Chapter Eighty Four – Dreamscape

Ben took work with him to the hospital in hopes of staying as up-to-date as possible even though he was officially out of the office. As he worked he kept glancing up to see if Olivia had woken up again. The nurses said she'd woken up twice in the wee hours of the morning but hadn't been remotely coherent. Considering she was concussed, that wasn't surprising, but Ben was hoping she would be more aware when she came around again. Even if she wasn't, at least her being awake would be an improvement. Maybe hearing her voice, even if she wasn't speaking sense, would help bring Suvi out of his depression too.

He'd been sitting at her bedside working for three hours when one of his glances her way revealed that her eyes were open. His face lit up, and he immediately put his laptop aside. He scooted in close and took Olivia's hand.

"Hey, Sunshine."

Suvi picked up on the fact that something had changed and ambled over. He barely managed to get his noise up over the side of the hospital bed, but at least he was closer to her now. Olivia didn't seem to notice Suvi's arrival. She barely even looked aware of Ben's presence.

"How are you feeling, Liv?"

"Mmm," Olivia mumbled almost dreamily. "Fluffy."

Ben's forehead wrinkled in confusion. Fluffy? What did that mean? Had she even understood the question? He wasn't sure. It was still the first word that she'd spoken despite its oddity though, and his heart soared upon hearing it.

"Fluffy?"

"Like a cloud."

That didn't sound good even if she did understand the question. Ben stood so he could look straight down at her and she could meet his eyes without moving her head. Her eyes looked a little dazed but at least they were relatively clear.

"Olivia," he asked slowly and carefully," do you know who I am?"

She stared at him in an unfocused way for a while. When she finally answered she did so with a small smile.

"Crazy man."

Ben's face paled slightly and he swallowed hard. He didn't know what to think of her answer. If she did know what she was saying, then he couldn't help feeling hurt. Was that really what she thought of him? That he was just some crazy guy? God he hoped not. Of course if that wasn't what she really thought and she was just half out of it he wasn't sure that was any better. The fact that her head still wasn't on straight scared him. He needed to know how far out of it she was, so he pressed her with the same question again. She was visibly drifting though. It took quite a few attempts to get through to her. When she finally answered her eyes were already closed and she was half asleep.

"Tarzan…"

Ben blinked at her for a moment and then grinned. Well, Tarzan wasn't really all that bad. Plus, it made a strange kind of sense. He was a little bit crazy and they had discussed how "Tarzan" had good music.

"Just rest, Jane. I'll be here when you wake up again," he teased gently. "Hopefully it'll be as Olivia this time."

With Olivia asleep again Ben went back to work. He was a little distracted though when Suvi poked his nose against Olivia's hand and licked her fingers. Apparently hearing Olivia's voice had snapped him out of his stupor. His tail was even wagging a little bit.

"Suvi, let her sleep. Come on. Lie down."

Suvi shook his head vigorously like he wanted to refuse Ben's request. Instead he licked Olivia's hand once more and then sat down next to Ben to wait until Olivia woke up again.

It was another few hours before Ben saw Olivia stirring again. He scooted his chair closer to her, and Suvi scrambled to his feet and dropped his head on the edge of her bed.

"Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah. It's morning."

Her answer was a little mumbled, but at least she sounded more coherent. While she sounded coherent considering her answer proved she wasn't fully there, but at least she appeared to be doing better. She'd used a full sentence this time, albeit a short one.

"Yes, you do wake up in the morning," he laughed lightly.

Only it wasn't morning anymore. It was around mid-afternoon.

Olivia was probably completely oblivious to that fact or if she wasn't she didn't seem to care. Suvi had bumped her hand so she was running her fingers over his nose. She was watching him curiously, an amused smile on her face.

"There's a puppy in my room."

Ben almost laughed again. She sounded rather drunk. Or high. It was actually kind of adorable. She was just so out of it.

"Yes, there is."

"Pretty puppy."

"Yeah. Do you know who he is?"

"A pretty puppy," Olivia repeated as she continued rubbing Suvi's nose.

Some of the amusement drained away, and Ben watched her uneasily. To not know who Suvi was, was a big deal. It was looking like she was more lost in her own head than he'd originally thought. He could feel the bottom falling out of his stomach.

"Okay, Liv, but do you know his name?"

"Pretty puppy."

"Do you know who he belongs to?" Ben asked, hoping the totally different question would trigger something in her mind.

Despite how desperately he wanted an answer, his plan didn't work.

"Pretty puppy…"

"Olivia?"

"Pretty puppy. Pretty puppy."

As she continued repeating the same two words they grew more and more mumbled. Eventually they petered out as Olivia fell back to sleep. Ben sighed and stroked her cheek. He couldn't help being disappointed and had to remind himself that she had a bad concussion. It was going to take her some time to get over it and get back to being herself. She would get there eventually.

And she did later that evening, not long before visiting hours were over.

She groaned softly as she became aware of her surroundings. Even though the lights were dimmed they still hurt her head, and she squinted. When she turned her head away from the light it only made the pain worse and she moaned.

"Easy," Ben soothed. "Don't move too much."

"Ben?"

He was so excited to hear her use his name that he didn't consider what a joke might do to her head. It just slipped out.

"Yes, Jane."

She wasn't in the right frame of mind to even attempt to understand that and just blinked at him dumbly. Ben just laughed and tried to explain.

"You were calling me Tarzan earlier, so I thought it was appropriate."

"Sounds like it."

Ben smiled and stroked her cheek, careful not to press too hard so he wouldn't aggravate her scratches and bruises. It was so good to see her acting like she normally would even if it was a tired, pain filled normal. She reached up and rested her hand on his. He immediately pulled his hand off her cheek so he could hold her hand. It was a little awkward around the brace, but he didn't mind. She was awake and herself. He would take awkward.

"Ben?" Olivia asked hesitantly. "Why am I in the hospital? What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. I don't remember anything."

"You had a seizure and fell down a flight of steps."

Olivia closed her eyes, and Ben thought he felt her shudder. He really couldn't blame her. Whenever he actually thought about what had happened it made him shaky too. He tried hard not to think about it. Olivia's eyes opened, and she looked even paler than she'd been before.

"Oh…"

Ben wasn't really sure what to say either. He kissed Olivia's cheek and stroked her hair to soothe her.

"It's alright. It's over now, and you're okay."

"You'll stay with me?" she asked as she squeezed Ben's hand and held on almost for dear life.

"I'm not going anywhere, Liv."

The tension in Olivia's face visibly relaxed at those words causing Ben to smile. He was there, and she was awake and fully coherent. Everything would be okay now.