"That's it?" Gregory watched as the ER resident added the antidote solution to Olivia's IV.
"That's it." Dr. Leigh explained with a youthful grin that flashed his perfect white teeth. "Funny thing about hormone-based drugs is that they're extremely sensitive to changes in blood chemistry. Add the right thing and they stop working. If you think of them like a key, we've just changed the locks." He glanced over the monitors, taking everything in quickly without losing his smile.
"The baby's vitals look great." His pen scratched across her chart as he double checked her blood pressure. "Yours are a little more cause for concern Mrs. Richards. Your blood pressure has spiked and your heart rate is still too fast. It's all probably from the adrenaline." Tapping his pen cap shut, Dr. Leigh replaced her chart at the foot of her bed. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but you need to calm down."
Olivia nodded quickly, biting her lip to keep it from trembling. She felt Gregory's arm go around her shoulders again. "You can do that can't you sweetheart?"
"I know you had a terrible scare Mrs. Richards, but the police are here now. No one's going to get to you now." His confidence was comforting, but Gregory knew he didn't know the situation.
"Thank you doctor." Shaking the young man's hand, Gregory smoothed the blankets over her lap as he sat back down. "See Olivia, everything turned out fine." Cupping her chin, he felt the quivering that echoed her unexpressed fears. "Now we just have to get you out of here. Take you away from this awful place. Somewhere safe."
"Where could we possibly go?" She pulled her head away, knowing she had a responsibility to keep her emotions under control. But fear had her. Fear raced through her veins that not even Gregory could chase away. "He found me in the hospital. He nearly killed our baby. How can you say anywhere is safe?"
Gregory had run out of things to say. He couldn't explain that Cole had reached her because he had failed. He had fallen asleep and let that bastard reach right over his hand to get her. Cole had touched her, his hands had been on her skin. It was his fault. Grabbing her and holding her tightly to his chest kept her from seeing the guilt in his eyes.
"I'm sending Olivia to a specialist. There's nothing we can do for her here." Roger reached for Bette's hand as if he couldn't continue without her support. "She's being prepped for her medivac right now."
"Did she lose the baby?" Caitlin ran a hand through her hair, remarkably unruffled by Roger's grim demeanor.
Casey's first thought was less confrontational. "What specialist are you sending her too? Where's she going."
Sighing and playing with the rings on Bette's hand nervously, Roger answered their question one at a time. "The Mayo Clinic, they have some of the best obstetricians on the planet. And no. She hasn't lost the baby, but neither of them are doing very well. We've got Olivia stabilized, but just barely."
Casey swallowed, growing instantly pale as he felt a double-edged sword cut into his gut. He'd just been here. Sitting in the hospital and waiting for the doctors who seemed only to have bad news. Olivia reminded him more of Alex than he wanted to admit to himself. Her sudden collapse twisted up his stomach in the same knots. Heather rested her head on his shoulder, her hair hanging down his chest in long golden curls. Her hand was on his wrist, proving she was there. Right there with him.
Cole looked concerned. He knew how to mold his face to show whatever emotion he wished. Caitlin's control wasn't as polished. Her blue eyes had a vicious glint to them. "Can we see her?"
Roger shook his head, raising and lowering his free hand impotently. "She's unconscious and I'm afraid she needs to be transferred as quickly as possible. Your father's going with her. I'll make sure he comes out so you get a chance to say goodbye- but I cannot stress the importance of getting Olivia to a specialist at Mayo immediately. You'll have to make it quick. Excuse me."
Casey was obviously the most upset, so Roger patted his shoulder as he headed for the closed door to Olivia's room. "Keep your chin up sport."
"Is she healthy enough to travel?" Gregory whispered urgently as he backed Roger into a corner. "You can't take her out of the hospital. How is this good for Olivia?"
"You've got to give her a little credit." Roger gently added his hand to the arm Gregory used to keep him pinned. "She's a gutsy woman and to be honest, all she really needs is to be away from that bastard. We wouldn't even be here if he was in prison where he belongs."
Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, Olivia stood up slowly. Careful to respect her body's limits, she kept a steadying hand on her bed. "I can hear you two."
Gregory whirled around and caught her arms instantly. "You shouldn't be out of bed."
"You shouldn't talk about me as if I'm not here." Olivia corrected, with her own patronizing tone. "I'm all right now and I would like to be out of here. I'd rather be home."
"Not home yet love." Roger set his clipboard down on her bed and helped Gregory urge her back into it. "You're going away for awhile. The detectives have some work to do here and you'll be better off far away from here. Just trust me and do what I ask. Both of you."
Nodding to Roger, Olivia took her husband's hand and agreed. "I just don't want to be left out of what's going on. I think I have a right to know."
Gregory looked up from the floor, jaw tight with guilt. "Ever since Cole was in our house, we've been concerned that we might need an escape route. We never planned on using it-"
"But now seems like the appropriate moment." Both men shared a look, like toy boys caught breaking a window with a baseball. The doctor smiled slightly. "I'll tell you our whole plan. Gregory has to go talk to your daughter."
"How is Caitlin?" Her shoulders relaxed a little and her eyes grew brighter at the thought of her daughter. "She's all right isn't she?"
Roger folded his hands over his chest thoughtfully. "She's a little concerned about you, but she's all right. She's going home, that nice young man of hers is going with her. There's nothing to worry about."
"You and Gregory both keep saying that." Olivia pointed out with mild annoyance.
Chuckling slightly, Roger studied the small white feet dangling next to his shows. "Probably because we wish it was true."
"Even send me away?" Olivia pulled her feet up and tucked them beneath the blankets of the bed. The indigence was gone. She was very small and very alone. "Where am I going?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that." Roger's fingers wrapped warm around her shoulder through the thin hospital gown. "Gregory's going with you. Think of it as a vacation. A romantic getaway. Your big last chance before the baby starts to get really demanding."
Though her tone was dry, her eyes hinted at a smile. "I don't know what's romantic about running from a man who's trying to kill me."
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Roger shook his head as he choked back his laughter. "Bette's right. You do need to watch more television."
The ceiling was foreign, dark wooden beams crossed the whitewash. The sunlight streaming through the window poured onto the foot of the bed and crept up towards her face. Olivia moved her arm lazily over the edge of the brightly colored quilt and felt the heat of the autumn sunshine warm the skin of her hand. Rolling over slowly, she found Gregory's side of the bed empty again.
Like the past three mornings, he was gone to town already. Gregory could be taken out of his office, but the office never really left his mind. There weren't any clocks in the bedroom. In fact, there wasn't a clock in the entire villa. Alex had escaped here and her touch was on every piece of furniture. From the billowing silk curtains, to the bright cherry wood used in the cabinets. This was her place, her haven.
In a way her ghost was comforting. Alex's residual presence gave the villa a feeling of safety and warmth. Gregory's note was on the table in the same place as yesterday and the day before.
"Good morning Liv, I love you. Your breakfast is in the kitchen. I'll be back at noon."
He had signed the bottom with an elaborate cursive G. She could feel the depression his pen had left in the paper. Lifting it from the heavy dining room table, she held it to her heart as she walked into the kitchen. There were flowers in the vase next to the stove, tiny starbursts of pink, late for this time of year. He must have looked for some time to find them and Olivia smiled at the sentiment. He was so sweet when he wanted to be.
Breakfast was inside the stone shelf of the wall. Today it was simple; fruit, cheese, crusty bread with butter from their trip to the market yesterday. There was tea on stove, ready to be heated up and the ominous line of prescriptions. Olivia struck a match and lit the burner.
The blue flames jumped up to lick at the copper kettle as she untwisted the plastic cap of her vitamins. One from that bottle, then a tiny white one from an orange plastic bottle, and finally the last two blue pills. Thankfully that one was starting to run low, she realized she was almost free of those. She swallowed the first two with a gulp of water and took another sip before swallowing the last pair.
The medication left a metallic taste in her mouth and Olivia's left hand went over her womb. The drugs were for the baby. They encouraged her body to maintain her pregnancy, keeping her blood pressure down and filling her blood with clotting factors. Undoing the damage Cole had caused was the first priority. The blood pressure pills were fine, as were the vitamins. The blue ones, muscle relaxants, kept the terrifying stomach cramps away but they made her whole body feel heavy. Olivia would be relieved when those were gone.
The kettle whistled her back to reality. Turning off the heat she poured it into the blue mug Gregory had set out for her and retreated to the veranda. The air was hot this morning and heavy with humidity. The sunlight that had erupted over her bed this morning was already starting to fall behind a cloud. Curling her feet up on the cushion of the chair, Olivia wrapped her fingers around the warmth of her tea cup and took a bite of her bread.
Far down the hill the villa rested on, a group of children drove a herd of goats up the hill. As their laughter drifted up to her cobble stoned veranda, she couldn't help picturing her son running over the hill up to the villa, his brown hair mussed with dried bits of grape leaves. Would life be so bad if they didn't hurry to go back home?
Gregory sat on the velvet covered bench in the hallway leading to the parlor of the palace overlooking the tiny Italian town of Garaspuglia, not far from the Florentine countryside where he had honeymooned so many years ago. The villa they stayed in had been a wedding gift. A thoughtful gesture of a mysterious benefactor Olivia knew nothing about. A benefactor that commanded even Gregory's utmost respect.
The beautifully carved door to the parlor opened with a slow creak. The smoke of an expensive cigar wafted out as the impeccably clad Conciliatore opened it to allow him in. "You may enter."
Gregory stood, folding his hands neatly behind his back. He kept his eyes politely on the face of the Conciliatore. Remembering the thin, elderly lawyer from their first meeting nearly thirty years ago, when he had opened a door for a young man without a future. That young man, who had nothing to his name, had eagerly embraced the offer of a life with meaning. A life of purpose, and a family to replace the one his father had left him without.
The cigar smoke was aromatic, rich and dark as it spiraled up from the chair behind the mammoth desk. Ornately carved with a panorama of angels and demons, even the feet it rested upon were works of art. Sitting down on the leather armchair to the right of the desk, the Conciliatore spared him a smile.
"Gregory Richards is here, sir."
Turning without a sound, the chair behind the desk whirled to bring Gregory face to face with the one man in the world who could make the hair on the back of his neck stand up with respect and a healthy sense of fear. Holding his cigar in his left hand, Don Tribuno Ricciardi would have been at home in the ancient courts of Rome. He was tall, Gregory's equal in height, but heavier. The hand that waved for Gregory to speak was muscular and heavy with a thick gold band on his ring finger.
"Il ritorno di un Prodigy come lei sempre mi porta molta felicità Gregorio." The voice of the Don was as heavy as the velvet of his curtains, and as rich as his prized merlot.
Gregory wasted no time with the traditional reply. "È il mio piacere servire la vostra mano Don Ricciardi."
The Don remained comfortably seated as he gestured for Gregory to join him. "Please, be seated Gregorio."
"Thank you for allowing me a moment of your time." Gregory put on hand on the arm of the cool leather, keeping his face carefully neutral. "I know how precious it is."
The Don laughed, a deep rumbling that shook his chest. "Family is the most precious of all things, and you, though you have lost your true name, are still family. Child of my wayward uncle and friend to family interests in California."
Gregory smoothed his suit coat thoughtfully. "The Liberty Corperation is only too happy to assist family interests. I trust you will continue to be contented with your share as the new hospital is completed?"
"Yes, yes." The Don paused to take a sip of wine. "Building the new hospital was a stroke of genius on your part. Genius my father recognized when he brought you into this family. But enough of business. Tell me of your wife and children. My ears tell me you've recently given your Olivia another child."
Gregory nodded curtly. "It was a surprise at this stage in our lives, but a welcome one."
Pouring another glass, the Don set it in front of Gregory and lifted his own. "Congratulations to you and your wife. A child is always a blessing." They lifted their glasses in a quick toast.
"That brings me to why I am here." The wine was rich and spicy as it ran down his throat. "I must beg a favor of the family. There is a man who threatens my wife and our unborn baby. A man who has eluded my resources and those of the police."
"This man threatens a pregnant woman?" The Don's wine glass slammed down onto the desk, rattling his pens in their gilded holders. "It would be my pleasure to have him taken care of for you."
Gregory's eyes glistened in cold fury and his fingers went white as his grip tightened. "I appreciate your offer, but I need him alive. I want to look into his eyes-"
"You ask for a life." Leaning back in his chair, the Don took a long puff of his cigar.
The Conciliatore stood from the leather sofa and crossed to Don Ricciardi's side. "You are aware of the price of such a request."
"A life for a life." Gregory quoted with a slight smile. He could sense his victory. "I understand the weight of my request but it pales to the weight of this man's crimes. He broke into my wife's bedroom while she was sleeping, shot at her from a rooftop, and even went as far as to cut the brake lines of my car."
He paused, if that had been all, Gregory could still have handled him personally. "I could have contrived a punishment on my own, but just a few days ago he attacked my wife while she slept and nearly murdered our unborn baby." Slamming his fist down against the arm of the chair, he spat out his words. "I would trade anything and everything to feel his heart stop beating under my bare hands."
Lips curling a hellish smile, Don Tribuno Ricciardi extended his hand to Gregory. "I doubt you will find your price that difficult to bear. I am a reasonable man."
He kissed the golden band on the Don's hand as he stood, knowing he was done. "I trusted that you were."
The Conciliatore made the arrangements, a slim datebook in hand. "Because we understand the delicate nature of her condition, we will give you all the time she needs to recover, then you and the lovely Olivia will be guests of Senor Ricciardi and his wife here for dinner."
"While our wives discuss babies, you will make your vows before the leaders of this family." Reaching in the top drawer of his desk, the Don retrieved a cigar and passed it over to Gregory.
Biting off the end, Gregory accepted the light with a smile. "A life for a life."
The smell of the cigar still clung to his clothes when he returned to the villa. Gregory approached from the back, his suit coat was over his arm and his tie dangling free from his shoulder. He ran up the stairs and hung up his suit in the closet. Roger had doubted he'd even need a suit at all, but Gregory had insisted Ethan pack it for him. Ricciardi would have considered it an offense if he had appeared wearing anything less then the best.
Gregory stripped off the starched white shirt and black pants, trading them in for khakis and a blue polo shirt. Hurrying down the stairs in his bare feet, he snuck up on Olivia. She was still in her grey nightgown, her robe had been left aside on her chair when the day grew warmer. The plate of her breakfast was empty on the table. Relieved that she had eaten, he leaned down to kiss her head.
"Liv you look better every day we're here."
Slowly smiling, she tilted her head back to feast her eyes on him. "I missed you."
Kneeling at her feet, Gregory hugged her, resting his head in her lap. "I had some things to finish in town-"
Olivia dug her hands into his hair, smiling contentedly. "Don't apologize darling. You're here now."