Olly grumbled to herself as she walked down the narrow streets. Her boots clamped satisfyingly against the pavement, and she imagined that it was the stranger's face that she was stepping on. She replayed the conversation that they had. He had seemed so detached, bitter, and he had aimed it all at her. She had saved his life! She had patched his wounds, stitched him, cleaned him , and when she had watched him with his eyes open she had sworn there was a story worth hearing there. For one moment she felt that he would change her life, but as soon as he opened his mouth...
"Olly, get it together," she whispered softly to herself.
She stopped walking and leaned up against a store front. Her hands snuggled deeper into her pockets, and she closed her eyes. She let herself travel to the first time she had seen a person die. She hadn't been the doctor operating, but it hadn't mattered. She had been a rising med student. She remembered his smile, his carefree attitude. Her parents had hated him, but she had fallen for him completely.
Memories did Olly no favors. They were glimpses of futures that had ended badly, they were all failures. She felt that she had cooled down enough, and that she could stomach the stranger and his bullshit a little while longer. The miracle was gone and she had accepted it with some inkling of dignity. She would go back to the Underground and he would not get the best of her.
. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..
"Hey you're back!"
"Well, yeah, kinda live here Dee," Olly smirked as she took off her jacket.
Sadie ran her fingers through her hair sheepishly. Olly quirked an eyebrow. Her return wasn't that big of a deal.
"What're you up to?"
"Well...umm...Luke, he and I were talking and well...!"
Olly snorted and bit her lip. She could just imagine the two of them trying to dance around their affections. Sadie was bold but somewhat withdrawn about her personal feelings, and though Luke was no doubt one of the largest most able-bodied man she'd ever seen, he had a very soft heart and was often reserved about his thoughts. She knew that she had to have been walking for hours because there was no way that the conversation between the two had been short.
"You two don't have to tell me anything, just get outta here," Olly said warmly as she patted Sadie's shoulder.
"Anyone ever tell you you're the best?"
"Yeah, but I could stand to hear it a few more times after today."
"Aww don't let Spike getcha down!"
"Spike?"
"Yeah you know, wannabe badass in the infirmary?"
"Oh, him. Whatever. You two go have fun and I'll watch the ingrate."
Sadie shrugged and headed off to her room, her black hair bouncing as she practically skipped there. Olly smiled to herself as she remembered how young Luke and Sadie had been. She had never asked where they had come from before their arrival, never once wondered what brought the three of them together. She always figured that if they ever needed to tell her they would and for now she'd take them as they were. She put her coat away in her closet and headed off to the infirmary. If she was lucky her patient would be unconscious.
. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .
No such luck.
"Back again? Thought you skipped town," the green haired stranger said smugly.
"Yeah, well you can't get rid of me that easy. How are you feeling?"
"I've felt better."
"I'm sure dumbass. What I mean is do you need any more pain killers, are you hungry, that sort of thing,"
"Think you can...fetch me something to eat?"
Olly found her buried anger clawing to the surface once more, but she closed her eyes and quashed it. She was not going to give into the stranger's taunts, even they were biting and somewhat numerous.
"Look, trying to be nice here, cut me a break."
She looked at him and noticed his eyes had lost some of the sharpness from earlier. When his gaze fell on her she still felt like a bug under glass, but the malice had disappated to a mild irritation. She looked at the eye that was fake, which also remained fixed on her. Again the urge to ask rose in her, but she didn't want him leaping down her throat again so she settled for a different question.
"Whaddya want to eat?"
"Anything with meat would be nice. You've got that dontcha?"
"Yeah, sure." She pushed back a stray lock of white hair that had fallen into her eyes. She knew that he watched her every move with those piercing eyes and she wanted to ask what he found so fascinating about her. She could feel red surfacing to her cheeks, and before she could make a complete fool of herself she turned towards the door.
"Wait. Your names Olly right, short for Olivia?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"S'nothin'. Just my, ah, curiosity getting the best of me."
She nodded and left the room to see what she could cook up.
. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .
The living room and kitchen were pretty quiet and Olly was certain that Luke and Sadie had already gone out. Good. They both needed to say what they were going to say so they could get their act together. She ruffled through cabinets and drawers tossing ingredients onto the countertop. She opened the fridge and pulled out more food and edged it onto the counter. She figured she could extend the olive branch through food, there was an old earth saying about men and food, but she couldn't remember what it was. She steamed and cleaned her vegetables and set to cutting the meat into nice little cubes. She hoped that he liked the food that she was about to make, she always put effort into her cooking.
As she cooked she began to hum softly. It was a song that he had taught her. It was a simple lilting tune that he used to sing to her when they were alone. She'd curl up at his side and he would drape one arm over her. As he held her he would sing to her and it would make her relaxed all over. His voice had been a lovely sounding thing and she had wondered why he hadn't gone professional when he had the chance. When she asked him he said that he would only ever sing for the people he loved, there simply wasn't a better audience.
The meat looked to be about cooked and so Olly added the vegetables, tomatoes, celery, eggplant, corn, all of it bubbled into a thick stew. She added cinnamon and small amount of sugar for sweetness. The smell that hit her nostrils made her close her eyes and smile. He would certainly love this. After a few more minutes she poured the warm soup into a bowl, and headed back into the infirmary. The stranger, Spike, was still lying down, but as always his eyes were fixed on some other place that Olly couldn't see. She wondered if he was thinking over the past few days or what landed him in her hospital in the first place. It was a grisly wound that lined up his chest and it would have given her something to think about.
"I'm back."
"With food too, which is an improvement," he turned to her with a small smirk, he was only joking with her.
"Whatever," she rested the bowl on the side table beside the cot, and then moved to help him up. As she helped him he could feel her eyes on her again, and she shivered. When he looked at her this close it was quite unnerving.
"How come your hair's so white?"
"I almost died when I was a baby. Really high fever, trouble breathing, the works. It turned my hair white, I guess the heat did the pigment in."
"Hmmm."
She almost yelped when she felt fingers glide through her hair. She remembered that he used to do that. She shrugged away from Spike's touch and adjusted the pillows. He sighed comfortably and snuggled backwards. She picked up the soup and rested it in his lap.
"It's a bit hot, so blow on it first."
"Yeah, yeah. What is this?"
"Beef stew, my own personal recipe."
"Smells good," Spike muttered indifferently as he lifted a spoonful to his lips. He winced a bit and she imagined that moving his arm was pulling on his wound. She let him take a bite and then pulled bowl and spoon away from him.
"That is good. Now what the hell'd you take it away for?"
"You see that big gash going up your chest? It'll tear open if you keep pulling on it."
"You're not feeding me, now gimme back the damn soup!"
"No," Olly snapped as she leaned away from his reaching arm," you'll open up that wound."
"Fine keep it."
"Stubborn man!"
"Silly woman," he snarled back.
"You know what if you want to bleed to death, take the damn bowl." Olly shoved the bowl roughly back into his hands and stormed out of the room. She prided herself on the fact that she didn't strangle her patient, but she was still a little angry that she had let the argument get that far. She would head back in if he started screaming bloody murder.
