Previous Disclaimers Apply
Chapter 4
Another day went by with the same routine. Olivia was finishing her breakfast when she saw Ava in the window. She stepped out to speak to her.
"Hey, good morning." Olivia said to her eldest daughter.
"Morning, Mom."
"How's Emma?"
"She's doing better. I think she is starting to understand that this isn't her fault. From what I have seen, Phillip has been really good with her. She does miss you terribly though."
"Phillip is supposed to bring her by around lunchtime today."
"How's Natalia? Any change?"
"A little. The swelling is down a bit more."
"That's good. Oh Greg sent this for you, in case you decided to do any work."
"OK, thanks."
"Alright well, I'm going to head out. I am supposed to meet up with Dad and Reva. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my baby brother."
"OK, sweetheart. I'll talk to you later."
Olivia watched Ava walk back down the hall to the elevators before reentering Natalia's room. She went back to her routine, reading the daily news to Natalia.
Outside the Hospital
As Ava exited Cedars, she slipped her sunglasses on; that is when she saw him sitting on the wall across the street, Rafe. She figured now was as good a time as any to pitch her support for the mom's relationship and see just where his head is.
"Rafe, morning."
"Hey, Ava. Did you just come from my mom's?"
"I did. My mom said that the swelling is down a bit more today. That's good, Rafe. Maybe just a couple of more days…"
"Yeah, every little bit helps."
She sat down beside him on the wall. They stayed quiet for a while. She figured that he would probably bring up their mom's if for no other reason than to bad mouth Olivia.
"Ava, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you know about my mom and your mom?"
"Do I know about them? You mean that they are in love with each other? Yeah, I know."
He wasn't mad, at least not yet. She thought he might react to her "they are in love" comment, but he didn't.
"What do you think about that? Aren't freaked out, upset that they lied about it?"
"Rafe you and I are looking at this from two totally different view points. I was not raised by my mom, you were. I don't care how Olivia lives her life, honestly. If she lives happy and healthy, I could care less just as long as she is in my life. You, however, you have 19 years with your mom. She raised you by her beliefs which naturally became your beliefs. My adoptive parents were Christians, but not devout. The Catholic faith has a strong stance on same sex relationships, so I know this is hard for you. My mom came to visit me a few weeks back. She never said anything then about her and your mom; but Rafe, she was happy, happy than I have ever seen her before. I asked her about what had her in such a great place and she said she wanted to tell me, but it would be best to wait a little while. I didn't push it, I was thankful to see her so happy. That is all that I really care about, is that she is happy. To now know that it is your mom that puts the smile on my mom's face, well, I'm just waiting for her to wake up so I can thank her. I think what has surprised me the most about this, is that it is your mom, Natalia Rivera, who captured my mom's heart and tamed Olivia Freakin' Spencer."
Rafe actually let out a quiet chuckle as Ava's last statement.
"I don't feel that they lied to me, they just weren't ready to tell me yet. So I take it you are having a hard time with this?" She added.
"Yeah, I mean the church says it is wrong. How can my mom say she believes in God and his teachings and then sleep with a woman? What does that say about how she supposedly loved Gus?"
"Have you ever been in love Rafe?"
"Yeah, once."
"Wouldn't you have done anything to be with that person, because they made you happy?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"We can't help who we fall in love with."
"I know."
"Rafe, do you believe in fate; that things happen for a reason?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Do you think that it may have been God's plan all along that your mom and my mom found each other? That her reason for coming to Springfield was to ultimately find my mom, even though she did not know it."
"I don't know, no."
"Think about it Rafe. I think our moms were meant to be together, I really do. I hope that you can come to terms with this and see that my mom is the only person that can make your mom happy. And let them live their lives together."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Rafe's cell phone beeping interrupted the stillness.
"OK, I need to head inside and visit with Ma before I go to work."
He stood up and extended his hand to Ava. She stood and instead brought him into a hug. Rafe didn't realize just how much he needed the comfort of someone's arms around him. He let Ava be the one to break away.
"Think about what I said, Rafe."
"Yeah, thanks for talking with me. Bye."
"Bye."
When Rafe reached the ICU, he saw through the window that Olivia was at his mother's side, holding her hand. He couldn't tell if she was talking or not. He took in a deep breath and slowly opened the door and heard Olivia speaking to his Ma.
"She has Phillip taking her out to the farm each morning. She says that since you aren't there, that the ducks are not being fed. So you don't have to worry about the ducks. Emma is taking care of them."
"Well, then they are going to be fat little ducks when she gets well and home." Rafe says.
Startling Olivia, who turns around quickly to see him.
"Oh, hey. You gave me quite a start." Said Olivia.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to."
"So you've been feeding the ducks too and Emma. They will definitely have to be put on a diet." Olivia says sarcastically.
Rafe had to force himself to not smile at Olivia's joke. Even though he had on the mask, he still felt like not giving Olivia the satisfaction of a smile from him.
"Olivia, do you think I could have some time alone with Ma today?"
"Sure, hon. I wanted to talk to Rick anyway." She wished she had stopped herself from saying "hon". It was just so natural, something anyone would say. She left the room to find Rick.
"Hey Ma. Things are going OK. Work is fine. Things are fine at the house. Though it seems we are going to have some fat ducks soon. Ma, I need you. I need you to come back, I have to talk to you about this, you and Olivia. I can see now that she loves you; but I need help to understand you. How can you love a woman? The church says it is wrong. How can you go back on that? I need you to help me understand. Please Ma."
He was sitting there in silence praying to God to bring his mother back to him whole they was she was before the accident. Olivia returned with Rick.
"Rafe, can you step outside for a moment, I want to talk to you and Olivia." Rick said.
"Has there been any change?" Rafe asked.
"Things have been progressing as we hoped. The swelling has gone down enough that we have scheduled surgery for tonight to close the skull. We will leave her in the coma until sometime tomorrow. During which time we will run several tests that measure brain function and activity. This will show us if there is any major damage. There can still be some minor damage, that won't show up on these tests. She could have amnesia, motor skill issues, speech impairment or a personality shift. That type of damage won't show up until we bring her out of the coma. I just want you to be prepared; the Natalia that wakes up tomorrow might not be the Natalia that we know."
"Anything else, Rick?" Olivia asks.
"Not unless you have any questions."
They both shake there heads no. Rick turns and heads down the hall. They return to Natalia's room. Rafe sits by his mother and says his good bye for the day.
"Olivia, I don't know if I can get off early tonight. Don't get mad if I am calling you every 15 minutes."
"That's fine Rafe, it won't be a problem."
With that he turned and exited the room. Olivia took her seat next to Natalia.
"Well, Princess, looks like there are putting humpty dumpty back together tonight. And maybe just maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to look into those big beautiful brown eyes of yours and tell you just how much I love you."
Olivia spent the next few hours telling Natalia about all the plans she had made (in her head). She spoke of them getting married, where they would honeymoon, that she wanted to give her 50% of the Beacon, how they would push up their franchise plans and begin to compete with the big boys. She spoke of their family being reunited, them growing old and watching there grandchildren feed the ducks.
Then Rick came by, they would be taking Natalia to the OR soon. He said she could stay in Natalia's room that the procedure shouldn't take very long. She called Rafe and told him that they had started the surgery. Not long after she hung up the phone, she actually drifted off to sleep. She was jolted awake when her phone rang, it was Rafe. He did call just about every 15 minutes. Luckily, Natalia was brought back in just a little over an hour. Rick said the surgery went fine, no complications.
While Rick was updating her, she noticed the nurses removing the bubble for the sterile environment. Rick said that still it would only be her and Rafe that could visit, but that the masks, gloves and scrubs were no longer needed. She pulled the mask off first, then the gloves and lastly the sterile gown. As soon as she was settled and everyone left, except for Rick, she went straight to Natalia's side.
She hesitantly reached for her hand. This would be the first time in weeks that she has been able to actually touch and feel Natalia's skin. She laid her hand on Natalia's and held it there for a moment. It felt so warm and full of life. She slipped her hand to the under side of Natalia's and wrapped Natalia's fingers over her thumb and lifted her hand to her lips. Feeling her lips against the back of Natalia's hand, even in a coma, it gave Olivia such a feeling of hope, warmth and love. This was the best she had felt since this whole ordeal began. Rick quietly stepped out of the room.
She didn't want to let go of Natalia's hand. The connection was overwhelming even though Natalia was in a coma. Olivia broke the contact long enough to maneuver the recliner next to Natalia's bed. She quickly changed into her PJs and got ready for bed. She crawled into the recliner, got comfortable. She put an extra pillow over the gap between the bed and the recliner and gently took Natalia's hand in hers and intertwined their fingers. She said a prayer just as she had done every night; closed her eyes and fell right to sleep.
No one dared ask her to move. She held Natalia's held all night long.
TBC
