Title: Welcome to the New Age Chapter 6

Author's Note: For disclaimer, see the prologue.

Author's Note 2: TRIGGER WARNING: death of a child.

Author's Note 3: I'm not a doctor, as you all know. So my medical knowledge stems from research and tv shows. I'm sorry if I got anything wrong.

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Chapter 6

Interior – House – Late Afternoon – Day 47

"You're going to be fine," Kathy says, wiping the sweat off Olivia's forehead with a cold washcloth. She checks the watch on Olivia's wrist and prays – not for the first time today – that Elliot and Alex get back quickly.

"You don't have to sit here and watch me die, Kath," Olivia says, sounding as though she actually is on her deathbed.

"You are not going to die."

"It's septic, isn't it? You can tell me."

Kathy pushes away the blankets and unwraps Olivia's leg to look at the wound. She recoils slightly upon seeing it. There's blood and pus, the smell is foul, and it generally looks infected. Kathy covers it back up and says, "You're going to be fine."

"Can I go to sleep?"

"No," Kathy says. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Alex and Elliot are going to be back soon."

"You keep saying that."

Thankfully, Kathy doesn't have to respond because at the moment the downstairs door bangs open and Elliot and Alex's voice float up the stairs, calling out for their respective partners.

"See?" Kathy says. "I told you they'd be back soon." Olivia manages a weak smile that looks more like a grimace.

Less than two minutes later, the bedroom door opens and in walk Elliot and Alex, both carrying full duffel bags. They drop the bags on the ground and Kathy looks like a kid in a candy shop. She quickly starts to sort through the supplies, setting aside the materials she will need right away.

"Alex," Kathy says, "put these things back in the bags." Kathy points to the sorted supplies on the ground around the bed. "And Elliot, go find me a piece of wood I can put Liv's leg on."

As Elliot and Alex scurry off to do as Kathy says, Kathy helps Olivia get into a sitting position.

"What about the back of my leg?" Olivia asks.

"Do you want to do that first?" Olivia nods. Kathy helps her roll over. "How are you feeling, Liv?"

"Fine," Olivia says, her voice muffled by her pillow. "How much is this going to hurt?"

"I don't know," Kathy says. "Are you ready?" She looks at Alex. "You might want to hold her hand."

Alex nods and sits at the top of the bed. "You're going to be okay," she says, kissing Olivia's head.

"Ready?" Kathy asks.

"Ready," Olivia says.

Kathy opens the tube of lidocaine gel and uses a piece of gauze to apply some generously to the wound. Olivia hisses at the unexpected amount of cold gel on her leg, but sighs happily when she doesn't feel any pain.

"How are you feeling?" Kathy asks.

"Fine," Olivia says. "Cold."

"I know," Kathy says. "But here comes the fun part. I have to clean the wound."

"Is it going to hurt?"

"Yes. Ready?"

Olivia sighs. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Using one of the antiseptic wipes, Kathy cleans the wound in Olivia's leg. Olivia bites her tongue to keep from crying out and grips Alex's hand tightly. Once she is done cleaning the wound, Kathy applies a small amount of rubbing alcohol to a piece of gauze and presses it to the wound. The pain is so intense that Olivia can't do anything but press her head into the pillow and squeeze Alex's hand.

"I know, baby. I know," Alex says, smoothing down Olivia's hair.

"I am going to kill your husband, Kathy," Olivia says through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't blame you," Kathy says, laughing. "Ready to be bandaged up?" Olivia nods and Kathy spreads some antibiotic ointment on the wound. She covers it with gauze and tapes the gauze down. "Ready to do the other side now?"

Olivia groans and pushes her body up using her forearms. Alex and Kathy help her roll on to her back. "Do you still need the wood?" Olivia asks, taking Alex's hand.

Kathy shakes her head. "Not if you hold still."

"I can't promise that I will," Olivia says.

"I can hold her down if you need me to," Alex offers.

Kathy looks at her doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"She's sure," Olivia says. "She used to wrestle me down to get the remote out of my hands."

Kathy chuckles. "Okay. I'll ask you if I need you." She uncovers the wound and notices necrotic tissue. "Damn it," she says under hear breath.

"What? What's wrong?" Alex asks, instantly alarmed.

"The tissue's dying," Kathy says, covering the wound in lidocaine gel. "I'm going to have to remove it."

"What?" Olivia yells, sitting up. "No. No, let it be."

"It's dying, Liv," Kathy says. "It's going to make the infection worse."

"How much is there?" Alex asks.

Kathy uses the penlight to look inside the wound as best she can. "It doesn't look like much. I should be done in about ten minutes."

"Have you ever done it before?" Alex asks.

"No," Kathy says. "Usually a surgeon does it. But I've seen it done a thousand times."

"Do it," Olivia says. "Just do it."

"Okay," Kathy says, picking up a scalpel. "Are you sure?" Olivia nods and clutches Alex's hand. Kathy starts the procedure, taking as little tissue at a time as possible.

The process feels like it takes forever and Alex has to keep constant pressure on Olivia's shoulder to keep her lying down. Olivia whimpers slightly throughout the procedure and Alex presses her lips to Olivia's temple to keep her calm.

Finally, Kathy sets down the scalpel and looks up. "All set," she says.

Alex lets out a breath in a long sigh and Olivia relaxes against her. "Thank you," Alex says, brushing Olivia's hair out of her face.

"Is she still sweating?" Kathy asks.

Alex nods. "Badly."

"I have to get her hooked up to antibiotics." Kathy bandages up the wound exactly like the other side and grabs an IV packet and a bag of intravenous antibiotics. She hangs the antibiotics on the bedpost and opens the IV packet. Tying a tourniquet around the upper part of Olivia's arm, Kathy quickly finds a good vein and inserts the needle. She attaches the tube from the needle to the bag of antibiotics.

"Done?" Olivia asks.

Kathy smiles. "Done."

"How are you feeling?" Alex asks.

"Okay," Olivia says. "Tired. Can I sleep now?"

Kathy nods. "We'll check on you in a little bit."

"Okay," Olivia says, closing her eyes. "Thank you, Kathy. Love you, Alex."

"I love you too, Liv. Sleep well," Alex says. She follows Kathy to the kitchen and practically falls into a chair. "God, it's been a long day."

"Amen to that," Kathy says with a nod, sitting in the chair across the table from Alex.

"Will she be okay?"

Kathy nods. "The antibiotics will kick in by tomorrow night."

"Good," Alex says. "Good." She turns her attention toward staring out the window, watching as the wind blows leaves off the trees. "How are you holding up?" she asks after a while.

"Fine," Kathy says unconvincingly.

"Tell me," Alex says, reaching across the table and placing her hand on Kathy's.

Kathy sighs. "I was so afraid, Alex. I thought I was going to slip and kill her."

"But you didn't."

"Thank God."

"I had faith in you, Kathy."

"Thanks, Alex."

"Where'd Elliot go?"

"He still feels guilty about shooting Liv, so he's hiding outside somewhere."

"She's forgiven him."

"He knows. Unfortunately, he won't be okay until she's okay."

Alex nods. "That makes sense."

Kathy stands up and rummages through the cabinets. Finding a couple cans of soup, she turns to Alex and asks, "Are you hungry?"

"Always." Alex laughs. "How low on food are we?"

"If we only eat three basic meals a day, we have enough food for a month."

"That's good."

"Can you go get Elliot? Just go to the back door and yell his name."

Alex nods. "Sure." She walks to the back door and opens it. "Elliot," she yells. "Time to come in."

He emerges from the woods a minute later, his clothes covered in sticks and dirt. "Food?" he asks.

Alex nods. "You're a mess," she says. "What were you doing?"

"The same thing you do every morning."

"You know about that?"

"I heard you telling Liv about it the first day."

Kathy emerges from the kitchen. "Dinner," she says, tilting her head toward the table. "I already brought some up to Olivia."

"How is she?" Alex and Elliot ask at the same time.

"Hungry," Kathy says.

Alex sighs. "That's a good sign, right? She hasn't been hungry for a couple days."

"It's a good sign, Alex. It's a very good sign."

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Interior – House – Night – Day 47

"I heard about what happened at the hospital," Olivia says as Alex climbs into bed.

Alex rolls her eyes. "Elliot told you?"

"Yeah. Feel like talking about it?"

"Not really."

"I know it hits close to home for you, Al."

"Liv, please," Alex pleads.

"Okay," Olivia says. "Okay. I'm here if you need to talk."

"I know, Liv. I love you."

"I love you too."

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Exterior – Playground, Boston, Massachusetts – Afternoon – May 1985

Ten–year–old Alex and her eleven–year–old brother Henry are playing hide and seek at the playground in front of their school. Alex is hiding under the slide where henry can't see her, but she can see him.

Ten minutes into their game, a black car pulls up to the sidewalk and a man gets out. He walks over to the fence where Henry is standing and says something, but Alex can't hear him. Suddenly the man pulls out a gun. Henry tries to back away, but the man is holding him by the front of his shirt.

"Alex, run," Henry yells, but Alex is paralyzed by fear; she doesn't want to watch, but she can't look away.

The man puts the gun to Henry's head and pulls the trigger. Henry's lifeless body crumples to the ground. "Maybe now your father will get the message," he says. Stashing the gun in his coat, he gets back into the car and drives away.

Alex crawls out of her hiding spot and rushes over to her brother. "You have to get up, Henry," she says, tears running down her cheeks. "You have to get up. Mom and Dad are gonna be mad if we're late."

Their parents find them an hour later. Alex is still holding Henry's hand and begging him to wake up.

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Interior – House – Night – Day 47

"Alex," Olivia says. "Alex, wake up."

Alex wakes up and immediately sits up. "What? What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You were having a nightmare."

Alex lays back down, facing away from Olivia so the detective can't see the tears rolling down her face. "I'm fine."

"It was about your brother, wasn't it?"

"I said I'm fine, Liv," Alex snaps.

"If you need to talk, I'm here," Olivia says. When she doesn't get a response, she moves so she can kiss Alex's temple. "I love you, Alex. I know the pain won't go away, but it'll get better."

Alex wipes furiously at her eyes. "I love you too, Liv," she says, her voice breaking slightly.