A/N: Here's chapter 20! I know that you all hate me for leaving you on that awful cliffhanger!
'Oh my god.' Olivia studied the scene around her. 'Mason! Mason, call 911!' Olivia yelled down the stairs.
'What? What are you sayi- holy shit.' Mason was horrified by what he saw Karen was collapsed on the floor surrounded by bottles of alcohol and dozens of pill containers. 'Oh my god.' Mason said before running to the nearest telephone as fast as his legs could carry him.
'Karen, what have you done?' Olivia asked Karen, knowing that she couldn't get an answer. 'Mason, she's not breathing!' Olivia yelled.
'Yeah, we need an ambulance!' Mason yelled down the phone. 'What for? My stepmother is collapsed on the floor. I think she's had an overdose washed down with alcohol.' Mason tried to make sense of what he saw now that he was back in the room. 'How long ago? I have no idea.' Mason was sobbing as he said this. He continued on to give the emergency operator their address. Olivia wasn't paying enough attention to everything Mason said on the phone.
'They said the ambulance would be here really soon. Do you think we should call somebody?' Mason had managed to control his sobbing.
'Call Elliot and tell him to meet us at the hospital.' Olivia didn't need to tell Mason to tell Elliot to tell the others because she knew that he would anyway. 'Karen, what the hell were you thinking?' Olivia couldn't get her sobs under control.
'Elliot, it's Mason! I need you to tell everyone to meet us at the hospital.' Mason said very quickly.
'Why, what's wrong?' Elliot was still at Jack's apartment.
'I haven't got time to tell you just now. Just get everybody's ass down there!' Mason was close to losing control of his sobbing, but he kept reminding himself not to for Olivia's sake. She was sobbing enough as it was. She didn't need him on the verge of breaking down as well.
---
At Jack's apartment, Elliot had just hung up the phone. He was trying to work out what could have been wrong. Jack could tell by his son's expression that something was up.
'Who was that on the phone?' Jack asked, sounding concerned.
'Erm, that was Mason. He told us that we need to meet them at the hospital.' Elliot wasn't sure whom Mason had meant by 'us'.
'Why?'
'I don't know. He just said to get everybody down there now.' Elliot sounded confused.
'Go and get Will and Grace.' Jack said quickly while trying to find his shoes.
---
When Will, Grace, Jack and Elliot arrived at the hospital, they found Olivia nervously pacing in the waiting room. Mason had gone off to get a drink of water.
'Olivia, what's wrong?' Grace ran straight over to her. The rest of the group quickly followed her.
'Erm, Karen…She…we… in there…found her…not breathing.' Olivia was searching for the words to tell Grace what had happened. She couldn't seem to figure out what had happened. She was sobbing so much she could barely hear her own thoughts.
'It's okay. Come here.' Grace hugged the obviously distressed girl. Grace secretly hoped that Mason would be able to tell them more when he came back.
'When did you guys get here?' Mason returned a few seconds later.
'Just now. What's wrong with Karen?' Will asked Mason who seemed to be holding it together better than his sister.
'Olivia found Karen not breathing in her room.' Mason gave the simplest explanation. Just then a doctor came out of Karen's room.
'Are any of you related to Karen Walker?' The doctor was looking at the group waiting outside the door.
'Yes, we're her stepchildren and those guys are like her family as well.' Mason answered. Olivia was in no state to answer any questions.
'I need to ask you a few questions. Would you two come with me please?'
'Can they come as well? They deserve to know.' Mason pointed to Will, Grace Jack and Elliot.
'Yes, I suppose so. Would you all follow me please?'
---
In the doctor's office, Olivia and Mason had never been more scared in their lives.
'I have to ask you a few questions about Ms Walker's lifestyle. Does she smoke?'
'Occasionally. She doesn't smoke every day though.' Mason answered on behalf of him and his sister.
'Does she drink?'
Mason and Olivia looked at each other. They weren't sure what exactly to answer to that. 'Erm, not very often. Not since we started taking her to AA meetings.' Olivia had found an answer.
'What?' The rest of the group questioned Olivia's statement simultaneously.
'About two years ago she started getting drunk every day. It was around the time my father 'died'. We took her to AA and she seemed to be getting on with her life again. That was until yesterday when we found out that our dad had faked his death. The we found her this morning and, well, you know what.' Mason added to Olivia's statement and gave the others their answer.
'How is Karen?' Olivia asked while looking down at the table.
'She's extremely ill. The next twenty-four hours are crucial. Although I have to say that with the amount of alcohol and pills that Ms Walker consumed, if she makes it through, it would be a miracle. I'll give you all a minute.' With that, the doctor left the room. Nobody could speak. The doctor's explanation kept repeating in every one of their heads.
'I guess we should get out of the doctor's office.' Mason said quietly.
'Yeah.' Olivia agreed.
---
The whole group were back out in the waiting room. None of them had said a word in ten minutes. They were all thinking about Karen. They'd been as good as told she was going to die. Olivia kept thinking of how she should have gone into Karen's room when she was first up there. Everybody's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice at the information desk.
'Hi. My name's Stan Walker. My wife was brought in here earlier. Her name's Karen Walker.' Olivia and Mason both stood up to greet him.
'What the hell do you think you're doing here? I thought we told you never to bother us again.' Olivia snapped.
'I came to take you away.' Stan said, not sounding too concerned about Karen.
'Why, exactly?' Mason asked sarcastically.
'Because she's not your mother and you two don't need to be here.' Stan said while trying to lead them out the door.
'I'm sorry but we're not going anywhere.' Olivia declared.
'Yes you are. You will do as I tell you. I'm your father.'
'Funny. Does a father fake his death so he can run away with his mistress? Didn't think so!' Mason shouted sarcastically.
'We're not going anywhere. If it weren't for you we all wouldn't all be here. If you hadn't lied to us over and over and over again, we'd be happy right now! You know when you were in prison, we were all happier than when you were out. Then you ruined everything, as you always did. We're not going to let you do the same thing as you did when you and Karen first split. We're not going to let you try to cut everybody out of our lives. That might have worked when we were younger but not anymore. These people are more like family to us than you are. They haven't ever screwed us over. You've done nothing but! So you don't have the right to tell to tell us what to do. You might be our father. But you're not our Dad. A dad doesn't treat his kids like shit. So you can think again. You're not taking us anywhere. You're not welcome here. And we never want to see you again.' Olivia couldn't believe what she'd just had the courage to say to her father.
'You heard the woman. Don't ever bother us again. Get out of here.' Mason said as he and Olivia walked back over to the waiting room chairs. Grace, Will, Jack and Elliot watched as Stan did as his kids told him and walked out of the hospital. Stan knew it as well as Olivia and Mason did. He had no right to tell them what to do. He'd lost the right to be their Dad.
'Do you mind if we see Karen?' Mason asked the doctor who'd been treating Karen.
'Did the nurse not tell you that you were allowed to go in? I should warn you that Ms Walker is connected to lots of machines. It might be quite upsetting.' The doctor gave Mason his answer.
'Do you mind if we have a little time in there by ourselves?' Mason asked the rest of the group, while taking Olivia's hand to lead her in.
'Not at all.' Jack answered on behalf of all of them.
---
Even though the doctor had warned them that the scene may be upsetting, Olivia and Mason were not prepared for what they saw.
'She looks so small connected to everything.' Mason pointed out something that he knew Olivia could see.
'Karen. I'm so sorry about not checking on you earlier. I should have.' Olivia wasn't sure if Karen would be able to hear her, being that she was in a coma.
'I'm sorry for calling you a bat when I was ten.' Mason made his apology. He started to think of anything he'd done wrong to Karen.
'It's too quiet in here. You wanna put the radio on?' Olivia knew that Karen didn't like being stuck in a quiet room. The room was quiet apart from the annoying beeping of the heart monitor, which was a harsh reminder of how serious the situation.
'Yeah. Karen hates being in a quiet room too. And maybe it will block out some of the beeping.' Mason thought of the same thing as Olivia. They both sat listening to the radio for ten minutes. They weren't saying anything to each other, but it was comforting knowing that the other was there.
'I like this song.' Olivia said as she heard the opening bars of music over the radio.
Are you swimming upstream in oceans of blue?
Do you feel like you're sinking?
Are you sick of the rain after all you've been through?
Well I know what you're thinking
When you can't take it
You can make it
Sometime soon I know you'll see
'Cause when your in you're darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey
Well hang on and be strong
Taking each step one day at a time
You can't loose your spirit
Let live and let live
Forget and forgive
It's all how you see it
And just remember keep it together
Don't you know you're never alone
Mason looked at Olivia. They were both thinking the same thing. How much did they both wish that Karen had known they were there for her.
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey
Well hang on, and be strong
'Karen?' Olivia asked to nobody in particular. Karen's heart monitor had started going crazy. 'What's happening?' Olivia asked Mason, knowing he didn't know the answer.
'I'll get somebody!' Mason said as he ran out of the room.
'Oh my god.' Olivia cried to herself, the doctor's earlier words ringing loudly in her ears.
'Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside.' The doctor asked her as he ran into the room with a few other medical staff.
'Come on, Liv. Let them do their work.' Mason sobbed while dragging his hysterical sister out of the room.
No you're not defeated
And soon you'll be smiling once again
Then you won't have to feel it
Let it go with the wind
Time passes us by
And know that you're allowed to cry
'What's going on?' Jack asked Mason, who was hugging Olivia tightly.
'I don't know. I really don't know.' Mason replied. 'She'll hang on. She's gotta hang on.' Mason said aloud to himself.
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey
Well hang on and be strong
The doctor came out of the room what felt like hours later. Everybody stood up hoping he had good news. They couldn't tell by the doctor's expression what he was about to say.
'Could I speak to Miss Walker and Mr Walker?' The doctor addressed Olivia and Mason. 'Would you both come into my office?' Mason and Olivia looked at each other. Olivia grabbed Mason's hand before they followed the doctor into his office again.
'Cause when you're in your darkest hour
And all of the light just fades away
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey
Well hang on and be strong
A/N: goes into hiding You all hate me now, don't you! I'm will update as soon as possible. Thank you to Panema, keisha4, karengraciewalker and Lindsey Grissom for reviewing the last chapter. Btw, you HAVE to read Lindsey's fic 'All Coming Back' and you have to review it so she'll update it. Linds, if you don't, I'm gonna start bugging ya! You have been warned!