Chapter 65

EJ DiMera was by no means a praying man but he found himself whispering the Hail Mary several times; willing Olivia to be alright, to see those crystalline green eyes again. Everybody present in the waiting hall was on edge; especially Bo and Carly. Ciara got away with a cut on her forehead and a deeper cut on her arm which had to be stitched but Olivia was not so lucky; a broken leg, internal bleeding, a damaged spleen and a head injury. Currently, she was in surgery hence the tense wait by the Bradys, Will, Phillip, Brady, Stephanie, Rafe, Arianna and Gabi Hernandez. At first Hope was furious with Bo for sending Olivia to pick up Ciara instead of going himself but softened considerably after hearing about the drunk driver who was right now sobering up in the holding cell at the station. Besides, with Olivia's more severe injuries she could hardly yell at Bo and Ciara was very upset about her big sister than about her own injuries; continually asking after her instead of resting like she should.

No one took any notice of EJ except Sami who watched her ex-husband with narrowed eyes. She'd heard through her father about how he'd gotten Olivia out of the car but wondered why he was still there and showing so much concern for her cousin; the raw emotion on his face stunned her.

'This waiting's killing me.' Bo said quietly, pain on his face. 'If anything happens to her I don't know what I'll do; she's already been through so much… how could this happen?'

Carly's fingers gripped his arm.

'She's going to be alright.' Caroline said firmly. 'You must believe that son; Olivia is going to be alright.'

John nodded in agreement. 'You both hang in there, okay? Olivia's going to need your strength.'

Bo nodded back but the fear in his heart refused to settle. Zach's untimely death had left a wound that would never actually heal, if anything happened to Olivia…

Shivering, he slipped an arm round Carly who rested her head against his shoulder, silently praying for their daughter.

After what seemed to be an eternity to everyone, Lexie and Dr. James Scavo finally came out.

'We managed to stop the internal bleeding and we had to take out her spleen.' Dr. Scavo said. 'She came through the surgery well; you'll be able to see her in a few minutes.'

The family exchanged joyful hugs while EJ wiped his tears, smiling faintly with relief. She was alive!

Turning away from the group he walked into an empty room, pulled out his Blackberry and dialled his father's number.

'What is the news, Elvis?' Stefano asked immediately.

'She's going to be fine.'

'Well for your sake, I'm happy to hear that. You truly love that bella ragazza, don't you?'

EJ sighed deeply, closing his eyes. 'Olivia could have died today, Father. I've never loved her more than I do now.'

Silence for a few minutes at Stefano's end. 'I hardly show this son but I want your happiness. If you think Olivia can make you happy; so be it. But her family… they'll never allow it, you know that. How would Sami especially feel about her young cousin being Johnny and Sydney's stepmother? You ever thought about that?'

'I thought about it, long and hard. And all I see is her.' EJ replied gruffly. 'I didn't think it was possible to find true love but I did. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow but in the end, Olivia will still be the love of my life. And I'm going to make sure she knows it.'

:::::::::::::::

Olivia was oblivious to the presence of her family as they visited her in turn; whispering in her ear how much they loved her and wished she would wake up soon. Hope went back to Ciara's room where Julie, Doug and Maggie were keeping guard and relayed the good news to her daughter.

'I want to see her.' Ciara insisted, the image of her sister battered and bleeding haunting her mind profoundly. 'I want Olivia.'

'She's resting right now sweetie, you can't see her just yet.' Julie said soothingly.

'I want my sister!' Ciara wailed, refusing to calm down. 'Please Mummy; please… let me see her!'

The door opened and Bo and Carly entered with Caroline, Kayla, and some of the others.

'Daddy, please… I want to see Olivia; I want to see her.' She pleaded as he slipped his arms round her.

'In due time Little One, Olivia needs to rest. She just had an operation.' Bo hugged her tight, while Carly kissed the top of her head. 'Don't worry, you'll see her soon.'

'Yes.' Carly agreed. 'Hang in there, honey, okay?'

'Okay, Aunt Carly.' Ciara sniffled, still not satisfied.

As everyone did their best to cheer Ciara up, Lexie entered holding a chart; her face grave.

'Bo, Hope… can I see you outside a bit?'

'Is something wrong Lexie?' Doug asked, concerned.

'No, not exactly. You two…' she beckoned.

Startled and burning with questions, Bo and Hope followed her outside. 'What's this about?' Bo asked, closing the door behind him.

'I was looking at Ciara's chart, the part where her blood type was noted.'

'And?' Hope asked, fearing the worse.

Lexie looked at them squarely. 'Ciara's B positive. You're O Bo and you Hope, A. She doesn't match either of you.'

'What are you saying?' Bo's voice was hard. 'Ciara's O, same as me. When we did the blood and DNA test years ago, she's my daughter!'

'I figured it was some mistake so I ran the test again. But the results' the same, Ciara is B positive, which neither of you are.'

Hope's blood ran cold. No it can't be, must not be! She thought with dread. The tests done on Ciara had shown Bo was her father; blood type O! No, it was a mistake!

'Lexie, this can't be possible… you know very well it just can't be…' she stuttered.

'I don't know what to tell you, Hope,' Lexie said sympathetically. 'But it's all here in black and white.' She looked at Bo. 'I'm so sorry Bo. I don't know how this could have happened considering the results of the paternity test. But with this… it looks like you aren't Ciara's father.'

'No!' Bo barked furiously. 'I will not accept this Lexie, you hear me? Never in a million years! I don't care what that damned chart says, Ciara is mine, my daughter!'

Hope pressed her hand to her mouth, tears filling her eyes. Her past sin was out in the open again. While she and Bo had reconciled after Ciara's birth, she'd wanted full vindication hence the paternity test which had revealed that Bo was Ciara's father. What could have happened that Ciara's blood test was saying otherwise now?

The door opened and Carly came out looking astonished, followed by Doug and Julie. 'What's with the yelling? What happened?'

Doug put his arms round his daughter protectively. 'What's going on? What have you done to upset her now?' he barked at Bo.

'Don't start with me right now Doug.' Bo snapped back.

'Lexie, what's all this?' Julie demanded. 'Is something terribly wrong with Ciara?'

'No. But there is something serious we have to clear up. Ciara's blood doesn't match Bo's… or Hope's.'

'That can't be true.' Doug said faintly. Julie went white.

'How is that possible?' Carly asked, taking the chart from Lexie and read it thoroughly. 'This has to be a mistake; they are Ciara's parents.'

Bo bit his lip and Hope sobbed louder. 'Hope, why are you crying? What's going on?' Carly asked, confused.

'I slept with another man years ago and don't pretend Bo never told you!' was Hope's outburst as she cried in Doug's arms.

Carly stared in amazement. 'I… what?' she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Doug glared at her, still holding Hope. 'You heard her the first time, but feel free to judge after we leave.'

'Don't talk to my wife that way.' Bo growled. 'And focus. I don't understand why that paternity test named me Ciara's father and now her blood type is telling us something else!'

'Steady on, Bo. We can conduct another test; I still say it's a mistake.'

'No.' was the quiet answer. All eyes turned to Julie Williams who was now ghostly pale. 'You don't have to do another test. Ciara isn't your daughter, Bo.'