A/N: This really should have been included in Chapter 18 "Visitors" of Family, but well...I didn't think of it when I wrote it. So here it is as a "missing scene". Hope you enjoy it and, as always, feedback is welcome!
Schuyler Joplin's visit on the fourth day was awkward and brief, but Oliver had had plenty of time in the hosptial to think and he didn't see the sense in wasting the opportunity.
"I'm sorry," he told him, after the small reserve of small talk was dispensed with.
Joplin's look of bafflement almost made him smile. Almost.
"About Sierra," he went on and saw the man's face close. "If I'd stepped up sooner, a lot of things might have gone differently. You-" he coughed, painfully, and Schuyler silently filled his water cup and handed it to him. "Thank you. Anyway, if I had admitted the possibility, once I knew, you wouldn't have been blindsided. You wouldn't have gotten so attached to her, wouldn't have gone off the rails the way you did. Maybe...you probably would never have shot Bo, gone to prison." Maybe Stacy wouldn't have died. The words, spoken and unspoken, lay heavy in the air.
"I regret a lot of things about that time," Schuyler said, finally, just as Oliver was starting to twitch. "But not getting to be Sierra's father, even if it was just for a little while. I loved her. It was the first time I really loved anyone else unselfishly." His eyes were calm and sad as they met Oliver's. "I appreciate you saying all that. Honestly. But I was riding for a fall back then. Rachel told me I was addicted to Gigi and she was right. Then finding out about Mitch...it was never going to end well. If I learned anything in prison, it's that you can't do other people's time. You made mistakes, so did all of us in that mess. You didn't force me to do anything, Fish. Don't blame yourself for what I did. Don't carry what's not yours."
Oliver breathed carefully, trying to keep his composure. His voice was a rasp. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Schuyler grinned suddenly, unexpected and wicked. "Take care of yourself, Fish. Someone's gotta keep that blackmailer of yours out of trouble, huh?"
Before Oliver could think of a retort, he was gone.