Chapter 98

The following afternoon, Olivia was finally released. Natalia, Rafe, and Ava went to the hospital to get her and take her home with their security guards in tow. Phillip and Emma were waiting at the house, putting the final touches on the makeshift room that had been set up in the home office on the main floor of the house. Josh had Shane built a temporary ramp for Olivia that led to the front door since he was in St. Louis overseeing the beginning stages of construction on the new hotel for them.

When they finally pulled up a familiar man was waiting with a wheelchair to help get Olivia into the house. Olivia gasped and opened the door to the car. Sam quickly made it to her and lifted her from the passenger seat and into the chair. "Hey there Livvie."

"Sammie? You d-didn't have to c-come. I k-know you have t-to work."

"Nonsense. Nothing is more important then you and making sure you're okay. I would have come sooner but I didn't have a way to check my emails until last night. I'm so sorry I wasn't here Liv." He said with tears in his eyes.

Olivia grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. "It's o-okay Sammie. I'm fine. Y-you didn't need to c-come and you don't need to s-stay."

"The hell I don't. You almost died Liv. Again. I already lost one sister, I'm sure as hell not gonna lose another."

Olivia smiled and squeezed his hand again. "Okay. T-thank you for c-coming."

Sam bent down and kissed her cheek before wheeling her into the house. Ava, Natalia, and Rafe all following behind. Paul stayed with the family while Jeremy went to check the perimeter. Once Olivia was in the house, Sam moved her to the couch before Emma came running from the kitchen and saddled up next her. She was careful not to get to close so she didn't hurt her mommy. Phillip had made sure to explain to Emma how Olivia's ribs were hurt and that it would take some time before she could walk a lot and how they had to all be careful not to hurt her.

"I'm so glad you're home mommy. I've missed you so much."

Olivia kissed her cheek and held her as close as she could. "I've missed y-you too Jellybean. Were y-yo-you good f-for your d-da-daddy?"

"Yup. I was extra good once I found out you got hurt, and daddy let me help pick who would be on the security team to keep us safe. And he said that Michael is going to be with me all the time, even at school, and Jason and Kyle will be here soon cause daddy says we need more than two security guards now that you and Rafe and Ma are home and Ava won't be at the hotel anymore."

Olivia's gaze met Phillip's and she smiled her thanks. She then looked to Ava who was looking anywhere but at her mother who didn't know she was staying at The Beacon. "T-thank y-you Phillip, we w-will need to t-talk about all of this i-in a bit. I'm too t-tired right n-now though."

"We'll talk a little later. I'm going to go out and talk with the guys. Figure out who will be doing what and we will talk after you've had time to rest." Phillip said, kissing his ex-wife on the cheek before heading outside to meet with his security team.

Natalia went and sat on the arm of the couch next to Olivia. "Do you want to go and lay down for a little while sweetie? We can talk about everything when you get up."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. C-can you get Sam to c-come and ta-take me upstairs."

Natalia smiled at her wife. "You're not going upstairs, but yes, I'll get Sam to come help you to our new room for the next few weeks."

Olivia was confused but didn't get a chance to ask questions since Natalia was already halfway up the stairs. She looked down at her daughter. "You g-gonna tell me w-what's going on m-my little J-Jellybean?"

Emma shook her head. "Nope. It's a surprise."

Olivia was about to try and get the surprise out of Emma when Natalia came back down the stairs followed by her brother and their two eldest children. Sam walked over to her and scooped her up bridal style. "I know I could help you into your wheelchair and roll you in there, but this is more fun." He said with a smile. Then he looked at Natalia. "Lead the way."

Natalia smiled and turned to walk towards the home office with all of their children following behind Sam and Olivia. When Natalia opened the door, she stepped to the side so Olivia could see. When Olivia looked in, she gasped. There was a king size TEMPUR-Ergo adjustable bed, two nightstands, a dresser, and a flat screen mounted on the wall. Pictures of their family were everywhere, and orange daisy's sat in a vase on Olivia's side of the bed. It wasn't there bedroom, but Natalia and the kids had done their best to make it as close to it as possible.

"W-what is all of t-this?" Olivia asked in awe as Sam placed her on the bed and gave her the remote to adjust it to her liking.

Natalia joined her on the bed and held her free hand. "This is our room for now. Until you can make it up the stairs. It's not as big as our room, and it doesn't have our wonderful master bath, but…"

"You d-did all of t-th-this for just a c-couple of weeks? H-honey I could have s-stayed on the c-couch."

Natalia shook her head. "No, you have a long road of recovery ahead of you. I want you to be as comfortable as possible. And there is no way I was gonna spend another night not in bed with, so, this is our master bedroom for now."

Emma went to stand by her mommy. "Do you like it mommy? I drew the pictures on the wall, and Ava hung up the ones of all of us, and daddy helped with the bed, and Rafe suggested we get the T.V. so you don't get bored, and Ma got you the flowers. Everyone helped."

"It's perfect b-baby. Thank you. All of y-you." She said with unshed tears in her eyes just before she winced a little in pain and yawned.

Natalia stood from the bed and ushered everyone from the room. "Alright, I'm gonna give mom another pain pill and then she needs some rest. Why don't you guys go pick out a movie and I'll join you in a few minutes."

Everyone filed out of the room and Natalia went to grab Olivia's medicine. When she returned, she smiled at the sight of Olivia. Even with no makeup on, bandages on her head and around her middle, and tired eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman Natalia had ever seen. She was so glad to have her home and on her way to recovery. She was glad to be home herself. She hadn't been since it all happened. She climbed back on the bed and kissed her wife's cheek before handing her a water bottle and her pills.

"You really like the room?"

"Yes sweetheart, it's p-perfect. And I'm v-very glad I g-get to sleep w-with you a-again."

"Me too. Let me tell you, those chairs at the hospital are not made for sleeping. Now, you need to get some rest. We have a few things we need to discuss later."

"And I w-want to go d-down to the s-station, I want to s-see Frank before th-they transport him, and we promised E-Emma and Rafe to g-go."

Natalia frowned, she really didn't want Olivia or the kids to see him before the trial. She was worried about how they would be effected. She knew that she would just have to deal with it though. This was important to Olivia and after all she had been through, Natalia wasn't going to deny her. "Alright honey, we'll go when you wake up. I'll have Doris meet us down there. For now, get some rest. There's a bell over there if you need anything." She said pointing to the nightstand. "Phillip is having security cameras and an intercom put in tomorrow, but the bell will have to work for now."

"We don't n-need security cameras a-and an in-intercom Natalia."

"Yes we do. I don't ever want anything like this to ever happen again. Olivia I…" She trailed off, not willing to talk about it right now. Olivia needed rest and she needed to hold herself together. "We'll talk about it later, right now you need to sleep." She kissed Olivia gently and got off the bed.

"Okay." Olivia said softly. She could tell that something was bothering her wife, but she also knew Natalia was right, she needed to rest. She decided they were going to have this conversation, but it could wait. "I love y-you Natalia."

Natalia walked around the bed and kissed her wife again before pulling back and resting their foreheads together. "I love you Olivia. So much." She leaned in for one more kiss. "Now rest." She stated before exiting the room and seeking out the rest of her family.

Natalia walked into the living room and on any other day the sight before her would have made her smile, but today it broke her heart. The Little Mermaid was playing on the television. Emma was half asleep on Sam's lap with Ava and Rafe cuddled together on the other end of the couch. Rafe's arms wrapped protectively around his sister. She kissed all of her children and then whisper in Sam's ear before going through the kitchen and out the back door.

She nodded at who she assumed was one of the new security guards standing on the back porch and continued out into the yard and over to a big tree. She kicked at the trunk several times, it hurt her foot but she didn't care, she kept on kicking it. She was so angry and scared. Her family had been through so much. She didn't know how much more she could take. She screamed at the tree as if it had caused the pain herself and her family were in. She kicked until she was out of steam and then kept going, not stopping until strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her back.

Phillip held her close as he pulled her away from the tree that she kept trying to kick. He lowered himself and Natalia to the ground. "It's okay Natalia. She's home now, she's going to be okay."

Natalia leaned into him and finally let her own sobs out. "No, it's not. It's not okay. My wife has almost died twice in the last three months, my youngest daughter is terrified and having nightmares, my son thinks he's not a man because his mom got hurt, my eldest daughter has shut herself off, and I can't do anything to help any of them."

Phillip held her tighter and stroked her hair. For a few minutes he just let her cry, when the sobs became mere tears rolling down her cheeks, and her breathing became less labored, he finally spoke. "It's going to be alright Natalia. I've known Olivia for a very long time. She is a fighter, she's going to get through this, and so are you. And so are the kids. I will be here for all of you in whatever way I can."

Natalia didn't try to move from his lap, she simply shook her head and dried her tears. She let her body go limp in his arms. All of her strength had left her. "Thank you Phillip."

"Anytime. I'm here for you, for all of you. Whatever you need. I'm glad you finally let yourself go. You've been trying to be so strong for everyone else, but you're hurting too. You needed to let it all out."

Natalia finally felt like she could move and removed herself from Phillips lap but stayed leaning against his shoulder. "I didn't have a choice. With everything that Rafe and Olivia are going through, not to mention the girls, I couldn't, I just had to keep it together."

"And you did, but it's okay for you to cry too. I know Rafe was the one here with Olivia, but she's your wife, and he's your son, no one would expect you to be unaffected."

"I just can't believe this happened. I read Olivia's statement, and I talked to Mallet and Remy, but I just didn't realize how truly awful it was." She looked out over the field for a moment in thought, and then continued without looking at Phillip. "Rafe finally talked to me yesterday. I didn't know that Frank had the gun ready to fire and his finger on the trigger. I didn't realize that she was that close to death. Not that I'm diminishing her injuries, but, I had no idea that he was really going to kill her. Just shoot her and end her life. My wife was almost killed because I led Frank on."

Phillip weighed his words carefully before he spoke. "Natalia, you can't think like that. None of this is your fault. Frank…"

Natalia turned her gaze to him with fire in her eyes. "Isn't it? I'm the one that led Frank on. I'm the one he wants. If I would have just dated him, married him, none of this would have happened. My wrong doings just about got my wife and my son murdered."

Phillip held her face towards him with his thumb and index finger on her chin. "No Natalia. That's not what happened. The way I understand it, you had one dinner with the guy. He's the one that built up this fantasy in his head, he's the one that attacked your family several times. He's the one that left bruises on you and knocked Olivia out, held her at gun point and almost killed her. Frank did that, not you. You were friends with him, you had dinner with him once, that's all Natalia, this is no more your fault then it is Rafe's. I've heard him blaming himself too and I've heard you tell him that it's not his fault, just as he told Emma it's no one's fault. Listen to yourself Natalia. This isn't your fault either. Do you hear me? You did not knock Olivia unconscious, you didn't hold a gun to her head, Frank did."

Natalia turned away from him and looked out over the grass again. "Logically I know that, but I can't stop feeling responsible. All he wanted was me, if I had just given him that, none of this would have ever happened."

"You would have been unhappy Natalia, is that worth it?"

"To keep them all from having to live through this, yes."

"What about them Natalia? Would you want them to be unhappy?"

Natalia thought for a second and then whispered. "No."

"Well, they would have been. I don't know Rafe and Ava very well, but I do know Emma, and I know Olivia. I have never seen either of them so happy. You love Olivia the way no one else ever could, and you love Emma like she's yours, she is yours. And as for Ava and Rafe, I may not know them, but I know what happiness looks like, and I'll tell ya, when the five of you are together, that's pure happiness. You guys are the definition of what a family looks like. You pull together and support each other when times are tuff, and you laugh with each other when things are good. Natalia, you being with Frank may have stopped this from happening, but at what cost? Neither you nor Rafe would be this happy, and Olivia would be miserable, and Emma and Ava would have missed out on having such a wonderful Ma. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't deny those kids or Olivia that for anything in the world."

Natalia looked over at her wife's ex-husband, she had heard a lot about the man, most of it not so good. He had hurt Olivia in unforgivable ways, but as far as she was concerned, he was a good man, and she was thankful for him at that moment. He was right, her family was everything and she would do anything to keep them. She hated that this happened to her wife and her son. Hated that all of them were so scared and hurt right now, but she wouldn't ever want to go a day without them. "Thank you Phillip. You are a very wise man."

"I don't know about all that, but…" He smiled at her and bumped her shoulder. "So, you feeling better?"

Natalia smiled back. "Yes, yes I am. You're right, my family is worth it. I'm glad you were here to help me see it."

"Me too. And uh, when Olivia's feeling better, could you maybe say that to her? You know, the part about me being right about something." He said with a chuckle.

Natalia let out a small laugh for the first time in five days. "Yeah, I can do that. Thanks again Phillip." She kissed his cheek she stood and dusted herself off.

"Anytime. Now, I do need to introduce you to Jason and Kyle, and I wanted to go over the security system that will be installed tomorrow before I go."

"Alright, let's head back to the porch and we can talk. I'll grab us some tea."

"Sounds good."

The two walked back to the back door and Natalia went in to grab them both a glass of iced tea. When she came back out, Phillip introduced her to Jason and had him radio to Kyle for her to meet as well. Jason would be at their back door with Paul at the front. Jeremy would be in the front pasture and Kyle in the back yard and around the barn. There would be a camera at each door, including the one to Rafe's apartment, and both doors on Ava's barn apartment. An intercom system was being put throughout the house with two-way speakers in every room and it would double as a stereo. The cameras could be viewed from any computer as long as they were logged into the system as well as from a monitor in the master bedroom and the one in the temporary master bedroom that would eventually go back to being the home office. He assured her that no one else would be able to access the system.

When he finished explaining everything, he offered to go and grab the family dinner at Tower's. He planned on taking Emma with him for the rest of the week and weekend before she returned home. He wanted the entire security system up and going as well as Natalia and Olivia having time to adjust before bringing her home. It took some coaxing, but eventually Emma agreed. When Phillip left to go grab dinner, he had left Natalia on the back porch and told Sam he might want to go check on her.

As soon as Sam saw the look in Phillip's eyes, he knew Natalia wasn't as okay as she had been pretending to be. He immediately hopped up and headed out to sit with her. When he walked out the door, Natalia was sitting on the steps gazing up at the sky. He took a seat next to her and pat her knee. "Hey. How ya doing?"

"I'm okay. How are you handling all of this?"

"I'm fine. I mean, I'm pissed as hell, and I want to kill Frank with my bare hands, but, I know Livvie, she'll be okay. But I know you're not. So, tell me, what's up?"

"I'm…as good as can be expected. I'm worried about Olivia, and the kids, but uh, Phillip actually helped me, so, I'm okay at the moment."

"Okay." Sam relented. "You'll let me know if you're not though?"

Natalia smiled over at him. "Yeah. I'll let you know. For now, though, I need to go check on Olivia and I need to go grab some things for her and me from our room." She went to stand but Sam grabbed her arm.

"Um, wait. Have you been up there yet?"

"No, I didn't really leave Olivia's hospital room for more than a few minutes. Ava brought us some things we had at The Beacon, but I need to bring a few things down."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I think you should wait to go up there. Let me get it cleaned up a bit first."

"Oh." She said, realizing that there was probably a mess from the struggle that her wife had went through in their room. "No, it's okay Sam, I think I need to go up and see for myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I need to see it." She stated determined.

"Okay, let me go with you though."

"No. I think I need to go by myself."

Sam didn't like the idea but he knew he wasn't going to stop her so he just nodded. The two went back in the house and into the living room. Sam sat down with his niece and nephew while Natalia simply walked past them and straight up the stairs. Rafe and Ava both made to go after her, but Sam shook his head at them and the two both sat back down. Rafe was secretly happy; he hadn't been up there yet and wasn't sure he could handle it. Ava on the other hand had been up earlier with Sam, she didn't get to see everything because Natalia had come to get them but she saw enough and she was worried for her Ma to see it.

Natalia stood before her bedroom door. The police tape was still hanging from one side and it was barely cracked open. She wasn't sure she was really ready for this, but she wanted to see. She didn't want someone else to clean it up and let her pretend it hadn't happened. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed opened the door.

When she opened her eyes, she gasp. She could see glass everywhere and from the smell she knew it was several broken bottles of her and Olivia's perfume. The dresser was not in its rightful spot and she could see something sticking out from the bottom of it. She carefully knelt down and pulled the item from under the dresser. There in a broken frame, was a scratched photo of her family. She didn't know that it was the same photo Olivia had looked at before Frank knocked her out completely. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of the scratched and tattered picture. She refused to let them fall though. She needed to see this; she wanted a clearer picture of what her wife had endured.

She looked around the room from her spot. The blankets on the bed were rumbled and there were small spots of blood on the floor next to the bed. She thought back to Olivia and Rafe's statements and to the things Remy and Mallet had said. She could see it perfectly in her mind's eye. Frank standing next to the bed, Olivia unconscious in front of him, blood dripping from her temple. She could see Rafe standing in front of her, scared for her life. Then a smile almost came to her lips as she watched the scene unfold in her mind. Olivia banging her head back into Frank, stomping his foot while she turned and grabbed the gun. Her knee hitting his groin and forcing him to the ground. She could see the evil smirk on Olivia's lips as she pressed her heel into his manhood and held his own gun to his chest.

She knew it was wrong to be happy about someone else's pain, but as the images she could imagine of that night played out in her head, she was happy for the pain Olivia inflicted on Frank. Happy for the fact that she broke his nose and at the very least bruised his testicles. She shook the thoughts from her head and turned to the closet. The place where it had begun that evening. Where Frank had grabbed Olivia and knocked her unconscious. Where he had hit her in the temple with his gun and let her fall to the floor, hitting the back of her head on what the forensics' team believes was the corner of the small table that held some of their purses. Where he kicked her in the ribs until he broke four and let her pass out again when she woke up from the first blow. She stood and walked closer. The door was open, but her eyes were closed. She took a moment to gather herself and then opened her eyes and reached for the closet light.

As she flicked the light on she fell to the floor, barely catching herself on her hands and knees. She sucked in a few deep breaths and sat back on her heels. There was so much blood. It was on the corner of the small table and had run down the leg. She could see it on several on their purses and a few pairs of shoes. Then there were the two pools on the floor where she assumed Olivia had landed when she fell. She finally found the strength to stand and pulled herself up using the door jam. She stood there and looked around. There were clothes strewn everywhere, blood covering several items. As she stood there and looked at the scene, she lost her breath as images danced in her mind. Frank grabbing Olivia and covering her mouth. Olivia fighting against him until he punched her and slammed the butt of his gun into her head. In her mind she watched Olivia fall and hit her head in slow motion. Then she saw Olivia groaning as she became conscious until Frank kicked her repeatedly until she passed out from the pain. She felt herself began to fall and just before she hit the ground, her world went black.

The three downstairs heard the fall and all stood and raced for the stairs. "No." Sam yelled. "You two stay down here." As he ran up the stairs he heard Olivia's bell ring. "Go check on your mom."

Sam reached the landing and headed straight to the master bedroom. He ran in and fell to his knees beside Natalia, pulling her head onto his lap. He tapped her face lightly. "Natalia, Natalia. Wake up." Natalia stirred for a moment and then opened her eyes. "Oh my god Natalia. What happened?"

Paul had raced up after Sam, not allowing Rafe or Ava to stop him, when he saw the scene in front of him, he figured everything was okay. After confirming that with Sam he quickly escaped back to his post on the front porch.

Natalia starred at Sam for a moment before moving to sit up. Sam helped her into a seated position and kept a hand on her back to keep her steady. "I'm sorry, I uh, I fell."

"I can see that. What happened?"

Natalia looked around the closet again. "I um, I could see it happening and I guess it was too much."

Sam stood and reached a handout to help Natalia to her feet. "I would say so. I told you not to come up here alone. Come on, let's get you downstairs." He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out of the room.

"No, no. I'm okay. I just, it was just too much for a minute, but I needed to see it."

Before Sam could say anything more, Rafe appeared in front of them. "Ma, are you okay?" He asked out of breath.

"I'm okay Rafe. I'm sorry. I just got a little dizzy."

"You sure? It sounded like it did before when mom…" He trailed off, unable to complete the thought.

Natalia wrapped up in a tight hug. "Oh Rafe, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm fine."

"It's okay Ma. I just uh…never mind. You better get down to mom. She heard the noise and woke up, she's kind of panicking a little."

Natalia pulled back from the hug and started sprinting down the stairs. "Oh my god, Olivia." She ran down the stairs and into her makeshift bedroom as Oliva was fighting against Ava to get out of bed.

"Mom, you can't get up, she's fine. Sam and Rafe are up there."

Natalia rushed to her side. "Hey, lay down I'm okay, I'm right here." She soothed as she gently pushed on Olivia's shoulder to get her to lay back down.

"I hear-hear-heard a n-noise." Olivia stuttered out, still panicking slightly.

"I know, I'm so sorry baby. I just fell, I'm okay, nothing happened."

Olivia was clinging to Natalia and fighting tears. "I was s-sc-scared something happen t-to y-you."

Natalia sat on the edge of the bed and brought Olivia fully into her arms. "I know. I know honey. I'm sorry. It's okay though. I'm right here."

Ava crawled onto the bed on the other side of Olivia and gently hugged her so she wouldn't hurt her ribs. Rafe and Sam had made it to the room and Rafe also crawled onto the bed and lay his head on Olivia's leg. Sam sat at the foot of the bed and just watched the family as they all tried to sooth and comfort each other. His heart broke for his sister and her family. He decided that as much as he wanted to be there for them, they needed this moment, so he silently slipped from the room and went to sit in the living room.

Olivia pulled back a little from her wife and kids. "I w-was having a d-dream a-and Frank w-was h-he-here, and, a-and then I h-heard…"

Natalia ran her fingers through her wife's hair and rubbed her back. "Shh, shh, don't talk right now honey, you're too worked up. It's okay. Everything is okay. Look, I'm right here, Ava and Rafe are here too. And Emma's safe with Phillip.

"I w-want, I want to g-go see h-him." Olivia choked out.

"We will honey. Let's wait until tomorrow. Okay?"

"N-no! N-now. I ne-need to s-see h-him now." She stuttered out. It seemed that her stutter was worse when she was worked up. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. "Please N-Natalia."

Natalia glanced at Ava and Rafe before looking back to her wife. "Okay baby, we'll go now. Let me get you some clothes and we'll go."

"Thank y-you."

"Of course, honey." She kissed the side of Olivia's head and stood from the bed. "Ava honey, could you call Phillip, tell him we'll pick up our dinner at Tower's after we go to the jail, and ask him to meet us there with Emma. We are only going to see that man one time before the trial and this is it. Emma wants to go, so we'll all go now."

Ava nodded and grabbed Rafe's hand to lead him from the room. Once they were gone, Natalia grabbed some yoga pants and t-shirt for Olivia and went to help her change. As she helped Olivia sit up and Olivia saw the clothes, she shook her head.

"No." Olivia stated firmly.

"No what sweetie?" Natalia asked confused.

"I w-want one of m-my suits."

"Olivia, you just got out of the hospital, you have four broken ribs. Comfortable clothes are better."

"I w-want him t-to see that he d-didn't break m-me. I want h-him to see Olivia freakin' S-Spencer."

Natalia nodded, she understood that Olivia needed this in order to face him. Her power suits were like armor for her. She walked to the door and called for Sam. She asked him to go up and grab Olivia's charcoal grey pant suit and a white button up with a pair of black flats. Sam didn't understand but nodded and went to grab the requested items.

Natalia went back to Olivia and sat next to her. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes. I n-need to see that b-bastard, and Emma n-needs to see him. Mallet s-said they are m-moving him tomorrow."

Natalia nodded. "Okay baby. We'll do this together. All of us. We are at our best when we're a united front, and we will all stand before him together."

"T-thank you sweetheart. I l-love you."

"I love you too. Always." Natalia leaned over and carefully placed her lips against Olivia's. Olivia gripped the back of Natalia's neck and pulled her in for a deeper kiss. For Olivia, this kiss was the strength she needed to remember she's not dead. She's here and as fierce as ever. It was Olivia freakin' Spencer, bitch on wheels, is back and headed straight for Frank Cooper.