Turn to Me

By Wonko

Part 4

It was surely a well known fact that ice cream cured all ills. Adjusting for scoop flavour, sauce type and sprinkle density let the ice cream gourmet practice a special brand of alchemy that could create a bowl of frozen perfection capable of manufacturing happiness from even the most desperate of situations. At least that was the equation that Buzz Cooper had always lived by. Although, he reflected ruefully as he regarded the sad and quiet little girl he'd been left with, his magic formula seemed to be in need of adjustment.

Emma sat hunched over in the booth at Company, absently swirling one of Buzz's trademark chocolate sundaes with a long spoon. She hadn't spoken since leaving the hospital except to ask for her mom and Natalia alternately until her voice seemed to dry up. The silence was worse than the tears. He'd tried to get her to talk several times, without any success.

"Hey," Buzz tried once again, sliding into the booth opposite her. "If you don't want ice cream I can whip up something else? A burger? Pancakes? Chilli?" After ice cream, chilli was his big trump card. But Emma just shook her head. Buzz sighed. "You know, Emma...I've known your mom for a long time," he began again. "So I can be pretty sure about this - she'll be OK." Emma just carried on playing with her rapidly melting ice cream.

"Okay," Buzz said, putting his hand on her arm. "Just think about this. Your mom's been real sick before, right? When she needed a new heart?"

Emma nodded. "She got a new one," she said in a colourless voice.

Buzz was just glad to hear her speak at all. "Yeah, that's right," he said. "And you know, if she can fight through that and get better I just know she can do it again."

Emma didn't look at him. "She hurt her head," she said softly.

A grimace. "I know sweetie."

Emma looked up at him. "She can't get a new head," she said solemnly.

Buzz was saved from having to respond to that by the tinkle of the bell above the door. "Buzz? Emma?" All things considered Buzz felt he'd never been happier to hear Natalia's voice. It was obvious that Emma felt the same as she slipped out of the booth and ran towards the voice. Buzz heard the muffled 'oomph' as Emma leapt into Natalia's arms before he turned to look at them. Natalia was holding Emma tightly against her chest as the little girl wrapped her legs round her middle and her arms round her neck.

"Hey, baby," Natalia said. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Emma replied.

Natalia pulled her head back to look into Emma's face. "Look at you! Your nose is all red!"

Emma shrugged. "I scraped it on the road," she said and suddenly her face crumpled.

"Oh no, sweetie, please don't cry," Natalia begged as she walked them over to the booth and sat, arranging Emma in her lap.

"I...want...my...mommy," Emma gasped between sobs, clinging to Natalia like she'd never let go.

Natalia closed her eyes, bumping her forehead against Emma's. "Me too, baby."

"She's gonna die," Emma wailed, her tiny fists digging into Natalia's arms painfully.

Natalia shook her head. "Now you listen to me," she said, using the tone normally reserved for when Emma needed to do her homework but wanted to watch cartoons. "You, me, Rafe and your mom? We're a family. And I'm not gonna let anything happen to any of us. You hear me? Your mom's not going anywhere. I promise."

Natalia flashed Buzz a grateful glance as he set a mug of incredibly strong coffee in front of her. Emma had finally cried herself out and now lay in the booth beside her. Natalia could now see that it wasn't just her nose that was scraped - her left cheekbone and chin were also raw and red. Her heart ached and she longed to just pass her hand across the girl's face and magically fix everything. And once she'd performed a miracle at Company she could return to the hospital, tell Olivia to take up her bed and walk and everyone would live happily ever after. Possibly there would be puppies, rainbows and lollipops involved.

She shook herself before the hysterical laughter she could feel building inside managed to burst out. The carousel of emotions she'd been swept up in over the last day was obviously driving her crazy. Was it really only that morning that Rafe had returned so unexpectedly from prison? It was hard to believe that a human soul could feel such joy and then such despair in so short a time without breaking.

"Thanks Buzz," she said at last, gesturing towards the coffee and the girl, hoping he understood how grateful she was for everything he'd done.

"No problem," he replied, sounding almost as tired as she looked. She'd caught a glimpse of herself in the glass of the door - her hair was tangled, her skin drawn and pale, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy from too much crying. And the worst of this night wasn't over yet, she knew that.

"I need to go to The Beacon," she sighed, resting her weary head on her hand.

"Stay awhile," Buzz said kindly. "You need to take care of yourself for a few minutes." He leaned forward to brush her hair back from her eyes, but she moved to escape his touch.

"Don't be nice to me, please," she said, forcing a fake smile onto her face. "If you're nice to me I'm not quite sure what'll happen, but I need to stay together. For her." Her lip trembled.

Buzz looked down at his own cup. "Well," he said at last. "I just meant that, you know, you look awful. You really need to go and put some fresh makeup on before you face the world. Don't wanna give people nightmares."

Natalia felt a rush of affection flood through her and found that she was nearly crying anyway. "Yeah, 'cause you're an oil painting yourself, right?" she replied, her voice trembling.

Buzz flexed his muscles and grunted. "I'm an Adonis!"

She let out a bark of laughter, her hand over her mouth. He looked wounded. "I could take exception to that," he said, injecting a little whine into his tone.

"Natalia?" Emma's sleepy voice interrupted.

Natalia's full attention was on her immediately. "I'm sorry baby," she said gently, smoothing Emma's hair back. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Can we see mommy now?"

Natalia's eyes burned. "Soon honey," she replied. "We just need to drop by the hotel first, okay? Mommy left some important things in the safe there and we need to pick them up for her. All right?"

Emma nodded sleepily, rubbing bleary eyes. "And then we can see her?" she asked.

Natalia nodded. "After we get the things she needs," she said, silently apologizing for not telling the girl the whole truth. She had no intention of allowing Emma to see Olivia in her current state. In fact, if she could hold her off until Olivia was awake she'd consider her temporary guardianship a tremendous success.

Quickly Natalia drained her coffee, wrapped Emma up in her coat and gathered her into her arms. "Thanks again for everything Buzz," she said as she paused at the door.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said. "Anything else you need...anything," he squeezed her shoulder, "we're here for you. The whole Cooper clan."

Natalia replied with a tight nod, a smile and a predictable stab of guilt as she headed towards her car. What was waiting for her there made her stop in her tracks.

Philip was leaning casually against the driver's side door.