Chapter Eighty One – Humpty Dumpty

Just because their Sunday afternoon was going to be dedicated to Bernard's birthday it didn't mean Ben and Olivia couldn't use the morning for their own plans.

"I really don't understand why that piece was there," Ben complained as he, Olivia, and Suvi walked toward the exit of the art museum.

"I don't either. It was terrible."

"Really terrible."

They burst into simultaneous laughter. When Olivia finally caught her breath she cast Ben a sidelong look complete with a dancing smile.

"You did tell me before that some messy pieces of art are considered priceless."

He laughed softly.

"You remembered that, huh?"

"Of course. Something like that is kind of hard to forget. Then again, you say a lot of things like that."

"I guess you have a lot to remember then," he teased as he held the door open for her.

Olivia stepped out and had to squint slightly because of the sun. Suvi bumped her leg, and she ruffled his ears in reassurance. He tipped his head back into her touch, making Olivia smile. When Ben rested his hand on Olivia's back she stopped petting Suvi and they started down the steps. For the first few steps everything was fine, and then all of a sudden it wasn't. One second Olivia was walking next to him and the next she was gone. Suvi had given no warning of the seizure. It came as such a surprise to Ben that he could only stand there is frozen shock as Olivia crashed down the concrete steps. His head stopped for a moment and then raced ahead like a bullet train. Olivia was already four steps below them when Suvi and Ben sprang into action. Suvi barked once and darted down the steps after her. He was fast enough to catch up, but there was nothing he could do once he had. Ben ran down the steps after them, but he knew he had no chance of reaching her or halting her decent. All he could do was watch her ragdoll body smash into each consecutive step. Her body was rolling too much for him to tell if she was actually having a seizure still or if she was just out cold and at the mercy of gravity.

Finally she slowed and her body came to a stop on the flat platform between flights of steps. Sometime between when she'd begun her roll down the steps and now her seizure had ended because she remained sickeningly still. She lay almost on her back, arms spread on either side of her body. Suvi skidded to a stop next to her and immediately started barking. Ben hurried toward Olivia's prone body with so much speed he was slightly concerned he would wind up rolling down the steps too. He could hear Suvi barking and the people nearby shouting, but the sounds felt like they were drifting to him through a fog.

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Don't move her! She could have a head injury."

Ignoring everything else, Ben dropped to his knees next to Olivia. Normally his knees slamming into the concrete would hurt like hell, but his adrenaline and terror hid the pain completely. His eyes immediately snapped to her pale face. Streams of red were covering one side of her head from just above her eye to her chin. He rested his hand gently on hers.

"Liv? Baby, can you hear me? Olivia?"

He didn't get any response, not even a twitch, and tears sprang to his eyes. Suvi whined, and Ben tugged the dog against him. It made it easier for him to hold back the tears swimming in his own vision. Plus, it would prevent Suvi from trying to nudge Olivia awake and potentially cause more harm. Olivia was still breathing and help was coming. That was something, and he had to focus on that. Suvi struggled to get out of Ben's grasp again, desperate to get to Olivia, but Ben held onto him firmly.

Someone touched Ben's shoulder and told him the ambulance would be there in ten minutes. It was probably a good thing the words had only vaguely reached Ben. If he'd actually heard it would be another ten minutes he might have panicked. He didn't know how seriously she was hurt. Every minute that passed revealed more bruises and scratches. Ten minutes wouldn't hurt those. If something else he couldn't see was going on inside of her, ten minutes could leave her dead.

Ben's vision tunneled down to Olivia's bloody white face. Part of him knew he was falling to pieces and panicking, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Suvi was still whining and pressing himself into Ben's side. While Ben's panic led him to freezing, Suvi's was doing the opposite. He couldn't stay still for a second. When the ambulance's sirens blared through the air and shattered the silence Suvi began barking again. It was a frantic continual bark that broke through the frozen darkness over Ben's mind. He looked up at the EMTs that were running his way.

"Please. Please help her," Ben pleaded.

One of the EMTs focused almost solely on Ben, which was a good thing considering Ben was having serious trouble focusing. His heart was still nearly beating out of his chest, and he felt partially separated from the world. It was a good thing that Suvi wasn't struggling to get away now that help had arrived because if he'd tried to make a lunge for Olivia Ben wasn't sure he would have been able to react in time to tighten his grip.

"We will. Can you tell me what happened?" the EMT asked gently.

"She had a seizure at the top of the steps and fell down them."

Almost the entire flight. The reminder of that nearly made Ben sick.

"Has she had a seizure before?"

"She has a seizure disorder," Ben explained.

The next thing Ben knew the paramedics had Olivia strapped to a backboard, put on a gurney, and carried off to the ambulance. Suvi nearly chased after the gurney and Olivia. Ben had to launch himself to the side to grab the end of his leash. Even though he'd been halted Suvi kept trying to go after Olivia, straining as hard as he could. Ben couldn't blame him. He wanted to do the exact same thing. If Suvi hadn't been there Ben would have already been in the ambulance to ride along.

He stumbled down the steps after the paramedics. Without having his car the only way to get to the hospital quickly would be to ride with the ambulance. They had to let him do that even with Suvi.

"Can we ride along? Please. He's her service dog. I can't ask him to watch you drive away with her."

He could barely ask himself to do that.

"Can you keep control of him?"

"Yes, I'm sure I can."

Ben wasn't sure of any such thing, but there was no way he was going to admit that. If it meant he could ride with Olivia to the hospital then he would find a way to keep control of Suvi no matter what. Hopefully it wouldn't be that hard. If Suvi didn't behave in the ambulance there wasn't much hope of him behaving in the hospital, and he absolutely needed to behave there. Once they got into the ambulance they couldn't exactly be kicked out, but the same couldn't be said about the hospital. If Suvi wasn't acting like a service dog Ben wasn't sure what he would do because there was no way he was leaving the hospital. Not if Olivia was still there.

They all piled into the ambulance, and Ben settled Suvi on the ground at his feet. Suvi tipped his head up and back so he could look sadly at Ben. He let out a long, drawn out whine. It was quiet but filled with pain and emotion. The sound basically put voice to what Ben was feeling.

"I know, buddy," Ben said softly.

He rested his hands on either side of Suvi's neck and gently stroked his fur with his thumbs. Suvi hung his head and continued whining, though the volume had dropped even more. The sound ripped at Ben, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He wanted to soothe Suvi somehow, but he didn't know how. It was hard enough trying to reassure himself.

Ben's ears were ringing the entire ambulance ride, and it had nothing to do with the blaring sirens or Suvi's whining (which had become mixed with whimpering after the sirens began). He was simply surrounded by white noise and could barely function. That was probably better than the alternative though. If his mind hadn't been filled with the persistent buzzing it would have been throwing out worst case scenarios. Especially since he couldn't see Olivia it helped to put the breaks on his imagination if he just let his mind check out. The situation hurt enough without letting terrible possibilities make it worse. It hurt so, so much.