Chapter Twelve – Here for You

"Hey, Liv."

Olivia pushed herself up from the hospital bed and stared at Melinda. What was she doing here?

The look on Olivia's face said it all, and Melinda answered the look before Olivia could even ask.

"A case came up, so Rollins called me. If someone at the morgue is needed my assistant will cover it so I can stay with you."

"Melinda, I've taken enough people away from their jobs."

"You're giving me a good reason to not go look at a dead body in the middle of the night. Don't worry about it."

Olivia called Parsons as she'd been ordered. When he arrived and began giving Melinda instructions Olivia seriously wished she'd just walked out AMA. Melinda knew what she was doing, and Olivia wouldn't be able to get anything past her. By the time she was placed in a wheelchair and pushed to the hospital entrance she was furious.

Melinda let Olivia brood in silence for the first half of the ride before she addressed her friend.

"What do you think you could keep down for dinner?"

"I'm not hungry," Olivia replied in a tone just one step before a snap.

"Having something in your stomach will probably ease the side effects you're feeling."

Olivia sighed. She really didn't want to fight with Melinda, especially since Melinda was the reason she wasn't spending the night in the hospital. There was only so much she could humor Melinda though, and she had very little leftover energy to engage in a civil conversation.

"I don't really care, Melinda."

She let her head fall against the window and closed her eyes. Melinda glanced her way then reached out to rest her hand on top of Olivia's. The action didn't even receive a glance. It worried Melinda just a bit, but after the amount of time Olivia had spent in the hospital that day she couldn't expect her to be in that good of a mood. She'd pick up some Italian for them for dinner. Pasta should sit well on Olivia's stomach. Want to or not, Olivia would be eating at least a little.

O . o . O . o . O

Olivia pushed her linguine back and forth across her plate as she stared down at her meal. She'd eaten a little, but it hadn't been enough to appear like she'd had any. It would probably be noticed. Melinda had sat down on the couch beside her, but they hadn't really spoken. Olivia simply wasn't in the mood.

"Olivia," Melinda said softly, but Olivia didn't even look up. "Do you want anything else?"

Olivia shook her head without a word causing Melinda to sigh and gently rub Olivia's back.

"Try to have a bit more, okay?"

While Olivia nodded her assent all she did was continue to play with her pasta. Melinda left her to it and began cleaning up their meal. For now she would leave Olivia to her own devices, but if the silent treatment continued much longer she would not be as accepting.

Olivia took one more bite of her dinner and flopped down across the couch. The independence she'd felt she'd lost previously felt like nothing compared to now. Before today she'd at least been capable of living alone in her own home. Now, temporary or not, she couldn't even be by herself. It was a big blow. Olivia didn't know how to face it, and she didn't want to deal with it. If she didn't have friends to help her she'd be hospitalized or in a nursing facility. That wasn't supposed to happen until she was old, grey, and had already lived her life. Was it even worth trying to hold on like this? All she seemed to be doing was inconveniencing her friends while still not getting the real independence she wanted. Olivia laid there staring at the clock on her cable box for a long time before she actually realized what time it was. She needed to take her next round of medication. In order to do that though, she would have to ask Melinda to bring it over. As sick as she was of asking for help, this wasn't something she could avoid. Missing a round of her medication was a really bad idea.

"Melinda? Could you bring the pill bottles on the counter over? And a glass of water?"

"Sure, Liv."

Melinda gathered what she'd asked for and set everything down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Do you need help sitting up?"

Olivia shook her head and pushed herself up before reaching for her first bottle. Thankfully she always made sure she didn't get bottles with child proof caps. The regular ones were hard enough to get off on a bad day. She popped all of her pills into her mouth and downed them together with a sip of water. After setting the glass down she glanced up at Melinda, met her eyes briefly, and looked down again.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad to see that even though you won't talk to me you'll at least ask when you need something."

Olivia winced. What was she supposed to say? I'm sorry just didn't seem good enough, yet she had nothing else.

"I'm sorry. I just…"

"Don't know how to cope with this," Melinda finished for her. "This is only temporary. By tomorrow you'll be back on your feet again."

"Yeah, back on my feet," Olivia muttered. She may be back on her feet the next day in the literal sense, but that was about it. Tomorrow wouldn't really bring the end to her trouble. It would just leave her back in the same dark space she'd been living in for months. If it could even be called living.

O . o . O . o . O

Melinda and Olivia spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching television and talking. While there wasn't too much talking taking place, Olivia was trying to be aware of how much she was talking and was making sure to always answer Melinda. As for the television, it was on, but Olivia was hardly watching it. Her eyes were generally in that direction, but they were unfocused and glazed. She just didn't care about what was playing. It really wasn't the least bit important. After how much time she'd spent in front of the television these past few months, there weren't a considerable number of shows that could hold her attention anymore.

She got so lost in the void of her head that it took Melinda a few tries to catch her attention.

"Are you planning on spending the night on the couch or do you want to get to bed?"

"I'll just stay here and save you the trouble of moving me."

"Are you sure, Liv? It's no trouble."

"Yeah. It's okay."

"Do you need anything before I head to bed?"

"No."

"You'll call me if you need anything though?"

"Sure, Melinda."

"Okay."

Melinda wasn't sure she truly believed Olivia would call her unless it was an emergency. By three in the morning Melinda realized she'd been wrong. It was just too bad she'd been wrong in the worst way. Olivia hadn't even called her during what Melinda would have considered an emergency. The quiet sound of sobbing had woken Melinda, and she'd slipped quietly into the living room. She found Olivia sitting on the ground a foot from the couch, her head buried in her arms.

"Liv?"

Olivia choked back a final sob and lifted her head out of her arms. The first thing Melinda noticed was Olivia's red-rimmed eyes, but she was quickly drawn to the growing bruise on Olivia's forehead. Without wasting a moment Melinda hurried into the kitchen and dug around in the freezer until she found an ice pack. When she returned to Olivia's side Melinda handed the ice over.

"Put that on your head and tell me what happened."

"Woke up on the floor. Tried to get up. Fell again."

Olivia's explanation was choppy and her eyes kept darting around. Melinda was a bit worried she was going into shock.

"Look at me, Olivia."

As Olivia met her eyes Melinda became a little less worried. Olivia was responding and her eyes were focused and clear. It looked like Olivia had more scared and upset herself than anything else.

"Slow your breathing down. You're okay, just surprised and disoriented."

The moment Olivia listened to the directions she started to calm. Melinda stayed by her side until she was sure Olivia had her head on straight. Once she did Melinda left her alone to make tea for both of them. She set the two cups on the coffee table and bent to help Olivia to her feet and onto the couch. When Olivia was settled Melinda handed her the tea.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Which part?"

"Coming to that disoriented and scared?"

Olivia shook her head gently.

"The first few times, but not for months unless the seizure was really bad."

"The fact that your legs are still unsteady probably did it then."

"Probably," Olivia confirmed softly. "You should go back to sleep. You've got work tomorrow, and I'm okay."

"I have worked with little sleep you know."

"I know, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get some."

"I will, but don't think you'll be getting more than I will. I'm not leaving until I know you can walk on your own."

Which meant that when Melinda needed to leave for work she'd be walking Olivia up to test her ability to stand alone. Olivia gave her a wry smile in reply.

"I guessed as much."