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Oliver's hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight, that his arms started to go numb. He slammed on the breaks and frantically reached for the door. As he stepped out into the cool night air he immediately raced to the back of the limousine where he had left Felicity just moments earlier. "Felicity!" Oliver's voice cracked with emotion and dread as he grasped the handle and breathlessly flung the door open. He looked down in horror at her lifeless body, his heart lurched into his throat and scolding hot tears threatened to destroy what was left of his composure. He gently pulled her out of the limo on to the road starring at the blood dripping from her lips, then searching the heinous red stain expanding on the right side of her abdomen. His breath caught in his throat as he choked out a helpless sob. Then he was screaming, screaming her name, letting his blood stained fingers glide across her golden hair. He tried to steady his wildly shaking hands, he needed to check for a pulse. Her skin felt like fire under his touch, and as he searched her neck he felt a faint heartbeat. A slight vibration startled him as he held her close, Oliver numbly reached into the right pocket of his jacket and grabbed his phone. He glanced at the screen through blurred vision, it was John ... Oliver answered and struggled to place the phone on his ear. "John!" Oliver could barely recognize his own voice, it sounded like something from a horror movie, and he heard the terror in Dig's voice as he responded.
"Oliver, what's wrong!? Are you and Felicity alright? There was a deafening pause, "Oliver say something!"
"Darhk" Oliver felt a pang of bitterness in simply saying the name. "Felicity has been shot, the ghosts attacked our limousine, and I need an ambulance now! There is blood everywhere, please help ... she is bleeding out Dig!" John clinched the phone so hard that it hurt, he was calling to congratulate his friends on their engagement, but now the only thing he could do was panic.
Diggle breathlessly exhaled. "Oliver you can't be far, you guys just left ... I am close, I will come and get you. How is her pulse Oliver?" There was a fading heartbeat under Oliver's trembling fingers.
"It is hardly there, I ... I can barely feel it," Oliver was frantic.
Diggle felt a tight pain in his chest. "Oliver I am coming, your phone has a tracker, just hold on, I am coming!" Oliver was fine, he wasn't the one who got shot, he wasn't the one having a hard time holding on. Felicity was dying in his arms, he begged and pleaded with her to hold on ... then he dropped the phone; burying his tear soaked face in the curve of her neck.
oOo oOo
Diggle sprinted to his car, a concerned Thea chased after him … "Hey what's going on, is everything alright?" He simply glanced at her, and told her to get in.
"Oliver and Felicity were attacked by Darhk's ghosts, she has been shot ... I am tracking Oliver's phone now." Thea's eyes grew wide with terror, and she felt a suffocating lump in her throat.
"Oh no, no, no! Diggle they were just here, they just got engaged, how ..." she couldn't accept it, but it was happening.
oOo oOo
Felicity's eye flickered open for a few seconds and she tried to say something, Oliver reassured himself that he only imagined it, but then her eye lids fluttered once more. "Felicity, stay with me baby! Hold on, I am right here; I need you to stay with me!" He held her face in his hands, the all too familiar rosy pink of her beautiful cheeks had drained, and was replaced with a pale gray. She wasn't responding, no sign of life existed apart from her torturously faint pulse. Just then Oliver heard the squeal of tires behind him, and glanced over his shoulder to see John racing toward them.
"Oliver!" Thea's gut-wrenching cries pierced the merciless silence that had enveloped him for what seemed like hours. John reached his side, and gently lifted Felicity into his arms. Oliver would have carried her himself, but he felt like his legs might buckle underneath him. Thea flung the back door of the car open, and John cautiously laid Felicity on the backseat. Oliver quickly got in and lifted his fiancée's head onto his lap. Diggle slammed the gear into drive, and pressed his foot to the gas pedal so hard that it hit the floor board.
"Hurry, I'm losing her!" Oliver screamed in panic, he then glanced up to see a look of pure horror on his sister's face. Diggle was running reds and cutting people off in an attempt to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. He had only ever driven like this in the army convoy, even then he wasn't as terrified as he was now, knowing that Felicity's life hung in the balance.
"Oh He is going to pay, Damien Darhk is going to pay!" Thea's voice was raspy.
Oliver silently agreed with her, saying nothing but feeling every inch of his body surge with rage at the name. John pressed on the breaks and slammed on the horn as they entered what was almost the hospital's emergency room lobby. A group of frightened interns ran outside trying to assess what was going on. Oliver swung the back door open, and slowly scooped Felicity into his arms.
"Grab a gurney! I need a surgeon, and an O.R. prepped now!" A doctor in a long white coat yelled out commands. The interns frantically did what they were told, scrambling to remain focused.
"Please, my fiancée has been shot, she has lost a lot of blood," Oliver placed Felicity's limp body onto the gurney and raced after the team charged with saving her.
The doctor who seemed to be in charge started attaching monitors and shouted commands at her interns once again. "We might need to intubate her, pulse is fifty BPM, and dropping. Massive blood loss, gunshot wound to the lower right abdomen, possible lung collapse. She isn't breathing on her own," The doctor was holding a stethoscope over Felicity's heart, trying to keep her gloved hand steady. "I need her intubated right now! We have to get to that O.R. stat!" Oliver struggled to keep up with them, his legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. He hadn't seen John or Thea after he ran into the hospital, all he could think of was staying right next to her. His hope to remain close to Felicity was short lived, as the O.R. team entered the room, leaving him outside in the hallway.
"'Wait, she's my fiancée, please I need to be with her!" Oliver pushed his way through the doors and took a left into the O.R. prep room, he saw machines everywhere, blinding lights, and the surgeon's hands grasping at Felicity's coat as he ripped it off, and then proceeded to cut her shirt open to get to the bullet.
"You aren't allowed in here," the voice of a women momentarily broke his trance. "I am sorry sir only medical staff are allowed in the O.R., please you need to leave." Oliver stood there for a few more seconds, eyes locked on his dying fiancée, he blinked back tears, and looked at the women. "There is nothing you can do for her, we will give everything we have to save her, but you need to go ... please." She motioned for him to leave, pointing at the exit.
oOo oOo
It felt like it had been hours, but all of it had happened in just twenty minutes. Oliver looked like a zombie, his skin was pale, and he was covered in blood ... her blood. He couldn't stand any longer, he collapsed into the nearest chair, and cupped his face in his hands. "Oliver!" Donna's voice echoed down the hallway, the clicking of her heels getting louder as she reached him. "Oh Oliver, tell me my baby is okay, please!" He mustered all the strength he had left to look up at her, but he couldn't find the words. Quentin and Laurel stood back a ways with looks of panic on their faces.
"Donna ... I," Oliver's voice was shaky, "I don't know." She sat down beside him, and grabbed his hands, he nearly burst into tears.
"Oliver, we are going to get through this together." Just then an O.R. nurse walked up to them and politely handed Oliver something, he struggled to see what it was through his blurred vision; but he could feel Felicity's engagement ring between his thumb and the first two fingers of his right hand. He squeezed his hand shut, and clinched his fist so hard, he felt the ring cutting into his palm.
"We wanted to make sure it wasn't lost during the operation, the surgeon told me to bring it out here to you." The nurse nodded and then quickly disappeared behind the O.R. doors. Donna tried her best to keep from sobbing but she couldn't, she just sat there with Oliver and wept.
"Hey," John and Thea approached the group sitting in the O.R. waiting room, "Any news ... ?" Thea's tone was soft and even.
Oliver looked up slowly and met his sister's gaze, he looked awful, and it startled Thea how close to death he appeared to be. "I have no idea Thea, you're asking as if I know ... I don't know!"
"Oliver," John's voice was stern, "we are all here for the same reason, that's Felicity; it is pointless to get upset with Thea ... she didn't do this."
Oliver's face felt hot with shame as he realized Diggle was right, he looked up at his little sister, who just smiled down at him "I'm sorry Thea."
"Ollie it is okay, I love Felicity, but I can't begin to imagine how you feel right now; she means so much to you." Donna let go of Oliver's hand and got up, inviting Thea to sit down with her brother.
"I am going to go and get some coffee and some air, anybody else want to come?" Donna asked with a sincere tone, her whole body shaking, Quentin nodded and offered to walk with her. Laurel and John stood close by talking about the night's events, each of them trying to occupy their thoughts with something other than possibly losing Felicity, but it didn't work.
oOo oOo
It had been over an hour since the nurse had given Oliver the ring, he kept looking down at it, and the dried blood in his palm, some of it was his; most was Felicity's. John walked over to Oliver, Thea was asleep on her brother's shoulder, she had a long day; they all had. "Hey man, I asked Lyla to grab some clothes for you from the loft, I told her where the spare key was, I hope you don't mind. Maybe you could get changed and cleaned up, she's here now with a clean change of clothes." Oliver knew he looked like he stepped straight out of a horror movie, he glanced at Thea and then back at John, before nodding his head.
"Okay," Oliver said passively, too drained to even think of protesting. He put his jacket under Thea's head and got up. He immediately felt an intense throbbing in the back of his head, it was like someone was jamming an ice pick into his skull. He stumbled, and would have lost his footing if John hadn't been standing there.
"Whoa, you alright ..." Oliver nodded reassuring his friend, "it has been a rough night, I'll walk with you; Lyla is at the front desk." John glanced back at Laurel who was already getting up to go and sit next to Thea, she wouldn't want to wake up alone.
Pink water filled the sink as Oliver scrubbed at his hands and face. He viciously picked at his fingertips, her blood was stuck under his finger nails; a gut wrenching knot harassed his throat. He looked into the mirror, his eyes were blood shot, and he had small cuts all over his face from the shards of broken class that had rained down on him and Felicity just a few hours earlier. He keeps recalling the look on her face when he got down on one knee, her beautiful laugh, and those mesmerizing blue eyes. He had felt his heart surge at her response, when she knelt to kiss him, he didn't think that kind of joy was even possible. Now, he only felt numb, his whole world had begun to unravel, he couldn't lose her, she was a part of him; he was a part of her. If she died, a piece of him would go with her, the light that she had brought to him; it would go out.
There was a quite knock on the door as Oliver put his shirt on, Lyla had grabbed one of Felicity's favorites, a light blue v neck with white threading. "Hey Ollie," Thea was awake and wondering about her brother, "you alright in there?" He opened the door to his sister, a smile on her face, "The surgeon is waiting to talk to you, everyone is in the waiting room." Oliver practically sprinted down the hallway toward Donna, Diggle, Laurel, Quentin, and a wearied surgeon.
"How ... how is she?" Oliver stammered, "Where you able to get the bullet, did everything go okay?" The man in the white coat nodded.
"She pulled through, that women is a fighter, for now she is doing okay, everything looks good. The bullet lacerated her liver, and collapsed her right lung, which we sewed up as best we could, she lost a great deal of blood, but she is stable. For now rest and recovery are the two most important things for her. What we have to keep an eye on are her vitals, and we have to monitor her condition for at least a few more days, she is currently in a mild coma, only time will tell. When she wakes up is really her decision, all we can do now is wait." Donna clung to Quentin, barely able to stand, she gasped and tears filled her eyes.
"Oh thank God, thank you doctor, thank you for helping my baby," The surgeon nodded and calmly walked out of the room. Oliver didn't realize he had been holding his breath, but he finally exhaled. There was a lightness in the air and it changed the entire mood of the group. Dig hugged Oliver, Lyla had gone back home with baby Sara, who tagged along earlier to drop off Oliver's clothes.
"She is alive," Diggle practically sang the words, it was welcome news indeed! Oliver's smile said it all, Felicity was alive, in spite of Darhk's attempts to kill her, and the others, Damien had failed.
"Did he say whether or not we can go in and see her", Oliver asked longingly, his only desire was to see Felicity, "I need to see her." The O.R. nurse who had given Oliver Felicity's ring earlier approached them.
"You can go in and see her two at a time, because she just now went into recovery. Also, she is in a mild coma so she can't respond, but you are welcome to go in; please follow me." They all agreed that Oliver and Donna should be the first two to see her, and so they both followed the young nurse through the doors, and past the O.R. lobby area. She was in recovery room 223, Donna walked in first and Oliver right behind her, both overwhelmed with relief.
Felicity was dressed in a white and blue hospital gown, there was a tube in her throat still, to help her breath until they were sure her right lung was functioning correctly. She also had had IVs in her arms giving her back some of the blood she had lost, and some electrolyte supplements to keep her hydrated. Donna moved to the right side of the bed and sat down, laying her forehead next to her daughter's arm. Standing over her, Oliver realized that more than anything he wanted her to know that he was there next to her, and that he wasn't going to leave her, he was going to stay with her and make sure that she was okay. A hot tear rolled down his cheek, never had Oliver cried a more welcome tear in his life, Felicity was alive; and for now that was all that mattered.
oOo oOo
It had been sixteen hours, sixteen hours since Oliver held Felicity in His arms, as she bled out onto the pavement. He thought he was going to lose her, but she was alive in front of Him; broken but alive. They had moved her to a more suitable ward in the hospital, one where more people were permitted to see her, Oliver was thankful for the extra support. He was also thankful that she started to breath on her own again, it had only been a few hours since they removed her breathing tube, but he was happy to see it gone. He was sitting alone with her, running his thumb over the back of her hand, unable to take his eyes off of her aside from using the restroom and nodding off for a few minutes at a time. He was so tired, but he couldn't leave her, never again, leaving her was not an option.
"Hey," there was a light knock on the door frame, John stood there with his arms crossed, "you doing okay?" Oliver had been better, but knowing she was okay, knowing Felicity was still with him; that helped a lot with his current state.
"I am okay John," Oliver swallowed hard before continuing, "Damien attacked me, but he hurt her, and it kills me knowing that he is out there; and that he could try again. I can't protect her and find him at the same time," Oliver's face grew red with anger.
"Then don't," Oliver looked questioningly at his friend, "stay here with her Oliver, she needs you, and frankly you need her too." Oliver's eyes stayed glued on Diggle, until he finally nodded agreeing with him. "When you proposed last night, I couldn't think of a time when you two ever looked happier than in that moment. Being with her, that is your mission right now, Damien isn't going anywhere; you can be sure he will be waiting for you." Diggle was usually pretty good at talking Oliver down from making a reckless decision, maybe tonight would be a good night.
"We can't be sure that He won't try and finish the job, if he is set on taking her from me, nothing short of giving my life, will stop him." Oliver's statement rang throughout the room, and it caught both of them off guard. "Dig, if he comes here; I will have to offer him exactly what he wants." He cautiously met his friend's gaze.
"Oliver I know that you think sacrificing yourself is the only way you feel like you can protect her, but you know exactly what she would say to an idea like that." John realized his mistake too late as Oliver stood up and his face contorted, tense with anger.
"Diggle she can't say anything, because she is in a coma! Darhk put her in this hospital bed, but I am the one who should be in it, not her! If killing me will end this blood feud, then that's what has to happen, she deserves the world. I am a monster who is loved by an incredible woman, in spite of all I have done, all the darkness I have let in, she still loves me. That kind of woman, is the kind that I would gladly die for Dig, she is worth dying for." Diggle had no response for him, he simply walked over, placed his hand on Oliver's shoulder, and nodded.
oOo oOo
Damien Darhk was sipping on a glass of wine, taking in the beauty of his wife and daughter asleep on the couch across from him. He had received word that his ghosts let Oliver escape, but he had ordered a follow up, and one of his men found a great deal of blood not far from the attack. After a few hours a DNA test came back to reveal the victim was Felicity Smoak, Oliver's girlfrie ... fiancée. Darhk felt a sense of accomplishment upon hearing the news, it would fuel Oliver's rage against him, and Damien loved a good fight. A muffled chuckle rose from the back of his throat, he was in a primed position. His daughter stirred and gave a slight yawn before moving from her mother's shoulder to her lap. His phone buzzed, "yes, what is it?" A nervous voice sounded from the other line.
"Mr. Darhk we have been unable to determine whether Miss Smoak survived the attack or not." Damien got up from the love seat and walked into the dining room, not wanting to wake his girls.
"Okay, are you suggesting that I go and find out myself? Maybe I can take a cab, oh you know what a cool stroll sounds even better." The man on the other end of the line responded with a strained tone, and it was with good reason; Darhk was not the kind of man who accepted failure.
"No need to do that Sir, we will find her very soon, and let you know when we do." Damien laughed menacingly before hanging up. There weren't a lot of things in Star City as dangerous as Damien Darhk, he was confident his men would do their job; otherwise he would make sure they couldn't do anything else ever again. He walked back into the room where his family lay sleeping, he took in the scene, what a wonderful night it had been, a very wonderful night indeed.
oOo oOo
"Worth dying for," the words hung thick in Diggle's mind, he was not willing to sit back and let Oliver take on a mad man like Darhk on his own. Dig was racking his brain trying to think of a way to save his friends, but he just kept hearing Oliver's words replaying in his head. There was no way Darhk was going to let Felicity live, if he found out she was anything other than dead, then he would send more of his ghosts to make sure one less heart was beating in Star City. Sweat gathered on his forehead, there had to be another option.
"John," Laurel had gone home to get a little sleep, and she was back now to check on Felicity. "I wanted to ask how she's doing, and Oliver? I guess I would ask you how you're doing too." Diggle looked at her with sincere eyes, He needed her opinion, maybe she could think of some kind of idea, one that didn't involve Oliver serving himself up on a silver platter.
"She is still fighting, Oliver is a mess, and so am I," Diggle felt the need to be honest. "Oliver thinks that Damien will stop if he turns himself over, but I told him that was ridiculous. He believes it is the only way he can save Felicity at least that is what it sounds like. Laurel we have to come up with something to convince him his idea is ludicrous." She eyed him with a questioning gaze before replying.
"Okay, I honestly don't know what we could do otherwise, what I do know is that Oliver loves her, and dying to keep her safe is hardly a ludicrous plan in his mind." She didn't have any ideas, no fool proof plan that could insure everyone's safety, especially Felicity's. "John, maybe dying is the only answer in his mind." There was a silent pause before John's eyes shot up to meet hers, he smiled widely and grasped her shoulders with his giant hands.
"That's it!" Laurel's brow curved with confusion, she was sure that he had lost his bearings. "Dying is the answer, Felicity has to die." A fraction of a second went by before she realized what he was suggesting, they had to fake Felicity's death, and hide her from Darhk until they were able to beat him once and for all. "Do you think Oliver will agree to it?"
Laurel shrugged, "there is only one way to find out." They both turned and started on their way down the corridor toward Oliver and Felicity. Just then Donna jogged up to them in a haste, she had been staying in a nearby room, the hospital staff pulled out a vacant gurney for her to sleep in while she stayed. Her hair was a mess and she smelled like day old coffee, but she still had a smile on her face.
"Are you two going to see Felicity? I was just about to head there myself, I'll go with you." The thought of telling Donna of their plan never crossed their minds, but it would be horrible not to tell her, so they smiled and kept walking down the hall; Momma Smoak in toe.
Oliver was slightly startled by the influx of people who slowly entered the room, he was so used to sitting alone with Felicity, that the three friendly faces caught him off guard. "Hey, I was just about to get up and use the restroom, I am glad you guys came, I was trying to convince myself that I could hold it for a few more hours." They all looked at him and laughed.
"Go ahead and go man, we will look after her while you look after your bladder," John's statement filled the room with light chuckles as they made themselves comfortable. Donna glanced over at Diggle, who was looking down at his hands, trying not to seem suspicious.
She remained near the doorway and couldn't help but feel that there was something John and Laurel were keeping from her, so she was resolved to probe. "I know you two are hiding something," She looked over at Laurel whose eyes shifted from the floor back to her knees, "I have a mother's intuition." Laurel was almost shocked at the familiar phrase. "Tell me please, what is it you are thinking of trying?"
Diggle gave up, this was Felicity's mother she had a right to know. "When Oliver gets back we will explain everything, you have my word." Not a minute had passed as Oliver walked into the room, wiping his hands on his shirt, clearly he wanted to get back as soon as possible; he didn't want to waste time drying his hands. He looked around obviously sensing the awkward silence that was invading the room.
He slowly made his way toward the bed, "someone mind telling me what's going on, you are all acting a little strange." He looked at Dig, who was motioning for him to sit down at Felicity's side, then he proceeded to tell Oliver and Donna what plan Laurel and he had come up with.
"We have a pretty wild idea, but it could work if we do it right. Oliver, I know you think that you deserve the worst of what Darhk has for you, but that just isn't true. You giving your life for Felicity is noble, but it is pointless, a man like Damien isn't going to stop after he kills you." Oliver flashed a look of anger at Diggle, and then at Laurel, Donna sat with a confused look on her face, unaware of what Oliver had been planning.
"Listen," Oliver's voice was hard and uneven, "if there was another way I would take it, do you think I want to leave Felicity with the same pain I felt when I thought I had lost her? Give me a different option and I will take it, otherwise let me do what I believe I have to do." Laurel saw an opening and went for it.
"We have to fake Felicity's death, it will throw Damien off of her scent; we just have to find a safe place for her, until this war with Darhk blows over." The room filled with an intense silence, everyone was waiting for someone to break it. Then the most unlikely voice quietly sounded from the hospital bed.
"Oliver," Felicity's voice was barely audible, but it was definitely hers, Oliver's heart caught in his throat. Donna's hands flew to her mouth, and she ran to her daughter's bedside. "Oliver," He grabbed her hand then she met his gaze.
"I'm here, it's okay, and you're okay." He was so thrilled he thought his heart might burst, he let the tears flow from his eyes, and he gently kissed her hand. Dig ran from the room to find someone on staff and let them know what was happening. Laurel stood there, a look of shock on her face, she couldn't believe Felicity was awake. Diggle was quick in finding the lead surgeon who headed Felicity's rescue operation, and he practically drug the doctor back to Felicity's room.
"You're awake," Donna's voice was shaky and her whole body was trembling, "my baby." Felicity looked over at her mom and smiled, then she caught the gaze of someone standing in the doorway who looked like a surgeon.
"Miss Smoak," the doctor entered the room with Dig right behind him, "how are you feeling?" She glanced back at Oliver, and looked back at the man in the white coat.
"I'm sure my head is going to explode, my side is killing me, but I feel alive," She wasn't sure if that was the answer anyone was looking for, but it was an honest one. The doctor approached her bed and took her right hand in his, checking her pulse.
"You woke up quite a bit earlier than we expected, and your heart rate is right where it should be," the surgeon scanned the room full of people, "you are sure to make a full recovery, as long as you take it easy for a few weeks at the very least." Felicity nodded vacantly, still adjusting to her current physical state. "At the rate you're going you can be out of here in about a few days, with required bed rest of course," he turned slowly and left the room, nearly colliding with Thea, who had been walking the halls for a majority of the day.
"Felicity," she was elated to see her friend awake, "Oh, thank God you're awake!" Thea sped over to Donna's side and placed her hand on Felicity's knee. "We were all waiting for you to wake up, it felt like an eternity, I'm so glad you're okay!"
The room fell quite as Oliver gently embraced Felicity, "It really did" Oliver said in agreement with Thea's statement. He let go of her slowly, then he remembered that Laurel had just finished telling him and Donna about the plan, and it was a pretty crazy one. Whether or not they would actually try it was now entirely up to Felicity; and he knew it would take some convincing.
oOo oOo