Part III
Olivia pushes Noah in the swing at the park when Barba approaches- briefcase in one hand, a file in the other. He's dressed in one of his three-piece suits and when he gets to the edge of the sandbox that the swings are in- he waits. No way these Gucci shoes are stepping into that soggy sand.
Olivia watches him for a moment- amused, as he considers how to make his way over to her. Finally, he looks up at her and holds out the file, "Got you the file you asked for".
Olivia grabs Noah out of the swing and walks over to him. She takes the file from him and deposits it in the back of Noah's stroller, which sits beside one of the benches.
"Taking a day off in the middle of the week? It's like I don't know you at all anymore, Sargeant.", Barba smirks.
"Well it's, what? 10 O'Clock? and I've already gotten 3 calls from Fin, one from Amaro and now you're here so I don't know that I'm very good at it."
Barba looks a little guilty for a moment but doesn't own up to it, "Well as long as you're in court tomorrow, I don't care where you work from today."
Olivia fights back an eye roll. Barba can't help but smile at her expression. Suddenly, Noah's ears perk up when he hears the bicycle bell from an ice cream cart. He turns to Barba, eyes wide. "'Scream?", he whispers, almost reverently.
Barba looks at the wide-eyed toddler and laughs, "That's a Pavlovian response if ever I've seen one."
"You started this. I told you not to buy him ice cream in the park."
The bell dings again. "'Scream!" Noah- now sure of what he's heard- is leaning desperately in Barba's direction. Raf always buys him ice cream.
Barba looks to Olivia, "What'd you say, Mom? Can he have some scream?"
Noah turns to look at his mother and Barba feigns a most ridiculous pleading face he can manage. Two sets of wide, green eyes staring back at her, Olivia hands Noah over, "Okay, but when he's not going down for a nap in two hours, I'm dropping him off at your office for the rest of the day."
Barba holds his hands out to Noah, who goes to him. Barba holds Noah out away from him while Olivia brushes the sand off his shoes so he won't get it on Barba's suit. "That Noah, is what we call a passive aggressive yes. But it's a yes all the same!".
Olivia manages to return a look that reflects both amusement and the intent to commit homicide. Barba settles Noah and walks with him towards the ice cream cart.
As they walk away, Olivia thinks about how close Barba and Noah have become over the past several months. The comments from her team about her and Barba dating have only pointed out what she already subconsciously knew- she wants more from her relationship with Barba. But what if they took it beyond friendship and it didn't work out? She'd hate for Noah to have to lose Barba because she selfishly wanted more.
Again, she pushes the thought of anything more away. She justifies it by lying to herself. She doubted Barba wanted the same things anyway. He'd shown no indication that he did and Rafael Barba was the type of man to go after what he wanted. He'd have made his move by now if he wanted to be more than friends. As much as he seemed to love Noah, she couldn't imagine that he wanted to be a full time family man.
The next afternoon in court- Barba is finishing up questioning Benson when Rollins steps into the back of the court- a worried look on her face. Neither Barba or Benson notice.
"Thank you, Sargeant." Barba takes his seat back at the prosecution table. Rollins approaches him and whispers into his ear. His eyes go wide and snap to Olivia.
Defense council has only gotten through the first half of their first question when Barba jumps up, "Your Honor, may we approach?" The defense attorney spins around and gives Barba a look of disbelief. The judge looks down her nose at Barba but before she can scold him, he doubles down. "It's important, Your Honor."
Both attorneys approach the bench. Barba tries to talk as quietly as possible with Olivia sitting right there. "Your Honor, I'd like to request a recess until tomorrow morning. Sargeant Benson's son is in route to the hospital, I'd like to give her the opportunity to go be with him."
As much as Olivia was trying not to listen, she's heard and looks to Barba, panicked. He sees her out of the corner of his eye and lifts his fingers off the wood in a nearly imperceptible gesture, 'just hold on, I'll get you out of here'.
The judge sighs warily then looks to the defense. The defense attorney nods his approval. "Alright Mr. Barba." Then to the court, "The court will take a recess until tomorrow morning, at which time defense can continue cross examination of this witness."Barba is already grabbing his coat and briefcase. Olivia is out of the witness box and walking right behind him in seconds.
As they exit the courtroom, Barba kicks into problem solving mode, "My car's downstairs. Meet me out front, I'll pull around." Olivia shows no sign of protest. She simply nods and heads for the elevator.
Outside the courthouse, Barba pulls the car up and Olivia hops in. She's on the phone with the babysitter who's filling her in. She can hear Noah screaming in the background. Olivia tries to reassure the babysitter on the other end of the line but her distress is obvious inside the car as they hit one stoplight after another.
Olivia hangs up and stares forward, trying to keep it together. She can't keep the frustration out of her voice, "A dog bit him, in the park! Got his entire lower arm. It may be broken!" She closes her eyes and tries to calm down, "I just want 6 months without a hospital visit."
Barba tries hard to concentrate on driving as opposed to his own anxiety. He steals a quick look at Olivia before reaching across and sliding his free hand into hers. He gives her hand a quick squeeze, bringing her eyes back to him. "He'll be OK, Liv."
She gives him, a grateful smile that doesn't reach her eyes but she holds onto his hand. She'll admit, his concise reassurance calms her. Or maybe it's her hand in his.
Olivia realizes as they pull up to the hospital that it's neither. It's merely the fact that for the first time- she doesn't have to walk into this hospital alone. Barba's right there with her, just as he has been through so much. The comfort Olivia finds in that is overwhelming and slightly terrifying as she realizes how much she's come to rely on him. Rafael Barba has become the person who makes her most terrible days just a little easier- because she doesn't have to always face them alone. He's become her best friend.
It occurs to her that she should be content with their friendship- that maybe she can be happy with the way things are.
All of Barba's bravado goes out the door the moment they get into the ER. After finding out from a nurse where Noah is- he and Liv rush down the hallway toward triage.
Now close enough to hear Noah's bloodcurdling screams- Barba suddenly feels as if he might be sick. It's the feeling he got the day his grandmother died. The feeling he got the day he found out Lewis had Olivia. And the feeling he got the day he had to stand by in court and watch Lewis torture her all over again. It's the heart dropping feeling of someone you care about hurting. He does his best to collect himself before stepping around the hospital curtain with Olivia.
Noah sits on the triage bed beside the babysitter who looks like Barba feels. Gauze has been placed gently over the bite on his arm and the blood is starting to seep through. Tears are streaming down Noah's face and he's screaming the most agonizing scream Barba thinks he's ever heard. The moment they step around the curtain, Noah is reaching out for Olivia. "Mama mama!", he can barely breathe, much less talk, he's crying so hard.
Olivia goes to him and snuggles him as close as she can without causing his injured arm further pain. None of the anxiety that Barba knows she's feeling comes out in her voice as she speaks calmly to him- doing her best to soothe him. She's been doing this mom thing for a while now- and unfortunately, this is far from her first trip to the ER with Noah. Barba stands close but gives Olivia space to do her thing.
The babysitter is visibly upset and tries to apologize as she explains what happened. Olivia reassures her that everything's alright. The babysitter informs them that they took X-rays and the doctor should be in with results and to stitch him up soon before she leaves the three of them alone in the small curtained area.
Noah's still crying softly but no longer screaming- so Olivia decides to lift the gauze to assess the damage. As soon as she does, Barba feels the blood drain from his face. Noah's tiny forearm is swollen to twice it's size and covered in blood. The bite covers nearly from elbow to wrist and looks like it cut quite deep.
Barba puts a hand on the boy's back, as much to ground himself as to give Noah comfort. Noah's crying starts to ramp back up just as the doctor steps in.
She's young but stern looking and when she talks she's rather curt and to the point, she spends more time looking at the chart than the three of them. "Noah's parents?" Olivia nods, anxious to find out what's going on and get Noah out of pain. "X-rays came back. He has a small hairline fracture on his radius. Um, his forearm." she explains, as if they're morons, without even looking up to see if they understand. "It's not displaced so we can go ahead and suture the cuts on his arm and then he'll need to be fitted for a cast."
"How long will he need to be in the cast?" Olivia's trying hard to not let the doctor's tone get to her.
"We're looking at 4-6 weeks." The doctor finally puts the chart down and begins gathering supplies for the sutures. Olivia scoots over a bit so the doctor can get to the injured arm but Barba takes an imposing stance behind Noah. He stares the doctor down as she sits in front of Noah and readies a lidocaine needle. "Alright little prick to numb the area."
Noah, unsure of what's going on, starts to cry. "Needle hasn't even touched you yet." The doctor looks up to Barba. "You'll need to hold him still."
Barba gives Olivia a horrified look, Olivia takes a brief moment to stop shooting daggers at the doctor and nod her approval at Barba. They both know Noah risks further injury if he squirms while getting the stitches. So Barba leans down and holds him with both arms- trying to be as comforting but firm as possible. As the doctor administers the lidocaine, Noah's cries turn back into bloodcurdling screams.
The doctor sighs, exasperated. "Quite the screamer." That's the final straw, Olivia opens her mouth to let out her rage but before she can Barba's hand darts out between the doctor and Noah.
Suddenly, the reserved councilor is an all out Cuban storm.
"Hold on! He's TWO! He doesn't know what's going on! He's terrified and you're scaring him even more! Did you miss bedside manner day in Med-school?!"
If it weren't for her son in pain beside her, Olivia would have found it funny. The man that half of Manhattan's judicial system called 'El Tiburon' berating another human being about their bedside manner.
The doctor is completely taken aback. "Sir, unfortunately, your son is going to have-"
"I'm not his father! I'm his-" He pauses awkwardly.
Shit. What was he? For the first time in his life, words failed Rafael Barba.
"-attorney. And we want another doctor!"
A confused silence overtakes the room. "Alright." The doctor agrees out of shear confusion before walking back out.
Olivia settles back onto the bed and pulls Noah into her lap to calm him back down. Once his cries turn to soft whimpers, Olivia looks up at Barba who's still standing over them. "I'm his- attorney?", she asks.
Barba looks at her. He's completely drained. "Got us a new doctor, didn't it?"
Olivia gives him an amused, warm smile. He can't help but chuckle at his own outburst. He sighs in an attempt to let go of the tension he's been holding. Barba squats down to get on Noah's eye level and places a hand on the boy's head. Noah holds his arm and sniffles. The lidocaine has stopped the pain and his mom holding him has eased his fear. He looks at Barba with tired, sad eyes.
"Estas bien, amigo?"
"Perro bite me, Raf" Noah points to his arm.
"I know, niño. Lo siento. We're gonna get it fixed up though, ok?" Barba leans in and plants a quick kiss on Noah's forehead. He looks up at Olivia, "I'm going to check on that doctor."
Watching Barba walk out, Olivia realizes he's in it for the long haul. She definitely wants more from him than friendship.