The smell of antiseptic spray and vomit collided in a suffocating way as Olivia opened her eyes to the bright lights. It was an awful smell but it sure beat the hell out of burnt flesh and alcohol. She turned her head to the right, regretting the movement as her ribs began screaming at her. She winced. "I don't need a rape kit," she said in a raspy tone coated with tears, "I wasn't raped."
Brian willed his tears to stop. He hadn't been able to stop crying since he had arrived at the hospital. He should have been there to save Olivia and he hadn't been. Now look at her.
"You have a broken arm," Brian informed her as he stood out of the plastic green chair and walked closer to her bedside, "they reset it for you. You have to wear the sling for four weeks."
"I know," Olivia said in a near whisper as she turned her head toward the window. Rain drops targeted the glass making drumming sounds before they raced down toward the bottom and plummeted to their death. "I wasn't asleep. I heard everything."
"So you know that everyone is in the waiting room and-"
"Fifty-minutes..."
"What?" Brian was befuddled. He was sure the pain killers were working at this point because he had no clue what Olivia was talking about.
"I was s-so scared," she began as tears slowly glided down her pale cheeks, "I started counting. I called Nick and told him where I was and I was sitting by the door... waiting... and counting."
Brian just stared at her as she kept her gaze out of the window and went on telling her story.
"I thought he was going to wake up so... so I kept the bar in my hands. I watched... and I counted..."
Olivia took a deep breath and with her good hand she wiped away her tears. "When I got to ten I threw up," she admitted as a strike of lightening lit up the Manhattan sky. "My nerves were... frazzled, I guess." Her voice was nearly a whisper but Brian stood there and listened to everything she had to say. He owed it to her.
"When I got to twenty-two he moved his leg... I thought," her voice cracked and rose an octave as the tears caught in her throat. More tears fell now and she didn't bother with wiping them away. "I thought he was going to get up... I got up and I hit him again. I hit him over and over and over," she spoke through gritted teeth as she recalled the terrible details that were stuck on replay in her mind.
"At thirty minutes Nick came into the house. He helped me up and he gave me his jacket. We went outside... I was alive. I was alive and help had finally showed up," she shifted her head back to Brian now and frowned when she saw that he too had tears running down his face. She reached her arm out and squeezed his hand as if it were her lifeline. "After Fin said that he wasn't dead... I looked around at all of the press outside. There were people everywhere and all they were worried about was taking my picture. They didn't care that I was t-tortured for four days... At thirty-five minutes I had my first flashback."
Brian shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but Olivia didn't give him the chance. "He forced alcohol down my throat," she was nearing sobs now and Brian wished he could wrap his arms around her and never let go but, he couldn't. "All I could think about was my mom." Her body was shaking now. "The smell... God, I can't stand that smell... I tried, Bri," she said looking into his eyes for the first time in four days, "I tried to get away but, I couldn't. I tried... I tried. I tried."
"I know, Liv," Brian whispered as he got down onto his knees so his face could be level with hers. "It's okay," he assured her, he knew it was a lie, "it's over. You're alive and that's what matters. You survived." He continued to hold her hand as her body wracked with sobs. Several minutes passed before Olivia was able to speak again.
"At fifty-four minutes," she began, "I opened my eyes and I saw you standing there. You were crying." She sniffed and gratefully let Brian wipe away her tears. "That's when I knew that it was over and that I was safe."
Brian tried his best to smile through his tears. He wanted so badly to pull her in for a hug but he knew she wasn't up for that right now.
"I'm so sorry," Brian said as he hid his face in his hands, "I am so, so sorry."
Olivia reached up to his chin and lifted it up so she was looking him in the eyes, "We all are..."