the whip maybe a little?” She asked. “Wouldn’t it be good to ease back into it?”
I didn’t realize how much I missed it. “You’re right, I think I might enjoy that.” Olivia took Natalia’s hand again, “But only when you don’t need me. You’re my first priority.”
“I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Well I do and I will continue to.” A thought had been playing in the back of Olivia’s mind since she heard Dr. Gunn say he was discharging Natalia today, it was something she knew she needed to ask. “Should I have a suite booked for you?” It would be safer if you weren’t staying in my room. I don’t know if I can get myself through the night as I have been if you’re there. It would be better even though… God, please just say you want to stay with me.
“What?” Natalia hesitated, as her brows knit together, “No. I mean I thought I’d be staying with you. Is that okay?”
It’s perfect. “I just thought I’d check, you’ve been disturbed enough lately.”
“But you don’t disturb me! As long as you don’t think I’d be in your way.”
Olivia smiled softly and shook her head, “No, you won’t be in my way at all.”
Natalia smiled, then not able to help herself, Olivia bent down and kissed a dimpled cheek before taking a seat on the chair next to the bed.
To be continued...
Author: critic2000
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: PG-13 to start, for violence (non-sexual) and language. I am not any kind of a medical expert so if there are some glaring errors, please forgive me.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Guiding Light characters, they belong to CBS and Proctor and Gamble.
Summary: This is set in the spring of 2009. I’ve taking some liberties with the storyline, mainly Natalia never slept with Frank, hence no engagement etc. So our girls have been just continuing forward raising Emma and getting closer to each other though they are still technically just friends, but that will change… This is a hurt/comfort story so they are headed on a rough ride.
Author’s Note: This is my first fan fiction so please be gentle. This would not have been possible if not for the persistent nudging and awesome editing of my beta/great friend croftlara. Comments are welcome.
( Part 1 ) ( Parts 2 & 3 ) ( Part 4 ) ( Parts 5 & 6 ) ( Part 7 ) ( Part 8 ) ( Part 9 ) ( Part 10 ) ( Part 11 ) ( Part 12 ) ( Part 13 ) ( Parts 14 & 15 ) ( Part 16 ) ( Part 17 ) ( Part 18 ) ( Part 19 ) ( Part 20 ) ( Part 21 ) ( Part 22 ) ( Part 23 ) ( Part 24 ) ( Part 25 ) ( Part 26 ) ( Part 27 ) ( Part 28 ) ( Part 29 ) ( Part 30 ) ( Part 31 ) ( Part 32 ) ( Part 33 ) ( Chapter 34 ) ( Part 35 ) ( Part 36 ) ( Part 37 )
Chapter 38
Olivia blinked her eyes. A moment of panic struck her. Where am I? She looked around the room and saw the bottle of Jack on the nightstand next to the clock indicating it was seven am. Reaching up she pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead and groaned, the pain was excruciating. Between the concussion headache and the hangover she thought she might throw up. As quickly as she could she rolled out of bed, hid the bottle of Jack in her bag and moved to the door. Tylenol and water. Where the hell did I put the Tylenol? She made her way into the hallway, the sound of the shower could be heard coming from the bathroom and it smelled like, Oh dear God, bacon and coffee, her stomach lurched. She found Reva in the kitchen standing over the stove.
“Where’s my Tylenol?”
Turning Reva answered, “And good morning to you too. You don’t look very good.” Assuming it was just the concussion she asked, “Is it your head?”
Olivia looked at Reva and tentatively nodded.
Quickly Reva filled a glass of water, found the bottle of pills on the counter and brought them to Olivia. She poured out two pills and handed them to the stricken looking woman. Olivia took the offered pills and not bothering to take a drink of water, just chewed them before swallowing.
“Eww. Don’t they taste gross like that?” Reva asked.
“They work faster that way,” Olivia answered as she finally took the water and drank the glass empty.
Watching her, Reva took back the glass and refilled it. Handing it back to Olivia she downed it again in a matter of seconds.
“You’re awfully thirsty this morning.” Reva observed knowing something did not seem right.
“Yeah I should have taken a bottle of something to bed with me, I guess.”
“You sure you didn’t?” Reva questioned.
Olivia snapped her eyes toward Reva but said nothing.
“I take it you didn’t have any nightmares last night?”
“I don’t know, I vaguely remember something but obviously nothing too bad.” Olivia leaned against the counter for support.
Deciding to leave the question of what Olivia had taken to bed with her for now, Reva suggested she go relax on the couch and let the drug start working while they waited for breakfast to cook.
Olivia waved her hand dismissively, “I don’t think I can eat anything.”
“Well, you have to try to eat something; I’ll make you some dry toast and tea.”
After watching Olivia pull herself upright off of the counter Reva turned back to the stove, if I had to guess, I’d say she was hung-over.
Meanwhile Olivia moved to the couch and sat down carefully. The sound of running water stopped as the shower was turned off. A few moments later a towel clad Jeffrey came out and went to his bedroom to get dressed.
God my stomach feels almost as bad as my head. I need to get my mind off of it. “I’m gonna have a quick shower.” Olivia announced as she slowly made her way back to the bedroom for a change of clothes and the towel Reva had left for her.
***
The hot water of the shower baptized Olivia as it rained down over her. Feeling like a new woman, she tilted her head from side to side to work the kinks out and she thought about the previous night. Okay, so I don’t really remember falling asleep… God, how much did I drink? Wait a minute! A thought struck Olivia and she worked harder through her memory of the night before. I didn’t have any nightmares. I feel like hell but I think the drinking thwarted the dream. Whatever it was, maybe I found a way around the damn thing.
Olivia picked up the bottle of shampoo and went about washing her hair. Her head still hurt but she couldn’t help but feel as though it had been worth it. She slept somewhere between five and six hours straight without waking anybody up, hitting or scaring anyone. Despite the pounding in her head and the uneasiness of her stomach she considered it a good morning after a successful night’s rest. Okay, so I think technically that’s called ‘passing out’ but I don’t care, I didn’t disturb anyone and I actually got some sleep.
Feeling hopeful for the first time in days, Olivia was excited about going to the hospital and seeing Natalia again so she kept her shower short. When she emerged from the bathroom refreshed and casually dressed in a pair of khaki cargo pants and plain navy short sleeved top, Reva called out that her toast was ready and on the table.
***
Jeffrey, Reva and Olivia sat at the table eating, reading the newspaper quietly and occasionally talking to each other about what the day would hold. When she was finished with her tea and toast Olivia stood, thanked Reva for breakfast and took her plate over to the dishwasher before returning to her bedroom to finish getting ready for the day.
Reva watched Olivia walk back to her room and commented to Jeffrey, “Well at least she didn’t freak out last night.”
Jeffrey lowered the newspaper he was reading to look at his wife, “What?”
“She doesn’t really remember having any nightmares.”
Jeffrey closed and folded the paper, “Well, that’s wonderful.”
“I think she’s lying, I think something happened.” Reva admitted.
Jeffrey placed the folded paper on the table and reached over to take Reva’s hand. “If it did, it wasn’t enough to wake us so it couldn’t have been too bad. She seems fine this morning.”
“Well she did chew some Tylenol and drink about a gallon of water when she got up.” When Jeffrey just looked at Reva, she added, “Okay she said it was her headache.”
“See, it’s nothing, she’s probably going to have that headache for a while according to Rick. We’ll just keep an eye on her like we’ve been doing. I don’t want to push her to talk about anything, she seemed to have a good night and I think it’s best to leave it at that for now.”
“You’re right.” Reva shook her head and let go of Jeffrey’s hand to stand up and start clearing the rest of the breakfast dishes, “I just think something’s up. But we can just let it go… for now.” She added with a wink.
Olivia appeared in the hallway with her running shoes and jean jacket on, hair in a ponytail and carrying Natalia’s bag of clothes, she looked at Jeffrey and announced, “I’m ready, let’s go.”
***
The next two days followed the same pattern; Jeffrey would drive Olivia to the hospital to spend the day with Natalia. Buzz would bring them lunch, which was getting more and more daring for Natalia who was now allowed to add various types of meat ground to nothing to her potatoes alongside her obligatory Jello. People had begun to visit Natalia more regularly; Father Ray, Reva, Josh, Remy, Marina, they would stop by, drop off flowers and chat before finally wishing her the best and leaving her in ‘Olivia’s capable hands’. After school, Emma would join them for a couple of hours then Jane would take her home and Jeffrey would come for Olivia. Inevitably Frank would join Natalia for the evening to watch over her while Olivia would make nice with the O’Neill’s before retiring to her room to drink herself into oblivion. Olivia’s head still hurt quite a bit though she wasn’t sure how much of the pain could be attributed to the concussion and how much was because of her now daily hangovers. The bump on the side of her head had gone down some, although Olivia was now sporting a magnificent bruise unsuccessfully hidden with make-up and noticed by Natalia during her daily visits.
The third morning Jeffrey came with Olivia to the room to say hello to Natalia as they had arrived earlier than usual.
Olivia opened the door to the hospital room and walked in only to find Dr. Gunn still on his morning rounds.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Olivia said when she found the doctor and Lillian in the room with Natalia, “We can come back.”
She went to go back into the hallway when Dr. Gunn called out, “No, it’s okay, please come in. How are you Olivia?”
“I’m fine thank you Doctor. How’s our patient?” She said smiling at Natalia who was sitting up in bed wearing the striped pajamas Marina had packed for her.
Dr. Gunn put his hand on Natalia’s arm while he smiled, “She’s healing beautifully, in fact I think she’s ready to go home.” He looked at Natalia, “Are you ready to get out of here?”
Natalia looked at Olivia. “Oh yes, I’m ready to go.”
“Alright then, give us a little while to get the paperwork together and we’ll have you sign it and be out the doors by noon. How does that sound?”
Olivia felt like the room was closing in around her, her breathing increased and for a moment she thought she might pass out. As much as she wanted Natalia healthy and out of the hospital, she wasn’t ready to take care of her. Natalia had been thrilled when Olivia had told her that the nightmares seemed to have ceased but she wasn’t ready for her to find out how she had managed to make that happen. Not to mention Olivia did not even want to think about the state of their home.
Jeffrey noticed his friend pale and grabbed her elbow to stabilize her, he whispered, “Olivia, are you okay?”
“Fine,” came the short answer as she listened to Natalia answer Dr. Gunn.
“That’s wonderful. Thank you Doctor.” Natalia said sincerely.
“Okay, well I’ll leave you then to get the paperwork done, then we’ll give you the details of your follow up. You’ll need physical therapy; we’ll give you a referral, that type of thing.”
“I understand, thank you again.” Natalia added, as the doctor and a smiling Lillian left the room.
After they left Olivia walked over to the bed and bent down to kiss Natalia on the forehead. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Natalia answered before addressing Jeffrey, “How are you?”
Jeffrey approached the bed and kissed Natalia on the cheek while answering, “I’m great, that’s wonderful news.”
“Oh I’m ready to leave. I could really use some fresh air and some peace, it’s so busy with nurses coming in and out.”
Olivia was still standing quietly looking a little like a deer in headlights. Jeffrey noticed and thought he should broach the subject that he suspected Olivia was struggling with.
“Well Natalia, do you think you’d like to come and stay with Olivia, Reva and I? Or have you two got other plans?” He looked between both women.
Natalia’s forehead creased, “Oh, we can’t go back to the farmhouse yet?” She asked it as a question but she already knew the answer.
“I don’t know that the police have released the scene yet.” Jeffrey looked to Olivia, they had talked about this but no decisions about having the house cleaned and repaired had been made. “So, I’m afraid you won’t be able to go back there at this point.”
Natalia looked concerned and said, “Olivia?” She glanced at her abnormally quiet friend.
Olivia felt nothing but panic. She thought they had a little more time for her to get herself together before they were faced with this situation. Mind whirling, trying to decide what the best course of action would be, suddenly it all stopped when she looked at Natalia and how sad she was that she couldn’t go back to her home. “Thank you for your offer Jeffrey, Natalia and I will go and stay at The Beacon.” It’s okay Natalia, I’ll take care of everything, I’ll take care of you. It’ll be fine, I promise. It has to be.
Jeffrey looked at Olivia. She hadn’t had a nightmare since that horrible night but he was not sure she was ready to take this on. “Are you sure? Reva and I would love to have you both.”
Olivia took Natalia’s hand while looking at Jeffrey. “We’ll be fine.” She turned her head to Natalia, “I’ll call and hire a private nurse and find out if there is anything special we need to have for you. I’ll take care of it all.”
“Jeffrey, once we find out when Natalia is being discharged, do you think you could drive us to the hotel?”
“Sure. Why don’t I go and make some calls and you two just relax for now?”
“Thanks. I’ll call you later.” Olivia responded.
Jeffrey said his goodbyes to both women and left.
The next few hours Olivia spent getting things organized. She hired a nurse, ordered a wheelchair, spoke to her chef about Natalia’s dietary concerns and even remembered to call Jane to tell her not to bring Emma to the hospital later. She left out whether or not Emma would be staying at The Beacon with them and Jane thought it best not to ask.
Natalia just watched Olivia in action. She loved watching her friend command the world around her. She was just so powerful when she wanted to be, which was most of the time until lately. Natalia realized maybe that was why she was enjoying watching her on the phone yelling at some unfortunate person who tried to say no to her, because it was just so Olivia Spencer; business mongrel, according to Emma. Olivia had not been herself since the home invasion. In many ways, it had broken her. Some of it was the concussion but there was so much more to it than that but seeing Olivia in action now gave Natalia hope that the real woman, the one who had been buried for days, was still there waiting to be unleashed.
Natalia smiled when Olivia slammed the phone down and exclaimed, “Asshole! Stupid people, if they’d just listen to me in the first place then I wouldn’t have to yell just so they could give in.”
Olivia noticed Natalia smiling, “What are you smiling at, eh?” She feigned grumpiness.
“Did you get what you wanted?”
“What do you think?” Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Natalia’s smile grew larger. “Oh you do love yelling at them.”
Olivia’s face broke into a huge grin and a chuckle escaped, “He almost cried, it was brilliant!”
“You must miss it.”
“Miss what?”
“Work. Have you been checking in at all?” Natalia questioned.
Olivia looked a little embarrassed, “I haven’t really thought about it much to be honest. I’ve been focused on so much else. But after yelling at a couple of imbeciles, yeah I guess I do kind of miss it.”
“Well then I’m glad that we’ll be at The Beacon, you can go back to work.” When it looked like Olivia was going to object, Natalia added, “Even if it’s just checking in on the staff and keeping them on their toes, cracking the whip maybe a little?” She asked. “Wouldn’t it be good to ease back into it?”
I didn’t realize how much I missed it. “You’re right, I think I might enjoy that.” Olivia took Natalia’s hand again, “But only when you don’t need me. You’re my first priority.”
“I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Well I do and I will continue to.” A thought had been playing in the back of Olivia’s mind since she heard Dr. Gunn say he was discharging Natalia today, it was something she knew she needed to ask. “Should I have a suite booked for you?” It would be safer if you weren’t staying in my room. I don’t know if I can get myself through the night as I have been if you’re there. It would be better even though… God, please just say you want to stay with me.
“What?” Natalia hesitated, as her brows knit together, “No. I mean I thought I’d be staying with you. Is that okay?”
It’s perfect. “I just thought I’d check, you’ve been disturbed enough lately.”
“But you don’t disturb me! As long as you don’t think I’d be in your way.”
Olivia smiled softly and shook her head, “No, you won’t be in my way at all.”
Natalia smiled, then not able to help herself, Olivia bent down and kissed a dimpled cheek before taking a seat on the chair next to the bed.
To be continued...