Title: Saving Us All
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia and Family
Summary: In the epilogue of Saving Ma you learned of Emma and Mateo's hand in Saving Olivia. Here is how that all played out from the last collapse when they told the family that she was rejecting her latest heart and time was not on their side. This story will be done in two chapters
This is a collection of one or two shots in the Saving Ma universe. I will take you on a journey throughout their lives showing highlights of the family throughout the years leading to and continuing past the Epilogue in Saving Ma.
A/N: Read Saving Ma before Saving Us All or you will be lost as this is a sequel. These will not be in any kind of order. I will write them as my fairy sees fit and share them with you all. Any suggestions or requests will be taken so if there is a specific scene you would like to see let me know. You can find a link for Saving Ma at the bottom below my signature banner or it's in my archives.
Installment 1A
Olivia woke alone this morning and wasn't ok with that. She knew it was because she didn't sleep well and Natalia wanted her to rest but she had always hated not waking with Natalia in her arms or herself in Natalia's arms. The last few days she'd been tired a lot but couldn't get any real rest consistently waking up within an hour or so of falling asleep. Natalia already had an appointment for her this afternoon to see Rick because of it.
She walked down the stairs and smiled as she neared the kitchen. Natalio was telling Natalia about his finals at school. He had gotten the grades back having aced them all and was to graduate in a week. As she walked she got light headed and stopped for a moment to catch her bearings then started walking again wanting to get to Natalia.
In the kitchen Natalia was listening to her baby tell her about his test scores proud of himself for getting A's on all of them. He may not have graduated a year or so early like his brother and sister like he wanted but he was graduating in the top 5% of his class. They were so proud of him.
She smiled looking over hearing the shuffle of Olivia's feet as she came into the room but it fell as she got a good look at her wife.
Olivia looked up at her and tried to focus. "Princess I don't thi…"
She was down before the sentence fully formed and Natalia barely caught her before her head hit the floor. Quickly assessing her she checked for a pulse and yelled to Natalio. "The machine mijo, the machine!"
Natalio took off to the living room grabbing the defibrillator out of the end table drawer and sprinted back to the kitchen.
Natalia had already opened her shirt doing CPR. When he slide in beside her and handed her the machine she quickly and expertly put the sticky pads on her as Natalio picked up the house phone dialing 911.
Natalia pressing the button for the second time and still nothing, "Come on querida don't do this to me." She waited the allotted time and pressed the button again and still nothing.
Natalio put the phone on speaker and dropped down to help with CPR helping his mom breathe in between times his ma was trying to shock her heart back. After the forth shock she finally began to a breath on her own and her heart started beating again but not as strong as Natalia would have liked.
At that moment they heard the sirens in the distance and she sent Natalio out to make sure the gate was opened and they came to the right house. "Come on baby, just breathe for me. Stay with me Olivia, I love you."
The paramedics finally came rushing through the door and Natalia moved over to let them work and told them what all she had already done as they assessed then load her. Olivia was still unconscious as they loaded her and Natalia climbed in the ambulance with her yelling to Natalio to grab their purses and phones and meet them there.
He ran in the house grabbing all of their things and called Emma and Mateo first to let them know that mom was headed in then he called Rafe and Ava. He got in the car and rushed to the hospital pulling in right as Ava, Ashley and Whitney were climbing out of their car. Rafe was on location at a new hotel and said he'd be on the jet home as soon as he could get to the airport.
Ava grabbed his hand and one of the purses from him and they all ran into the ER. Natalia was sitting in the waiting room filling out paperwork looking lost and they rushed to her side. Natalio handed her the purse he had and her phone and knelt in front of her. "Were Emma and Mateo down here when you got here?"
She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes mijo, thank you for calling them and Ava and the girls I see."
Whitney squeezes her shoulder. "Rafe will be on the jet soon. He was in the car on his way to the airport when we pulled in."
Natalia nods then looks back down to the paperwork. "You know, I've filled out so many of these blasted things you'd think they had enough of them here. It's not like they change." She sighed and they all settled into seats close to her as they waited.
Hours later in the room by the lab Emma and Mateo stood back waiting for Rick to tell them the verdict of the blood tests and all of the other tests he had run. He looked up grimly and they knew it wasn't good. "She's in full rejection guys. Take a look for yourselves."
They moved over and poured over the results. They could find no fault in what Rick had said. She was rejecting the heart and it was deteriorating fast. Rick watched them going over the results writing things down and talking to each other quietly trying to figure things out. "Well?"
Emma looked up and smiled slightly. "She's a good candidate for it but ma may be a problem. She won't like it."
Mateo took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "If we just talk to them alone, without any of the others around and let them think, let them breathe, ma will come around, especially when we talk to mom. You know she will trust us with this."
Emma nodded her head and leaned into him for a moment. "I know you're right, I just hate that we may end up having to be a little harsh to get our way here with ma, otherwise mom doesn't stand a chance. This is the last shot she has."
Looking back to Rick, Mateo sighed. "Can we tell them about only the rejection for now? We want to talk to ma and mom alone about the other."
Rick nodded sadly. "As long as I'm in the room for all of it in case they want to ask me anything that's fine. Technically until they agree to what you want to do she's still my patient."
Emma smiled and hugged him close. "You always will be Uncle Rick. It's because of you and Ma that she's stayed with us this long and given us time to do what we have. Thank you."
He hugged her tight, "Come on. They are all in the room with your mom now," and they headed off to talk to Olivia and the others.
When they entered the room all conversation stopped and Natalia was instantly on edge at the look on Emma and Mateo's faces. They shared a look and Emma sat on the edge of the bed taking Olivia's hand while Mateo stood next to Natalia. "Mom, you're rejecting the heart."
Natalio stood and started pacing. "Ok so we get her back on the transplant list and we find her another one. Just like last time right?"
Emma never took her eyes off Olivia's. "Not this time. Your age and the type of rejection are keeping you off the list. We have already started a round of new anti-rejection med and added some pain meds but at this point that's all we can do."
Natalia's hand flew to her mouth and she looked at Mateo and Rick who just nodded their agreement. "So there is nothing else? If the medicine works and she gets better then maybe she'll be able to get on the list later?"
Emma still sat looking into Olivia's eyes. "No, it doesn't work that way. This type of rejection won't allow it to happen."
About that time Rafe came through the door and looked to the tear stained faces around him and felt his world stop. He looked to Olivia who still had her eyes locked with Emma. "What's going on?"
Natalio rushed him. "Tell them they are wrong. We just need her on the list again."
He enveloped him in his arms and looked to Natalia then Mateo. "What is it?"
Mateo sighed and squeezed the hand he had on their ma's shoulder. "Full rejection, her age and the type of rejection is keeping her off the transplant list."
A sob bubbled in her chest but he pushed it back down and rubbed Natalio's back. "What can be done?"
"We're adjusting her anti-rejection meds and adding some pain meds." Mateo looks over to Ashley who moved in beside him and was now rubbing his back and Ava who was taking Natalio from Rafe's arms so he could move toward Olivia.
Rafe stood by Emma as she was still having some strange stare down with Olivia. They didn't even seem to blink and Natalia was giving them a strange look as well.
Olivia took a breath and squeezed Emma's hand never breaking eye contact as she spoke. "Why don't you all go down to the cafeteria and get some food. I know that Natalio didn't get anything to eat this morning and Rafe will need to take meds soon. I want to talk to Rick, Emma and Mateo for a few then you can come back."
They all started to argue and Natalia stood and silenced them. "Do as your mother says and give her a moment." Her tone booked no room for further argument. Every single one of them knew that tone and they kissed their moms and headed out.
As the door was closing they heard Natalio, "but they can fix it right?"
The last thing they heard was Rafe choking back a sob and saying "I don't think so Nate." After the last transplant each of them, minus Natalio because of his age, did extensive research and knew they were being told that this was the end of the line for their mom.
Once they were alone Olivia continued to look at Emma. "Tell me what is going on in that brilliant mind of your jellybean."
Emma smiled slightly. Olivia was the only one that still called her that. She took a deep breath and started. "When I was in high school I did a research paper on heart conditions and transplants. You remember it right?"
Olivia nodded smiling. "Of course, you won an award for it and they sent it off to the Harvard medical program people and they paid you to keep it and use it. I didn't understand half of what was written in it but I was so proud of you."
Emma blushed lightly and continued. "After I finished my research and my paper I started writing in my journals. I had done extensive research on the medicines used for anti-rejection and how they worked. During my initial ground work I talked to Ed Bauer about the work that he had done. He created one of the meds you take today."
She paused taking a breath. "He was very helpful to me and actually took me through the process in which he took to create it. It was fascinating but what got me more was that these drugs were still being tweaked and perfected, always changing. So I started my journals, I only talked with Mateo about them and showed them to him because no offence but no one else would have understood what I was trying to do."
Mateo smiled and shrugged. "We're just a couple of nerds what can I say."
They all chuckled and Emma continued. "For the last 14 years or so we have been working on a way to stop transplant rejection." Natalia gasped and Olivia just kept eye contact listening. "A month ago we finally got FDA approval for a clinical trial to test the drug that we've created. After going over all of the test results with Rick and Mateo we all agree that you are a perfect candidate for this drug."
Natalia stood and shook her head. "You can't be seriously considering giving your mother a drug that is in its testing phase."
Emma finally broke eye contact and looked at her. "Yes ma that is exactly what I want to do." She sighed and looked back to Olivia. "The original plan was to get it through all of its testing phases and to the point of manufacturing and pharmacy distribution. We no long have that luxury."
Natalia started pacing. "No we can't do this. What if it harms her more, we can't take that chance."
Olivia looked into Emma's eyes and saw the truth that this is what she needed to do. "Ok, do what you have to do to get me in it."
"No Olivia, what? No you can't." Natalia was now on the other side of the bed taking Olivia's free hand. "I can't lose you please don't do this."
Olivia removed her hand and brought it up to caress her face. "I'm sorry princess but this needs to be done."
Natalia stood and started pacing again, "I can't, no, I just…"
Emma stood and took her by the shoulders. "Ma stop and just listen. When I was 14 years old you found me in the tree house just sitting staring out over the pond. You asked me what was wrong and I told you that I was thinking about the future and that I wanted to do something that would change the world but I was scared that I wouldn't succeed, that I would fail and let everyone down. Do you remember what you told me?"
Natalia nodded through her tears but could no longer speak. Emma caressed her cheeks wiping the tears and kissed her forehead. "You told me that I could do anything I put my mind to and that no matter what I could never let you down, that I could never let my family down. You told me to reach for the heavens and find my star and the lord would guide me in all my endeavors and with him by my side and the love of our family I could never fail. Even if things didn't work out the way I wanted them to I would still make him and you all proud."
She took a breath and wiped her own tears. "This is what I was talking about that day and I'm telling you I did it. I worked and prayed and when I got discouraged I came home to you and you held me and prayed with me and pushed me to continue with whatever it was that I was doing. You never even asked me what it was, you just had faith in me and made sure that I knew that you were there every step of the way. Mateo helped keep me sane and work through all of the problems that arose giving me feedback and letting me pick that magnificent brain of his."
She smiled at Mateo and looked back to Natalia "I'm telling you now that I can fix this. I know I can, but if you don't let us try… This drug is at least a year or two away from distribution and mom doesn't have that kind of time." She paused as a sob erupted and had to calm herself before she could finish. "If we don't do this mom will die. This rejection is tearing down her heart quickly. If I don't stop it she will be gone in a few months or sooner. She will keep having these episodes like today and we will lose her. There is no 100% guaranty that this drug will work but it's the last shot she has. You have to let us try ma please. I need you to have faith in me just a little bit longer."
Natalia broke and fell into her sobbing as Mateo sat on the bed and put his head on Olivia's chest trying to keep his own tears at bay. Not a one of them could handle their mom or their ma's tears, and Emma's tears always broke him.
Olivia just sat rubbing his hair and waited for them to calm. She had faith in her babies and she knew this would work, it had to. Eventually they calmed and Natalia pushed slightly away taking Emma's face in her hand. "I have faith in you mija. I will always have faith in you. Get her in the trial."
Emma sobbed and fell back into her and Mateo could no longer take at and wrapped around them both until Emma calmed. Rick watched as always in awe of this family and their unwavering faith in each other. He felt blesses every time he witnesses it in the decades that he'd known them. Once Emma calmed she and Natalia took their spots on the bed next to Olivia once more with Mateo rubbing Emma's shoulder.
Olivia smiled and took her hand. "I have two stipulations to doing this." Emma eyed her warily but nodded for her to continue. "I don't want to tell the other kids what's going on. I don't want to give them hope in case for some unforeseen reason this doesn't work. You said it yourself. I'm dying and this is my last Hail Mary. I also don't ever want anyone to blame you two if it doesn't work. Not that I think they ever would but tempers in our family can get high and sometimes things are said that are not meant but they hurt regardless. No one outside of the five of us in this room and whatever medical people I have to deal with is to know what you are doing."
They all agreed to this so she continued. "I want to go home. I don't want to live in this hospital waiting to die or get better. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed with my wife, be with my children and grandchildren and just live. I promise to do whatever you say to the letter but I want to go home. If this doesn't work I don't want everyone's last memories of me to be in this damn hospital. Let me go home, please."
Emma wiped her tears and nodded. "You can go home mom. We'll come to you for blood draws and medicine adjustments. You will only have to come into the hospital for tests that I cannot do anywhere else or if you get worse and it's necessary. Ok?"
Olivia laid her head back sleepily and smiled, "Ok."
A/N: I know it's been so long since I finished Saving Ma but my fairy was playing in other fields and just now came back to the land of the Spencer clan. I hope it was worth the wait and I promise installment 2 will not be waited for long.
