So glad you guys are still reading, I appreciate all of the feedback. Your reviews are hilarious! Please keep them coming! Usual disclaimers, blah.
Amanda's eyes fluttered as she tried to figure out where she was. There were IV lines hooked into her arms, a machine monitoring her heartbeat, and a nasal cannula to help her breathe. She was desperately trying to piece together what had led her to this hospital room. The last thing that she could remember was riding home with Fin after leaving the bar. Panic set in as her breathing became erratic; a calming hand gently squeezed her shoulder trying to get her to relax. Her breathing began to even out as her eyes fully opened as she adjusted them to the light. She looked over to where she felt the comforting hand and met sincere almond brown eyes gazing at her with warmth and concern.
"Hey there, how are you feeling?" whispered Olivia.
"Confused and thirsty," mumbled Amanda.
Liv walked over to pour the young detective some water and adjusted the straw so that Amanda could drink. "Is that better?"
"Yes, much better, thank you. Wh-why am I here?"
Olivia knew this talk wouldn't be easy or comfortable but she had to tell the truth, she took a deep breath and then proceeded to tell Amanda what happened. "Well, there's no easy way to say this but you had an ectopic pregnancy, the doctors did everything that they could but you lost the baby. I'm so sorry Amanda."
Tears were spilling from the corners of Amanda's eyes as she processed what Liv was saying to her. "I-I didn't even know I was pregnant. I never would have been out drinking, I did this. I'm the reason why this happened."
"No," Liv stopped her. "It was that way from the beginning, you didn't do anything wrong. Your fertilized egg was growing in your Fallopian tube from conception. It's nothing that you did wrong, so don't blame yourself, don't go there."
"Who brought me to the hospital? I can't remember anything."
"You were at another bar and some lady found you in the restroom stall passed out and bleeding. She called 911 and they rushed you into emergency surgery, you had lost a lot of blood but they got it under control and you're going to be fine."
"That's right; after Fin rode away I walked over to the bar across the street from my apartment. I guess I'm lucky that I wasn't home alone. How did you know to come?" Amanda thought about it for a second and remembered she was her emergency contact person. "Oh you're my in case of emergency person; you didn't have to come…"
"Stop, don't even try it. Of course I was going to come, I care about you Amanda, I do. I was worried sick while I was waiting, I couldn't shake the sick feeling of the unpleasant coffee shop talk possibly being our last conversation. I'm so glad that you're going to be alright."
The tears flowed freely and Amanda couldn't stop them, she was truly touched by Olivia's words and her actions by being there for her. She couldn't believe that through all of their issues that Olivia was still a stand up woman and Amanda was so grateful to have a person like that in her corner. "I don't know what to say, I've been such a bitch to you lately and yet you're still here." She reached for Liv's hand and locked her intense blue eyes on the sergeant. "I'm glad that wasn't our last conversation also, I'm so sorry for everything. You being here, in spite of all the bs, mean so much to me. I don't have any family here and even if they were here, you would still be my emergency contact. Thank you Olivia, thank you so much."
Olivia was now fighting tears of her own as she listened to the sincerity in Amanda's voice. She squeezed her hand affectionately before responding. "That's what friends are for."
Relieved that their 'feud' was behind them, the blonde smiled before asking a serious question. "Liv can I ask for one more favor?" Olivia nodded, "Please don't tell Nick."
Oh God, Nick. Olivia thought to herself before answering. "Not a word," said Liv as she secretly thought what her explanation would be to Nick why she wasn't home. Then it dawned on her that Amanda was pregnant with Nick's child, her Nick. And then to top it off she had just promised not to say a word to him about it. How the hell am I going to keep this from him?
Nick felt defeated; he couldn't figure out why Olivia wouldn't open the door or answer his phone calls. He replayed the last few hours in his head looking for what went wrong and he couldn't figure it out. He feared that she regretted it, maybe embarrassed and was now going to shut him out and pretend it didn't happen. Everything seemed so perfect, what happened in that hour? Nick was frustrated as he tossed and turned in his empty, cold bed, which still smelled of Olivia. His phone vibrated on the nightstand and he was relieved to see Olivia's face on the screen. "Hey what happened?"
"I'm sorry something came up, I uhm, I had to go to Mercy." Olivia thought that she should tell as much of the truth that she could.
"Mercy? I didn't get a call, we caught a case?"
"No, it's nothing really, it was something I had to check on, don't worry about it. I'm sorry for not calling before I left, I was in a rush." Olivia knew Nick wouldn't just stop with the questions so she decided to distract him and get his mind focused on to something else. "I hope that you know I thoroughly enjoyed myself with you, I'm sure you remember what I enjoyed the most. I also don't want you to think that I regret sleeping with you, because I don't."
Nick let out a breath that he wasn't aware of holding as his face lifted up into a half smile. "Yes, I definitely know that you enjoyed yourself, twice if I'm not mistaken." Got him, it worked thought Liv. "I'm so glad that you said that Liv, my mind has been racing for the last few hours. I thought I did something wrong or that I freaked you out. I didn't know what to think."
"No, you didn't do anything wrong. I told you that you were perfect. I'm sorry our night was interrupted."
"There will be plenty of other nights, plenty," Nick said matter-of-factly.
"Is that so? You're very sure of yourself, aren't you Detective? Your ego is very much intact I see."
"Well, you were the one who stroked it for me. And man did you stroke it."
They both laughed at his joke until silence clung to the phone before Olivia spoke. "Nick, what are we doing?"
"Something that we should have done a long time ago. I want you, Liv. I know it's a lot of little issues in our way but that doesn't change the fact that I want to be with you."
"The issues aren't little Nick, I'm your boss. I have a new son and don't forget about Rollins." He has no idea about Rollins; he deserves to know what's going on.
"Work will be fine, I have a plan, so don't worry. I won't let Noah down just like I won't let you down. And to hell with Rollins, I'm over her and all of her little stunts; I've had it with her."
"Nick, don't say that, she's got a lot going on. Please, just cut her some slack."
"Wait, so now you're defending her? Why are you defending her?"
"Like I said, she has a lot going on right now and she needs her friends."
"What are you not telling me?"
Liv scrambled to give some type of reason without revealing the truth. "Nothing, I'm just saying it can't be easy for her right now that's all, so just drop it."
"Fine, whatever. I don't care about the other stuff, I care about you."
"I care about you too. We have to take it slow though, Nick. I can't rush into this with you and as amazing as tonight, well last night was, I can't sleep with you again until I'm sure of what I want. The sex clouds my judgment and I can't think rationally."
What?! You've got to be kidding me. "Uhm, really? I mean, yeah ok, I get that. I guess…" The last part of his statement earned a laugh from Liv. They talked for a few more minutes before they ended the call.
The weekend went by rather quickly after that long Friday night, early Saturday morning. Olivia and Nick took Noah to the park Saturday afternoon, which he enjoyed thoroughly. They talked and laughed like they had several times before but there was a difference. Their feelings were out in the open and they both knew that this could be the start to a future together. They held hands as Noah played and took pictures together to remember the special day. Sunday morning Olivia went to visit Amanda before she was discharged to make sure that she got home ok.
"You didn't have to come, I told you I would be fine," said Amanda in a hushed southern tone as Liv helped her out of the taxi.
"Yes I did, I had to make sure that you got home alright. Do you have your meds?"
"Yep, I've got everything I need; you can go, enjoy your Sunday."
Olivia walked to refrigerator to see if there was anything she could whip together for Amanda. "You have old Chinese food, ketchup, expired yogurt and two sad eggs; wonderful. Ok, I'm going to run to the store to pick up a few things, and then I'm going to stop by the deli to pick up some soup. Any requests?"
"Please, you don't have to do that. I will just order take-out or something."
"See you in an hour; take your meds, rest," said Olivia as she exited the apartment. She returned a little over an hour later with groceries and soup as promised. She was happy to see Rollins sleeping peacefully on the couch. She didn't want to disturb her so she put away all of the items and left a note by the soup. Hey you were out cold and I didn't want to wake you. I put away the groceries and left the soup on the counter. Rest and take it easy, I will check in on you after work tomorrow. I can't imagine how you must be feeling but I want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk. Talk to you soon. –Liv. Amanda stirred a few hours after Olivia had left. She saw the soup on the counter as her stomach began to growl in anticipation. Before she got to the soup she read Liv's note and unshed tears started to blur her vision. The detective was truly grateful to have someone like Olivia in her life even though she felt that she didn't deserve her generosity. Amanda looked for her cell phone as she prepared to make a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, I uhm, I need to talk to you. Can you come over?"
"Amanda, look I don't think that's such a good idea."
"I had a miscarriage Nick, please. I need you," cried a devastated Amanda.
Nick swallowed hard before responding, "I'm on my way."
Thanks for reading! Chapter 8 is coming VERY soon. Special shout out to Pam I Am, J Tindall, DD and NickandLiv (one of my fav writers) and everyone who has supported my little story, thanks it means a lot to me!
