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He awoke to her non-stop chattering with her grandmother and the smitten nurse in the room. He had thought of her the entire time. Had they gotten to the families? Had they gotten to his family?
He had learned through a visit from Bill Tanner and Eve Moneypenny that a lot of men and women had been lost and several were scattered around the London hospitals. The parliament was in a frenzy and even the townsfolk walked around even more protective of themselves-people were constantly looking behind their shoulders. People were vulnerable and the intelligence was one of their defense mechanisms. With that having failed, several times, chaos erupted and panic increased throughout Britain. And he wanted nothing to do with it... Which came as a great surprise.
The fear of losing his family the past week with the attacks had been so overwhelming, that he did not even consider returning to the field. No, he would stay in London and take M's offer of being a field consultant. He would advise and help train the new agents.
"Daddy, the nurse said you'll be returning home with us today." he heard her say with pure merriment in her voice, as she expertly climbed up the tall hospital bed and lay next to him. "We can see a movie tonight, I'll be nice and let you choose."
"Thank you, love." he kissed her on the temple and smiled. "I'm sorry you had to come see me at the hospital."
"It's not so bad here. The doctor gave me a balloon made out of a glove and the nurse gave me a jello. Are you still going to Thailand?" Bond shook his hand.
"Not until we can go there together for the holidays. Would you enjoy that?" Olivia nodded with a big smile.
"Mr. Bond and Olivia, it's time to go home! Vamos p'ra casa!" Maria said with excitement in her voice.
Later that evening Olivia was tucked into bed after having fallen asleep watching Bond's chosen film and he sat alone in the living room with his mother-in-law.
"I'm very happy you are not dead, James. But I think we really need to find her a therapist or something. Little girls shouldn't need to go through all of this loss and pain and trauma. You understand?" Bond nodded and Maria took his hand, caressing it lovingly. "I lost my daughter Ana, but in return God gave me you and I am glad. I love you as if you were my son and I was very afraid of losing you."
"Thank you Maria, I truly appreciate it. All of your help and support with Olivia. You did all of the work. Thank you for always being here and giving me chance after chance." She smiled and eyed him with those big, sparkling brown eyes.
"Every little thing is gonna be all right..." Maria sang, her voice full of humor. "Wasn't that what the one with the big hair said? It's true!" She laughed.
"Bob Marley?" She nodded with a smile and just like that the song was stuck in his head for the rest of the week.