Teased by Fire

by Molly O'Hare

  Hank’s world vanished around him as the words sunk in. It was like they pierced his soul.

  We lost her.

  He lost all ability to speak as visions of Olive in a wedding dress played through his mind. He saw her playing with their children in the backyard of a home they’d purchased. The final vision was them sitting in a rocking chair after growing old together as they recounted their memories.

  His heart stopped. He could have lost all of that.

  “How is she doing?” Lucas asked taking a step closer to the doctor.

  “And, you might be?”

  “Olive’s soon to be brother in law.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Can we please cut the crap and you tell us exactly what’s going on. Is she okay?”

  Doctor Wyatt mimicked his stance. “If and when she wakes up, we’ll know more.” His expression softened. “In a few hours, we’ll reassess. Hopefully, we’ll know more then.”

  If she wakes up? Hank couldn’t have heard that right.

  “Excuse me?” Lucas’ brows shot to the ceiling.

  “We’ll have to wait and see,” Doctor Wyatt continued.

  Those words finally snapped Hank to life. “What do you mean we have to wait and see?” Hank felt the blood drain from his face. “You don’t know when she’ll wake up or if she’ll wake up?”

  The doctor squared his shoulders before taking a deep breath. “I know this is difficult. We are doing everything we can for her at this point. We stopped the intercranial bleed and were able to relieve the pressure on her brain.” Doctor Wyatt’s expression hardened as he continued the prognosis. “We were also able to stabilize her ribs. However, when her ribs broke from the impact, one of them punctured her left lung.”

  Hank’s heart froze as his eyes scanned the doctor for any sign of possible good news.

  “We were able to re-inflate the collapsed lung and drain the bleeding from around her heart. Unfortunately, from the impact her abdominal injuries were pretty traumatic causing a ruptured spleen, which we had to remove. Other than heavy bruising, and some additional lacerations on her abdomen, we believe her internal injuries will heal with no further complications. Her worst bruising was from where her seatbelt laid across her body.” He stared Hank in the eyes. “That seat belt saved her life. There is no doubt in my mind she would have gone through the windshield without it.”

  Saved her life.

  Gone through the windshield.

  Hank’s mind replayed the doctor’s words as he tried to make sense of it.

  “Ortho was able to set her broken leg.” He motioned to Hank’s bloodied clothes. “We cleaned up the glass from the lacerations on her head. That along with her busted lip is what caused the majority of the blood loss.”

  Once the words registered Hank felt his body release a fraction of its tension. The doctor was right. Head wounds always bleed a lot. He knew this. He’d seen it many times throughout his career.

  “We have done everything we could do at this point. It’s a wait and see game now.”

  That wasn’t good enough for him. He needed to see her with his own eyes, he had to make sure she was still alive. “Where is she? When can I see her?”

  “She was just wheeled into recovery. Once we deem she is stable enough we’ll get her into a room. I’ll have someone come out and get you then.”

  “How long will that be?” He pleaded with the doctor begging for a more solid answer.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, Mr. Parker. Miss Quinn just underwent major surgery. It could be another hour, or ten.”

  “Ten fucking hours!” Hank stopped himself from punching the man. “That’s not good enough. You don’t get it.”

  Lucas grabbed onto Hank’s arm pulling him away from the situation. “Thank you, Doc. We appreciate you letting us know how she’s doing.”

  Hank felt like he was about to explode. He did his best to get himself in control as he took Lucas lead and started moving back to his seat.

  What was another few hours?

  Olive was alive.

  At this point, if it took another twenty years, he’d wait for her. He’d always wait for her.

  Before he made it to the chair, Hank turned back to Doctor Wyatt. He took a few steps in his direction, as he pleaded with him. “You’re not sure if she’s going to wake up, though, right?”

  Doctor Wyatt’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, but no, with the extent of her head trauma and other injuries, we can’t know for certain. However, I can assure you we did everything we could. She’s in the best hands now. I’ll personally keep an eye on her.”

  Hank gave him a curt nod. “Thank you.”

  Hank started walking back to the god-awful chair, he’d claimed for however long it took.

  “Hank!”

  When Hank turned toward the sound of his name, he saw Miranda running full speed down the corridor towards him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hank looked at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time over the last two days. He didn’t know why he kept glancing at it, but he couldn’t stop. As each second crept past and Olive laid on the hospital bed, his hope dwindled.

  He’d become a shell of himself.

  There was no going around it. Every time he looked up and saw Olive’s battered body lying there, another part of him died.

  Hank slowly moved over to the side of the bed. When he was beside her, he placed his hand on her forehead before he brought his arm around her body gently, making sure not to pull on her IV or breathing tube. He hugged her as cautiously as he could. I miss you.

  Hank closed his eyes, as he did his best to rein in his raw emotions. He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Hey, baby, it’s me again,” he whispered into her ear. “I’d really appreciate it if you’d open those gorgeous eyes for me. I miss seeing them spit fire when I’ve fucked up.”

  He gently placed his head on hers. “Please, Olive. I need you. Please don’t give up.”

  The knock on the door alerted him to another person in the room.

  Hank tensed when he saw it was Miranda. The inquisitive look she gave him had him snap his gaze back to Olive. He didn’t know how to act around his sister when it came to Olive. Which was weird to begin with. He wanted to come clean with her, but he knew Olive didn’t want that.

  “Am I interrupting anything?” Miranda asked, while giving him the once over. She’d been doing that every time she’d come into the room if he was there. Not waiting for his reply, she moved to the opposite side of Olive’s bed.

  “No,” he answered.

  Miranda placed her hand on Olive’s giving it a light squeeze.

  When Hank saw the tears in his sister’s eyes, it was like another punch to the gut. Apart from his mother, the two women he cared most about in his life were hurting and he had no idea how to fix it.

  Hank eyed the ceiling sending a plea to anyone that would listen.

  Miranda turned her attention from Olive back to him. The pleading expression in her eyes nearly killed him. “Do you think she’ll start breathing on her own soon?” Her voice was only above a whisper.

  Hank looked down at Olive.

  He didn’t know.

  He prayed she would, but at this point, he didn’t have a clue. “We can only hope she will,” he answered honestly before he started brushing his hand against the top of Olive’s forehead, pushing back some of her unruly hair.

  Miranda’s head snapped to his as her eyes hardened. “That’s not good enough, Hank. You know about this stuff ‘cause of your job. Don’t act like you don't. Tell me. Does she have a chance of coming out of this or what?”

  How in the hell was he supposed to answer that? Especially when every minute that passed by, he felt Olive slipping away more and more? “I’m not a doctor, Miranda. It can go either way. We have to stay positive, though, she’s improved some over the last two days.” He willed himself to believe his own words.

  Miranda’s shoulders slumped in defeat as she
moved away from the bed to sit in the vacant seat in the room. The same chair Hank deemed his new home until Olive recovered.

  “I should have never left,” Miranda broke the silence.

  “Don’t be silly. You had to leave. Besides, you leaving wouldn’t have stopped this from happening.” Hank placed his hand on Olive’s doing his best to give himself strength.

  “You don’t know that. If I’d stayed she would have never gotten into her piece of shit car. She would have never gotten into that accident.”

  The moment he saw Miranda pull into herself with undeserved guilt, his heart tightened. If anyone was guilty in this situation it was him.

  It didn’t matter the number of times Lucas reminded him the only person at fault was the driver that ran the red light, Hank still wouldn’t accept it.

  This was his guilt to bear, not Miranda’s.

  “If Olive were awake she’d throw something at your head and tell you to shove it,” he said, as he did his best to lighten the mood.

  Thankfully, his attempt made his sister huff out a laugh before a sad smile graced her lips. “She’d probably demand a zombie movie binge watch and tacos.”

  The visual of that made Hank laugh himself. He was certain Olive would demand those things. That was his Olive, one second she would be hounding him about something, then the next asking for some horror movie and snacks which mainly focused on tacos.

  Hank scrutinized Olive’s mangled face, before he bent over and placed a kiss on her forehead. When he looked back up, he saw Miranda staring at him intently. Her head cocked slightly to the side.

  “You know, Hank, Olive and I talk every few days, and text non-stop,” she started. “When you first moved into the apartment, most of the texts were about how she was planning to murder you in your sleep, and sometimes me for moving out. But, eventually, you stopped coming up…”

  Hank stared at her, not exactly sure what to say.

  “I hadn’t thought much of it,” she said. “I mean why would I? Olive’s high-strung and overdramatic. I figured things had finally settled down.”

  “We fell into an easy routine,” Hank was quick to interject. He moved his gaze to his sister’s. “Plus, as long as I made sure Dog wasn’t trying to eat her, things were good.”

  “Oh yes, I heard all about the vet appointment.”

  Hank’s eyes lit. “Wasn’t it awesome?”

  Miranda laughed as she nodded her agreement. “From what she told me, I would have to say yes. Only Olive would end up in a situation like that.”

  “Did she tell you about the Corgi she swears is trying to take over the world?” He smirked at her.

  “Pancake?”

  Hank barked out a laugh. “Waffles, but close enough.”

  Once their laughter died out, the room fell silent. Hank once again turned his attention back to Olive.

  Squeeze my hand, Olive Oil. Please, he begged as he brushed his thumb against the top of Olive’s hand.

  “Hank?”

  He snapped his attention back to Miranda. The questions danced across her face. He felt his throat tighten as he pulled his gaze from hers and refocused it back to Olive’s. “I’m in love with her.”

  Hank didn’t bother looking at his sister. He didn’t care what she thought, or who knew he was in love with Olive.

  “Since the graduation, right?”

  Her words made him stare at her.

  “You looked at her differently that day, and every day since,” she continued, as she watched his every move.

  “I’ve been in love with her for as long as I can remember,” he admitted. “Olive’s special. She’s the kind of girl you love with your whole heart or nothing at all.”

  Miranda got up from her seat and made her way over to the opposite side of the hospital bed. “She is special. Olive’s one in a million.”

  “No,” Hank corrected. “Olive is one of a kind.” He ignored his sister’s eyes on him. “She makes me be a better person, Miranda. When I’m with her, I feel like I can do anything. Be anything. She’s my other half.”

  Miranda placed her hand on top of his.

  “Do you know how talented she is? Who knew all this time, my little Olive Oil, had an imagination that she could turn into worlds.”

  “When did you find out about her writing?” she asked.

  “I stumbled upon it when I was looking for my keys one day,” he answered honestly. “I read all of her books in about three days.”

  Miranda jerked her head back. “I’m impressed.”

  “Why? Because I read a book?” He quirked his brow while he chuckled.

  “No.” Miranda punched his shoulder. “Although, I am a little surprised you did read. I’m impressed you took the time to read what she’s done. And all of them, at that.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” He turned back to Olive. “When I read her books, I finally got a glimpse of what she’d been hiding away.”

  The room fell silent, the only sound was the machines keeping Olive alive.

  “So, are you two like together?” Miranda asked.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Aren’t all relationships?”

  Hank’s face formed into a lopsided grin.

  “More importantly, how could neither of you tell me you were seeing each other?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I move away and bam I’m left out in the cold?”

  “If it were up to me I would have told everyone who I came in contact with. Olive wanted to keep our shenanigans a secret.”

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised.”

  “She puts everything into its proper box. Everything has a place, including her emotions.”

  “She’s been like that since kindergarten,” Miranda remarked as she looked at him. “She can’t help it.”

  Miranda focused her gaze back to Olive. “The moment you wake up missy, you and I are having a long heart to heart.” She shuddered. “How could you not have told me you were banging my brother? I mean eww on all accounts, but what happened to full disclosure between us? Didn’t I tell you all about slimeball Jeffrey from the other night?”

  “Who’s Jeffrey?” Hank growled, before narrowing his eyes at his sister.

  “No one for you to be concerned about.”

  “Miranda…” he warned.

  “What dear brother of mine, who is also sleeping with my best friend and if I didn’t think you were perfect for her, I’d knock your bloody lights out?”

  “I’m not perfect for her, but I am trying to be.” He diverted his attention back to his girl. “We got into a fight right before the car crash. I stormed out of the apartment telling her I didn’t want to do this with her anymore.”

  A sadness filled Miranda’s eyes. “What caused the fight?”

  “I told her I was in love with her.”

  “That would have been your first mistake.” She held up her finger. “Olive doesn’t do love. Which doesn’t make any sense. The girl can write a love story with the best of them, but when it comes to herself, love isn’t real. At least she doesn’t think it is.”

  “It is,” he replied. “And I know she loves me too. I just need to help her see that. I should have given her more time to let it sink in. I should have controlled my anger when she threw my love back in my face, but I didn’t know how. Instead, the last thing she heard from me was it’s over.”

  “She was probably overwhelmed, Olive needs time to analyze everything. She comes up with elaborate plans in her head as she pieces together her life, step by step.”

  “I know,” he replied. “It’s one of the reasons I love her. Her mind is a masterpiece slash war zone that fights zombies, and contemplates the next alien invasion all while dreaming up stories about two people finding each other in this fucked up world.”

  “That’s what makes Olive, Olive.” Miranda placed her hand on Olive’s shoulder before she turned and made her way back to her seat.

  Exactly.

  Hank scanned Olive�
��s body as his mind replayed the fight again for the millionth time.

  When he went back to the apartment to change that first night, he stood in the living room replaying every second.

  He felt pain behind his eyes as he squeezed her hand one more time. “She won’t give me her heart, Miranda.”

  “She will.” This time when Miranda looked at him, he saw a hope there he hadn’t seen before. “She just has to wake up first.”

  Hank sat beside Olive’s bed as he read one of her favorite books out loud to her. Just as he’d done for the last few days. After the first night, he and Miranda started taking shifts so Olive had someone by her side at all times. He was grateful the station offered him as much time as he needed.

  He’d pretty much lived in the hospital since Olive was admitted. When he did make it home, he brought back enough clothes so he wouldn’t have to worry about leaving her side. With his buddies agreeing to keep an eye on Dog, and Miranda being back in town, he had no reason too.

  On the first night Miranda made him go home, he walked into their apartment and instantly noticed Olive’s bookshelf. That’s when he got the idea to read to her. She pointed out her favorites the day he helped rearrange the bookshelf after the one prank too many drama.

  He knew how much getting lost in her worlds meant to her, so he wanted to give her that.

  When Hank reached the end of the chapter he looked over at Olive. She was still pretty battered, but some of the smaller bruises had lightened in color.

  To him though, the sight of seeing Olive hooked up to the ventilator, and IV’s said something else. Doctor Wyatt had sworn she was improving every time he’d come in and evaluated her, but without Hank personally seeing those pretty blue eyes open, he couldn’t help his doubt that crept in.

  That was the worst part.

  He didn’t want to live in that doubt. He wanted hope. He wanted to sit back in his chair and know for a fact that Olive would turn to him any moment and call him a jerk for dog-earing her book rather than using the bookmark. Something she considered an ultimate sin.

  Hank smirked as he dog-eared the page, before placing the book on the nearby table. He then scooted his chair closer to Olive. “Hey, pretty girl. It’s me again. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing my voice all the time.” He chuckled. “I’m sure it's driving you crazy. Lucas never misses a chance to tell me to shut my trap.” With a small sigh, he continued. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you, I love you.”