Tri-Olitz
Chapter 3
The Present
Stateside, Bethesda Olivia's POV
The hospital room is quiet and dark except for the dim slither of fluorescent lighting coming from the cracked open door to the bathroom. I lie next to Fitz with my head resting on his chest. He's sedated and I'm fine with that. He's safe, he's home and he's wrapped in my arms breathing on his own. All that matters is that we got to him in time. The bastards did not get the chance to break him, not that they could. My Fitz is strong, mentally and physically. Yes, his body suffered injury but nothing permanent or disfiguring. My love, my hero is home. Our stars are back in alignment and we will settle down together and make babies, lots of chubby-cheek babies. Finally, I can let my tears fall and breathe again. I kiss Fitz on the jaw and exhale before falling into a deep sleep for the first time in days.
Five Hours Earlier
Dr. Wilkins, the baby-faced chief resident of Internal Medicine approaches me, Jake and Huck as we sit anxiously in the hospital waiting room. We're holding hands and quietly praying for Fitz; my lover and their best friend, well he is my best friend too.
Always somewhat self-conscious about interrupting praying families, the freckle-faced physician meekly clears his throat announcing his presence. "Are you here for Captain Grant?"
"Yes we are", I confirm jumping to my feet.
"Are you his family?"
"Yes, I am his fiancé and Jake here is his cousin. Now that you know who we are can you please fill us in on how he is doing", I ask impatiently.
"Of course; Captain Grant suffered joint and soft tissue injuries, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs and peripheral nervous system damage. It appears his captors employed a variety of torture methods including beatings, sleep deprivation, water boarding and electro shock. The beatings produced no internal bleeding, probably because they wanted to drag out his interrogation over an extended period. Fortunately, because you were able to rescue him within 72 hours of capture the interrogators did not have enough time to inflict any permanent damage. The captain is quite a lucky man."
We breathe a collective sigh of relief and hug each other. "Thank you doctor", Jake says offering his hand to shake.
"When can we see him?"
"The orthopedist is finishing up resetting his shoulder, so he should be in his room within the next fifteen minutes or so. Check with the duty nurse for his room assignment. Since you are his family, the PTSD support team will want to speak to later. We here at the hospital can address his physical and some of his psychological needs; however, you as his family will need to provide the emotional support he'll need to work through the aftermath of his ordeal." We nod and thank the doctor again.
After the doctor leaves, I go stand by the waiting room window. Hugging myself to calm my nerves, I stare out at the red-orange haze of the setting sun. A weird kind of euphoric numbness envelopes my entire body, I can even feel it in my hair. "A variety of torture methods", "no time to inflict permanent damage", "rescued in time", "quite a lucky man"; the doctor's words keep replaying in my head like a broken record. Intellectually I understand the duality of this feeling I have; I'm euphoric because Fitz is alive and safe but at the same time I'm numb because of what happened to him. The love of my life was beaten and abused and I was helpless to prevent it. My rational mind knows there is no way I could protect Fitz in a combat situation but my irrational mind feels as if I let Fitz down, as if I let our team down. Try as I might, I can't make my mind go blank or quell my thoughts of failure and blame.
Jake can see me internally browbeating myself. He knows there is no point in telling me not to blame myself; I just need time, time to digest the situation on my own terms. "Liv it's okay, you don't have to hold everything in. We got him. We brought him home. He's safe. You can let go."
"Jake, I'm fine. Really, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I just want to see him and hold him. I'm fine, really." I rub Jake's arm, hoping my impassive demeanor masks my mounting trepidation.
"Okay Liv, whatever you say." Jake kisses me on the temple then walks over to talk to the duty nurse.
He drums his fingers on the counter of the nurse's station waiting for the duty nurse to acknowledge him. The six-foot transgender platinum blonde Florence Nightingale looks up with an irritated expression from the stack of patient charts she's trying to organize. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I need Captain Grant's room number. Dr. Wilkins said I should obtain the room number from you."
The nurse spins around in her chair and rolls over to the computer. She punches in Fitz's name and hits enter. She spins around again and returns to the counter with a notably less harsh expression. "Captain Grant is in room 542. Take the east elevator, turn right as you exit the elevator and room 542 will be at the end of the hall on your left. The doctor has the captain on a morphine drip to relieve his pain and to help him sleep so you may not be able to talk to him before it takes effect."
"Thank you, Room 542."
Jake returns to me and Huck and together, with me leading the way, make our way to Fitz's room. I push the up button to summon the elevator. Two seconds later, I push the button again.
"What's taking so long?" I push the button repeatedly in between scrutinizing the floor indicator above the elevator. Huck grabs my hand and looks me in the eye. "He's going to be alright. You heard the doctor, no permanent damage." I nod my head up and down and step back from the elevator. The elevator doors open a few seconds later.
The moment the elevator opens onto the fifth floor, I fly out in a flash and practically run down the hallway. I get to Fitz's door and stop abruptly. Placing my hand on the knob, I take a deep breath before opening the door. I slowly push the door open and creep in. Fitz is lying in bed propped up and sleeping. He looks peaceful. You would never guess that three days ago he was lying beaten and bloody on the concrete floor of a makeshift jail in the middle of the desert. I approach him cautiously, because I don't want to wake him. I come along the right side of bed and grasp his hand. A familiar electrical charge flows between the two of us and Fitz' eyes pop open. He smiles at me and squeezes my hand.
"Hi", he utters in a raspy pant. Hearing the distinctive timbre of his baritone voice under that throaty hoarseness makes my heart flutter. Fitz can always make my body tingle with just that single word. Our code word for everything is a-okay.
"Hi", I counter with a smile that makes his face light up. I lean in and softly kiss him on the lips. It's a quick kiss but it conveys what I'm feeling. I begin to pull away but he draws me back for a more passionate tongue exchange. Our connection is as intense as it always is, because our bodies have a natural affinity and we respond to one another with an intimacy uniquely our own. He can use a breath mint, but I don't care, I have practically simonized the inside of his mouth with my tongue when he's had full blown morning breath so a little dry mouth is nothing. I cradle his face and press my brow to his. "I love you so much baby. You almost died", I say, my voice cracking a little.
"I know."
"Don't do it again." I playfully chide.
"Okay", he says stroking my cheek with the palm of his knuckle-scrapped hand.
"All right, all right, enough with the googly eyes and swapping spit. Huck and I are in the room. Save your PDA (private displays of affection) for later, you're really making Huck uncomfortable." Huck grins shaking his head.
"Oh just Huck?" Fitz questions.
"Oh please spare me; you forget I've been around you two for so long I'm immune to your softcore porn greetings." Jake playfully pushes me aside so he can give Fitz a warm brotherly embrace. They hold each other for couple of minutes, then Jake steps aside to let Huck do the same. The three men wipe a lone tear from the base of their eyes. I look on smiling, overwhelmed by the love I feel for all three of my boys.
"Thanks for having my back guys. I…I…I have no words. I…I…I mean how did you do it", Fitz asks with tears in his eyes?" The combination of drugs, shock and psychological trauma are making Fitz emotional. He grabs my hand, kisses it and presses his head against it. I bend down, kiss the top of his head, hug him and let him rest his head on my chest. Jake and Huck can see we need to be alone and start retreating from the bed.
"Okay we're going to let you rest. We'll come by tomorrow man", Jake says as he and Huck turn to leave.
"Babe I'll be right back. I want to see Jake and Huck out." He continues to hold me, refusing to let go. Jake and Huck mouth to me "stay with him." I nod goodbye to them and turn my attention to Fitz.
"Livvie, I can't believe you came for me. I love you so much sweet baby. I love you so much," he keeps repeating and whimpering. My heart is breaking. I climb into the bed with him and hold him tight.
"I love you too Fitz, so much so the deepest abyss cannot contain my love for you. Sleep baby. Get some rest. We'll talk in the morning."
"You came for me…you came for me…I love you." Fitz falls asleep in my arms with "I love on his lips."
AN- The chapters will alternative between the past and the present until a few days before Fitz's mission. Also from this point forward, the story will be told from Olivia and Fitz's perspective- thought I'd try something new.
The next chapter will be about the second time Fitz rescues Olivia.
I am so happy you are enjoying this story so far. Your comments have been great. Thank you. Take care until next time.