Malcolm
I walked into Starling General Hospital.
"Thea Queen."
"Are you a relative?"
"I'm her father."
"Robert Queen is dead last I checked."
"He is her adoptive father."
Jenna (Nurse)
Thea Queen has two birth certificates.
I pulled up the first one.
"This is to certify that
Thea Dearden Merlyn
Was born to
Moira Queen
and
Malcolm Merlyn
on January 21st in the year of 1995."
Malcolm
"Name?"
"Malcolm Merlyn."
"Sign the visitor's log."
I wrote "Malcolm Merlyn" in cursive along with the date and time.
"Room 300. Take the elevator up to the third floor."
"Is she-"
"She pulled through surgery and having an Embolism. She's resting comfortably with family and friends surrounding her. The next 24 hours are crucial."
I got in the elevator.
I hit the third floor button.
Five seconds later
I got out of the elevator.
I walked into Room 300.
Felicity, Diggle, Lance, and Thea were sleeping.
Laurel and Oliver were awake.
He was holding her hand in his.
She scowled at me.
"I'm gonna go take a walk." Laurel told Oliver.
"Take Dig with you."
"Why?"
"Peace of mind. With Darhk in the wind. And a bunch of Inmates. Who are probably furious with you."
She walked out with him.
"How is Thea doing?"
"How do you think she's doing after having an arrow stabbed through an arrow? Having an Embolism? Losing blood?"
I looked down.
"She was nearly pronounced dead from the Embolism, Malcolm."
"What?"
"Mom and Dad. She saw them. They let their baby go again. Even though it broke their hearts."
I looked down.
"You want to know what other major artery that arrow went through?"
"What one?"
"Her spine, Malcolm."
I stared at him.
"She's paralyzed from the waist down. She's never gonna walk again. She's never gonna fight again. She's never gonna go out in the field again. She's never gonna hold a sword again. She's never gonna shoot another arrow."
"You thought Felicity was never gonna walk again."
"Curtis barely had the power source to power Felicity's implant. He can't make another one."
Thea woke up.
"You- Get the fuck out!"
"Calm down."
Her heart rate was spiking.
"This is all your fault!"
"Thea, you have got to calm down. Please."
"No! You calm the hell down!"
Thea grunted as Oliver pinned her down by the shoulders.
"Take some deep breaths."
She was taking deep breaths.
He was breathing deeply.
"Even your breaths sound masculine."
"Shut up."
Thea laughed.
"How's it going in here?"
"It'd be going better if he would leave!"
"Thea."
"Irritability is often a side effect of the anesthesia."
"Or just the fact that I hate him and I wish he'd die."
"Wow. Okay."
"This is his fault in the first God damn place!"
"Did you do this?"
"You think I did that to my daughter?"
"Daughter?"
"Yeah."
"Asshole of a bio father. Mother had an affair."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"You are a carbon copy of him."
"So I've been told."
"Which means you look like Tommy." Oliver told her.
"Remind you of a dead person. Excellent."
"Rude. Uncalled for." Laurel commented, walking in.
"RIP."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, I think it's time to start your physical therapy."
"I'd rather slam my head in a car door."
"If you even want a chance of walking again, you have to move your body in the first place."
Thea threw herself backwards.
"I will not be moved."
"Stop being difficult."
"The faster you do your physical therapy, the sooner I can release you."
She rolled her eyes.
"Help me up."
Oliver easily lifted Thea up into his arms.
"I spent a lot of time building muscle up on the Island."
"Uh-huh."
Oliver
Thea was stretching.
Curtis walked in.
"I can make another implant. And we have another Palmer Tech Battery." He whispered.
"Do it."
"Okay."
She was trying to walk.
Thea fell face first on the floor.
"Told you it doesn't work. My legs don't work, lady."
"The main thing is you're trying, Thea."
She grumbled.
Thea pushed herself up with her hands.
Malcolm
Thea was stretching.
Oliver was in there.
Curtis walked in.
He was whispering with him.
"Do it."
"Okay."
She was trying to walk.
Thea fell face first on the floor.
"Told you it doesn't work. My legs don't work, lady."
"The main thing is you're trying, Thea."
She grumbled.
Thea pushed herself up with her hands.
"Don't let me push your legs."
Her legs weren't budging.
"That's a good sign. Your muscle tone isn't fading. If you put a lot of hard work in, it's possible you could walk again."
"I'm sorry. I'm not gonna spend six months in physical therapy for the possibility that I could walk again. I'm not Felicity. I wanna live my life."
"Thea."
"Well... I'm going back out in the field."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"And what? Green Arrow, Spartan, and Black Canary are just gonna carry you around?"
"You know, they make walking options. Which don't result in all this hard work."
"No pain, no gain."
"That is so stupid."
"Huh."
"Push."
Thea was doing pull-ups.
She did at least 20.
Thea let go of the Bar.
"Who trained you?"
"Green Arrow and Dark Archer."
"I'm gonna guess you were a pretty good shot."
"I was pretty good with a sword too."
"Mm."
Thea was coughing violently.
"Let's get a CT of her lungs and throat."
Oliver
I was back in Thea's hospital room.
She was back for a CT.
Elisa
Thea was moving all around.
"Can you please stay still?"
She stopped moving.
The images came up.
A bullet was lodged in Thea's trachea.
"How is she not dead?"
"I don't know."
Malcolm
I was in Thea's hospital room with them.
The female Doctor walked in.
She had a solemn look on her face.
"How bad is it? Where is the bullet?" Oliver questioned.
"It's lodged in Thea's trachea."
"Ho- How wouldn't she be able to feel that hit her?"
"I think it pierced the Kevlar around her chest. And it traveled up overnight."
"Okay."
"We can remove it."
"Okay."
"We'll have to perform a Tracheotomy."
Oliver stared.
"Wh- What is that, Ollie? What is that look for?"
"Thea is gonna have a tube in her trachea for the rest of her life. She'll never talk again."
"We can insert a device that will recognize her brainwaves and talk for her."
Laurel looked down.
She shook her head.
"And who makes that decision?"
"Her next of kin. Since she's in no place to be making medical decisions."
"Ollie, what's it gonna be?"
"Do both surgeries."
"Okay."
The female Doctor walked out.
"My Sister is gonna hate me."
"You're saving her life, Ollie. The trachea can block off her airway. Which would kill her."
"It's not the decision Thea would make."
"I know."
"Wait. Are you next of kin? Or is Malcolm?"
"He'd never make that decision. The one that needed to be made."
Elisa
We were going through old videos of Thea Queen.
We were importing her voice into the device.
I grabbed the device once it was ready.
"Miss. Queen is prepped for surgery, Dr. Schwartz. Despite a lot of protests."
"Mm."
I scrubbed in.
I walked in the O.R.
"Let's begin."
"Count backwards from 10."
The anesthesiologist put the anesthesia mask over her face.
"10.
9.
8.
7.
6."
Thea fell asleep.
I slid my gloves on.
"What is the first step in a tracheotomy?"
"Make a horizontal incision below the Adam's Apple."
I made a horizontal incision below Thea's Adam's Apple.
"What's the second step?"
"Pull the surrounding muscles back carefully."
One of the interns pulled back the surrounding muscles.
"What's the third step?"
"Cut a small portion of the thyroid gland to expose the trachea."
I cut a small portion of her thyroid gland.
It exposed Thea's trachea.
Her trachea was expanding to make room for the bullet.
We removed the bullet from Thea's trachea.
"What's the fourth step?"
"Create tracheostomy hole."
I created a tracheostomy hole.
"What's the fifth step?"
"Insert the tube."
I put the tube through the tracheostomy hole.
"What's the sixth step?"
"Secure the faceplate to neck."
I stitched it with sutures to secure.
I made an incision in Thea's head.
We implanted the device.
Malcolm
Oliver was getting impatient.
He sighed.
"It's been over six hours."
Oliver stood up.
"It's a bullet lodged in her trachea, Ollie. It takes however long it takes to remove it."
"Easy for you to say. It's not your Sister."
"Wow. Okay."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
The female Doctor walked in.
She had a solemn look on her face.
"No. No. No!"
"The trachea damage was more extensive than we thought. But we successfully removed the bullet."
Dig sighed in relief.
"We inserted the device into her head. It's gonna take a few minutes to recognize her brainwaves and translate it."
"Okay."
"Where that bullet was- She should've died the second it entered her trachea."
Felicity stepped in front of Oliver.
"Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Remember the promise you made on Tommy's grave."
He sat down.
"I think that went out the window when I killed Ra's." Oliver mumbled.
"That jerk lived long beyond his lifetime. He deserved to die. Especially after what he did to Thea."
"Her recovery is gonna take a long time."
He nodded his head.
"Keep her out of the field in the meantime, huh?"
"I'll be sure to inform Green Arrow, Spartan, and Black Canary."
"Okay."
She walked out.
"You two, do not let that girl out of the Bunker."
"I'm not in the habit of putting my hands on females. Unless they've done something to call for it."
"And I'm not in the habit of pushing somebody around that is younger than me."
"Why do you two always make me have to be the bad guy?"
"Love you, Ollie."
"Yeah. I'm sure you do."
Malcolm
Thea was rolled into the room in a hospital bed.
Laurel smiled.
"How bad is it?"
The device sounded just like her voice.
Oliver sighed.
"I can't let you go out in the field."
She stared at him.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
"It's my decision. No."
"You're gonna pull the leader card?"
"Yeah, I am."
"I don't have to listen to you."
"I will forcibly keep you in the Bunker if I have to. I don't care what it takes to keep you safe."
"Screw you. I don't need you to protect me."
"Whether you like it or not, I'm your older brother. It's my job to protect you."
"It's my job to protect you." She mimicked.
He rolled his eyes.
"Do you know how much you sound like him right now?"
Oliver scoffed.
"I am so sick of guys. And their need to protect me. It's so annoying."
"Until you can run again, you're not coming out in the field."
"You think I need my legs to shoot an arrow? Or throw a sword?"
"These guys have guns, Thea. You're lucky you're not dead."
Thea rolled her eyes.
"Do not roll your eyes at me. I'm the only blood relative you got left. That actually gives a damn about you and your feelings."
"Funny way of showing it."
"You will not be able to change my mind. It's made up. You stay in the Bunker with Felicity. And that's the end of the discussion. Laurel will also be stuck in the Bunker until we get rid of Darhk."
"You're not the only one he's pulling out of the field."
"It could be you laying in this hospital bed right now. So, shut up."