Title: Under A Different Sky 13/26
Spoilers: Seasons 6 & 7
Summary: AU. Chloe seeks out a new life in Star City, far from the painful reminders of her life in Smallville. Set around seasons 6 & 7
Author Note: All comments and reviews are appreciated. They are my addiction, so please feed it! I need to know if I am doing things right.
A big thank you to Chloesilvers for being my beta on this project. Banner by selene2 - isn't it fab?
Noise.
Too much noise. There was movement too, and it made him feel nauseated.
Oliver was being jostled from side to side, and he was sure that he was about to vomit. He tried to hold his arm out to prevent the rocking, but found he couldn't. He tried moving his arms and legs with no success. He couldn't move anything and the panic started to set in. His eyes snapped open, but he shut them just as quickly because of the bright light.
"Mr Queen?"
The voice was at his side somewhere. Cautiously opening his eyes again, he tried to turn his head but again found his movement impaired.
"Where am I?"
His eyes focused as the owner of the voice stood over him. The woman was tall, with curly, brown hair pulled tight in a ponytail. She pulled a pen torch from her breast pocket and checked his pupils.
"My name is Christine; I'm a paramedic. You're on your way to Star City General. Can you remember what happened?"
He tried to think of what had happened before waking up in the ambulance. He had lost control of the car and rolled it. Chloe was injured; she was bleeding from the head…
"Chloe!" Oliver tried to fight against the Velcro bonds holding him in place on the board. "She's hurt!"
The paramedic placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm him down. "Your blonde friend?"
"Yes! Is she alright?"
"The fire department got her free of the wreckage first. She left for the hospital as they began to cut you free."
"But is she alright? Please, I need to know!"
Christine looked at him sympathetically. "I'll see if I can get through on the radio. You're lucky my husband's driving her there."
She gave him a small smile before heading up to the front. All Oliver could do was stare up at the roof of the vehicle as the sirens wailed overhead. It felt like an eternity had passed before the woman's return.
"I managed to get through in time; they were just pulling up at the ER. She's stable - the doctors will have to examine her before you'll know more."
"I need to make a call. There has to be someone there for her."
"You'll be able to get a call through at the hospital. I'm sure the nurses will contact her next of kin on arrival."
That meant Lois. Maybe this would be the event to reunite the cousins.
The potential family reunion still didn't change the fact that Merlyn was still out there, his target still firmly locked on Chloe. She was vulnerable and needing protection, all while he was helplessly strapped to a board.
"No. I need to make a call now. She can't be left on her own." His voice rose with anxiety.
"Sir, you're going to have to relax. If you arrive at the ER like this, those doctors will have you sedated before you can click your fingers."
"I'll threaten legal action. There's nothing wrong with me."
"Look. You may think you're fine, but you're lucky to be alive. The fact that you and your friend are still breathing is nothing short of a miracle. You lost consciousness and have a head injury." She sat down on the seat by his head, looking him in the eyes. "I'd bet my salary the doctors will be scanning you for spinal damage the moment you arrive."
"I'm fine."
"Well, suck it up. If that girl means that much to you then I am guessing the feeling's mutual. So I think I'm right that she might just rip you a new one for not looking after yourself."
It certainly sounded like something Chloe would do. He would have paid more attention to the thought if he hadn't been stunned by the way Christine had spoken to him.
"Do you always talk to your patients like this? Your bedside manner is impeccable." Oliver deadpanned.
"Well, looks like I guessed correctly, doesn't it?" She said, smirking at his attitude, earning herself a glare.
"I'll have a word with the nurses and make sure they pick up the phone straight away to get someone down to the hospital. Just make life a little easier on yourself and put up with the tests before you start throwing your weight around. This Chloe girl will thank you for it."
She looked up towards the windscreen in the front. "We're here, and in record time too."
"Thank God!" Oliver replied.
"I'll refrain from taking that as an insult to my dazzling personality." She smiled as she disconnected him from the monitors.
Oliver tried to make eye contact with the woman. "I just want to make sure she's alright." He said quietly.
"Just remember to go easy on the verbal aggression in there, or you'll be flying high before you can even check on your sweetheart."
He smirked at her blunt advice. "Thanks for the tip."
"Not a problem." She said, smiling at him.
The back doors of the ambulance opened, filling it with daylight. Oliver squinted at the change, allowing his eyes to adjust.
"I think we're ready." Christine told him as she clicked off the brakes to his stretcher. "Let me know if anything hurts."
'Only my pride.' He thought to himself.
"Will do."
"I hope she's okay." She told him as she pushed his stretcher from the vehicle into her partner's waiting hands.
The thought of Merlyn coming so close to killing them both made his blood run cold. "Me too."
Once Oliver was assured that Bart had been contacted, he submitted himself to the battery of assessments and scans ordered by the on-call team. Knowing that there was someone watching over her calmed him considerably during the first hour of examinations.
For the following hour, Chloe's potential anger if he failed to be the perfect patient helped him to maintain his patience.
As time began to crawl into the third hour, he found that threatening legal action for excessive medical investigations was his best course of action. Sometimes, being known as the billionaire CEO of Queen Industries had its drawbacks – emergency room doctors fearing career threatening law suits was one of them. They were so intent on being thorough; they never noticed how their patient was steadily losing his temper.
Two hours and thirty-four minutes following his admission, Oliver signed his own discharge papers and found his way to Chloe's room.
Inside he found a worried looking Bart Allen sitting by her bedside. The young man turned his eyes towards him. "Watching her like this twice in two days is not cool."
Oliver pulled a chair up to the other side of her bed. He gently held her hand, careful of the IV connection. "What have the doctors said?"
"She's regained consciousness, but the pain meds they've got her on have her totally spaced out. She's been sleeping on and off since they gave her the last injection."
"Bart, what have the doctor's said is wrong with her?" Oliver repeated.
"Her left arm was impaled by metal and glass in the crash. They're taking her for surgery any minute now." Bart paused, swallowing a lump in his throat. He waited a while for his voice to become steady again. "Her right leg was banged up pretty bad too, and she has a concussion, but they said she would be fine."
Oliver had called Bart purely for his speed. If he had had any choice, the speedster was the last team member he would have called to watch over Chloe. It seemed to hurt the guy as much as him to see her this way.
"Why don't you head on out for a while? I'll call if anything changes. I want to be here when she comes around." Oliver suggested.
"Sure. I'll let AC and Vic know the latest. I'll run by again in a few."
Oliver stiffened as Bart kissed Chloe's forehead before walking from the room. It was the slowest he had ever seen the guy move.
Bart was right - seeing her like this twice within the space of a day was too much to bear. As the doctors had done their jobs, Oliver had had plenty of time to think. He had long since admitted to himself that he was attracted to Chloe, but it was the fact he had truly fallen for the petite reporter that had taken longer to register. The images of her unconscious form in his eyes and mind caused too many emotions to drift to the surface.
Lying on a table beneath the MRI scanner, unable to move, had forced him to really reflect on his feelings. With no distraction but his own thoughts, he had tried to pinpoint when the turning point for him was. He just didn't want to admit how far back it went.
From the moment he first met her, she had caught his attention with her bright, green eyes; but Oliver knew that wasn't the moment. When she walked into his Clocktower apartment full of confidence and brimming with knowledge, he should have known he would want this woman. She had figured out his Green Arrow identity, and wasn't even flustered.
That was the moment Oliver fell a little bit in love with Chloe Sullivan. He wondered if she realised she was wearing his favourite colour that day.
Yeah, he had fallen for her back then, and he hadn't even realised it. It may even have been one of the reasons he didn't fight to keep Lois with him. He should have known that his feelings for Chloe went beyond friendship when he first discovered she was in Star City. He had avoided the newspapers during the recent negativity toward the Green Arrow, but her defensive headline caught his eye immediately. Once again, Chloe had burst into his life, the heroes' hero.
Oliver looked down at the battered beauty lying before him. If they made it through this he was going to tell her. Life was too short to hold back from the people you care about.
They had taken Chloe for surgery shortly after Bart's departure, but Oliver had refused to leave. He wanted to be the first familiar face she saw, and he made sure of it. He resumed his place by her side once she was transferred back into her room.
The nurse attached a cuff to her arm and proceeded to record her observations. She saw the anxious look on his face and broke the silence.
"It'll take a while for the anaesthesia to completely wear off. She may sleep the whole night through."
"She's going to be fine, right?"
"She'll be sore, and she'll probably need some physical therapy for her leg, but she'll be fine."
"If she needs anything, just give it to her. I'll take care of the costs."
"We'll do our best." She put away her equipment and headed to the door. "Oh, before I forget, I wanted to let you know that we managed to contact her next of kin. Your friend with the red hoodie enquired earlier."
"You got hold of Lois? Is she coming?"
The nurse's professional smile faltered slightly. "I'm afraid she isn't, although she did wish to be notified if Miss Sullivan's condition deteriorated."
"Thank you for letting me know." Oliver's voice was tight with anger, but he managed to smile at the nurse as she left.
"What the hell is wrong with her?" He asked himself.
He was disgusted. Lois' abandonment of her cousin made him feel physically ill. Chloe could have died and all Lois was concerned about was how her cousin was meteor infected.
Oliver swore to himself that no matter how much Chloe would object, the next time he spoke to Lois he was going to give her a piece of his mind. The woman didn't seem to realise how lucky she was to have family.
"Knock, knock", came a voice from the door.
He turned around. "Hey, Bart."
"I come bearing gifts." He placed two cups of coffee on the table. "How's she doing?"
"She's going to be fine, just waiting for the drugs to wear off. The nurse said she might sleep through the night."
"I can tell. It's not like 'licious to turn down my coffee." He said with a weak smile.
"I'm going to stay here tonight. I want you and the guys to cover my patrol, keep a lookout for Merlyn." Oliver pulled his gaze from Chloe's bruised face to Bart's concerned one. "If you get the chance to take him out, do it. I'm done playing games."
Bart's attention drifted back to Chloe. "You've got it, Bossman."
Oliver watched as the young man pulled himself together. "I'll start my patrol now. Call if anything changes?"
"Sure."
Bart opened the lid from one of the coffee cups and placed it on the locker next to Chloe. The young man smiled. "Just in case."
He left the room, quietly closing the door behind him, leaving Oliver alone with Chloe and his thoughts.
Six days into the deal and he was willing to break the rules. He knew his teammates would feel the same way. Today had been another close call, but Chloe was worth risking it all for.