Chapter 94
Rafe had finished with his and Emma's suitcases and carried them out to the truck, when he went back upstairs he saw Ava's suitcase in the hall and took it down as well along with the garment bag containing her dress and the one with his suit for the opening in Chicago. He was sitting on the couch waiting for his mom when he heard a loud noise from upstairs like someone falling. Immediately he jumped up and ran up the stairs to see what happened. As he went to open the door to his moms room he discovered it was locked. He started banging on it, calling out to Olivia.
"Mom, mom, are you okay? What happened? Mom?"
When he got no response his heart started racing, he feared Olivia had another episode with her heart and started slamming his shoulder into the door. Screaming for Olivia, praying that she was still alive on the other side. After the fifth time of jumping into the solid piece of wood without movement he leaned against it to catch his breath. His heart was pounding in his chest and tears were streaking down his face. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
"911 what's your emergency?" An operator answered.
"My mom, she, she fell or something. I can't get the door open to her room, she's not responding when I call and she has a bad heart." He rushed out.
"Okay, were sending help, just stay on the line with me."
"Okay but hurry. Please, I can't, I can't lose her."
"It's gonna be okay just breathe." The operator tried to sooth.
"No, you don't understand a few months ago her heart stopped she almost died, she's had a heart transplant."
"Help is on the way, just try and keep calm. Try calling to her again."
Rafe pulled the phone away from his ear and yelled out for Olivia again getting no response. His tears had turned to sobs as he returned the phone to his ear. "N-nothing, sh-she's not responding. They need to hurry."
"They're on their way. They should be arriving any minute."
On the other side of the door the man could hear Rafe's side of the conversation. He knew he needed to think fast. He silently pulled Olivia completely into the closet and shut the door. He had to think and looking at her lifeless body wasn't helping. He could hear sirens in the distance approaching quickly.
Rafe heard the sirens and hung up the phone rushing down the stairs to open the door. As the door swung open he was greeted by two paramedics and Detective Mallet who had heard the call. It wasn't procedure for an officer to go to a call like this but when he heard the address for the farmhouse, something in his gut told him to go.
"Mallet please help man, it's Olivia, she, she fell or something. I don't know but she's not answering when I call and her bedroom door is locked. I tried to slam it open but it's not budging. You got to get her outta there man, it could be her heart again."
"It's okay Rafe. We'll get her. Show me to the room, we'll break the door down if we have to."
Rafe led Mallet up the stairs. "It's that one man, I'm telling you it's not budging.
Mallet tried the knob even though Rafe already said it was locked. When the door didn't open he too tried to force it open with his shoulder but had no luck. The two paramedics made it up the stairs and were standing behind Rafe waiting for the door to open so they could assess their patient.
"Alright Rafe." Mallet began. "Let's try this together. We'll start down the hall and run towards it together."
Rafe walked to the end of the hall. He looked over at Mallet. "Okay man, on the count of three. One. Two. Three." The two ran full speed at the door. They heard something break and the door opened slightly but not all the way. When Mallet pushed on it he could see that something was blocking it.
Inside the room the attacker was frantic. They were on the second floor so he had no escape. He had been unaware that Rafe was in the house when he started this. He was expecting to be able to grab Olivia and leave. It wasn't until after he had knocked her out that he heard someone else in the house. He opened the closet door and heard Olivia moan in pain. He kicked her in the ribs several times and bent down to whisper for her to be quiet. Watching as she passed out again. Then an idea struck. He knew it probably wouldn't work but he had to try something to get himself out of this mess.
He walked closer to the bedroom door and could hear them getting ready to run at it again. In that moment he knew his idea of pretending he had come to talk and found Olivia passed out wasn't going to work, they already knew the door was blocked, there would be no explanation for why Olivia would block herself in the room. He knew he was going to be caught but he wasn't going down without a fight.
He went to the closet and pulled Olivia out. She was passed out again which made it difficult to hoist her up. Once she was pulled from the closet, he pulled her up against his front to use as a human body shield with the gun pressed firmly against her temple.
Just as he got her into position, another hard hit came at the door and the dresser fell over. Everyone head the glass from the picture frames and perfume bottles shatter to the floor. Rafe started screaming again as he worked to shove the dresser and get in the door.
"Mom, mom, I'm coming. You're gonna be ok…" As he was speaking he was able to move the dresser enough to squeeze his body in and the picture before him made him freeze. His mother was unconscious with blood dripping from her temple and down her cheek. Her head was dropped forward and she wasn't moving.
Mallet was trying to get into the room but Rafe was blocking his path. "Rafe, man you have to move so we can get in. What's the problem…" Mallet could only get his head in but was able to see the scene that had Rafe frozen to his spot. "Frank what the fuck are you doing?" He screamed as he pushed Rafe further into the room and drew his gun to aim at the crazed man.
"Back off Mallet. I swear to god I'll shoot her."
"Frank, what are you doing man? This isn't you."
As the two spoke Rafe finally came back to himself. As he took in the scene anger boiled over and he started to step toward Frank. "Let my mom go you sick fuck."
Frank turned slightly to look Rafe straight in the eyes. "Don't you take another step. She's not your mom. She's a worthless whore. Don't you remember? She ruined your life Rafe. She took your father, you mother, you dads house, everything."
"Shut up. Just shut the hell up. She is my mom. Why? Why are you doing this?"
Frank softened his features, trying to get Rafe to understand. "Can't you see Rafe. I'm doing this for you, for Natalia. Olivia's not a good person. She's a no-good little bitch. I know she's used her money to try and buy you and your mom, but I can give you so much more then she can son. I'm a man, I can be a father to you, like I have been. We've had some really good times together Rafe. Come on. You know you want Olivia gone so your mom can be happy."
"Frank, my ma is happy, with Olivia."
Frank shook his head violently and screamed. "NO! NO, SHE'S NOT. No one can be happy with this tramp."
Mallet could see Frank was getting angrier by the second. "Rafe get outta here."
"No, I'm not going anywhere. He has my mom; she's bleeding we don't even know if she's alive."
"RAFE get outta here, let me handle it."
"NO! This psycho needs to let my mom go."
"I won't let him hurt her but what would your mom do if something happened to you. Go on. Go."
Frank removed the gun from Olivia and pointed it at Rafe. "No, he's not going anywhere. Get over here Rafe. Your my son and your gonna come stand by me right now."
"Fuck you man. I ain't your son and I am not doing shit you say. Let Olivia go man."
Frank cocked the gun and aimed it back at Olivia. "You will do as I say or watch me kill her."
Rafe's eyes went huge. "Alright man. Alright. Just don't shoot her." Rafe moved to stand closer to Frank trying to see if Olivia was still breathing. The wound on her head was still bleeding and she hadn't moved since they came in.
"Frank." Mallet started in a soft tone. "Frank, you don't wanna do this. You can still walk outta here, but not if you shoot her. Just let Rafe go and then we'll talk about Olivia."
"NO!" He screamed. "Rafe's gonna help me take Olivia out back to my car and then we're gonna drive outta here. Mallet, you know I'm a better shot then you. Do you really wanna take the chance of having a dead whore on your hands?"
"Frank, you know I can't let you leave. There's only one way out of this room and I'm standing in it. Your only way out of this is to just surrender. You know it and I know it. Come on Frank."
Frank was unaware that there were two paramedics in the hall. One of them had quietly slipped down the stairs and called for backup. Frank could now hear more sirens approaching the house. He glanced out the window and saw two more cars pull up. Remy stepped out of one and officer Brian stepped out of the other. His head whipped back around to Mallet. "You call them off. Tell them it's fine and we're just talking or I swear to god I'll blow her fucking head off."
"Frank, there's no way outta this man. You're only dragging out the inevitable. Why? What's the point?"
"Why? Really? Why? You know what Olivia did to me, to pop, and now, now she's taken Natalia from me too. She was sweet and innocent until Olivia got her claws in her. I have to save Natalia from her, I have to rid the world of Olivia fucking Spencer once and for all. You know what all she's done. She tried to kill her own daughter for crying out loud. You know she deserves this."
"Frank, we've all made mistakes, done things we shouldn't have. Olivia's paid for her mistakes and worked hard to be a better person. Killing her isn't going to change anything. It's only going to land you in prison. Come on, don't make this worse than it already is."
"It will change things. Natalia will be rid of this bitch and she can go back to being who she really is and be happy in her life."
"She is happy." Rafe screamed. "She loves mom. And she could never love you."
"SHUT UP!" Frank screamed at him. "She does love me, she's just confused. We're gonna get married and be a family like we were supposed to be. It's gonna be just like I planned before Olivia had to ruin everything."
Rafe went to speak again but Mallet spoke over him. "You're right Frank. Natalia does love you. I've seen it. She's not happy with Olivia." Rafe was confused but one look at Mallet told him to keep his mouth shut. "But Frank, if you kill her, if she dies, or if Rafe gets hurt, you'll end up in prison. Natalia already had to wait for one man to get outta prison, don't make her wait on you too."
"I'm going to prison no matter what Mallet. I'm the chief of police. I know the charges I'm facing for this. If I'm going down, I might as well take Olivia out on the way." His finger was poised on the trigger when anther voice sounded in the room.
"NO! No Frank don't. You can stay outta prison. Look around you man, we're all officers here. We're your friends. No one has to know how bad this was. It's not prison yet but if you shoot her it will be." Remy said. He had been listening in the hall waiting for his chance to come in, when no real opportunity came he decided just to go in.
"What about Rafe, he's not gonna lie on my behave. She has him just as twisted as Natalia. She's making him call her mom."
"No, no, man, you're right. I see it now. You've been right all along. Olivia's nothing. I'm on your side." Rafe hurriedly said.
"You just want me to let her go. You still think I'm crazy and she's the good one."
"No, no I don't. I've been listening to you. You made me think. She took everything from me, even Ma. I had to play along because Ma was gonna leave me for her. Olivia has Ma so brain washed she was going to leave her own son. That's not someone I want as a mom. Olivia's just a lying bitch. Let her go and then we can really get her by taking everything from her. Mallet's right. Ma doesn't love Olivia. Olivia tricked her. You and I can work together to make Ma see it. And Ma adopted Emma, we can prove she'd be better with Ma then Olivia and take everything Olivia cares about. It'll be better than killing her. Ma even owns half the hotel. We'll get to watch Olivia suffer while we have the family we should of had, with a bonus, we'll have Emma too. Come on man, just let her go so we can go get Ma."
Frank was conflicted. Rafe was saying the right words but he didn't know if he could trust him. Unbeknownst to him, Olivia had come to while Rafe was talking. He didn't see her eyes move or the way Rafe winked at her. He didn't see the look Olivia had given Rafe that told him she knew what he was doing and it was okay. All he saw was Rafe, pleading with him, trying to get him let Olivia go so they could be a family with Natalia, which was all he wanted.
Rafe took a tentative step closer with his hand outstretched. When Frank didn't stop him, he kept going until his palm rested on Franks shoulder. "Come on man. You don't know this but uh, before when I got outta the half-way house, I told Ma that I could see you as a dad, and I still can. Come on. Forget about this whore, let's go get Ma and start our family."
The hand that held the gun twitched and Olivia felt it leave her temple. She was still dazed but in that moment, with her son so close, she had all the strength she needed. She threw her head back at the same time as her foot stomped on Franks. As his grip on her loosened, she spun and grabbed the gun from him. Before anyone knew what happened, Olivia had Frank on the ground with her Jimmy Choo heel pressed firmly against his man hood and his gun pointed at his chest.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off right now you delusional psychopath."
Frank groaned as she dug her heel further into him, twisting it as she pushed down. But he refused to let Olivia see him weak. "Orange isn't exactly your color." He grunted.
"The way I see it, this is self-defense. Anyone here see it any differently?" She asked, looking from Remy to Mallet who were rooted to their spots after witnessing how truly strong Olivia Spencer must be. Then her eyes met Rafe's and she could see him warring with himself. She pulled the gun back and handed it behind her to Mallet but she kept Frank pinned with her heel. "Come here baby." She said to Rafe who fell into her arms. "It's okay. It's over now. I'm okay."
Remy and Mallet walked over and pulled the two back so they could cuff Frank. As soon as they had him in cuffs they handed him over to officer Brian quickly and stood the dresser up and out of the way.
Olivia and Rafe were standing together, crying into each other's shoulders when the weight of it all hit Olivia and she passed out again. Rafe was able to hold her up and gently lower her to the ground. "Mallet, Mallet, help, she passed out. Mom, Mom, no, mom. Come on, don't do this. MOM!"
Mallet rushed over and quickly checked for a pulse while Remy called for the paramedics and then started to assess her, falling back into his previous role without hesitation. The two paramedics came in and loaded Olivia onto a gurney and took her out to the ambulance with Rafe running behind them. "I'm riding with you." He stated firmly and jumped in. Sitting down he grabbed Olivia's hand as sobs escaped his lips.
As the ambulance drove off, Mallet looked over at Remy. "Wow. I know you said the Spencer-Rivera's were having problems with Frank but I didn't think it was this bad."
"Yeah, it started a while back, before you even left, but uh, it got pretty bad the last couple of months. Didn't you read the file?"
"I skimmed it, but I know how Olivia can be. I just figured she was making a big fuss over nothing and that Frank wouldn't be charged and would be back to work in a week or two. I've just been trying to keep my head above water after being thrown into the position of temporary police chief."
"What made you come out here then?"
"I don't know. I heard the address come over the scanner and just had a bad feeling."
"I'm glad you listened to your gut man. This could have gone so much worse if Rafe had been the only one here when the paramedics showed up."
"Yeah. I know. I'm gonna call forensics to come take some photos and get prints and gather any evidence. Can you call Natalia? When she called earlier she said Frank was making threats towards Olivia and I didn't take her very seriously. I don't think she's gonna wanna talk to me right now. She said they were staying at The Beacon over the weekend."
"Yeah man, I'll call her. I think I'll have her meet me at the hospital and give her the full story in person. I feel so bad for them, they've been through a lot this year. Olivia just had a pretty bad episode with her heart a couple of months ago. I don't know how much more that family can take." Remy said, looking off into the distance.
"They'll be okay. I don't know Natalia that well, but Olivia is strong, they'll get through this."
"Yeah. Alright, if you don't need me I'm gonna go meet with Natalia and then go process Frank. I told Brian to just throw in an interrogation room until I get there."
"Yeah, no problem. I'm gonna tape this off and wait on forensics and then I'll meet you at the station. Tell Rafe we'll need to speak with him and Olivia as soon as possible."
"I will." Remy strolled over to his car and got in as he dialed Natalia's number. He threw on his lights without the sirens and raced towards Cedars. After a few rings Natalia answered. "Hey Natalia, it's Remy."
"Hi. What can I do for you?"
"I need you to meet me at Cedar's."
"What? Why? What's wrong?"
"It's Olivia. She…" He didn't get to finish because Natalia had already hung up. He pulled into Cedars just as Natalia's car pulled in like a bat out of hell. She and Ava jumped from their car and were running towards the doors when he caught them. "Hey, hey, slow down. I need to talk to you before you go in there."
"No, you need to get out of my way so I can go see my wife." Natalia spat as she tried to push past him.
"Natalia, she's okay. Just…"
"What? What happened to my wife Remy? And where is Rafe?"
"He's inside with Olivia. There was an incident at the farmhouse…"
"Oh god, is it her heart again?" Natalia asked as she started to cry. Ava wrapped her arms around her Ma's shoulder and looked up at Remy.
"No, it's not her heart this time." He said sadly, as if this were worse, which in a way it was.
"Then what happened to my mom." Ava asked as she rubbed Natalia's back.
"Frank. I don't know the whole story, Mallet was first on the scene, but when I got there it was pretty bad."
"How bad?" Natalia asked. Her anger taking over her fear as she stood straight again and stepped out of Ava's embrace.
"Bad. Olivia was unconscious. I'm not sure what happened but she was bleeding from the side of her head and she looked pretty banged up."
"I have to go see her." She started to walk away and Remy followed.
Ava grabbed his arm to stop him and waited for Natalia to get out of earshot. "She's not gonna talk to you until she sees mom. Can't whatever else you have to say wait until we know my mom is okay?"
"Yeah, um you're right. I shouldn't have told her anything until after she saw Olivia. I do need to get statements from Rafe and Olivia though."
"I can tell you right now, Ma's not gonna let that happen until she's certain mom is alright. I'll call you okay?"
"Yeah. Ava this is important. I need Olivia and Rafe's statements sooner rather than later."
"Alright. I'll let you know when you can come talk to them."
"Thanks Ava and uh, I really hope Olivia's okay."
"Me too." Without another word she ran off to catch up with Natalia.
Natalia had reached the front desk and was trying her best to remain calm and not scream at the woman who wouldn't put down the damn phone and tell her where her wife was. Ava met up with Natalia, quickly assessing the scene, she reached over and pulled the phone from the woman's ear, hanging it up.
"Hey." The woman said but was quickly cut off.
"Olivia Spencer-Rivera, she was just brought in by ambulance."
The woman made a few clicks on her computer and then looked up at the women. "She's in the ICU. I'll…"
She didn't get a chance to finish as Ava and Natalia raced off towards the ICU. Once they got there they were met by Lillian. "Hey, hey, slow down. She's okay. She's still unconscious but she's going to be okay."
"Where is she Lillian. Take me to her." Natalia growled. She was fed up with being stopped from getting to her wife.
"I'll take you Natalia, but Rick's still assessing the damage. You're gonna have to wait a minute. Come on, I'll take you to Rafe and as soon as Rick comes out you can see Olivia." Lillian led them down one hall and then turned down another where they saw Rafe sitting on the floor outside what they presumed was Olivia's room with his head in his hands. Lillian stopped them a few feet away from him. "He refused to leave her so Rick let him wait out here. He's pretty shaken up, wouldn't say much, just kept muttering about killing Frank and being sorry he didn't protect her. I tried to call Buzz and see what was going on but he didn't know anything."
Natalia had calmed slightly and patted Lillian's arm. "Thanks Lillian. We'll all just wait out here until we can see her." She turned and rushed over to her son, kneeling, and taking him into her arms with Ava seating herself against the wall on his other side. "Hey baby, Mama's here, it's okay."
Rafe was still rocking himself not even really noticing that Ava or his Ma were there. Natalia kept trying to get him to look at her but was getting nowhere. Finally, Ava gently pushed Natalia back and took Rafe's face in her hands. Her voice was firm but held no malice. "Rafael Joseph Spencer-Rivera you snap out of it and tell me what happened to my mother right now!"
Her stern voice shook him out of his daze and he met her gaze for a moment before collapsing into her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." He kept repeating it like a mantra and Ava and Natalia's hearts broke for him. They didn't know what had happened but they knew it must have been bad for Rafe to be this shaken.
Natalia rubbed his back and kissed his head. "It's okay Rafe. I'm here now. It's gonna be okay. Can you tell me what happened?"
He shook his head and refused to look at her. "I'm sorry Ma. I'm so sorry. I didn't protect her. I'm her son, I should have protected her. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, if had had known, I swear I would have protected her. I'm sorry." His body shook with his sobs and those words were all he could think to say.
Natalia met Ava's eyes as she stood. She couldn't take it anymore, she needed to see Olivia. The way Rafe was acting had her more worried than ever. As much as she wanted to stay and comfort him, she knew right now he didn't really know she was there. She left him in Ava's arms and marched into Olivia's room without so much as a knock.
As soon as the door opened a nurse was in her way. "Ma'am you can't come in here."
"The hell I can't. That is my wife and I'm not leaving." She tried to push past the nurse.
"I understand that ma'am. But the doctor is still checking out her wounds."
Rick stepped back from Olivia and touched the nurse on the shoulder. "It's okay. She can stay. Hello Natalia. I'm sorry we're seeing each other again under these circumstances."
"Thank you Rick. Now what the hell happened to my wife?" She asked trying to get closer.
"Wait Natalia, before you see her I think I should warn you. Her head is wrapped in bandages, but don't be alarmed, the wound to her head is superficial. She has four broken ribs, and some bruising on her back, but what has me the most concerned is that she hasn't been awake for more than thirty seconds. It's good that she's waking up at all, and I'm hoping that it's just exhaustion coupled with the drain a burst of adrenalin causes, but I can't be sure until I get a cat scan. That's what I was debating when you came in. I can get her to wake for a few seconds, but then she passes out again."
"Has she said anything?"
"Not much. The first time she opened her eyes she all but screamed for Rafe and then passed out again. I got her to wake up again a few minutes ago, she muttered something, I'm pretty sure she was asking for you, but then she was out. I was just getting her prepped to go for a cat scan so I can rule out anything serious."
"Can I see her for a minute first?"
"Of course." Rick stepped aside and allowed Natalia passed him so she could see Olivia.
Natalia slowly stepped up to Olivia's bed and grabbed her hand. She carefully touched her face with her other hand and kissed her forehead over the bandages. "Oh Olivia. I'm so sorry baby. This is all my fault." Tears silently streaked down her cheeks as she kept her face close to Olivia's. "Please baby, I need you to wake up okay. Just open your eyes for me honey."
Natalia pulled back slightly and watched as Olivia's eyes fluttered but never fully opened. The hand she was holding gave hers a slight squeeze and then was lifeless again as Olivia's eyes stopped fluttering and she was out again. Natalia kissed her forehead once more. "I love you Olivia. Rick's gonna take you for some test and I'll be right here when you get back. I love you so much baby."
Rick came over and told Natalia they'd be back in just a little while. He and the nurse unlocked the wheels and rolled Olivia from the room, passing Ava and Rafe in the hall as they went. Ava had managed to get Rafe to at least be aware and stop rocking. The two stood and entered Olivia's room together. Natalia had fallen into one of the chairs and was crying with her head in her hands.
Seeing his Ma like that snapped Rafe the rest of the way out of his funk and he rushed to her along with Ava. The two kids knelt on either side of her and just wrapped their arms around her. No one said anything. They all knew there were no words that could make this better, not until they knew Olivia was okay. Rafe and Ava both kissed their Ma's cheek and held her as tight as they could. These kisses were for strength to get through this. For hope that Olivia would come out of it okay, and for the love they all needed to hold onto.