A/N: Happy Tuesday! Can't wait to watch The Flash tonight! As much as I wasn't a fan of the Barry / Felicity tease of a storyline, I do like his character so I'm actually pumped for tonight!
Anywho, here is a follow-up to chapter 24. I know that someone mentioned they'd like to see one (I apologize, I don't remember who asked) so here it is. The song is "Please Don't Leave Quite Yet" by Adam Agin.
Never Stop
Underneath my bed, there's a raincoat. Packed with scarves and books, just go look. Well don't let the storm slow you down. No honey, don't let the storm slow us down. It'll slow us down.
He wakes up in the hospital and rather than feeling surprised, he feels relieved. He had thought, as John and Roy rushed him back to the foundry, that he would never see her again. He had lost consciousness to John talking to him, ordering him to hold on. His eyes had closed as her name had escaped him.
He rolls his head to the right slowly, the movement sluggish and taking more effort that he's comfortable with, and he finds her curled up in a chair beside his bed. Her hair is a knotted mess, disheveled as if she's run her fingers through it a hundred times. Makeup streaks her cheeks and he knows that she's been crying. He doesn't know how bad his injuries are but he doesn't remember being changed out of his leathers and into street clothes. He doesn't even know how long he's been in the hospital.
"Hey man, how are you feeling?"
He blinks up into the concerned face of Roy. The kid looks like he hasn't slept in days if the dark circles beneath his eyes are any indication. Felicity is no longer perched in the chair beside him.
The sound the furnace makes irritates you. I promise by next spring we'll replace it. Don't let the wind run you out. Oh honey, don't let the wind run us down. It'll run us down.
"Fel – Felicity?"
His throat is raw and dry and he coughs almost as soon as he opens his mouth. Roy brings a stray to his lips and he finished the cup of water in three strong pulls.
"Digg took her home to change," Roy explains, "They should be back soon. She's been worried about you man, we all have."
He closes his as a sharp stab of pain shoots through his side. Breathing steadily through his nose, he forces it down. He can hear the concern in the younger man's voice and he knows that the injuries inflicted by Malcolm are worse than he'd believed. He wants to see his wife.
"How long?" he rasps.
"A week. You've been in and out. It was bad, Oliver. The arrow pierced your spleen and did some serious muscle damage. It nicked and artery, too. They had to give you a transfusion."
A heavy feeling settles in his stomach. He can only imagine how worried she must've been. He knows because it hasn't been two years since she was nearly killed during a bank heist. He had been distraught while waiting for her to come back to him.
And oh I want it to get better. I swear I'll work to make it better. So please don't leave quite yet.
He drifts out of consciousness again, the pain medication that he is being injected with leaving his limbs heavy and his mind tired. He dreams of her, sees her face lit with a smile. His drug-addled brain conjures up another image, one that is so real that it makes his heart ache even in sleep. He can see it so clearly. Their baby growing inside of her, her small hands resting on the swell of her pregnant stomach.
He wakes disoriented and finds both John and Felicity standing over him. Roy is nowhere to be found.
"Hi," she says, emotion making her normally bright voice crack, "Hi, baby."
Her eyes fill with tears and he feels the pressure of her hand in his. He squeezes her fingers reassuringly.
"It's good to see you awake, Oliver. You scared the hell out of us," John tells him.
He glances fleetingly at his friend but it is his wife's tearful gaze that holds his attention. John's hand squeezes his shoulder briefly and then he is gone, leaving them alone.
"Felicity," he breathes.
She crumbles, her composure breaking, and she leans over him. Her forehead rests against his and her tears fall onto his face. He lifts one arm to wrap it around her, holding her as best that he can while ignoring the flare of pain in his side.
"Shh, sweetheart, I'm okay," he soothes, "I'm okay."
Her soft cries are almost more painful that his wound.
"I thought - I thought I was going to have to do it without you," she tells him, "I don't want to do it alone, Oliver."
Please don't leave quiet yet. Please don't leave quite yet. Don't leave.
He isn't sure what she's talking about, what she thinks that she's going to have to do alone. Live? Move on? He has no idea so he simply continues to hold her until she stops crying and pulls herself out of his arms. Even with her tearstained cheeks, her smiling face blinds him.
"Are you alright?" he asks, keeping her hand firmly ensconced in his.
She laughs, wiping at her eyes with her free hand, "I'm not the one in the hospital, Oliver. I should be asking you that. How are you? How do you feel?"
He tugs gently on her hand until she settles on the edge of his hospital bed. Their joined hands rest in her lap and she rubs her thumb back and forth over his wedding band. It doesn't escape his notice that she has gone quiet.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he prompts, "Talk to me. Roy said that the arrow punctured my spleen but that –"
She interrupts him, her eyes going wide, "No, no, its not that. You're going to be fine. The doctor said that you'll make a full recovery."
"Then tell me what's wrong."
She sighs but a small smile forms on her lips.
"Do you remember anything after John and Roy brought you to the foundry?" she asks.
He shakes his head and immediately wonders where she's going with this. He has no memory from passing out in the car to waking up in the hospital.
"I'm pregnant."
His grip on her hand slackens but she wraps both of hers around his and squeezes. They are having a baby. She's pregnant, carrying their child, and she is looking at him with eyes so full of love that his throat closes.
Please don't leave quite yet. Don't leave. Don't leave.
The image of her from his dream comes rushing back to him and he wonders idly if maybe he did hear more that he'd thoughts when he'd been unconscious in the foundry.
"Oliver?"
He stirs and glances up at her, seeing the worry in her eyes. He smiles.
"A baby?"
She nods, "Yeah. I – is it okay? I mean, I know that we agreed that we were ready but this is still kind of a shock and I –"
"Felicity."
She stops talking and when he pulls her forward, she goes into his embrace willingly. He presses his dry lips to her forehead, her cheek, her lips. He does not know how to tell her in words how incredibly happy he is. He doesn't know what to say so he chooses not to say anything. Instead he simply holds her in his arms and imagines a day not too far into the future when he will be able to hold their child as well.
Please don't leave quite yet.
